The Customer is Often Wrong

[Druid]

I've worked in customer service for a long time and I have all these stories I love to horrify friends with, but that I've never put online because the more anxious side of me is worried they could get recognizable somewhere public like reddit. ck feels like the perfect middle ground, and I thought this would be a fun thread that a lot of us can contribute to! The interaction that made me think to make this is actually pretty innocuous, but I'll get the ball rolling with it to keep the OP shortish then come back with some more Dramatic ones.

My current job has nightly public events that people can register online for. The specific phrasing on the registration page is "[price] per guest" and the little quantity box says "number of guests". A guy called today like,

"hey, I'm registering me and my girlfriend for tomorrow night and I just had a question...."
me: "sure!"
"it says quantity: 2...."
"......"
"is that right?"
"for you and your girlfriend? yeah perfect!"
"oh. okay. so...... should I put her name?"
"um, yeah so in the boxes that ask for each guests' name, it'd be one for yours and one for hers"
"......."
"I mean you don't have to, if you leave them blank we'll just mark you down as whatever name you use to pay plus one"
".......so hers and mine?"
"yeah if you want!"
"oh, ok. thanks."

and I've just been struggling to figure out what part of that registration page made him go "nah I should call to make sure." He didn't sound like, anxious or anything, his tone was very "hello I have found a mistake." ???? two is the right number sir idk

[Cinnamoroll]

God, I am so glad I don’t work in customer service anymore.

I had many, many experiences where the customer was flat out wrong.

One of my favourite cards to pull was when someone would say “well the manager said I could do ____”
And then I would reply by saying “I’m the manager, and that conversation never happened.”

The look on their face is always priceless.

I’m sure I have many stories but they’re not coming to mind at the moment. However a few random ones that stick out: I had a lady tell me that I had devil numbers clouding my aura and that I was going to die soon? All because I told her the facility she was inquiring about what permanently closed years prior? She also then proceeded to argue with me that she was indeed calling said closed facility and I said that literally was not possible and then she said that it was my fault she called the wrong number? I had never been more confused in my life after that phone call.

[Zapdos]

Ugh I'm so relieved I don't work in customer service/hospo anymore!

I did have a stranger come up and berate me on the street for parking in a way he didn't like while at work the other day. He threated to call the local council and I was just like... I am working on behalf of them lol Didn't stop him from videoing me though. Where do these people find all this time to harass people at their jobs?

[Cinnamoroll]

Ugh I'm so relieved I don't work in customer service/hospo anymore!

I did have a stranger come up and berate me on the street for parking in a way he didn't like while at work the other day. He threated to call the local council and I was just like... I am working on behalf of them lol Didn't stop him from videoing me though. Where do these people find all this time to harass people at their jobs?

Honestly I would have told him to fix the park job himself then if he thinks he can do it better 😂

But it’s very true. Where do people find the energy or time to behave that way? I also had someone call me a bitch and threaten me because I asked them to show me their ID. Like sorry fam my bad I’m following policy and law here but okay go off, I guess??

[Druid]

God, I am so glad I don’t work in customer service anymore.

Ugh I'm so relieved I don't work in customer service/hospo anymore!

lol this is always the main response! I honestly love it. I think I'm lucky in that I'm built to find this kind of interaction funny and baffling more than frustrating, and it's not often I have to deal with anyone truly mean. by customer service I do specifically mean hospo, but being super busy / having a lot to juggle and keep organized, making people laugh, not working in the morning, getting to be kind of crass and sassy and have it considered a positive, having access to food and drinks that I don't have to make and/or pay for, and just like the overall goal being "help these people have fun"? love.



THAT SAID buckle up for my crown jewel horror story, Vomit Lady:

This was at a previous job managing a restaurant with board games. This table came in at like 1pm, didn't seem drunk, didn't order booze from us. Within 15 minutes of their arrival, one of them approached one of my staff like "excuse me? I just vomited over there," gesturing vaguely toward the side. Then she went back to her table and resumed her board game.

The server she'd told came and told me, I went and found it - not in a bathroom, not in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, just in the middle of the floor in the section nearest the bathrooms (which BLISSFULLY had no tables seated at the time) and mopped it up. That took a couple of minutes, 5 max. I then printed the table's bill and brought it over to them like "heyyyy I'm just gonna get you guys to settle up."

She said, verbatim because it will haunt me forever, "to be clear, this is because I was sick earlier?" (OBVIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!)

Instead of screaming OBVIOUSLY I stayed in painfully polite and accommodating customer service mode, saying things like "yeah it's just like a health code thing." She pushed back a genuinely unbelievable amount, with arguments including "it's just that your bathrooms are so far" (1. they're not and 2. if you need to be seconds from a toilet at all times you are not currently capable of being in a restaurant), "I hope you aren't assuming that I'm drunk, I'm not drunk" (okay so you're ill which is potentially even more of a biohazard), and "I just feel really weird being asked to leave like this" (you PUKED on the FLOOR). She did not attempt to provide any context - not that it would've changed anything, but with everything else she was saying it feels really bizarre that there was nothing like "I'm pregnant" or "I have a condition" in a tone meant to make me feel ashamed of myself for discriminating against her. It really felt like in her worldview it's normal and reasonable for anyone to vomit at any second, and ~ugh~ this place makes you walk 10+ seconds to the bathrooms amirite??

And like I have some health stuff and I want to sympathize, but I just, the audacity??? I can actually imagine a world where I'm suddenly that nauseous out of nowhere and through no fault of my own I don't make it somewhere appropriate in time. But if that happened in a restaurant in the middle of the floor? I'd leave cash for 3x my bill with my friends and you'd never see me again???? I cannot process her UNWAVERING confidence that it was me being unreasonable. It lowkey gaslit me? I texted my boss like "um I'm allowed to kick someone out for puking right?" and she was like "....yeah you literally have to. what?"

Didn't she want to brush her teeth?????

[TsUNaMy WaVe]

lol this is always the main response! I honestly love it. I think I'm lucky in that I'm built to find this kind of interaction funny and baffling more than frustrating, and it's not often I have to deal with anyone truly mean. by customer service I do specifically mean hospo, but being super busy / having a lot to juggle and keep organized, making people laugh, not working in the morning, getting to be kind of crass and sassy and have it considered a positive, having access to food and drinks that I don't have to make and/or pay for, and just like the overall goal being "help these people have fun"? love.



THAT SAID buckle up for my crown jewel horror story, Vomit Lady:

This was at a previous job managing a restaurant with board games. This table came in at like 1pm, didn't seem drunk, didn't order booze from us. Within 15 minutes of their arrival, one of them approached one of my staff like "excuse me? I just vomited over there," gesturing vaguely toward the side. Then she went back to her table and resumed her board game.

The server she'd told came and told me, I went and found it - not in a bathroom, not in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, just in the middle of the floor in the section nearest the bathrooms (which BLISSFULLY had no tables seated at the time) and mopped it up. That took a couple of minutes, 5 max. I then printed the table's bill and brought it over to them like "heyyyy I'm just gonna get you guys to settle up."

She said, verbatim because it will haunt me forever, "to be clear, this is because I was sick earlier?" (OBVIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!)

Instead of screaming OBVIOUSLY I stayed in painfully polite and accommodating customer service mode, saying things like "yeah it's just like a health code thing." She pushed back a genuinely unbelievable amount, with arguments including "it's just that your bathrooms are so far" (1. they're not and 2. if you need to be seconds from a toilet at all times you are not currently capable of being in a restaurant), "I hope you aren't assuming that I'm drunk, I'm not drunk" (okay so you're ill which is potentially even more of a biohazard), and "I just feel really weird being asked to leave like this" (you PUKED on the FLOOR). She did not attempt to provide any context - not that it would've changed anything, but with everything else she was saying it feels really bizarre that there was nothing like "I'm pregnant" or "I have a condition" in a tone meant to make me feel ashamed of myself for discriminating against her. It really felt like in her worldview it's normal and reasonable for anyone to vomit at any second, and ~ugh~ this place makes you walk 10+ seconds to the bathrooms amirite??

And like I have some health stuff and I want to sympathize, but I just, the audacity??? I can actually imagine a world where I'm suddenly that nauseous out of nowhere and through no fault of my own I don't make it somewhere appropriate in time. But if that happened in a restaurant in the middle of the floor? I'd leave cash for 3x my bill with my friends and you'd never see me again???? I cannot process her UNWAVERING confidence that it was me being unreasonable. It lowkey gaslit me? I texted my boss like "um I'm allowed to kick someone out for puking right?" and she was like "....yeah you literally have to. what?"

Didn't she want to brush her teeth?????

omg what a bizarre story! but I'd believe any story about customer service, I swear. there are very weird people in the world...

I worked at a gas station for around 3 years and yeah I'm glad I don't have to deal with customers anymore. can't think about a specific worth telling story right now, but I'm sure it'll come back to me soon. for now I'll just say that one time a costumer was using very bad and rude swear words against me and I'm still about that lmao. it was only because I didn't agree to open the gas pump for him before he actually paid, which was the rule where I worked, and also makes sense....

[Cinnamoroll]

lol this is always the main response! I honestly love it. I think I'm lucky in that I'm built to find this kind of interaction funny and baffling more than frustrating, and it's not often I have to deal with anyone truly mean. by customer service I do specifically mean hospo, but being super busy / having a lot to juggle and keep organized, making people laugh, not working in the morning, getting to be kind of crass and sassy and have it considered a positive, having access to food and drinks that I don't have to make and/or pay for, and just like the overall goal being "help these people have fun"? love.



THAT SAID buckle up for my crown jewel horror story, Vomit Lady:

This was at a previous job managing a restaurant with board games. This table came in at like 1pm, didn't seem drunk, didn't order booze from us. Within 15 minutes of their arrival, one of them approached one of my staff like "excuse me? I just vomited over there," gesturing vaguely toward the side. Then she went back to her table and resumed her board game.

The server she'd told came and told me, I went and found it - not in a bathroom, not in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, just in the middle of the floor in the section nearest the bathrooms (which BLISSFULLY had no tables seated at the time) and mopped it up. That took a couple of minutes, 5 max. I then printed the table's bill and brought it over to them like "heyyyy I'm just gonna get you guys to settle up."

She said, verbatim because it will haunt me forever, "to be clear, this is because I was sick earlier?" (OBVIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!)

Instead of screaming OBVIOUSLY I stayed in painfully polite and accommodating customer service mode, saying things like "yeah it's just like a health code thing." She pushed back a genuinely unbelievable amount, with arguments including "it's just that your bathrooms are so far" (1. they're not and 2. if you need to be seconds from a toilet at all times you are not currently capable of being in a restaurant), "I hope you aren't assuming that I'm drunk, I'm not drunk" (okay so you're ill which is potentially even more of a biohazard), and "I just feel really weird being asked to leave like this" (you PUKED on the FLOOR). She did not attempt to provide any context - not that it would've changed anything, but with everything else she was saying it feels really bizarre that there was nothing like "I'm pregnant" or "I have a condition" in a tone meant to make me feel ashamed of myself for discriminating against her. It really felt like in her worldview it's normal and reasonable for anyone to vomit at any second, and ~ugh~ this place makes you walk 10+ seconds to the bathrooms amirite??

And like I have some health stuff and I want to sympathize, but I just, the audacity??? I can actually imagine a world where I'm suddenly that nauseous out of nowhere and through no fault of my own I don't make it somewhere appropriate in time. But if that happened in a restaurant in the middle of the floor? I'd leave cash for 3x my bill with my friends and you'd never see me again???? I cannot process her UNWAVERING confidence that it was me being unreasonable. It lowkey gaslit me? I texted my boss like "um I'm allowed to kick someone out for puking right?" and she was like "....yeah you literally have to. what?"

Didn't she want to brush her teeth?????

The fact that she is question why she has to leave after throwing up like that… in the middle of the day… as a grown ass woman…. Is astounding to me. Does she not realise that if the roles were reversed, she would do the same thing as you? That’s just gross like… damn.

I feel like working in hospitality versus customer service can be different for sure and I can see why you’d like it! The stupidity and lack of common sense just would get to me at times. So I am happy to work with kids now because they’re kids so they genuinely don’t know better. Adults do.

[Shawn]

Coming from a User Experience perspective (what I do), that actually speaks to a form with an unintuitive design!

But of course, if it was a simple google forms sign up or something similar, there's not much to be done, apart from re-arranging some fields or something like that.

[Cat Purrson]

God I’m also so thankful I’m not in customer service anymore. It really put a negative effect on my mental state. I worked in escalations so I’d be the one the customer was transferred to when they wanted to speak to a manager.

[Druid]

Coming from a User Experience perspective (what I do), that actually speaks to a form with an unintuitive design!

But of course, if it was a simple google forms sign up or something similar, there's not much to be done, apart from re-arranging some fields or something like that.

Haha maybe a bit! I'd say it's very slightly less intuitive than a google form. This is the first time I've heard a question along this vein though so I think it's probably just a this guy thing (& either way it's a franchise so we can't tweak the site anyway)



Another misc customer memory just because I may as well include one in every post:

I exclusively go by a nickname, absolutely none of my coworkers at any job have ever used my full name. Also it's a nickname that could be derived from multiple names. One time when I was a server I was introduced to this table by name, as always, and the matriarch (Lucille Bluth energy) very quickly just... guessed and started using a full name for me? Out of an abundance of caution this isn't my real name, but let's say it was Kate - the host was like "and your server will be Kate!", and then I was like "hey I'm Kate!", and then out of absolutely nowhere she was flagging me down like "Oh ~Katherine~,"