ADVERTISEMENT

Working in retail, restaurants, hospitality, and the like is always… definitely… something.

Besides the long work hours, the tedious duties, and the very often inadequate pay, there’s all these clients to deal with, and not all of them are pleasant and civilized. That’s not say they’re the polar opposite, necessarily, but they are surely far far away from what makes a 5-star client because of their aggression or awkwardness or just flat-out bizarreness.

Image credits: TheBlackNerd

Whatever the case may be, there are loads of stories of less-than-favorable clients from people working in these industries, and one former Starbucks barista has sparked a bit of a story-fest with his tweet recalling a customer interaction that still haunts him to this day.

More Info: Twitter

#2

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

@Stoutwalker Report

Add photo comments
POST
Space Whale
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read the last bit first and I am 𝓼𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓵𝔂 disappointed

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Writer, reviewer, and host of the @LowStakesShow, Terence Wiggins, also known as The Black Nerd, went to Twitter to share an interaction with a customer he won’t forget anytime soon because of how haunting it was.

Back when he was working at Starbucks, one day he was cleaning the restrooms and knocked on the women’s restroom door to check if anyone was inside. Lo and behold, there was, but instead of casually saying it’s occupied or something among those lines, he got a very angry “WHO IS IT?”

He also asked folks who worked similar jobs to share their haunting conversations with clients. And boy, did Twitter deliver!

ADVERTISEMENT
#6

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

marina_wert Report

Add photo comments
POST
Nathaniel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not that I am defending this man, but it is some kind of stupid to bring your wife and your mistress to the same places. Keep everything separate.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

“I usually check my Facebook Memories first thing in the morning and I'm constantly reminded of the years I spent working at Starbucks,” Terence explained the origins of his tweet in an interview with Bored Panda. “I don't remember which memory made me ask the question but I'm sure it was something bad.”

Needless to say, when the tweet started racking up likes left and right, Terence was very surprised when the counter nearly reached 10,000 for both quoted tweets and likes. While he does have a modest follower base, the tweet went beyond the usual metric.

“It just exploded and I started seeing replies and quote-tweets from celebrities,” elaborated Terence.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Stories from workers in retail, restaurants, and the like often circle around customers from hell as most of these places are very accessible to anyone and so the chances of running into a difficult clientele are high. But that’s not the only reason, as explained Terence:

“I think there's a certain type of person who views customer service workers as less-than or someone that they can boss around without any consequences. It's really not most customers, 90% of customers are fine but there's a 10% that have a brain that's a jar full of angry bees and they have to let it out on someone who can't do anything about it.”

ADVERTISEMENT
#13

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

PatJMcCall Report

Add photo comments
POST
El muerto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

next time jesus comes around, he will turn chicken into cheese...and sprite to tequila

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

As mentioned previously, Terence’s tweet inspired quite a lot of people to share their experiences.

These included everything from exposing mistresses to customers discussing wounds to elderly people shouting gun violence hypotheticals.

And then there was this 6-tweet story by a guy who used to work at a Taco Bell and had a client who was described as a satanic cowboy who took half his order before storming off, then returning after about 20 minutes, getting upset about his other half of the order, which he wrongly remembered, and then chanting in Spanish, while his bodyguard counter-chanted something as well. That one also received over 8,000 likes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now, in some cases these difficult customers might just have interesting personality quirks or could just be tired, but in other cases they could also be inherently angry, sad or straight up weird if they act that way in public. So, we asked Terence what his take on this was, and he had this to say:

“I think it could be both. There's harmless people who have weird personality quirks or are tired or some such thing and they will definitely say something weird that'll stick with you. On the other hand, there are people who have some inherent anger or sadness that they've decided to take out on other people and that other person is usually an employee getting paid minimum wage and can't possibly fight back.”

ADVERTISEMENT
#21

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

hacks4pancakes Report

Add photo comments
POST
Milady Blue
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Schweinhund, actually, is the word you are looking for. It is "Pig dog" and is a pretty potent insult in German.

Load More Replies...
Kismet Sarken
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

2nd week in training for an ISP in the states, first week taking calls. Everything was running smoothly then all the sudden the queue died, like from calls in queue waiting to zero instantly. Single call comes in, I get it. Lady on the line was calling to pay her bill. She said, "I figured I'd get through ". I asked why that was, she proceeds to tell me about a plane hitting a building in NYC. That's how everyone I worked with found out about the happenings of 9/11. We started streaming radio stations to listen. It was devastating to say the least. One of the guys I was in training with, his mother worked in tower 1. Luckily her train ran late that day.

Will Lanni
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

... Whoah. The last thing that popped into my mind on 9/11 was "I should call customer support, I bet that call queue is short right now!"

Load More Replies...
Jessica Allred
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This reminds me of when I worked for Comcast and there was a really bad ice storm that knocked out the power for 5 days. Lady called in yelling that her cable wasn't working. I asked if she had electricity and she said no and asked me what that had to do with it. Yup.

Miranda Simpson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep. Every day! And ppl nowadays think they can carry their modem around with them & it will just work & get mad it won't & huff "what am I paying you for" well, not for that.

Load More Replies...
TheMagness3000
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would've said "I'm sorry sir, but we are still cleaning up the bodies that are obstructing your service line." CLICK

Paula Blohm
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

On 9/11 our office had the tv sets on. We were not being loud just stunned watching. Our boss was having a meeting in the conference room. He came out and yelled at us to be quiet. Thinking he did not know yet what was happening I told him. He pretty much said he did not care and stormed off back to the conference room and slammed the door. He was encouraged to pursue other opportunities at another company not too long after. Needless to say we were thrilled to see him.go.

Nicole Harnischfeger
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s incredible how inconsiderate and self-absorbed some people are. To be honest, I think there’s more of these types of people in the world than there are decent and compassionate people. Stay as awesome as you are so we can shift the balance back 😉 have a beautiful day friend!!

Candia Lee
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are just louder and more noticed. There are definitely more good-hearted folks, living quiet lives.

Load More Replies...
Fried Mermaid
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once there was a hurricane near the country I live, many of our designers had to stay at home or go to their affected families locations, so we were clearly understaffed. We sent out comms to our clients. This one woman had her deadline extended by many hours, and once I explained her our situation (apparently she either didn't care or didn't read our comm), she said "I understand that you have that situation, but you should have let us know in advance of this kind of things so we can plan ahead"... I guess next time I'll ask Zeus for weekly weather reports

Miranda Simpson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Customers do that to us all the time. Like advance notice of the hurricane or tornado or whatever. Like ma'am the sirens were your warning.

Load More Replies...
Evelyn Haskins
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You DO know that 'decimated' only means one in ten killed don't you!

Robert Trebor
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Proper Panda Pedant. Bravo. Pedantic is not necessarily bad. Keeps things on track. Look what has happened to " enormity". Used to mean a very great evil. The Holocaust was an enormity. But now it's used just as something big. Bah. NEEDLESS pedanticism is bad.

Load More Replies...
Jen F
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Daily b******t working 911 dispatch. Would get calls about traffic being ridiculous.. well someone died like a mile ahead from you so...

Marco Conti
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ever worked at an internet company when the internet goes out? It's like a bunch of marionettes without strings.

Jonathan K
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably complained that half his employees were deadbeats when they didn't rise from the grave for their next shift

Nicole Normand
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Omg, all I understood was that it wasn't your company's fault. Nothing else. Lol.

-
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Almost sounds as if he was tasked with verbally abusing people in a disaster every hour on the hour. That's nuts.

Emmett O'Brian
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We used to get angry day traders saying they were losing "millions" every day their dsl was down. We started saying that dsl isn't a guaranteed service but if you want a guaranteed service a T1 (at the time 1999) was faster and guaranteed. They'd get all exited, "how much does that cost?" Only $1500 a month. "That's way too expensive!" Sir, I thought you said you were losing millions a day, $1500 a month is a small price compared to that.

Sii Gabb
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'd have told him to get here pronto, like yesterday, as weneedcall his help immediately

Miranda Simpson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I deal with this regularly. No electricity? Well we should still somehow get their WiFi up. House under water? Get out their scuba gear.

M. Hampton
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah. People die every day, but is that the worst thing in the world? Being a corporate german IT guy has got to be horrible

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

MsSarahGuzzardo Report

Add photo comments
POST
E B
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, corporate apparently has no idea what customers actually want.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

OK, PSA time.

“Employees are people. They have about as much power in the situation as you do and unless the employee is being an a-hole for no reason, just cool your jets about small things. Your food or drink will eventually get made, you'll eventually get that product you want, there's no such thing as the mythical ‘back room’ where we're just hiding products from customers,” said Terence.

ADVERTISEMENT

If anything, be kind to your waiters, store clerks and everyone else who makes your life easier.

You can check out everything we talked about in context here, and you can also take a look at Terence’s socials like his Twitter account and his Low Stakes Show podcast as well as his Ko-Fi shop.

#26

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

sacha_coward Report

Add photo comments
POST
Moezzzz
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, because everyone knows that gay equals pedophilia. (My eyes cannot roll far enough into my head for this train of reasoning....)

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#29

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

Schubear Report

Add photo comments
POST
Bedlamite
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was in the hospital after appendix surgery, there was another woman in the same room, she was nice enough, but Sunday came around and a whole gaggle of Church ladies came to see her. I was trying (pretending) to sleep until one of them came over to me and laid hands on my head while praying. I'm non-religious, and don't have anything against people who are, but keep your bleeping hands off me. I felt so violated. That was over 25 years ago and I still get pissed when I think about it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#31

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

cassetteraised Report

Add photo comments
POST
Claire Stanfield
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had a regular who would send back the first side of fries claiming they were 'greasy'. We prepared another side of fries exactly the same way, and they were fine. Every time.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#32

Haunting-Customer-Interactions-Retail-Stories-Twitter

unabashdeerking Report

Add photo comments
POST
Francesca Annoni
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked for years in a shop... an Italian luxury underwear brand.. You don't know how many time we had to tell the customers you must try the bottom piece of underwear and swimwear OVER your own underwear... and sometime I found underwear stained..why try underwear if it's this time of the month? Without your underwear?? It was unbelievable ...and disgusting...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu