When it comes to customer service, the rule of thumb is, “The customer is always right!” (even if they’re not). Keeping the peace and the customer happy is the main goal. However, these folks had no other choice than to prove their customers wrong in the most savage ways. This content has been edited for clarity.
Scammer
“One hot summer day, my colleague and I were installing carpet in a huge house. The carpet was heavy and it was a hard day of physical work. We worked hard, got the job done, and told the customer it was time for him to pay. At that moment, my customer decided it was not the carpet he picked and he wasn’t paying.
Bear in mind that he had been on site all day, watched the carpet go down, but waited until we were done to say it was the ‘wrong carpet.’ I could see exactly what was coming. So I went to get the sample from the van to compare and also contacted some other colleagues to come to my aid.
I started going through the samples back in the house and it became clear that we had used the correct carpet and the guy was just trying to scam me. We went back and forth a couple of times when eventually I said, ‘Well, the carpets are coming up then.’
Then the chap plays the racist card, ‘It’s because I’m Asian.’
That’s when I lost it.
‘How dare you call me racist? You can’t play that card on me, you despicable human being! Using racism to try to bully me and steal from me? You should be ashamed!’
I asked one last time for the agreed payment amount and the guy still refused.
I told my colleague to start ripping the carpets up. Out of nowhere, my customer plonked himself down in the middle of the room with a, ‘What are you gonna do now?’ look on his face. I pulled out my knife, dropped to my knees in front of him and just cut ‘round the man. We lifted the carpet over him and rolled it up in under 60 seconds. There he was sitting on a piece of carpet in the middle of the room.
At that point, the customer knew he lost. The cheeky sod then pulled out a sealed envelope with the correct amount in it and paid in full. Everyone was calmed down at that point. I was well within my rights to simply walk away or charge him to put the carpet back down. But it’s like 12 minutes of work, so I just did it.
However, the piece I cut out did stand out, so he was left with a little reminder about paying what was due.”
Unauthorized Use
“One time while working for a cable company in their billing department, I got a call from a customer demanding that I remove the charges for the porn he didn’t rent using PPV (pay-per-view). When I advised him of the policy on adult films, he was adamant that he didn’t rent them and he would not pay. He would escalate it to corporate if he had to.
I had noticed at the beginning of the call that the account he was calling about was actually a woman’s name and this guy was an authorized user on the account. I took a chance.
‘I notice you are not the primary account holder. May I please speak to the primary holder?’
Immediately this guy stammered and wanted to know why I needed the primary account holder. I told him it was standard policy to speak to the account holder regarding any suspected unauthorized use of the PPV system. I further explained that not only could I see that the adult films in question were purchased using the remote, but that I could see which receiver in which room had ordered them.
I informed him that I would need to explain this information to the account holder including reading all of the adult film titles just to be sure it wasn’t the account holder herself who had ordered them. After a brief silence, he paid the bill.”
What A Gentleman
“I was a waiter at a fine dining restaurant and I had a young couple seated at one of my tables. I introduced myself and could tell that it was probably a first date. He was trying too hard to be special for his lady by ordering the most expensive drinks, wine, appetizers, entrees, and desserts. After taking his order, he then proceeded to tell me that he started his tips at 30% and goes down based on my performance. Great for me!
I will condense but this guy was a complete prick the whole meal. He kept bragging about his money (daddy’s money), job (from daddy), car (daddy again), and whatever else came out of his spoiled mouth. His date was bored and you could tell she was uncomfortable being with guy. I brought out the check and he was very complimentary and said I did a great job and they would be back again. He quickly took out some bills, said we were all good, and thanked me again.
I went back to the computer to pay out and saw he left $430.00 for a bill of $428.50. Hmm. Mistakes have happened in the past when paying in cash because they didn’t add right. So I took the change to his table, thanked him, and walked away. When they left, I picked up the book and he had left me the 2 quarters. I lost it and went out to the parking lot, found him and his date getting in the car, and told him that he forgot his fifty cents.
I gave it to him and told him, “I don’t get too offended when some people can’t tip the recommended amount, but don’t brag to your date about what a stud and gentleman you are when you left me a $1.50 tip asshole.’
I didn’t get fired and never saw him again. I saw his date the next night though. She felt so embarrassed that she came in and gave me $150.00 and said she would never see him again. I said, ‘How about I give you the money back if you go out with me?’ The rest is another story.”
Who Stole My Jacket?
“I have managed some fancy places in LA for a few years now. One holiday season, we had a party of 8 come in for a holiday dinner. They were all around 60 years old and very well-dressed. They had a great dinner, drank a bunch of bottles of really nice wine, and ate all the most expensive dishes.
The next afternoon, I came in to work and was checking the voicemail messages. A customer had left a message with some clear concern that he had left his jacket behind. We hadn’t had any jackets turned in, so I called the gentleman back and apologized for not having his jacket. The guy was very certain he had left the jacket at the restaurant. I assured him that I would speak with the staff when they arrived and I would call him back if I found anything out.
As the staff and the valet arrived for work that evening, I checked in with them one by one, and no one had seen any jackets the night before. Right when we opened at 5, the hostess called me and mentioned that there was a man waiting for me at the front door. It was the lost jacket guy. The gentleman was very agitated. ‘One of the employees must have stolen it,’ he said.
The thing is, my employees are a pretty stellar bunch. They’re not going to steal anything from a customer. It irritated me that we had treated him so well and yet he was being so imposing and so unabashedly judgmental. But I didn’t react. I told him that I understood and that I would do everything I could to locate the jacket.
I got onto the security cameras and wound them back to the previous night. The tapes clearly showed that at the end of their meal, the customer walked out the front door wearing his jacket. As the valet handed the man his keys, he took the jacket off, rolled it into a ball, and put it in the footwell behind the driver’s seat of his car.
I made a copy of the video and texted it from my phone to his phone. I wrote ‘Did you by any chance check behind the driver’s seat?’ He didn’t apologize or acknowledge his freak-out. He just said, ‘Thanks very much.’ But it was a very nice moment for us all as I shared the story and the video with the staff over the next few days.”
