Customers usually get a little testy when they don't get their way, but very few of them get as angry as the customers these poor workers had to put up with. Some of these people clearly need therapy for their anger management problems!
Her Aim Was Impeccable, Her Manners Less So
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“I watched as a woman exiting an Einstein Bros. Bagels looked into her bag and – in anger over some error in her order – perfectly frisbee’d an all grain bagel across the length of the store, over sitting customers, and beaned the cashier perfectly on the head. Her aim was so impressive that none of us, including the cashier, could do anything but stare in silenced awe.”
She Totally Flipped Out, In Front Of Her Kids, Too!
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“I worked at McDonald’s when I was 16 years old. This was in the days of Beanie Babies. A woman came in with her two small children. She ordered some Happy Meals and wanted a specific Beanie Baby. When she found out that we didn’t have it, she flipped out. She called us every name in the book, right in front of her little kids and everyone else’s kids. She was a real Meanie Baby.”
He Lost His Job After That, But It Was Totally Worth It
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“One of those typical ‘Can I speak to the manager’ looking women ordered delivery from my work one night (local pizza and sub shop). It was busy and I got to her house about 15 minutes late.
I felt bad and was going to give her the food on the house or hook her up with a $20 gift card for the inconvenience. However, this lady’s attitude made me do neither.
I go to the door and she told me, ‘You’re late,’ in a witchy tone. I apologized and explained we were busy. The food was still hot, mind you. She cut me off, took the pizza out of my hand and said, ‘I’M NOT PAYING FOR THIS!’
So I yanked it out of her hands and said, ‘Yes you are, or the police are going to be here to arrest you for theft.’
This lady then tried to attack me. She slapped me in the face and tried hitting me some more, but she was small and not really a threat at all, so I just walked back to my car, got in and drove up to her street to a dead end circle. As I came back, she was still outside screaming, so I chucked her pizza and entree items out the car window onto her front lawn and said, ‘Enjoy the free meal, you old cow!’ and drove off.
Never in my life was getting fired so satisfying.”
When A Guy Enters A Bar At 10:30 A.M, You Know There’s Gonna Be Problems
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“Guy sat down at my bar at 10:30 a.m. ‘Morning sir, here’s a menu. Just wanted to let you know we open at 11, but you’re more than welcome to sit here until we open.’
Guy: ‘Fine, can I have a Corona?’
Me: ‘No sir, we open at 11.’
Guy: scowling, ‘Whatever.’
I served him a glass of water and continued opening my bar. At a few minutes to 11, I grabbed him the Corona. He proceeded to get on his phone, ranting to someone, pacing all around the restaurant in circles.
Just as he was about to exit out the side door (which leads straight to a parking lot), I got his attention and asked for a credit card if he was going to leave the restaurant. He protested, yelling and cursing. I replied, politely, that it’s policy. That’s when he lunged at me and from across the restaurant, threw a gold American Express card at me like he was a knife-throwing circus performer, yelling, ‘FINE, HERE!’
Of course, I immediately closed his tab and ran his card because he was the picture of belligerence we’re warned about in responsible vendors classes. He came over and began to flip out at the notion of being kicked out of a restaurant at 11:15 in the morning. As he was yelling, I kept repeating, ‘Have a nice day sir, have a nice day sir, have a nice day sir!’
He finally retorted, ‘Oh, I will, because I don’t work in a bar!’
So I quietly reply, ‘Oh, I know. You just wait outside of one, shaking at 10:30 in the morning.’ He LOST. HIS. MIND. He signed his credit card receipt so violently he tore it a bit and left the restaurant, shrieking about how rich he his. I looked down at the receipt, trying hard not to think about my life choices, and saw it was signed: SCREW YOU.”
He Threw A Fit When His Food Didn’t Come Out In A Timely Manner
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“I was flying out of JFK with my boss and team analyst.
We had a little over an hour before our flight departed, so we decided to sit down and eat at one of those restaurants where you order via a tablet.
We all ordered, and 10 minutes later, our food came out.
My boss and I got a burger; he got his with a side salad. The team’s analyst got a chicken sandwich.
The guy at the table next to us looked at my boss’ plate, and condescendingly stated, ‘You’re eating my turkey burger.’
Boss lifted his bun, confirmed the burger was beef, and answered, ‘No, I’m eating my hamburger, not your turkey burger.’
The guy then stood up, looking like a German villain from a bad ’80s movie. He made a beeline to the waiter that served us and started screaming, ‘Where is my turkey burger! I was here four minutes before the three of them and still don’t have my turkey burger!’
The waiter, who was an older Indian man, was visibly nervous.
Guy kept screaming, ‘I ordered a turkey burger, it hasn’t come. I want my turkey burger, I demand satisfaction!’
The waiter said he’d check and rushed back into the kitchen. He slunk back out about two minutes later. It was obvious that he knew he would have to confront this guy again and he didn’t want to.
‘Sir,’ said the waiter, ‘No order has been placed at any of the tablets on your table.’
The guy started screaming, ‘This is bull! You think I don’t know how to use a tablet? I want my turkey burger, I demand satisfaction!’
About five more minutes ensue of him screaming about demanding satisfaction.
The waiter finally grabbed the tablet at his table and saw that the order for a turkey burger was keyed in, but the ‘submit order’ button was never hit.
The guy was now angry and embarrassed. He had a look on his face like he was going to go home and beat his wife.
The waiter looked smug; he’s the one who got satisfaction out of all of this.”
She Was Only 15, But That Was The Moment She Lost Faith In Humanity
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“I used to work at McDonald’s. One time, a guy came through the drive-thru and ordered chicken nuggets. We gave him his food and he drove off. A few minutes later, he came into the store and ran up to the counter, ranting about how we forgot his BBQ sauce. My manager met him at the counter, apologized, and offered him some BBQ sauce packets. He proceeded to throw them at her and the rest of us behind the counter. We all had BBQ sauce splattered on our uniforms, on the walls, the equipment, etc. After he ran out of ammunition, he ran out of the store and drove away like a coward.
I was 15 years old then, and I lost my faith in humanity.”
She Wasn’t About To Back Down With 10 Cents On The Line
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“A little old lady went into an unbridled rage, absolutely red in the face screaming at a teenage Baskin Robbins employee because she wanted $0.10 off a $0.99 ice cream cone. The deal was only available on Sundays, and it was Thursday.
She made us wait in line behind her while she argued over a dime. The cashier couldn’t do anything because the register was electronic and wouldn’t apply the discount.
I was about to pay the lady in loose change to move along, but another employee stepped in to assist us off to the side. We were in and out in a few minutes, and the irate octogenarian was still raging when I left.”
All That Over The Wrong Jar Of Jam
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“When I worked as a cashier at a supermarket, our bag boy was sent to run and pick up a jar of jam for a customer. He wasn’t doing anything, she had a long order, and she had been decently nice thus far, so we thought nothing of it. When he brought it back it was sugar-free and this ticked her off, and she threw it at the customer service desk in anger and it exploded everywhere.
We also had several people go nuts and start throwing food when they got angry. Milk was the worst, followed by yogurt and glass items. Thankfully they never threw wine.
This was at a fancy grocery store, too. In a nice part of town. People were just ridiculous occasionally.”
The Thought Of Her Organic Bread Getting “Contaminated” Drove Her Wild
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“I worked in a grocery store and a woman asked me to slice her organic bread. She flipped out when she discovered that non-organic bread was also sliced on the machine. She stomped her foot and yelled, ‘But that messes up the organic integrity!’
It was my last week working there, so I told her, ‘Ma’am, please understand, I’m not emotionally involved in the situation.’ She froze and just walked away with the bread.”
She Held Up The Line So Long, The Other Customers Would Do Anything To Make Her Leave
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“I work at a grocery store, and the other day I was working the register next to my buddy Carl.
This old woman with two items and her own bag came through his line. All was well with the whole order, and the woman grabbed her bag and walked to the side once she was done checking out.
She started examining her receipt. At this point, Carl was already halfway through the next order. The woman then pulled out a calculator, mumbling to herself and looking distraught.
Swiftly, she turned around, shoved the calculator into Carl’s face, and insisted that he didn’t give her a three-cent discount for her reusable bag.
That was our policy, and I was sure Carl didn’t forget to ring that up. In fact, he didn’t forget, and the woman was delirious. She insisted the price on her calculator was correct and that Carl was wrong. Carl, sticking to his ground, said he did give her the discount, which only made her angrier.
At this point, the whole line was annoyed, and the lady behind was in the middle of paying for her order.
But she would NOT STOP. She demanded three cents! She told Carl to open the drawer, which he said he couldn’t. She reached for the DONATION jar and demanded he take three cents out of that. That one got to me. I opened my register, ready to just throw her the three cents when the woman behind her frantically searches her purse for pennies. After 15 awkward, yet spellbinding, seconds, the lady finally fished out three pennies. The old woman grabbed them and left without a word.
Funny thing was, she also left her calculator, which Carl deliberately did not move. Half an hour later, the lady was back, grabbed her calculator, and yelled, ‘I AM NEVER COMING TO THIS STUPID STORE AGAIN!’
Carl, ‘I HOPE YOU DON’T!’
I love Carl.”
She Actually Wished That The Worker Would Become Homeless
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“I think it has to be when a supermarket was closing because a new store had been built a mile away. They had this huge ‘everything must go’ sale. I was scavenging for closeouts, as was everyone else.
At the checkout, a 60-year-old woman was angry that ‘YOU PEOPLE’ didn’t have what she wanted. She then proceeded to tell the cashier (in her 40s) she was happy the worker was losing her job, and she hoped the worker would become homeless.’ At some point, she also called the cashier a ‘nincompoop.’ The manager asked her to leave and she went on an incomprehensible tirade.
I hope that old lady never walked into the new store because the entire staff of the old store worked there too. I strongly suspect they will remember her.”
He Insisted It Was Fine, But His Next Act Belied That
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“When I worked at Starbucks, there was a well-dressed man who came in and ordered a latte with the following customizations: whole milk, no foam, 200 degrees. We had just run out of whole milk, which I told him and apologized for. He didn’t get snippy with me or anything but was sort of weird and soft-spoken. I handed his cup down the line for his drink to be made. My best barista was on duty, so I wasn’t worried. She handed off his drink. He took the lid off and looked at it.
Customer: ‘I said no foam.’
Barista: ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I must not have been paying attention. Give me one moment and I’ll remake it for you.’
Customer: ‘No, it’s fine.’
The customer walked away while my barista was in the middle of explaining that it would only take a few seconds to correct his drink. Suddenly, but also very silently, he took the lid off of his drink and poured it all over the condiment bar in a sweeping motion.”
They Almost Started A Fight At Whole Foods
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“I used to work at a Whole Foods as a cashier. On one particularly busy night, I was about to have my customer pay when he took his cart, pulled it back and slammed it into the next guy’s cart at the register next to mine. These registers are tight quarters. My guy then raised his voice, saying, ‘I can’t even reach the machine to swipe my card! Move your cart, jerk!’ This was crazy because he could have just moved his own cart out of the way, but insisted on slamming into his neighbor’s instead. So the next guy over, calm as a Zen master, slowly turned to the guy. Looked at the carts, looked at me, looked at my guy and just said, ‘We can fight about it if you want.’ The other cashier and I tried our hardest not to laugh, but the look of embarrassment on my guys face as he realized how ridiculous he was acting was something else. He got shut down.”
It Was Free Ice Cream Day, So All The Loons Came Out To Play
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“When I worked in an ice cream shop, we had one day a year with free ice cream called Free Cone Day. This day is messy, and we have volunteer scoopers, as such, we had a concern about cross-contamination from ice creams that had common allergens such as peanuts. So to solve the issue, we took anything with peanuts off the menu for the day. Pretty simple; we still had twelve flavors including gluten free, dairy free, and even soy free for people to choose from.
So one year, this grown woman came through the line and orders an ice cream that has peanut butter brickle in it. Well, number one, no peanut ice creams on free cone day and number two, that particular flavor hadn’t even been made in years. I have no idea why she thought she would find it with us.
When we told her we didn’t have it, she started berating us for not having her favorite flavor. Then when we didn’t magically produce it (because we couldn’t), she started screaming. Then crying. She started ranting to the entire store that this was the worst day of her life and everything always went wrong for her.
Now, it should be noted that we accept donations on free cone day, all of which goes to a charity of our choice. Our shop used the donations to pay for the medical care of a girl who was very sick (Cystic Fibrosis). This little girl, who at the time was about eight or nine, was there with us, watching this go down.
So this bimbo was screaming and crying about how awful her life was because she didn’t get the flavor she wanted, on a day when we gave away free ice cream out of the goodness of our hearts, while a little girl with CF was listening to the tirade.
I wasn’t the manager there yet, which is probably a good thing because I would have given her no mercy. As it was, the current manager politely but firmly told her to leave. The woman left, still screaming and crying about not getting a single free scoop of her favorite no longer existing flavor of ice cream.
It was absurd, but we honestly thought that maybe she had something wrong with her. You know, like maybe she wasn’t quite emotionally stable. So we brushed it off.
A week later, we got a phone call from corporate. They read us an email where this same woman called corporate and told a tale about how we had made fun of her weight and said, ‘We have no free ice cream for you, fatso.’
We told corporate what happened, and the rep said, ‘Yeah, we know you guys; you’re not evil or nuts and you would never do this. We already told her to pound sand and to never go into one of our shops again.'”
His Rage Knew No Bounds When He Had To Wait For His Food
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“When I worked at McDonald’s, I was scheduled for early-morning shifts. This guy ordered a steak, egg, and cheese biscuit, which wasn’t something we batched cooked. The next three people behind him, his coworkers, all ordered batched cooked items and got them before him. The guy proceeded to scream, shout, and then get in my face. I tried explaining why, but he would just scream over me. The cook came out to try and explain, hoping the guy would back down. We couldn’t find our manager anywhere to try and help. His coworkers slowly inched towards the door until they were far enough to just run. In the end, he demanded a refund, which the cook agreed to, telling him, ‘Fine. Please get in line and wait.’ Yeah, he actually made the guy get back in line for the refund. As the guy was getting closer to the register, his food finally came up. He just took it and left with no refund. Then the manager came out trying to figure out what was going on.”
The “Banana Nut Saga” Threw The Bakery Into Total Chaos
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“When I worked in the bakery at Whole Foods, we had a customer who kept asking us to make banana muffins with A LOT of pecans on top for her – but only a few at a time, like two or three. In general, it was a request we could accommodate, but we had a few considerations we had to account for, like the fact that if we made them and she didn’t pick them up, we couldn’t sell them to anyone else because pecans weren’t on the ingredient list.
The problems started arising when she would call us while she was on the way to the store, expecting to pick them up when she arrived. She was about 20 minutes away and they took 45 minutes to bake. Even if she had called us while she was an hour away, we were on a tight production schedule and someone would have to interrupt their regular work for an unexpected special order for this one customer.
First, she got mad that we couldn’t magically make them in 20 minutes. I was, unfortunately, the supervisor on shift when she called most of the time, so she’d keep me on the phone for 15 minutes raging about how the customer is always right – even though she was incorrect in this circumstance. She started saying we should just make them her way all the time so that we always had them on hand for her. I explained to her that we could get fined by food inspectors if we did that.
Eventually, my team leader said that we had to put our foot down with her and tell her that she had to put in special orders two days in advance just like everyone else. When we told her this, she, of course, got infuriated and said something along the lines of, ‘How am I supposed to know when I’m going to want them?!’
We were able to say, ‘Well, management says so, sorry,’ and we thought that was that. She went along with it for a couple days, sending her poor mother to pick them up for her because she was too angry to step foot in the store – her mom always looked so apologetic.
She finally came to berate my team about how rude and inconsiderate and generally crappy we had been to her. Then she asked to speak to our store manager, who had been made aware of the whole Banana Nut saga. He escorted her outside and told her she was banned from the store. We found out later that she had also been banned from the three nearest Whole Foods locations over this exact same set of circumstances.”
