To ask retail staff your worst customer stories?

I worked alone in a bureau de change...my shift was 9am till 6pm....i was allowed one 30 minute break at 2pm for my lunch...i would display a clock in the window advising that i would be back at 2.30pm...more often than not i would come back to a customer kicking off because they had to wait....stupid thick twats couldnt grasp that by law i had to have a break.

One used to come in with his toddler, was probably a good 10+ years older than me (18-23 at the time) and he then started stalking me on social media.

Another came up to me while I was out with a friend at a cafe and started shouting abuse at me for an issue they had in store (that still wasn't my fault).

One time I was threatened and told I shouldn't walk to my car alone because they'll "sort me out". Not that it matters but I was an 18yo 5"5 woman and he was a 6"5 bodybuilder in his late 20s.

And this was all from a job in the local supermarket 🙃

@Aqua20 the only reply to someone who goes down the route of repeatedly saying "Do you know who I am?" is "Well if you don't know who you are, how an I supposed to know?" 🤣🤣🤣

Those who work at the bookies - out of interest, do you get female customers kicking off? I know they do in other environments, just curious about the bookies as this is traditionally a 'male domain'.

@Whatwouldscullydo hello fellow staff 😉

Another shift I was working with a trainee she'd been there about 6 weeks and hadn't yet experienced abuse or any incidents yet. About 8pm a customer's football team and bet lost the match. He asked for a refend for his bet because the player he bet to score was taken off injuried and the team lost which was his bet on the coupons. He decided a refund was in order because the player was taken injuried just before half time so therefore hadn't had enough time to score so the bet was invalid 🙄 I explained patiently why we can refund and the bet was indeed valid. After trying to charm and be reasonable I knew he was gonna turn and he did. He started screaning at me that he was right and I was wrong he was gonna complain and get me sacked so I had better refund him, I said no.

He went crazy grabbed a stool smashed the TV's and the gaming machines my poor colleague was shaken I didn't bat an eyelid just calmly told everyone to leave we're closed (glass everywhere). I called the area manager and security and we shut down. My colleague asked me why I was so calm I replied "three years of this crap will no longer shock you. Bookies are like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest" she didn't get the reference 🤣🤣🙈

I had a(n ostensibly very naice) middle class couple at my till a while ago.
The woman was really friendly, chatted away to me, asked where l was 'from' originally (my accent is clearly not local to where l work), I told her, and said l'm just working there until l retire next year.
"Oh, what did you do back home?"
"I was with the police for nearly thirty years. A manager for more than half of that."
Her husband looked at me. "And now you're REDUCED to THIS!"
I didn't respond, beside giving him a look that should have reduced him to a small pile of smoking ashes. But his poor wife. She looked absolutely mortified.
I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall when they got outside.

I worked at argos and someone reported me to the CEO because I didn't put their item in a carrier bag. (they were free in those days) I had actually put a sticker on to say purchased at argos in case they were going to another shop.

Item was an ironing board. I was actually given a formal warning.

Sometimes I wonder how I keep my words in
10 years emergency services
2 years care work
2 years retail
And a grand total of 17 years call centre work

.

Purplebunnie
I'm with you 100% on this. I wish they'd left the screens up, so many people have zero concept of personal space.

This is quite eye opening - about how horrible some people are, but also how unsupportive management often are.

I worked years ago in a large furniture store. There were too many incidents to recount them all. A couple having sex in one of the roomsets, and discovered by one of the very young Saturday staff. Dirty underpants left in the beds in the roomsets (a regular occurrence). Pee and shite in the roomsets (again, a regular occurrence, horrible if you got your hand in it). Much abuse of staff if something was out of stock - a screaming, swearing woman demanded my colleagues name and made a grab for her identity lanyard, instead grabbing a large and painful handful of her breast. A man shouted in my face, backed me into a corner and threatened me because his order was delayed. It was a horrible place to work at times.

I had a customer a while ago (who is notoriously difficult, l found out later) who bought a steak and a sauce to go with it.
Apparently it was on offer with the loyalty card, but my till didn't process the offer, and she didn't mention it at the time.
But then went to customer services to complain, saying "That gormless cow on the till didn't put my offer on."
We gormless cows don't process offers or discounts. The till does. And we can't be expected to know every one in store. If she'd mentioned it to me before she paid, l could have queried it.
But no, entirely my fault.
I had another one on an evening shift who literally screamed at me because l put a greeting card to one side to scan last (she had a lot of frozen stuff, and the till tends to get wet from condensation), so loudly that one of the girls from self scan came to investigate. She was beyond rude and nasty, I was mortified and upset at the way she behaved while l scanned her shopping, and after she'd paid, my friend commented "how rude!" to me as she walked away.
She demanded to speak to a manager, so we tannoyed for one.

She spoke to the manager for a while, then when she left, the manager came to my till. And announced "She was fucking batshit!"
Then came back ten minutes later for my friend and l "for putting up with that shit."

Bookies are the best arent they!

Hello fellow staff..yes the aggression and entitlement if the customers is beyond comprehension at times.

What I am at a loss to understand is why screens that were put up during Covid are being removed. Yes our local Boots does look bigger and airier but I think they protect the staff from the "customers" that have been mentioned on this thread

And all else I can say is a big thank you to all those who work in retail

During the pandemic, when l was working on my checkout, l had a couple come to my till. I had to ask them twice to stand on the social distancing lines at the front of the checkout while l dealt with the customer in front of them, and the man was clearly not happy.
Then as l was scanning his shopping, he kept moving too close to me again, and l had to say, politely, "Please can you stand on the lines at the back?"
He had a face like thunder. As l leaned across to push their shopping to the back of the till so they could reach it, he swatted the card reader straight at me.
Fortunately my reflexes are still decent (in my sixties) and l moved back quickly or it would have hit me in the face.
It takes a lot to upset me (I'm ex police) but that did. What kind of person would do that?

I genuinely think everyone should have to do a year's 'National Service' in a retail or other customer-facing role.

In my experience, the worst people seem to be those who have clearly never done this kind of work either because they've glided from education into a Very Big Important Job, or they've married someone with one; or because they've never done any kind of work in their life.

@WickedWitchOfTheEast87
Lovely to hear about your nice customer 😍

Loving reading peoples experiences working customer service. Most of you must of had the patience of a saint because I know my words would have gotten me into big trouble.

I've a thousand stories to tell, but since covid the level of abuse and attitude has become worse., I can't believe we are at the point where we now wear bodycams at work. The majority of our customers are amazing people, that's what keeps me there, but I've heard about some stories from other colleagues or witnessed tears after incidents. I'd like to see tougher laws against abuse of retail workers.

I used to work in a small building society branch where we had an armed robbery which obviously was not pleasant to experience. A few weeks later a woman was trying to withdraw a large amount in cash from her account. Large withdrawals needed advance notice to ensure we had enough cash on hand and also ID to make the withdrawal, this lady hadn't requested it in advance and also hadn't brought ID so we couldn't do it that day and we explained as much to her. To be fair she was perfectly understanding about it but her husband/partner who was with her (he wasn't named on the account) started raging and got quite aggressive. I stayed calm until he said 'maybe I should go home and get my shotgun, I bet you'd give us it then'. I pretty much shoved him out of the branch and told him he was banned from coming back (not sure if I could actually do that but I said it anyway). When I walked back in the little old lady who had been patiently waiting behind them (one of our regulars) gave me a hug, said I'd done well and then called him a tw*t which I'll be honest I definitely never would have expected her to say 🤣

Customer service. Refused to refund an item as per company policy. Customer tried dragged me over the counter by my front of my shirt. Police were called and my parents came and got me as they had threatened to have me jumped on the way home. I was 18.

I’ve been physically assaulted at work, the perpetrator was given a police caution and barred by head office.

@rasellagirl I'm extremely cynical about people now after the scumbags I've had to deal with. I always feel sorry for their families if they treat strangers like that what they must they be like at home behind closed doors.

Unfortunately the scumbags do seem to outnumber the lovely customers at least in the bookies it feels like it when it comes to money they are some very selfish people out there. But I did have some lovely customers one tipped me £50 when he a nice win he waited for me to go outside for a cigarette then gave it to me and said don't share it with those lazy mares go and treat myself he was a lovely guy he used to step in and defend me if a customer went too far he actually threatened to knock one out once if he carried being a twat lol