Unreasonable requests from the public

[blackbeltninja]

I was a waiter in undergrad at a local Italian chain here in .za

I had a granny-mother-daughter team who came in, the lot of them miserable, and managed to somehow get their order wrong, although I didn't. Granny mid 60s, her daughter late 30s and the little girl probably about 5.

Granny: I'll take the nickosee.
Me (new, only been there a week or so): Pardon?
Granny: The nicosee. Salad. (points to it on menu).
Me: Oh, the nicoise (French, pronounced "nee-swahz," essentially, as in from the city of Nice).
Granny (vehement): No it's nickosee.
(Beat)
Me: Okay, the nicosee it is.

It's a salad with asparagus, tuna and hard boiled egg playing critical roles in it, as I recall. It was a new item on our menu and there was a pretty photo of it on the thing al on with a few other items. I take the order, bring all the food a few minutes later. All hell breaks loose.

Granny: What the hell is this? I didn't order this!
Me: Let me go and check in the kitchen.

Check the order, check the salad and of course it is indeed the nicoise, which I tell her.
Granny: I didn't order that! I ordered the warmed thai-style chicken with pineapple salad!
Me: No, you ordered the nickosee, and this is it.
Granny: I did not order it.
Me: You did. You pointed the picture out to me on the menu.
Granny: Well I'm not having that. Take it away.

The manager sorted it all out eventually and told me not to worry about it. She said that during our promotion that kids under 12 eat free with a paying adult which ran six months previously, Granny had insisted that her daughter and grandaughter were both her daughters, and both under 12 and refused to pay her bill.

Spiteful old bitch.

-d-

 

[justsimon]

*The parents who leave their (very small) children alone in the kids' section... and don't clean up after them or teach them to clean up after themselves.

*The authors who bitch at me for not carrying their book. I'm not the buyer and it's a small store.

*People who bitch at me for not carrying their son's/daughter's/niece's/neighbor's book. See above.

*Often, people will ask anyone but me for help. It makes a bit more sense when my bosses are there, but my coworker is only 1 year older than I am. It's especially ridiculous when it's a random question that most people would know. This is my favorite:

Me: Can I help you?
Middle Aged Woman: No, you won't know the answer.
Me: Okay. (I abruptly turn back to what I was doing.
MAW: (to my boss) Can you recommend a good seafood restaurant?
Boss: (Looks at me) Well, I don't really eat seafood, but... (names off a few place in town).
MAW leaves.
Boss: I don't understand why she couldn't ask you.
Me: (Laughing) I know, especially since I grew up in the best seafood restaurant in town and eat out all the time.​

I get some odd requests at my phone sex job (which I haven't had much time for lately):

Me: Why don't you tell me a bit about what you're into?
Him: Anything.
Me: Anything? Do you have any fetishes? Any favorite positions? Do you like fucking? Sucking? (and so on)
Him: No. I like anything.
Me: Okay then... Do you have any clothespins​

Me: So what are you into?
Him: I'll do anything you want.
Me: Take your hand off your cock.
Him: Yes, Sir.
(After a few moments of my instruction, including reminders to keep his hands off his cock and to not come, he comes and hangs up. So much for doing whatever I want.)​

Sigh...

 

[xcasex]

I work in a grocery store.
Don't get me fucking started.
Please.
I'll be in here all damn day.

 

[provenlogic]

i often order water with 2 lemon slices and sweeten with an 'equal', does that make me cheap?

um.. That would be a yes. It would be not unlike asking for a big mug of Hot Water, and then adding ketchup and coffee creamers to make your own cream of tomato soup.

Perhaps it's a southern thing, but everyone does that here (the lemon thing... We're not talking 5000 lemons, but one or 2 wedges and a sweetener). I mean in any given restaurant here at least one person a table does that.

It's quite commonplace here actually; and I’ve never seen it as being looked down upon, by patrons or staff. Like i said, maybe it's southern thing.

For instance about a month ago relatives were in town, so me, my mother, and the rest of the clan (there were about 11 of us total) went out to eat. Out of our table of eleven 7 ordered water with lemon and added sweetener. This wasn't a low class place we were eating at either, and my mom's relatives are far from cheap, they're quite extravagant really. So... hmmm.

 

[Soilwork]

Maybe so.

If I tried that here, people would look at me like I'm nuts.

But you knoiw, we're talking about restaurants where they don't have squirrel or 'Possom on the menu, so take from that what you will.

 

[Soilwork]

Customer at Record Store: This "Happy Days" soundtrack is missing a song.

Me: what do you mean?

Customer: well. when I had the record of this years ago, it had a song on it called "The Fonzarelli Stomp", and that's not on it.

Me: There must have been a licenseing issue or a publishing issue... that happens sometimes.

Customer: Can you call the record company and ask them to record a CD for me with just that one song?

-------------------------------------------------

Customer: I'm looking for an album called "Reggae in Ochi Rios".

Me: Ok, well, let's see what I can find in the computer.

Customer: It's really good.. don't you have it?

Me: Well, compilations come and go. They're not always in print

Customer: I had no problem finding it the first time when I bought it.

Me: Where did you buy it?

Customer: In Kingston.

Me: Kingston, Jamaica? When?

Customer: In 1971. Oh, and I need it on a tape. Dont' you have it?
--------------------------------------------------

Customer: I'm looking for this song. It's by a guy, and he's singing about how much he loves this girl. Do you have it?

Me: um... I need more to go on

Customer: How can you get a job here if you don't know any songs?

------------------------------------------------

Customer: Do you have that song by that girl?

Me: Do you mean "How do I live?" by Leanne Rhymes?

Customer: Um no.. you know.. it's by that girl.. she's on the radio all the time...

Me: "How do I live? by Leanne Rhymes?

Customer: It's from that movie.. but someone else does it.

Me: "How do I live?" By Leanne Rhymes.

Customer: I don't think so. I'd have to hear it.

Take customer to listening station, put the song on.

Customer: Yeah, that's it. Geez, it's a good thing I could remember so much about the song, isn't it?

Fight the urge to smack customer in the face.

 

[metta]

what's wrong with ordering a glass of water with lemon? i do it all the time.....

me too

The main problem with people ordering lemons with their water is that lemons are not free for the restaurant. The restaurant may very well not charge you for the water (even though water isn't free, either), but it's wrong to expect free lemons, as well. They pay for the lemons, so why shouldn't the person ordering them?

Perhaps restaurant should begin charging 10 cents for a lemon wedge with your FREE water. 10 cents for a beverage is still damn cheap. People can't expect to get everything free.

I would pay for the water and the lemons. I really don't care. I order water with lemon because that is what I want. I don't drink sodas or alcohol. Occassionally, I will have ice tea (if it is not that sugary garbage) or fresh juice (if it does not have the high fructose corn syrup). It is much easier for me to just order water with lemon.

I try not too bother the servers with too many questions. I do wish that more soups were made with vegetarian bases. Most of them seem to be made w/ chicken broth.

 

[herenthere]

I have so many stories I could go on forever. But I'm a nurse and cut lots and lots of slack. My patients are sick and often confused...

Patient: What time is my surgery?
Me: Scheduled at 10:00, but they are about 30 minutes behind.
Patient: I want it now..I don't want to wait...
Me: Would you like something to help you relax?
Patient: How much would that cost?
Me: I'm not sure, but the doctor has authorized it..
Patient: Find out how much it is!
Me: Leaves Room.....

Return with needle in hand...How much is that? I'm not sure, but you won't care
in about 5 minutes...

The sad part is....with medical costs the way they are...patients have the right to be concerned with costs, especially those with no or poor insurance...

 

[Soilwork]

On the opposite end of the spectrum..

I once attempted to have brunch at a restaurant, and after we ordered our drinks and our food, we waited for nearly 90 minutes. when the food arrived, the waitress had screwed up by BF's order, and they had subsituted the artichoke hearts in my pasta with canned mushrooms.

We looked at each other, stood up and walked out of the restaurant leaving the waitress standing there holding two plates.

Morons aren't ALWAYS the customers, I've had some servers or staff members who are so bad they defy logic.

 

[wundersteve]

that is just plain rude. although they should try, not every restaurant or public area can accomodate every single person. those parents, having babies, should be responsible for their child and try to find out if the next restaurant they go to has a diaper changing station. instead of being mad at the ones that don't have them, they should be appreciative of the ones that do!

Some customers just don't take the hint that the restaurant and its customers do not want babies or toddlers present because it is an imposition on everyone present. Some restaurants no longer provide booster seats or high chairs, to promote an adult-friendly atmosphere. I fully support this!

 

[metta]

On the opposite end of the spectrum..

I once attempted to have brunch at a restaurant, and after we ordered our drinks and our food, we waited for nearly 90 minutes. when the food arrived, the waitress had screwed up by BF's order, and they had subsituted the artichoke hearts in my pasta with canned mushrooms.

We looked at each other, stood up and walked out of the restaurant leaving the waitress standing there holding two plates.

Morons aren't ALWAYS the customers, I've had some servers or staff members who are so bad they defy logic.

That has happened to me as well. However, instead of leaving, we were having so much fun talking to our friends that we barely noticed. We have found that when we are in big groups, that it can take much longer and more errors occur.

 

[TaigaStar]

There's something else... if you're in a store and you're on a cell phone, fine. I want to scream when customers come up, on their phones, make me wait to take their orders (while a line builds behind them) and then give me the attitude that I'm interrupting their conversation because they can't pay attention.

 

[tbonez]

OK, by all accounts here I don't have what it takes to work in retail...I think I'd sooner throw myself in front of a train than be abused without a shred of reason for a paltry wage. Some people go out to shop because they need something...food or clothes. Clearly, some assholes go out so they can pay someone to listen to their bull-shit in stunned servatude.

I was just in a pharmacy recently to get some Tylenol for my splitting headache. A tourist was in the line in front of me. She so wreaked of tobacco that it was nauseating. The woman was raging (yes, "raging") because they didn't sell cigarettes. This woman was clearly unbalanced and she had a permanent tracheotomy which made it hard to understand her. This vile bitch just wouldn't leave and let the next customer in a growing line get on with their day. The clerk was clearly frustrated and wanted to give this rude, ranting douche bag a piece...so I did it for her. "Honey", I said, "she can't sell you what she doesn't have." Her reply? "Mind your own fucking business! Fucking communist country...telling me I can't buy cigarettes!" I chuckled and asked her: "What part of your body do they have to cut a hole in before you get the message that it's time to ease up on the smokes? The one in your neck clearly didn't do it for you." The clerk thanked me for stepping in. I figured it was the least I could do as they couldn't fire me.

I occasionally volunteer at a kitchen that caters to (primarily) the homeless. Strangely enough, most of them have good manners and are generally very polite, endlessly patient and particularly courteous. The exceptions are usually totally deranged or drunk out of their minds. I'd sooner deal with the indigent than retail customers any day of the week. They are just a better class of people.

 

[blackbeltninja]

Morons aren't ALWAYS the customers, I've had some servers or staff members who are so bad they defy logic.

True enough - I was trying to find an Alice in Chains CD from the biggest music chain in .za and clearly the woman behind the counter didn't have a clue what she was doing, nor how to access the stock system on the computer. To make absolutely sure, I asked if she had the Beatles compilation, Number 1s - basically a double CD with all their biggest hits.

"No, I don't think so. Beatles... are they a new band?" Which said more about the store than I could.

Incidentally, the Beatles CD had just been released and was their current #1 seller according to the Top 50 chart on the wall - proving the point, there were piles and piles of discs on promo stands all over the store just in time for Christmas.

I hate shopping at Musica.

-d-

 

[provenlogic]

Maybe so.

If I tried that here, people would look at me like I'm nuts.

But you knoiw, we're talking about restaurants where they don't have squirrel or 'Possom on the menu, so take from that what you will.

Ouch... Gee you have a really stereotypical view of the south man. Or maybe i've confused you, i mean the southern south... you know, the south below the south. The good south, the south along the coast. The south BELOW the bible belt... The south with the good food and fun, not the south with the churches and abstinence.

 

[justsimon]

Today I was at the bookstore. My coworker was helping someone out and I was just finishing looking up a special order for someone. There was a guy standing a bit left of and behind the counter (sort of near a desk we keep there) just sort of hanging out. We get a lot of people wasting time or taking a break in our store and as he wasn't in front of the counter (where someone would logically go to ask a question) I assumed he didn't need any help. Also the woman my coworker was helping kept looking over at him so I thought maybe they were together. I looked over at him for a second just to make sure, but he didn't say anything so I went ahead and helped the next person in line.

After I helped my customer and the other woman left, I saw that he was still there. I walked over to him and asked if he had a question. He looked at me rudely and repeated myself.

To make a long conversation short, he told me, several times and loudly, to fuck off. I explained that I hadn't realized he needed help as I thought he was with that woman and he was standing off to the side. He continued to talk aggresively and said he was leaving. I just looked at him and said that was all right (okay, I admit, I puffed my chest out a bit, too) and that I'd see him later. He then threatened me with, "You're damn right, you will." I continued to react calmly while he yelled a bit more and walked out the door. Apparently, he flipped me off through the window, as well, but I didn't see.

My friend was in the store at the time. She thought it was hilarious. It kind of was. Still not the rudest person I've had to deal with in retail.

My coworker said she thought he was going to try and sell us something so he wasn't even a customer. Sigh... tomorrow's a day off.

 

[EVines]

I dislike people who make or receive a phone call when I'm trying to help them. I have a lot of work to do. Work not related to helping customers. I'm trying to help this customer and then he takes a call and I have to wait. One customer even apologized to the person on the other end of the line after he had to stop to get back to me for a second! He didn't bother to apologize to me!

 

[Dobson73]

....... Quite frankly, at 40 million people served a week, we are bound to have at least a miss or two.

You serve over 40 million people a week and you still get time to write Posts on JUB? When do you sleep?

 

[levenshulme31]

One from the other side of the counter

A friend once stopped at a Little Chef (a UK chain of expensive but crap roadside restaurants) and ordered an omelette only to be told by the waitress that they could not have an omelette because they hadn't been delivered. They could however have a fried egg.

 

[Oden_grey]

I think that if you are in customer-service jobs the way you handle a bad situation is far more more distinguishing than the way you handle good situations.

You guys in customer service must remember that bad experiences are also part of the job. Your respective companies take people's money in exchange for goods and services. When the customer's expectations are not met by your good or service then you have a bad situation ahead of you... especially when the customer thinks that they work hard for every dime the fork over only to get b.s. in return.