To hate customers

[rahjama]

Somewhat lighthearted.

Working in hospitality/retail, what things do customers do that really, really annoy you when you're working? I'll start

• Booking for 6 people and then saying "Hope it's okay we're now a party of 194"

• Paying in cash but they're 1-20p short. "Can you cover it?" No I cannot

• Sitting on tables that are dirty/unset/in the process of being cleaned when there are clean and set tables literally next to them. Then complaining about the lack of cutlery.

• Buying the cheapest pint, saying it's flat/doesn't taste right, then swapping for the most expensive pint.

• Picking up an allergen menu and then saying "is this all you do?" No that's all we do GLUTEN FREE it says at the top!!!!!!!!!

@nancy75 - thank you for your friendlier explanation

@SecretVictoria - wow, that really is crazy! I didn't know that.

For example, customer buys a pack of 3 of something and the complains they only received 3 things, they expected more

The reverse being people like my 2 i.c. who had to do the exercise book order for the following year when I was ill, I got a phone call on my return from the supplier, just checking that I really wanted 800 packs of exercise books holding 20 books each or did I want just 800 books! So glad they phoned to check!

Used to work in a chain coffee shop, guy comes in (NEVER SEEN HIM in the 10 years I'd worked there)
Him: I want a medium cappuccino in a large cup with extra foam.
Me: do you mean you want it extra frothy or a medium with extra foam on top to make it a large?
Him: extra on top.
Me: puts through a large
Him: NO! I ordered a medium!
Me: but you asked for extra foam and it in a large cup, that makes it a large. If you only want to pay for a medium but want it in a large cup it will be short from the top.
Him: HOW DARE YOU! I COME IN HERE EVERY FUCKING WEEK AND THEY HAVE ALWAYS DONE THAT FOR ME!
Me: sorry sir but that's not how it works. If you want a medium you get a medium, you want to pay for a large I'll make you a large.
Him: I want to speak to your manager! How dare you charge me for a large! They shouldn't have the new starters serving when you don't know what the fuck you're doing!
Me: I'm now refusing to serve you sir, we have a zero tolerance policy on any abuse towards our staff.
manager comes out of the office after hearing him shouting
Manager: you don't come in every week, I've never seen you before, neither have any of the staff here, you don't get to shout and swear at my staff. Get out!
Him: 😳

Honestly don't think anyone had ever stood up to him before! 😂 never mind 2 passes in their early/ mid 20s!!

If they look young they're probably also students- so stop trying to use them as examples of "failure" to show your kids

I once worked on a market stall and an incredibly snooty woman with sprogs to match commented to her prodigy 'Oh, she added that up quickly for a market worker!', I couldn't resist saying to them 'If you work hard you too can be two years into a Maths degree, like me!'

People are just fucking rude full stop . I thankfully don’t usually have to deal with customers often , but on occasion a call will come through to me because a customer can’t be arsed to press the right option on the phone. Option 1 for orders ( big fucking clue not option 2 accounts ) Anyway when you answer they just start ranting order not arrived it’s wrong or some other problems, at least bloody say hello my name is then explain problem then I may be inclined to help . Not my order hasn’t arrived then I’ve got to ask a load of questions to find out name / company etc to put them through to the right person and it’s not my job . I don’t why people don’t think be nice and you may get help be a rude arsehole and no I won’t help .

Whilst I don’t for a second judge a person’s intelligence based on their job (I’ve been a secretary and know what it’s like), you must surely - if you’re so intelligent - realise that walking into a new environment can be a bit disorientating. Asking where the toilets are when standing right next to them is something we’ve all done and isn’t something to sneer at.

I'm autistic and used to get very nervous going into shops. That nervousness would be far worse if there was a terrible atmosphere created by hostile staff members. Yes I’m sure that a small minority of customers are irritating but I wish you wouldn’t take out your irritation on the rest of us who are just trying to do some shopping/have a nice meal.

My daughter used to work for a fast food company she’s told me some awful customers. On drive through one day a man obviously woke up on the wrong side of bed said to her she was rude ( she wasn’t ) anyway as he drove off he called her a bitch ( I mean isn’t that rude the irony) I really hope he felt better calling a 18 year old a bitch because he was having a bad day, wanker !! .

This was many years ago (20+) and I would expect larger shops to have slightly bigger amounts of stock but AFAIK, the crates were all packed roughly the same.

I once went in Ravel and tried on the correct size of shoe, asked for the other one to try as a pair but it was the wrong size in the box. The staff were very apologetic and said it happened quite often when customers had feet that were different sizes, they’d try both, faff about, do a switch and hope that the staff didn’t notice!

I get what your saying but it's not a minority. It's a lot. All day every day and I do think the British are particularly ghastly compared to some other countries. Add into that appalling work conditions and shit pay many of us no longer have the capacity to care about the customers or their day.

I work a mixture of jobs and its really sad how in the lower paid ones, customers have a much lower level of respect. My colleagues in all my jobs have masses of intelligence and skills and there is no correlation between actual pay and how hard someone works & how clever they are. In my catering job recently a customer joked about getting a job there (hahaha look at me bringing back my pint glass, I could have a job here hahaha!) and I just thought 'you have no fucking clue'.

I get what your saying but it's not a minority. It's a lot.

Is it a small minority of the overall number or are you saying that you work somewhere where 30% or more are unpleasant customers.

I once worked somewhere where everyone complained about the customers (ordering call centre for a company). When the company ran an analysis, most of us had a handful a day out of the several hundred we dealt with. We remembered them more than the seamless transactions (understandably).

@whatyousayin LOL!!!! Brilliant!

Always at least one customer who turns up 30 minutes before closing and then complains there are no carrots or sprouts left (or even turkey).

Oh yes, Asda, Astley Bridge, Christmas Eve, 10 minutes to closing, I was looking for reduced stuff form the freezer but a woman in the vegetable area was screaming at the staff because there were no sprouts, Didn't they know it was Christmas?? The amused customers looked very tempted to burst into song!

Yes. Where you work. You don't speak for all of us.

😊my shop didn’t stock kids shoes (thank god!) but I used to get sent to one that did every term to help during back to school week. The size range for kids shoes is huge because of all the width fittings - they would have stock in the staff room, the office, the toilet - anywhere it could go! Back to school is an absolute nightmare if you work in a Clark’s. Even if you had a lorry outside you couldn’t possibly hood all the stock need

Went to a cafe the other week that was dog friendly.

Some eejit fed their dog a piece of extremely greasy sausage. The dog promptly puked all over the floor. The whole group then sat back and watched while the poor waiter cleaned the floor around their table. Just as soon as he'd finished, the dog puked again.

I don't think they even apologised.

Where you work. You don't speak for all of us.

Mine was a genuine enquiry.

wrt the combativeness, I missed the announcement that anyone on this thread spoke for everyone else.

Thank you so much for that well thought-out response. Of course I do - but why should I have to? Isn't it obvious nobody wants lukewarm coffee with their cake?

I'm not sure if it's a minority or if it's like you said you just remember the awful ones. I ger at least one arsy customer per day which isn't awful except for the majority of my shift the store is closed.
Tbf I do have some lovely customers too but I think it weighs more heavily towards rude ones.
However if you've told a story where the manager backs you be grateful. It doesn't happen where I work.

But surely your freshly made coffee with your cold/room temp cake isn't cold. You said food, suggesting there's at least some cooking involved and therefore a longer wait than if you were having a cake that just needed plating up. I would say the vast majority of people expect and want to get their drink when they order or shortly after and any hot food after a short wait. If my hot food is going to be 20 minutes or longer I want something to drink in the mean time. I was once in a cafe where hot food was taking an hour (I didn't return as food wasn't good even after the wait), would you seriously be happy to wait an hour for food and drink to arrive? Surely you've also realised your preference is just that and that it's different from the norm and therefore you need to ask for them to be served at the same time and not expect them to be mind readers.

Under age children drinking was a problem that more than once happened where I used to work. The first time a child was caught the parent was warned as the parent would invariably say oh but they just snuck a sip of my drink. If the child was caught a second time the adults were refused alcohol. One classic time though when a 10 year old was caught drinking a Blue Wicked the mother’s response was “But it’s not like it’s alcoholic though is it.” 🙄

YANBU

I've luckily only had brief stints working in hospitality while studying

General public can be absolutely awful to deal with

So much entitlement because they are paying for food/drinks...but this doesn't give them the right to treat service staff like shit

I massively judge people who are rude to staff eg waiting staff in a restaurant, I think it really says something about a person's character when they feel they can talk down to others

Try working in local government and you get this and 'I pay my Council Tax so pay your wages'. My stock reply was that I also paid Council Tax so in theory was paying my own wages.

Many years ago I worked in public libraries back in the day when there were drawers of paper tickets. One delightful man commented about my long hair hanging in the tickets and how revolting it was. He was a local councillor so I told him I would remember that comment when he next came round touting for votes come local elections. He did indeed come round a few years later and I reminded him of the conversation and that I wouldn't be voting for him. Several years after that he was in the local High Street again touting for votes with his cronies. Yep, went up and reminded him again. People around tittered, he went puce with rage. Moral is don't piss staff off, they have long memories.

Sort of linked. We live in a small but very touristy village with two very expensive well regarded pubs, most of the roads are 1 1/2 lanes max. Ten times a day during the summer someone will ask "is okay to park here?" "No, try the village car park" most just ask for directions, fine no problems. One in ten will ask "are you sure". One couple were very insistent, I explained that if they parked where they were, they were blocking the road and the emergency services wouldn't be able to get through. The girl replied "why would they want to get through?".