For generations, “the customer is always right!” has been the credo of businesses across society’s entire landscape of industries.
Apparently, though, some employees missed that lesson during their training.
There is no surer way for a company to lose a customer than for one of their employees to be rude, dismissive, or just utterly unhelpful when a client comes to them for help with an issue or concern. But hey, keeping your customers is overrated anyway, right?
Here are 40 examples of what not to do if keeping your customers happy and coming back for more is part of your bucket list.
40. Pay Foe
After getting a box of roof tiles shipped to me instead of the guitar amplifier I ordered on eBay, I called PayPal and let them know what happened, this was the convo:
Me: "So I got scammed, instead of an amp I received a box of roof tiles. I refused the shipment and sent it back. I can supply pictures"
PayPal Rep: "Well technically the item was delivered."
Me: "It was a box of roof tiles, not an amp."
PayPal Rep: "The ball is in your court. We showed something shipped out"
** PayPal rep hung up on me **
I was so angry. Called Citibank, which was the credit card company I used through PayPal. Told them the situation, they instantly refunded me my money. Told me that even if they had shipped out the amp, but it was the wrong color—they would still refund me and try to get their money back from the seller. AWESOME customer service.
Bottom line: PayPal are jerks. Citibank are good peeps.
39. Getting a Little Sick of This Insurance Company
Health insurance. Having to explain to the "first line" of personnel who appear to be there simply to wear you down, what a procedure is, what the codes mean, and why something is, in fact, covered by my insurance. My doctor's office actually provided me with all the information knowing that my insurance was denying the claim assuming that I would probably just pay it. It took several phone calls but they did pay the claim. It was extremely frustrating, though, especially when you are sick and having to fight for your insurance to do their job.
38. Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Lovefilm. I tried canceling, and all they would do is put my account on "holiday." They simply refused to cancel my subscription. I eventually gave up and accepted the "holiday.”
As that was ending, I tried again, they repeated the "holiday" thing, even though I couldn't have any more "holiday" time on my account. Then they said that I can reduce my subscription—I was on an expensive one as it was for games—but I wanted to completely cancel.
In the end, I sent them an email threatening legal action, as well as mentioning the Data Protection Act and telling them to remove all my details from their site as I didn't trust them.
They finally canceled, buy my account was still there, including my payment details. So I sent them another email threatening legal action again before they finally removed my details.
I'm glad Amazon bought them then gutted them.
SEOPressor
37. Get Your Act Together
When I ordered two kebabs with cheese for me and a friend in a crowded place. I was given one and I passed it to a friend and I haven't gotten mine so I was patiently waiting. After some 10 minutes, I finally asked where is my kebab and the lady was pissed off because she noted that it was already given away and for sure I'm trying to cheat and get one for free. Lady, it's not my fault your establishment doesn't give out a number with your order and you don't keep track who takes what. So annoying.
36. That’s What You Call Karma
I went to a bar after a college football game with some friends. I'm 21, but I don't drink too often, so I offered to be the designated driver for the night. So we show up to the bar, we get in, we are having a good time just hanging around and singing karaoke, and then I go up to the bar asking just for a Diet Coke. The bartender pours my drink and then turns around and asks for my ID. I handed him the same ID I gave the bouncer and have previously given him when I have ordered drinks, and he immediately tells me to leave (with my ID in his hand). I told him I was the DD and he just yelled at me, so the whole bar could hear, "This is a fake ID and if you don't leave voluntarily, then I will make sure you leave." I've got terrible anxiety and just left, all of my friends were just confused, and I left my ID there because the bartender demanded $100 for my ID back.
Of course, a cop was waiting right outside the bar where I parked and pulled me over since he saw me just walk out and drunk driving after games is a big problem at the school. I told the cop that the bartender took my real ID but I gave him my name, social and a government identification from my job. The cop could tell I was sober and my government ID is a lot more legit than a license, so he ran my name and it came back I was 21. The cop marched into the bar and demanded my ID was relinquished immediately, much to the bartender’s surprise. One of my friends caught him saying I needed to pay him for my "fake ID," and in his drunken stupor told the police officer and showed the video. The bartender was immediately arrested on the spot.
So having a lousy bartender led to his arrest... And now that he doesn't work there I don't get carded there anymore.
35. A Whole Conga Line of Incompetence
Totally a first world problem but the surrealism of the situation threw me off.
I had an ol' clunker of a Dell computer that I was trying to inject a few more years of life into. It was still good and I couldn't afford a brand new box at the time. Wanting to install an extra hard disk, I cracked the case open only to find out the thing's skeleton wasn't the traditional "screw it into place" sort. Instead you have to put a pair of clips on your device and then slide/snap it into place.
There was a pair of spare clips on the machine's front end!... for an extra floppy drive.
So, I called Dell in the hope to maybe order and get a pair of hard disk clips shipped. I figured it'd be just a handful of bucks. Totally worth it.
- First person had no clue what I was talking about and transferred me to level 2.
- Level 2 had no clue what I was talking about and transferred me to his supervisor.
- Supervisor admitted that his office wasn't made to handle these sorts of calls and thus gave me the phone number for another call center more specialized in spare parts.
- Called the new number. Explain my situation only to get told by the girl (in a heavy Indian accent) that I ended up in the billing department. She transferred me to their technical support.
- Tech support guy had no clue what I was talking about and transferred me to another guy. At this point I realized I had been given the number for a call center in India.
- Other guy had no clue what I was talking about and transferred me to yet another guy.
- Yet another guy had me describe in excruciating detail that part I wanted, the computer's model number, the computer's serial number. Then proceeded to tell me he didn't believe the computer could support a second hard disk. (Nonsense, buddy. The computer had two full-sized IDE plugs, the original HD and the optical drive used one of them). I hand-waved his concern and stated it wasn't his problem to deal with: I'd assume the consequences.
- Yet another guy put me on hold for 10 minutes only to get answered by a lady who pretty much made me go through the entire story all over again.
- And so, after an hour of this insane foray since my first call, the lady proceeded to tell me that the pair of floppy disk clips I was holding in my hand at this very moment did not exist. I froze, thanked her for the help, hung up, turned away, and went to get myself crazy drunk.
These days I'm far better-equipped: local-bought case and set of parts. If I need anything new, I just order the part on whatever website and away I go.
34. This One is Getting Zero “Likes”
I do some advertising on Facebook. Ever try to get customer service from Facebook? It cannot be done. My account is locked and they're like "Ask the community!" Oh yeah, Steve in Nebraska is gonna crack this nut. I legit have no idea how to get it fixed. You can't call OR email them.
So in my experience the only thing worse than savagely bad customer service is "lol nope" customer service.
33. Side Business
Had to call Bell for my mother and father-in-law because their TV was not working. They had a reset they had to do on their side that would take 30 minutes so they let me off the line.
It failed to work so the next person did it again and it failed again. When the third person went to do it again I asked him to stay on the line as I didn't think it would work the third time—and it didn't.
The really weird/bad part was when we were waiting he said to me in his thick accent "Sir, can I interested you in some dirty films?"
When I explained this wasn't even my TV he proceeded to continue trying to push the smut on me for the whole 30-minute reset.
Owen-Stewart Performance Resources
31. Communication Problems
AT&T wireless back in the mid-2000s. I moved states and changed my phone number with AT&T to a local number. However, they kept trying to send me bills from the previous number/account saying that I broke contract and needed to pay an early termination fee since I 'discontinued service' with one number to set-up new service with another number.
I refused to pay it, spend about 20 hours on the phone with customer service, went to my local store 6-8 times to discuss this with various manager/representatives, and even had a collection agency call me.
After about 4 months of this and having my service cut off and cut back on multiple times, they finally decided to stop pursuing me after I had to write numerous letters to various people and explain what happened to a number of people and every time I would start telling them my story after they pulled up my account information they would go "Oh yeah, looks like you have some history with us".
After it finally got settled, I was at the end of my contract with AT&T and they tried getting me to sign another with a discounted new phone. I told them that the only way I would sign back up with AT&T would be to have a written offer of six months of free service plus a free phone for putting up with the craziness of the previous four months. The manager told me they can't offer free service and I told them as politely as I could to have a nice day and that AT&T should remove my name from any future correspondence or I would consider the communication harassment since I have written letters asking them to stop communicating with me. Haven’t heard from them in almost ten years now.
31. Technical Difficulties
I will tell my story of Time Warner Cable.
I moved to a new apartment, and got better internet with it. I now had 25mbs, awesome. However, when pinging, I only ever got about 4 mbs.
Watching two instances of Netflix was impossible (me and my roommate in separate rooms), let alone Netflix and an online game.
I originally called them, letting them know. Their first line of defense was "You need to upgrade to better internet." No, no I don't. Then, plugging directly into the modem, and all the troubleshooting steps. Many times the call would drop, and I would have to start all over again from troubleshooting step 1. Telling them I just went through this did not help. They ended up swapping out the modem twice saying "Oh, you have the wrong one". I had four onsite technician visits. (really only two though).
First tech tested everything, and his exact words were "I don't know." Second tech visit said I was never home and "Left a note on the door." I called out of work to be home and they never showed, never knocked, and no note on my door. Third visit was from a tech who when called started going through my troubleshooting steps over the phone instead of coming out, I told him it still happens when directly plugged into the modem, then he asked me "Do you use it while on wireless? That's your problem" I promptly told him to hell, and he hung up on me.
I got the fourth tech to come out, and he FINALLY checked the outside pole to realize there was a nic in the line at the POLE LEVEL. GREAT
All done, right? Wrong.
So he schedules a maintenance crew to come out and check the poles. One month rolls by, and still nothing and no one. This is when I start the whole thing over. I call and speak directly to a supervisor who states "We cannot send out a maintenance crew unless a tech visits you first" Which I told him they have, then he repeats that sentence 10 times.
30. Lesson Learned
I went to a restaurant with my girlfriend at the time. We sat there for 30 minutes before we even got water. Finally, after about 45 minutes we saw a waiter. Then waited another 45 minutes for our food which was cold. We saw several tables sit, get served, pay, and leave before we talked to a waiter.
29. Laughing All the Way to the Bank
Wells Fargo. I had closed a savings account years ago. Somehow, Wells Fargo claimed that I had incurred a withdraw from the savings account. It turned out to have been an error on their part. However, Wells Fargo tacked on an "overdraft fee" of $15.00. I noticed it in my checking account.
When I inquired they said that it was because there were no funds in the savings account. But the account was closed for some years!!! I spent an entire week calling and emailing different departments, all referred to me by different reps. I felt that I was at their mercy to whatever erroneous charge they wanted to throw at me. I really believe nothing would have been corrected had I not emailed every Wells Fargo director that I could find on the internet.
Eventually, I was advised that they recalled the bogus late fee, but made sure to get it in writing. I stopped banking with them at that time.
28. The Good Old Run Around
I had a video card where the fan suddenly failed. Unsurprisingly, this overheated it and caused crashes. I spent two weeks going back and forth with their tech support and customer service on fixes and what I’d need to do to get a warranty replacement. In the two weeks they gave me the run around, the warranty expired and they refused to honor the warranty despite the fact that I contacted them while the warranty was still up.
I can't remember the name of the company off hand, but I've kept the GPU so I can make sure to never buy from them again.
27. What a Fraud
My bank. Never had good luck when on the phone. Email is 50/50. I had a fraudulent charge on my account that went to a website. I contacted the bank by email because screw customer service reps there. No response.
Next day I have another charge. Different name for same website. Sent second email. No response. Broke down and called.
Through five calls, I would be told I was being transferred to the fraud department. Then I would either get hung up on or transferred to other departments. Those people would then claim to be transferring me and hang up.
Finally, I went online and found a phone number directly to the fraud department, which was almost impossible to find, and got them to investigate.
I got my money back and I insisted on a true apology rather than a form apology and surprisingly, I got one.
26. Not Good, Guys
Not my story, but dad had an absolutely horrible time with TalkTalk. Months of phone calls and 45-minute holds and stupid people trying to sell him Fiber Optic Broadband and passing him to the sales department instead of tech support.
He even told them what the problem was right from the beginning on the first call, he said "there's water getting in somewhere," and about five or so technician visits later—one of them was booked and didn't even bloody show up—the last guy, the only one with any sense, opened the socket and found the problem in two minutes. Water was getting in.
25. Giving the Boot
I bought my fiancée some Michael Kors boots she wanted from Macy's last Christmas. They ended up being about a half size too small, I kept the receipt, and we went back to the mall to just try and swap them for a larger size.
I explained the situation to one of the people at the customer service desk, and she immediately got hostile with me, saying, "So you just want a free pair of boots..?" and "It's just a half size too small.. if she can't fit in boots that are a half size too small, are you sure you even know what size she needs?"
What I thought would take 10 minutes ended up taking almost an hour. It was beyond ridiculous.
24. Getting Schooled
Student loans, holy cow!
23. This Place Sounds Like a Dump
A restaurant dumped about two cups of soya sauce on/in a new leather purse. Completely destroyed it, never offered me anything to compensate, they didn't even cover my bill for the evening.
YouTube
22. Alright Then...
Food court cashier. He was just a complete and total jerk to me. He ripped my credit card out of my hand, shoved it back to me with a crumpled up receipt and said, now get the hell out of here. It makes no sense, he was nice to the person in front of me and behind me.
21. Someone’s Gonna Get a Pizza My Mind Over This
Oh, this makes me irritated.
Last year myself, my wife, brother and his fiancé, and my sister and her boyfriend went out to a pizza place in Salem, MA. We all ordered and then they deliver them to your table.
Everyone's pizzas came except my wife and I. We're waiting for like 10 minutes until we notice people after us were getting food. Finally, I go up there and they get all defensive and say they delivered it.
I say, "No, you didn't"
Finally, they fess up that another customer had raised his hand and taken our pizza. They then just sat there looking at me like "OH WELL? LOL"
Had to argue with the manager to actually get the pizza I ordered. She tried to make us take other pizzas instead that were already made (and not what we ordered).
The place lost my business for life.
20. Seriously, Guys??
I drove down to Louisiana to request a duplicate car title. You have to be physically present to do this.
I also needed to have a letter from Chase releasing me from a lien on my car. I went to the local branch. They wouldn't just type something up on the computer. That sort of power is apparently not granted to a mere bank manager... you know, he's only in charge of a huge vault full of cash. No, the letter had to come from an office in Texas.
I explained to Chase that they were forcing me to have to come back to the state a second time (a seven hour drive). They offered to overnight the letter to the branch. That way, I'd merely have to stay an extra day.
Fine, but the letter never came. When I got home at about 3 AM—having waited around all day for that letter—the letter was sitting on my door in a FedEx envelope. Morons.
19. Hold That Thought
I was trying to get my internet set up with Time Warner Cable. I tried to sign up for an account online, gave my debit card info and everything. Something happened that it didn't work, so I called in to set it up and the customer service rep was having trouble finding my account. I was put on hold a lot while they tried to find my info, meanwhile I got ready for work because it was nearing the time for me to leave. The call took so long that I ended up staying on the phone as I walked to work at my university's student union.
Finally, as I am getting ready to clock in, the rep gets on the line and says "Sorry ma'am, but I can't find any account info for you. We aren't sure, but it may have been phished out of our system. Sorry." Then she hung up without any advice or offers to right the situation.
I flipped out. I still had to clock in for work, or I would get marked for being tardy. So I clocked in and found a janitor's closet to hide in as I called my dad bawling my eyes out and hyperventilating and asked him to freeze all my accounts (he is the VP at the bank I use). He had to calm me down, talk me through it, and said we would just keep an eye on things for a few days because the bank had fraud forgiveness and freezing the account wasn't necessary.
Turns out my TWC account submission never went through/wasn't completed so there was never a problem with phishing. But for some damn reason, that was the rep's first excuse.
18. They’ve Got You Numbered
I went to What-a-Burger and my friend and I each got our numbers and went to sit down. They brought my friend’s food and took my number. When I asked for my food several minutes later I was berated and accused of trying to get a free meal. I calmly tried to explain what happened and the manager was having none of it. So I took my full large drink and dropped in on the ground right in front of the register and left.
17. Unforgivable
Getting five chicken nuggets instead of six.
16. Two Faced
I've been charged taxes and fees for which I was exempt on parcels I was importing using FedEx and DHL.
Both of those were absolutely awful to deal with.
The customer reps keep claiming that they can't do anything, then they send the debt to a debt collection agency.
Took six months to deal with it for FedEx and the seventh agent I talked to after all of that finally knew how to actually handle this and AFAIK it's been solved.
15. Listening Goes a Long Way
I bought a Nook tablet not long after they came out. These cables looked like micro USB cables but contained 2 extra wires that made it so that regular micro USB cables couldn't charge the tablet.
Nook sold these cables for $20/each, and they were so poorly made that they quickly fell apart. I went through 20 in the first year alone; granted most of them were given to me free while my warranty was valid.
After my warranty ran out, I went to buy another cord, as mine had once again torn up. None of the nearby Barnes & Noble stores had any. The website didn't have any. I contacted customer service to see about purchasing one from them.
They get my account info and Nook serial number, then tell me they can't send me one because my warranty ran out. I explain that I'm not trying to get a free one, I want to purchase one. The agent kept repeating that he couldn't send me a free one. No matter how many times I said I didn't want a free one, I wanted to buy one, he would repeat himself. I asked if they had any for sale, thinking they might be out and he just wasn't explaining properly. Yes, they had them for sale, but he couldn't send me a free one.
30 minutes of arguing back and forth like this. I never did get it through his head that I wanted to buy one.
14. When One Door Closes…
Went to ask a public bus driver a quick question because I was lost. He tells me the bus is out of service and slams the doors on me.
13. You Clearly Crossed the Line
American Express. My Costco American Express card will expire next May because Costco and American Express are not renewing their agreement. When contesting an interest rate increase recently because I pay it off every month, this was pointed out to me by the AE representative and I was asked if I wanted to apply for their new whatever card. No annual fee or interest on any purchases as long as I pay it every month so I agreed.
Next day, I get a call from AE asking to confirm some details on my application. I refuse to give out information like this to what could be a random caller so I say I'll call them back. I call them back, get transferred to new accounts, and am told that my address does not show in their system as a valid address. They tell me I could give them ANY address as long it was valid.
I called customer service back and explained. They assured me that my address was fine and transferred me to new accounts again. Same thing happens, with the new account representative telling me over and over that I need a valid address. When I suggested that there might be a problem with their address verification system and that I have had an account with American Express for almost 10 years she hung up.
12. This One’s a Little Cheesy
Ordered two medium pizzas from Dominoes. When I get there (~6:50 PM), the employee tells me they messed up and accidentally made one of my pizzas a large and that I would have to wait 20 minutes for them to make a new one. A few minutes later this same employee starts saying, "See y’all tomorrow" to other employees and walks out with a large pizza. I eventually got both of my pizzas, one of which was cold.
I have never gone back since. I contacted their customer service department and they didn't even respond to my complaint. Never plan on going back.
I hope paying your employees nothing was worth losing a customer for life.
11. Are You Sure You Didn’t Just Get Scammed?
Well, the customer service from Microsoft was exceptionally bad on my side. They told me they wanted to remove malware from my PC, but instead, they took all my bank account files with them, and my PC is still full of malware! But I'm looking forward to their discovery that the documents they took are also full of malware...
10. Taking the Initiative to Be a Jerk
I left a negative review on a website after buying a product and had an employee angrily call me in the morning to let me know how upset he was about a bad review. It was very uncomfortable.
sellerapp
9. “Service” Could Mean Anything, Really
Took my lawn mower to Sears for repair. I hadn't bought it there, but they had a sign that said "we fix all models." Couple days later they call to tell me it's ready for pickup. I go in to find out that they hadn't fixed it; they'd sent it to their repair center, who'd sent it back saying they don't have parts for this model so they didn't bother with it.
Sears: That'll be $29.95
Me: For what?
Sears: Oh, that's a service charge.
Me: Okay then, what service did you provide?
Sears: It's a standard diagnostic fee.
Me: Okay, what's the diagnosis?
Round and round we go with this for twenty minutes until I get a manager. Similarly, round and round with him until I wear him down and get my lawnmower back, still broken, but no charge.
8. The Flip Side
I can tell you about a time I gave lousy customer service.
Back in high school I did seasonal work at a catalog company answering phones for people placing orders. One night, I was on a pretty bare-bones, late-night, skeleton crew, and about halfway through my shift I got a call from some guy.
He starts by trying to chat with me, to which I give him only the most basic small-talk while trying to get down to what he wants to order. But he keeps rambling on, something about his daughter at college or something, so I eventually stop him after about five minutes of story time. Tell him, "Look are you trying to place an order or not? I'd love to chat all day, but I'm busy (I really wasn't)."
He apologizes and almost starts to order, but then starts going off on another tangent. Come on, pal. Hang up.
He calls back, gets me again, so I just hang-up on him immediately. He got me another two times before he eventually got the guy next to me.
7. Trust But Verify
A restaurant couldn't get my card to work on their machine and I didn't have cash. I suggested going to a cash machine.
"No, you can't just run off."
"My girlfriend's still there. How about I leave the rest of my wallet here?"
"No, just pay us."
"Your machine doesn't accept my card, which worked when I last used it at lunch today."
"You can't leave without paying."
"I'm going to the cash machine. I'll leave my keys and glasses here too if it makes you feel better."
He was still fuming when I got back with the money. So I paid the bill and, for the only time in my life, insisted on having the tip removed.
6. What a Comeback!
Went into an office supply store to buy a new desk, as my new keyboard was too big for the tray. An assistant asked me what I was looking for, and I explained the issue, that I needed a desk with a wide tray because my keyboard was too big.
Her response was to fold her arms and say: "Time for a new keyboard, mate."
I was, frankly, floored. I'd just been verbally challenged by a shop assistant. I just shook my head and left, and on the way out I told a manager to go ask her why she just cost her employer a customer. He grumbled something about "Not again..." and started storming over as I went out the door.
5. Upgrade
Chatted with Adobe to switch my license from Windows to OS X. I had CS5 and was out for about a month.
"We're sorry, we do not support older products and cannot transfer your CS5 license. Please upgrade to CS6 for us to transfer your license."
Since I had student pricing, I could not upgrade so I had to buy CS6 at full price. That's why CS5 was the last Adobe product I paid for. Even buying CS5 was a challenge, as if they didn't want to sell it to me.
4. Watch Where You’re Going
I went to Sonic for lunch one day, and my boss asked me to get her a Route 44 blue coconut slush. The girl that brought the stuff to my car was on roller skates. She hit a rock, and the giant cup of blue came flying into my open window. She laughed her ass off and apologized while I got out to let it drip off of me instead of even more getting onto the tan interior of my new car. She left, came back with a wad of napkins and a handful of "10 cents off" cardboard circles and tossed them in my car.
As I was trying to wrap my brain around what was happening, my friend called me and said her baby had just been born prematurely and she wanted me to go straight to the hospital. I got there and stopped in a bathroom to try to scrub blue dye off of my arms, face, and neck. I wasn't very successful, but my friend and her husband had a good laugh after a stressful day, so that was a plus.
When I got home, my husband saw that the inside of my car had been dyed blue and had a layer of sugary crust. He strongly suggested that I call the manager and ask if they would have my car cleaned. I called, and the manager told me to go see him the next day. When I showed up, he said he could have one of his employees vacuum out my car, and handed me a card with "half off drinks for life" scribbled on it.
I chalked it all up to "Sonic freaking sucks", and planned to let everyone I knew use that card for the rest of my life. First trip there, my husband handed the drive-thru guy the card, and he confiscated it and said it was only good for that one time.
At that point, I was pretty angry. I emailed corporate, the owner of that Sonic called me pretty quickly and claimed that it was his "idiot son" who gave me the card and that there is no such thing as a lifetime discount. I told him I didn't care about a discount and that I just wanted them to clean my car. I ended up with 10 free combo meals and a car interior that still attracts more dirt in certain spots no matter how much I clean it.
3. Patience in an Emergency
Well before last week I would've said Comcast but now I'm going to say the front office at my therapist's clinic. I didn't get to go see her for almost a year because I was extraordinarily sick, moved, and injured myself while moving to the point that I had surgery. I called to make an appointment and they said that since it had been over a year they had dropped me as a patient. Ok. So do I fill out new patient paperwork again? Well, she's not accepting new patients right now. Ok, so can I see a different therapist because I'm seriously having some problems—they've got like 20 of them in the same clinic. Well, since you're established with her and you have a rapport built up with her we don't want to switch you to a new therapist. You could try calling back next month, but just so you know she's booking four to six months out.
At this point I get angry and say, "Ok so I'm calling you guys because I'm having major issues. What if I was having suicidal thoughts? Are you going to tell a person with suicidal thoughts that they can't see a different therapist since theirs is booked till May?"
And that's when she hung up on me. I called back and said, "Hey, I think we got disconnected" and she hung up on me again.
So yeah, a mental health clinic that hangs up on people that have a history of suicidal tendencies and are asking for help gets my vote.
2. Temper Tantrum
This was actually very recently. There was this little ramen shop in Chinatown that I loved. Finally decided to take my boyfriend there. Started out fine. I order curry udon. The guy repeats it back to me, I confirm. Done deal.
I get my food. It's curry ramen. Having worked in the food service industry, I don't get all upset, I just flag down the waiter & let him know politely that I got the wrong order. He was fine with it, a few minutes later he brings out my curry udon. I was happy. Until...
Five minutes later the manager AKA the guy I ordered from—YES, THE GUY WHO REPEATED MY ORDER BACK TO ME—comes, literally yelling at me saying, waving a receipt in my face saying how I ordered ramen and I got ramen, blah blah. I tell him no, I ordered udon. He argued with me.
Thing is, I don't understand why he was yelling & arguing. They cost the same thing, so it's not like I was trying to scam them. He had zero reason to treat me that way & yell at me in front of the whole dining room.
I used to speak very highly of that place & recommend my friends there all the time. Nope. They just lost a customer for life.
1. I Wonder Why They Closed
Back when Circuit City was a thing, my sister gave me a $20 gift card for my birthday. I went to pick out a microphone, picked one off the shelf that it said was $15, and went to check out. I handed the cashier my gift card before the transaction, but when he scanned the microphone, it came up for $25 instead of $15. It turned out that it had simply been placed in the wrong area, so I asked him to hang on to my gift card and that I would go pick out a different one.
When I came back, he claimed that he never took my gift card. I saw the freaking thing sitting right in his trash can, and even when my dad got pissed and called for a manager, the manager refused to believe that the gift card sitting in the trash can was mine and said they had no way of checking it.
My sister ended up stopping payment on the gift card (she had paid with a credit card, thankfully), called up Circuit City corporate, and complained. We never got it resolved, but then, Circuit City went belly-up the next year, so screw 'em anyway.
Sources: Reddit,
