Have you ever just wanted to teach a customer a lesson but couldn’t out of fear of losing your job? While that’s definitely frustrating, some people just refuse to let unruly customers have the last laugh. Instead, some workers do what they can to rile their feathers without violating the parameters of their company policy and employee code of ethics. Here, workers share the satisfying moment they were able to “get back” at a customer giving them a hard time.
All stories have been edited for clarity.
Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover
“I used to be a mechanic at a car dealership for a low budget car brand. People used to come in and treat me like absolute crap if their cars broke down. One time, a man was giving me an extremely hard time and went on about how it was his fourth visit to the shop with the same issue. He kept saying that I was costing him money from his ‘real job.’ I tried killing him with kindness, but even I have a breaking point. The customer’s ‘I’m better than you’ attitude, was beyond infuriating. When the customer started blabbering about salary and how it was ‘three times as much’ I decided to mention that my brand new BMW had the same problem. It didn’t, but I just wanted to piss them off more. This obviously pissed off the customer. He then asked me how the hell I can afford such a car if I’m working for a cheaper car brand. Then the customer accused me of lying to him. For the finale, I took him outside and showed him my car. It was the best ‘screw you moment of my life!’ Don’t think I’m poor and that gives you a reason to treat me bad. We are all human. You’re NOT better than me just because your are the customer.”
Need More Pickles!
“When I was in my early twenties, I spent my days working at Whataburger while I went to night school. One busy afternoon, a clearly agitated woman entered our lobby holding a bag. I had been working the front register and didn’t recognize her, so I assumed she had just gone through our drive thru that was wrapped around the building.
I asked her if I could be of assistance, to which the woman replied, ‘I asked for extra pickles and no tomatoes on my burger, but it has neither!’
I quickly apologized and offered to have the kitchen whip up a new burger. The woman grumbled and went to find a spot near the counter as she waited. It was an honest mistake, but the woman acted like we had danced on her mother’s gravestone or something. I was used to dealing with cranky customers, so it didn’t bother me nonetheless. As soon as I got her new burger, I put it in a new bag and even through a courtesy coupon in it for her.
When I handed the bag to the woman, she snatched it and immediately started unwrapping the new burger. I watched patiently as she checked the toppings. This time, she slammed the burger on the counter and shouted.
‘Are you freaking serious?? There are only four pickles on this burger! You call that extra?!’
I maintained my composure, mustering a pleasant smile. ‘I apologize for the oversight. Let’s fix that right away.’
Behind my courteous tone, a mischievous idea brewed. This time, I personally went in the back to make her burger. As I remade the burger, I picked up each pickle slice with painstaking precision. I promised I put like ten pickle slices on that burger. It was pretty gross honestly, and that’s a lot coming from a pickle lover myself.
I ignored the confused looks from my other coworkers as I finished dumping pickles on the burger, wrapped it up, then put it in a bag to present to the woman. After serving the embellished masterpiece to the woman, I offered, ‘Here you go, sir. I made sure to add extra pickles.’
‘Thank you,’ the woman muttered as she dug into the bag to inspect her third burger. Deep down I was hoping she would get even more mad, but after seeing the way I piled the pickles on the burger, I watched with a hint of disappointment as she nodded to herself, and left immediately. No it wasn’t the best reaction, but that’s probably the one and only time I got away with being a smart ass working in customer service.”
Can You Hear Me Now, Sir?
“I’m a call center representative for a major financial institution that advertises their services to military and their families specifically. In training, they taught us about the different situations service members may find themselves in to teach us empathy and what not, but sometimes a higher enlisted person would call about their account and talk down to us as if we are one of their grunts.
One time, a Senior Master Sergeant called concerning a check deposit he made. The check was well over the limit to be deposited digitally, but after looking over some notes on his account, the check had been flagged for review based off the history of the account. It’s a frustrating situation for sure to have the bank hold onto money that was rightfully yours, but we had to take responsibility due to the uptick of fraudulent checks being deposited in our customer’s accounts. The wait they gave him was up to 5 business days, but most people take that as ‘sooner than 5 days’ and that’s all. The Senior Master Sergeant called late in the evening on the fourth day of his waiting period. Of course he was accusing the bank of ‘holding his money’ for no apparent reason and we were discriminating against him. I kept trying to assure him that everyone had to have their checks reviewed if they were a certain amount and submitted digitally, but he wasn’t having it. He also kept talking over me and barking commands at me like a freaking dog. The way he was talking to me was almost border line Drill Sergeant material. I would know because I’m prior enlisted myself, just in a different branch.
At some point I just had enough. His grilling behavior had ran it’s course and we had been on the phone for over an hour with him just berating me. So, without warning, I ‘lost connection.’ It’s a very passive aggressive thing some of us call center employees do to piss people off, but honestly I had never done it until I spoke with that man. Now I know that this isn’t the most exciting thing I could have done, but trust me. This story get’s a whole lot more interesting, especially because I got this same Senior Master Sergeant again. Never did I think in a million years that I would get him again because there were so many other callers in the queue. There was about a fifteen minute wait for callers. I had two or three more quick calls before the next call I answered was his agitated voice got patched through to me. When I asked if I could help him with anything, there was a long pause before the man asked: ‘Wait. Aren’t you the lady that just hung up on me?’
I couldn’t hide it, but I did tell him the phone must have gotten disconnected by mistake. After a moment he just said, ‘So there’s nothing you can do about my check?’
His voice sounded calmer so I humored him and went over the policy for like the twentieth time. I then quoted that he would see his check clear no later than the following day. That’s when the man asked me another question that had nothing to do with the original reason behind his call. It caught me off guard but I patiently answered it. However, I didn’t even get to finish before he hung up in my face. I guess that was his way of getting revenge. Didn’t phase me one bit lol.”
Top Tier Service
“A few years back I took a second job at a busy convenience store to earn a little extra money. One busy night, one of the cashiers called me up to open the help her get the line down. Social norms dictate that the next person in line goes to the next available cash register but that day, there was a member of the local ‘tough guy’ motorcycle club who came all the way from the back of the line and placed his things on the counter for me to ring up.
He winked at me, but I quickly said: ‘Oh sorry, this lady was next in line.’
The biker shrugged and said: ‘Oh does your name tag say ‘Trainee?’ You’re the cutest girl I’ve seen working here so you must be new.’
I rolled my eyes then said: ‘You were at the back and I need to serve the customers that were here first.’
That’s when the biker suddenly had a mean look on his face before he turned around to intimidate all other customers. ‘Anyone wanna go in front of me?!?!’ He asked.
When no one said anything, I just start ringing his stuff up. However, I had an idea that was going to teach him a lesson. I gave him the full company training video experience.
‘Did you know you can get two bags of chips for only 4 dollars? Milk is on sale right now when you buy 2 cartons. Do you have your air miles with you today? Have you had a chance to look at our movie rental selection?’
Let’s just say, the line cutter was steaming mad by the time the transaction was over.
My favorite part of telling this story is his order. This intimidating biker dude was buying chocolate milk and party mix acting like a complete goon.”
On The House
“I once had a customer ordered a tea and a soda for him and the girl he was with at the bar I was tending. I started helping other customers for a while. Suddenly I was surprised to see that the same customer had food sitting in front of him and his date. He was happily eating the food, but they never ordered from me so I asked when they ordered.
That’s when the guy claimed a server brought him the food from the back and said it was free! Meanwhile, a guy a few chairs down at the bar had ordered food – the exact same thing this first guy had in front of him – and was eyeing down his stolen food. When I asked the server from the back what happened, they thought they were bringing it to the right barstool and said the customer gladly accepted it and said ‘yes’ when asked ‘Did you have the wings and fries?’
I immediately told the guest it wasn’t free and that it was someone else’s order he took. The dude then claimed ignorance and said he’d already eaten from it so it wasn’t his problem.
I re-ordered the other guys food and discounted it. Then I added the full order of wings and fries to the first guys tab with his two drinks and put it in front of him. He was pretty angry when he finally saw and said he wanted a manager. I told my manager what was going on and she did a fairly good job defending me while still staying within company policies. The guy made a big scene stating he’d pay for his bill because HE was the bigger person but he’d never come back. The man then threw down some cash and left.
He didn’t even leave enough cash to cover the bill even after all that.
His date came back hours later apologizing and wanting to pay the original tab. While I thanked her for the offer, I declined and said it was taken care of and she shouldn’t have to pay for his behavior (I just hoped she didn’t go on a date with him ever again).”