True Stories of Customer Service Employees

[CultofJay]

I work two jobs as a 3rd shift front desk clerk and a server at an upscale modern restaurant. Anyone who works with the public always seems to have volumes of bizarre and interesting stories. Well, let's hear them!

Most of mine involve absent parents/chaperons or drunken foolishness, but I want to hear some of your horror stories first.

[DigMe]

When I worked at McDonalds I once served a tank top-wearing lady who had chest hair that was carefully styled into the shape of a handlebar moustache. She tried to order fried okra.

bc

[James Hart]

2+ years inbound phone sales for www.apple.com/store in the 90s
almost 10 years Internet Help Desk (dialup/email/webhosting)...

I could write a book!

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by DigMe

When I worked at McDonalds I once served a tank top-wearing lady who had chest hair that was carefully styled into the shape of a handlebar moustache.

Had it not been so disgusting, I'd have sigged this.

[macaroni tony]

When I worked for a flooring retailer (and this is probably the most tame story I have) there was a lady who came in to look at some samples. She had a baby with her. She asked if there was a trash can behind my desk. I said, "Yeah, sure lady, you can throw your trash back here." She says "Cool, it's only some pee" and proceeds to hand me some balled up wads of toilet paper, and throw some diapers in the trash at my desk

[macaroni tony]

I'll give ya one more...I'll never, ever buy in to the "We're better than you, we're clean, we're more refined" blah blah blah crap that women try to propagate.
When I worked at a skating rink, I had to clean the restrooms from time to time. Men's restroom had the usual suspects: Peepee droplets around the urinals, maybe some leftover sharks in the toilet, paper towels on the ground, what have you.
Women's restroom was consistently just....awful! The "naughty box" is a horrible horrible thing; that's a given. But add on top of that diahhrhea on the floor (and I mean in the middle of the bathroom, not even an attempt at getting inside a stall, let alone to a toilet), vomit on the floor (again, right in the middle), dirty diapers on the sink, blood-soiled drawers on the floor...and remember, I said consistently awful...all of these things were a pretty regular occurrence. I even saw a newborn baby left in one of the stalls! OK, I made that part up

[Araillac]

When I worked at McDonald's, I was a cook and didn't have to interact with customers too much but once I took the trash out and some lady was in her car in the drive-thru and had an attitude asking about why it was taking so long. I said I guess it was just because there were so many people and then went back inside. I told one of my co-workers some lady was being a female dog out there and he laughed and says it happens. Well turns out, the lady was that co-worker's mom. He never found out though thankfully.

[macaroni tony]

My company recently stopped taking checks from people who don't have registered accounts with us. One guy came in and wanted to pay with a check. I told him we didn't take checks. Has to pay cash, debit, credit, etc.

The guy goes, "That's ridiculous; why don't you take checks??!?! When did that happen!?!?!? What kind of company is this!?!??! RRAAABLERABBBLRABBLERABBLERABBLERWARAWR!!!"

Me: "Bout a month ago. You got your debit card?"

The guy: "Well there's no money in there!!!!"

Me:

[Spraeg]

I've been working in retail for the better part of 10 years, three of them in Management, one and a half years as a floor manager. I've had to deal with every angry, ill-informed, spiteful, scheisty, or just plain stupid customer out there. There was a time when the power went out in about half of the town where I lived (It was a small town), right during the middle of August (California valleys in August aren't exactly pleasant unless you're fond of 100 degree heat). So a lady decided that since there was no air conditioning in her apartment, she would come in to the store (with her three loud, obnoxious children) and hang out where it was cool. She was, of course, informed that our power was out as well, and we apologized for the heat, but she flat out INSISTED that we turn the A/C on. She had decided that if we had enough power in our backup generator to run half of the lights and registers, that we could turn off ALL the registers, and run the A/C, just for her. She was summarily ejected from the store when Loss Prevention noticed her simply walking out of the store, brand new shoes in hand, after she decided that if the register she happened to walk up to was turned off, that she didn't have to pay for anything...

[CultofJay]

I was working audit/desk at a Super 8 in Indiana years ago. I get to work and there was this woman (maybe 25) who was just sitting in the lobby, drinking from the bottle. The person on the shift before me fills me in that she's from WV, was just stood up at the alter a day ago, has been driving all day, and drinking just as long. Keep in mind that there's normally only 1 employee at chain hotels at night.

Anyway, she chatted me up allll night about how hot Courtney Love is and how much she thinks she looks like her, she tells me she loves me in Czech, then tries to kiss me twice before disappearing back to her room. She then comes back and needs help getting up the stairs (right....). I'm a really nice guy so I help her, hoping she just passes out when she gets to her room. No such luck lol! She tries to pull me into her room all the while slurring sweet nothings at my face.

My boss hears about this the next day and had a laugh when I came in again since she left her number for me.

[CultofJay]

Two weeks ago at my new hotel gig, I chased down a gaggle of kids ranging from 8-14 because their mom thought it'd be a good idea to get them their own adjoining room...you know...so she and her husband could get some sleep. The kids stayed up drinking coffee all night and knocking on people's doors, then running away as soon as I showed up. Around 2:30am I finally figure out what room their parents are in and I promptly wake them up to tell them that an adult has to be in the room with children under 18 *at all times*.

Parents of the Year that they are, get irate that I woke up "paying customers" for "stupid bullsh!t" like this and I "should be able to handle it myself". They were apparently charged for damages to our treadmill the next day because their kids...all of them!...were on it at once and, wouldn't you know, the darn thing just broke.

[CultofJay]

Originally Posted by macaroni tony

When I worked for a flooring retailer (and this is probably the most tame story I have) there was a lady who came in to look at some samples. She had a baby with her. She asked if there was a trash can behind my desk. I said, "Yeah, sure lady, you can throw your trash back here." She says "Cool, it's only some pee" and proceeds to hand me some balled up wads of toilet paper, and throw some diapers in the trash at my desk

Tony, I could fill a medical book with all the bathroom nastiness that guests think is my job to clean up/unclog. But, hey, at least it was just pee, right?

[WickedPissah]

Originally Posted by CultofJay

I was working audit/desk at a Super 8 in Indiana years ago. I get to work and there was this woman (maybe 25) who was just sitting in the lobby, drinking from the bottle. The person on the shift before me fills me in that she's from WV, was just stood up at the alter a day ago, has been driving all day, and drinking just as long. Keep in mind that there's normally only 1 employee at chain hotels at night.

Anyway, she chatted me up allll night about how hot Courtney Love is and how much she thinks she looks like her, she tells me she loves me in Czech, then tries to kiss me twice before disappearing back to her room. She then comes back and needs help getting up the stairs (right....). I'm a really nice guy so I help her, hoping she just passes out when she gets to her room. No such luck lol! She tries to pull me into her room all the while slurring sweet nothings at my face.

My boss hears about this the next day and had a laugh when I came in again since she left her number for me.

Would you have hit it if she wasn't hammered?

[Jonyak]

A woman cut line at a store I was working cash at a while ago. when I called her on it, she went into a vitriol fueled rampage about me, and who was I to tell her about cutting the line and so on. the people she butted in front of were just giving me this look like, let her through.

I hate that, its that attitude that allows these kinds of people get away with this crap.

another woman berated me once when we didn;t have any pepsi left. she came in on a sale day and proceeded to buy out the whole stock. she brought in her friends to buy it for her to circumvent the 10 per person policy. and then yelled at me and called me every name in the book when we didn;t have any left. I later learned she owned a restaurant and was buying her pop from us and selling it for more at her restaurant.

you wouldn't beleive (ok maybe you would) the rudeness I was shown by people when I worked there as a manager for 4 years. It made me a misanthropist. it really disgusted me the way people would treat you as long as you were behind a counter.

[CultofJay]

Originally Posted by WickedPissah

Would you have hit it if she wasn't hammered?

Sweet Jesus, no. I would have had to have been as drunk as her to hit that. She was a poor-man's Love at best

Jonyak, I know exactly what you mean. I worked cashier at a Panera in college. Had this sorority girl and her friends come in the side door and start their own line at my register. The actual line was out the door. I showed her where the line started and she just stared at me. My manager nudges me aside and takes her order and tells me never to do that again. Moral of the story: Rude, entitled behavior gets rewarded every time!

[PSPookie]

Originally Posted by CultofJay

Sweet Jesus, no. I would have had to have been as drunk as her to hit that. She was a poor-man's Love at best

Jonyak, I know exactly what you mean. I worked cashier at a Panera in college. Had this sorority girl and her friends come in the side door and start their own line at my register. The actual line was out the door. I showed her where the line started and she just stared at me. My manager nudges me aside and takes her order and tells me never to do that again. Moral of the story: Rude, entitled behavior gets rewarded every time!

These must be the same people that think they are entitled to cut up to the front in traffic too.

I did have a guy offer to kick my butt once ove a twice-baked potato . . . in front of his kid nonetheless

[Jonyak]

Originally Posted by PSPookie

These must be the same people that think they are entitled to cut up to the front in traffic too.

I had someone do that at the border once, we had waited like 2 hours and he comes up on the shoulder to the front, and just pushed his way in. people were yelling at him and screaming and he just kept looking forward and didn't stop. he was driving a BMW. I dunno what the border guards did to him, the front was too far forward for me to see.

I just got finished reading a book on psychpathy and it gave me some insight as to how some of these people may be thinking.

[mid_life_crisis]

Eons ago my girlfriend and I took her little brother to the zoo. We bought some food, which she paid for, and as she's getting out the cash, I mentally tallied up the bill and the total is a couple bucks high. I called the guy on it and he had no shame, just corrected it and gave her back change.
She starts to drop it in her purse and I asked if she was going to count it. She wasn't, but she did, and sure enough the guy had shorted her a buck and some change.
Major cojones on that character.

[jive1]

Originally Posted by CultofJay

Sweet Jesus, no. I would have had to have been as drunk as her to hit that. She was a poor-man's Love at best

Jonyak, I know exactly what you mean. I worked cashier at a Panera in college. Had this sorority girl and her friends come in the side door and start their own line at my register. The actual line was out the door. I showed her where the line started and she just stared at me. My manager nudges me aside and takes her order and tells me never to do that again. Moral of the story: Rude, entitled behavior gets rewarded every time!

I was in line at the UPS center waiting to pick up a package along with a bunch of other people. There was no-one at the counter because they were all in the back retrieving packages. Some drunk guy walks in, and then cuts to the front of the line. There's a bunch of people who look appalled, talked among themselves, etc. But, no-one confronted him on it. I was pissed that there's a bunch of people that let him cut to the front when he was clearly outnumbered. So, when the UPS employee came up and was about to help the drunk, I told her that this guy cut to the front of the line and that she shouldn't help him. She told him to go to the back of the line. Instead of going to the end of the line he left.

Another time at 7 Eleven, there's a long line and some gangsta guy walks right up to the front. I immediately said, hey this aint your 7-Eleven, you can go in the end of the line. He started to posture, and I pointed to the security camera and his image on the screen. I told him, I have his license plate number, and asked if he wanted to get busted for trying to look all thug getting a blunt. I also reminded him, if he had a prior record, he may get in real trouble. He went back to the end of the line.

It pisses me off that there's a crowd of people who let themselves get inconvenienced by someone's rudeness as much as when an employee lets them get away with it.

[Deathblade Eric]

Originally Posted by Jonyak

... it gave me some insight as to how some of these people may be thinking.

They're Type-4 on the Larsen Scale