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Strangest complaint you've ever received

320 replies

bdbfan · 26/10/2013 12:54

Following on from the thread about ridiculous tourist complaints, what's the strangest complaint you've ever received?

I'll start, I run a small cafe, a lady ordered a toasted sandwich then asked for a refund because it was toasted. She said she didn't realise it would be heated in a new fangled thing and wanted something from the 90's.

I still have absolutely no clue about what she was after.

OP posts:
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Wishfulmakeupping · 26/10/2013 12:56

I used to work in a well known c

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Wishfulmakeupping · 26/10/2013 12:57

I used to work in a well known coffee shop and on a weekly basis I would get complaints that the expresso had no milk in or that the cappuccino was frothy Grin

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/10/2013 12:59

(NHS Podiatrist)

That I wasn't wearing a dress Shock
I wear a white tunic, respectable trousers (I think at this time they were navy regulation clinic trousers. So not see through or arse hugging).
And I have to sit on floors etc.

Yes, they actually wrote in to Head Office that I wasn't wearing a bloody dress.

I'd have loved to have seen the Official Reply.

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PottyLotty · 26/10/2013 12:59

I got a complaint because I said 'good morning' to someone in a library which was displaying the 'silence' sign. Grin

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70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/10/2013 13:00

Though a bloody dress wouldn't be a good look either Blush

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carabos · 26/10/2013 13:07

Working in a florist shop one day a customer came in and complained that her sweet Williams had lasted two weeks which meant she couldn't buy some new flowers unless she chucked them out. She liked to change her flowers weekly and we were selling ones that lasted too long Hmm.

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Terrortree · 26/10/2013 13:55

That there was a water leak next to the road opposite my house (but on the other side of the road from my house).

The water company dug up a metre section of the side of the road, in front of a neighbour's house (HO), fixed it immediately, re-tarmaced it, and left all without me noticing/hearing nor seeing a damned thing.

Sadly the Water Company didn't inform the home owner (HO) that there had been a leak outside her home. Nor did they inform her that they had fixed it immediately and that they had re-tarmaced the it of road. Nor did they assure her that no permanent damage had been done to anything by anyone at any time. She was most distraught when she noticed the re-tarmacing, and realised there had been a leak.

She was so furious her permission had not been sought to do work on the public road that she rang up to complain. The water company informed her that I had made the complaint about the water leak on her side of the road.

I hadn't. I knew fuck all about it.

First I knew about the leak was when she was shouting at me complaining about a leak, that I hadn't caused and knew nothing about. She is so cross with me she wrote to the council to complain about me. Council have even been to visit as well but wouldn't really enlightened me as to why they visited.

And if you can make sense of that you are doing better than me.

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stopthiscrap · 26/10/2013 14:03

When we were houseparents in a UK boarding school, two parents complained that we woke the children up and evacuated the building at 3am. The alarm activated because there was a small electrical fire but apparently we should have just put it out and silenced the alarm. Especially as Tarquins was playing in a match the next day and should have been left to get a good nights sleep.

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TwoStepsBeyond · 26/10/2013 14:04

Bdb I imagine she was after a proper Breville burn-the-roof-of-your-mouth-with-its-molten-filling toastie, not some poncey panini with griddle marks and salad garnish!

Water leak lady is quite obviously nuts.

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farrowandbawl · 26/10/2013 14:07

"You're looking well, very well"

Still, to this day not quite sure what she ment by it. Took it as a compliment though.

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farrowandbawl · 26/10/2013 14:08

Oooh, complaint.

Sorry Blush

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outragedofsuburbia · 26/10/2013 14:11

Ha ha! Farrowandbawl you have made me laugh.

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Soupqueen · 26/10/2013 14:12

Solicitors firm.

A client complained that we were unprofessional as the receptionist called the solicitors by their first names.

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tinmug · 26/10/2013 14:15

An extremely polite customer once insisted to me that his sirloin steak was, in fact, pork.

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farrowandbawl · 26/10/2013 14:15

I do actually have one:

A collegue complained about me to our boss because....I finished pouring a pint for the customer she was serving.

Pint half pulled, had settled so was ready for the top up, customer stood waiting for it, I finished it gave it to him and she saw me and stormed off into the office.

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gamerchick · 26/10/2013 14:16

When I worked at asda I was collered by a customer who couldn't find a certain brand of butter. Helps her find butter and got a long tirade of abuse because it was personally my fault the packaging had been changed. I had to be rescued by a manager.

Same store Christmas time.. I got a ticking off from a customer for getting in her way.. apparently 5am is too late to start work when customers want to do their shopping Hmm

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outragedofsuburbia · 26/10/2013 14:17

All as Saturday jobs:

In a posh bakery - that we did not sell any low-fat cake.

In Boots - that the cotton wool was not made of real wool.

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AnyCoffeeFucker · 26/10/2013 14:18

The house burger is not vegetarian. I want a refund. She got one too.

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SeaSickSal · 26/10/2013 14:19

I used to work on a reception desk which was by the lift. There was a woman in the office who didn't understand why we could not stop people farting in the lift and constantly complained about it to us. We would spray it with air freshener when made aware. But she wanted to put a sign up telling people not to fart in the lift and to ban 'repeat offenders' from using it.

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gasman · 26/10/2013 14:19

Someone complained I sent their child off to sleep too fast.

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SouthernComforts · 26/10/2013 14:20

A customer complained that his dry roasted peanuts were too dry. Yes, seriously.

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Purplehonesty · 26/10/2013 14:20

Bank.
Customer complained that his statements came in an envelope with a small tree logo on (some recycling statement I think). He kept throwing his statements away without opening them because he assumed the letters were junk mail and that was my fault.
I actually had to do an official complaint response to this....Confused

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NonnoMum · 26/10/2013 14:23

Very first job as a Saturday girl in a chemist...

A v old lady had bought some magnets the week before and came back in to complain that they didn't stick to her wall...

I pointed out that magnets tended to stick to, er, metal. She was VERY angry that no one had ever told her that.

And they say education system was better in th'olden days.

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LionelRichieAndTheWardrobe · 26/10/2013 14:25

Oh I have similar farrow, a colleague (someone who'd not been there as long me, so didn't have the experience) was remerchandising a bay, she'd finished one shelf and had put another up, her arms were full of products ready to put on the shelf. I piped up with 'oooh that shelf needs to go down a notch or two, otherwise you'll run out of space at the top, here let me help you' and I lowered the shelf for her.

she complained to the boss saying I was interfering. Confused

I never bothered to help her again.

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AngelsLieToKeepControl · 26/10/2013 14:25

I worked on the customer services desk in a supermarket.

A lady came in absolutely raging because she had bought a video (it was a while ago now) for her grandson and it was far too violent for the rating on it. He had been up with nightmares all night and was really upset.

She had already complained to trading standards, the people who produced the video and someone else (can't quite remember who) and she threatened legal action against us for stocking it without a warning on it.

The video? Thomas The Tank Engine Grin she was so mad because Thomas had come off the track and she didn't want her grandson knowing such things happened.

I called the manager and he stood in all seriousness telling her that it might be a gentle way to broach the subject of disasters happening and that no, we wouldn't be putting a warning sticker on it. She left threatening to sue the company, our branch and me and the manager..... funnily enough we didn't hear anything else after that.

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