Service staff are taught that the customer is always right. After all, keeping us happy means more sales, right? Well, even in spite of that obvious logic, there are always those times when the service we receive just isn’t quite up to par. In times like those, who else do we have to turn to but the manager? Here are 42 stories of times when staff were so utterly terrible, these customers were left with no other choice but to call the higher-ups.
1. Breaking a New Glass Ceiling
I found a bunch of glass shards in a cake I ordered at a Sizzler's restaurant in Parramatta. I called the manager over, and he said that I was probably just trying to scam a free meal off of them. Please note that I had never said anything about any free meal; I had just told him that I had found glass inside of my cake. It looked like it was probably part of a glass mixing bowl or some other kitchen utensil of theirs.
I was not a fan...
2. Unwarranted Behavior
Many years ago, I bought a new laptop. I was also suckered into buying an extended warranty for it. The laptop ended up breaking down after only about a year. No problem—it was still covered by the extended warranty, right? So, I took it in to be fixed. The people in the store just hummed and hawed, and told me that my laptop was still perfectly fine.
They said that I just had to hold down the power button for a few minutes to "drain the capacitors" before using it. Well, that didn't do the trick; so when it broke down again, I brought it right back in. This time, they held onto it at the store for a few days before calling me to say that it was fixed. Then it broke down yet again.
This time, I asked to speak to a manager when I brought it back into the store. All the manager did was offer to sell me a new one. I told him to get bent. Eventually, on the fifth try, they finally agreed to honor my extended warranty and to just give me a new computer to replace my broken one—albeit reluctantly.
The same manager from earlier had to come down to sign the final paperwork and, as he handed me that new laptop, he said to me through gritted teeth, "Well, you've been awfully persistent in this matter, haven't you?" Yes, I have. Now give me my damn laptop, you little sneak. I never went back there again, and the place is now out of business.
3. Hit the Road, Jack!
I once went to Denny's and got seated by a waitress. My friend and I chatted for about 45 minutes while waiting for the waitress to come over and bring us our menus. When she finally showed up, the first thing she said was "If you guys aren't going to order anything, then you need to leave."
Umm, excuse me?? I definitely did not let that one slide.
4. Some Food for Thought
I was at a restaurant once and the staff just completely forgot about my order. I didn't have time to wait around for it, so I asked for a refund. The guy refused to grant one to me, even though he was the person who had taken my order and messed up in the first place. He was also a complete jerk. I asked to speak to the manager, and the manager turned out to be an even bigger jerk.
I went home without a refund. I then called corporate and was able to get a refund, fortunately. I'm not the kind to want to speak to the manager, but the guy was a huge jerk when I asked for the refund—and considering that both he and the manager were both jerks, I'm never going back there again.
5. A Bad Reception
I had a Gold's Gym membership that I needed to cancel since I was moving. First and foremost, why in the world do they require the customer to demonstrate proof that they are moving in order to allow a membership cancellation? But regardless of the reason, they do—so here’s what happened when I tried to cancel mine.
I called up and canceled at the end of May. They, by contract, require you to still pay for the first month after you cancel, so I paid for May and then June and didn’t complain, even though I thought it was a stupid policy. Then July comes around and I am charged AGAIN. I call the gym and guy on the phone tries to argue with me that the charge is correct because you are charged the month after you cancel.
I try to explain to him that June comes before July, and that I was already charged my "punishment for leaving the gym" fee in June. He was getting nasty with me on the phone, so I finally asked for the manager. He said, "Fine, but she is going to say the same thing I did!" He got the manager on the phone, and I explained to her that I should not have been charged for July. She agreed and reversed the charge in like a 30-second conversation.
Screw you, random gym receptionist!
6. Lettuce Get to the Bottom of This
I went to this sandwich shop and the wrap that they gave me was 95% lettuce, no exaggeration. It was supposed to be turkey, avocado, and BLT. It had half a slice of turkey, one small slice of bacon, one tomato slice, and about one tablespoon of some old, brown disgusting avocado "spread." It was almost as if they had realized that they didn't have enough ingredients left to make my wrap, but instead of just telling me to order something else, they decided to stuff it full of iceberg lettuce and hope that I somehow wouldn't notice.
I brought it back and showed it to the manager, who suddenly couldn't speak English anymore—even though just 10 minutes prior, he had been speaking it perfectly to his employees. I just left in the end because I had to go back to work.
7. No Reservations
The only time I ever asked to speak to a manager was when my family and I had a reservation at a restaurant and were supposed to be seated at 4:30, yet it took almost two hours because our name was skipped on the list. It really made me angry because I was super hungry!
8. Spit and Shout
I asked to speak to a manager at a club once when a bouncer had screamed in my ear with such vigor that he spat in my eye. He mistakenly thought that I had brought in my own booze when, in reality, it had been left there by the previous occupants of the table.
9. Ay Caramba!
In 7th grade, I was waiting on my order at a Taco Bell in a mall food court. I watched the guy making the tacos wipe the sweat off of his face and then immediately handle my tortillas with the same hand. So I saw sweat go directly from this guy's head, onto a tortilla, into a bag, and into my hands. I asked for the manager and said, "Sir, is it normal to do that with the tortillas?"
He remade my order for me.
10. Rumor Has It
When I was a kid, Blizzard decided to charge me for a month that I had already paid for by using a two-month subscription card, locking me out of my account until they received the cash. I emailed them letting them know that the balance was incorrect and that they should have a two-month credit on my account. I was given one of those automatic responses that didn't even relate to what my message was, basically saying that the balance due must be paid in cash.
I remembered reading a rumor somewhere online that if you email them requesting to speak to a manager three times, their system automatically flags your message and puts it under review by their escalations department. So, I emailed them back saying I felt like they didn't even read my concern and that I wanted to speak to a manager. I reworded this statement three times, always reiterating the word manager of course.
It worked. I quickly got a response back from the same person who had sent me the robotic reply. This time, they said they were sorry and that they would remove the balance—plus throw in an extra two months free. I came out feeling quite satisfied!
11. Changing the Subject
I was once at a restaurant with my seven-year-old daughter. The food took forever to arrive. The waitress messed up the kid's order (badly), and it took over 30 more minutes in the middle of the afternoon in an almost empty dining room to get the replacement. When we asked for drink refills and whether my daughter's chicken tenders & fries were on the way, the waitress just went off on me about how I should be grateful that I wasn't Terri Schiavo, and then left in a huff.
I flagged down another server and asked for the manager. I told him that if his server was that upset about the Schiavo situation, then maybe she shouldn't be on the floor…
12. Full of Surprises
I bought my truck used and it only came with one key. I went to the dealership to get a new key and two fobs made up. I called to check the price before I came in, and they agreed that it could be done for around $250 total—including parts and labor. I showed up and handed over my one gray key. Little did I know that this was the valet key, and that the other keys and fob could not be programmed with this key.
They would have to do a master reprogram. The service writer that took my key did not mention this to me, nor did they say anything about it for 45 minutes while I waited. At the end of this 45 minutes, they called me in and showed me a new black master key, already cut but not programmed, and the fobs which had not been programmed yet. They told me it was going to be an extra 200 dollars to finish the job.
I told them that I could not afford an extra 200 dollars and that I wasn’t going be able to pay for these extra services. They said that was fine, but I would still have to pay for the part they had already started doing. I was not having it, as they should have asked me if I wanted to continue after noticing that it was going to require extra work. They wouldn’t budge.
I asked for the manager, who also wouldn’t budge. Finally, I asked to talk to his boss, the dealership owner. I told him that this was ridiculous and that they were not going to force me to pay for extra work that wasn’t quoted to me and that I never agreed to. He agreed with me, acknowledged their screwup, and offered to either do everything for the original quoted price or let me walk without paying anything.
I had them finish the job and I went on my way.
13. Cleaning Up
I bought a Dyson vacuum from Target for $500. Literally the very next day, it went on sale for $400. On Target’s website, it specifically states that they will grant you a refund for the difference on any item that goes on sale within seven days of your purchase. I went back to the store the day after buying the vacuum, and the person working customer service didn’t want to give me the refund.
I had to ask for the manager, who also didn’t know about the policy. I had to pull out my phone and show it to them on their own website. I eventually got my refund, but holy hell was that an annoying experience!
14. In Working Condition
I was at a restaurant with my girlfriend and our server was hammered drunk. He could barely stand up straight, and he was slurring his words so bad that I couldn't even understand what he was saying. Instead of taking our orders, he just stood there staring down my girlfriend’s shirt. When he finally went off to ring in our order, he had to come back to the table three times to double check what the order was. The order ended up being completely messed up.
I complained to the manager and our entire bill was free. The manager himself even waited on us for the rest of the meal to ensure that nothing else went wrong.
15. A One Man Show
I was eating at a restaurant one time. My food came 45 minutes after I ordered and my drink refill came another 15 minutes after that. Nevertheless, the waiter was very kind and had kept his cool even as others throughout the restaurant were clearly complaining. Then, at one point, I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen any other server but him the entire time I had been there. He was the only guy working in a packed restaurant.
I told him that I wanted to speak to his manager. I could see him panic a little, so I told him, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad." He brings over his manager and I explain what an amazing job this guy has done, and how he has been extremely kind and courteous to everyone all afternoon. The guy looked very grateful. I told him that he had a great work ethic and that he should be proud of the work he does.
16. Better Luck Next Time
Comcast had been screwing me over. They gave me incorrect equipment, followed by incorrect advice which caused me to waste an entire day troubleshooting the problems which they themselves had caused. They offered to credit me for the prorated portion of my bill, covering the internet portion only for the length of the outage they caused and nothing else. I asked to be escalated to speak to a manager.
The joke was on me, they just never called me back and credited nothing! I switched providers in the end and will never use their services again.
17. Please Be Seated
I once watched some Lowe's employees speak rudely to a little old man who was having trouble remaining standing while trying to shop. I went and got him a lawn chair—and the manager.
18. Target Audience
A jerk in front of me at Target was yelling and screaming at the poor cashier about having to pay 10 cents for a plastic bag. He left her in tears, and the last thing he said was "I'm going to get you fired!" I asked her to call her manager while she rang me up, and I told the manager about the interaction I had just seen. I also asked him why, even though he was standing in the vicinity, did he not stop that man from verbally assaulting his employee.
Then, I asked for the district manager’s information so that I could tell them about how the cashier had been lovely, and about the manager failing to step in.
19. Something Fishy...
Just last week, my son won the geography bee for his school. To celebrate, we took him out for dinner. He chose a sushi restaurant. By the end of our meal, I was sure to ask for our waitress’ name, so that I knew who to reference when speaking to the manager. I decided to wait and call after we got home.
It was about 7:30 by then, and I knew that calling during the dinner rush probably wasn’t the best idea, but I called anyway. Because of my extreme shyness, I was a little exasperated, out of breath, and nervous. A young man answered the phone and, when I asked to speak to the manager, there was a slight pause before he asked me to please hold in his best customer service voice. He said that she would be right with me.
When the manager answered, I apologized for calling during dinner rush and assured her that I would be quick. I named our waitress and brought up how the kitchen had handled a very serious food allergy. See, my son loves salmon. Meanwhile, I am absolutely very allergic to it. I started with how our waitress took the time to explain each step to me that the sushi chef takes to prepare his work surface and to ensure health and safety. I thanked her for that.
I then told the manager how wonderful our waitress was and how the whole meal was a great experience because of her. Let me tell you, this sweet lady thanked me for calling and actually kept me on the phone for much longer than just my quick recap and thanks! I thanked her for telling me that she appreciated it and, despite my raging anxiety over “talking to the manager,” I’m really glad that I did!
20. Above and Beyond
I didn't ask for the manager, but I was the manager on duty. I work for O'Reilly Auto Parts. We had a disabled customer come in and need a battery replaced in her truck. I had already spoken to her on the phone but was busy with another customer, so one of my guys got her the battery, and a chair for her to sit in. He started to take her old one out, but couldn't get it off because it was so corroded that the terminal was stuck.
Before I could get outside to help, another employee who was off that day came in to buy some things to clean his truck. He saw our other coworker struggling with the battery. He spent his own money on battery cleaner, went outside, and sprayed the terminal. He stayed until it had soaked long enough to come off, and even helped install the new battery.
The woman was incredibly grateful for their help and insisted that they take a tip, but per company policy neither would. She asked to speak with me because she was so happy, but also upset that they couldn't take her money. I passed along her praise to the store manager, and she actually called a few days later to speak with the store manager because she didn't want their actions to go unnoticed.
She now refuses to shop at any other auto part stores because everyone else treated her disability like a burden on them, and some would even try to refuse her service dog entry into the store.
Wikimedia Commons, M.O. Stevens
21. Rock a Bye Baby
I was eating at a bar/restaurant in Atlanta with a friend. At the same time, both of us noticed a good sized cockroach crawling along a wall. Several other diners noticed this as well and quickly notified the staff. A manager finally came out of the kitchen, smashed the roach with the side of his bare fist, and said, "Don’t worry, everyone! That was just a baby roach!"
We left.
22. Unidentified Floating Object
I once found a weird metal orb-shaped object in my soup. After speaking to the manager, it turned out that the bowl of the ladle had fallen off in the kitchen and none of the staff had been able to find it. Free dessert!
23. Fishing For an Explanation
My mom ordered a tuna sub from Quiznos. When we sat down to eat, her sub had no tuna on it. When she told the employee that her sub was wrong, the employee said, “You ordered a tuna sub with no tuna, no refunds!” Right away, she demanded to speak to the manager. It turns out the guy regularly comes in stoned to work, and this has happened before. She got her tuna.
24. That Sinking Feeling
An employee in a nice French Quarter restaurant once took a dump in the men's room, and then walked out without washing his hands. Moments later, another employee took a pee and also walked out without washing. I didn't have to ask for the manager, because I had spotted her and discreetly told her what I had seen as she was passing by.
Really makes me wonder about places where employees don't use the same restroom as customers!
25. Carjacked
I was that guy when I was buying my new car. I happen to love Subaru. I live in the Northeast and it's fantastic for the snow. It's also zippy and fun to drive. I was in a local dealer getting what was now going to be my third. I was trading in my second and putting it towards a new 2018. The model that I wanted wasn't going to be available until September, and it was now only July. No issue at all.
They told me not to put too many more miles on my car in the meantime so that they could still be able to honor the trade in. I made sure to get everything they said in writing, and even put in a down payment so I could have a physical receipt with the trade in value posted. Fast forward to September. I call and ask when I can pick up my car.
"Oh, we never said September!" said the receptionist, who refused to let me speak to the salesman I had been with. "It's due in the first week of December." This is where alarm bells started going off in my head, but there was not much I could do. Fast forward to the first week of December. "Oh, I never said the first week!" the receptionist says.
After a couple more rounds of this nonsense, I emailed the CEO of the dealership. I listed out all of the runarounds, the lying, and the overall lousy experience that I had received from his employees. A week later, the car magically showed up and they honored their original price. All in all, not a bad result.
26. Inconvenient Store
I was in a small convenience store one evening. While coming down the last aisle looking for a bar of soap, I saw at least four employees gossiping about how another employee had called off on Thursday AGAIN, and how this time she was going to get fired for it. I didn't really care one way or another, so I walked up to the checkout lanes to pay for my groceries.
There was only one young lady working the checkout. No biggie, except for the fact that there were five of us in line waiting patiently. The person currently checking out had a whole cart full of stuff and it was taking a while. Now, I have worked in customer service for over 12 years, so I have a lot of patience—but at this point it was late and I was not amused.
This young lady at checkout then very politely asked one of the four gossiping women if someone could please come up and help her check everyone out. Smart move. If you need help, you ask for it! One of the gossiping women starts to walk up, then turns around like she forgot something and just goes back to talking! Now is when I really got upset. Not at the young lady, of course—she was doing her best. But at these lazy women who she had to work with.
Eventually, I walk back there and politely say, "Your fellow employee just asked for help and you have several customers waiting in line—can someone please come and assist her?" One of them begrudgingly did so. It was at that point that I was next in line and decided to ask for the manager. The girl who came up informed me sheepishly that SHE was the one left in charge because there was no manager that night.
I proceeded to explain how poorly she had handled the situation—leaving her fellow co-worker hanging with a lineup full of customers just so that she could hang out with her friends. I emphasized how unprofessional she was overall and how she would never move up in the world acting like a lazy, entitled child. She apologized profusely and rattled off excuses, but I could see the beaming glee on the young lady’s face at the other register as she was still checking out other customers.
It made me realize that this probably wasn't the first time she was treated that way.
27. Folk Tail
Here's how a conversation that I once had with a male cashier went: Cashier: "Is that all you're getting today?" Me: "Yep, just trying to stay warm!" Cashier: "Can I ask you a question?" Me: "Sure." Cashier: "Can I pull your ponytail?" Me: "Umm, no. You cannot." [Proceeds to insert card in chip reader, looking around nervously] Cashier: "I just love ponytails." Me: "I'll take the receipt please."
I didn't call the manager at first, but I finally did when he wouldn’t stop repeating his request. That behavior was so uncalled for.
28. Short Term Memory Loss
I once literally paid for my order at a drive-thru, and the kid working there refused to give it to me because he was so high that he forgot how the whole process worked. I refused to move my car until I received my food, so this little idiot just let 8-10 cars pile up in line behind me before finally grabbing a manager.
The manager literally looks at him, grabs the food which was sitting in a bag right next to him, and hands it to me. Too little, too late. I insisted upon a refund as well. I think at least 15 cars packed in behind me before the situation was finally resolved. I felt like the world's biggest jerk, and am never going back there again.
29. Let’s Lock the Door and Throw Away the Key
I was once locked in an Italian restaurant in Amsterdam after trying to leave, about 50 minutes after ordering a pizza. About 10 people came in after us, ordered, and were served, while we waited and waited and waited. Eventually, I decided that I’d had enough, and made a move to leave. At that moment, a crazy old Italian woman (who turned out to be the manager) charged at me, blocking the path to the door, which she then locked. She began to scream at me, about two inches from my face. The other diners were horrified.
Three of her huge sons then appeared from the kitchen, all very menacing. She threatened to call the police, which I insisted that she did. She didn't, instead choosing to berate me with a series of progressively aggressive, um, cultural statements. I dug my heels in, refused to pay for the pizza that we had never been given, and, after about 15 minutes, made a firm move back towards the door, which I managed to now unlock. We were free.
This was definitely the worst outcome to a bad case of the munchies that I've ever had…
30. I Don’t Give a Hoot
I was at Hooters once watching a UFC event. I ordered 20 wings and a pretzel with a beer. After 30 minutes, I had received nothing—not even the beer. An hour after originally ordering, still nothing. I ended up asking the manager if my order had gotten lost or something. He apologized and said that my order was now first priority.
Another 30 minutes pass, and still no food. The manager then walked past me and jokingly asked if I had finished it all that fast. I told him that actually, it had still never even come. The guy got angry, went into the kitchen, and made it himself. He brought it all out within 15 minutes and told me that the whole meal was now on the house and that anything else I wanted would be free.
31. Getting Cheesy
My parents stopped to get some fast food during a long car trip down to the beach. I ordered a hamburger and requested it to be without cheese. They managed to screw this request up. No big deal, my mom just politely hands the burger back and asks for a new one. The cashier turns around, trying to conceal her actions with her body, then takes the burger out of the wrapper and scraped the patty against the edge of the counter to remove the cheese. She then tries to hand it back to my mom as if nothing had happened.
We asked to speak to the manager.
32. What the Fork??
Went to a restaurant, waited an hour and a half for food, never got forks, asked for forks, got 20 forks dumped on our table (for a party of four). We tried to complain to the manager. He did nothing but try to make sure that we would still be paying for the meal. We finally just got up and left.
33. The Cat’s Out of the Bag
I've done this once, kind of. I was wearing my glasses, yoga pants, and a loose t-shirt while out grocery shopping. Usually, I bag my own groceries, but the store's bagger was already standing there, so I let him do it. He started kind of chatting me up while bagging. Whatever, right? Then he says "I love those glasses on you, they make you look really sexy! Have you considered doing adult films? I think you should, I'd love to watch that!"
I'm in SHOCK. I don't even know what to say. I look over at the cashier, who is about as wide-eyed and stunned as I am. The cashier immediately gets on the intercom and calls for a manager, and basically screams that's it's urgent. The cashier then moves the bag boy away from me, and even acts as a barrier between the two of us.
The manager sprints up, and the cashier tells the story to the manager. The bag boy does not even seem to realize that what he said was not appropriate. I get my groceries for free, along with a store credit, and the bagger was fired on the spot and escorted out. Some other employees also escorted me out to my car to help me put my groceries away and to make sure that I felt safe, after the bag boy was gone so that he couldn't see what kind of car I drove or what my license plate number was.
34. With a Little Help From a Stranger
This past week, a customer service rep on the phone went above and beyond, and I asked to speak to their supervisor so I could tell them how great of a job they did. They said that they were the supervisor, but appreciated the kind words. I left another note in the email survey, but that probably won't do anything. She really did something they didn't have to do and that I didn't ask her to do.
It was weird having a customer service rep actually taking a personal stake in my issue when they could have just brushed it off as a routine "nope."
35. My Chemical Bread
Once at a Cheesecake Factory, I ate a piece of bread that tasted like it was soaked in some sort of chemical. I had to spit it out. I informed the waitress that, "This bread tastes like Windex or something." She responded, "We don't use Windex here!" and just walked away. No way was I letting that one go without calling a manager!
36. Movin’ Out
I moved states back in December. My new employer offered to reimburse me up to $3,000 for help in relocating. I got a quote from a company to move my stuff for me totaling $2,000, so I put down a $400 deposit to lock in my spot. It's the day of the move. I'm already at my new job a state over, so my partner is handling things back home.
The movers show up, take a quick glance around the place, and tell him that the estimate has to go up because there's more stuff there than what was listed and it all looks bigger than expected. This was impossible as I had given them a clear list of our belongings, including dimensions—but because I'm at work, I don't have an opportunity to tell my partner about this or speak with the movers on the phone.
My partner asks what the cost will increase to and the guy tells him we will owe $4,000. But oh! They will be nice and give us a discount, to cut it down to $3,100. Neither my partner nor I have the time to move at a later date and we already put down $400 towards the nonrefundable deposit, so we begrudgingly agree to the 50% price increase.
When he finally got to our new place, my partner confessed that the whole thing felt like a scam—especially in that the guys didn't even take a full look around our place at all the furniture, so they couldn't have known what an increased estimate would entail. I called up the company and actually got pretty high up there in terms of the managers I was speaking to.
My new employer was threatening legal action, but none of it went anywhere because I had unwittingly signed a waiver allowing them to do what they did. It's an incredibly scummy business practice and I let the highers-up know that, but I’m sure it still won't change anything. Some research post-move revealed that the Better Business Bureau has received an increase in reports regarding this very issue within the past 12 months.
I will never use or recommend this company again.
Getty Images
37. Telephone Tag
Someone at my doctor’s office messed up. They changed my medical insurance but put the wrong date in, which put me in the hook for the full cost of my preventive care. I tried explaining to them that there was no way it was my fault—since according to the records, the date of my visit occurred months before my new insurance even existed. "Sorry, nothing we can do about it" was their only reply. Yeah, right!
Paying that amount of money would literally have destroyed my life, so I kept calling both the office and the insurance company, collecting information and escalating things with both of them. Finally, I asked to speak to a manager. The manager at the insurance company turned out to be an amazing woman, and she said, "Just give me the phone number of your doctor's office and I will deal with this for you."
I did that. Then, she called me back about 10 minutes later to let me know that everything was all set and that I no longer had to worry about any problems. I really wish I could have listened in on that conversation!
38. Breaking Bread
I was in a Panera Bread, and the woman ahead of me was asking for help with finding another restaurant where she was supposed to be meeting a friend. She was older and obviously a little confused. The employee spent at least 10 minutes with her, helping her find the restaurant on her phone, calling the other restaurant to confirm their location, and going over the directions to get there with her a few times.
She was very flustered, which made it even harder for her to process everything, yet the entire time, he was patient and kind. She eventually left without buying anything. Afterward, I spoke with the manager to tell her what an awesome job he did and how impressed I was. People tend only to complain about what goes wrong, and I really wanted them to hear about everything he did right!
39. Lending a Hand
I once had a pizza delivery guy ask me if I lived alone while putting my change into my hand—and then holding it. It really freaked me out, given that he was so much bigger than me, that it was late at night, and that I did indeed live alone. I said no, slammed the door on him, and called the pizza place after he left to tell his manager that his behavior was not acceptable.
I definitely double-checked the locks that night...
40. Checking People Out
I was at a grocery store once when I was about 19 years old. There was a young girl alone in front of me buying some groceries. She couldn't have been older than 12. The guy working the register was at least in his 60s. The register guy asks her if the guy behind her (as in me) is her boyfriend. This gets my attention. She says no.
He then asks if she has a boyfriend. She says no. He then makes some creepy comment, and asks, "Did you get a ride here?" She says no, she had walked. A creepy smile comes across his face and he says, "Well, it's about to rain and I'm getting off of work in a few minutes, why don't you just sit over at that bench and I'll give you a lift home when I finish up here?"
I don't remember exactly how she responded, but I recognized that she did not actually want a ride from him but was too young and/or shy to say no to an adult. She paid and sat down on the bench. He began to ring my groceries up. I was the last in line before the register closed. I must have been making a disgusted face because, in a cold tone, he suddenly asked, "Do you have a problem here?”
I was caught completely off guard, so I just put on a smile and said, "Nope!" I'm was never the type to normally confront someone, especially not when I was younger. But he kept looking me in the eye and it was the creepiest thing. Alarm bells were sounding off in my head. Despite being a little nervous, I asked if he knew that girl. He paused, coldly looked at me, and said, "Now, that's my business. You’d best just pay and walk on."
I can't really describe why, but I felt really nervous. I'm not a nervous person, so it was this odd, surreal feeling I was experiencing. I paid and began to leave, approaching the girl who was just watching me. I felt the guy also watching me from the register, but I still stopped at the bench where the girl was sitting.
I asked her if she knew him, and she said no. I told her that she shouldn't take rides from strangers. Then, hypocritical as it was, I asked if she wanted me to give her a ride home instead. She paused, looked at the register, then said no. I turned and saw the guy giving me the look of death. I was so uncomfortable.
So, I walked over to the counter at the end of the store where they sold cigarettes and those things, keeping an eye on the girl the entire time. I asked to see the manager. The next 20 minutes were awkward as hell. The manager (a woman) came and asked me to describe what had happened. Being that most of it was my gut feeling, it was hard to describe, but she took it all very seriously.
Part of me kept asking myself what if I was wrong here and he didn't do anything bad? I was having an internal battle in my head. The guy put a grandpa-like spin on everything he had said, then claimed that he has given dozens of people rides home when it's raining. It's just a kind thing to do, he argued. He kept trying to say that I was up to trouble and just trying to make a creep out of him—100% playing the victim. No hint of his serious or intimidating persona was there anymore.
The manager ended up driving the girl home herself. She then called me to say that the girl was home safely and that she was implementing a new policy forbidding workers from driving customers home. The guy didn't get in trouble. I saw him on and off there for years, but I never went to his line again. To this day, I don't know if I overreacted, but I only got that alarm feeling two other times in my life, and those were both clear and apparent dangers.
So, I'm going with my gut on this one and saying that I probably did that girl a great service.
41. Hamburglars
I went through the drive-thru at my local Whataburger at about 11:00 one night. The woman working the window was about middle-aged, extremely obese (this matters), and in tears. Several of her younger coworkers were saying really mean things to her. They were saying them so loudly that I could hear them clearly, even through the window and over my engine and radio.
They were saying things like "You are such a fat loser, you should be hunted like an elephant!" and telling her that she should kill herself. They were absolutely vile. She was doing her best to hold it together, but she was crying. I got my food, tried to say something kind to her, then told my husband that we were not leaving yet.
I parked the car, walked in, and asked for a manager. When he came to the front, I told him everything I had heard, pointed out which of the little idiots I could identify, repeated their specific taunts, and then told him that the woman had handled herself very professionally and deserved a raise. I then turned and asked those guys what the hell their payoff was from picking on a woman who they deemed less valuable than themselves? I pulled the classic old lady move and told them that their mothers should be ashamed that they raised such hateful sons.
The manager was extremely apologetic and offered to refund my money, but I told him I did not care about anything like that. I came in because it was BS that his employees thought they could get away with treating another person that way. If he wanted to make it right, he would have to actually handle the situation and ensure a safe work environment, because that behavior was unacceptable.
I don't know what happened, but she still works there. I hope she’s okay.
42. You’re F-F-Fired!
I was at a McDonald’s drive-thru one time, and I have a mild stutter. I usually get through most daily tasks without issue, but ordering food is my nemesis for some reason. I went to the first window to place my order, and the girl working there said, "If you don't stop talking like that I'm not taking your order."
I said, "Excuse me?! I've had this problem since I was four years old, what makes you think I can just s-s-stop it?!" She responds, "STOP IT!!!" I asked for her manager, who did nothing but say "yea, I'll talk to her." I phoned corporate because I hadn't been ridiculed like that since elementary school. Corporate said they'd get back to me. That was about nine years ago. I’m still waiting.
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