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!!!!!!!!!

@lameasahorse a bad review still lowers the overall rating of the place - many people won’t read the review to take into account whether it’s valid or not, they’re just looking at the ranking or score and scanning a couple of comments.

I’ve read the whole thread and haven’t seen this mentioned!

I work in a supermarket, I’m rarely on the tills but when I am what REALLY winds me up is when the customers act surprised when you tell them how much their shopping is, then spend ages looking for their purse/wallet. Were they not expecting to have to pay?! Get your money/card out whilst I’m scanning your stuff!

I used to waitress at company parties. These were expensive dos for well paid professional people.

At every Christmas party - every single one - we would strip the floor length tablecloths at the end of the evening and find someone passed out there.

Not quite retail but the travelling public.
I work at passport control (hence the name) and so many folk are either stupid, ignorant, entitled or just extremely rude. Bear in mind that we are not a service but a law enforcement authority with powers of arrest and authority to remove you from the country. That doesn't seem to phase certain types who still treat you like dirt.
And don't get me started on the tired comments when checking passports:
"Yes, it's me!" (Really, sir, thank goodness it is or I'd be detaining you for forgery)
"He is/She is /I am the ugly/good looking one" (in a car full of passengers. Do you want me to comment?)
"Why are there so many people travelling?" (Because everyone, JUST LIKE YOU, chose to journey on a Bank Holiday)
My absolute favourite was the "gentleman" who rocked up five minutes before the ferry was due to depart and asked if I could contact the ferry company to hold the ship for him.
I was so tempted to pick up the phone and pretend to make a call then tell him the ferry was holding on...

This thread is incredible, so many funny memories. I worked in retail from 16-21 when I gave it up and did office temp work until I graduated. Highlights included:

• being shouted at while working in Boots because we didn’t sell hamster cages
• being shouted at for asking for a debit card when this guy was paying with a cheque. At Safeway (RIP) 20 years ago if someone wanted to pay with a cheque you also needed the debit card to guarantee the cheque - you’d have to swipe it or it couldn’t be processed. The man got upset as ‘his signature was his guarantee’ and stormed out leaving a full belt of shopping.
• Someone complained once when I offered them a free magazine
• Someone complained once when I offered to help pack their shopping
• having to listen to customers say ‘it’s real, I printed it this morning’ HURHURHUR when I’d hold cash up to the light (just realised it’s quite rare for people to pay cash now so you don’t see people doing that as much!)

22 years in retail. Just too many to narrow down.
Pettiest bug bear: unfolding every single towel in every single colour to ‘look’ at it and make sure the size is right. THE SIZE IS ON THE F*ING LABEL!
Towels, sheets, blankets. Anything that is a pain in the arse to refold when you have a million things already to do thanks to Linda, who just had to bring the whole family to do the weekly shop on a busy Saturday afternoon, have already moved the entire toy aisle out of sequence to keep the kids busy whilst they choose their weekly tipple only to return it next week as the ‘didn’t like it’ but needed to drink 6 bottles 1st and we would like compensation for that please we drive 0.5 of a mile to bring it back, put the candles in the meat section as they have changed their mind and have opened all of the kettles that will now never go back in the box again just in case it looks ever so slightly different from the display model. 😑
love my job promise. Just not people. Not much at all.

@HollysBush I work in a school and if I had a pound for every time a parent rings up and says "My DD/DS isn't coming in", gives me a huge long spiel about their symptoms and the progress of their illness, and then acts as if it's a huge imposition when I say "ok, and what is their name and class, please?"

We only have 400-odd children in the school, I should obviously recognise every parent's voice immediately...

BTW it is absolutely the British travellers that are the worst behaved by far.
Middle class pensioners travelling during the peak of the school holidays, when they can travel any time of the year, then complaining about the queues really grip my shit. They like to threaten to complain to their MP, to which the reply is "Please do, maybe they'll get the government to fund a decent recruitment campaign".

Brides emailing late in the evening and by 10am the following morning sending an arsey message because I hadn’t replied yet!

I don't work in weddings but I do oversee the online retail for a small company. The amount of Etsy/Amazon/eBay messages I get where they've sent an enquiry at 9/10/11pm on a weekend and are then followed up by 6/7/8am arseholery about why have I not replied yet??? Always three or more question marks for full fuckwittery Fucking muppets.

I work in bakery at supermarket. Woman on Xmas Eve 5pm telling me her Xmas was ruined as was no mince pies left!!! Also been told had ruined a woman's day as no hot cross buns left, late on Easter Saturday!

@ShaneTwane or the customers on the self pay tills, finishing scanning and paying for their things AND then take a bag to pack them in. Used to frustrate me no end.

I work for an airline. I fucking hate people.

if I had a £1 for every person who is never flying my company again, I could retire on a decent sum. There is nothing worse than having to listen to people whinging that they have to fly business instead of first. Twats.

Oh god. The seperate bills when out to eat. I was on a hen do a while ago and there were maybe 20 of us out to eat. I assumed we’d split the bill because so many of us. But no. The bridesmaids got a calculator out and worked it out to the penny what everyone owed. Now I wouldn’t have minded just paying for what I had if it had been discussed initially. And then the poor waitress who was serving us wouldn’t have had to faff around and also wait for them to stop faffing.

I always take wipes and a little bag to try and scoop up as much mess from my little one eating dinner and take it home with me but I can’t always get it all off the floor 🥺

Self service sometimes I pack as I go.
But otherwise I wait till the end.
Depends how much shopping and what I actually bought.

Have to take issue with this slightly. On the other side of the coin, more and more, recently, I’m noticing that there are always at least one, if not two items going off or damaged in netted or pre bagged fruit and veg, which isn’t evident at the time of purchase. It’s especially a problem with online deliveries.

For example, I had bank holiday delivery on Friday which included an onion that was unusable, a rotten tomato, an orange with a prominent green patch and a bag of sprouts, which when opened, emitted a rotten smell and went straight in the bin. Do supermarkets not care about quality any more, or do online customers end up with the crap left on the shelves ? I also had to make an unscheduled visit to the store because I had planned Chicken for Sunday dinner and the use by date on the Chicken was Saturday - same for the coleslaw and potato salad, which I had to return to the driver.

I know these are first world problems but that doesn’t make it right, especially at a time when prices are so high. Sorry, this turned into a customer rant, and for the record I am always polite to retail workers, even when I complain !!

Every single one of these. We did an experiment, we made up every single table apart from one which we left dirty, the next people that walked in sat straight on it, then made gestures for me to run and clean it. People that are demanding and then leave a mess on the floor and their own wipes, kids fruit bowls and wrappers that we don’t even sell etc, these people also never tip. The British are known to be mean non tippers. Going outside for a break and regulars asking for more coffee just as you sit down.

Customer:-‘Your not very vegan friendly’
Me:- we are called Piggys
customer -: I can’t have the bread as I’m gluten free so I’ll have extra bacon
me:- you won’t be able to have the sausages either madam
customer:- oh no I’ll be fine with them.
me:- I’m so sorry madam but I can’t risk endangering your life.

We blocked of a section to clean it, they walked in and tried to remove the chairs to sit where the floor was wet 🤦🏼‍♀️

That’s fine you carry on pudding you’re server off.

I can tell you’ve never owned a business.

Closes at 3.00 pm customers walking in and 2.55, table for six please. Noooo absolutely not, and then they will argue that you don’t close untill 3.00.

DH and I were at a restaurant last friday night, lovely place, really popular, booking essential.
Rude man comes in around 8 ish and demands a table for 6 STRAIGHT AWAY. When told that wasn't possible he blustered that he is a regular customer, knows the owner , blah, blah.
We do actually know the owner, who happened to be the person dealing with this moron.
Moron leaves muttering and slamming doors.
Half an hour later a lady comes in and asked if there is any chance of a table for four, she realizes that there probably wont be, it's her fault for not booking, very sorry to put them out ~ she got a table for 10pm 😀.

Omg you’ve created a monster, I could write on this all day. It should be a legality that everyone works in a restaurant for 3 months upon leaving school, then we would have a nicer, better world.