Retail Workers Share Their Worst GTFO Moments With A Customer
Retail work is unique in that it can be simultaneously the easiest job and the most stressful job someone can have. The work itself is rarely ever the issue, but rather, it’s the customer service that sets people over the edge.
Anyone who has ever worked retail has had an experience with a customer that was so ridiculous they were willing to risk their job in order to tell them off, with some being brave enough to do just that.
1. Act Your Age
I worked at a call center years ago. I overheard an angry commotion from the headset of the gal next to me. The yelling continued for what seemed like 30 minutes, but it was probably closer to five.
But she was totally unfazed, just reading a magazine while the ranting continued. Finally, I heard my co-worker ask, "Your mother or father home, sweetie? We're not permitted to speak with children". They hung up. Before the next auto-dial, I said, "
Darn, that was a kid?" She just shrugged, "No, it was some old man".
2. Cat Fight
Two women came into the store screaming at each other. As I'm coming out from the back, I gather from the yelling that one had nearly hit the other's car. Nearly, but no actual incident had occurred.
It was a busy Saturday so people are starting to stare. I'm trying to gather my wits, thinking how best to handle it, when my manager came flying in from nowhere.
She just yells, "Either come in here and shop like people or go outside with the rest of the animals!" One left. One stayed.
3. Self-Destructive
Worked at RadioShack for six months while in college. Pretty much had at least one terrible experience per shift. The one that stands out the most was a guy who wanted us to honor the warranty on his iPhone cable. The thing was a mutilated mess.
It had clearly stopped working and he had tried to fix it himself by cutting the cable apart and attempting to solder two wires together.
We calmly explained that we couldn’t process a claim for an item that was willfully destroyed, and he starts screaming in our faces about how “RadioShack is a scam!” and “I’m going to sue all of you!”
And then he tries to WHIP my coworker—a five-foot-tall non-threatening woman—with the cable! She managed to turn her head and catch the wire with her hand before it caught her in the face.
Myself and another employee chased him out of the store and called the authorities but nothing came of it. RadioShack shoppers were the worst.
