Most ridiculous complaint

[PumpkinKlNG]

I was in McDonald’s today (I know 😬) and a woman came in to complain to the manager that her food had dropped on the floor yesterday and was demanding her money back, she said it happened on the way home. Aibu to think this is the most ridiculous complaint? I was amazed someone would actually come back the following day to complain about that, has anyone else heard of a more ridiculous complaint?

@mineofuselessinformation actually the optom I worked for for 6 years had an argument with someone who had lost vision in one eye only. The point being that if you have good enough vision in one eye that you can drive, you aren’t then classed as partially sighted. Being classed as partially sighted can qualify you for DVLA, being able to see to drive a car means you aren’t partially sighted -and so can use a chip & pin machine perfectly well btw- if you seriously think it would be acceptable for partially sighted people to drive a car I’m concerned.
Sight impaired is where you lose the vision in one eye, my post was because he argued he was partially sighted. Totally different.

[quote iklboo]@purplebunny2012 - it was made into a TV episode too. I remember watching it. Timothy West & Susan George were in it. [/quote]
Recently reshown on Sky Arts too, along with many other episodes of Tales of the Unexpected. I had great fun trying to remember the twists in them all! I need to get out more…

[quote mineofuselessinformation]@Sadiecow, I bow to your superior knowledge and experience.....[/quote]
I have none!

Well this took a turn

You could say it was a Tale of the Unexpected.

I had a patients relative call today to complain that we didn't call her to let her know patient was going home.

No... We told his wife... We won't be calling the whole family.....

Im over nursing these days.

@janj2301

I don't know the correct legal definition but the displayed price either on a sticker on the item or a shelf label is an offer to sell it is not a legally binding agreement, so my manager said!!

I was taught this in retail, too- it is, as pp said, invitation to treat, I think .

I may have also slightly abused it when someone kicked up a fuss about the rrp on something that had been mismarked and saying it was the law to sell it at the price marked. We'd removed prices & written on the correct ones but one item slipped through the net. Normally I'd have just honoured it as our error/goodwill gesture, as was standard- but she'd been so smug and gloating and bullying to my sweet 17yo Saturday girl that I told her "rrp= recommended retail price" and I could ask for more money for the item if I so wanted. And just looked at her. She backed the fuck off. All that over socks.

I also hated people who would ask for discount because it was the last item in that style or their size or whatever- this is a clothes shop, you're not haggling over the last steak bake with 20 min of trade left at Greggs! Or even worse the "discount because I just don't want to pay full price" brigade. Someone tried to call it "cute baby" discount once and my boss let them. You never want to lose the trade but the level of entitlement is jaw dropping and I did resent it. I used to lie & say people had been fired for it- that shut them up easily.

I also hated people who would ask for discount because it was the last item in that style or their size or whatever

What on earth is going through their heads to even think about that excuse? It's so pathetic. Some online shops (like eBay) actually have algorithms so that, the fewer of an item left, the higher the price goes.

This reminds me of a thread from some months ago where the OP wanted some children's shoes and the only pair that the shop had left in the right size and desired style had some kind of cosmetic imperfection. She assumed that this gave her a defined right to a discount and (IIRC) argued with the assistant who, quite understandably, told her that "the price is the price".

Her 'justification' was that she had no alternative but to buy the (in her opinion) sub-standard pair at the full price, but she did have a very clear alternative - not buy them!

Or even worse the "discount because I just don't want to pay full price" brigade.

That also reminds me of an episode of the Simpsons, where Moe the bartender was being dragged away by the police on the instructions of the IRS. They were telling him "You have to pay your taxes, Mr Szyslak" - and he was fighting them and screaming "BUT I DON'T WANT TO!!!"

I work in Tenancy Enforcement and we had a complaint that a neighbours dog was a racist because it barked when she walked past and she was black.

Or even worse the "discount because I just don't want to pay full price" brigade.

If the RRP is only an invitation to treat, surely the customer is just as entitled to make an invitation to sell for a lower price. If someone's being an arse, they're just being an arse, but merely asking whether they can get something cheaper isn't in itself wrong.

The exception to this would be such shops where the till worker obviously has no control or discretion over the price, for example chain stores etc. In that case, someone asking for a discount is simply wasting the worker's time.

I used to work in a small supermarket.

We had a complaint that the peppers were more than in the big supermarket. Then the customer complained that the fuel cost would be more than the price difference.

Customer came in and complained about being overcharged on potatoes. Held up the queue. “It’s not the money, it’s the principle”. Turned out to be 20p. He owed the shop 20p. He refused to pay. Fed up Customer in the queue said “pay up it’s the principle” bloke stormed off!

Customer walked into the shop smoking. Was told they couldn’t smoke in the shop. Shouted “it ain’t Sainsbury’s”(15 year old assistant asked her not to smoke). Manager told her to f-off out of his shop. (She was puffing around the bakery). On her way out kept complaining about being able to smoke where she wanted.

Customer tried to steal vodka. They put it in a bag, put their coat/jumper on top of it. A 15 year old assistant offered them a basket. They went into a rant at this poor girl, accusing her of calling them a thief. Complaining About being insulted. Manager stepped in. Called them a thief. Took the vodka back, made them leave.

I remember hating doing pet food. You had to reduce dented tins by 20%. I had this old lady complain that 20% wasn’t enough. In the end I asked her how many tins she wanted and reduced them half price just for her. She wanted 10 tins. I still wonder how she carried them home, she looked about 7 stone!

A woman would come in for “bits for the rabbit” basically you went through the vegetable bin picking out cauliflower leaves, carrots that didn’t make display, cabbage leaves etc. I handed her 2 large bags. Customer saw this and complained about “she got free food” and demanded a bag. I gave her the same. Customer looked in horror and said “I cant eat this!”

If the RRP is only an invitation to treat, surely the customer is just as entitled to make an invitation to sell for a lower price. If someone's being an arse, they're just being an arse, but merely asking whether they can get something cheaper isn't in itself wrong.

Nothing wrong with asking if that's their 'best price' or for a bulk-buy deal - as long as they do have the authority to give a discount - but, for me, it's the entitlement that those who make a scene and demand or expect the discount that they think they deserve that is so disgraceful. As long as you don't approach the 16yo Saturday boy, there's no issue with seeing if a price negotiation might be possible - and then either accepting it or quietly declining and leaving without a fuss if it doesn't work for you.

A woman would come in for “bits for the rabbit” basically you went through the vegetable bin picking out cauliflower leaves, carrots that didn’t make display, cabbage leaves etc. I handed her 2 large bags. Customer saw this and complained about “she got free food” and demanded a bag. I gave her the same. Customer looked in horror and said “I cant eat this!”

That reminded me of a story I read many years ago, about a newly married woman who was out doing the food shopping, needing to keep to a strict budget, and she'd heard that coley was much cheaper than cod. She asked the fishmonger for some coley and he asked if it was for the cat. Embarrassed, she lied that it was, so he took her payment and handed her a big bag, telling her that he'd thrown in some manky, slimy fish heads as well

Side note but i actually really liked coley!😁

@SpnBaby1967

I work in Tenancy Enforcement and we had a complaint that a neighbours dog was a racist because it barked when she walked past and she was black.

A friend had a racist dog. It barked and went crazy whenever black people walked past it. My own dog went crazy when it saw anyone wearing a hat.

I had a sexist parrot. It didn't like women and would fly to and kiss and cuddle men. It was a hell of a shame as he was mine and I never got a look in once I met my DH.

Animals are strange sometimes but definitely not worthy of a complaint like that!

I can understand an animal being discriminatory in some way - e.g. some dogs really hate men maybe they're on MN! or children (maybe they've been distressingly 'teased' by kids before) - and it quite possibly is because of a particular physical attribute that somehow bothers them that they're barking; but I don't think it comes from a position of deliberate hatred or canine privilege. What on earth do they expect you to do about it?!

Surely, the main thrust of racism is the overt suggestion that you are somehow 'better' than somebody else for a ridiculous arbitrary reason; but as a human, you're already far superior in almost every way apart from the desire to sniff bottoms or the ability to run after balls than any dog could ever possibly be.

Canine priviledge😁

I actually knew a racist dog

My aunt lives in an area that has a high Indian and Pakistani population. She had adopted an Akita who unfortunately been badly abused by men of the origin I just said

This meant, that every time the dog saw men of this decent, she lost her mind barking and growling quite viciously. She had to be muzzled to be walked

Or even worse the "discount because I just don't want to pay full price" brigade.

We were behind a bloke trying to haggle in Aldi once.

Or even worse the "discount because I just don't want to pay full price" brigade.

Yes, we constantly get people trying to haggle. When we say no they go and ask someone else - usually the nearest male.

My (female) boss (actual, owner of the company) said no to a bloke the other day so he asked one of the male shop floor staff that just so happened to be in the office sorting out his payroll.

We also get “you’re far too expensive” or “it’s a rip off”. No. Our products cost what they cost. We’re competitive in our industry and we’re a business, not a charity. We may be out of their budget, but rip off we’re not

Yes, we constantly get people trying to haggle.

Because years ago they told you to try and haggle. It was an urban myth that you could barter in retail stores for auch better price.

@KatherineJaneway

Yes, we constantly get people trying to haggle.

Because years ago they told you to try and haggle. It was an urban myth that you could barter in retail stores for auch better price.

Yes, Martin Lewis isn't the most favourite person among a lot of retail staff now that he's spent years telling customers to haggle and complain!

I've been the customer on the other end of these stories

• I have a 'brakes for life' guarantee that allows me to get the brake pads changed for free on any car I own, as long as I take the car in for assessment within 7 days of buying it. I've twice taken my car to Kwik Fit and been super confused when they couldn't find me on their system, pulled out my paperwork and had them point out that my guarantee is with Halfords. Twice!

• I was on a work call while sitting in a quiet corner of Starbucks at a service station. I had noise-cancelling headphones on and didn't hear the fire alarm go off so was ushered out by an irate member of staff doing a final sweep of the cafe. There really was a fire too.

• I bought toddler DS a pair of Clarks shoes. The stitching started coming apart after a few days so I decided to take them back one afternoon. That morning he wet himself so I arrived at Clarks and presented them with a pair of wet, stinking shoes. They exchanged them for me but I bet they thought I was a CF trying it on.

I'm always nice to retail and hospitality staff though!

A patient came in soon after we reopened after the first Covid shut down (dental surgery). As she was elderly I asked how she had got on with shielding, she launched into a great long moan about how her GP had failed to check up on them. I think because the GP sent out the letter asking them to shield she was expecting a weekly phone call to see how they were coping.
She then listed all the “obvious” things we were doing wrong. The main one was that we had no hand sanitizer available. I informed her it was on the reception desk where it had been since the swine flu outbreak in 2008. She informed me it should be by the door, I explained that after the third bottle had gone missing (it was still in short supply) we decided to move it.
On her return to reception she then moved it around much to the receptionists amusement until she realised the best place was where it had originally been.
Covid has really elevated the complaints we receive to Oscar winning level.