Retail Workers Dish On The Rude Customers Who Almost Made Them Go Off

In a capitalist economy, most people have had some experience working in retail jobs, whether it’s at a local grocery store or a huge supermarket chain. The long hours of standing and monotony of selling goods and services that you may not care about are one thing but the main challenge when working a retail job is, of course, the customer.

The customer, who the old adage assures us is always right, is in reality often pushy, selfish, unreasonable, or downright bananas.

So when the question “What was your ‘I’m about to lose my sh*t moment’ with a customer?” was posed on r/AskReddit, the floodgates opened and people who work retail jobs spilled out all of their retail-induced trauma.

Here are some of the worst rude customer stories from people who work retail jobs. 

1.

Had a woman come in and request a large drink in a small cup. I asked her to repeat that. She reiterated she wanted a large drink, but in a small cup. I told her that wasn’t possible. This went on and on, her yelling that it wasn’t that difficult to understand, I’m trying to tell her that they’re different volumes. Eventually I filled up a large, got a small cup and dead-eyed her while pouring the large in until it overflowed and went all over the counter. – PB_PB

2.

I wasn’t going to lose my shit but still annoyed me lol. An old woman came up to me at work asking how much the exact price of an item would be with 65% off. Math has NEVER been my strong suit so I said I wasnt sure but if she didn’t mind I’d calculate it on my phone for her and she goes “you seriously don’t know it? You cant do it in your head?” …..Excuse me??? Girl you don’t know it either! 😐😐😐 –digital-shawty

3.

You are only doing this because I am $(different race/gender/ethnicity/religion/sexual identity) than you!

No, $customer, I insist that everyone pay for the pizzas I make for them. –bziddy

4.

A girl asked me to get her a Buzz Lightyear toy from a shelf. Done. Five minutes later her bitchy parents are complaining that I gave her a boy toy. Personal feelings and rage aside, I tried to deescalate with, “Yes, I suppose Buzz is a boy AND a toy!” Never got written up so fast in my life. –Mamlucky

5.

While working at Lowes a guy tried returning an item with no recepit. Turns out that item is only sold by Home Depot soooo I told the customer we couldnt give him a store credit. He lost his shit saying he’s 100% sure he bought it at a hardware store. Yup. Not this one. Wouldn’t take no for an answer so I brought up the item on the computer and showed him it was sold by Home Depot. Then showed him our website where the item didn’t exist. He got pissed and mid saturday afternoon yells “ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID”. I wanted to punch him right in his mouth –Olorin919

6.

Worked at a gas station in the early 2000s. This guy pulls up and tried to pump gas while holding a cigarette in his hand. –Ruffle2Shuffle

7.

Worked for an upmarket UK toy company. Customer is furious we don’t offer same day delivery, at 5pm on Christmas Eve. Ruined her child’s Christmas as “this was gift from Santa” threatened to write an article about me personally for “refusing to do anything to help”. Apparently she worked for the Guardian. Honestly, the products we sold were mostly overpriced but it attracted a very entitled and graceless clientele. Mostly I had to stop myself from laughing at how ridiculous some of the requests we had were. –Rasberryblush

8.

Worked at a Cake Shop. We sold Cakes and similar confectioneries. Customer walked in, looked at what we had for a while comes up to the counter and says “You guys should sell samosas too. And like, chicken.”

° ___°) –TrenchcoatDucks

9.

Had a vegan customer lose her shit for bitting into a “beef burger” according to her. We don’t sell beef burgers. She had our plant based burger that tastes like those beef burger ones. She still couldn’t believe us and ask for her money back. –this_is_Patr1ck

10.

I used to work a retail job at a GameStop at a mall when both were still a thing. Christmas season is always the worst.

One night we were closing up and had our gates lowered halfway so the last person checking out could still leave the store. A lady lifts up our gate and comes in and starts browsing. I ask if she needed any help which she declined. I let her know we’re closed and that’s why the gates were down but she brushed that off too saying she wouldn’t be long. I can’t imagine giving that little of a shit about other people. –Rihsatra