While working in the customer service industry, employees encounter a large number of people every day. Unfortunately, not all of them are nice. In fact, oftentimes, they have the ‘customer is always right’ mentality that allows them to get away with all kinds of ridiculous behavior.
To show how infuriating and exhausting it can get, We has compiled a list of clients that seem to have no bounds when it comes to cluelessness. Scroll down to find them, and be sure to share your own experiences down below.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out a conversation with website optimization consultant, customer experience specialist, and developerChérie Oduwole, who kindly agreed to share some tips on how to deal with rude customers.
#1 If They Get Bigger, I Would Start Worrying. Possible Food Spoilage Or Alien Infestation
#2 A Customer From Florida Parked In Front Of The Cart Return, So I, The Cart Pusher, Started A Line Beside Their Car, And Now Customers Are Leaving Carts All Around Their Car
#3 Charge Them For A Cappuccino, VIP Price
Since this list is blatant proof that customers aren’t always right, let’s look at how the opposite of this phrase came to be and why it’s so important in the realm of customer service.
The slogan is believed to have been coined by Marshall Field, who introduced this idea when he established Chicago’s first department store in 1893. Then Henry Gordon Selfridge took this concept overseas to London, where he popularized it further.
#4 Do You Lemonade?
#5 This Person Didn’t Know What A Bay Leaf Was
#6 Customer Service “Sucks” Nowadays
The original quote was actually longer, saying that “Right or wrong, the customer is always right.” Almost 100 years later, César Ritz introduced this mentality to the hospitality industry when he founded The Ritz Carlton Hotels.
His was a bit different, stating that “Le client n’a jamais tort,” which translates to the customer is never wrong.
#7 People Who Do This Are Jerks
#8 “I Love To Work In Customer Service”
#9 A Restaurant Review I Stumbled On. The Customer Is So Many Kinds Of Wrong
Before this phrase was introduced to the customer service industry, the client wasn’t exactly treated well. In fact, it was the opposite. The person who bought the product was fully responsible for inspecting its quality and reporting any problems before the item was purchased. It wasn’t up to the seller to reveal anything about the commodities they offered or provide assistance to the customer.
#10 Clueless People Who Don’t Know Where They Are Going
#11 Customer Bought Wheels And Tires Online. After Advising Multiple Times That The Tires Are Too Small For His SUV He Insisted For Us To Put Them On
#12 Scrolled Across This Gem Someone Posted Today At A Local Grocery Store
So when business introduced the concept of ‘customer is always right’, they flocked to them, as they weren’t used to being treated with this level of consideration and care. Over time, many variations of this philosophy became popular globally.
#13 Standing In Line At The Bank, And The Current Customer Chooses This To Be The Perfect Time To Paint Her Toenails
#14 This One
#15 Scammers Never Take A Day Off
In Germany, it became ‘Der Kunde ist König,’ translating into ‘the customer is king.’ In Japan, the slogan reads ‘okyakusama wa kamisama desu,’ or ‘the customer is god.’ Spain has the phrase ‘El cliente siempre tiene la razón,’ implying that “the customer always has a reason.” All of them ensure fair trade practices and build great relationships with clients.
#16 The Audacity
#17 Lady Goes To Self Checkout, Makes Attendant Unload Her Cart, Scan And Bag Each Item
At the grocery store, we crossed paths with the lady in white shopping and loading her cart. We go to check out, and she is there, making the self-checkout attendant unload her cart, scan, and bag each item. Then she had the attendant place the bags in her cart. Note that she had way more items than you should for self-checkout, and a recommendation was made by the employee that she consider going to the standard checkout, which had nobody in line, and she refused. Poor attendant had to stop every so often to go to every other self-checkout and do overrides and I'd checks. The customer was perfectly capable of doing all this herself.
#18 He Really Wanted The Full Price
This mentality doesn’t necessarily mean that customers can do no wrong. Instead, it comes from a place wanting to ensure customer satisfaction by making them feel heard and valued, says website optimization consultant, customer experience specialist, and developer Chérie Oduwole to We. “It was put in place to encourage businesses to prioritize the customer’s experience.
Customers have the power to make or break a company, so it’s important to meet their expectations. If not, they can quickly take their business elsewhere. That’s why even the most difficult customers deserve to feel seen and heard.
#19 Some People Are Really Clueless
#20 Customer Got Mad Because His Debit Card Wouldn’t Work
#21 Friend Is A Mechanic. This Was One Of The Cars A Customer Dropped Off
There seem to be a lot of unsatisfied clients. The National Customer Rage Survey found that 74% of customers had an issue with a product or service in the last year, up by 8% from 2020. A US study found that 81% of customer service employees deal with verbal abuse from clients, and 36% have even received violent threats. 43% of customers confessed to raising their voice when communicating with customer support.
#22 Why Are You Like This, Target Shoppers?
#23 As If Having More Bags Is Going To Make Things Lighter Somehow
#24 The Grocery Store Had This Caution Tape Up Because They Are Redoing The Floors And That Is Wet Cement
An old man on an electric buggy lifted the tape and drove straight into the cement and then said, "I didn't know that was wet cement. They should have a sign-up." Umm, there was a caution tape…
Hearing out and dealing with unsatisfied customers isn’t easy, therefore, Oduwole has a few tips on how to make it more manageable. “Put yourself in their shoes, she says. “How would you want to be treated in their situation? Always respond calmly, with understanding and compassion. Ask questions to grasp the issue fully, and repeat what you’ve understood to ensure the customer feels heard.”
#25 Being A Cinema Worker And Having To Clean Up After These Delightful People. Yes, Sadly, The Boxes Are Still Half Full Of Soggy Cereal And Milk
#26 Tell Me You Are Entitled, Without Telling Me You Are Entitled
#27 Told The Customer To Pack The Laptops With Care. This Is How That Worked Out
“If you cannot fulfill the customer’s request because it violates your policies or isn’t factually correct, present clear evidence,” she further suggests. “Reference your terms of service or any other relevant documentation. Honesty is key here.”
Offering different ways to address the customer’s concerns can quickly de-escalate the situation, Oduwol adds.
#28 Customer Guessed I Was Around 3-4 Months Along. I’m Not Pregnant
#29 Someone Is Walking Around The Store Eating Chicken Wings And Tossing The Bones On The Floor
#30 I’m Being Harassed At Work. There’s This One Customer Who Keeps Coming Into The Store I Work At To Hit On Me And Talk For An Hour At A Time, Coming In Multiple Times A Day
Ignoring my clear requests to stop. Today he came in with perfume. My boss won’t do anything about it.
Lastly, she emphasizes that maintaining respect is crucial when dealing with unsatisfied customers. “Remember, respect goes both ways. If the customer continues to be rude or irate, politely remind them that you’re here to help and that mutual respect is necessary. If the disrespect persists, set boundaries by letting the customer know you’re ending the conversation. Depending on your role, you can then escalate the issue or focus on serving other customers who are pleasant to work with.”
#31 Customers That Leave Frozen Food In Dry Food Aisles
#32 But Wouldn’t A Dull Axe Cause More Issues?
#33 I Really Hate It When People Do This. Take A Minute And Put It Back Where You Found It
#34 Remarks Like This Make Me Wish Mechanics Could Make People Retake Their Driver’s License Test
Last week, I replaced a battery in a customer's car, and she is trying to claim the battery is causing weird things to happen to her car now. This morning, she said the red line was never there before the battery was replaced and wants a refund. Lord, help me.
#35 The Aftermath Of A Customer Who Accidentally Got The Wrong Burrito
I was a manager for Taco Bell last year, and we accidentally put red sauce on someone’s bean burrito (they asked for no red sauce), so he punched the drive-through window in, shattered the front door, and smeared his food on all the lobby windows.
#36 Did You Keep It?
#37 This Intake Form I Got From A Massage Client Who “Didn’t Want To Fill It Out”
I know you don’t take me seriously, but I do need to know if you have had surgeries or epilepsy.
#38 Customers Spraypaint Testing On The Floor
#39 I Would Have Told Them To Leave
#40 People Who Leave Their Trash On Shelves In Stores
#41 Target Nail Polish Aisle
Kamryn, Finley, and whomever else is in this presumably middle school girl crew decided to claim damn near every display in the nail polish aisle.
#42 It Is 11, And Two Closing Announcements Have Already Been Made. Customers Decide To Stop And Have A Reunion
#43 Someone Ate A Pack Of Raw Mussels They Got From The Grocery Store And Left The Scraps At The Cafe
#44 Someone Returned A LEGO Set Because They Didn’t Know LEGOS Came In Pieces
#45 Customer Mailed Back His Computer Mouse
#46 Customer Blocked 6 Parking Spots In Front Of Our Store And Walked Off
#47 Customer Dissatisfied With Dishwasher
We had a customer call in and complain that his dishwasher was taking 3 hours to wash and dry his dishes. While this is also somewhat true, he bought the dishwasher with the fewest features, and it was Energy Star-rated, so it does not dry fast to conserve energy. He said if we didn’t take it back, he would shoot it and put it at our front door. This is what we walked into this morning.
#48 The Film “Five Nights At Freddy’s” Doesn’t Really Have Jump Scares, So How Does This Even Happen? Last Theater, I Had To Clean And Had To Stay 10 Extra Minutes
#49 This Register Will Never Be The Same Again
#50 Someone Decided To Make Slime At Target On Top Of The $150 Knife Sets
#51 Clueless People
#52 During Sales, People Touch Clothes And Throw Them On The Floor
#53 All The Lazy Shoppers Who Can’t Afford To Spend An Extra Minute To Put Their Cart Away
#54 This Customer Said That She Was A Chef
#55 What If You Just Saved Their Marriage?
#56 At My Local Walmart… Really, People?
#57 Because The Weather From Outside And On The Patio Is “Different”
#58 How Do You Like My Speaker That Was Returned Last Night?
#59 Today’s Dose Of What Did The Customer Do
#60 People At Walmart Are Really Getting Out Of Control. This Was In Memphis
#61 Customer Accidentally Dropped A Pound Of Screws Into A Box Of Nails
#62 Customer Complained Having To Put Air In The Tire Every Day. I Wonder Why
#63 Customer Called And Asked If I Could Get A “Spot” Out Of The Carpet
#64 Customer Was Involved In A Slight Accident
#65 This Is My Number One Pet Peeve
#66 Someone I Know Owns An Independently Ran Store And Works Very Hard To Please Customers. Their Overall Rating When You Google Them Is Down Because Of People Like This
#67 I Hate Back To School Customers
#68 I Work Closing At Target, And Every Single Night I Have To Push 3-5 Carts Of Full Shopping Trips Abandoned By Customers
#69 Customer Entered The Store, Peed Himself, And Left. 5-Minute Ordeal
#70 Someone Bought A New Car Seat At Target, Switched It Out In The Parking Lot, And Left The Old One Just Sitting By The Curb
#71 You Shouldn’t Shop If You Can’t Return Your Carts To Designated Areas Instead Leaving Them Near Disabled Parking
#72 People Who Do This In Stores
#73 People Like That Are Absolute Trash
#74 Customer Didn’t Know How To Drive A Manual, So She Just Drove Her VW Transporter Everywhere In 3rd Gear. We Only Put A New Clutch In It Last Year
#75 Homeboy Literally Looked At This And Then Asked Me “Does This Take Card?”
#76 Ever Since Walmart Sold Gaming Keyboards, Here Some Hooligans Kept Stealing The Keys
#77 Customer States That His Rim Almost Fell Off And It’s All Our Fault And He’s Going To Go To The Cops About It Because We Were Negligent On His Vehicle
#78 Someone Recently Threatened To Shoot Up A Store Near Me On Google
#79 I Love Our Customers
This was less than an hour after we opened. They completely dug out the bottom bay, then used a ladder and dropped down more from the third bay up.
#80 This Customer Decided A Top-Stock Cart Was More Suitable For Her Shopping Experience
#81 This Customer Is Wild For Not Knowing Such A Thing
#82 Customer Wanted The Best Boards In The Pile And Made This Mess
#83 I Will Never Understand Some Customers
#84 Customers Are Truly Special. They Didn’t Tell Anyone And Just Left It There
#85 This Customer Return
I’m pretty sure the soup was from the Dollar Tree. The actual item was only $15, so I’m not so sure he really made off with much of a profit.
#86 Customer States Temperature Gauge Is Reading Full Tank
#87 An Angry Client Came Into The Store, Claiming That We Didn’t Do A Proper Repair On Their Fully Automatic Coffee Machine 2 Months Ago. This Is What The Inside Looked Like
#88 I Work For A Canadian Cable Provider, And A Customer Brought In This Remote Today, Saying They Had No Idea Why It Stopped Working
#89 This Is How Customers Storm Through Our Collars And Leads. Don’t Let This Be You. Just Put Things Back Where You Find Them
#90 Customer Said That Their Computer Is Running Slow
#91 Don’t You Just Love When Customers Decide They Don’t Want To Shop Anymore And Leave Their Carts In The Aisles?
#92 This Keyboard I Picked Up From A Customer. That’s Not Just Sticky Dirt Between The Keys. There’s Hair, And I Don’t Think They Had Animals
#93 Someone Cracked Open Most Of The Tennis Balls At The Store
#94 Texas Requires The Front Tint To Be At 25% Or Greater To Pass State Inspection. This Customer Was Upset I Couldn’t Just “Let It Go”. Also, You Can Barely See Through The Windshield
#95 A Customer Asked For Their Order To Be Left At Their Front Door But This Guy Was In The Way
#96 “No Tax On Tips. Vote Donald Trump”
The lady comes in and makes a big fuss about having just left church. She yelled at our host to the point where she left the floor in tears. She got mad that we had her big top set for the inside table they reserved and that she had to set up a patio table and didn't have it ready for them. In the end, she signed a check with this.
#97 I’m Not Sure What This Was For. The Grown Woman Was Trying Out Different-Sized Tubs. My Husband Said She Had Some “Questionable” Stuff In Her Shopping Cart As Well
#98 When Customers Do This And I Have To Clean It Up
#99 People Who Think That It’s Ok To Open Products In A Store
#100 The Entitlement
#101 At Least It’s In The Corral
#102 Idiocracy Is Real
#103 Stack The Baskets Properly. It’s Not Hard, It Takes 3 Seconds, And If You Leave Them Like This, It Just Infuriates The Other Shoppers
#104 Customer Complains His New Chevrolet Suburban Engraved A Chevy Logo On His Driveway
#105 A Customer Asked If This Laptop Was Salvageable. They Said They Wanted To Keep The Laptop Since It Held A Lot Of Sentimental Value For Them
#106 Poor Zippers Just Hasn’t Been The Same Ever Since That Customer Pushed Him Over And Stomped On Him
#107 5 Minutes Before Closing. Thank You, Beloved Customer
#108 Customer Complained That I Left 30 Cases Of Fries Out And Didn’t Put Them In His Freezer. How The Heck Am I Supposed To Do That When They Have Kegs Blocking The Freezer?
#109 So Many Stickers
#110 When A Customer Hands You Cash Like This
#111 A Mixed Blessing
So, one of my customers came in today with the gift of a bag of morels. I was pretty happy and grateful for their finding and thinking of me. I gave him a free dessert and my thanks. As he was leaving, I got a gut feeling that he'd picked them up on my property! I work a lot, so I was waiting until my weekend to get them myself. I don't even want to think about how many I could have had, but I'm still grateful for the gift. Truly, a mixed blessing.
#112 What’s Your Favorite Stupid Question That Customers Ask? Here’s Mine: Is This A Discount Bin?
#113 “Ah Yes, Just As I Suspected'”
#114 Things That Customers Do To Annoy Me
As you might guess from the title, customers doing this annoy me so much. Is it really that difficult to put the basket back where you got it before you leave the store?
#115 I’m A Tattoo Artist, And A Client Just Paid Me In $1 Bills
#116 When You’re 3 Hours Into A 12-Hour Shift, And A Customer Does This
The hinge on the door broke last night and was due to be repaired. So when a customer opened the door today, it flew backwards and hit the corner of the brick behind it. Thankfully, only the outer pane was broken. What a way to start the workday, though.
#117 The Cart Died And The Customer Left It Plugged In On The Condiments Aisle
#118 Definitely Infuriating
