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40 People That Had The Audacity To File Complaints For The Most Stupid Reasons, Only To Be Shamed Online
Interview
There you are, casually going about your day, sipping your coffee, reading the news, when suddenly like a bolt from the blue—your boss calls you into their office or you get a letter summoning you to court. Apparently, someone has filed a complaint against you. But you’re confused beyond belief! You have no idea what this is about.
As it turns out, it was something utterly ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, that people couldn’t help but share their experiences with coworkers and customers online. Redditor u/InfiniteCalendar1 asked people about the strangest reasons someone had a complaint filed against them, and wow, did they deliver! Scroll down to read their full stories.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the thread, redditor u/InfiniteCalendar1, and they opened up about the real reason why they asked the question online. As it turns out, the inspiration was an awful interaction with a mean customer. Read on for our interview with the OP.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I’m a firefighter an have had the following citizen complaints:
1. Kicked down a door to help an elderly woman who was on the floor. Her son wanted us to wait until he arrived with a key. He was 5 hours away.
2. I wouldn’t let a guy store his motorcycle in our station for winter.
3. I wouldn’t repair her stove.
4. We took too long to respond to replace a guys battery in his detector that had been beeping. We were performing CPR at the time.
5. I wouldn’t take my boots off while entering a lady’s house. It is against our protocol to take off any of our safety gear. Her house was actively on fire when she made the request.
Dilly Millandry 1 year ago
Fire fighters broke a bedroom door, a window frame and a glass jewellery box when they came out to a fire at my home... I just thanked them! The window was the only one that was part of dealing with the actual fire and the door and box was from installing an Industrial fan to blow out the smoke afterwards. In those situations most people are just relieved it isn't worse. Wasn't as bad as the actual fire damage after all!!
Bored Panda wanted to know what had inspired the redditor to create the thread on r/AskReddit in the first place. "I posted it as I was thinking about how I had a complaint filed against me during my first week of one of my jobs," u/InfiniteCalendar1 told us.
"A lady made up a false story that I berated her for wearing a Confederate flag shirt. This 100% didn’t happen so I assume the customer made it up for validation. I found the situation ridiculous mainly because it’s weird someone went out of their way to try to get me in trouble over something that didn’t happen."
Meanwhile, they shared what they did next. They started off by explaining their side of the situation to the boss. Specifically that what the customer had said happened never actually happened.
RELATED:
#2
I have one. Looking back, it was very silly but boy did this p**s me off. Here goes: My coworker asked me if I could cover her shift on sunday (I always only worked on saturday, since I was very busy with university. The place where I worked knew this and happily agreed with it, too.). I said that I could do that, but only if she would take my shift on saturday since otherwise, I would not have time to study. She agreed, only to tell me a day later that she wouldn't be able to cover my shift on saturday. I promptly told her that if that were the case, she would have to find someone else to cover her shift. She told me I was being childish and told management that I was being rude. Management told me to work both shifts and being a 17 year old, I agreed since I needed the job to cover some expenses. I came to work on the saturday shift and the manager tried to tell me off. I told the manager what really happened, but he still sided with my coworker. I promptly told the manager that I had been very clear in my communication to my coworker and that she was in the wrong. The manager said that "I should be more flexible in helping others out". I then told him I wished him luck on working my shift that weekend and walked out without saying another word. The look on his face was awesome. I found a new job as a tutor the next week, at which I was much happier.
#3
I once had a coworker file an HR complaint against me for reading books at lunch. I told HR that he’s probably just offended I’m not reading hardcore pornography magazines on the clock like he does.
David Martin 1 year ago
I had a graveyard shift job once that, due to the timing of the last bus for the evening, I had to arrive at nearly an hour early each night. It was a security monitoring job, sitting in a locked, private station room monitoring cameras and alarms for multiple businesses, so they don't want excess people in the room creating distractions. I would show up, go into the employee kitchen which is just inside the door, and sit with a book and something to drink until time to start. After several months that way, my manager took me aside and told me the shift before me thought it was weird I'm creepy I would just sit there doing that that way during their shift. I resisted the urge to say I thought it was weird and creepy that apparently they're in the station watching me read on their monitors
"Although, apparently, the person who filed the complaint sounded very believable based on the emotions she had. Luckily, the situation was dropped though. In my case, the complaint was defamatory so my first instinct was to defend myself, especially since I was worried about a violation of privacy as the customer claimed to track down my Instagram," they opened up to Bored Panda.
"I just expressed that the situation made me uncomfortable given it was false, especially considering someone claimed to track down my social media. With complaints over small stuff, they’re usually addressed then swept under the rug."
We also wanted to get the thread author's opinion on why some people file complaints for such weird or even made-up reasons. "In my situation, the woman wanted validation as she knows many people today view the Confederate flag as a racist symbol given the history, so she made up a false situation to try to ruin someone else’s day and probably threaten their source of income," they said.
#4
Had a customer call corporate on me because I told her we didn't carry a certain brand of dog food. I worked at a big pet retail chain. The brand she was looking for was our biggest competitors store brand food. I told her this, even showed her the dog food on the competitors website that clearly said "You'll Only Find X Brand At X Pet Store!" As part of the add.
She didn't want to go to the competitors. So I offered to show her a similar brand; though I did advise her to get the food her dog was used to so she could avoid making her dog sick at its stomach. After arguing with me about "how you should make this right!" I just told her I couldn't help her. She screamed I was rude and unhelpful, then stormed out of the store.
Her reason for calling a complaint to corporate? I wouldn't go to the competitors store (which was about four blocks away from my store) to get the bag of dog food for her since she had already stopped at our store.
Yeah. Her whole "you should make it right" argument was that I should leave my store, use my money to go buy her dog food, then apologize for wasting her time.
My manager pulled me into the office my next shift to tell me the lady had called corporate and why. We both had a huge laugh (apparently the corporate office also found the situation hilarious and told her to get stuffed) and he bought me lunch for not losing my cool on the entitled lady.
Liam Walsh 1 year ago (edited)
My sister was complaining about a bit of a difficult customer once. To be fair, she was. The customer insisted on a refund for this item that she no longer wanted. Yet the store didn't sell that item. Despite the customer agreeing she knew that, my sister went ahead and refunded her! Not sure how you can genuinely 'refund' something that your shop doesn't sell. My sister then complained about the customer's guide dog looking at her 'funny'. Questioned my sister's judgement at this point tbh.
#5
In gradeschool I was sent to the principals office for lying about my name to a substitute teacher. I gave her my real name and the sub just couldn't believe someone would name a kid Wolfgang.
Karl Baxter 1 year ago (edited)
Surely that’s pretty unremarkable considering some of the batshit made up names parents call their kids these days?
#6
Got a complaint filed against me by a customer for unnecessary rudeness because I turned down a guy's offer to take me out on a date. He asked me (repeatedly) while I was working. Dude was at least in his mid 40s; I was 16
Remi Flynne 1 year ago
Leave people alone when working, take no for an answer the first time and be age appropriate - no to ephebophilia.
"I remember making a Reddit post about this same situation on another subreddit and a lady told me the same thing happened to her but with a customer in a MAGA hat. The commenter was nice to her when using the fitting room then the next day the customer with the MAGA hat made up a false story that she denied her and her daughter service and a bra fitting when the store didn’t even do bra fittings. With that situation, there was an obvious lie so her manager blew it off."
According to u/InfiniteCalendar1, it's probably people who are "pretty unhappy" and want validation who file wrongful complaints. "They're following the philosophy of 'the customer is always right,'" they said.
"I will add that I am pretty left leaning so I definitely don’t support the use of the Confederate flag, but when I’m working I’m focused on my job and not my views. I’ve had customers hold views I disagree with, but I don’t engage on that with them. And I definitely believe that if someone gets fired over a ridiculous complaint—especially if it’s defamatory—they should seek legal action."
#7
Old lady said I spray painted some garages near my house, I did in fact not, after a while security footage came out that showed her youngest spray painting the garages….
Shark Lady 1 year ago
Surely her little darling wouldn't do something so naughty, it must have been camera trickery.
#8
When I met my fiance she lived in a rented house. One date we were at her place and at some point we watched a random YouTube video of a raven saying the F word. We laughed a lot for around 5 minutes unable to talk or do anything but laugh. It was in the middle of the day.
The neighboor wrote an angry letter to the owner of the house telling him "to put us back in line, laughing so much in the middle of the day".
What kind of psycho writes a letter of complain for someone laughing for 5 minutes.
#9
In a 4 person HR meeting (the other guy, our manager, HR and me) the other guy said I was always angry. The 3 of us looked at him. I asked "why do you say that?". And he said "your face is always red...and angry!".
I'm British, I don't tan well.
Garry Cowan 1 year ago
I feel your pain my Scottish skin hates the sun for some strange reason
The most important thing in these sorts of situations is not to panic! If you did nothing wrong (and odds are that in these cases you’re just a confused victim), then you have nothing to worry about. Of course, it’s yucky and mucky to have someone try and ruin your job or life with false accusations, but the world can be extremely chaotic at times.
Slow down. Breathe. Detach yourself from the situation. What you need to do right now is to figure out what the heck is going on. Go talk to your direct superior, your boss, your HR reps and put all the puzzle pieces together. Explain the situation and be honest. Once everyone’s on the same page, they’ll realize that someone’s just trying to provoke you with weird complaints.
In some cases, however, the situation gets totally out of hand. If someone genuinely has it out for you at work, for whatever reason, then odds are that they’ll go to practically any lengths to try and hurt your career.
In some fringe cases, it’s actually a good idea to seek legal help. Especially if someone’s trying to destroy your reputation and hurt your financial stability. It’s possible to get some free legal consultations. And some lawyers actually do take on cases on a pro bono basis. Know the law. Know your rights. Have someone solid in your corner. And, hopefully, this entire ridiculous situation will be receding in your rearview mirror.
#10
Years ago, back when I worked at a video arcade, there was a kid that had been asking me for free tokens one day. I gave him a few, because we were allowed to give some out each day as "refunds" and it was a slow day so I had extra. He came back a little later for more and then got upset when I didn't give him any more. The next day he came in with his mother and she said that he told her that I took one of the fake plastic guns from one of the "shooter" style video games and threatened to kill her son with it. She told all this to my manager and I was instantly fired on the spot without the chance to say anything. It really sucked because I really liked that job. I got to spend all day around video games, watching people play, repairing the cabinets, which was awesome because I am an avid gamer and it was like a dream come true to work with video games. Ever since i've worked in offices and well... life has been a little more grey since.
Karl Baxter 1 year ago
An awful lot of bosses in this thread are very quick to fire people without listening to both sides of the story. Pretty disturbing and says a lot about the precarious nature of employment in what I assume is the US.
#11
I was at work and a man wanted to use his membership card to get a discount on his popcorn. I asked him for the membership card and he said he didn't have it. No problem, we can pull it up by phone number, but he refused to give it to me. I asked for his name, but apparently that wasn't on the card. Neither was his email address (Which I thought was required) he started getting mad that I was "taking too long" And started screaming about "If I made him go back to his theatre Just to get his card" he was calling corporate.
I told him I could look it up from his ticket but needed to go over to my other terminal, but he kept screaming "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE MAKING ME WALK BACK TO MY THEATRE TO GET MY F*****G CARD" I told him I wasn't and I just needed the ticket stub, but it fell on deaf ears nd he kept screaming and carrying on. He was throwing an absolute tantrum and said I was "Wasting his time and taking too long" even though I was ALREADY STANDING AT THE OTHER TERMINAL.
He complained that I made him show his membership card to give him the discount that was only on the card, and just use the card even though he refused to let me look it up for him.
It was the dumbest f*****g thing ever. People will seriously just come out in public just to start s**t with cashiers. I really want to know what goes on in these people's heads to purposefully make themselves angry.
Hotdogking 1 year ago (edited)
“Boy I feel like shouting abuse at an underpaid worker today so that I can feed my own fragile ego and self-worth!”
#12
Out of the blue, a complete stranger who had just been released from state prison sued me in family court asking for visitation with our 10 y/o non-existent child. Apparently he had gone to a party at “my” house and “we” had a one night stand in my basement bedroom (my basement is not finished). When “I” got pregnant I promised to have an abortion but did not, and now he was ready to step up and be a dad! How did he find me? He couldn’t remember an exact address so he went through my neighborhood on Google Maps and was “sure” it happened in my house. For weeks he refused to believe he had the wrong person until I went to the police station and had an officer email a family photo to him while he had him on the phone and vouch that it was me in the photo.
While these stories shared by redditors are amusing and confusing, they also highlight an important problem: taking up everyone’s time with these weird complaints means that genuine complaints can get lost in a pile of documents for a long, long while.
And, let’s face it, there are real things to complain about at work and as a customer. If someone’s harassing you, making inappropriate jokes, and bullying you in a workplace setting, it’s essential to put a stop to this. Filing an official complaint is a good initial step, Chron writes. First, put it in writing, submit it in person, and schedule a meeting with the head of HR.
Meanwhile, if you’re complaining about unfair pay, bad working conditions, and unequal treatment, then it’s best to contact a government organization about what’s happening. If you’re a member of a union, they can help you with this.
From a boss’ perspective, it’s essential that you don’t immediately dismiss an employee's complaint right out the gate, according to Traliant. Don’t be too quick to make judgments either way. Take the time to understand the situation so you can respond appropriately.
#13
My husband is a dentist. A new patient reported him to the board of dentistry for recommending that she get her teeth cleaned. I still laugh when I think about it.
#14
I once was told there was a high-level (manager and up) meeting being held about me… on account of my emails being written too well.
:/
I can write quick, well-worded emails, and someone in upper management thought that I must have been spending too much time writing my emails, possibly as a means of appearing to be superior to others.
Karl Baxter 1 year ago
I work with some people who can barely string a sentence together. They say my emails are “dead posh”. No, it’s just written English - not the word salads you churn out without a thought.
#15
A girl reported my son for assaulting her in school. She claimed that her neck was still hurting her the night after the "assault." Now, my son is autistic and at the time had an aide that followed him around everywhere. Even setting aside the fact that my son isn't violent (he's more likely to break down into tears than actually fight), why didn't his aide see this assault?
Upon looking into the matter we had our answer. The normal aide was out for the day and the substitute aide left our son to get his lunch in the cafeteria while he (the aide) got his own lunch. Now, our son's IEP specifically stated that he was not to be left alone in the cafeteria. The noise and chaos wreck havoc with him. So the aide leaving him alone in that situation was a breach of his IEP which could mean we could initiate legal action if we wanted.
Furthermore, our son claimed that he saw the girl, walked up to her and tapped her in the shoulder to get her attention in order to say hi. This was corroborated by security camera recordings.
We were told that technically our son broke school rules with the shoulder tap. We countered that they were free to punish him for a shoulder tap but then we'd go after the school for violating his IEP that put him in the situation to begin with. In the end, he was simply reminded not to touch other people even if he thought it was a friendly manner.
Meanwhile, I don't think the girl was punished at all even though she had been going around school telling people that our son assaulted her. (Including telling her sister who was mildly friendly with my son, trying to break that up.) She was brought in for a meeting where she reiterated that she was assaulted and her neck still hurt. Then she was shown the shoulder tap video. At most, she might have gotten a warning, but that was it.
Shark Lady 1 year ago
Anyone making false allegations should receive the same punishment that the other person would have got if it had been a genuine complaint. Might put more people off from trying to ruin someone's life.
Something else to keep in mind is discretion. Try to keep the information contained for the sake of everyone’s privacy. That way, you’ll prevent gossip from circulating in the workplace. Lastly, keep in mind that complaints are simply one type of communication (albeit carrying some potentially serious consequences). So don’t actually punish employees for filing them! Otherwise, you’ll end up creating a massive gap between management and all the other workers. And that’s not something that leads to a healthy workplace environment.
#16
Working in retail I once said "you guys have a great day" I was reported by an elderly women who objected to not being addressed as "mam" she also objected to "have a great day" because she had come into the aquarium store because her fish was dead and she was upset that someone would tell her to "have a great day" when her fish had died.
N Miller 1 year ago
This is yet another example of the utter failure of the crystal ball industry - i swear their delivery service is terrible - because without this tool *how the f***k were they supposed to know the inner workings of your life and the death of your fish*?!!! The same goes for the choice of title (although I understand "guys" is location dependent - not universally accepted). Although, I'm sorry about the fish, it's not nice to lose a pet.
#17
Actual feedback I got from a customer:
>Was your request completed to your expectations? 10/10
>Did you feel valued? 2/10
>Comment: This should have been handled by an older member of staff.
F**k me for being young and good at my job. Cost me a good chunk of my bonus.
Hotdogking 1 year ago
They probably didn’t like the fact that seeing someone young successfully help them didn’t support their narrarive that all young people are lazy entitled pricks (just to clarify, that was a joke)
#18
A woman ordered a cappuccino and got upset that the one I made her had foam. I explained to her what a cappuccino is, she got angry and said “I know what a cappuccino is!!!”, and lodged a complaint with my manager.
Hotdogking 1 year ago (edited)
God this is like asking for a cheeseburger but with no cheese. But surely no one’s THAT stupid, right? Edit: after reading these comments, I am sorry I asked
#19
I once had a complaint filed against me for calling someone a slur in the elevator. My boss called me in, and we watched the camera footage from the elevator. Me and the other person were talking and having a good conversation and laughing with each other. My boss just said "yeah I watched it earlier and I have no idea what they are talking about." So someone tried to get me fired for no reason
#20
I got sued in small claims court by a mentally ill man who said I stole $1000 worth of roast beef and 2 sun tanning lights from him. It got continued twice and by the time we had our day in court, he forgot what he sued me for and just went off on a tirade about me being an a*****e.
#21
I got hired at AT&T right before Covid hit, so I ended up getting laid off around June 2020. Being that I worked from home (I work software QA) I had to mail back all the hardware they’d sent me— iPhones, iPads, an Alexa, a Smart TV, etc. Anyway, I pack it all up, take it to the local UPS and mail it off with the pre-paid labels they’d sent me. I wash my hands of the situation and assume that it’s over and done with. A day later I get a call from the HR lady asking why I had sent them, and I quote, “a 12 pound box of dirty socks.” At first I think this is some poorly thought out prank— but they are dead serious and threatening legal charges as this was well over $500 worth of stuff which counts as grand larceny… AKA a felony in my state. So I look back at the prepaid labels, which were addressed to my boss’s private residence rather than AT&T proper. So that’s a tad off. Plus twelve pounds of dirty socks is a lot to wrangle up and you’d really have to go to great lengths to make that happen between getting the labels and shipping it off. So they keep calling me and threatening me for hours— so I call my lawyer, and I call the UPS to make sure they have CCTV footage of me mailing everything off during my previous visit— I then tell the s**t heads at AT&T to reach out to my lawyer if they have any other questions. And then… “miraculously” they found all the “missing” equipment five minutes later. The head of my team probably just wanted to sell that s**t on Craigslist or something and make me his patsy. But as soon as they got a sniff of litigation, the stuff just “magically appeared.” A felony pretty much ruins your whole life in the US. F**k that guy and F**K AT&T.
#22
My dad got the police/ firefighters called on him because our racist neighbour immediately assumed we were making a fire???? In our backyard??????????????????
Anyway we were having a BBQ lol the firefighters were so p****d.
#23
Being too nice. I worked inside a coffee shop that was inside a grocery store during this time. Man walks in and I greet him and ask him what he’d like to order. He literally bolts and complains to the IT guy that I was too nice and too happy. He came in to inform me what had just happened and he wouldn’t stop laughing at me.
Subtlelikeawreckingball 1 year ago
I once had a coworker who was reported to corporate for being "too perky" and mimicking a "Disney Princess" the lady who took the complaint called the store, coworker answered the phone and the lady just burst out laughing saying "omg you do sound like a Disney Princess! Best ridiculous complaint this week!" She closed the case after her and coworker laughed about it. We all have customer service voices no one hears outside work.
#24
I got reported to HR because a coworker made a sexual joke to me and I laughed. She reported me and HR talked to me because she felt I laughed "too enthusiastically." This was when I worked at the same place as my wife and was very careful to keep my nose clean. That was the last straw, I updated my resume and was gone shortly after.
Nikkie Nothing 1 year ago
Shouldn't the person who told the joke be in some sort of trouble? Jokes of a sexual nature fall under the umbrella of sexual harassment in the HR world.
#25
When I was a teenager working at an ice cream store, a secret shopper wrote that I was "friendly but did not smile." This write up was posted on the bulletin board like it was a scarlet letter of shame and the manager talked to me about smiling more. 30 years later, I am still friendly but unsmiling.
Chris Jones 1 year ago
This isn't a criticism but just a different pov, something to consider maybe? As someone who knows people who are deaf, an initial smile can go down very well as it can speak volumes to those who cannot hear a friendly tone. That said, no-one should be expecting anyone to walk around grinning from ear to ear all the time and as long as you do your job well that's enough for me personally.
#26
A woman threatened to have my dog euthanized after she came up behind me and my dog and grabbed his tail and he spun around and snapped at her. She had a muzzled aggressive dog with her as well yet she began yelling and cursing and demanding I provide documentation of his vaccines. Psycho….
#27
Friend was contract engineer for tech giant. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, contractors are second class citizens. If there's a perk employees get, assume that it is off limits for contractors.
She did some above and beyond work for an employee, so that employee took her to the admin's desk and let her select a piece of candy as a "thank you". (candy jar and contents were paid for by the company). The admin witnessed this and reported her for stealing company property. If the employee had taken a random piece of candy and given it to my friend, all would have been fine. But can't let the subhuman pick their own treat!
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 1 year ago
Wow. A piece of candy for going above and beyond. Give a proper bonus. Cash money.
#28
I was training a new employee (I was early 20s, she was late 40s) and I told her that if we finished our work a few minutes before break, we could stand around as long as we were available to customer questions. She told on me and I got written up the next day. Now I only train exactly what we’re supposed to do.
#29
I almost gotten written up at work because a local radio DJ came into the store and “I treated them like all the other customers” as in I didn’t fall all over her “celebrity”.
Mir Adwari 1 year ago (edited)
Be happy to treat even the most famous celebrity exactly the same as all the other customers. I don't really get or want to fall in line with the attitude towards 'celebrity' to be honest. You're not better or more important because you work in an industry that gets you well known, that's my opinion anyway.
#30
I was a recent new hire, and transferred between divisions. I responded to my new Managing Director with an affirmative “Yes, Ma’am” when she gave me some new tasks during a meeting. She reported me to HR for sexual harassment and insubordination. I am from the Texas. This is how I was taught to show respect.
SomePeopleCallMeMaurice 1 year ago
My old boss once said “Guys and gals” and a woman reported him to HR for sexual harassment. ???
#31
I work at Walmart
A customer complained that I was on my phone the whole time.
If you work at Walmart or any retail place. then you know we have those stupid android handhelds. I use it to make sure grown adults aren’t stealing and to do age checks and stuff.
My manger looked at the video and was like yeah. That’a not a phone it’s just something she needs to do her job…
Customer just couldn’t comprehend that.
#32
A coworker hugged me when I gave her a birthday present. Later I was pulled into my supervisor's office because someone reported us for "inappropriate PDA."
#33
I don't know if anything ever got filed, but when I worked at a divorce firm, I had a woman call because she wanted to press charges against her son's ex-girlfriend and her friends. I asked for more details (so I could tell her we didn't practice that area of law but she should call, say, a civil attorney or something).
She told me that this old girlfriend, she was messing around with her son's body and stole his sperm.
Me: Wat.
Her: She and her friends--I don't like these girls--they went to where my son's body was and they messed around with it and stole his sperm.
Me: Where his body was?
Her: Where his body was. In the cemetery. She's a thief.
Me: Uh, try a civil attorney, we can't help you.
#34
I once had a coworker whose husband was Jewish, and she took every opportunity to mention this fact and talk as if she were an expert on Jewishness.
Having many Jewish family members myself, I figured that since each of us had Jewish loved ones it'd be a topic we could bond over. When she talked about her husband and her cross-cultural Jewish experience, I'd relate my own experiences with my family.
It wasn't long before I was called into HR and told that she was "highly offended" by how I talked about Jewish people. Not a word I said about my family or Jewish people/culture in general was anything but the highest praise and affection.
The HR manager explained that this particular coworker was a consistent pain in her a*s, always coming to her to complain about being offended by one thing or another. In this case, she didn't think any genuine offense was taken, but rather that the woman felt special for having a Jewish husband and that me also having Jewish family must have made her feel like she wasn't special anymore.
Needless to say I was not reprimanded in any way, and the coworker in question was eventually fired. Probably for being a constant chunk of snot in HR's cornflakes.
Kirsten Kerkhof 1 year ago
That last line though ... I need to remember that and use it sometime.
#35
I’m a nurse and my husband’s crazy ex called my work with a litany of complaints against me. Things as small as “she’s stealing the narcotics” to “she tried to strangle my grandma.” She was desperate to get me fired so I couldn’t afford to live with my then-boyfriend. My manager called me into her office and said, “What the hell is going on?!”
#36
I was processing customer returns and a fishing rod had paperwork saying it wouldn't catch fish, another one said their boat was too tippy. Not sure if it was the same guy
#37
I worked at McDonalds. A man put a complaint in because I wouldn’t let him in after we’d already shut.
Tucker Cahooter 1 year ago
I used to visit Not Always Right website and it amazed me the number of stories posted there about customers who couldn't understand the concept of "Store Closed", even sometimes smashing their way in
#38
My mom got an angry message on eBay about her handmade wedding dresses for 18" dolls promoting child marriage, because American Girl dolls are only supposed to be 11. The woman insisted she should have a disclaimer to or something that says "for pretend play ONLY" to clear up this ambiguity.
That was more than 10 years ago and we still crack up about it.
SomePeopleCallMeMaurice 1 year ago
Sadly, 18” plastic child brides are all too common these days 😂
#39
After 7 years in the same company wearing the same kind of clothes, some jealous female co-workers went to the HR this summer to complain that I dress like a w***e...
#40
I jokingly told co-workers I was feeling disgruntled that day. The administrative assistant (whose job I was actively training for) overheard me and reported me to the boss. I had to have a sit down meet with them both and got written up for not "boosting team morale". Another time the same AA went into the bathroom after me and noted that I did not refill the toilet paper while I was in there. Again, had to have a meeting over it. I was SO happy when she left.
EDIT: I was a large public bathroom with 4 stalls. I didn't leave the place without any toilet paper. One of the stalls was running low and apparently I should have checked it and put more rolls in.
What do you think ?
Jihana 1 year ago
Remember Alexander Litvinenko, the guy who was poisoned with Polonium 210 in London? I was working as a radiochemist at that time, and of course we tried to develop a way to analyse Po 210. My father called me one day and asked what Polonium actually is, so I read him the Wikipedia article about it. My boss later yelled at me because I was giving away confidential information. Again, it was from effing Wikipedia, very confidential indeed.
Tam illo 1 year ago
A former coworker complained to HR about me because I sat down to repair something. In his mind I should have been kneeling or standing bent forward for 3 hours!
WindySwede 1 year ago
I don't get this. Why is sitting so horrendous? Is it for someone thinks it *looks* lazy? I would not like to be on the road any close to them, standing there and driving... :P
Load More Replies... Bernd Herbert 1 year ago
After reading these I still firmly believe that many businesses and supervisors/managers are enabling that type of appaling entitled behaviour. In almost all of those cases the supervisor/manager should have put the complaining person into their place and strongly refute to take that kind of ridiculous complaints seriously!
Gabriela Vicente 1 year ago
Agree. I'm sure there are plenty of idiots in the workd complaining about anything, buy any non-useless supervisor/manager/boss would laugh them off the building.
Load More Replies...
Kate Jones 1 year ago
I was a store manager for a retail chain and one of my other employees caught this employee sneaking his girlfriend into the backroom and making out with her while he was supposed to be working at night. She had gone in to grab a coffee and the guy was nowhere to be found, so she went in the back to make sure he was okay and caught him. So I called my corporate boss because I figured this was a fire-able offense. Boss said, no, we have to write him up. I got a lot of guff from the employees for allowing him to stay after that. He retaliated by calling HR and making a serious complaint about me. Fortunately I was able to prove he was lying, but I think any employee caught lying to HR should be fired. You could seriously affect my life with your lies and you're just allowed to keep doing it?? I really hate the 'you have to write them up first' BS we're required to do. But let me tell you- if it was something that affected the money, like stealing, they'd fire him right away.
Ellie Ahmed 1 year ago
A patient once complained to the nurse manager that I wouldn't adjust her incontinence pad when she asked. I wasn't working there, I was also a patient. She told the nurse that because of this, she "felt uncomfortable in the hospital environment". To clarify: she knew I was a patient, she wasn't confused, she was still annoyed because "it wouldn't have been THAT much trouble for her". I've worked in hospitals for 10+ years and had the odd patient complaint, but that one really takes the cake and I wasn't even on the clock!
Enlee Jones 1 year ago
I once worked at a place that sells jewelry on television -cough- and a guy cursed me the hell out because the show hostess was talking too fast.
Admiralu 1 year ago
The company engineer used to complain about me daily to HR because I wouldn't say good morning to him. If you said anything he would talk for hours and refuse to leave. HR told him there was nothing they could do-I didn't have to say hello. So happy when he finally retired.
Wysteria_Rose 1 year ago
I told a young guy once in my retail store that he needed to wear shoes on his feet and couldn't walk barefoot inside. I couldn't believe at how offended he was because I used to believe this was common sense. He got so angry he left, only to come back with a receipt from a different store that "let him in without shoes." I couldn't believe how much time this person had to have in order to do this. I learned weeks later that he even called corporate to try to have me fired, but my manager pointed out that that is exactly how we were trained, so it was dropped rather quickly. After this, I just decided to let whoever wanted to risk stepping on a nail or stub their toe on a shelf should just go ahead.
rodger coghlan 1 year ago
For some reason, I get people who just don't like me. I get yelled at, notes are left on my desk, et c. But the worst was when I was fired from a tech support job because I used a woman's body part to explain how to do something. WTF!?!? It was only 3 years later, that I was talking with someone about languages and mentioned bilabial fricatives - it dawned on me
LynzCatastrophe 1 year ago (edited)
I remember I once had a customer complain about me becausei wouldn't let her through a sectioned off area to shop. The area in question had broken glass all over the floor, it's protocol to secure the area till the glass can be cleared away. There was broken glass because she knocked a shelf and half a dozen large candles in jars fell to the floor. She cane to my supervisor, who helped me put up do not cross tape, left to get necessary tools to remove glass, and i stood behind the barrier to make sure customers didn't get hurt, the customer watched all this happen and then tried to cross. She got very angry when I wouldn't let her. Complained to management. Even with the statement from my supervisor as witness, management sided with angry customer who got discounts, I got written up. It was a store whose motto was all about customer service. All Canadian stores will be closed in a couple months.
Mary Rogers 1 year ago
I used to work at a small local TV station tucked into the back of the local cable franchise. My job was super basic, stick programs and commercials in manually to run on air (we had a tiny operating budget, so no automation). I worked on the weekends when there was no live programming, and the office and customer service was closed so I was the only person there. I took a quick break to raid the snack machine out back, and there I encountered an entire family glaring at me because their Disney Channel was on the fritz. Even though they were clearly trespassing, having walked all the way to the back of the building AND through gates that would normally be locked but were not because workers were out in the field, I endeavored to be helpful and told them to call our 800 number to report their outage. Not good enough.They had already called and their service was still out and they were upset because they thought they had been promised 24 hour customer service. That was the 800 number.
Mary Rogers 1 year ago (edited)
I told them. But they literally expected me to do something to help them, even though I could not do anything for them. At this point I was beginning to see them as being pretty pathetic if an outage could cause their entire day to be ruined as they were implying by standing there. I wanted to tell them, "It's a beautiful day outside, why don't you take your kids to the park?" Of course that likely would have sparked a complaint to management, but really. Who gets THAT upset about the Disney Channel going out? I ended up just apologizing and going back inside, making sure the door was locked behind me. I found it super creepy that they trespassed behind the building when clearly we were CLOSED.
Load More Replies...
Ellendra Nauriel 10 months ago
A coworker once made a formal complaint to HR that I was "bullying him" by refusing to speak to him in-person and would only communicate through email. Several months before getting that job, I had suffered a vocal chord injury that left me mute. No one in that entire company had ever heard me speak. I wore a badge that alerted people to the fact that I could hear but couldn't talk. And I had it in my employment contract that I would be allowed to communicate exclusively through email and text. But because one guy didn't feel like reading his emails, he tried to get me fired for not talking to him. My supervisor nearly laughed right out of her chair.
Vera Cyning 1 year ago
I will never understand why companies punish employees for doing too good a job. I personally don't give 2 pins for that behavior. Go ahead, put that on my record as a reason for firing or discipline. I dare you 😏
Cleo Neufeld 1 year ago
I am a cab driver and I had a guy from another country make some complaints bc he proposed and I turned him down bc GUESS WHAT? I LOVE MY HUSBAND! Then anytime after that I had to drive him, he was mean just bc I was already married lol
Roland Nijveld 1 year ago
Why do I have the feeling these situations only can happen in America? I can't imagine these situations happening in Europe. Atleast not in The Netherlands
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
people like this need to get a life. In general i find creative ways to punish them, e.g. with malicious compliance.
Jihana 1 year ago
Remember Alexander Litvinenko, the guy who was poisoned with Polonium 210 in London? I was working as a radiochemist at that time, and of course we tried to develop a way to analyse Po 210. My father called me one day and asked what Polonium actually is, so I read him the Wikipedia article about it. My boss later yelled at me because I was giving away confidential information. Again, it was from effing Wikipedia, very confidential indeed.
Tam illo 1 year ago
A former coworker complained to HR about me because I sat down to repair something. In his mind I should have been kneeling or standing bent forward for 3 hours!
WindySwede 1 year ago
I don't get this. Why is sitting so horrendous? Is it for someone thinks it *looks* lazy? I would not like to be on the road any close to them, standing there and driving... :P
Load More Replies... Bernd Herbert 1 year ago
After reading these I still firmly believe that many businesses and supervisors/managers are enabling that type of appaling entitled behaviour. In almost all of those cases the supervisor/manager should have put the complaining person into their place and strongly refute to take that kind of ridiculous complaints seriously!
Gabriela Vicente 1 year ago
Agree. I'm sure there are plenty of idiots in the workd complaining about anything, buy any non-useless supervisor/manager/boss would laugh them off the building.
Load More Replies... Kate Jones 1 year ago
I was a store manager for a retail chain and one of my other employees caught this employee sneaking his girlfriend into the backroom and making out with her while he was supposed to be working at night. She had gone in to grab a coffee and the guy was nowhere to be found, so she went in the back to make sure he was okay and caught him. So I called my corporate boss because I figured this was a fire-able offense. Boss said, no, we have to write him up. I got a lot of guff from the employees for allowing him to stay after that. He retaliated by calling HR and making a serious complaint about me. Fortunately I was able to prove he was lying, but I think any employee caught lying to HR should be fired. You could seriously affect my life with your lies and you're just allowed to keep doing it?? I really hate the 'you have to write them up first' BS we're required to do. But let me tell you- if it was something that affected the money, like stealing, they'd fire him right away.
Ellie Ahmed 1 year ago
A patient once complained to the nurse manager that I wouldn't adjust her incontinence pad when she asked. I wasn't working there, I was also a patient. She told the nurse that because of this, she "felt uncomfortable in the hospital environment". To clarify: she knew I was a patient, she wasn't confused, she was still annoyed because "it wouldn't have been THAT much trouble for her". I've worked in hospitals for 10+ years and had the odd patient complaint, but that one really takes the cake and I wasn't even on the clock!
Enlee Jones 1 year ago
I once worked at a place that sells jewelry on television -cough- and a guy cursed me the hell out because the show hostess was talking too fast.
Admiralu 1 year ago
The company engineer used to complain about me daily to HR because I wouldn't say good morning to him. If you said anything he would talk for hours and refuse to leave. HR told him there was nothing they could do-I didn't have to say hello. So happy when he finally retired.
Wysteria_Rose 1 year ago
I told a young guy once in my retail store that he needed to wear shoes on his feet and couldn't walk barefoot inside. I couldn't believe at how offended he was because I used to believe this was common sense. He got so angry he left, only to come back with a receipt from a different store that "let him in without shoes." I couldn't believe how much time this person had to have in order to do this. I learned weeks later that he even called corporate to try to have me fired, but my manager pointed out that that is exactly how we were trained, so it was dropped rather quickly. After this, I just decided to let whoever wanted to risk stepping on a nail or stub their toe on a shelf should just go ahead.
rodger coghlan 1 year ago
For some reason, I get people who just don't like me. I get yelled at, notes are left on my desk, et c. But the worst was when I was fired from a tech support job because I used a woman's body part to explain how to do something. WTF!?!? It was only 3 years later, that I was talking with someone about languages and mentioned bilabial fricatives - it dawned on me
LynzCatastrophe 1 year ago (edited)
I remember I once had a customer complain about me becausei wouldn't let her through a sectioned off area to shop. The area in question had broken glass all over the floor, it's protocol to secure the area till the glass can be cleared away. There was broken glass because she knocked a shelf and half a dozen large candles in jars fell to the floor. She cane to my supervisor, who helped me put up do not cross tape, left to get necessary tools to remove glass, and i stood behind the barrier to make sure customers didn't get hurt, the customer watched all this happen and then tried to cross. She got very angry when I wouldn't let her. Complained to management. Even with the statement from my supervisor as witness, management sided with angry customer who got discounts, I got written up. It was a store whose motto was all about customer service. All Canadian stores will be closed in a couple months.
Mary Rogers 1 year ago
I used to work at a small local TV station tucked into the back of the local cable franchise. My job was super basic, stick programs and commercials in manually to run on air (we had a tiny operating budget, so no automation). I worked on the weekends when there was no live programming, and the office and customer service was closed so I was the only person there. I took a quick break to raid the snack machine out back, and there I encountered an entire family glaring at me because their Disney Channel was on the fritz. Even though they were clearly trespassing, having walked all the way to the back of the building AND through gates that would normally be locked but were not because workers were out in the field, I endeavored to be helpful and told them to call our 800 number to report their outage. Not good enough.They had already called and their service was still out and they were upset because they thought they had been promised 24 hour customer service. That was the 800 number.
Mary Rogers 1 year ago (edited)
I told them. But they literally expected me to do something to help them, even though I could not do anything for them. At this point I was beginning to see them as being pretty pathetic if an outage could cause their entire day to be ruined as they were implying by standing there. I wanted to tell them, "It's a beautiful day outside, why don't you take your kids to the park?" Of course that likely would have sparked a complaint to management, but really. Who gets THAT upset about the Disney Channel going out? I ended up just apologizing and going back inside, making sure the door was locked behind me. I found it super creepy that they trespassed behind the building when clearly we were CLOSED.
Load More Replies... Ellendra Nauriel 10 months ago
A coworker once made a formal complaint to HR that I was "bullying him" by refusing to speak to him in-person and would only communicate through email. Several months before getting that job, I had suffered a vocal chord injury that left me mute. No one in that entire company had ever heard me speak. I wore a badge that alerted people to the fact that I could hear but couldn't talk. And I had it in my employment contract that I would be allowed to communicate exclusively through email and text. But because one guy didn't feel like reading his emails, he tried to get me fired for not talking to him. My supervisor nearly laughed right out of her chair.
Vera Cyning 1 year ago
I will never understand why companies punish employees for doing too good a job. I personally don't give 2 pins for that behavior. Go ahead, put that on my record as a reason for firing or discipline. I dare you 😏
Cleo Neufeld 1 year ago
I am a cab driver and I had a guy from another country make some complaints bc he proposed and I turned him down bc GUESS WHAT? I LOVE MY HUSBAND! Then anytime after that I had to drive him, he was mean just bc I was already married lol
Roland Nijveld 1 year ago
Why do I have the feeling these situations only can happen in America? I can't imagine these situations happening in Europe. Atleast not in The Netherlands
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
people like this need to get a life. In general i find creative ways to punish them, e.g. with malicious compliance.
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