Tell me about your worst customers

[Thegoodwitchglenda]

Wondered what your worst or most memorable encounters with customers are.

Just for fun and something to remind us to be kind to people in customer facing roles......its often not actually their personal fault.

Feel free to broaden this to colleagues etc if you're not customer facing :)

Had a similar incident as lovemycbf..except this was right in the middle of the aisle! Had to don the rubber gloves, disinfectant spray etc while the customer carried on, having walked past the clearly marked customer toilet.
Then there's the family of five, American tourists, Dad coming up to me saying ' I think my son has thrown up' then carried on shopping. He certainly had, twice; once over the Bakery stand and again in the narrowest aisle. It was near closing time, so fewer staff, and they didn't offer to help clean up. Shopped until closing time was called before going to the checkout, despite 10 and 5 minute closing calls. The vomiter was still in the store. Took us half an hour to clean up, and write off the baked goods that we had to bin.

Customer calling info and complaining about our IT.
He wants to speak to someone from IT.
I agree to take a call as this was fifth time he called poor info.
Customer is not happy.
He wants "someone higher up" in IT.
I left him on wait for half an hour and came back as CTO (position not existing in that company).
He did not realize he needs to click save button to save his work.

Hundrends of others managed without a problem but that prince needed handholding from someone higher up.

As a teenager I worked in a takeaway and ended up being harassed for months by someone. She had just got her order and I was serving someone else. She came back in for a fork which I was going to give her after I had finished taking the order from the other customer. I didn't reply to her straight away so she stormed out and then proceeded to follow me in the street for ages afterwards and threatened constantly to beat me up. The same girl kicked in the glass in the door once when it was a little stiff and she couldn't immediately open it. It's now a good many years later and she's not long appeared in court for attacking someone in a pub so doesn't sound like she's changed.

DH used to work at a train station and was nearly killed by a passenger. It was during Covid when the guy shouldn't have been travelling anyway but he'd obviously travelled to get a fix of something then when DH tried to get him to leave the station after a lot of antisocial behaviour he went for DH and tried to shove him onto the track when there was a train due. That was one of the catalysts for DH leaving that shitty job. He's a bus driver now and regularly has stories of awful passengers there too.

I worked at aldi and was clearly very heavily pregnant, I told the lady that unfortunately our policy is that you pack on the packing bench and the queues are getting longer so I really have to insist she packs her shopping as per store policy (I absolutely hate confrontation but I'd been told off before for not telling customers to do this and was reminded it was part of job).
Well, customer didn't like it, a key phrase was "who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what to do". It was a big rant with a similar vein until I just started crying.

An old man shaking his trouser leg whilst walking from ground to first floor, letting out little rabbity pellets of shit as he went, in a well known high street pharmacy back in the 80s when I was a Saturday girl. TBF, the manager of the store - who was a lovely bloke - cleaned it up, saying he wouldn’t ask his staff to do anything he wasn’t prepared to do himself. Everyone loved him a bit more that afternoon.

I was once at work when a family walked in
Mum,dad,3 kids (2 girls,1 boy)
All immaculately dressed-all wearing white
They ordered their food,sat down and made the biggest mess I've ever seen
Fine-it happens
They all got up and went into the disabled loo,came out and walked out
A lady came up to me a few minutes later and whispered that I 'may want to check the toliet'
They had gone in together and shat all over the floor-it was in puddles (crawling with worms) with loo roll dumped in the mess
The loo itself was spotless-and so where they as they'd walked out

Another one was last week
I'd served two young girls (id say they where about 13 ish) and she gave me two ten pound notes
I gave change and the receipt
Next thing I know,a man who was at least 6 foot tall came storming towards me,screaming and shouting that he was her dad and his dd had paid £30 and I'd short changed her by £10
He stood for 20 minutes screaming at us about how we where 'scamming bastards' and tried to thump us (at one point he grabbed my ponytail and yanked)
Police where called,he got carted outside while the managers checked to see if we had short changed her
We hadnt-it was clearly on the cctv that we hadn't
He spent the night in the cells and is being charged with assault

The bloke who came up behind me while I was bent over changing a bin bag
Ground his hard on into my back and ran off
Was arrested (his girlfriend went mental at me) and got off with it even though it was all on cttv

He tried to stalk me for months afterwards but got bored (police didn't want to know)

The teenager who grabbed me,stuck his hand up my top and the other down my trousers
Rubbed and ran off,sniffing his fingers and shouting about the smell
Police where less than useless
They arrested him,told him to write me a letter to say sorry,but his dad got arsey and told him not to bother as 'it's only a maccys worker'
Never did get that letter and the police didn't bother following it through

Endless men who either come through the drive throu or sit In the click and serve,with their penis out (I don't know if I'm meant to admire it or tell them 'um,it looks like a penis,only a lot smaller')
It happens so many times,it's become 'normal'
I do warn the new girls and they never believe me until it happens

Worked in a fast food place when I was 15. The local yob came in with a kebab that he had had delivered from us and screamed that the bbq sauce was too fucking hot. He proceeded to punch my boss, my boss battered him. It went to court.

I will never work in a customer facing role again.

My first boss in retail was a bit shady/ not by the book and offered ad hoc discount to some favourite regular customers. After she got fired, we stopped this and explained why. One woman asked for years afterwards and would try it on for "my discount" with every new member of staff. Same woman poked her head round a fitting room curtain and tried to dump stuff into my arms as I went by. With all my outdoor clothes on (in winter so I'd unmistakably just been outside), my handbag over my arm and a hot drink in a to go cup in one hand, heading towards the staff room. She looked surprised - literally her jaw fell open- when I explained I wouldn't help as I was on my break and had my hands full - with a cup of sludgy hot chocolate that shouldn't be near clothes. Stupid AND deceitful is such an attractive combination of character traits...

Someone who screamed so loudly and close to my face that the sound physically hit me. I had caught them out trying to potentially defraud us or at least bully free stuff out of us. It didn't work as I had paperwork to disprove them but I was shaking and had palpitations for about 45 min or so afterwards.

A man who threw a t-shirt at me because I needed a receipt to remove a tag left on clothes. He had not bought them at my branch and I was on cctv that could be reviewed by the loss prev team so I couldn't risk it.

A colleague got chatting to a lady buying kids wear and it turned out they lived near each other. Colleague missed a tag. Customer rang up and demanded we send "Janet" to her house with a detagger. We did not- although we refunded the cost of the item as goodwill when she had to come back in.

Another colleague got asked to try on a gilet for someone considering buying it for their sister because "she's a very big girl like you". You got used to comments about your body...

Couple who stormed in with an unwanted present they'd received and demanded a cash refund despite only having a gift receipt. Nothing else or they'd complain. I needed authorisation to do it as a goodwill exceptional gesture. Took me about 40 min to reach the area manager, in which time I'd suggested they do othet shopping and return. They came back whilst I was on the phone on their behalf and complained I was taking too long, the whole thing was an outrage and "they didn't care- it wasn't their problem" when a colleague explained we needed to cover ourselves for audit- which I was doing.

One job had a used tampon left in a fitting room, I've had a guy try on shorts without pants and leave the curtain slightly open so we could see and one of my bosses had a previous customer who used to wank into silky linings, especially pockets.

Soundtracks get people exercised too - I've had someone go bananas because they thought they heard Michael Bolton. Someone else mentioned that another shops Soundtrack was "dur brain music" and she thought it sounded like it was put together for people with low iq.

Too many parents dumping their kids/not paying attention, letting them touch alllll the stuff and treat things as toys and not correcting children if they're rude. They're usually rude and arrogant themselves. One man attempted to scam cash out of me infront of his kids. Didn't happen though.

I worked in one shop where the manager said "my love" to customers a lot. Not usually my thing but I sort of picked it up without thinking as I heard it a lot. Said it without thinking to someone who started having a go at me that I had reduced the value of love and devalued her relationship with her partner and his love for her. I did apologise, sincerely but she carried on for quite awhile.

Plenty of people are simply really rude to retail staff. Comments on how they perceive the work and those who do it and assuming any attempt to speak to them is a sales attempt and ignoring or cutting staff off. Hello or good morning is often just that- and deserves a polite answer.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with this, tbh. You sound like you’re judging someone for outsourcing something they don’t want to do - if she had the time and the money, what’s the issue?

you could and should have explained it’s not possible to do that much in that little time.

some of these stories are insane! How many men just shit out of their trousers?!

Worked in a betting shop aged 17-21. The amount of sleezy customers who would try to feel me up when walking out in the shop doing a shop tidy, putting up the papers ect. Was horrendous. Was spat at because someone lost a bet (like I forced them to put the money on). Men used to piss in the scooped slot where the coins used to fall into on the machines. Shit smeared over the walls of the toilet. Not to mention the fact I had a gun held to my head during a robbery and obviously shut the shop and had a customer complaining that they couldn't watch their race while I was hysterical due to having the gun cocked while against my forehead. Never again. No idea why I put up with it for so long. Young and naive!

A family once came in
Sat down,didn't make a peep-all good
Until the little girl (aged about 4) stood up,put her hand up her dress and pissed all over the floor
Her parents clicked their fingers at me to get my attention and to clean it up but didn't seen fussed she'd pissed on the floor-they just carried on eating

The family who came in with 5 kids
God almighty,the parents where entitled,loud,arsehole pisstakers,but the kids where mute
A line of small kids-not a peep out of them-not a word nor a noise
I commented to a colleague how unusual that was at the time
It was in the papers a week later-the parents had smoked so many cigarettes and one had sparked
4 kids lost their lives that night
Ss-'lessons will be learned'

One woman came in and started screaming at me over something minor-I went to get a manager
Her kid ran upstairs to find our ipads,he didn't bat an eyelid at his mother's behaviour and after 20+ minutes of screaming,she finally turned round to see where he was
Cue another half hour of being screamed at as I was meant to nanny her child and stay with him until she'd finished abusing us-she was right in my face,threatening to thump me
We told her we are a fast food restaurant and not a personal nanny service and that she was now banned
She grabbed him and fled
A week later,she's in the drive throu,screaming that she wanted her food for free,she wasn't banned and she wasn't moving
She was blocking the whole drive throu-with her car,so other drivers where getting arsey as they couldn't get past her
We rang the police,who came out and shifted her (minus her free food) and 3 guesses who pulled the same stunt 2 days later?
She's now banned from coming within 100 metres from the building
Time will tell if she sticks to it or will do it again once the injunction runs out

I'm torn on this one. Obviously, shouting about it was inappropriate, but I would have been livid as well (although depending on where it was located, he should surely have noticed the break) If I hurt myself on a broken toilet in a public building, I would not be happy at all.

I worked on the cosmetic counter in Boots in the 1980s, when it was quite glamorous and each brand had their own consultant trying to flog stuff. A customer insisted I give her a 'Joan Collins' makeover, which I did. She looked absolutely dreadful when I'd finished; it just didn't suit her at all - all big eyelashes and glossy red lips. She was furious. I still laugh at the memory.
Also, a famous page 3 model used to shop at our branch. She was always drunk in the afternoons, and her handbag contained wads of cash and lots of loose, mostly broken, cigarettes. We could sell her literally anything, but she taught me a few things about make-up too.

In my early twenties I worked in a village shop. One day a woman came in to buy cigarettes, she told me what she wanted and I turned around to get them for her, at which point she suddenly started screaming at me "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME DO YOU?" She launched into an utterly unhinged tirade about how she used to have all the gold and jewels and fur coats when she was young, whilst I stood there in utter confusion. She then started demanding that I go outside to fight her! I had only turned around to get her cigarettes for her, to this day I have no idea how I managed to set her off! She eventually left and on future occasions when she came into the shop it was like nothing had ever happened and she was quite normal. Really bizarre.

The absolute worst though was the dirty old man who wouldn't leave me alone, he was probably old enough to be my granddad and was well known for being a drunk. He'd always come into the shop and make comments about how lovely I was and ask me out for a drink etc and refused to take no for an answer. My boss was great and when I told him about it he had words with the guy, told him to leave me alone or he'd be banned. It worked. Then later on the boos sold the shop to new owners and the creep decided to start again. I told new owners, they didn't care and refused to say anything to him because he spent so much in there on his addiction. One day the creep was being a creep to me right in front of the new owner, I looked to him for help and he looked down at the floor turned around and slunk off into the back room and shut the door, giving creep the very clear signal that he could do what he liked and get away with it now, the behaviour escalated to him trying to grope me over the counter. I left that job very soon after that.

Please get another job. You shouldn't have to put up with that.

A guy using the self scanning machines got coppers in change , started screaming and swearing at me to " Fucking sort it out you cunt ". I just said I'm not here to be abused and walked off . People think they have power over you because they are a customer.

@Sharontheodopolodous

That was sexual assault you should have pushed for a prosecution.

This happened to me once but as the actual customers family.

my elderly mum had ordered at toy from an online retailer. She was adamant it was smyths toys. We needed to take it back as she’d bought the wrong thing.
the woman in smyths was adamant it wasn’t from smyths and mum was adamant it was. I stupidly hadn’t checked the paperwork, it wasn’t from smyths!
6mths later my mum had a dementia diagnosis

I’m not saying what you experienced was right but there could have been a genuine reason

Working in a call centre with mainly female staff. We'd regularly get calls from men who seemed off, creepy, and who would make the call handlers uncomfortable. It was rarely something obvious like direct sexual comments, or asking personal questions, just an offness that would make people uncomfortable.

For the obviously creepy callers they would just hang up. Bosses were less happy for terminating a call on a feeling though, so the protocol was to transfer them to a man.

Regularly had calls transferred to me where the caller just hung up on hearing a male voice.

One regular caller would start normal, then halfway through the call start asking what footwear the call handler had on.

My ex worked in McDs when we first met and he once walked into the men's toilets to find a guy colouring his penis in with a green felt tip pen.

Customer wanting a silver charm of a very specific unusual item...can't remember what. We had one! Showed her then she said I wanted a gold one.
And marched off.

Can you tip their food in their laps when they're in the car?

I worked in a very well known high street opticians ten years ago as the contact lens manager. Legally to sell you CL's in the UK you need 2 things: an up to date sight test from within the last 2 years and a CL check done in the last year.
A man came in with his 2 prescriptions but both were out of date. Normally we would have tried to fit him into one of our clinics but they were fully booked for about a week. He was screaming at me at the top of his voice and telling me it was my fault as he wouldn't be allowed to work (he was going away on a boat and if he didn't have his lenses he wouldn't be able to work apparently.) We'd sent him letters and texts telling him both of his checks were due so he did know.
At one point I thought he was going to hit me as he was leaning right over my counter screaming in my face. I'm still proud how I stood up to him that day as I'm a very quiet shy person.

The vomit ones have remindered me of another

Child was sick over a bin in the bar area on the way to the loos. Duly cleaned up. Adult with them didn't say anything.

Very short turnover between shows. As in just about enough time to clean before needing to reopen

Discovered said child had also been very sick in the auditorium and the adult just didn't bother to say a thing to us. We found it because of the smell. Took a while to clean up and really held us up

I was a Samaritan nearly 50 years ago, and I always worked on Sunday afternoons

Back then (no idea what it's like now) you couldn't put the phone down on a caller. Sadly a lot of bored men on a Sunday seemed to thing that the Samaritans was a porn line. If my male colleague was on a call of his own then I couldn't pass it over and had to listen whilst trying to put them off.