Ridiculous Customer Service!

[Lilithiana]

@catstaff: I saw this one coming but it was hilarious anyway.

 

And here's a story about horrible "costumers of which I was reminded by thiefofhearts's post.

I was sitting in a restaurant with my cousin when a really fat ugly guy came in, put a cute little girl on one of the benches and changed her diaper. Since it didn't smell it was bearable but still: changing diapers in a Restaurant is not quite appatizing. My cousin and I were just staring: WTH!?! And the baby girl was looking at us as if she too thought: WTH!?! The grossest thing about this was that the fat mans bottom was out of his pants. It was full of pimples. It was quite a view I never want to see again. By the way: He didn't buy anything. He just walzed in, changed the diaper and went away.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Lilithiana

[Sadako]

Actually you would be well within your rights to tell a customer to take their hands off you and if your workplace see's it differently and writes you up for saying that to a customer than that could fall into a sexual harassment lawsuit.

 

Also if your manager refuses to do anything you can tell the customer something to the effect that you are not afraid to call the police if they don't stop touching/harassing you. You do have a right to work at a place where you are not harassed or made to feel uncomfortable from that sort of contact and the law would be on your side, at least in the US. Just cause your in a service position does not mean the laws aren't still there to protect you and/or suddenly don't apply and you can't stand up for yourself in extreme circumstances like that.

 

Eh, yes and no. In those situations, I could have raised a big fuss, probably even pressed charges against the customer, but it would never have been worth the trouble of proving that it happened, of derailing the whole day's work, and of making a spectacle of myself. The customers who were doing that always knew they were doing something wrong by patting my backside or whatever, and a glare was always sufficient to stop the behavior on that occasion, with me. Granted, they thought they got away with it and probably did it to other servers who also didn't have the time or the energy to do anything about it, but hey, that's how society works, right?

 

The managers I worked with were always supportive and willing to help when things like that happened, it's just that the definition of 'help' in that instance is to put a different server in harm's way and keep an eye on the offender in case their actions become more blatantly, provably illegal.

 

There are laws about that and they do apply to servers, but for most of the people in charge of restaurants, the offender's money and the possibility of receiving more of it in the future is unfortunately worth tolerating a little bit of grey area, and worth encouraging the servers to tolerate a little bit of grey area. As much as I hate to say it, in some fields, being unwilling to put up with sexual harassment is considered unprofessional.

 

...and that was massive and mostly off-topic, and I just reminded myself a little of Jodi Foster in that awful movie.

[Draco Knight]

Not sure of this is strictly on topic or not...it has to do with my CS, I guess.

 

Had a real charmer today at work. I work at a little concession stand in a state park that gets a lot of tourist traffic(we are the only place to get food/drink in the park).

 

A man came in with his little girl, and ordered her an icecream sandwich. Now, from the get go he was quite rude. Cut everyone in line to get my attention, and when I deliberately ignored him by asking who was next, the actual person who was next let him go.

 

He was incredibly condescending, treated me and my co worker like we were a machine programmed to serve. Didn't like where we had our credit card machine placed, as it was away from the register but still in sight, and told me three times how illegal that was, then told my co worker three times the exact same thing.

 

He came in about 10 minutes later asking for a free cut of water. People ask all the time for this, and I gave the guy the same speech I've given to hundreds of other people.

 

"I really am sorry sir, but we don't have any water that we can serve directly to customers. Unless you want hot water. I can give you a cup, and there is a water fountain right outside."

 

He literally through up his arms, "Florida is SUCH A UP STATE! GEEZ! What the *** ever, I'll buy a bottle of water. What is it? Two dollars?" Proceeds to throw money at me, "Yeah, give me a cup too."

 

I get him a cup, and he heads to the door, I guess his family was outside, because he stops in the door way, "Yeah, can you believe this ? They MAKE you buy a bottle of water!"

 

To which I announce to my co-worker and entire room full of other customers, "Yeah, cause I didn't just tell that jack where to get free water."

 

The customers inside who had witnessed him didn't seem to mind my cheek(they laughed and mocked him too), but what do you guys think? Should I have just not said anything with other customers present?

 

It's not like my boss would care that I did or anything. He most likely would have had words with the guy himself, he doesn't tolerate any of his employees getting spoken to like that.

[Chanilove]

Not sure of this is strictly on topic or not...it has to do with my CS, I guess.

 

Had a real charmer today at work. I work at a little concession stand in a state park that gets a lot of tourist traffic(we are the only place to get food/drink in the park).

 

A man came in with his little girl, and ordered her an icecream sandwich. Now, from the get go he was quite rude. Cut everyone in line to get my attention, and when I deliberately ignored him by asking who was next, the actual person who was next let him go.

 

He was incredibly condescending, treated me and my co worker like we were a machine programmed to serve. Didn't like where we had our credit card machine placed, as it was away from the register but still in sight, and told me three times how illegal that was, then told my co worker three times the exact same thing.

 

He came in about 10 minutes later asking for a free cut of water. People ask all the time for this, and I gave the guy the same speech I've given to hundreds of other people.

 

"I really am sorry sir, but we don't have any water that we can serve directly to customers. Unless you want hot water. I can give you a cup, and there is a water fountain right outside."

 

He literally through up his arms, "Florida is SUCH A UP STATE! GEEZ! What the *** ever, I'll buy a bottle of water. What is it? Two dollars?" Proceeds to throw money at me, "Yeah, give me a cup too."

 

I get him a cup, and he heads to the door, I guess his family was outside, because he stops in the door way, "Yeah, can you believe this ? They MAKE you buy a bottle of water!"

 

To which I announce to my co-worker and entire room full of other customers, "Yeah, cause I didn't just tell that jack where to get free water."

 

The customers inside who had witnessed him didn't seem to mind my cheek(they laughed and mocked him too), but what do you guys think? Should I have just not said anything with other customers present?

 

It's not like my boss would care that I did or anything. He most likely would have had words with the guy himself, he doesn't tolerate any of his employees getting spoken to like that.

I think that you were completely right in being angry with him, but to express it in that way was wrong. Granted, I probably would've gave him a verbal beatdown long before that with my short-temper, so I'm kinda the pot calling the kettle black here. You probably shouldn't have called him a name, even if he was practically a walking definition of a -heehaw!- You could've responded passive-aggressively without the direct insult.

 

"Sir, I'm sorry. I should have been more empathetic toward your apparent hearing impairment. I said THERE'S A FOUNTAIN OVER THERE WHERE YOU CAN GET FREE WATER. If you're afraid you'll get lost or won't be able to make the walk, I'm sure one of these folks will help you if you can be bothered to ask kindly! DID YOU HEAR ME?"

 

>.> I wasn't built for customer service, I really wasn't.

[Daydreamer09]

To which I announce to my co-worker and entire room full of other customers, "Yeah, cause I didn't just tell that jack where to get free water."

 

The customers inside who had witnessed him didn't seem to mind my cheek(they laughed and mocked him too), but what do you guys think? Should I have just not said anything with other customers present?

That guy was rude and you had a right to be angry at him for what he said. You were being polite and patient after all and there was no reason for him to be angry with you.

 

I've worked in retail for the past 4 years. Most of my bad experiences with customers have occurred in the dressing room of our department store. Our dressing room always has an attendant during store hours. When a customer comes in, we have to hand count the number of garments they bring in and hand them a number card. We are also suppose to keep our special handicap room reserved for special needs customers only.

 

I've been called racist to my face on more than one occasion (at least twice) by mainly darker skinned African Americans simply because I had to count what they were bringing in. Never mind that I was counting what white people were bringing in as well.

 

I've also had a mother tell me to off in front of her 10 year old daughter for having to count her garments as well.

 

And by far, the worst thing a customer has EVER said to me, to my face was basically "I make more than you do" with a superior attitude to boot. That one really pissed me off.

Edited January 7, 2012 by Daydreamer09

[Draco Knight]

"Sir, I'm sorry. I should have been more empathetic toward your apparent hearing impairment. I said THERE'S A FOUNTAIN OVER THERE WHERE YOU CAN GET FREE WATER. If you're afraid you'll get lost or won't be able to make the walk, I'm sure one of these folks will help you if you can be bothered to ask kindly! DID YOU HEAR ME?"

 

>.> I wasn't built for customer service, I really wasn't.

Lol, I wish i could get away with something like that. I doubt I'd get fired for saying exactly what you suggested, but it would certainly make my manager raise an eyebrow. Hmmm...maybe I should give a customer a dressing down, then I'd stop being called on to handle the difficult ones.

 

I didn't actually say it so the guy would hear. He had shut the door and walked away when I made the comment.

 

@Daydreamer09: I'm sorry you work in retail. D: I've heard horror stories...

Edited January 7, 2012 by Draco Knight

[MysticTiger]

Is anyone else really bothered when customer service people give the phone priority to people standing in line? I was at the hair dresser's today and I went to the front desk to tell the receptionist that I was there for my appointment, and as I was telling her that I was there for my appointment the phone rang and the receptionist interrupted me and told me to wait. Well I waited and right when she hung up, the phone rang again. Once again she asked me to wait. I was there first, if these people were real customers they would be behind me in line and they should not be served first. After she told me to wait for a third time as another person called, I just went and sat down until she could be bothered to deal with me.

This is sometimes unavoidable.

For example, at my job, we can't run a Credit Card if someone is on the phone. And every 7 out of 10 customers pay with Credit Cards. So, even if we tell the person on the phone to wait, we have to finish up with the Phone call before we can finish the person in line's order. I can't tell a customer on the phone to hang up and call back. I also had a job where I had to take orders over the phone. And I can't run a register and take phone orders (with very, VERY specific details) at the same time.

 

However, I know there is places where they ignore you if they're on the phone. Generally you'll get this in places where teenagers are running the place. Texting is the worst because they're not even on the phone, yet they'll tell you to wait.

 

@Draco Knight:

This guy obviously has no clue he's on earth. I've never heard of a place that sells water to give away free water. And the fact that you offered a cup to him shows that you are willing to go that extra step to help, but apparently, he has his head so far up his own butt, he can't even comprehend that. I HATE customers like this.

Edited January 8, 2012 by MysticTiger

[Rosedamai]

http://twitpic.com/84epmb

 

Lovely example of how customer service sometimes are like.

 

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhatt...TC-rss&FEEDNAME

 

here for more details.

Edited January 9, 2012 by ylangylang

[Lythiaren]

This is sometimes unavoidable.

For example, at my job, we can't run a Credit Card if someone is on the phone. And every 7 out of 10 customers pay with Credit Cards. So, even if we tell the person on the phone to wait, we have to finish up with the Phone call before we can finish the person in line's order. I can't tell a customer on the phone to hang up and call back. I also had a job where I had to take orders over the phone. And I can't run a register and take phone orders (with very, VERY specific details) at the same time.

 

However, I know there is places where they ignore you if they're on the phone. Generally you'll get this in places where teenagers are running the place. Texting is the worst because they're not even on the phone, yet they'll tell you to wait.

Funny thing, I tell my minions not to answer the phone at all when we're busy. People who are actually here in the store wanting stuff are more important than people who, 9 times out of 10, are just asking what time we close or if we deliver. I'd rather have one person waiting for us to pick up the phone and tell them "we close at 10 and no we don't deliver" than have 6 customers waiting in line for any longer than necessary.

 

ANYWAY. Story time.

 

Tonight I was grabbing the cash from the drop box so I could count the money and such for closing. The customer at the counter actually came up to me and asked, with a perfectly straight face, "Hey can I have that hundred?"

 

My immediate and automatic reaction? Snap the drawer clips down, retreat one pace with all the money and the drawer in hand, deathglare him and utter a quiet "no".

 

His response? "WHAT YOU THINK I'M GOING TO ROB YOU???"

 

Well, considering you just asked me to give you a hundred dollars? YES. YES I DO.

 

I didn't say this, I just quietly resumed sorting bills, out of his reach. He fled quickly.

 

 

It's people like this that make me hate humanity. If ever you think anyone who takes your money in exchange for goods seems weirdly curt, remember that people like this guy exist and plague us daily. My deathglare can cow people without my having to utter a single word, and it has been used for such a thing in the past. It was made for people like this.

Edited January 16, 2012 by Lythiaren

[KageSora]

Lythiaren, that reminds me of the time we had a guy come in to fill out an application.

 

 

First of all, he totally ignored my manager when she said to take it home because we didn't want him filling it out in the store. Nope, he just did it right there.

 

Then, he actually walked behind the counter (we have a small store, it's not one of those "big open 'behind the counter' spaces" type stores, it's very clearly for employees only and it's closed in, so he opened the little door to get in) to hand it to her.

 

You do not go into an employees-only area if you are not an employee. He's really lucky the third guy working that night didn't decide he was a threat.

[Princess Artemis]

His response? "WHAT YOU THINK I'M GOING TO ROB YOU???"

His response should have been, "I am so sorry, I'll go home and work on how stupid and entitled I act now," while he fled in shame.

 

The only story I recall of any interest when working with customers happened ages ago when I worked at McDonald's as a cashier.

 

Older gentleman tried to hand me four Susan B. Anthony dollars along with bills and other change to pay for his meal. I looked it over and it was the right amount, if those where quarters instead of dollars. Clearly he had mistaken them for quarters. I don't recall off hand what I said about it other than the fact that I did say something, because he smiled a blank, polite smile, utterly ignored me, and tried very hard to pay with the coins as if they were quarters.

 

If he really wanted to overpay, hey...but that's not right, so I insisted he not do so. After a couple more back and forths, finally the light came on over his head and he said, "Oh, you're speaking English!" and exchanged his dollars for quarters and used them instead.

 

I'm white as white ever whited, so he wasn't basing his weird prejudice on that, and all the other cashiers were fluent in English, I can assure him that just because most spoke Spanish also doesn't mean they were speaking Spanish to him all those times he ordered from them.

[Asteris]

I tend not to complain a if I'm having a hard time with customer service, or if someone got my order wrong unless it's something I just absolutely cannot deal with like a spicy steak when I asked for no seasoning. Most things though just aren't important enough to get that upset over.

 

However I have friends and family who I'd have to place in the "bad customer" category and more often than not I find myself embarrassed by their behavior.

 

For example, a friend and I were attending a conference in another city and decided to share a hotel room for it. Her boss was going to join us and because it was work related for the boss, her company would pay for the hotel room, but for only the nights she would be there and not for the fees associated with extra people in the room. My friend and I would be there four nights, while her boss would only be there for three nights. So her boss would pay for three nights, and my friend and I would split one night, along with the additional fee for the other three nights.

 

On the morning we were checking out, my friend insisted on being the one to explain to the desk clerk our situation, but she was doing a terrible job of it. Her description was unclear and the poor desk clerk was having a hard time understanding exactly what she was asking for. He would print out the bill as he understood it, present it to her and ask if he had it correct. From the start she was very short with him and when he didn't get it correct right away she started getting visibly angry with him. Anytime her boss or I tried to clarify, she'd immediately speak over us, making comments about how she just didn't see what was so hard to understand and belittling the desk clerk. My friend was very lucky that her boss was a very, very patient woman. The clerk as well was very patient despite her rantings and always had a smile for her no matter how short she was with him.

 

I finally told the guy to just put the one night and the additional fees for the other three nights on my bill instead of trying to split the bill every which way, and my friend could just pay me back later.

 

She does this quite often, if something isn't exactly the way she wants it the first time, she flies off the handle. She thinks she's the "perfect customer that everyone wants" though. Sometimes I think she makes it as difficult as possible just so she can complain about it.

 

 

[Syaoransbear]

Well this happened about an hour ago:

 

After class we went to the mall because my fiance needed a tie for some engineering banquet thing. We tried to park in the underground parking, but it was totally full. Normally when it's full they have something that says it's full, but this time they didn't so we assumed that there were at least some spots, even if they are hard to find. It's a pretty large mall so it took us a while to search through the underground parking lot to find a spot, but we never found one. We were there for probably 15 minutes.

 

We drove out to go pay for the parking that we never accomplished. The lady in the booth said that our total was a dollar, and my fiance quietly said, "But we never even got to park... " as he was going for his wallet.

 

The lady just flips out. She's like, "WELL THEN NEXT TIME GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE WHEN IT LOOKS FULL". As she's yelling and actually swearing at us she manages to explain that the first 10 minutes are free so if we can't find parking we have 10 minutes to gtfo of there so we shouldn't be *ing at her. Well for one thing, it doesn't say ANYWHERE that the first 10 minutes are free. Not anywhere where you pay for parking, and not anywhere on your ticket. And it takes more than 10 minutes to find a parking spot when it isn't full.

 

After she stopped yelling at us which we were silent through the whole time she hit the button and let us go through for free. I'd much rather pay a dollar than have some irate employee yell at me. What a crazy, unprofessional overreaction.

[linkx7]

I went to see a kids movie once and got the strangest look from the ticket seller like i was a pedo or something thats the day i decided to ditch the mustache

[Draco Knight]

I treated my mom and siblings out to dinner the other night.

 

Our waiter had wings on his feet if my mother needed something, anything. Her drink was never less than half empty, he asked after how she was doing and if she 'needed anything at all!' everytime he passed our table. He was so eager to help, it was kind of annoying.

 

My siblings and I, on the other hand, were completely ignored. I kept asking for a refill, until after 15 minutes of nothing my mom finally had to ask if he would refill my soda(I was eating a spicy seasoned steak, I really needed a refill). Never once asked if my food was to my liking, or if I needed anything, didn't even spare a glance to my little sister and brother(13 and 18).

 

So imagine his panic when he goes to hand my mom the check and she points out that I'm paying. The look on his face was priceless(complete shock, with a hit of green), "OOOOOHHHHHHHH!" as he hands me the check instead. Suddenly it's, "Can I get you a drink to go? No? Here, just let me get you a nice full Coke to go!"

 

So lesson learned? Sometimes 22 year olds like to treat their family?

[KageSora]

I treated my mom and siblings out to dinner the other night.

 

Our waiter had wings on his feet if my mother needed something, anything. Her drink was never less than half empty, he asked after how she was doing and if she 'needed anything at all!' everytime he passed our table. He was so eager to help, it was kind of annoying.

 

My siblings and I, on the other hand, were completely ignored. I kept asking for a refill, until after 15 minutes of nothing my mom finally had to ask if he would refill my soda(I was eating a spicy seasoned steak, I really needed a refill). Never once asked if my food was to my liking, or if I needed anything, didn't even spare a glance to my little sister and brother(13 and 18).

 

So imagine his panic when he goes to hand my mom the check and she points out that I'm paying. The look on his face was priceless(complete shock, with a hit of green), "OOOOOHHHHHHHH!" as he hands me the check instead. Suddenly it's, "Can I get you a drink to go? No? Here, just let me get you a nice full Coke to go!"

 

So lesson learned? Sometimes 22 year olds like to treat their family?

I'd say his lesson is "Don't be a jerk to the rest of the party" because hey--I know I wouldn't tip well if somebody treated me great but ignored the rest of the people I was with.

[Tazzay]

I've once had an experience with what seems like the dumbest clerk ever. MY friend and I were getting a little shopping for her mum while she was getting her nails done, and we walked up to the counter and put everything on the bench. The clerk looked at us, and she seemed dumbfounded (now, I don't believe all blondes are stupid), and she asked,

"Are you going to pay for all this?".

I was quite amazed at her stupidity, so I decided to be funny and replied,

"No, i'm stealing it all, I just wanted to show you first.."

She literally turned white after I said that

 

It was the funniest experience i've ever had in a store.

[Moonlight_Eevee]

My mom, brother and I went a Burger King the other day and the service was terrible. My mom had to get a refun on her and my drink because I had wanted Root Beer and they were out, my mom wanted a Dr. Pepper and they were out. The cashier didn't tell us, and we got mad, but handled the situation calmly. The shift manager dug through the trash without gloves, then handled the food. Needless to say, we paid for my brother's and I food and left. My mom and I stopped by a gas station to get some sodas. It was awful.

[Dauntingale]

It's the worst when it happens at the hospital. I don't want to elaborate, but the doctors sure were crappy.

[Brite]

Wow, such a good story-rant topic that's been neglected! *brushes off dust*

 

 

Alright, so this is the very first time I've ALMOST broken out of customer service because of the sheer stupidity of this woman that came in.

 

 

I work at a petstore and every other night, we get a rep for a particular brand of dog food. They have samples and coupons to give out to customers. It was getting pretty late and the rep gave out their last bit of samples and coupons to this lady, who was rude to begin with. Typical entitled attitude.

 

 

I was stuck working the register that night. No big deal. She gets ready to check out and hands me one of the sample bags to use as her coupon.

 

~~

 

Just so no one is confused, with this particular brand, they had two different coupons. One was a paper coupon that is meant to be used on any of their products just so you aren't limited to just their food. The second kind is from their sample bags. But you only use it after you USE the food within it. So in other words, the paper/packaging is to be cut out and used. Y'know, if the dog liked the food and you want to get more ect.

 

~~

 

It's not really my place to ask her WHY she's trying to use a sample bag as her coupon instead of the damn paper one she was given. She was just trying to do everything *** backwards.

 

 

So the sample obviously has dog food in it. And we have to KEEP the packaging(because it's a coupon itself).

 

 

Me: Did you want to keep the dog food in this? (I planned on just opening it and putting the food in another bag in case she wanted to keep it. Sometimes people don't care for the contents, they just take advantage of the $3 off it has.)

 

 

Her: OBVIOUSLY! That's how samples work!

 

 

Me: Alright, ma'am, I can put it in a different bag for you, if you'd like.

 

 

Her: UM! WHY would you need to do that?!

 

 

Me: Because I need the packaging if you want to use the coupon on it. You can use the paper one you have, it will take the same amount off.

 

 

Her: Uh NO! I plan on taking THIS one home!

 

 

Yea... My facial customer service mask was cracking and I'm glaring at her at this point. After the fiasco was over, I actually told my boss what happened and apologized for losing my cool. And then warned him that we may get a bad SMG (our in-store reviews). He excused it after I told him what she was doing and let it slide.

 

 

But I do understand that it was still wrong of me. I'm just glad that I didn't go any further. But..sometimes people just DRAG it out of you

[Infinis]

I've been working as a cashier in a circle k for not quite two months now.

 

I've spited several people who paid for tiny purchases in twenties by giving them some of their change back in rolls of coins when I was low on bills because people keep doing that, and I give the people ahead of them their change in the bills I have.

 

It's petty and ridiculous, but so is paying for 2$ worth of drinks with a twenty. Or worse, trying to pay for that small a purchase with a fifty or hundred (which has happened way more often than you think it would).

 

We are a convenience store, but people treat us like a walmart and assume we have copious amounts of cash in our register drawers. Convenience stores get robbed a lot - there is no way that I will be able to break your hundred unless you are going to use at least fifty of it on merchandise and/or gasoline. Most people don't even have the courtesy to ask if we can even break bills that large first, but go and get their polar pops and assume we'll just be able to break their large-denomination bill somehow.

 

I'm always nice to customers, but the lack of common sense and basic courtesy is kind of astounding. ;.;

[SheridanCharon]

Now, I've not worked in CS like some of those who posted here have, but I do have one story of bad customers from the time I did work experience at my local library, which has problems with people making new account after account in order to avoid fines or steal stuff, and because there's no checks in place because the council doesn't think it's important enough to keep a valuable local service safe, there's nothing much we can do to stop them.

 

This is the scene; I was on the main desk, about half way into my placement, basically helping one of the senior librarians to deal with customer enquiries and such. In come these two girls, giggling and not even attempting to hide their intentions; one of them kept telling the other that she should just make a new account because "they never even bother to check". Then I heard her say "Go to the ugly one at the end because she's only a dumb volunteer, she'll never get you."

 

That's what you think.

 

The conversation went like this;

 

Me; "Hello there, how can I help you today?"

Her; "I'd like a new card please."

Me; "No problem, can I just have your name and address please?"

Her; (Gives them)

Me; "Okay, please just wait a moment while I put these in, then your new card will be ready."

Her; (Starts smirking) "Wow, that was easy!"

Me; "Okay, thank you for waiting, Miss. Here's your new card, and I need to remind you of some overdue items on your account. Would you like me to print a list of them for you?"

Her; (Stops smirking) "I wanted a new card."

Me; "Yes, miss, and that's what I've given you."

Her; "No, I mean, like a NEW new card. A whole new one."

Me; "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Did you mean a new account? I'm sorry, but we can only issue one account per person. Again, I'm terribly sorry."

Her; "You're kidding me, right? I want a second account!"

Me; "I'm sorry, but it's library policy. The only way you could get a new account is to close your current one, and I can't close your current account until the items on it are returned. Again, I am very sorry for the inconvenience. "

Her; " you, you ."

 

After which, she and her friend left, obviously annoyed I hadn't fallen for it. They couldn't even make an official complaint because; 1) I was in no way rude to them and the senior librarian would've vouched for that, and 2) In order to do so would've meant revealing their intent to effectively steal from the library, which would've got them banned from the establishment. They messed with the wrong bibliophile that day

 

As for bad and good CS encounters of my own, not sure if this counts;

When I was at University, I had to get two separate busses, one from my town to another one and then one from there to the town where my Uni was.

The first time, as several people were waiting for the bus at the station in my Uni town, the bus pulled in, let people off, and then left. Didn't even bother to check for other customers, just left. This time we were lucky because the rep for that particular bus company was actually at the station and saw it happen. He then proceeded, in front of us, to ring the company and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that the driver was out of order for not even letting us on before he simply took off, and that they better get the bus back here as soon as possible.

The bus did come back, though by that time it was too late for those of us who needed to get another bus once we reached the second town and some of the others left. But the whole time we were waiting, the rep was extremely apologetic and explained that, even though it was most likely down to changes in the bus routes, there was still no excuse for a driver leaving when he could clearly see there was passengers waiting. The driver was rather red-faced when he got back and was promptly ordered by the rep to give the few of us who had not made other arrangements a half-price ride as compensation.

I will give that guy his fair due, he bent over backwards to help us out when he didn't have to.

 

However, there was another encounter with the same company that didn't end so well.

I had made half the journey and was waiting with at least a dozen others for the second bus. We waited....and waited....and waited.... And this was in an open-air bus station, in the middle of winter. The only good thing was there was a roof over our heads, so we were safe from the rain at least.

Finally, nearly an hour later, the bus turned up. But not even 15 minutes in, as we're at another stop, the driver gets a call. I don't know what was said, but when he puts it down, he then turns and tells everyone to get off, he can't make the rest of the trip. We all immediately asked why and his excuse was "ice made the roads impassable".

So he left us, some of which were quite elderly, in the pouring cold rain and dark, and took off. I was lucky in that I had my phone so I could ring someone for a lift, but some had no other way of getting home, and more than one was in crying or furious. Eventually, we managed to help each other get other alternatives, and my ride picked me up, telling me she'd come the exact same route as the bus and that there was no indication of ice, nor was there any warnings that the road was dangerous.

As we're leaving the stop, who drives past? The bus, the exact same driver, going the way that was supposedly impassable.

The next day, I rang up and complained. The response I got? The roads WERE dangerous and impassable. But as soon as I pointed out that, not only did my ride drive that "dangerous" road TWICE, but the same bus who'd abandoned us had also done so right in front of us, she put the phone down on me.

Edited July 1, 2016 by CharonDusk

[Dragoniclove123]

Now, I've not worked in CS like some of those who posted here have, but I do have one story of bad customers from the time I did work experience at my local library, which has problems with people making new account after account in order to avoid fines or steal stuff, and because there's no checks in place because the council doesn't think it's important enough to keep a valuable local service safe, there's nothing much we can do to stop them.

 

This is the scene; I was on the main desk, about half way into my placement, basically helping one of the senior librarians to deal with customer enquiries and such. In come these two girls, giggling and not even attempting to hide their intentions; one of them kept telling the other that she should just make a new account because "they never even bother to check". Then I heard her say "Go to the ugly one at the end because she's only a dumb volunteer, she'll never get you."

 

That's what you think.

 

The conversation went like this;

 

Me; "Hello there, how can I help you today?"

Her; "I'd like a new card please."

Me; "No problem, can I just have your name and address please?"

Her; (Gives them)

Me; "Okay, please just wait a moment while I put these in, then your new card will be ready."

Her; (Starts smirking) "Wow, that was easy!"

Me; "Okay, thank you for waiting, Miss. Here's your new card, and I need to remind you of some overdue items on your account. Would you like me to print a list of them for you?"

Her; (Stops smirking) "I wanted a new card."

Me; "Yes, miss, and that's what I've given you."

Her; "No, I mean, like a NEW new card. A whole new one."

Me; "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Did you mean a new account? I'm sorry, but we can only issue one account per person. Again, I'm terribly sorry."

Her; "You're kidding me, right? I want a second account!"

Me; "I'm sorry, but it's library policy. The only way you could get a new account is to close your current one, and I can't close your current account until the items on it are returned. Again, I am very sorry for the inconvenience. "

Her; " you, you  ."

 

After which, she and her friend left, obviously annoyed I hadn't fallen for it. They couldn't even make an official complaint because; 1) I was in no way rude to them and the senior librarian would've vouched for that, and 2) In order to do so would've meant revealing their intent to effectively steal from the library, which would've got them banned from the establishment. They messed with the wrong bibliophile that day

 

As for bad and good CS encounters of my own, not sure if this counts;

When I was at University, I had to get two separate busses, one from my town to another one and then one from there to the town where my Uni was.

The first time, as several people were waiting for the bus at the station in my Uni town, the bus pulled in, let people off, and then left. Didn't even bother to check for other customers, just left. This time we were lucky because the rep for that particular bus company was actually at the station and saw it happen. He then proceeded, in front of us, to ring the company and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that the driver was out of order for not even letting us on before he simply took off, and that they better get the bus back here as soon as possible.

The bus did come back, though by that time it was too late for those of us who needed to get another bus once we reached the second town and some of the others left. But the whole time we were waiting, the rep was extremely apologetic and explained that, even though it was most likely down to changes in the bus routes, there was still no excuse for a driver leaving when he could clearly see there was passengers waiting. The driver was rather red-faced when he got back and was promptly ordered by the rep to give the few of us who had not made other arrangements a half-price ride as compensation.

I will give that guy his fair due, he bent over backwards to help us out when he didn't have to.

 

However, there was another encounter with the same company that didn't end so well.

I had made half the journey and was waiting with at least a dozen others for the second bus. We waited....and waited....and waited.... And this was in an open-air bus station, in the middle of winter. The only good thing was there was a roof over our heads, so we were safe from the rain at least.

Finally, nearly an hour later, the bus turned up. But not even 15 minutes in, as we're at another stop, the driver gets a call. I don't know what was said, but when he puts it down, he then turns and tells everyone to get off, he can't make the rest of the trip. We all immediately asked why and his excuse was "ice made the roads impassable".

So he left us, some of which were quite elderly, in the pouring cold rain and dark, and took off. I was lucky in that I had my phone so I could ring someone for a lift, but some had no other way of getting home, and more than one was in crying or furious. Eventually, we managed to help each other get other alternatives, and my ride picked me up, telling me she'd come the exact same route as the bus and that there was no indication of ice, nor was there any warnings that the road was dangerous.

As we're leaving the stop, who drives past? The bus, the exact same driver, going the way that was supposedly impassable.

The next day, I rang up and complained. The response I got? The roads WERE dangerous and impassable. But as soon as I pointed out that, not only did my ride drive that "dangerous" road TWICE, but the same bus who'd abandoned us had also done so right in front of us, she put the phone down on me.

Oh, hey CD! I was reading this thread, but I didn't realized you posted!

Those girls called you ugly, and you didn't freak out on them? If they called me ugly, they would not want to come back to that library.

Aye aye aye, people are nuts.

 

[Starscream]

I have dealt with problem customers. And being I am a cook I choose to remain a bit away from chain and do the food... However there are situations.

 

Someone mentioned spicy steaks a few posts a head. I can identify a few possible reasons why they would end up with a spicy steak. Quite often its not necessarily the cooks fault.

 

We are relying upon the information to be relayed from the guest to the kitchen. Some things get lost. We often have serves running into the kitchen to snatch chits from our hands to write notes they missed.

 

Kitchens are notoriously noisy places, with pans, dishes, chatter from servers, massive extraction vents that sound like jet engines. The cook bellowing the orders back. "Steak *smash bang crash* spices." It could indicate extra spices. A good cook will ask confirmation. "steak with Extra spices or NO spices?" The one calling the chits out, if he is not an ass will clarify.

 

Its like when I worked at a coffee shop, people would say no sugar, sometimes that no is entirely missed and sugar is added because the key word: sugar was heard.

 

Ideally in that situation a person should ask "coffee cream/milk only"

 

Confusion at my work sometimes happens depending on how they call our orders. If they start calling directly to me with my shortened name form, I am all ears. Keyword: Jo, *ears are on to you* Vegetable Stirfry - order will be completely understood. or even Vegetable Stirfry

 

But if they say Stirfry no Chicken chances are I have heard Stirfry and chicken. For me Vegetable Stirfry makes more sense and no errors can be made. Also one of my coworkers calls back pastas with no chicken as Pasta - no poultry. She does not use the term poultry for any other order than one that has the letters NP (often no protein) But because I hear Pasta Poultry I know she is asking for it without. or Stirfy Poultry.

 

 

because of the way everyone has a different mode of calling out orders, I have to confirm almost every fraggin time.

 

Another possibility that has and does occur with alarming frequency is servers, too impatient to get the food to their tables so they can land a n ice tip. Servers will take food from the pass that are supposed to go to some other table. this causes issue on our end because now the server for table 38 is pissed with us,t he cook is confused because it was "just there" And so delay happens because n ow we need to recook it. then waste happens because suddenly there is an extra steak on the grill.

 

We also have problem guests who insist on everything being insanely hot and generally the travel from the pass to the table will see some degree of cool down, even on food we push out as fast as we can to try to avoid them complaining. I mean every Saturday we have this one guest. I have learned to identify the chit and I try to get it pushed out very fast. but often - fries are cool" its an air conditioned building, it will cool. I told servers to bring the bimbo up so I can stick her face into a fry basket so she can feed there. Stop wasting food or just cook at home if you're that fussy.

 

Some guests can be obnoxious for the sake of lording it over servers and cooks. somehow they feel they are better than those who serve them.

 

with that said, there are a few incidents where I have been on the other side of the table... places that really just screwed it up. Phone companies, I have had bad customer handling at the hands of Fido. took months to get them to stop billing me for a phone I no longer had that I had paid off and was no longer in contract with.