If you've worked in customer service, then you're already deeply (and painfully) familiar with the adage "the customer is always right."
While there are plenty of kind and reasonable customers who have questions and concerns that are valid, there is also a growing subset of customers who shouldn't be allowed to speak to other human beings in public. These customers are grown adults who throw tantrums, call people names, and make the wildest threats over something as petty as a $4 coupon or a slice of pizza.
It's abundantly obvious that people who behave this way have deeper unresolved issues they are furling onto strangers, and eventually, even the most veteran customer service workers reach a breaking point.
While cool managers understand the importance of letting employees stand up for themselves against abuse and straight up bonkers requests, a lot of companies have stringent polices that punish workers for talking back at all.
In a recent Reddit thread, people who got fired or in trouble for talking back to a customer shared their stories, and honestly all of them deserve medals for their service.
1. La_Lanterne_Rouge saw someone get fired for a beautiful burn.
Back around 1969, I saw a service advisor at a VW dealership get fired for telling an irate customer "If you can't take a joke, you shouldn't have bought a Volkswagen."
2. Nishiwara is lucky they weren't fired, and has no regrets.
I was lucky I didn't lose my job for this one. I worked at a furniture store as a sales associate. One day a husband and wife come in wanting to furnish their sons apartment that's going to college. They find all of the furniture pieces they want and I go to check stock on multiple items. Everything is in except the table top on the dining room set they wanted. I go back and tell the couple.
The husband throws an absolute hissy fit saying that he can't believe that we don't keep our products stocked (keep in mind that we are a huge furniture store). I calmly explain to him that we can't possibly keep all of our product in stock at all times and since the dining room table he wanted was a very popular set (due to the fact it was $199.99) it tended to go out of stock rather quickly. So, we would have to wait for that vendor to send us the table top which was about two weeks. I even tried to show them another table top that was in stock that was very similar to the one they picked out and he would not have it.
He started telling me that I was incompetent and how dare I insult him (insult him how? I have no idea). He starts increasing his volume and now he is full out screaming at me about 10 inches away from my face. My manager walks from around the corner and looks at me questioningly (like the "do you got this face") I nodded at him that I had it, but he continued to stand within earshot.
I then looked back to the customer and said in a nonchalant tone- "I'm not going to help you, in fact no one here is going to help you. Now please get out of my store". The customer looks at me bewildered and in full set rage and demands to speak with my manager. Since my manager is standing right around the corner- he had heard everything. He goes over to the customer and says, " well you heard the lady".
I miss working there.
Oh man I been dying to tell this story for awhile now...although it doesn't pertain to someone getting fired, it does have some justice.
A friend and I go to a store, let's make it up and call it All-Mart. We're in line at the registers when this middle-aged lady in front of us is trying to use some expired coupons. The cashier is telling her the coupons can't be used. Mind you these coupons would save her $4...a fact that I realized after this entire ordeal.
Lady wasn't having it and just starts insulting and yelling the cashier as if its their fault the coupons expired. And not smuggish insults like "no wonder you work here" but some deep cutting stuff like "you should kill yourself if you can't override and accept them"...like wtf. This b*tch was out for blood for $4 f*cking dollars.
That's when my friend, who's a former Marine, steps in and reams back into her. The exchange went something like...
Him: "Whoa whoa...how dare you disrespect this young cashier like that. The hell is wrong with you to say things like that to her? You're a messed up person"
Bitch: "Mind your business and don't raise your voice at me"
Him: "Oh so now you know that raising your voice is disrespectful. Where was that consideration when you did it to her?"
Her: "Stop talking to me or I'll get my husband here to handle you."
Him: "What husband? You don't even have a wedding ring on. That's probably the problem there...you're so bitter and lonely you take it out on other people. You're messed up"
They exchange more comments and it ended with her storming out of the store without her items and on the verge of tears. I guess we attracted too much attention because we were asked to leave by the manager but not before the cashier quietly thanked us.
4. frenchy559 worked at a KFC where it was normal to talk back to unruly customers.
Reading through these comments, I realize that not very many Redditors have not worked in a fast food restaurant in any ghetto areas. Arguments were an every day thing where I worked. As the manager at KFC (I know, I'm a big shot) I encouraged my employees to stick up for themselves. More than once a day, I'd have people coming in attempting to rip us off, or get more food than what they payed for, then insulting and even attacking me at times.
The only reason I quit is because I had cooks and cashiers who were making more than me. But yeah, that job was pretty much a free-for-all when it came to sh*tty customers.
5. IamWood13 almost got fired for calling out a woman's bad parenting style.
I used to cut hair. I was cutting a lady's hair when the child of lady waiting started running around the shop. I told the child several times to go sit with her mother and asked her mother to please keep her child seated next to her. Well, in the middle of cutting around my client's ear, the child ran into my work area, ran into me and almost caused me to cut my client. I looked at the child and firmly said "you need to go sit down with your mother now."
Well her mom didn't like that and came running back to me and yelled "Don't tell my child what to do, I'm her parent." I responded with "Then act like it." She glared at me, grabbed her child and stormed out. Everyone in the shop was relieved the child had left. A few days later the owner came and tried to fire me for it, but luckily there were enough other stylists and clients that came to my defense about the danger of the situation and I only got a write up.
6. Warmasher stood up for themselves and got canned.
Many a year ago I worked at a home improvement store called Menards. I was a cart pusher, which was nice as I was outside all the time. Anyway we gather about 25-30 shopping carts together and push them up to the entrance where they are stored inside. Now to get them there we do have to cross the main drive of the parking lot in front of the store. We always stop and let customers drive by. So as I push the carts up I stop because I see a guy in an pretty nice SUV. He is actually stopped in front of the entrance maybe he dropped someone off I do not know. So I'm waiting to see if he drives off and he then looks at me and waves me across, looks like he wanted to finish a call he had gotten or something.
So I wave back and start pushing the carts across. I am on the other side when some clips me across the shoulder blades and it stung somewhat and pushed me forward. And at the same time I heard glass shatter, I turn around and the guy in the SUV clipped me with his sideview mirror. It had swung closed and shatterered the window in the door, and I'm just standing there wide eyed.
Two seconds later the guy gets out of his car swearing up a storm at me and how I'm a low life piece of sh*t and how I'm going to pay for a new window and that I'm not going to get anywhere in life because I broke his window. Now I'm the type of person that if I was the reason I'll take the blame and fix the problem. But this guy hit me, I blew up on him for about 5 minutes before a manager finally had the guts to come over and pull me away. I didn't have to pay for a new window as it was on video, but I lost my job because we are not supposed to yell and cuss at the customer.
Edit: holy shit, new year and Reddit gold! Thanks guys!
7. zeebow77 turned down a very creepy advance.
I used to work in the restaurant industry as a chef. We had a closed kitchen at this particular spot, so customers couldnt see what was being done in the kitchen. It was nice because we could listen to music and joke around without having to worry.
Anyways, one day I was alone on the line and a server came to me and said a customer wanted to give me his compliments. No problem, I put on my nicer jacket and went out to say hi.
The customer thanks me, then tells me to come in closely because he had a secret. I was like okay sure? So I lean in a little, he motions me closer, I move in a little more. This guy then goes "I'll meet you in the bathroom in 5 minutes" and grabs my balls.
I f*cking lost it and shoved the dude.
Got fired immediately.
8. WallOtterCarpetSeal got fired because of a nightmare customer.
I used to work at pizza place in a small town when I was a teenager. One night I took a phone order from some idiot woman. It went like this:
Me: Thank you for calling "pizza place", may I take your order?
IW: Yes, I'd like a large pizza. Half pepperoni, half sausage, and half black olives.
Me: Ok, did you want the toppings combined or separated?
IW: No, I want half pepperoni, half sausage, and half black olives.
Me: Ok so you want 1/3 pepperoni, 1/3 sausage, and 1/3 black olives?
IW: No! I want HALF PEPPERONI, HALF SAUSAGE, and HALF BLACK OLIVES!
Me: I understand the toppings that you want, but I'm not understanding how you want us to put the toppings on your pizza. Do you want them separated by thirds? Combined together? Or do you mean put half the amount that we usually put on?
IW: What's so hard to understand?! I WANT...HALF...PEPPERONI...HALF...SAUSAGE...AND HALF...BLACK OLIVES!!!!!
Me: Lady, there's only 2 halves to a pizza!
IW: I WANT TO SPEAK TO YOUR MANAGER!!!
I got fired on the spot. It was easier for the manager to just hire another person than it was to lose a customer in a small town.
Oh, and the lady wanted the toppings divided into thirds. She told the manager the same thing and he just went with her math. The b*tch also got it for free.
9. IntrusiveInveigling got fired because of a snitch from the Daily Mail.
Was a stockroom assistant at a well known fashion chain in the UK & US. Didn't go off on a customer but I bloody well wish I did now.
Happened to be behind tills changing hangers boxes when a customer explodes at the trainee cashier demanding to know where her order was. She's screaming her head off at how it's "unacceptable I paid extra" and how she "made a specific detour" to collect her package.
She had ordered a jacket in another branch and had paid for next day delivery to the store I worked in. Customers aren't supposed to come collect their orders until they get an email saying their order is ready to collect.
The poor cashier started last week and is basically cowering for dear life. I take over and ask to see her email which she explains she "doesn't need" because she "paid extra" so her package "must be here".
After 10 minutes of me trying to explain why her package isn't ready to collect and her trying to challenge Krakatoa, she storms off shouting that she'll be "having words" with the guy who owns our company. I hand back to the cashier and carry on with my day*
The next day I'm prepping our delivery and I get called for a meeting with the store manager. I'm told I'm being let go for gross misconduct specifically "being unhelpful and challenging" to customers.
Turns out the customer was a "journalist" for the DailyMail and she called our head of company who she did indeed know personally and got me fired specifically.
TL;DR: Tried to reason with a DailyMail journalist. Got fired for her stupidity. Yay for logic.
*EDIT: Her jacket did indeed come an hour after she left the store. She came back with her email. Sweet victory...
Worked at gamestop as a ga (game advisor) some guy came in and had a figurative ass load of games (over 100) to trade, all with games and cases mismatched. It took about 45 minutes to process his ticket when I told him the total it was low (because gamestop and also they were all old, scratched games). This man then proceeded to try negotiate with me to which I kept telling him I can't change the price which only made him angrier and louder. Eventually he yelled "listen you stupid n*gger, I need at least $300 for all of this shit and you're going to give it to me".
First of all, I don't even have the ability to change the price, at all. Second of all my coworker proceeded to put all of his games in a bag, walk outside and tossed them into the parking lot and told the guy to take his "racist, cousin f*cking a*s somewhere else and to fuck off". Store manager came out of the back room and fired him dead on the spot. The guy stormed out and the second he left my manager said "Jesus what was his fucking problem, alright get back to work".
My coworker didn't get fired it was just theatrics for the racist c*nt, I felt like an idiot for just standing there but it was taking everything I had to not hop the counter and hit the guy.
11. beerandloathingpdx loved their manager's no nonsense approach.
No one was fired over this, but as a person in the service industry I thought I'd share this with my fellow industry folk as I still think it's one of my favorite things I've ever seen happen behind a bar.
I was once working at a beer bar in Sarasota, Florida. We were having a Dogfishhead total tap takeover and the place was at capacity. I mean we're three deep around the entire bar, four guys behind this tiny bar, including the owner, all trying to pour as many beers as we can to cut through the line. At some point, a guy who I'd made eye contact with a number of times, who should have known he was coming up next, yells: "What does a person have to do to get a beer around here?!"
I watched our owner, a New Yorker through and through, turn around and literally yell, "EVERYONE SHUT THE F*CK UP!" The place goes dead quiet... and he stares at this guy. "What can I get for YOU sir?" The guy was caught so off guard he just stared up at our tap list and mumbled... "uhhhhhh." Our owner knowing he didn't even have an order ready looked him dead in the eye and said, "F*CK YOU! Next?!" and started serving the person next to him.
I wanted to hug him so much for that.
12. listen- killed the customer with kindness.
I didn't lose my job, but I think most people would have blown up at this guy. Or cried. Fortunately I am extremely calm and collected, and tough, from being bullied so much in middle school probably. I worked at a large retail store and was stocking a shelf when an old (like 80+) man came up to me. I assumed he was going to ask me where something was like every other customer.
Instead, he started going off on me. Just insult after insult, telling me I'm disgusting, and all these things like that, because I have tattoos. Instead of blowing up at him, I thanked him for the compliments, sugar dripping from my voice. In my head I was saying "you'll be dead soon" but out loud, I said something along the lines of "I really love the color of your pants! Is that seafoam green polyester? I think the 1970's must have been so cool!" Where did he even get those pants? A museum?
Well, apparently someone witnessed all this, because about 10 minutes after the guy gave up, my manager came up to me looking furious. I remember feeling a horrible sense of dread. He blew up. But not about how I handled it. He said I should have called him immediately and he would have kicked the guy out of the store, and that I didn't deserve to be treated like that. What a great manager!
13. LETS_SEE_UR_COOCH almost got in a physical fight.
I worked as a server at an upscale country club and had these two gentlemen come in for lunch. One ordered and the other said, "I'll have exactly the same thing." So I confirmed that's what he wanted and he replied, "That's what I said right?".
I bring out their lunch and the second guy complains and starts getting rude with me because his lunch has onions on it, so I say, "Sir, you said you wanted the exact same thing but I can have the chef make you another one". So he says, "listen to me you little f*cking a*shole, I know what I said and I never said I wanted onions". So I reply, "If you ever speak to me like that again you and I are going to step outside and work this out."
He pisses and moans to see the manager, who unbeknownst to me is sitting at the table right behind these guys having a meeting with another member. She turns around and tells the guy, "after the way you talked to my employee, I should let him. How about you both apologize and move on".
P.S. I didn't get fired but thought I should share a story where a manager actually stands up for an employee. In hindsight she probably should have fired me because threatening violence on someone probably wasn't the best idea. Oh well, when you're 19 you think you're invincible.
14. TwentySixLetters got in a fight with a woman at a charity shop.
A woman came into a charity shop and complained about every single item loudly to the ten or so customers in there. Along the lines of "this is all shit. Who pays for this?" Like we're some boutique with clothes from the back of a van. She clearly didn't understand how rarely new clothes (still tagged etc) are donated. Then she got in my face about it. I was so angry with her for chasing away the people that came in that I lost my cool. There was nobody left except her since she'd ranted them into leaving. I told her to get out and I 'didn't give a shit' about the clothes or her opinions. She screams her way out of the shop broadcasting it to everyone on the street.
She came back once the manager was off their break and complained again, so I lost my job fairly soon after. I can't blame them, I'd have done the same.
15. melyssafaye did not have fun at Legoland.
I didn't get fired, but I was written up and yelled at management. It was the reason I quit a week later.
I am in my early forties. For fun, I took a part-time job at a Legoland Discovery Center. I love Lego and love kids. It was a blast most of the time.
However, at Legoland, employees build their name tags out of Lego bricks and attach minifigs. Kids who visit can trade minifigs with employees. The rule is that we have to trade because it's fun for the kids.
Great! The only problem is that the center I worked at didn't supply any good minifigs. We just built our own from the "build a fig" buckets. I worked in the photo and entertainment departments, and noticed that lots of our guests would bring in their extra minifigs looking to trade, but were disappointed by the selection. So I began to buy tons of the mystery minifigs and had a large collection of my own at home. Each weekend, I put a bunch in my pockets and put them on my nametag throughout the day so that I could trade. I liked having Ninjago or Simpsons or whatever. I wanted kids to leave happy about their trade and feeling like they got something special. Most weeks I spent $75 or more on minifigs for trading.
On May the 4th, I pulled out all my personal Star Wars minifigs because I knew we would be getting a lot of Star Wars fans that day. I had Vader and many Stormtroopers etc. This woman came in with a three year old girl and insisted that I give her my stormtrooper. She didn't have anything to trade, but I smiled and gave it to her. Then the mom went and took a minifigs piece from the build tables and made her daughter trade with me for my Vader. I traded but was irritated because I only trade one of my personal ones per kid. There were lots of employees to trade with. The mom just wanted her kid to have my nice ones.
The lady goes on to another area and in comes a group of likely Star Wars fans. One of the girls had a Ninjago minifig in her hand that she had brought from home. She was looking for someone to trade with and was headed over to my section. I put Admiral Akbar (a fairly rare one you can only get from the X Wing fighter build set) on my tag along with Leia, excited thinking that I'm going to make their day. In swoops the lady who demand that I trade all of my figures to her kid who has three minifig pieces.
I politely refuse and suggest that she ask the employee a couple feet away since we had previously traded twice already. She got very angry and began screaming at me because she had gone around the center and no one else had anything good. My manager came over and made me give her all of my minifigs, even the ones I still had in my pockets. I was written up for refusing to trade and not caring about the guest experience.
I was so pissed because I cared very much about the guest experience. Not the pushy parent experience, but the experience of the kid who just loves Lego and that's why I spent so much of my own money to make sure they left with something cool in their pockets.
Edit: wow! I'm amazed so many people care about this and Lego. I still love Lego. Didn't mean to disparage the company. Plus, Legoland Discovery Centers are owned by a different company.
EDIT: gold??? I'm humbled. I don't know how to process that. Thank you kind Redditor!
16. Orcapa has a slew of stories.
Some fun times: Working in an auto parts store in Rubidoux, CA...a shitty neighborhood. I had a great manager who didn't let us get abused. A guy comes in empty-handed, walks around for a while, picks up a battery, walks around for a while, brings it up and asks for a refund. I told him to get the fuck out. He did, no questions.
Another time at the same store, a guy buys all this stuff and then, after I run his credit card through the paper imprinting machine (early 90's) and give him his copy, he reaches out and grabs my copies, saying he doesn't want a paper copy of his credit card info left there. That's just how it was done then. So I reached across the counter and grabbed the merchandise. He wrestled me for it but I got it and my coworkers came to my assistance and told him to get the f*ck out. Of course he said he would call the manager, so I said fine. The manager told him he could have the merchandise only if he brought back the credit card slips, which he did.
I never got in trouble at that store, but I did get robbed at gunpoint and even though I had too much cash in the register I was okay.
One other story: I was working at a Sears store in men's clothing while in college. I had already put in my notice as I was going away for the summer. So the night before Father's Day we are swamped. I have piles of clothes to rehang, and it is just minutes before closing. This woman comes to the register and I just ring her up; I don't try to upsell her on anything. Sure enough, she asks me if I am not going to recommend a belt or tie with the pants and shirt. It's 9:55 pm, we're open til 10, and I am beat.
But as soon as she said that, I realized she was the regional clothing manager who I had heard of but never met. After she lectured me and was paying, she handed over her Sears Card and her employee discount card, which did not have a picture on it. So, to just be on my toes and not get into further trouble (and to be kind of a dick), I asked for her driver's license. She was pissed and I heard about it first thing the next morning, which was coincidentally my last day anyway.
17. TLCplLogan yelled back and suffered the consequences.
I cleaned cars for a rental car company. One day, a customer comes in, already in a very bad mood (for whatever reason). He saw me standing at the counter, and apparently this offended him to the point that he began to yell at me.
Long story short, I yelled back at him. Nothing came of it for over two months, until I was fired without warning. The district manager who fired me said that even though everyone in the company who reviewed all the evidence pertaining to the incident and decided I was well within my rights as an employee to yell at the dude, they had to fire me because he was some big shot at a company that had a very lucrative contract with my employer and he threatened to drop the contract unless they fired me.
18. bacchus8408 is glad they spoke their piece.
Fired, quit, it's a gray area.
I worked in the rewards call center for a casino in my youth. People would call in and book rooms or show tickets with their reward points. Naturally everyone calling for a free room wants it on a weekend or major holiday and that just wasn't available. A lady called to get a free night in the top end suite on Valentine's day with two day notice lost her sh*t when I told her no.
Saying she spends so much money and we don't even care enough to reward her loyalty and even attacking me personally. I just couldn't do it anymore. I calmly explained to her that "I see you spend about $20 an hour in the casino, yeah we really don't care about you. You could never come back and no one would notice. You need to start betting more then your entire family will ever be worth before we actually start caring if you come back or not."
I obliged her request to speak with my supervisor and started packing my things.
19. Rhooster313 watched their friend wail on a rude customer.
This didn't happen to me...but I witnessed it. A friend of mine used to work in a pizza place...I'd hang out in the lobby playing their Pacman machine...(yeah...it was a long time ago). Anyway, my friend is taking orders when a guy storms in, screaming about wrong toppings. He removes the pie from the box and frisbees it into my friends face. My 2 time Detroit golden-gloves champion friend. What followed was the worst beating I've ever seen one man take. My friend lost his job AND got jail time out of it.
20. SnarksNGrumpkins may have changed a teenager's relationship with her parents.
Many years ago, I worked clothing retail. I had a favorite customer he and his wife would come in and he'd put down a small fortune each month on his wife and teen daughter. He reminded me of my dad who I lost to a massive heart attack when I was 18. I was in my early 20s and my mom had just died of cancer. This gentleman had stopped coming in for about 2mos. I look up and see him come in with wife and daughter and the girl looks pissed. They come to my counter and the girl calls her mother a b*tch and her father a "waste of space" since he lost his job when the mill he worked for closed. She kept berating them and something (the child in me) snapped out.
I told her off. I said that she should appreciate her dad who gave her everything until he couldn't. That she was 16 and I wasn't too much older than her when my dad was dead. That the sweet woman, she called a b*tch who went out of her way for her could be gone fast too. That she needed to not be a damn brat because she could look up one day and have neither parent. That I would shave YEARS off my life, even if I died the next day to have my parents hug me once more. I told her to grow the hell up and be kind to her parents.
They left and my boss chewed me out. She said if they complained I was toast. I lived each day wondering if I'd get fired. 2 weeks later her dad came in because he saw me through the window. He thanked me. She started studying, helping around the house and was looking for a part-time job. She grew up and started treating them with respect. She didn't call them names anymore and apologized for being a brat. I didn't lose my job but it was damn close.