Retail workers- Whays the rudest thing a customer has done or said to you ?

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I work in retail and provide good customer service and always help customers.

Last week I had one go in to a full blown rage as we did not have any hand sanitizer and it was apparently all my fault. So I said dont speak to me in that manner and turned around and walked away from her.

Therr are many other moments I could mention but we would be here all day
So what is the rudest thing a customer has done or said to you?

Well once I could have sworn a customer said “Fuck you!” as I handed him his change. He had such a pleasant smile I assumed I’d misheard and he’d said Thankyou.

Women had a massive go at me last week because we hadn't had our milk delivery at 6 in the morning. Asked why we were open 24 hours if we couldn't provide what customers wanted.
I suggested she took the issue up with the store manager.

I worked in a shoe shop once and a customer wanted to return a pair of shoes that had obviously been worn to death, we didn’t even stock the shoe anymore and hadn’t for at least a year prior to this,

When I refused to refund her she called me a
Cocky little cunt and swiped a load of shoes from the display unit onto the floor!

I got called a ‘minimum wage earning phone answering cunt’ when I worked in an inbound call centre taking customer service calls.
I mean it was all true, earned minimum wage, answered phones, am a bit of a cunt when I wanna be. But the way he said it, like I was so beneath him. Fuck you mate. And no, we won’t take whatever item back.

Customers really can be vile at times no need for it.

Sorry I know you asked for retail stories (I have worked in retail but thankfully was quite lucky to have decent customers!), hospitality on the other hand is a different kettle of fish. I once had a customer ask my name and when I told him he made a disgusted face and said he wouldn't even call a cat that 😂 For the record my name isn't anything exciting!

i wouldn't last 5 mins in retail, i'd be too aggressive to the sarky and rude bastards.
my ds [then 17] volunteered in a charity shop and he was called all sorts by irate customers wanting price reductions, he said one person even called him 'a retard' because he charged her 5p for a carrier after he'd rung up her purchase and claimed she knew where he lived.
he has a strange sense of humour, laughed at her and she stormed out leaving her purchases behind.never came back for them either.

I once had a customer who threatened to wait for me after my shift to “slash my face up”. Because I wouldn’t accept an out of date voucher (out of date by 8 months, it would have came out of my wage if I accepted). I was pretty frightened coming out of work for the next month or so.

I was 18 and in my first job. I asked a customer for ID, they kicked off, screaming and yelling and calling me everything under the sun. They ended it calling me a "stupid, ugly cunt", threw everything I had already scanned back on the counter and stormed out.
I took it a bit more personally at 18 then I would now.

Walked past me with her two kids, looked me up and down, then told her kids 'this is why you can stay in school, so you can get a proper job.'

I’ve not been sworn at personally but have al least one colleague who has, especially on customer services. They’ve had stuff thrown at them & allsorts, really shocking. Probably the worst I’ve had is a woman who had a right go at me because she’d been moved from one queue to another ( not by me) & slammed her shopping down on the counter. I was quite proud of myself for staying polite & standing up for myself.

One of my colleagues was called a useless bitch because we didn't have any plastic bags for the loose fruit and veg. She didn't even work in that department.
I tend to answer back more now (although I am polite). Not sure if it's being pregnant or that I'm just sick to death of some customers being so rude. Think customers forget we are real people with real feelings not emotional punch bags for when they've had a bad day.

I had a multipack of chips taken out and thrown at me for not packing it with the right foods by a man who's wife was wearing a sweat shirt "Wifey"
I stood grinning at the sweat shirt thinking Excatly! While I finished off the sale calmly I don't know how.
Another towered over me and yelled do you want to see my I.d? So loud
I said yes I do, I think he expected me to let it slide but no I stood my much shorter ground.

When I worked in a book shop, a customer had to wait to be served for a couple of minutes. When she got to the till she told me I was "dozy and complacent" I worked in a bookshop!

I should have refused to serve her, but I was young and quite introverted so I completed the transaction and then burst into tears when she left.

Literally too many to count.
One real stand out moment though-

Working for a well known high street cosmetics company that offers children’s parties. You pay a deposit, then pay remainder on the night as part of the party involves children spending £5-£10 each to shop (whatever the parent decides), plus the balance for the party itself, and this cannot go through the till until the party.
Did a party for 15 girls. Amazing time, everyone happy, over £300 on the till, birthday girl gives all staff a hug as she’s had such an amazing time.
Come time to pay, she beams and starts ushering the children out.
Politely ask her to finish the bill.
She immediately starts screeching that she’s already paid the lot. I show her receipt for deposit and her party booking form.
Ignores them, bursts into tears, her friends who are helping chaperone start in saying this is awful service and look, the children are getting upset and hungry as they’re now meant to be going to Nando’s.
Etc etc.. it was awful. Kept calm, was excruciatingly polite, eventually agreed they COULD LEAVE to take the children to Nando’s and that she would return.
Nando’s was across the street.
Nearly an hour later she returns, still in floods of tears, adamant that I am ruining her daughters birthday, still hasn’t checked her bank account to confirm either way.
Friend with her at this point going on about how policies need to be much clearer and can’t I see how distressful this situation has been for this mum.
Eventually pays and I even gave her a free gift to make up for the distress.
I felt like the worlds biggest mug.
I could have lost my job if they hadn’t come back.
Not a thank you or even an acknowledgement of how well we had handled the situation.

Oh and another one- working for a well known children’s stationary brand.
Customers got 20% off for signing up to mailing list.
This guy also worked in the mall at a vape store.
Threatened multiple staff members every time he came in with his daughter (her favourite shop) demanding a 20% discount every time he came in.
Threw goods at a 16 year old member of staff when she politely refused.
Called our head office to complain about how rude I was for asking him to leave.

I was stopped on my way through the shop floor of Woolworths by a woman pulling my hair. She quickly apologised and went on to ask if we had any Tiny Tears dolls in stock. Well I mean as long as it's an emergency, I was happy to help

Some real horror stories here on how we get treated. I answer back now in a subtle way but enough for them to know I will not stand for it. The customers are definitely not always right.

To all is who work with the public.

Too many to mention, but one that sticks in my mind was while working in a supermarket about 10 years ago, had a woman (similar age to me) on her phone come to my till and mouth 'can you pack for me?' All ok so far. I start to pack while shes talking, then when she finished the call I stopped to let her pack. She grimaced at me and through gritted teeth seethed 'when I say I want you to pack for me I WANT YOU to pack for me. So I apologised (cant believe I did) and continued to pack, while she started telling me all her woes.. then was all cheery and said 'what's it like being a saturday girl?' Was a really strange experience and I couldn't believe how rude and obnoxious she was. But that's working with the public.. some are nice and some aren't.

I had just started my shift and a regular customer who makes my hackles rise with her condescending tone sniffed dramatically and asked “has someone just sprayed a very pungent air freshener “? I said no, and she asked “really ? Can’t you smell it” I said “I’ve just sprayed my perfume” she said “no dear, I’m sure you wouldn’t wear something so awful”

Not rude but stupidness... I work in a post office and I'm not joking, every other person asks if we sell stamps...

I used to work in a higher-end high street fashion chain. A woman wanted a pair of trousers that weren't in her size on the shop floor. Checked the store room for her and found a pair in her size, but because they were a longer length, they'd been brushing the floor which was dusty. I told her she could buy them at full price and if the dust didn't come off we would refund them, or I could give her 10% discount but they were not refundable. Either way, I said I would write it on the receipt. She went for the 10% discount, non refundable option.
A couple of hours later I was called out of the staff room while I was on my lunch break. Said person was back and arguing with the manager as she wanted her money back despite it written on the receipt that she couldn't. My manager asked me if I had told her she couldn't have her money back, I pointed out the receipt and said I had. Lovely person spat in my face.
She didn't get a refund and I quit about 5 minutes later.

I’ve been rammed hard in the tummy by a trolley, as apparently I was in his way. I apologised to him😞. Really wish I hadn’t, but I was in shock, I think!
I was also punched in the arm on my way past a customer because she wanted to know where the eggs were!
I go out of my way to help people, and I’m always polite. I hate the behaviour of some people. Why should retail workers be abused on a daily basis? It’s so wrong.

Same store - also had someone screaming she wanted a refund for a white suit she had bought and we gave it to her to get rid of her, there was a queue building up and she was making a real scene. We'd taken the jacket out of the bag which was obviously worn, hence the scene, but after she'd been given her refund and left, we took the trousers out. The crotch was covered in period blood.

People can be fucking vile.