Ridiculous work complaints - tell me yours!

[YourFinestPantaloons]

I'm a teacher and Head told me this morning that a parent has complained because she saw me last Saturday night in the local cocktail bar having shots.

Apparently it's despicable that an educator of her child would behave in such a way and lead such a terrible example to pupils - as it turns out, her underage DD was with her (must have been at 11pm IIRC) in the adults-only pub and was 'appalled' at Miss Pantaloons' behaviour

Thankfully my Head is normal and we just laughed our heads off about it. these complaints happen very frequently. A colleague once got a complaint because she was seen with penis paraphernalia in town on her hen do. I think some people think teachers are just robots that turn off at 4pm and have to stay in the classroom over the weekend.

What's the most amusing complaint you've ever got at work?

Many many years ago I delivered Sunday newspapers on my bike. There was one flat in a block where the letterbox was tiny, and at ground level, so at first I left the Sunday papers (bulky, even back then) on the mat: indoors, secure. The customer rang and complained to the newsagent that I hadn't put the paper through the letter box. Next week I put the newspaper through the letter box, which necessarily meant dividing it into its component sections and folding each section.

He complained that he wanted his newspaper fully assembled, in order, inside his flat, not split into different sections ... I could only do this if he opened the door for me, which he wasn't prepared to do as I was delivering at 7am and he didn't rise til 9 or 10 on Sundays.

Fortunately the newsagent knew of the guy, so no comeback personally.

A trivial tale, but stuck in the mind as one of my first experiences of the oddness of some people.

I have worked in various hospitals number of complaints we have had about food , too hot, too cold, someone ordered macaroni cheese then complained they only liked the tinned one! , another patient even complained to the matron they weren't getting enough cups of tea!

Had one silly cow complain I took too long to send her her documents (was within 4 days most solicitors say they will be sent within 2 weeks) yet she also complained she felt “too rushed”. Make up your mind you nutter am I too quick or too slow🙄. Most clients so lovely was awful coming across a shocker like her.

I worked for Lloyds Bank and at a client meeting (client was another financial institution) they raised a point about a cheque having gone missing as the money wasn't in their account. I said I would look into it. A kind woman in a different department had to investigate, turned out the cheque was paid into Natwest, so we couldn't do anything else which I told them. Once a month, the client would call and ask about this so I would repeat they needed to contact Natwest. I left about 4 or 5 months later so I don't know if they ever got it resolved!

Some time ago a "customer" complained (to the police) that he had been arrested. Admitting in the complaint (having given a denial interview) that he had committed the offence. He objected to being arrested for it and took exception to the time of the arrest (7pm).

Once had a woman return a Christmas tree to a shop I was working at for an exchange as the first one reminded her of her dead husband.

Having worked in retail I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve stood and heard a typical ‘get me the manager’ type loon moaning on and on about the most ridiculous things. I always smirked at the ‘I’m going to trading standards’ line they usually spout when things don’t go their way. Ok Hun, good luck with that now piss off, Next!

I had a complaint that i had asked a child to wash their hands before snack. I'd deeply upset the child.

It actually built the relationship between me and said child.

@VK456

One of my former nursing colleagues was hauled over the coals after a relative complained that she had sworn at her father. English wasn’t their first language, but simple explanations seemed to do the trick. My colleague was horrified at the accusation, but eventually realised that when the man had asked her what the medicine was for, she had replied ‘For cough’.

I'm a peripatetic music teacher, and a parent complained that I hadn't taught her DD on a particular day, and why didn't I go and get her from her classroom when DD didn't arrive for her lesson.
It was the end of the school day, and on this occasion, the mother had already picked up the daughter and had her in the car at the time of her lesson.
Still my fault, apparently.

I worked in a library where we didn't catalogue fiction paperbacks individually, they were just recorded as 'Adult paperback' or 'Junior paperback'.
We had a complaint from a reader because we'd sent her a reminder that she had 4 'adult paperbacks' overdue. She was incensed because she 'didn't read that kind of book'

@VK456

One of my former nursing colleagues was hauled over the coals after a relative complained that she had sworn at her father. English wasn’t their first language, but simple explanations seemed to do the trick. My colleague was horrified at the accusation, but eventually realised that when the man had asked her what the medicine was for, she had replied ‘For cough’.

😂 😂 😂 😂

Many years ago a man complained about me to head office because I 'refused' to deal with his complaint. He'd already been in store that afternoon where it was escalated - I wasn't the manager and couldn't do anything else without permission. He wanted to discuss it further with me at 1am in a taxi queue when I was on my way home from a night out.

Had a bunch of students come into the estate agent where I used to work asking view some of the most expensive properties on our books. I asked how they were going to purchase these houses and I was told "we are all studying medicine so will be doctors in five years time". They honestly thought they could just get the keys to a million quid house and start paying a mortgage at some point several years in the future when they were qualified. The manager received a complaint that I was not taking them seriously in refusing to conduct viewings with them.

When I worked in a high st bank I used to love to take the wind out of rude peoples sails. At least once a month someone would storm up to the counter and demand we close their account right away (normally over bank charges). Every single time I would smile, would not ask why and just say, of course I will do that immediately for you, cue the customer panicking as they didn't really want a used account, they just wanted to vent.

Just to add I never did that to anyone who was polite, I went out of my way to help but I hated rude people

Having done ten years in retail, I have been accused of ruining Christmases, birthdays and weddings. Look, if you come in with one week to go before your wedding and you want 200m of white ribbon for the orders of service, then there's a real chance that we wont have enough. This wasn't Good Enough of course, even when the manager explained that we rarely kept more than 50m of any type of ribbon and that if they'd come in even a few weeks before we'd have happily put a special order in for them, but there wasn't time now.
So we were accused of ruining the wedding.

I think the most memorable complained came on a day where I was just feeling a bit tired. A customer yelled "AW CHEER UP!" at me repeatedly. Then got right in front of me and said "What's wrong, you can tell me! Tell me!"
Nothing was wrong, I was just a bit tired and didn't really know what to say. I was then accused of being rude and the customer left. About a week later the manager showed me a letter written on some very floral note paper about how I was clearly very upset about something but had been very rude when the customer had tried to "comfort" me.
Why? Why go to all that bother? What an utter waste of their time. Luckily the manager at the time found it amusing, but if he'd not had a sense of humour I could have ended up in serious trouble.
I was just a bit tired!

@NotPersephone

A client complained that my hourly chargeout rate was excessive for a newly qualified lawyer especially as he couldn’t even fuck me.

Aren’t men lovely? 🙄

Oh, another memory - as a young lawyer in the 1980s one client was a company organising safaris in (mainly) Kenya. They were overwhelmed with complaints from customers who were outraged that they hadn't seen [pick wild animal of choice] when on safari, despite brochure clearly saying 'Can't guarantee sightings, they're wild animals you know etc'.

Worst of all, one sued because they didn't see a lion close up and was awarded damages by the Registrar (now District Judges - the lowest of the civil judicial ranks), on no legal basis whatsoever. Not worth appealing ... [no costs, and not a binding decision]. Then two barristers wrote a book on holiday law and miraculously District Judges sat up and applied the law. (Small beef about how back then barristers' views were respected and those of solicitors were less regarded ... )

My practical advice in general (which turned out to be true) was to ignore complaints ... 100 became 30, became 10 became 2 - the troublesome or serious ones.

Broadband provider - cust called to complain they had no internet for 6 days. It's fixed now and come back on. But they didn't call when the fault started or at any point in those 6 days. Complained because we wouldn't give her compensation for a fault we didn't know about, couldn't verify and miraculously fixed itself.

I worked checkout in a large DIY store, only 2 people allowed leave at the same time, us old lags wanting time off would check availability and if 2 off already we'd go sick, yes naughty I know. Some bright young thing working in retail before starting his proper career asked for time off, was refused, then phoned in sick. When he returned he was suspended for a week. His mum stormed into the store, accosted the supervisor, who was serving a customer, complaining about her poor boy being abused in this way. His career? He was joining the Army, do you think she told the RSM off when he yelled at her poor boy?

Once had a woman return a Christmas tree to a shop I was working at for an exchange as the first one reminded her of her dead husband.

I currently work in a charity shop, we had to start a policy that Christmas trees/ornaments/etc. could not be returned after Christmas Day. The number of people who bought a second hand tree (£5 or so when the original price was £50) and then tried to return it in January was shocking.

@ShaneTheThird

I once had a complaint against me because I am female. I work in a shop that's mostly male dominated as it's a hobby type place, motorbike type thing. Anyway more than once I've had men complain because I am female and they refuse to speak to a woman about said hobby. Even so much that a customer once came in asking about my specialist subject. I'm the only one who works there that this particular thing is my speciality. He kept asking my make work mate who told him I was the one to ask as he didn't know, he literally looked down and sneered at me, asked my co worker again and once again was directed to me. So he irately announced as a woman I don't know what I'm talking about and stormed angrily out of the shop.

I once had a father complain that his son was in my class, a woman, apparently his son could not take instructions from a woman. As Head of Department, a fact that he found astounding, I offered to put him into a man's class but he would not be doing the level of work we were doing. What really annoyed me was that the Senior Management gave him the time of day but apparently we had to be 'sensitive to cultural norms'. Apparently my sensitivities when facing this abusive man were not important.

@janj2301

I worked checkout in a large DIY store, only 2 people allowed leave at the same time, us old lags wanting time off would check availability and if 2 off already we'd go sick, yes naughty I know. Some bright young thing working in retail before starting his proper career asked for time off, was refused, then phoned in sick. When he returned he was suspended for a week. His mum stormed into the store, accosted the supervisor, who was serving a customer, complaining about her poor boy being abused in this way. His career? He was joining the Army, do you think she told the RSM off when he yelled at her poor boy?

I don't think RSMs are allowed to yell at them any longer, apparently it can be upsetting for them. Hopefully the enemy has also got the message about not upsetting them.

I think the colleague with the pornographic stuff was a serious issue.

😳🤭

I worked in an old hospital- that had entrances onto the street-when someone wrote in and complained that when they were walking past on the pavement they craned their neck round & saw a patient being taken into the hospital that they thought looked dead!! Evidently they were traumatised !!!