VENT - Customers

[apirateslifeforme]

I will never forget the time when I worked at Penneys, we received a bomb threat and security went around telling everyone to leave IMMEDIATELY, even if they were in the middle of ringing something up. I was waiting on someone and there was another woman behind her. The first woman did as asked, I started to walk away, thinking the 2nd one would also listen, but she started screaming that she wasn't about to leave without her order! Security had to get in her face and tell her that she could come back when we were given the all-clear, but she didn't have time for that. She picked up what she wanted and started to walk off. Security told her to put it down. She said no, if you won't give me the chance to pay for it, I'll just take it because I'm not leaving without it. That was the first time I've seen security rip something out of someone's hands and bodily haul them out of a store kicking and screaming.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

My personal favorite is when customers see sale signage in a location somewhat near the item they actually want to purchase (sometimes as close as 3 aisles away!) and therefore assume that their item must also on sale, even when the sign specifically states which item(s) actually are on sale. Then, when their items don't ring up as expected, they get angry and take it out on the cashiers. As though it's their fault that some customers choose to abandon literacy as soon as they step through the front door.

I've had that problem to, and I remember the exact customer that it was, since she's one of those that always comes in and causes problems.

At first, I thought she was just looking at the wrong price tag, since the one that was on sale was right above the one she had. But no, she wanted the one she had for the sale price that the other item was on sale for. Then she got mad at us for not giving it to her for that price.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I'm in the middle of dealing with the customer from hell at work right now!! It's a really long story, but basically this girl is blatantly lying and making up stories in order to get free stuff...she is making our lives absolutely horrible right now....ugh.....it makes me so mad just to think about her. At first we just thought she was a really mean person. But now I think she is crazy!

 

[Makdyn]

another one I like, is were they have a package of two items wrapped together said two cereal boxes. So when I ring them up it will count for one, cause of one bar code. then they will give me a coupon that you need to buy two. I will tell them that they only purchased one and need to purchase two for the coupon. The usually say they did and pull out the ONE package and point to both boxes. I then point out that there is two boxes wrapped up as one. So that is one bar code not two.

 

[megan4777]

I worked in retail 2 times. I worked in the men's dep't at Macy's about 10 yrs ago, for about 4 yrs, and then at Bob's stores about 6 yrs ago.

I have dealt with many nasty customers but we had a "please the customer" motto. We were at least pleasant and apologetic with them while they swore at us.

Unfortunately, as of the other day, I'm finding that shopping in stores is horrific. I get the customer service people either ignoring me or swearing while talking to their friends. I also get the person in front of me that is swearing at the poor person ringing them up b/c their friend got xxx price 2 days ago.


It's absolutely crazy and I'm shopping more and more from online.

 

[chager]

About 20 years ago I worked at a movie theater. Well we had an unexpected blizzard! It was April!! Ok so we have no power and the backup generator comes on. We have barely enough light to caount out our drawers and verify inventory. We are offering refunds or tickets for a later date. At this point we also have to clear the theaters. The sheriff came by and informed us we were under a level 3 snow emergency and could not drive. Well this guy is sitting in one of the theaters waiting for the movie to continue! I told him the movie wasn't going to continue and his options. He looks at me and says "turn on the emergency generators and start my *************** (insert words some of which I had never heard before) movie!!!" I calmly said, "There is a blizzard outside, the sheriff says you have to leave, and if you don't you will soon freeze your bottom off cause this place has no heat right now!!!" Mind you I was all of 18 years old and I took guff from NO ONE!! It took me 3 hours to drive home that night on what is a normally 7 min drive.

I now work at a bank and still deal with crazy people. Lately it has been poeple making large deposits into the atm and then coming inside and wanting to withdraw it. Um, no, not going to happen! If you wanted cash you should have just walked the check inside so we could see it! What is the point of stopping at the atm and then coming inside after??? We even had one person demand to have the deposit back that was in the atm because they wanted cash!! Nope, already in the atm, it now has to processed and not much we can do about holds at this point! The crazies are out in full force this week!!!

 

[dolcezena]

And debit cards??? Canada has the highest user percentage in the world. I now work at a liquor store, & the system failed. On a Friday. At 5 pm.

AAAAAARGH!!! I jinxed myself!!!! Got to work today, guess what? One of the most popular bank's system was down. Excuse me while I down several glasses of wine as self-medication......

Customer: Will my card work?

Me: Probably not sir, that system is down.

C: Can you tell me when it will be back? Or can I just take this box of wine now & come back to pay for it later?

Me: (mind boggling, inner voice screaming) Ummmm, no sir. We require payment in full.

C: But I need this for dinner tonight!

Me: (Resisting urge to slam head against register) You could always pay with cash or credit card sir.

C: But if I use my cash, how will I pay for the pizza?

Me: (Don't say it, don't say it...) I'm afraid I have no other options for you sir.


Who's with me here - ONE DAY A YEAR to say what we actually think to these people!!!!!

BTW, I think customer service standards have dropped because too many people with "real" jobs look down on the service industry. Therefore, it's the last choice as a career. (Imagine telling a high school guidance counsellor you intend to make a career in retail!)

 

[Linzybrooke]

My personal favorite is when customers see sale signage in a location somewhat near the item they actually want to purchase (sometimes as close as 3 aisles away!) and therefore assume that their item must also on sale, even when the sign specifically states which item(s) actually are on sale. Then, when their items don't ring up as expected, they get angry and take it out on the cashiers. As though it's their fault that some customers choose to abandon literacy as soon as they step through the front door.

AMEN TO THAT!!!!

 

[dolcezena]

I've come to the conclusion that 90% of the world's population is "selectively illiterate" - much in the same way my DF is selectively deaf when I ask him to do something!!

 

[OK!]

BTW, I think customer service standards have dropped because too many people with "real" jobs look down on the service industry. Therefore, it's the last choice as a career. (Imagine telling a high school guidance counsellor you intend to make a career in retail!)

Totally agree with this...I'm working retail part-time right now while going to school to get my Comp Sci degree, which will hopefully lead to a "real" job, and I couldn't begin to describe how I'm treated on an almost-daily basis by customers. So many of them, though they don't state it outright, clearly believe that there must be something wrong with me to cause me to "still" be in retail at my age (over 30). (Never mind the fact that I've already had a "real" job, for 5 1/2 years, and was downsized, which is why I went back to school in the first place.) I get the condescending tone all the time, coupled with questioning of any advice I might give, advice that they asked me for in the first place. Last week, I actually had a man ask to speak to my manager because he wasn't sure I'd given him good advice on which type of glue he needed for his son's school project. GLUE. Thankfully, it's gotten to the point that it no longer upsets me (and it really used to, a LOT); I now laugh at them, shake my head, and count the days till graduation.

 

[OK!]

I've come to the conclusion that 90% of the world's population is "selectively illiterate" - much in the same way my DF is selectively deaf when I ask him to do something!!

Ahh, that must be the reason why so many people walk up to registers with enormous "THIS REGISTER CLOSED" signs and stand there, waiting for someone to magically appear to ring them up.

 

[dolcezena]

I'm very fortunate that where I work now, it is truly a career choice - they pay for university management courses for us, as well as any other "job-related" courses we want to take.

I'll never forget the time I was working in a women's clothing store & I had a woman inform me that she was a receptionist for a successful lawyer so therefore OBVIOUSLY knew more than I did.

A career in ANY service industry requires far more skills & knowledge than the general public realizes.

I just wish they would realize that when I tell them a particular product is out of stock/unavailable, they didn't feel the need to go ask another person working there the same question because they didn't get the answer they wanted!!!! I'm sure they don't comprehend how insulting they're being - it's like me going a "professional's" workplace & telling them they don't know what they're doing!!

(Sorry, that was a rather convulted sentence, but I hope you understand what I mean!)

 

[MushyMushy]

This reminds me of another customer calling complainting that the cashier MADE her get cash back. Hello when you put your debit card in after you you enter your pin it asks you if you want cash back then you have to OK it. And If the customer did not want the cash back why did she take it.

Are you sure the cashier didn't reach over the machine and start pressing buttons for her? I swear, if another cashier does that to me, she's going to get her hand slapped.

Oh yeah. I used to work retail. We'd give extended return deadlines that coincided with the start dates of the semesters (college book store). The dates would be printed on the return policies that we handed out to every student and verbally went over with them (we'd also circle the date and that they needed to bring a schedule that showed they were enrolled in that semester) and the dates were posted in the store.

Never fail, there would ALWAYS be people who brought in the stuff after the deadline and/or without a schedule or receipt. And about 95% of the time they'd try to say that nobody told them about the return requirements (never mind the fact that there is a copy of the return policy with circles around all those requirements attatched to their receipt.) And it was always my fault that they were too boneheaded to read the policy.

So glad I'm not in retail anymore.

And how about the students who were on some sort of aid program (not necessarily welfare aid, but basically any type of aid where we had to write up a slip for them)? I worked in a college bookstore for 5 years and we had some real doozies.

One guy, a veteran getting VA assistance, would come in at the beginning of every semester and give us the hardest time about things. Why are the books so expensive? You're running such a racket! You just want to rip us off. He'd follow us around the store, berating us and going on and on. Every time we saw him at the door, my coworker and I (we were both managers) would figure out who dealt with him last and the other would go hide in the office from him because he was just so dang nasty.

Turned out, the guy ended up being my biological older brother. I've since found out that the army really screwed with his head and he's just socially messed up. He and I laugh about it now, how he gave me such a hard time when I worked there. But, geez, he was one of the worst customers I can ever remember!

 

[Nancy]

AAAAAARGH!!! I jinxed myself!!!! Got to work today, guess what? One of the most popular bank's system was down. Excuse me while I down several glasses of wine as self-medication......

Customer: Will my card work?

Me: Probably not sir, that system is down.

C: Can you tell me when it will be back? Or can I just take this box of wine now & come back to pay for it later?

Me: (mind boggling, inner voice screaming) Ummmm, no sir. We require payment in full.

C: But I need this for dinner tonight!

Me: (Resisting urge to slam head against register) You could always pay with cash or credit card sir.

C: But if I use my cash, how will I pay for the pizza?

Me: (Don't say it, don't say it...) I'm afraid I have no other options for you sir.


Who's with me here - ONE DAY A YEAR to say what we actually think to these people!!!!!

BTW, I think customer service standards have dropped because too many people with "real" jobs look down on the service industry. Therefore, it's the last choice as a career. (Imagine telling a high school guidance counsellor you intend to make a career in retail!)

This will be me on the day I win the lottery! After working almost 16 years in a grocery store I have seen it all! Not just rude customers, but rude employees too!

 

[Nancy]

Ahh, that must be the reason why so many people walk up to registers with enormous "THIS REGISTER CLOSED" signs and stand there, waiting for someone to magically appear to ring them up.

My 2 favorite lines.."Are you open?" while the sign says closed and I'm walking away with my till..or I'm standing at a register with 4 or 5 trainees.

"But they do it for me all the time" (um, no we don't)

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

i've worked in Retail/Customer Service for the past 7 years and at every job there was a customer that was just plain rude.

one of the most memorable was a man who came in when i was working at Blockbuster a few years ago and got angry that he had a late fee. the manager of the store put a warning on his account saying "do NOT take off any more late fees! he's had $300 worth of late fees waived already! tell him to talk to me if he has a problem" so i tell him and he precedes to call me every name in the book, and then threatens to come to my house and kill me if i don't take off the late fee. honestly.......if i wasn't so amused by his comment of killing me over a late fee, i probably would have been scared. he ended up calming down, but seriously, it was a little much. i had another customer while working there tell me i was racist because the one girl i was working off took of a late fee for one couple who were white and they claimed i was racist because i wouldn't take theirs off. no, sorry, i'm not racist, i just want to keep my job, thank you!


and just the other day, at my current job, this man comes up to me(i work in a prep food department) and says "i want a drink!" so i said "ok. do you want a cup for water, or a fountain cup?" and says "i just want a cup!" so i reply "i understand that, which kind of cup do you want? a fountain one or a water one?" ..........."I JUST WANT A D$#% CUP!" and i tried again to explain to him "which kind of cup? a water cup, or a fountain drink cup?" because if i give this guy a water cup, and he goes to get a fountain drink and my work finds out, i can get fired. so he starts yelling at me, calling me an idiot and walks away. like i don't have anything better to do on a Saturday other than be working and getting yelled at by some old man who won't answer a simple question.

you know what tho? i've learned that i really don't like working with the public anymore. i'm trying to get into a new career.

 

[jemiaule]

I've also had people who didn't know their pin numbers, and their card wouldn't go through as credit, just debit, and they haven't been able to pay, and they've gotten mad at me. Who has debit cards, and doesn't know the pin number?

Me, I have four bank accounts and some times I forget which pin goes with which card. I certainly do not get mad at the sales person over my inability to remember however.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

I had on customer recently who got mad at us (USPS) because her debit card would let let her buy a money order. Well the debit card companies have now implemented a policy that a money order purchase is considered a 'cash withdrawal'. And, if their daily limit is say $500.00 that is all they'll let them get a money order for. We tell her this, then she proceeds to tell us that we should get 'our' act together! Huh, we didn't do this, the debit card companies did.
But, hey customers aren't going to listen to what you say, they'll just hear what they want to hear.
Kim

 

[Disney Doll]

I'ma nurse. Take the same nasty customers you deal with and make them sick. And include the added bonus of their obnoxious families into the mix.

Welcome to my world.

 

[Serena]

You know, I've heard it said that you go through life in certain situations for a reason. I keep wondering what exactly I'm supposed to be learning. And I'm hoping I'm learning it well.