We’ve seen them, but we’ve never wanted to be them. The customer in the middle of a store or a restaurant who has completely lost it on a clerk or server. Yelling. Screaming. Swearing. Well it’s more than a little embarrassing when that loud, rude customer…. is you! Here, Redditors sheepishly (and sometimes unapologetically) chime in on the times when their patience ran out.
1. Throwing Down
I'm not proud of this one but I was on nine days of going in at 7 AM to work and stopped at Starbucks for a coffee and a bagel since that would be my food intake till like 1. So I go in, order, and wait. Get coffee. Wait. Wait some more. Gonna be late if I keep waiting. So I mentioned it to the person I made the order with and they got snotty with me saying I didn't order a bagel.
I showed her the receipt she gave me and she just made a harrumph sound and started making it. Three more people got their orders before I got my bagel. I mention it again and the lady practically throws it at me. I've never been so furious in my life, so as I turn to leave, I said, "Oh and by the way, someone spilled something!" and toss my venti cold press on the ground. The whole place goes silent and the lady, who was the manager, just looks at me with pure hate in her eyes. I didn’t break my stride leaving.
2. Their Culture Isn’t Backwards, You Are
I was in Montreal for a hockey game and wanted to buy a Canadiens jersey. They're a little pricey at the arena, so I was walking around downtown looking at sports memorabilia shops. I found one, walked in, and bought a Canadiens jersey. It was one of the nice lace-up ones, for almost half retail price. So I put it on to wear out of the shop.
Before we hit the door, I ripped the tags off and my dad noticed that the 'NHL' insignia was backward, and said 'LNH.' I got in the clerk's face and said, rather loudly, "You sell fakes! This is a bootleg! This is supposed to say NHL!" The clerk's English wasn't great but he ensured me, "These are the new ones. LNH is the new logo". I replied "Yeah, ok, the NHL changed their name. I believe that".
He wouldn't do a refund, and finally, I left the store feeling defeated. On the walk back to the hotel, I saw another Montreal jersey with the LNH insignia. And another. I pulled my phone out and googled it. It stands for la Ligue Nationale de Hockey.The new Canadiens jerseys had LNH on them to celebrate their French Canadian heritage.
3. Argument Derailed
It was in Munich, Germany. I was on a train and a conductor came around to check for tickets. I give him my ticket, and immediately he starts explaining something about how I hadn't paid and he was gonna write me a fine. I was like: "You have the ticket that I bought in your hand! Are you crazy? How can you give me a fine?"
He keeps explaining I didn't pay and so he needs to give me a fine. I keep getting more irate at this obvious idiot. How could he possibly say that? I point to him that the value I paid for the ticket is on the thing! I start mentioning/insinuating is he doing this to all tourists, to scam them.
By this time we've reached the next station and he gestures to me, while getting off the train with my ticket, and sticks it in a machine on the platform that goes "ka-ching". When he gave it back to me, he looked me straight in the eye and said "Now, you've paid". I felt like a complete idiot.
4. When Life Gives You Lemons...
I was buying a used car from a dealer. We agreed on a price over the phone. He offered to have someone come pick me up to test drive it (I was new in the city and had no car). So he and another guy came to pick me up. And of course, he's trying to sell me a new car instead of the one I'm interested in, but I'm not hearing it.
I test drove the car, and it's just what I'm looking for, and the price we agreed on is under book value, so I'm good with everything. Then he draws up the paperwork and my jaw drops. The final cost is nearly two grand more than we agreed on! I'm pretty upset now. We had a clear agreement, and he tried to slip in $2,000 like I wouldn't care.
I say no deal, drop me back off at home. He keeps knocking off a hundred here, a hundred there. Screw that, we had a deal, take me back home. Finally, he says, well if you're not gonna buy the car then you can find your way home. Now I start raising my voice so the other customers hear our conversation".
YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU DRAGGED ME 40 MINUTES AWAY FROM HOME, TRY TO CHARGE ME AN EXTRA TWO GRAND THEN TELL ME I'M STRANDED OUT HERE IF I DON'T PAY?" He's begging me to be quiet, tries cutting more off the price, but I'm not letting this go.
I don't respond well to high-pressure sales tactics and they're starting to realize it. Anyway, after making a big scene and giving the salesman a legitimate panic attack, the manager finally agreed to sell me the car at the agreed-upon price. I then negotiated another $500 off of. He wanted me out of that shop. The car is still running great.
5. An Unhealthy Situation
I had gone two days without my medication because my doctor did not renew my prescription due to him suddenly leaving the practice. I have epilepsy, and I was starting to feel sick, hazy, and not aware of my surroundings. I managed to walk over to a pharmacy closeby to get a refill after I got a new doctor to fill out a script.
I told the lady that my script was sent to a different pharmacy but I had to come to this one because I couldn't drive over to the one I was going to. She said okay. I confirmed with her four or five times that she would call and transfer over my script. An hour later I came to pick up my medicine. She puts it in the bag and staples it. I pay and leave. I get home and it is the wrong medication!
I already waited over an hour plus. I told her and she didn't believe me so I got angry and raised my voice and said that I asked for it over an hour ago and I was given the wrong medication and this was not acceptable. She threatened to not fill my medication and ban me from the pharmacy. Maybe I was making a bigger scene than I thought I was.
I said "Alright, I am sorry. I have gone three days without my medication. I cannot drive to my other pharmacy. I need to take this medication in the proper dose, not twelve of these little pills for one dosage. I am extremely hazy and I feel sick, please just fill my script". She had me just sit down and wait and called then and there.
At least it got done in about 45 minutes instead of a few hours. I felt like a jerk, especially since I never yell at anyone.
6. Someone’s Got Your Back
I spent my last $40 on a car part I needed, but there was something wrong with it and I had to return it. The sales clerk said he can't take it back without a receipt. I paid with a credit card and there's a warranty so I should be in the system. He wouldn't even check and refused to exchange it. That's when I lost it.
I was irate, screaming at him. customers were laughing at how upset I was. He threatened to call the authorities. I told him to go ahead. Then, something amazing happened. Behind this guy’s back, another employee overheard my details, looked up my information, and printed out a copy of my receipt.
Just as this guy is about to tell me for the millionth time that I can't return the part without a receipt, the employee behind him hands it to me, and I handed it back to the manager I was arguing with. I got my new part and was able to make it to work that night. Hope that guy didn't get fired for doing the right thing.
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7. Problematic Passenger
I was waiting in Gatwick airport, UK, for our flight, which was at 0650, and gates closed 30 mins before departure. I was watching the boards like a hawk but the "Go to gate" only appeared at 0610, cutting it a little fine for them, but whatever. We start casually making our way towards the gate, it's a bit of a walk, but as we pass another board on the way we see it's 0615, and "Gate closing" appears.
So we start running to the gate, and get there a few minutes later, just as we see another passenger walking through the gate. We hand over our boarding passes and passports and the saggy faced old witch says, "Sorry, the gate is closed". It was 0617, not a chance they should've closed the gate, but clearly, they'd thought the last passenger had boarded and decided to shut up early to make their stats look good.
I kicked off! I had seen that they just let a passenger through, I could see them still boarding the plane. But no, they'd "shut their systems down' and couldn't do anything". This was utter nonsense, I called them out on it, but eventually got marched back through the airport to get another flight. Oh, but it got worse.
As we're checking in for a flight that leaves at 0900, we're told we have to pay another £100 each, this was twice as much as we'd paid for the original flight.
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8. Counter-Productive
Right after I got my first salary I went to a big electronics store and bought a steering wheel controller. They had only one left of the one I wanted, the exhibit one. The salesman promised it would be okay if I just cleaned it properly. He even gave me 10% off, yet the price still was 198€. At home, I noticed it was broken.
When I drove back to the store the salesman told me he would arrange the repair and it would be fixed in about four weeks. That was when I went from slightly annoyed to purified anger. I told him that I wanted to back off from the purchase. Then he told me that the company terms, blah, blah. I didn't remember exactly what he said because I yelled, "May I please talk to someone who is not about to gouge me from behind on the counter?"
This must have been the magic words since the manager and a bunch of customers came over to see what was going on. And I did get my money back.
9. Alarming Situation
I had ordered some food at around 2 AM. My roommate had to work the next day and was sleeping, so I made a note on the delivery saying, "Please call, do not ring the bell. Thanks!" Our doorbell was a loud buzzer, so I didn't want to wake him. About an hour later, I hear a loud buzz. I was so annoyed because I had asked that they not do that.
I go to the door and it's this guy probably around 20 years old and immediately after he hands me my food, he sticks his hand out and goes, "Tip?" I had money in my pocket that I was going to tip him with but I didn't even get a chance to get it out before he did that. I responded with, "Seriously?"
Then I went to tell him that he was not going to get a tip not only because he rang the bell when I asked him not to (it was printed on the receipt under my address so he should have seen it) but also because of how rudely he demanded a tip. He said, "Whatever" and left, so I called the restaurant and told them they had a bad driver.
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10. Missing Money
This happened at my bank. I went in to change my rent money from 20s to 100s, so making a money order would be easier to count. I tell the lady behind the desk what I'm doing, and she happily agrees to help me. In 20s, I counted out $1,000 for her, putting the money down and counting out loud. She then takes the cash, gets the hundreds, and counts back $900 to me.
I tell her there's $100 missing, and she claims I only counted $900 to her. She already put the 20s I gave her in her drawer, so there was no way to see what I counted to her. I argued with her for about 10 minutes until she told me they were about to close and to come back tomorrow.
I was so shocked this lady was so stupid that I just told her to quit her job while she's ahead and walked out. Thankfully I had an extra $100 in birthday money. Never went back to that location.
11. Hard Of Hearing
The lady at the drive-through couldn't hear me, so I talked louder. She still couldn't hear me so I spoke even louder. She still couldn't hear me so I moved round to the window and she had the headset around her neck, so I said, quite loudly, "Can you hear me now?" She jumped about three feet and looked surprised to see me.
12. Membership Has Its Pains
A girl at the checkout at a grocery store scanned my membership card and it didn’t apply the discount. I paid and then we learned the discount wasn’t applied. She said she couldn’t do anything about it. The discount can’t be applied. I pointed to the people behind me. Will their discount be applied? Yes. So what you’re saying is it’s not worth your time to fix your mistake? She acted like I was the jerk holding up progress. I wasn’t nice. A manager came by and fixed it.
13. Drive-Thru Disaster
So my husband is a drummer and he had just played a gig. Had a full load of drums in his station wagon and couldn't see well out the back. He pulls into McDonald’s for a late-night snack and orders McNuggets. He is told there's a wait and to park in the waiting bay. He had to reverse. He reversed once and hit a bollard. Drove forward and reversed and again hit the bollard.
He was super embarrassed, so he just drove straight out into the car park and for some reason, reversed into a park, completely taking out a rubbish bin. By this time the whole restaurant is looking at him because it looks like he's tearing the place up just because he has to wait for his chicken nuggets.
Next thing the poor drive-thru kid came running outside with a bag of food, apologizing and terrified, threw the bag in the window, and ran back inside. I still giggle when I think about this.
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14. Stop The Madness
Anyone's who's got a bus will know that when you ring the bell, not only does it make an audible "ding", but a light at the front of the bus next to the driver that says "BUS STOPPING" will illuminate. I rang the bell, got up, and stood right next to the driver by the door so he can also see I'm waiting to get off. The driver just continues past the bus stop. I'm like, "you not stopping for me there?".
He rolls his eyes, scowls, and slams on the brakes in the middle of the road, to the point where everyone standing up nearly fell over and I think I heard someone fall down the stairs. He looks at me and goes "Maybe try ringing the bell next time if you want me to stop," and opens the door in the middle of the road.
I just walked up to the sign that's lit up right in front of him and started sarcastically tapping it like it's on the fritz. "Well, I think your light must be broken or you’re going blind if you can see that mate".
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15. Language Barriers
Years ago, I went to Quebec City with my girlfriend and I got us tickets to see a play. The play was in French, but whatever, I thought, theater is theater. I was so wrong. I go to the ticket outlet to get the tickets, and as I'm on my way home, I realize that the tickets say "Impair" on them. I call the ticket company and explain to them that they must have given me wheelchair/disabled seating.
I didn't mind or care; I just didn't want to take that seat if there was someone who needed it. The guy puts me on hold three times throughout this conversation. During the third time I'm on hold, I go on the internet to see how "Impair" translates into English. It means "odd". I had purchased seats 5 and 7, on the "odd" side of the theatre. I felt so stupid.
16. Food Fight
At a chain restaurant one night our waitress was bussing a huge tower of dishes. As she was walking towards me I thought to myself, there is no way she is gonna make it to the kitchen. Sure enough, once I am in splashing range the tower goes down. Half-full glasses of soda hit the floor and send splashes over my sandaled feet, and a full cup of marinara sauce hits the edge of our table and showers me with about a quarter of a cup of marinara sauce in a billion droplets from my hair to my chest. Then the waitress walked away!
The manager comes over. By now the waitress has heard that I am complaining. She comes over and stands behind the manager as the manager and I talk. I explain what happened and that accidents happen and I'm not even mad over the spill, but I'm mad over being treated badly after. The manager is gushing apologies, and our dinner will be free.
Still, I said, this is an area for retraining or something. There needs to be something said to the server, that is not how you treat people. The manager turns around and sees the waitress, and says I'm sure she was coming to apologize right now. Little did she know, things were about to take a nasty turn. The waitress rolls her eyes and says nastily, it was just an accident. No apology.
The manager has a stunned look on her face. The waitress says nothing, gives a smirk, and crosses her arms. I looked between her and the manager, who is now silent and doesn't know what to do with this. It ends in a standoff, of the waitress refusing to simply apologize and me seething. So I thought for a moment and came up with a genius plan.
I said to the manager, so you said our meal tonight will be free? We want to change our order. And we want to keep our same server. No hard feelings, after all, right? So we changed our order for the most expensive entrees we could find, with three appetizers and salads and soup first. Dessert after. Tab was well over a hundred bucks. We lingered for as long as we could stand.
Needless to say, we stiffed that waitress, and I wrote no hard feelings on a napkin covered in marinara sauce at the table. The only time I ever stiffed a server, and it was grand.
17. A Number Of Issues
I was getting my phone number transferred from my father’s name to mine. It took about a year of me begging my father to do it until he caved and finally did it. As a small backstory, he is a very nasty, narcissistic man and I was trying to get away from him at the time. After we finished the paperwork, we received a confirmation email stating it would take between 2-5 business days. A week passed. Nothing.
Another week passed. Still nothing. I contacted their customer support and they assured me that they were working on it. A third week passed by and I called them. After explaining my situation, the girl put me on hold without warning and left for about 10 minutes. I had enough time to cook lunch. When she came back, she told me I never ordered the transfer.
She told me, "The documents aren't here". I asked her why come they aren't there? She made a sound and simply said "I don't know" I was getting kind of upset at this point so I asked her to please find out, prompting her to put me on hold without warning again. When she came back, she explained they could have been lost but it was most likely our fault they had lost them.
This upset me something fierce because we had done everything they asked and from then on, it was their responsibility to complete the transfer. I mentioned this and she agreed. So I asked her if she could, based on the confirmation emails, transfer the number. She told me no and implied that "stealing" another person’s number was against the law and that I had to talk to my father to resubmit the request.
I was so mad at this point I might have been crying. I felt pretty lost at that point. Pretty much thanked her for nothing and hung up. I feel bad about it in hindsight, but things like these aren't supposed to happen and her accusing me like that was way over the line.
18. Coffee Break-Down
I went into a little vegan place in Soho, London, for a coffee. My girlfriend and I were on our way to a movie and had around 45 minutes to spare. I ordered two cappuccinos. There was no-one else waiting, and there were two hipster-looking types behind the counter. They took my order and then spent, and I’m not kidding, 27 minutes walking back and forth, talking, moving things around, washing stuff, but not making coffee.
In the interim, a small line had formed, and they served a couple of those people first, including with food orders. I asked after 15 minutes, just to check they hadn't forgotten me. They said of course not, and continued to lounge about. In the end, I stood up and started yelling at them, asking what they were doing, and why it was so hard to make two simple coffees.
I demanded my money back, as we didn't have time for the coffee anyway, and had to then have a big argument about this while one of them kept saying "but we're making it!" When I turned around after berating them, my jaw dropped. The actor Forest Whittaker was behind me in the line. I felt bad for losing it in front of Ghost Dog.
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19. A Sandwich Stealer?
I ordered a sandwich and a drink from a fast food place in a station - the kind of place you grab your food and eat it immediately. I got my drink and was waiting for my sandwich. I'm not in a hurry, so I don't mind the long wait, I assume they're having to make it from scratch or something. Then I notice someone else got the same type of sandwich as I ordered, so they've forgotten me. It happens, I'm not in a hurry, no problem.
No problem that is, until I ask about it. The woman behind the counter says she's given me my order, then turns away before I can speak. When she comes back, I point out that I don't have a sandwich. She tells me I've put it in my bag, and again turns away as I'm trying to explain that I haven't. At this point, I've become a little annoyed, and I'm hungry... so I empty my bag across the counter and ensure she checks everything I have to ensure I haven't stolen my £2 burger.
I was tempted to make her check through the individual pages of my book to try and find this mystery burger, but chickened out of being that much of a jerk. Finally got my sandwich.
20. "I Felt Ashamed"
I was at my phone company’s store asking about an issue with my phone, and the guy’s attitude was so nonchalant. I understand not being able to do anything about it, but at least pretend to care. He was extremely rude, so I snatched my phone out of his hand and demanded to see the manager. I felt ashamed afterward, but I hate poor customer service.
21. A Salad Dressing-Down
I went to dinner with a friend. It's one of those places where you order and then they call your number and you go pick up your food at the counter. Also, keep in mind the place is usually out the door busy. When we got there it was empty but they had a full staff. My friend ordered pasta and I ordered a salad. We sat down and the line started to form out the door but it was moving and things were going smoothly in the kitchen.
My friend got his pasta and about five minutes go by and I still don't have a salad. I'm watching the kitchen, and the cook in charge of salads doesn't look busy at all so I go up to check. I finally get to go up there and see that the cook in charge of salads is laughing with his coworkers and is on his phone. So I go up to the cashier, "Can you tell your guys to make my salad? I ordered 15 minutes ago, my friend is almost done eating".
They scrambled to find my ticket for the order, offered me a soda, and apologized. I said, "No it's fine please just make my salad". I felt bad for going off on them because they probably just lost my ticket, but it made me so angry to see them just screwing around when I'm here wondering why it's taking so long.
22. Car Calamity
My wife and I are in our early 20s, and so going out and buying our first car from a dealership was a rather big deal. We saved a ton of money and went in knowing our budget. At the third dealership we went to, we immediately saw a car that we both loved. Upon stepping out of our car and being surrounded by the salesmen, we asked to check that car out.
The inside and outside of the car looked great, and they assured us it ran smoothly. I asked for a test drive. They were hesitant about letting us test it out, assuring us that it ran fine. Their hesitance just made me worry more. And it turned out that I was right to be suspicious. It broke down before we left the lot. Twice.
The first time he told us it was some BS issue that they'd fix before we took it. But it sputtered and kept dying. We didn't even take it on the road. You had to slam on the brakes to start slowing down. I lost it. This was going to be my wife's primary car that she has to take on the highway every day, and they want to sell me a car that can barely brake, without letting me test drive it.
I try to be understanding. I work retail, and can usually understand if there's a legitimate issue, or even if an employee is being a bit lazy and just doesn't want to do something. I've been there, and I get it. But these people went too far. They flat out lied and tried to sell us an unsafe car that could put both of our lives at risk.
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23. No Common Cents
I was at Wal-Mart. The cashier was taking some time, and we assumed their machine was broken. We were wrong. It suddenly hits us what's going on when we need 21 cents in change. She sees the number and a look of terror goes across her face. I'm about to say "keep the change," but no. I need to see this. She just stands there, fiddles with some coins for a bit then calls her manager over. "Which one's the quarter?"
The manager asks, "Why do you need a quarter for 21 cents?" The clerk replied, "One quarter and one penny". The manager is puzzled and explains, "Quarters aren't 20 cents". The clerk disagreed, saying "Yes, they are". The manager responds, "No, they're 25". The clerk: "How do I make 21 with a quarter?"
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24. No Chickening Out
I waited 40 minutes at a KFC. I got there when the place was practically empty. They told me the chicken wasn't ready (in a place that exclusively serves chicken), and that I would have to wait. I decided to wait. Ten minutes is okay, 15 is tolerable. But more than half an hour? At first, I was fine because they were serving a family that had been there before me. I figured that where most of the chicken had gone before my arrival.
But then they served several customers that came in after me, which made me angry. I had two small meal orders. I approach the counter and ask what's going on, and that they hadn't called my number. The cashier apologizes and takes my receipt to the food worker (I watched and heard this), and tells her to make my order right away.
I stay there waiting, thinking she's putting my order together, but then she walks past me and serves two more customers! I became livid and shouted, "Are you kidding me?!" The cashier's jaw dropped, he started yapping at her, she sluggishly started heading back to the food station, but I was done at that point and said, "Just give me my refund so I can get out of here!"
Then it takes the cashier more than five minutes attempting to process the refund, then he asks her to do it, all the while everyone is watching, and more are still getting served. It took every bit a restraint I had not to make a total scene or flip things over.
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25. Child Exploitation
I was about 8 years old, and we were just about to go on holiday. We go to the same place every year and it's about a six-hour drive away. As usual, we take our car into the garage for a pre-journey checkup to make sure everything is fine and dandy, and it is, so we load up the car. The morning of the holiday comes and my family pack up final things, run final checks, and start to drive. Not five minutes later, the car is having a tantrum, gears are grinding, breaks are barely working, and there is acrid smoke coming out of the bonnet.
So we get a family friend from down the road and he gives the engine a look and finds out immediately what's wrong. Some dumb mechanic drained the oil out of the car and didn't put it back, and now the engine is destroyed. My dad and brother sit with the car, while my mom and I get a ride to the garage. My role is simple: If they can't fix the car right then or give us a courtesy car, I am to throw the biggest tantrum this world has ever seen, and I am not to stop until my mum gives me the sign.
So we get into the garage, the waiting room is jam-packed, and my mum demands to speak to the manager. The manager "isn't in". So I start whimpering and tears start coming. I say, "But mummy, will this mean we won't be able to go on holiday? It's our only holiday this year, I've been looking forward to it" and on and on, looking super adorable.
Of course, this is my mother’s cue to say "We only get one holiday a year, we can't afford another one, and you've ruined it by BREAKING OUR CAR. If you don't get someone in charge RIGHT NOW, neither I nor my daughter will be leaving until you FIX THIS". This goes on for about half an hour. I've fake cried myself into real tears because I'm genuinely worried at this point.
15 minutes later, my mother convinces the mechanic to at least come and see the car. He gets to the car, gives it a gander, goes ashen, then walks off and makes a frantic phone call. About 20 minutes later, all of our stuff was packed into a courtesy car and we were on our way (with me sleeping the whole 6 hours because my tantrum had exhausted me).
26. A King-Sized Complaint
I had ordered a mattress and box spring set from Sears for our new King-sized bed, and when it arrived, it had only half the box springs (King-sized beds use two twin-sized box springs). I called to complain, and they insisted that's all I ordered, and that I should have known I needed to order the other half separately.
I raised a big fuss about it over the next several days, including reporting them to the Better Business Bureau, but they wouldn't budge. I went ahead and bought the other half elsewhere. Then one night, I got a call from the Sears delivery department. The lady says: "I'm calling to confirm that your order is arriving tomorrow afternoon".
Me: "I didn't order anything". Lady: "Well I have an order here for you". Me: "What is it?" Lady: "I don't know. I can't look it up. Me: "OK, listen. I didn't order anything. If a package shows up at my door that I didn't order, and you can't even tell me what it is, I'm gonna call law enforcement". I mean, rationally, I know that Sears wasn't going to send me anthrax or something, but it felt really good to threaten to call the boys in blue on them. I did get my refund later.
27. Late Night McFight
In a drive-thru with my buddies, before pulling out we realize we got the wrong order. I'm inebriated at this point, but not driving, it's worth mentioning. The car behind us is at the window so I just bring the food back to the window on foot. Talking to the customer and teller for a few seconds it became apparent that our orders were swapped for whatever accidental reason.
Well, the old dude in the car behind us just starts insulting me, like "You shaggy teenager you probably spit in it. I want a fresh order". I just wanted to swap our bags and bounce. So me and this old guy got into a pretty intense shouting match, and the guy working the window had to be like, "Dude, it's a health code thing, we do have to re-prepare all of your food. We can't be responsible for what happens when food leaves McDonald’s property".
Anyway, I took it personally, and started shouting at the old man and the guy in the window was like, "Why does this have to be complicated? I have this guy's order right here, he has my order in his lap, I didn't touch his food. Why can't we just swap bags and move on?" At this point, the old guy laid back into me and the shouting match just escalated.
After a couple of moments the employee in the window put his hand on my shoulder and just said, "Dude, leave it, please, we'll sort it out here". He had a sort of exhausted look in his eyes where I just felt like I don't wanna make this guy's job harder than it already is.
28. A Guilty Conscience
I didn't freak out, but I was very rude and to this day, I feel guilty and embarrassed about it. I was in line to get food and was attempting to read the menu. I had forgotten my glasses, so it took all my focus to read. Not to mention that it was so loud I could barely hear myself think, and I was hungry. I vaguely heard my friend, who was in front of me order something, but didn't catch what or what the lady behind the counter told her.
So it's my turn, and I say to the lady "Hi, could I have a spring roll?" She rolls her eyes at me so hard I was afraid they were gonna fall out. "Did I not JUST say to her (referring to my friend) that we were out of spring rolls?" I reply, "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have missed that, I'll have the combo then". But she wasn't done. She snorted, "Yeah, sure. All of you just think you can ignore people like me-"
I tried to say I was sorry, but she talked over me, saying "Entitled brats thinking we don't matter at all, but try saying that out loud...No one shows any respect these days" and just going on and on until I lost it. I saw red and screamed, "Oh my God, just give me my food!" She nearly dropped my plate but didn't, and I went to eat but I felt so bad about my reaction.
29. A Tiring Ordeal
I took my old car to get some new tires and wound up waiting almost an hour while the clerk was talking to some girl. Not a customer, just his friend. Finally, the dude decides to talk to me and is condescending to me. Begrudgingly I left my car there because I still needed tires. I'm quoted 45 minutes to an hour. I finally got a call to pick up my car nearly three hours later.
I show up and you could smell my clutch melting from 20 paces, and they somehow managed to completely snap my shifter in half right above the pivot point. These guys took my car out and hot-rodded it. It was undrivable, I had to tow it home. They didn't pay one red cent towards the repairs. Normally I don't complain, but those yokels got the wrath on that day.
30. All Because Of A Bathrobe
Oh man, not my proudest moment. My bathrobe was in shambles so the wife said it was time to get a new one. So we end up at Wal-Mart at midnight. First mistake. I found one on the clearance shelf with a clearance sticker that reads the cheaper price on it. Take it upfront and of course, only self-checkout is open. I scan and the kiosk says to wait for assistance. Great.
An employee comes and scans her card and removes the discount. I said, "Ma'am you removed the discount". She said she didn't remove anything. I said, "Yes you did, it was just on the screen and this is supposed to be 10 dollars". To prove it, I scan it and she does the same thing! But she just says, "See, it's the same price". I replied, "No ma'am, you just removed it again". So I asked her to call the manager.
I waited for 30 minutes and then asked her again and all she says is "Well, I called him, if you want to just buy it, then you can". For some reason, this was the last straw. I don’t know why after all of this that is what set me off. So I said no don't worry about it I'm leaving. The employee said to me, "Well are you going to put the robe back where you got it?" So I threw it on top of a battery kiosk and let it fall to the bottom of it while making eye contact and told her she could do it since she can't do her actual job correctly.
Felt like a jerk and my wife was less than impressed, but it was infuriating at the time. My wife reminds me of that often when she wants to embarrass me
31. I Asked For Tires
I took my car to a dealer to have some new tires. I come back two hours later and my car is sitting in the front lot and a salesman is standing there with another guy sitting in the driver seat. As I'm walking up to it I can hear the guy revving it. I quicken my pace and walk up asking him what he thinks he's doing, and what that has to do with tires.
The salesman jumps in and says "Please don't disrespect my customer". At that point, I lost it. What followed was legitimately the angriest I have ever been in my life. I'm screaming what does he mean, a customer, and why is there melted rubber in my wheel well and why is there someone not affiliated with the dealer sitting in my car let alone revving it?
The salesman walks to the manager’s office with me still shouting at him through the showroom as the manager comes out. The manager heard my side after I calmed down and apologized profusely. He said there was a mistake and that my black Mustang was parked next to the same style and trim as one they had for sale. I asked him why the salesman even had the keys in the first place and he couldn't answer.
After about a half-hour of me blowing up and cooling off as new details emerged, the general manager says he's covering the cost of my tires and throwing in six oil changes and tire rotations. I got back to my car and they didn't even put the right tires on. I turned right back around and the service manager saw me coming and said he already heard what happened and that he had made the mistake with the tires, so he took it in right away and fixed it, gave me my refund and old tires as well as the new ones.
32. A Hairy Situation
I was eating at a nice restaurant, the food was quite expensive but apparently, it was worth it. It was only lunch so we decided to get something light, I ordered a ham and cheese panini and some chips. When it arrived I noticed a clump of blonde hair on the panini. I'm not fussy. If there's a hair, I'll usually just remove it, but this was too much. It was disgusting. It was a full clump of hair that had been cooked into the panini.
When the waiter walked by I pointed it out to him, he insisted it was just cheese. I politely asked him to make a new one. A few minutes later he came back with a new sandwich and apologized for the inconvenience. But here's the thing: It wasn't new at all. They had just flipped the panini over so the hair was hidden. I then became what I hate the most, the guy that asks to speak to the manager.
The manager came over and I explained the situation, she said she would make me a fresh one, but I requested a new meal so I know they wouldn't just try to hide it again. The waiter then came over with my new meal which was a chicken sandwich, I cut it open to see pure pink meat. This whole time my friend was struggling to eat her meal because of how burnt it was. At this point, we've both just left the food on the table and walked out. The waiter tried to stop us, but the manager just let us go.
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33. A Meaty Mess
I was on my way back to school from a class held in a different building across town. One of my favorite burrito places is nearby. I never eat there because it’s across town and crazy expensive. This place is drive-through only and the line is always long. I order a simple bean and cheese burrito. I get to the first stop lite on my way down the street, take a bite, and realize it’s a chicken burrito.
I paid almost 10$ for this and I only eat there like once a year. I want my burrito, so I turn around, wait through the line again, and explain the issue. I am not angry. I have worked in a restaurant for years so I know things can go wrong. I get another burrito and take a bite at the same stop lite. It's Carne guisada. I drive back and wait through the line.
I have messed up an order twice before, and I know it can make you feel bad, so I politely explain what happened again. I have them repeat back to me what I ordered a few times. A few minutes later the manager hands it out "One bean and cheese burrito". he says. I open it right there at the window. Egg, potato, and cheese. I tossed the open burrito at him, and told him to give me my money back.
34. Hanger Hate
I was hungry and already a little stressed, but there's no excuse for how I behaved in this instance. We ordered some food, my wife ordered a salad side, and then twenty minutes later, our food comes out and I notice that my wife got fries instead of what she wanted. I pointed out the mistake to the cashier, who just said, "Yeah, we're out of [whatever]. We’ve been out since lunchtime".
So, here's what ran through my mind. If they already knew they didn't have the item my wife ordered, they should have said as much when she ordered it. If the girl running the register didn't know, then someone should've said to me while I was waiting, "We don't have that item. What would you like instead?"
They didn't do either of those things and, in my hangry, stressed mind, this was inexcusable. I yelled at the girl working the register and stormed back to the table. She tried to calm me down and pointed out that, even if I was right, yelling at the teenager running the register didn't help. I complained that just taking this kind of thing was part of what was wrong with the world, got up, and stormed out to the car, throwing my meal away in the process. However, there was a strange, life-changing bright side to all this.
After we got home, we had a long talk, and that was honestly the final straw that allowed her to convince me to talk to my doctor about my anxiety. I used to let my anxiety build up as stress and then, every six to eight months, I'd blow up about something stupid. I haven't had one of those tantrums since and am much happier than I ever was before.
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35. A Numbers Game
I thought I had paid with a $100 bill. When I got the "wrong change" back, I flipped out, got the manager involved, made the poor cashier empty her drawer in front of me, and count through every bill. I had paid with a $50 bill. Oh, the shame. There are not enough apologies for what I did to that girl. If you're reading this, I’m so so sorry!
36. The Changeling
Ugh, this is so embarrassing. I was once at an airport McDonald's and was not as early as I usually like to be for my flight. The McDonald's worker was very slow, not listening to people's orders, and not friendly. I ordered my McMuffin and went to wait in the line. I paid using a card and casually looked at my receipt. I noticed that there was a discrepancy between what my item cost on the board vs. what was charged on my receipt.
I politely let her know that she charged me too much. Could she please give me back the change? Her rude reaction was what set me off. She told me it didn't matter and asked if I really cared about 75 cents? She blamed a few different things. The machine was broken, it's too hard to go back in and fix, her manager is a jerk, etc. I was irritated that she flipped between one excuse to another.
I'm embarrassed to say I snapped at her. I think it's really rude to secretly charge extra (especially a huge company that can afford to give me back my 75 cents), then make me feel like I'm the bad guy for caring about 75 cents. Even though I was in the right, my reaction was wrong.
37. Service With A Smirk
I went out to dinner at a diner with two friends and one of their girlfriends one time. The place was pretty busy but there was plenty of wait staff running around. The first warning sign that things wouldn't go well was when they gave our table to a waiter who wasn't even working our section. It took him forever to come to us and take our drink orders, forever to take our meal orders, forever to get our food.
We had to ask the waitress in our section to send him over at least once or twice. At one point I asked for a drink refill and he got nasty and said, "Well, you're just going to have to wait". Now listen, I get that you were busy, but you don't need to be rude. And that wasn't the only time he was nasty to us either. As if it was our fault that he'd been assigned to us, we didn't ask for the guy.
I didn't even say anything, we just waited and waited until my friend's girlfriend finally grabbed our glasses and went to the counter area to get the refills herself. We didn't even blame the guy for being overworked, but he was a jerk. We thought about stiffing him altogether but instead, we came up with an even more devastating idea.
We left him a quarter from each of us. Four shiny quarters on the table. When we were leaving, he managed to rush over to clear the table and collect his tip even though he couldn't rush over any other time while we were there. He yelled very sarcastically across the diner, "Thanks for the generous tip, ladies". I turned around and yelled back, "You’re welcome. Maybe you’d have gotten a real tip if you weren’t such a jerk".
38. Drawing The Line
My brother and I were doing quite a big grocery shop which included a lot of bulk buying of things like paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, etc. We get to the counter and are placing our items on the scanner when the cashier rudely cuts off my brother as he's about to greet her. She said, "Tell me how many items you have! No need to put them up like that, just give me one, okay? How many? Huh? How many do you have in the cart?"
I told her we have eight boxes of tissues, but we would like some bags as we needed to carry them. She cut me off here and said, as she snatched the box from my brother's hands, "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She then mutters something horrible under her breath. She went, "Stupid Asians, learn some proper English and stop wasting my time".
It's worth noting that my brother and I are fluent in English (it's actually our first language, despite being born in Korea). I'm not very good with confrontations and I avoid them if possible, but I took a leaf from my mum's book and told her off. Usually, I brush off people making those kinds of comments, but this was just unbelievable and she was so rude to my brother that I had to do something.
39. Change Challenge
I was at Lowe’s one day buying some tools I needed. The total was like $47 and change. Well, I paid with a $50 bill so I should have gotten back $2 and change. Well she gave me just the $2 and no change (the change was close to a dollar). I said she still owed me some change, and that I would like to have it. She said she didn't have it in the drawer.
I said, "Well, are you gonna get it?" I said this because after she originally gave me the wrong change, she shut the drawer and proceeded to play on her phone. She got an attitude and said, "It ain't even one dollar, why are you getting so mad?" Yeah, it's less than a dollar, but it's mine and I want it. I went nuts. I told the manager what happened and he fired her on the spot. It was great. No regrets.
40. A Big McMistake
One night in college we had left the bars and decided to hit up McDonald's for a late-night snack. I was the designated driver and had a couple of friends in the car. We ordered and I pay, and they gave us the food. I hand it over to my friend and tell him to make sure everything is there before pulling away and he tells me my burger isn't there.
So, I knock on the window and tell them they forgot an item. The girl at the window tells me that they checked it before they handed it to me and everything was there. I tell her they must have made a mistake. At this point, my friends start to tell me it isn't a big deal but it's easy for them to say. Their food is in the bag. I babysat my friends and wanted my sandwich.
So, I continue to argue with the girl and the manager comes over, tells me they'll make me a new sandwich, but does it in a way that lets me know he knows I got my sandwich and I'm just looking for free food. That was too far. I went off on this guy. I ranted for a solid two minutes on how maybe he's the kind of guy who would pull that sort of stuff but I have a lot more class than that.
I would have kept going except at that point my friend who I handed the food to said: "Oh, wait. There are two bags here. Yeah your burgers in it". At that point, I just stared straight ahead, said "I apologize", put the car in drive, and left.
41. The Last Supper
A few weeks ago my family went to a local burger joint for dinner. We order our food and when it arrives (we all got burger sliders) the waitress drops mine off and there's massive hair sticking out of it. I'm not talking just one long hair, I'm talking hair plural. "Woah!" I tell the waitress. I notice that every other table on this patio is staring at me now. "What's that?" The waitress looks at it confused. "Uhh...I dunno". "Ok, I'm not eating this, please put in another". She takes it back.
The manager comes out and says "I have good news! I looked at your food and it wasn't hair, it was some kind of fuzz ball from clothes or something!" I look at her blankly and start laughing "That's not making me feel better!" She chuckles and asks if there's anything else she can do. "No," I said, "just the replacement sliders I asked the waitress for already". She was trying to avoid comping my meal".
Uh, well before we put that in you want anything else?" She didn't put the order in! At this point, I've had enough, so I say, "If my replacement isn't back by the time my parents finish eating, take it off the bill and don't bother bringing it at all!" The other tables are staring at us now. My dad notices a giant charred piece of something sticking out of his burger and asks the waitress what it was. Again she didn't know and took that for a replacement too.
The table next to us started laughing at us and commenting we were just trying to get a free meal. I looked over and told them "YOU'RE free to eat the hair and charred food they gave us". They shook their heads and stayed quiet. They comped our meal and we never went back.
42. Orange Berry Blitz-krieg
I was working at Blockbuster during college, taking a full course load at a prestigious university, and working full time. I was exhausted and constantly had my head in two worlds. I would regularly go to a juice bar and get my usual Orange Berry Blitz during a short 15-minute break. They kept me going.
One day, I am in there having a particularly difficult day and the manager hands me my beverage and says, "What's with the frowns all the time? See, you need to be happy like us! When I see you all unhappy in your Blockbuster uniform it makes me not want to go rent a movie there. You make me not want to go in there".
Well...I lost it and did the most rational thing I could think of, and I threw the Orange Berry Blitz square at his smiling face and walked away while his face dripped. The other "smiling" workers were staring wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. Later that evening two of them came to my store, told me how I was a hero, and they brought me an Orange Berry Blitz.
43. Baby On Ice
One time my family and I went to eat at Steak and Shake. Our waiter was clearly high and he spilled an entire glass of ice water ON MY BABY and then laughed about it. I lost it. I understand that it was an accident but the fact that he laughed while my nine-month-old son cried hysterically made me very close to punching him in the face. I still get mad thinking about it.
44. A Smear Campaign
I ordered a double cheeseburger with no onions. I got onions and returned it but I didn't get any kind of an apology, just a sigh of disgust. Several times in the following weeks I ordered the same thing and kept getting the wrong food. I was now disappointed with the service but I liked the burgers so I kept trying. Finally one day I opened my burger and again there were onions inside, and I took it back and got a snotty response from the girl behind the window.
She then said, "The manager said we aren't gonna serve you anymore because you complain too much". I said, "If you'd give me what I ordered I wouldn't complain". So the manager calls from back, "Are there onions on the burger?" She looks at it and, like she couldn't admit the truth, it had a normal serving of onions, she pettily said, "It has ONE onion on it".
I was pretty steamed by that point and her attitude was the last straw. I said, "How many onions did I order?" Well, she had no response for that. She gives me the new burger and I take it out of the bag, open it up, and smear both buns, meat, mustard, etc all over the windows, and then walk off. Oh, but to be fair, no onions. I don't feel that bad about it.
45. Offensive Upgrade
My mom and stepdad went RV shopping.. They found the one they wanted for the price they wanted. The dealer asked if they wanted to get a satellite dish installed to get local TV wherever he went. The satellite would have been an extra $2,000 and would leave permanent holes in the roof of it were ever taken out. They said they probably would but wanted to think about it some more and left to come back the next day.
Well, when they came back, there was a big, shiny, brand-spanking’ new satellite dish sticking out of the top. Nowhere in the paperwork they signed said anything about agreeing to the satellite. Then they tried to charge them $200 to have it removed. The guy's excuse? He just knew they would like it and be happy with it.
They decided to just keep it but made them at least drop the price of it for the inconvenience. The thing didn't even work because campgrounds are full of trees and he'd be lucky to get a static-filled news station.
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46. Musical Chairs
We sat down at a restaurant at the world's most inconvenient table. Square with four chairs, one was pushed up about a foot from the bar and the bar patrons. They were practically sitting on the table. I sit across from my partner. Shortly a waitress comes and asks me to move adjacent to my partner, as my chair is impeding the ability of others to go to the bar.
So I move. Then we wait a long time to be served, get our food and I take my first mouthful when an employee comes over and says that I need to move seats because my chair is blocking the path they use to deliver food. This happened once more before I finished my food. That’s when I lost my temper and berated the server. I just wanted to eat.
47. Drive-thru Meltdown
I went to the drive-thru at McDonald’s and ordered a Happy Meal for my 3-year-old, a large drink, and a soft serve for me. I got to the window and paid and got put in the waiting bay. 20 minutes went by with still no food. I stayed calm and after 30 minutes I went in. I waited patiently for someone to help me. A young girl came and asked if I wanted something.
I told her nicely what was happening she said "Oh, I don't do drive-thru," and walked away. Five minutes went by and no one would help me and I was seeing red. I got started screaming at all the workers telling them how pathetic it is that I have been waiting for 30 minutes. None of them cared which made me angrier.
After around five minutes of me going crazy they gave me my order but I was too angry and I just launched the soft serve and drink at the window. When I got back in the car and told my husband what had happened I felt like such a jerk and I thank god it wasn’t my local McDonald’s.
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48. No Apologies
I once lost my mind at a worker who asked me to leave my backpack at the front of the store. I still think I'm right. I would never betray my neighbors to enforce that policy especially in a city where thousands and thousands of working people commute with backpacks. On top of that, I had my work computer and tablet in my bag. I'm not going to trust you with my livelihood.
I've worked retail. I've run a theater. There are all sorts of stupid rules that come down from the parent company that you can just ignore. But when I said no and refused to budge, I'm sure that worker thought I was one of "those" customers.
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49. Doing The Right Thing
As a teenager, I went into the local bank branch to cash my paycheck. After receiving the money I moved out of the next customer’s way and stopped at the little table where they have to fill out paperwork to count it. Found that I had an extra $100 bill. Went back to the teller, and waited until she finished with her current customer.
When she was done I very sweetly said: "Excuse me but I think there was a mistake with my money". She looked at me very haughtily and said "I'm sorry?" I repeat that I thought there was a mistake with the money given to me. She looked at me and in the snarkiest tone I have heard to date, told me "I don't make mistakes".
I looked at her for a couple of seconds before saying, "Alrighty then, have a great day!" and turned around and left.
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50. Name Game
I got mad at a fast food place because they called me a rather lewd name over the PA to pick up my order. One minute later, right after I told off the girl for using the name, I realized what was happening...and I was mortified. The reason they used that name is because I had signed up for an account under a rather lewd name from a Simpsons episode, and they automatically read my loyalty card name, not the name I gave them. I had no idea this would happen. That was the day Busty St. Claire blushed hard and tipped well.
Sources: Reddit ,
