Sometimes the customer really isn't the one whose right. These workers had to put these customers in their place in these hilariously stupid moments.
(Content has been edited for clarity)
She Thought Free Wi-Fi Was Her Basic Right
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“I used to do tech support for Verizon and a lady called in yelling at me for shutting down her wifi.
I asked for her account info – she doesn’t have an account.
I asked her why she called us then and she described the screen that shows up when you don’t pay your bill.
She continued to adamantly claim she has no Verizon account and it is illegal for us to shut down her wifi because we don’t own the air.
Finally, I helped her log into her router to get some info and pulled up an account with a different name on it.
She recognizes that name as her neighbor.
I spent the next while trying to get her to understand that she’d been using her neighbor’s connection but the neighbor didn’t pay the bill so there was nothing I could do (probably not supposed to discuss the neighbor’s billing issue without permission but I’d already told her that screen was from unpaid bills before we figured out it was her neighbor).
I don’t think I ever got her to stop telling me I was violating her rights by not allowing her to use the WiFi in her own home…
That call happened to be randomly recorded for QA. My manager, entire team, and multiple training classes thereafter got a good laugh out of it…”
Even When It’s Not This Company’s Fault, It’s Their Fault
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“C: ‘ The computer you sent me is broken, fix it!’
M: ‘We don’t provide computers to anyone, this is (company name).’
C: ‘I got a computer from you guys to use for school 2 weeks ago. Give me a new one NOW.’
M: ‘Where did you get it from?’
C: ‘YOU!’
M: ‘What was the company name?’
C: ‘My god you are so annoying. I got it from (Different Company Name).’
M: ‘You’ll want to contact them. This is (Company Name) and we don’t provide computers.’
C: Brief silence. ‘THIS IS YOUR FAULT.’ [Hangs up]
One of the dumbest calls I have ever had. This was a few years ago and I’m glad I don’t deal with those people anymore.”
Some People Make You Question How They Function In Society
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“I worked in a scooter repair shop. This customer was well known for being beyond stupid every time we saw them.
This time, she had lost her keys. She had us pick up the scooter, cut her a new key, and came in to pick it up.
She walks in, pays, and goes outside to drive home. She walks back inside.
Customer: ‘Um, when I dropped my bike off, there were like, a lot more keys on here…’ [holds up a key ring].
Coworker: ‘You had us pick up your scooter, because you lost your keys.’
Customer: [eyes go wide after several seconds of confusion] ‘Oooohhhhhh thaaats riiiigghht!!’
We all stare at each other as she leaves, wondering how she functions in society.“
No One Could Make This Woman’s Crazy Egg Order
“When I worked in hotels, I had a woman come in for breakfast with her tour group. She was American (this is in Australia). We had a hot buffet (sausages, fried or poached eggs, bacon, hash, etc) and a cold (Continental) buffet. You can get cold boiled eggs on the Continental. We also have omelets available, but these are an additional $5.
So this woman approaches me wanting an omelet. I explain to her the extra charge, which she has to pay in advance. She refuses to pay for the omelet but I see her grab a plate and fill it with three or four boiled eggs.
About 3 minutes later she’s demanding to see me so I go to her table. All her cold eggs have been smashed apart on the plate.
Her: ‘These aren’t what I want! I want the flat eggs!’
Me: ‘Sorry, you want the flat eggs?’ (Thinking maybe that’s a style of cooking eggs in the US)
Her: ‘Yes, the flat eggs! Like that one!’ (points to the omelet on the next table, where there are also some empty shells). ‘Mine came out round! I want flat!!’
Me: ‘…’
After much yelling, I worked out that she’s never seen an omelet MADE. She thought because there were empty egg shells on the other table, that omelets came packed and cooked up inside an eggshell, and that when you crack one open, it folds down onto the plate….”
They’d Have To Take Down Notes For This Customer’s Dumb Request
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“I used to work in a call center. This took place back when computer inkjet printers were fairly new. They didn’t have wireless network capabilities nor did they have SD card readers built in.
A woman called to place an order and the conversation went like this
Her: ‘Hi. I’d like to order item #6533.’
Me: ‘Ok. That would be an HP printer, would you also like to add the printer cable as it’s not included?’
Her: ‘Why would I need a cable?’
Me: ‘To connect to your computer.’
Her: ‘Oh honey, I don’t have a computer I just want to print some stuff.’
Me: ‘Umm. You need a computer in order to print stuff.’
Her: ‘No. My son knows a lot about computers and you are wrong.’
After spending 5 minutes explaining how she can’t print without a computer, she continued to place the order and the call ended. I wrote careful notes in the log as I knew she’d call back to return it.
Sure enough, about 3 weeks later I checked and she had called to return it. In the notes the person who handled the return said that the person she ordered it from said nothing about needing a computer to work the printer. I didn’t get in trouble cause my notes had been in the system saving my butt.”
She Was Sure She Was Canadian, Eh?
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“I work in a big name hardware store with an online component, so there is an American division and a Canadian division (I’m in Canada).
The customer talks to me over the phone and says that she wants a particular product, saw it online and that we carry it, so how many are in stock?
I reply with confusion as I couldn’t find the product she was referring to, so my first question was are you on .ca or .com website? I only have access to .ca stuff.
She blathers on how she’s totally on .ca, we bicker a bit and I’m convinced she’s on .com. She’s getting angry, asks my name and will show me said print out TODAY. I tell her my name and say go ahead and come on in.
So she brings a print out to my store, finds me, and shows me the page.
It says freaking .com in the URL. Then she comes back with this gem, the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard:
‘I have a Canadian computer so any products I buy online should be found in Canada! I want this now!'”
He Could Take His Red Face And Hot Temper Elsewhere
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“I worked at Burger King, had a really busy rush, line all the way to the door. This guy comes in and gets in line, real crappy look on his face. He waits in line for about 5-10 minutes (anger building), gets up to my register and screams while waving a Taco Bell bag at me ‘You forgot my sour cream.’
I was dumbfounded at how the guy could have waited in line, with all the pictures of burgers everywhere, and the completely different color scheme. So I told him I would go get my manager (she was a real old and crankier kind of lady, rough around the edges.)
As I come back I can see the guy has this odd look on his face, like its starting to sink in, my manager comes up and I tell her ‘We forgot the sour cream for his tacos.’ She looks at me, rolls her eyes harder than I have ever seen anyone roll their eyes, and turns around and walks back to her office.
The guy looks at me, he is starting to look nervous, his brain knows something is wrong… I point out the window, he looks out the window, sees the Taco Bell next door. He was out the front door fast, bright red, not a word.”
This Lady Had Reached The End Of This Worker’s Rope
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“I worked at Primarni (a huge clothing retailer in the UK – it sells a variety of clothes at cheaper prices – they’re bad quality and I’m still convinced made in 3rd world countries). I worked in the women’s changing rooms and was putting jeans back on the racks. Now we all wear these obnoxious blue t-shirts that say ‘I LOVE PRIMARNI’ across the back, you know, in case anyone thought I was putting away stock for fun. So we’re easily identifiable. Some woman (think ‘can I speak to the manager?!’ haircut) comes up to me. Let’s call her Angry Mum (AM). I’ll just be ME. This is how it goes:
AM: ‘Excuse me.’
ME: ‘Yes ma’am?’
AM: [holds up a pair of jeans that are on sale] ‘I need these but in a smaller size for my daughter.’
ME: ‘Sorry ma’am, those are a sale item and so we don’t have any more available.’
AM: [starts to__grow red] ‘Well I need them, go and check the back!’
ME: [having been on since 8 am and now its 7 pm and so so done with this shift and job in general] ‘Sorry ma’am, we don’t have any in back, they’re a sale item so any left will be out on the rack.’
AM: [growing redder] ‘That makes no sense! The item is on sale so you should have more because you’ll sell more!’
ME: ‘No ma’am, it’s on sale for half price because it didn’t sell well. It wouldn’t make sense to order more.’
AM: ‘But that’s stupid! You should have more because it’s cheaper!’
ME: ‘Again, it’s cheaper because it didn’t sell well. It wouldn’t make sense to order more when it didn’t sell in the first place.’
AM: ‘Well maybe you shouldn’t have clothes that don’t sell well!’
ME: ‘Probably not. Excuse me.’
So the point of the story guys is, if you have an item on sale because it didn’t sell well you definitely should order more! Sigh. I’m so glad I left that place.”
Their Comeback Was Ice Cold
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“The ice dispenser broke at the fast food joint I used to work at. As a temporary fix, while we waited for the repair guy to come take a look at it, we set out a giant serving bowl full of ice with tongs, so people could still ice their drinks. About 10 minutes after putting out the ice bowl, a customer comes up to me to complain that the machine isn’t dispensing ice.
I tell him, ‘We know. A repair guy was called, but he’s not here yet. In the meantime, there’s a bowl next to the soda fountain, so you can still get ice.’
The guy immediately gets an attitude about it. ‘How do I know that ice hasn’t been sitting out there all day?’
I stare at him for a good few seconds before saying, ‘Because it’s still solid.’
He stares at me confused, so I say, ‘If left out at room temperature ‘old ice’ would just be water.’
‘I want to speak with your manager.'”
“You Have To Fill Them?”
“A pleasant lady walked into the bike store I work at and asked us to help take her daughter’s bike out of the car to find out why it wasn’t riding as well as it had been when she got it. I stride over to her minivan and lug out a beautiful, spotless blue Bianchi. Looked like it had been ridden maybe twice.
Brakes were snappy, shifting was crisp, the chain had zero rust and zero stretch. The bike was basically good as new.
Except the tires were empty. I asked her when her daughter filled them last.
‘You have to fill them?'”
She Just Couldn’t Trust The System
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“I work at a newspaper and we accept payments for subscription over the phone.
This woman (older lady, probably 70+), after giving me her details so I can find her information and pull her account up, says she wants to make a payment by card.
I enter the information once, but the page refreshes on my computer and wipes the info. I then tell her ‘Could you repeat your card number, please? My computer erased it for some reason.’
She replies with ‘You’re entering this on a computer?’ Long pause. ‘Never mind I don’t trust computers.’ She then hangs up the phone.
Like, do you think your card is magic orrrr…?”
This Customer Can’t Make Any Decisions
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“I used to work in a store that sold stuff for getting organized and we carried step ladders for people who might be putting stuff up on high shelves. We had two different models which were completely identical except one had two steps, and the other had three steps. And the larger one cost like $5 more.
One night the store was completely dead when this guy walks in and asks if we have step ladders, so I show him the two choices. He asks all these questions about which one I think is better and whether I recommend one or the other and a bunch of other inane stuff and all I can tell him is that the ONLY difference is the extra step and about $5 in price. So the guy says, ‘Ok let me think about it for a minute.’ So I leave him to it.
He ponders this life-altering choice for an hour. He calls his wife to discuss it FOUR TIMES. After endless hemming and hawing he ends up not buying either one and leaves us with the parting words, ‘I don’t know, I think three steps may just be a little too much ladder for me.’
I honestly don’t know how someone that indecisive even manages to get dressed in the morning.”
This Customer Probably Should’ve Realized Where He Was Before Insulting This Lowe’s
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“‘Man, y’all don’t know how to treat customers. It’s why you all losing money. I’m going to Lowe’s.’
From a customer yelling at customer service, in a Lowe’s.”
This Worker Couldn’t Wait For This Crazy Customer To Call Corporate
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“Once while I was working at a furniture store, I had a customer come in and ask to redeem her points. I politely explain we don’t have a points system but our loyalty card gets you an extended return time, etc. The customer keeps repeating she has over $100 in points and she needs to use them. Finally, we get to the point where she has been blocking the line for 5 minutes and is demanding to speak to the manager saying, ‘I’m going to tell on you for not giving them to me!’
The manager shows up and listens to her rant for probably a full 2 minutes before she gets a word in: ‘I’m sorry ma’am, but we don’t do points. Never have and probably never will. Are you confused with (another furniture store across town)?’
Her walking out all red faced saying she was going to report both of us to corporate customer care was probably one of my most satisfying moments in retail ever.”
It Was Time For This Retail Worker To Put Their Foot Down
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“I work in a large retail store that sells a good amount of things. So right before a hurricane, people were going crazy trying to get ready. Some were smart and bought things early… then there are those that didn’t go shopping for any supplies until the last day we were open (we closed early that day and were staying closed for 2 days).
Needless to say, we were out of basically everything, no batteries, generators, water, flashlights, board games, etc. I had people all day scream at me because we didn’t have the things they needed. At one point I got fed up when a customer was yelling at me because ‘I’ didn’t order enough and was probably hoarding everything she needed. I work the sales floor, no one in the store orders anything it’s all sent to us, all trucks into the state were halted three days prior, and there was literally nothing I could do.”
Sometimes It’s Better To Just Let The Customer Think They’re Right
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“I worked at a video game store. I had a regular customer call, I recognized her immediately because she is a mousey, kinda slow lady that I see very often with various stupid problems. Anyway, she calls about an issue with a PS3 controller she just bought. So I run her through the questions: new or used? Generic or name brand? It was new, generic. Cool. What’s the problem?
‘There’s no sound coming out of the controller.’
This stops me. What? I ask if she means that it isn’t working with a headset. But no, she means what she said – no sound coming out of the controller. I tell her that sound isn’t supposed to play through the controller, it plays through the tv.
She disagrees. I ask her to make sure the cables are all hooked up correctly. I ask about the game. I ask about the controller again. But she doesn’t understand anything because she never does. She just wants another controller. Whatever. Just bring it back. A different controller will not do what she thinks it will do, but as she cannot comprehend technology, I give up.”
Having No Insurance Is The True Scam Here
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“I worked in cell phone retail.
A lady dropped her phone in liquid, and it wouldn’t turn on.
I ask if she had insurance on it, ‘No, that’s a scam.’
I check the account. Turns out she had the phone for 6 months so no upgrade available.
I tell her the full price is $600 or whatever it was. She argues with me that there is no way a phone costs that much money. My comebacks are getting more arrogant as she keeps arguing, telling her things like ‘Your phone is literally more powerful than a lot of laptops you can currently buy, and it fits in your pocket, which is why it costs so much.’
Finally, I drop the hammer. ‘This is why we sell insurance. I know you were offered insurance because we make commission off of it, and you declined. It’s like car insurance: you wreck your car, you pay a deductible, and problem solved. If you don’t have car insurance, then you have to buy a new car.’
‘Oh, don’t give me that crap. Everyone knows that’s a scam.'”
You Can’t Play A Game Without The System
“When the Nintendo DS was released with the Brain Training games we had several middle-aged and older customers come in to buy the game but didn’t own the Nintendo DS. ‘No I don’t want the Nintendo thing I just want the game.’
After confirming she didn’t own a DS, one lady told me, ‘I used to work in sales, I know you’re trying to upsell, it’s not going to work.’
Most of the time they thought they could put it in their computer somewhere or ask their children for help.”