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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To hate customers

541 replies

rahjama · 30/04/2022 09:46

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 cannotHmm
  • 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!!!!!!!!!
OP posts:
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 04/05/2022 01:13

Me: Is that Steven with a v or a ph?
Steven: WITH AN S!

Grin

That reminds me of something somebody wrote on another thread (also kind of covered upthread). A young man went to a hospital and said he was there to visit his grandad. Fair enough, although he might have thought to give his GD's name.... but when asked for his GD's name, he looked at the person asking him as if she were really stupid and repeated slowly, in an irritated manner "His name is GRANDAD!!"

What's that old phrase about there being none so stupid as those who don't know they're stupid?!

WickedWitchOfTheEast87 · 04/05/2022 01:17

Women who take money out of their bra
I’ll match the bra & offer woman who paid for a pair of shoes using money she took out of her KNICKERS!
To extract the money from her under garments she hoiked up her mini skirt, put 1 foot up in a chair & had a hood rummage. This was over 25 years ago & I’m still recovering!

@Nancy75 thats absolutely disgusting! I would've 🤮 and I thought a customer sneezing and coughing on the money then handing it to me was bad you win hands down!

BitterAndTwistedChoreDodger · 04/05/2022 01:24

Pretty sure the original meaning of 'The customer is always right.' was based on a quote by someone who was talking about stock levels and what people wanted to buy. Never meant to be a stick to beat staff with.

Tynesider007 · 04/05/2022 09:19

BitterAndTwistedChoreDodger · 04/05/2022 01:24

Pretty sure the original meaning of 'The customer is always right.' was based on a quote by someone who was talking about stock levels and what people wanted to buy. Never meant to be a stick to beat staff with.

I believe the full saying is" The customer is always right in matters of tatse",

So they are rarely right.

Regarding spitting, it is the mark of a coward, I left the buses when I was spat on and the manager told me it was part of the job and the customer was not banned from our buses. I never carried him again.

Hearwego · 04/05/2022 12:28

The negative thing about modern life is now people can use social media to complain , email, take photos etc etc.
Especially those can use google reviews for unjust or false reviews.
People don’t like being told ‘NO’.

Hearwego · 04/05/2022 12:31

Regarding spitting, it is the mark of a coward, I left the buses when I was spat on and the manager told me it was part of the job and the customer was not banned from our buses. I never carried him again.

Thats terrible. I would have stopped the bus and rang the police as it’s a criminal offence. I would then would tell my manger that I need to go home and change my clothes as get supplies with a new uniform, and I can’t carry on with someone’s saliva on my uniform.

tomatoandherbs · 04/05/2022 12:44

Hearwego · 04/05/2022 12:31

Regarding spitting, it is the mark of a coward, I left the buses when I was spat on and the manager told me it was part of the job and the customer was not banned from our buses. I never carried him again.

Thats terrible. I would have stopped the bus and rang the police as it’s a criminal offence. I would then would tell my manger that I need to go home and change my clothes as get supplies with a new uniform, and I can’t carry on with someone’s saliva on my uniform.

It’s a hall mark of being utterly gross!

Maverickess · 04/05/2022 15:57

BitterAndTwistedChoreDodger · 04/05/2022 01:24

Pretty sure the original meaning of 'The customer is always right.' was based on a quote by someone who was talking about stock levels and what people wanted to buy. Never meant to be a stick to beat staff with.

I often think that some people interpret "The customer is always right" as "The staff are always wrong no matter what they do" - as you say, a stick to beat the staff with.

GrunkleStan · 04/05/2022 17:44

A cimmunity group I'm involved with are looking to raise funds by taking a turn at running the tea stall in the local country park. Its quite basic but well loved by its users. Does soup, homemade cakes, bacon butties etc. All staffed by volunteers.

i looked At their TripAdvisor reviews today. Some bloke (pre covid IIRC) gave 3/5 stars on the grounds he'd made a 60 mile round trip and the stall was closed. Apparently there should be enough volunteers to ensure this doesn't happen.

I've not worked in hospitality for 30 years and I feel so disheartened that some twat feels entitled to write that that I'm almost tempted not to bother.

Abhannmor · 04/05/2022 17:48

Ordering a large round of drinks ending with 'ooh and a pint of Guinness ' grrr..order that one first ffs

latetothefisting · 04/05/2022 18:30

The 'gold card' a few posts above reminded me of working in a cinema when a huge film was newly out (think one of the Harry Potters or star wars or something), and we had huge queues snaking out into the main lobby for people waiting to go into the (completely full) screen. Someone came up to me and asked "We have premier seats, do we still have to queue?" "Yes, sorry, your payment of an additional 50p only entitles you to a slightly wider seat in a central position in the screen, not some sort of celebrity priority and personal escort to bypass the rest of the peasants"

Also as above, trying to get people to move when the fire alarm went off was impossible. If they were in the screen they would just continue to sit there blinking stupidly despite the fact the film stopped, the screen went blank, lights came up, an ear splitting siren was going off, the fire exits lit up, and an announcement came on telling them to evacuate. They would literally wait until a member of staff came in to make them leave. If they were still in the lobby I swear they'd prefer to burn alive rather than lose their space in the queue. Particularly awful given staff weren't supposed to leave themselves until we were sure anyone was out so they were happy to let 16 year old kids endanger themselves.

Then of course there were all the random bodily fluids, in the toilets, in the screens, the people who shagged through the films, people who wanted a refund because they didn't enjoy a film, people who wanted admittance to an 18 showing but to then pay a child's price ticket, people who didn't understand the concept of a cinema "Are you showing Titanic?" "No, that came out 15 years ago." "Okay, um, can I watch Gone with the Wind?" "No. We are only showing the select films listed on the large screen in front of you, and advertised outside which you would have had to walk past. You don't request any random film and we put it on for you."

Giraffesandbottoms · 04/05/2022 18:51

I can’t believe people slagging off customers for making (boring) small talk. Like yes people are predictable and it must be annoying but they are just trying to be polite/have a human interaction. Would you prefer if no one ever said anything?

from a customer point of view it’s very annoying when you need assistance and there is a group of people working but just chatting and ignoring you.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 04/05/2022 23:22

This might be a bit niche, but I always used to feel so terribly sorry indeed for anybody on Family Fortunes with the faintest whiff of a funny name. Les would 'discover' the fact that their name actually sounded quite amusing - for some bizarre reason (might have been on Challenge recently), I recall the Long family, with the dad called Dick - and then the person with that name would have to guffaw along as though nobody had ever realised the potential for humour in it ever before and Les was such an original card.

Soubriquet · 05/05/2022 12:27

Haven’t read the full thread yet, and it’s probably already mentioned, but at least once a day…

”I’m sorry it’s not scanning. Could you please wait a moment whilst a colleague does xyz”

”Not scanning? Must be free ha ha ha ha”

phoenixrosehere · 05/05/2022 12:39

Giraffesandbottoms · 04/05/2022 18:51

I can’t believe people slagging off customers for making (boring) small talk. Like yes people are predictable and it must be annoying but they are just trying to be polite/have a human interaction. Would you prefer if no one ever said anything?

from a customer point of view it’s very annoying when you need assistance and there is a group of people working but just chatting and ignoring you.

Depends on the when..

Empty shop, fine.

Queue of people, definitely not! It’s rude and irritates the people standing behind waiting, and workers have to deal with their attitudes afterwards. It also uncomfortable and annoying trying to get rid of a customer who won’t stop talking while you’re trying to ring up another customer and keep an eye out for shoplifters who will use that to their advantage.

myusernamewastakenbyme · 05/05/2022 15:36

I used to work in a bureau de change...we worked alone so in order to take our 30 minute break we would put a clock up advising of our return....many times i would return to a ranting abusive customer because they had to wait 10 mins for me to reopen....bearing in mind i would be doing a 9 hour shift cooped up in a tiny booth....people also moaned if i nipped out to use the loo....customers really are arseholes.

RightOnTheEdge · 05/05/2022 21:52

the80sweregreat · 03/05/2022 11:32

The idea of the drinks being delivered first in a restaurant ( especially a chain one) is sneaky , they know that people will drink and talk , so by the time the food turns up they may want another drink as it's all gone.
Places that do free refills are good , not so good if it's not this option and you end up paying two pounds for a soft drink or whatever.
They also push for people to have a large drink too ' can I make that a large drink for you ' and hope they don't realize it's more expensive.
It's all mind games and 'up selling ' and positively encouraged by the bosses to do it.

I work in a chain pub/restaurant. We get so many people saying "I ordered my drinks three minutes ago and I still haven't got them."
We really can't win 🤷‍♀️

Maverickess · 05/05/2022 23:03

RightOnTheEdge · 05/05/2022 21:52

I work in a chain pub/restaurant. We get so many people saying "I ordered my drinks three minutes ago and I still haven't got them."
We really can't win 🤷‍♀️

3 minutes? It's always half an hour since someone came to the bar, ordered drinks or asked for the bill, no matter how long it's actually been, and it always gets 5 minutes longer with each time they repeat it (which is every time you're anywhere near them) I'm aiming for someone to tell me they've been waiting to be served for longer than we've been open one day 🤣

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/05/2022 23:41

3 minutes? It's always half an hour since someone came to the bar, ordered drinks or asked for the bill, no matter how long it's actually been, and it always gets 5 minutes longer with each time they repeat it (which is every time you're anywhere near them) I'm aiming for someone to tell me they've been waiting to be served for longer than we've been open one day

We were once in the cafe of a wonderful farm shop in Cornwall - if it wasn't already patently obvious to you, they actually stated on the menu (presumably prompted by experience) that food was cooked to order and served as speedily as possible, but that it was not McDonalds.

A bunch of self-important hoorays came in, ordered their meals and then, after maybe about 15 minutes, one of them stormed over to the counter, demanding to know where their food was, as "We are LITERALLY starving over here!" The looks on their faces and their sudden silence was priceless as a young lad of maybe 7 or 8, who was sitting nicely at another table with his mum and waiting patiently (having arrived a few minutes before the salmon-shirted and red-trousered gentlemen), said rather loudly "Oh, DON'T be so RIDICULOUS!!!" Grin Grin Grin

the80sweregreat · 06/05/2022 09:34

My post about the drinks below was not a dig at all at the staff working hard in hospitality, but it is a dig at the managers and the money men / owners who actively encourage this in order to sell more drinks! There are a few tricks they apply to get people to part with a bit more cash ( including upselling) the staff are often told what to do!

Havanananana · 06/05/2022 09:51

And my favourite call centre one -
Me: Is that Steven with a v or a ph?
Steven: WITH AN S!

And mine from many years ago when call centres were a new thing ..
(listening in to a colleague's call)
Customer: My name is Mr S Smith
Agent: Is that "S for Sugar?" (It could have been F for Freddie)
Customer: No, it's S for Steven. My wife is the only one allowed to call me Sugar

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 06/05/2022 10:00

Lucky he wasn't this bloke!

YarnHoarder · 06/05/2022 10:19

I had a customer the other day, we get this request all the time and it confuses me so much. I work on the pizza counter of a supermarket, the asked for a spicy chicken pizza, we do in fact offer spicy chicken as a topping (great start) but don't do it alone so I asked if they wanted anything else on it. They just repeated they wanted a large spicy chicken pizza so I asked them to tell me exactly what they wanted on it, just repeated spicy chicken pizza so spicy chicken and only spicy chicken is what they got. Turns out an entirely different supermarket pizza counter does a spicy chicken pizza with peppers and onions on it too. I've also had people say "I'll have the usual" despite this being the first time we've likely interacted then there's those that basically run by saying can I have a large pizza, you choose that I have to try and get to come back to the counter. If you leave your pizza choice to me you're getting BBQ sauce, jalapenos, pineapple, meatballs and chorizo with lashings of garlic oil.

Oh I have loads of these but one more just came to mind. I was buying some lunch on my break, had the items in my arms ready to go and pay, it was obvious what was going on but when a customer asked where bedding was I took them to the aisle then turned to leave. They then asked which bedding was best, told them it wasn't my department but the packets have all the relevant information on but the customer service desk could help if they needed more info. They then asked me to go and get a trolley for them as they hadn't got one when they walked passed them before coming into store!! You were planning to buy bedding, why didn't you get a trolley! I drew the line at this, told them I'm actually on my break and they'll have to get their own trolley. They did try to call me back as I was walking away but I just continued to check out as I planned 5 minutes before.

SVRT19674 · 06/05/2022 10:36

@nancy75 that reminds me of the time 22 years ago when a elderly woman walked up to my counter in a mobile phone shop and demanded to know the times and prices for the tourist mini train in the square opposite. When I said I didn´t know she got angry stating that if i were any good at my job, I would know. Another elderly lady already at the counter said to her: and then we say young people are the rude ones... The other walked out in a huff.

Silversprinkles · 06/05/2022 12:53

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/05/2022 23:41

3 minutes? It's always half an hour since someone came to the bar, ordered drinks or asked for the bill, no matter how long it's actually been, and it always gets 5 minutes longer with each time they repeat it (which is every time you're anywhere near them) I'm aiming for someone to tell me they've been waiting to be served for longer than we've been open one day

We were once in the cafe of a wonderful farm shop in Cornwall - if it wasn't already patently obvious to you, they actually stated on the menu (presumably prompted by experience) that food was cooked to order and served as speedily as possible, but that it was not McDonalds.

A bunch of self-important hoorays came in, ordered their meals and then, after maybe about 15 minutes, one of them stormed over to the counter, demanding to know where their food was, as "We are LITERALLY starving over here!" The looks on their faces and their sudden silence was priceless as a young lad of maybe 7 or 8, who was sitting nicely at another table with his mum and waiting patiently (having arrived a few minutes before the salmon-shirted and red-trousered gentlemen), said rather loudly "Oh, DON'T be so RIDICULOUS!!!" Grin Grin Grin

Brilliant!! Well done that young lad Grin

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