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?

Mrs Mackitty I did say excuse me, sorry to interrupt, please ect, they saw me and ignored me!

A friend , who isn't British, while working for WHSmiths was asked where to find Dickens books. Innocently she asked what was the genre and the customer went on a tirade shouting that if she didn't know who Dickens was she shouldn't be working in a bookshop ...

Two spring to mind and both were when I was a barmaid and during my pregnancy.
One. It was super busy and this guy forces his way to the bar shouting at me to serve him. Told him I saw him push through the queue so he would have to wait until I had served those who came before him.
He called me "a fat stupid cunt" and told me that I had to serve him. I burst into tears and my boss almost jumped over the bar, grabbed him by his ear and dragged him out of the pub lol.

1. A regular at the bar told me "i hope you keep those tits once you've had the baby". I stood dumbfounded for a good 10 mins, this customer was one of the most lively men I had ever met and I had never heard him speak like that to anyone. Told him "speak to me like that again and you will be wearing that pint"

Not sure if bar staff are included in this but aged 18 I took a job behind the bar. Saturday evenings. A woman decided the best way to get my attention while I was serving someone else was to shout "oi, lesbian" at me. I'm not but had short hair at the time so she decided sexuality based off hair I presume. I ignored it and worked my way along the bar. When I got to her I told her I would serve her this time but if she wanted another she would have to stop with the shouting at me. She repeatedly chanted lesbian at me. So I told her I wouldn't be serving her at all. Called our door staff but they were dealing with something else. While serving others she was vile, shouted to everyone in earshot that she didn't want to be served by the lesbian as I was "coming on to her". Door staff eventually invited her to leave. Week later she sends in a complaint saying I refused her service because she was a lesbian and told her I wouldn't touch her lesbian money etc. Luckily she was know to the landlady as a troublemaker.

In my days at Woolworths I was asked by a customer to store her shopping (mostly not brought in store) behind the tiny till stace I was in. I told her that wasn't possible for a large number of reasons. She stormed off found the manager, screamed at her that I wouldn't help her, returned throwing her bags at me and stormed off. Bags were removed to the staffroom. She then complained that the manager took too long retrieving them once she returned an hour or so later. She then smugly smiled at me on her way out and said "next time you'll take them first time of asking" clearly couldn't see she had done anything wrong and got exactly what she wanted.

While working in a pub a man threatened to kill myself and colleague because I'd asked his daughter for ID. She didn't have any and was completely fine with being refused service of alcohol but her dad (a regular customer) completely kicked off. Screaming and threatening until he was chucked out and barred.

We could write a book on what these customers say and do. Some disgusting behaviour from them I'm reading here.

Bar staff are very welcome here. We all have one thing in common and that's customers

7 months pregnant crouched down doing reductions in the chiller and a woman knocked me over by hitting me across the back of the head with her basket. I stood up and stretched out my back which made my bump stick out more and she just tutted as I was now even more in her way.

I got called a f*ing idiot by a customer as the alarm went off as they left. I just happened to be on the nearest till so went to sort it out, but hadn’t even been the one to serve them!

Also whilst I am on here can I implore all you lovely people to comment if you have a good experience with customer service. Most people are happy to complain but it's nice to be told you have done something well. It only takes two minutes at customer service desk or similar. I think some stores have a special website you can comment on if you've had good service (normally on the bottom of your receipt)

I'm still not all the way through these but it's so depressing. Is retail my dream job? No. But it fits in with the family. However when I'm there I give the best customer service I can. Tonight I've managed to distract two (none related) children from meltdowns just by chatting to them, I've cooed at a 6 month old baby and got some lovely smiles, I've had two hyper children helping me put stock out so their stressed mum could stand still for two minutes and choose what she wanted. I've spoken to elderly customers about toilet roll and sanitiser and old style newspaper toilet paper (and the old tracing paper stuff). I've had conversations with lots of different people and a few with other staff members all whilst working really hard but none of it will be commented on. None of those people will spend a couple of minutes complimenting me to a manager or filling in an online form about how I made their shopping experience better. And that's ok because I don't do it for that (although it would be nice to be recognised) if I can help make shopping a little easier for you then I will. I especially love helping parents of new babies or toddlers as I was there several years ago and would have appreciated someone offering to help or just understanding how tough it can be.
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InAPrettyCabinet

That's so lovely to read and I know this post has alot of negativity but the lovely customers make it so worth while. If we can make someone's shopping experience better I'm all for it.

I hate that you cant just tell the manager when there is good service now. Tried a few weeks ago in Tesco - told I had to go online. By the time i got home I'd completely forgotten of course - only just remembered several months later and have no idea who the staff member was now!

I was about 6 months pg and a woman who had come to my till was rude to me for no reason (can't remember what she said), so I stopped scanning her stuff and walked off the till. She told my supervisor her father had been diagnosed with an illness and she was upset that's why she was being so nasty to me. Stupid cow, as if that's a good reason.

Aged 17, working at a convenience store. I was serving out my last days as the shop was closing down, when a scruffy, sleazy looking man walked in and told me if I wanted another job I could go work in his brothel at such and such street, and asked if I still had my school uniform. I was so shocked I just stood there and stared at him as he walked out. I don't even think there was a brothel (I didn't take him up on his kind offer), think he was just a dirty old man that got a kick out of saying stuff like that to young girls.

Another one I've just remembered...worked at a canteen-style cafe when I was a teenager. We had to start cleaning up at 4.30 but had to keep serving takeaway until 5pm on the dot.
Man comes in at 4.55...everything is packed away, shutters halfway down, I have my coat on. Clearly we're about to shut. I wasn't allowed to turn him away though, so started making the sandwich he ordered.
He wasn't happy with white bread, so had to start again with brown. He wanted several different fillings so had to take out and unpack the cling-filmed containers. As I'm putting them on the bread he says he wants it buttered. I take the fillings off and start buttering, he says I have to start again as bread is now "ruined". I start again, butter the bread, start putting away butter, he says that's not enough, he wants more butter.
By this point my face must've given away my feelings, he says "forget it" and storms away. I had to bin everything, what a waste.

I think if this happened now I'd be sacked as I'd chase after him, shove his half-made sandwich into his hand and demand he pays for the ingredients.

The canteen should have kept the kitchen open until 5 on the dot if they expected you to serve! And pay any overtime for clearing up after the shutters were down.

Worked on the hot deli in a large supermarket once. Once cooked the food had to maintain a certain temperature and had to be reduced after a certain time then thrown away if not sold.

Customer discovered this wonderful fact, picks up two chickens, walks around for an hour then puts them back in time for reduction. I noticed the bags were back, checked the temperatures and realised both were nearly 20C under the legal selling temperature. So, naturally I wasted them

Customer returns, demands to know where ‘her’ chickens were. Somewhat puzzled I told her I’d thrown them away. She promptly pitched a fit, going on and on about how I knew she wanted those chickens, I knew she wanted them reduced. I just kept repeating that legally they had to be over 65C to be sold and they weren’t. She accused me of wanting the chickens for myself (Eh?) then stormed off to complain.

I was about 17, waitressing in a local restaurant I had worked at since I was 11 (illegal, I know but I started washing up and it was better pocket money).
A middle-aged man in a suit came in, clearly on a date trying to impress a much younger woman. However, his way of impressing her consisted of him talking to me like shit, calling me "Girl" and demanding personal fine dining service.

In a country pub.

He kept snapping his fingers at me, saying things like, "You, girl! Bring me your best bottle of red!" He also said something about me checking with someone else as I was obviously not the brightest if the best I could do was fetching and carrying plates for a living. He was an asshole.
I had a room full of other tables and he just wouldn't let me get on with my job, constantly calling me back for nothing. Now I was a very good waitress, I always greeted guests with my name and told them just to give me a nod if they needed anything and I'd be right with them, and I did. No one ever had to try and get my attention. This bloke didn't care. He snapped his fingers at me and shouted over the room.

However, what he didn't know was that my boss was an absolute bastard of a man. The type that you see yelling at customers on Ramsay's kitchen nightmares. Well, boss saw this man snapping his fingers at me and told me to stay right where I was and NOT to come over no matter what. He then went up to the man with a "Ah, good evening sir! How are you enjoying your meal? How's the wine? Staff treating you well?" And all that rubbish. The man practically puffed up seeing that he was so important the owner was over to greet him (yeah, real impressive that the landlord of a country pub was greeting him. Admittedly a very popular and well known pub but still, it wasn't The Ritz!) But then Boss said, "Sir, watch this." He then turned to me and snapped his fingers. He whistled. He then started slapping his thighs saying, "C'mon girl! C"mere" and whistling like I was a dog. I remained where I was thinking WTF?!. Boss turned to the man and said, "Hmm. I thought so. Nope. She's not a dog. So I guess clicking your fingers and shouting to her won't do you much good. IF you want her, just look up and she'll come over but please don't try to degrade my staff again." And walked away like a goddamned hero, cape flapping in the wind! The fella quickly ate up, paid up and left and I made a fortune in tips from the restaurant full of sniggering guests who'd enjoyed watching the show.

So let's give a shout out to all the managers, supervisors, bosses and Owners who don't immediately grovel and say the customer is always right. Here's to the bosses who don't encourage or reward bad customers. Cheers.

I remember a customer once shouted at me (the person in charge that day) because it was raining. It was a petting zoo and cafe in Scotland...it rains a lot. I don't control it. At the time I was upset but looking back it was hilarious.

Worked in a well known cheap sports shop chain and a customer took a shit in the changing cubicle next to the till ffs

Working behind the bar of my local wmc I was 6 month pregnant well known by the regulars as I'd been there 8 years , a new couple came in had a few drinks but served by other staff the woman of the couple came up to the bar slammed her glass down on the bar and said 'fill that I'm going for a piss' I'd got no idea what she was drinking as other staff out cleaning she came back and kicked off because it was empty I tried to explain I didn't know what it was she was drinking and got called a silly fat cow who only had kids so I didn't have to work ,after laughing at her she picked up her empty glass shouting ' ill go and piss in it see how you like that she soon got kicked out and just days later was told she wasn't welcome back in at all .in a different pub had to Id someone he started shouting that other bar staff knew him he always came in I'd been there 6 months never set eyes on him got called thick , blind and stupid he got kicked out and told to come back next day sober

There is another post on here from a customer perspective, I work in retail and when I get bad service as a customer my views and ways of dealing with it are better than before I worked in retail. Has pp's experience on this post made you better customers?

Has pp's experience on this post made you better customers?

Yes! Having tended bar and waited table I am almost endlessly patient and polite to those serving me. I tip very well too.

On a train a few years ago, the train manager was a short, stocky woman, with a crew cut. Some drunks in the next carriage were singing, to the tune of the song Chirpy-Chirpy Cheep-Cheep, over and over: “Where's the lezzer gone - where's the lezzer gone.”

People in our carriage asked her why she didn't call the police, but she said if she did the train would be delayed for an hour at the next station while the police dealt with them. For the sake of the rest of the passengers she didn't want to cause a delay. So she put up with it till the drunks eventually got to their station and got off.