15+ Employees Who Almost Didn’t Survive Their Customer Service Jobs

Being the face of a company and dealing with customers is, without a doubt, a tough job. Some unsatisfied clients can end up causing significant issues for the employees who are just trying to help them, including getting them fired. Anyone that’s been a waiter or cashier has a story about some kind of drama created by a customer. But rather than getting upset about these unfair anecdotes, let’s have a laugh and learn from others’ experiences.

• A typical bookstore customer comes in and says, “I want the book by the woman who was interviewed on Channel 7 this morning. No, I don’t know her name. No, I don’t know the title of the book. Where is it?” Another typical bookstore customer comes in and says, “There’s this new book, just out. I want it. It’s black and has a red thing—maybe a streak of blood on the cover.” © Judy Gill / Quora
• I had a customer once who came and stated that the vacuum cleaner did not suck. The vacuum cleaners we sold could snarl and swallow things, but they couldn’t not suck. We checked it and its dust compartment was completely blocked. © Natalia Frolova / Facebook
• A client once asked me to “flip” her in the photo so that she was facing front, not backward. At first, I thought she was joking, but no. She actually considered it possible: “After all, Photoshop does magical things on its own, and you just turn it on and tell it what to do, right?” © Veronica Neretina / Genial.guru
• A long time ago, a customer bought a computer mouse from us, and a couple of days later, she made a fuss saying that we had sold her one that was sick with a virus. She mentioned that it had infected her computer. I had to sell her an antivirus. © Sofiya Volkova / Facebook

“Come on, what is it that you can’t do here? What keyboard swap are you talking about? Heat it up with a hair dryer or poke it with that thing you have there, 13 USD will be more than enough.” That’s what I heard when a customer brought in a phone for repair. And then the device flew at me when I told him what I thought about it.

• I worked in a women’s outerwear store. One time, an old lady flew in and started screaming and asking what kind of junk we had sold to her grandson. I asked: her grandson? She said yes and kept yelling. I don’t know how miraculously I managed to explain to her that we only sold women’s clothing, after which she evaporated from the store. Her face was red with embarrassment. © Victoria Zhukova / Genial.guru
• I received a message from a new client: “I’m Andres’ daughter-in-law. Would you give me a discount?” “And I’m Paula’s sister-in-law. Will double the price be okay?” I don’t know why, but she said no. © Katerin4ik / Pikabu
• I’ve been working at a grocery store for almost a year now. This is my first job. I was bagging a relatively large order in paper bags. It took some time, but the lady was nice about it and thanked me for my help. I turned around, greeted the next lady, and asked how she was doing. Her response was, “Well, I’ve been waiting on you, so not that well.” Midway through, the lady stopped me and pointed out that she had a bag of flour with a small hole in it. She wanted me to get her a new one. My hands were inside the paper bag then, so I told her to wait for a second. She quickly responded, “Just wait? I’ve waited on you enough!” She took the flour out of the bag and threw it at my face. My face, apron, and shirt were covered in flour. Some got in my mouth. I honestly had no idea what to do, but I wisely decided just to bag her stuff and send her off. I went on to win several awards for professionalism and excellent customer service later that year. © Avery Mojica / Quora
• They returned wallpaper to me because they didn’t like how it looked on the wall. They removed it from the wall where they had pasted it. I said that I would not accept it with the glue, because they had not bought it from me. They accepted that and left. © Olga Vasilieva / Facebook

“Customer left this for me.”

• First call from a customer. We discussed the details of their order in advance. No amounts had been announced, no contracts had been signed. At some point, he asked that all the work be done in a week since his deadlines were tight. In response to my remark that it was physically impossible, the customer started yelling, “I’m paying you SO much money, and you can’t do it in a week!” He was so offended he went to look for a “normal professional.” A few days later, he called again, thinking that he was calling us for the first time. We did not accept his order. © sdffsdff77 / Pikabu
• My friend is a pharmacist, and she told me this story: a female client asked for something depilatory. My friend showed her all the products available, and the woman opted for the wax pellets. A week later, she returned with complaints that the “remedy” did not work. After some questioning, it turned out that she was swallowing the pellets, as if they were pills. © Tinochka / Genial.guru
• A woman brings in a crystal chandelier that she says was smashed when she opened the box.
  I know what happened: she and her handyman husband decided to try to hang the thing themselves, but he dropped it from the top of the ladder, judging from the damage. Either way, we decided to give her a new one in exchange.
  “I knew I would get my way.” She gloated smugly.
  “They punish people like you, you know?” I returned.
  As she stepped out the door, she tripped and fell with her full weight on the brand-new box.
  The security people rushed to help her. I pointed upward and then gave a whiplash with my fingers. © Keith Taylor / Quora
• I worked for 10 years as a furniture designer and saw all kinds of things. For example: “The furniture does not enter the room,” even though the client took the measurements himself and put his signature under them. A client once asked us to change the color of the furniture when the order was delivered and assembled already! © Gulnara Lotfullina-Miftakhova / Facebook

• I had a situation at work once. After the release of the animated film, Emoji: The Movie, our supermarket chain launched a promotion: you would get an emoji figure as a gift for a certain amount of money spent. Among the figures was also the poop one, just like in the film. A man called and started yelling that we were forcing his children to play with feces and that we were generally immoral and corrupting the nation. The idea that, in principle, nobody forced him to do anything, didn’t work. By the way, he also wanted to sue the creators of the film. © Anna / Genial.guru
• My strategy is to kill them with kindness. I am currently working in a gourmet chocolate shop. A few weeks ago, I served an angry elderly lady who had been given a smartwatch and was trying to pay for her purchases by scanning the watch and failing miserably. I could see her frustration, so I turned my emotions off and let them go. I took a deep breath and said: “I can see you are very frustrated, my number one goal today is to have you leave this store today a happy customer.” I moved to a quieter part of the store with her, and we got it done. As they left, I heard her husband say: “She was absolutely charming to you. I think you owe her an apology.” They are now regulars and she asks for me. © Alison Bourke / Quora
• I have my own cosmetics store. A woman came in one day and I described our products and gave her samples. She left without buying anything. A month later, the situation repeated. Yesterday she came again. I asked, “Are you going to take the shampoo? You said you liked it.” Without blinking an eye, she declared: “No thanks, I order everything on the internet!” Honestly, I was flabbergasted by such nerve! I put my soul into my work, I work hard, and I don’t overprice. I don’t understand how people can be like this. © Oídoporahí / Vk
• My husband works decorating elite-class houses. Once, after making a delivery, a fussy customer pointed his finger at a small dot on the wall that had come from out of nowhere and was only visible using a magnifying glass. In addition, that place was about to be covered by a closet. However, the client still demanded that the “defect” be removed, arguing his point by saying: “I understand that it will not be visible, but I know that it is there. How can I live with that?” © Violetta Znachenok / Facebook

Bonus: Sometimes clients can restore people’s faith.

• A girl recently decided to order a pair of rings for herself and her boyfriend. It seemed to be a common request from a typical customer, but we didn’t expect her to approach the matter in such a responsible manner. She sent the source code and detailed instructions: material, diameter, and height of both rings, what kind of stones to insert, and also attached the engraving of external and internal inscriptions. © astrelli / Pikabu