Who were some of your worst, rudest, and/or most ignorant customers?

I was a senior in high school working at IZOD. I lived in the bay area which is heavily populated by Asians. I had this Indian guy come in to "try on clothes". He wasn't Americanized at all because he reeked from not bathing and had an accent. I unlocked a fitting room for him. The guy was in there for a while. It was kind of busy so we left him well enough alone. He left without buying anything which happened pretty often. I went into the fitting room to retrieve what he tried on. In addition to finding his BO I found the clothes on the bench and urine in the trash can. On a similar story, an Indian (I kid you not) dad took his son into one of our dressing rooms (on one of the days that we didn't lock the doors) and the kid just peed in the corner of the fitting room. Apparently IZOD means restroom in India.

9.) One time a lady came in with a white silk tie and the receipt (it was dated about two months ago). There was a HUGE dark stain (approximately the size of an Orea cookie) on the tip of the tie (looked like machine oil or something like that) and she said her husband bought it like this and didn't realize the stain was there. He didn't buy it at this location, though.

I told her that no one can possibly NOT see a stain like that and, furthermore, I said to her, we would NOT sell merchandise that are stained, damaged, torn, or not perfect in any way. Basically, I told her, flat out, that the stain got on the tie AFTER her husband bought the tie and left the store. I told her it looked like automotive machine oil and that the tie was most likely smeared (albeit accidentally) against some grease in their garage.

She told me that, no, that was not what happened. She repeated what she said only seconds before.

Again, I calmly repeated what I said only seconds before.

She wanted to exchange this tie for another one of the same and she told me he needed to wear it that afternoon for a wedding. I told her no, I could not and would not do that for her because we were not responsible for what happened to the tie AFTER it was purchased and left the store.

What I found surprising was that she didn't start screaming or yelling like a banshee. She just stood there.

I told her, "Do you really and reasonably expect me or anyone else to believe someone would buy a tie with a visible stain that LARGE and not notice it was there? Is that what you expect me to believe? I'm not saying you or your husband deliberately smeared oil or grease or whatever that is onto the tie. I am not saying that. I am only saying that when your husband purchased the tie, the tie was in excellent physical condition and both he and the sales associate didn't see anything wrong with the tie. That is why your husband bought it. Then, sometime between the tie he left the store and the time you walked in today, this large dark stain somehow got on the tie, most likely by unfortunate accident. We are NOT responsible for what happens to the merchandise after you buy it and leave the store. I am very sorry but there is really nothing I can do for you. If you do wish for your husand to have a tie to wear for this afternoon, you can most certainly buy another one for him."

That was the end of that. She left the store without buying a new one.



10.) A lady (late 40s, early 50s) walked in with her adult son (approximately 27 or 28). She brought out a pair of striped suit pants from the bag she was carrying and I recognized the pants as part of a suit we sold about five to six years ago. She told me her son needed a new pinstriped suit. She said this as she showed me these pants.

I became confused. Why was she showing me these pants? Did she mean she wanted the SAME suit again? Did she mean she only wanted a new jacket from the SAME suit? What exactly did she mean?

I asked her these questions because, I said to her, I did not understand what she meant.

Again, she made a deliberate point of SHOWING me those pants and said, "We need a new pinstriped suit for my son here." I was wondering why her adult son didn't or couldn't speak for himself. He was like a ******* puppet/mama's boy.

Once again I asked her, "I do not understand why you're showing me these pants. Are you saying you want the same pinstriped suit as the one you have right now or do you mean you just want any kind of pinstriped suit?"

She became annoyed with me and said, one last time, "Look, we just want a pinstriped suit! Is that so difficult for you to understand?"

"I understand perfectly what you are saying. The only thing I DO NOT understand is why you are showing me these striped pants as you're telling me this. That is why I am confused. Why did you decide to bring these pants to show me? Is it to show me what pinstripes look like or did you bring these pants to show me so we can MATCH these pants to its IDENTICAL MATCHING jacket because the original jacket from the suit you bought was lost or damaged or ripped or something? That is the only reason I am asking this question. If you want a new pinstriped suit for your son, I can show you many suits in the store. I have lots. If, however, you're looking for THIS SAME EXACT IDENTICAL SUIT again, which we no longer have because this suit is approximately five to six years old, then I cannot help you with that, I'm afraid. So, again, which is it you are looking for?"

She looked at me for about one second and said to her fully grown adult son, "Let's go, son."

"I'm sorry but I do not understand why you were showing me those pants. What is the relevance of you showing me those pants? I simply don't understnad what that was all about."

I honesly thought at this point she knew what an idiotic thing she had done by showing me the pants. She continued walking out the store. There was no way she could have saved face at this point.

Oh, well. Idiot.

But what surprised me was that this was when her son actually spoke for the first time. He didn't walk away. All this time he was standing next to me and he said to me, "I need a new suit. I'd like pinstripes if possible. Could you show me some in my size, please?" He was very quiet and polite as he said this.

I proceeded to show him two or three in his size (48R) and he chose a dark brown with a faint beige stripe. "I like this one," he said.

I put him in the fitting room with the pants, I marked the pants for hemming, I wrote up the sale, keyed it in, and he paid for it himself. He thanked me for my time and help and he left. All this time his mother was sitting outside the store on a bench.

haha. some customers.

In my 20's I managed stores for a large musical instrument manufacturer (name withheld)
A Chinese family came into the store. very serious. Looked at several models of pianos.
They selected a model they wanted.
We are back at my desk negotiating price with the father of the family.
'More discount'. More discount.' This dickering went on for about 15 minutes.
I told them, for cash only, we could do 'this much'. The man pushed again, 'Give free gift too'
I offered them a metronome.
After going out of my way for this nut, he snaps, 'Now also you trow in your comission'.
30 minutes of this sh*t and I snapped.
I stood up and said, 'Enough!'
'What makes you people think your money is better than anyone elses?
I sell to people 'brand new in crate' every damned day with NO DISCOUNT at all.'
I un-zipped my fly in front of this family and indicated to my underweared crotch,
'Here's your free gift you bastard! Now you get out of my store, all of you!!'
They left, gasping.
Now comes the icing on the cake....
They returned about an hour later, with cash, and paid the last price I had offered them.

Originally Posted by Man Of Lint

Click to expand...

In my 20's I managed stores for a large musical instrument manufacturer (name withheld)
A Chinese family came into the store. very serious. Looked at several models of pianos.
They selected a model they wanted.
We are back at my desk negotiating price with the father of the family.
'More discount'. More discount.' This dickering went on for about 15 minutes.
I told them, for cash only, we could do 'this much'. The man pushed again, 'Give free gift too'
I offered them a metronome.
After going out of my way for this nut, he snaps, 'Now also you trow in your comission'.
30 minutes of this sh*t and I snapped.
I stood up and said, 'Enough!'
'What makes you people think your money is better than anyone elses?
I sell to people 'brand new in crate' every damned day with NO DISCOUNT at all.'
I un-zipped my fly in front of this family and indicated to my underweared crotch,
'Here's your free gift you bastard! Now you get out of my store, all of you!!'
They left, gasping.
Now here comes the icing on the cake....
They returned about an hour later, with cash, and paid the last price I had offered them.


They could have been back with the local triad and ********* would have been in the till..

Much as I enjoy this thread, it makes some of you retail workers sound as rude as the customers you describe... Isn't it part of your job to put up with fools (like the pinstripe suit woman)?

Originally Posted by literasyme

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Much as I enjoy this thread, it makes some of you retail workers sound as rude as the customers you describe... Isn't it part of your job to put up with fools (like the pinstripe suit woman)?

Yes, but to an extent. There's no reason a salesperson, cashier, clerk etc should have to endure that much consistently.

Give it a shot for a few years. Let's see if you feel the same then.

I once worked at a gas station / convenience store called "Beer World North." The incident we still talk about is the guy who brought us back 6 empty beer cans, reinserted into the plastic hoop things (whatever they're called) and said he wanted a refund because the beer was stale. We told him to **** off.

That was not the end of it though. He came back and robbed the store a few days later. I wasn't there but I saw the tape. Company policy was that if you were threatened for money in any way, you calmly explain there's a time safe you can't open, open the register, raise your hands so they were visible and back away slowly. They explicitly said you weren't to engage the threat. They also actually trained us how they wanted us to raise our hands, slowly, palms facing the threat, etc.

The cashier that night was a fellow college student, Jim, who was about 6'6" and well over 300lbs. He had formerly been bouncer. You could only see the back of his head in the tape, but you could almost see the wheels turning, as if he couldn't decide whether to reach across the counter and break the guys neck or follow company policy. The ****** customer / robber only had a small knife, and he was clearly drunk.

Finally, after a long pause, Jim raises his hands, opens the register, and backs away, saying something like "You know we remember you from last week, right? You know this is all taped? You're the idiot who tried to return empty beer cans." The robber yells "that ******* beer was STALE you dog-******!," takes the money and runs out. The cops arrested him pissing against a fence down the street.

All I can think is that poor Jim must have really wanted to keep his job - the economy was ****** back in '86. Needless to say, it became (unfortunate) good sport to call someone a dog-****** at work. Ah, college.

I agree with the above post. Some of these stories seem unrealistic and unnecessarily rude. I'll admit that I've gotten quite a few customers fired up, but it's always been because they were "copping an attitude" about something that they were wrong about, not because I just felt like being pedantic. My motto was that I'd go above and beyond for a customer UNTIL he or she became rude. After they became rude, I'd just focus in on following the rules, whether it was to the customer's advantage or not.

My friend goes to expensive stores and tries on things with no intention to buy so he can flirt with the shop assistant helping him. He isn't very charming however, and he usually ends up complaining about how no one finds him attractive and how he wishes he were 6'2 and white.

I remember a specific time when he was talking to this girl helping him for an hour, in which she lost probably 3 or 4 customers because she was helping him. He tried about 20 articles of clothes on, and was about to pay for something, but when she didnt give him his number he flipped out and left without the purchase.

Man, he's fucked up.

Originally Posted by literasyme

Click to expand...

Much as I enjoy this thread, it makes some of you retail workers sound as rude as the customers you describe... Isn't it part of your job to put up with fools (like the pinstripe suit woman)?
Yes, but a lot of these persons described are not customers; they are thieves.

Originally Posted by Man Of Lint

Click to expand...

In my 20's I managed stores for a large musical instrument manufacturer (name withheld)
A Chinese family came into the store. very serious. Looked at several models of pianos.
They selected a model they wanted.
We are back at my desk negotiating price with the father of the family.
'More discount'. More discount.' This dickering went on for about 15 minutes.
I told them, for cash only, we could do 'this much'. The man pushed again, 'Give free gift too'
I offered them a metronome.
After going out of my way for this nut, he snaps, 'Now also you trow in your comission'.
30 minutes of this sh*t and I snapped.
I stood up and said, 'Enough!'
'What makes you people think your money is better than anyone elses?
I sell to people 'brand new in crate' every damned day with NO DISCOUNT at all.'
I un-zipped my fly in front of this family and indicated to my underweared crotch,
'Here's your free gift you bastard! Now you get out of my store, all of you!!'
They left, gasping.
Now comes the icing on the cake....
They returned about an hour later, with cash, and paid the last price I had offered them.

if every word in this post is truth, then...

This thread makes me realize I hate people.

I can have 5 great customers in a row. and then it is the one asshole that ruins my day..

Originally Posted by Dr Huh?

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This thread makes me realize I hate people.

Originally Posted by Shirtmaven

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I can have 5 great customers in a row. and then it is the one asshole that ruins my day..


Amen to that!