If there's one thing to be learned from working with the public, it's that the customer is not always right. Heck, sometimes the customer doesn't even know when they're talking with the manager! That just makes the moment when the poor, beleaguered manager can utter the sweetest phrase imaginable: "Actually, I AM the manager."
She Swore Her Window Was Fine When She Came In
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“I worked at an automotive shop, one of those quick lube style place. It was a franchise where the owner only owns two locations. I’m the service center manager of one location, and area manager over both.
Customer rolled up and asked for an oil change. She drove her van in, hopped out, and walked around the side of the building.
Once we finished the service, she walked back around and got in the van. She started to pull the van out, then stopped abruptly, and started yelling about her window, saying we broke it and that it wouldn’t roll up now.
I immediately pulled up the camera footage clearly showing the window was down when she pulled in, but she didn’t want to hear it. She promptly asked for the manager. I explained that I was the manager. She demanded to speak to my ‘regional manager.’ I explained that I was the only person she’d speak to, as the owner is fairly absent and doesn’t handle petty store level complaints.
She called the corporate 1-800 number on the back of our invoices. Because we’re a franchise, that complaint gets typed out and sent right back to my email inbox with a phone number to contact the customer.
She wasn’t pleased to hear my voice calling her to shut her down again.”
Waiting Her Turn Clearly Wasn’t An Option
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“I worked at a restaurant where you filled in a ticket with all the ingredients you wanted on your pasta/pizza/salad. There were large boards above a counter explaining how to order correctly. Once customers filled out their ticket, they could bring it to the register. During a weekend lunch rush, with a line of at least 25 people, a woman came up to the counter and told our cashier what she wanted. When the cashier told her that she needed a ticket, she got annoyed about the ‘inconvenience,’ all the while the line built up behind her. She demanded to be given a ticket and began filling it out right there.
Seeing this, I came up to the cashier and told him to start ringing up the people behind her while the lady took her sweet time making the important decision of which pasta sauce she wanted. She finally finished, paid, and sat with her gaggle of companions.
Later, she came up to me and told me that my choice to have the waiting customers pay before her was extremely rude. I responded by telling her that we try to make sure every customer gets speedy service and her holding up the line because she didn’t read our large signs was also rude to all of the other customers. She told me that she’d like to speak to the manager to complain about me. With a gleeful (and maybe slightly evil) grin, I replied, ‘You already did. I’m the manager.’ The look on her face when she realized she wasn’t going to get to whine and feel vindicated about my ‘mistreatment’ of her was lovely, and even though this was years ago, it still brings me joy.”
The “Double-Secret” Manager
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“I’m a manager at a clothing retailer, and occasionally I get asked to help open new stores around the country. I was at a grand opening and happened to walk past a register when one of the new cashiers had a question.
A lady was standing there, wanting to buy a $50 gift card with a $10 off coupon. I explained that we don’t do discounts on gift cards.
‘Could you check with your manager?’
‘I am the manager.’
Then she, verbatim, said, ‘Can you check with your double-secret manager?’
To which I replied, ‘Ma’am, they flew me out here to help these new people with the grand opening, and specifically to figure out questionable situations, so I AM the double-secret manager, and we don’t do discounts on gift cards.'”
Her Biggest Mistake Wasn’t Shoplifting, It Was Coming Back To The Scene Of The Crime
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“I’m a manager for a soaps, lotions, and candles store.
My favorite one is when we caught a serial shoplifter.
I saw a woman being sketchy and walking around, all shifty eyes. I tried approaching her and she bolted, but I saw some of our sprays in her bag. so I called security to give them a heads up as well as a detailed description of her clothing and bag which was a huge shopping bag from a store not from our mall.
Two hours later, security called and asked me to come back to the mall office to identify items.
The woman was sneering at me, but all of the stuff she had shoplifted from our store as well as others was on the table in front of her.
I filled out a report and didn’t think anything of it.
The next day, she showed up at our store screaming that she wanted me fired because I filled out a false report and made security track her. My associate said, ‘I’ll just call the manager.’
I stepped out from the back, smiled when I saw who it was and said, ‘I’m the manager how may I help you.’
She was furious but silently left. I then tipped off mall security she was back and she was banned from the mall.”
His Rudeness Was Annoying, But Then He Just Got Creepy
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“A late thirties to early forties, overweight, unattractive and smelly guy was hanging out at the comic book/gaming store I own. He was being rude to customers and my employees. Things really escalated when he started being very inappropriate with a 13-year-old girl who was one of our regular customers.
I walked up to him with our store Polaroid camera, told him to smile, took his picture and said:
‘This picture is going up where every employee can see it. If you ever come back into this store, 911 will be called and you will be removed for trespassing as your behavior is not welcome in this store.’
He said, ‘You can’t do that to me, I demand to see the manager.’
I pointed to my manager, who was on the phone with the police, ‘He’s the manager, I’m the owner, and unless you want to be arrested, I’d leave now.’
He actually waited around to be arrested. Turns out, he had a record of inappropriate interactions with underaged people and shouldn’t have been in the store in the first place.
Unfortunately, his face wasn’t the only Polaroid on our ‘Wall of Shame.'”
The Sale Was Final, But She Insisted On Getting Her Money Back
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“I work in a retail outlet store. We receive all the older merchandise from the main stores in the district so they can make room for newer collections, and we sell the old stock at a reduced price. There’s nothing wrong with the clothing, it’s just from an older collection. However, because of the reduced price, everything is a final sale – we won’t take returns or exchanges. Before every transaction at the cash register, we remind the customer of this. And then once the transaction is completed, we stamp their receipt with ‘Final Sale.’ Of course, some exceptions can be made, like if the item is defective or the customer is really nice, we will make an exception.
Anyway, one day a lady came in and I could tell she was one of those customers. She cut me off as I was greeting her to tell me that she wanted to return an item because it didn’t fit her or something like that. I explained to her that look there was nothing that I could do, everything is final sale. She replied that she was never told this. I took a look at her receipt and I saw that it’d been stamped final sale, so I told her, ‘Look ma’am, somebody must have told you because your receipt is even stamped.’
Immediately she went off on me; yelling, screaming, swearing, saying how incompetent I was and that’s why I was working in retail because I couldn’t find another job, blah blah blah. The whole time, I was just staring at her. She finally finished her tirade by saying that she shouldn’t listen to a lowly employee like me and then she asked for the manager.
I cleared my throat. I looked her dead in the eye with a grin on my face. ‘I’m very sorry for you right now, but I am the manager.’
She just deflated. All the gusto goes out of her. She swore under her breath and left the store. The part that really gets me though is that the shirt she was trying to return cost $5.
But it was the best moment of my entire part time retail career.”
The Owner Doesn’t Take Too Kindly To People Disrespecting His Workers
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“I used to work for a particularly large ISP doing tech support. One day, the guy working next to me was dealing with a particularly rude business customer. The business customers were usually treated like kings, but this guy was having a particularly hard time even getting a word in. Eventually, he put up his hand to motion the supervisor to come talk to the customer.
Right then, the owner of the company happened to be walking by with another one of the executives. I’ve met the guy a few times at the company’s social events and he is a really down-to-earth, employee-friendly boss. He asked what the issue was with this customer and after it was explained, he took the headset and picked up the line.
After listening for about four to five minutes, he said, very flatly, ‘That’s never going to happen, especially not when you have an attitude like a 13-year-old girl.’ Again listening for a minutes before he said, ‘I don’t have a manager. I own this company and I don’t have to listen to this crap from a weasel like you and neither do my employees. I’m terminating your account with us.’
He hung up and I watched him disable this guys account and add a note to the file. ‘Customer is an SOB, do not reinstate account – Boss.’ Then he just handed back the headset and carried on about his day.”
When The Customer Heard What He Said, She Was Furious
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“My parents owned a franchise deli some 12 years ago. My mom was there full time, making things run smoothly, and my dad would be there sometimes to help out when he wasn’t working his tech job. Well, this lady came in one time and ordered her food. When it arrived, she claimed that the kitchen made it incorrectly. My mom apologized for the inconvenience, comped her meal, and gave her a certificate for a free sandwich the next time the lady came in.
So the lady came in again, ordered her food, and again claimed it was made incorrectly. My mom again apologized and gave her another coupon for a free sandwich. This happened probably two more times. My dad had heard about it and was convinced they were just being scammed by this lady.
Well, the next time the lady came in, my dad happened to be working the kitchen. Sandwich lady came through the drive thru and ordered. My mom recognized her and, to make sure everything is perfect, my dad made her food himself and gave it to her. A couple minutes later, the lady called the store to say her food has been made wrong, again. My mom set the phone down and told my dad, ‘That lady is on the phone and says you made her food wrong again.’
My dad said, ‘You tell that hussy I didn’t make her food wrong and that she is never welcome in this restaurant again!’
My mom picked up the phone and before she could say anything the lady cut her off: ‘I heard that! You tell that boy that he is fired!’
My mom responded with, ‘Ma’am, that ‘boy’ is the owner of the restaurant.’ The lady hung up and never returned! My parents both have a long laugh about that whenever they are thinking of all the stupid crap that went on with that restaurant.”
Threatening The Manager After Drinking Is Not A Good Idea
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“This guy wandered into the lobby of the fast food establishment I manage after we had locked the doors, but clearly one of our doors malfunctioned.
I politely told him that our lobby closed at 10 pm and that he was more than welcome to go through our drive thru, which is 24 hours.
He started screaming at me, saying that he will have me fired, that he used to be a manager at so and so place, and that he will find me after work and mess me up. He asked for the manager on duty.
I smiled really big and said ‘Sir, I am the manager of this establishment and the manager on duty – you have two options. You either leave and don’t come back until you are sober, or you can leave in handcuffs, your choice.’
He left, but I caught him hanging out by my car at 2 am, so I called the police and they arrested him on the property as he had slashed everyone’s tires.”
She Refused To Take Him At His Word That He WAS The Manager
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“Worked as a supervisor in an optical retail store. We were issued name badges with our first name and job title written on them. As I was only recently promoted, I put on my badge saying ‘optical assistant,’ and kept my supervisor badge in my pocket. This isn’t a massive issue as normally when dealing with customers, if you tell them you’re a manager, they respect that. Normally.
Enter customer (C) who didn’t adhere to this rule. They had a problem that I was very easily able to offer a solution to but was absolutely adamant they wanted to speak to a manager.
C: ‘Can you please get me your manager?’
Me: ‘Actually, I am a manager, how can I help?’
C: ‘No, get me your manager. You know, the person in charge?’
Me: ‘Ma’am, I am a supervisor and I’m more than able to help you with any complaints.’
C: ‘That’s not good enough for me! Go get the manager!’
So at that point, I realized I didn’t have the correct badge on, so I turned around, switched them over and turned back to the customer.
Me: ‘Hi, I’m the manager. How can I help?’
She stormed out and put in a complaint against me – So worth it.”
She Should Have Known She Couldn’t Take That Into The Movie Theater
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“When I was 21 years old, I worked as a low rung manager of a movie theatre. The guy tearing tickets took a lunch break, so I was tearing tickets. Lady came in, like an hour before her show was supposed to start. The end of the film was still going on in her theater and she was holding what I can only guess was an ice cream sundae made for four people. I told her we weren’t letting in for that film yet, and she couldn’t bring in outside food into the theatre. She got into a tizzy and told me that she always, ‘I say ALWAYS,’ brought food into the theatre and no one has ever stopped her.
I was an impetuous 21-year-old making 20 cents over minimum wage, so I told her, ‘It’s been a rule since before World War II, you should get out more.’
She said, ‘I want to talk to the manager.’
I said, ‘Sure thing, I’ll go up to the office and he will come down.’ And then I walked up to the office, checked my email, and came down and told her I was the manager and she couldn’t come in with the outside food.
Ended up giving her a refund for her ticket after she said, ‘I know the owner of this theatre and he will fire you!’ It would have been nice if I had been fired, I would have gotten unemployment.”
They Treated Him Like Crap, But Then He Had The Last Laugh
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“I was bartending one night when these two girls come in, treated me like garbage, ran me ragged, and didn’t tip. Afterward, they came up to me, each with resumes in tow, and asked for the manager on duty.
I had the biggest and brightest smile when I told them it was me and held my hand out for the resumes. They paled and went downstairs (lounge upstairs, dining room downstairs) and I figured they would leave. Then I got paged to the front hostess stand, by the hostess, and there were the girls. They thought that I was lying to them!
It was beautiful.”
She Said She’d Just “Tried Them On”
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“I used to be a manager for a female clothing store at the mall (I’m a guy). Because of our inexpensive price points, our store policy did not provide any refunds for purchases aside from exchanges and store credits. So we were always having customer issues when they would try to return something. Working there for so long, you become numb to customers yelling at you and creating scenes. Heck, sometimes it’s hard to keep yourself from laughing when they escalate to yelling over a $1.90 camisole. I had been there for three years and was very good at my job, one of the upper managements’ favorites really, so I did whatever I wanted, mostly with little repercussions.
Well one day, my cashier called for ‘customer service’ at the register. She has a customer wanting to return some heels she bought, claiming she just bought them yesterday (no receipt of course), but these heels looked like they had come out of the trenches of WWI. They were pitch black at the bottom, scratched, and has a weird stain at the top. It was obvious she wore the crap out of them in the club for the weekend and thought she could just return them. So I told her that we don’t return any cash or original tender per store policy and that in order to exchange them, the item ‘must be unused, unworn and undamaged.’ Her shoes were not checking any of those boxes.
Then came the whole, ‘I just tried them out at home and didn’t like them. They were like that when I bought them. I want my money back.’ I kept telling her calmly and clearly that because her shoes were used, I couldn’t do anything for her. Then, of course, she went ahead and escalated the situation.
Guest: ‘No, you don’t understand! You need to give me my money back!’
Me: ‘I can’t do that, the shoes are damaged.’
We repeated the above a few times and then she finally realized that I wasn’t budging, so she asked me if she could talk to a manager. I thought this was off at first, but then I noticed that my tag was flipped towards my chest, so I decided this was the perfect moment.
Me: Ma’am, (I flipped over my tag that clearly says MANAGER) I AM the manager.’
My cashier cracked a smile while trying to hold her laugh in, but clearly, the customer did not take this well.
Guest: ‘And why are you smiling?! You think this isn’t serious?!’
Me: ‘Ma’am, you’re not dealing with her, you and I are the ones trying to figure this out.’
Guest: ‘You and I? You’re a man, there’s no way you can be a manager at a women’s store. I want to talk to the real manager.’
Me: ‘Ma’am, I am the only manager on duty here for the closing shift.’
Guest: ‘No! No! You know what?! I want your name, the cashier’s name, and the corporate number! I’m reporting you both!’
Me: ‘That’s no problem (I wrote it down). Here you go ma’am, have a good rest of your day.’
She then stormed out. The next guest was finally able to get rung up.
Other guest: ‘I just want you to know that you handled that amazingly well’ and to my cashier: ‘You have a fantastic manager.'”
Good Thing He Didn’t Try To Run That Card!
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“Back in the early 2000s, I worked as assistant manager of a popular video game retailer. On a slow day, I had a guy come in and tell me he wanted to buy two Playstations, two copies of all the popular games, controllers, etc. Personal experience told me that something was fishy. I gathered up all he wanted and proceeded to ring it up. He whipped out a credit card and told me that the transaction would be tax exempt. His credit card was for the local airport authority and said ‘Tax Exempt #’ on it, but it had no actual number. So I asked the guy for a copy of his Tax Exempt certificate. He said that he doesn’t need one and anything charged to the card would automatically be tax exempt. I told him how tax exemption works and the fines that my company would face if I didn’t follow the law. There was some back and forth and, in the end, I refused to processes it as tax exempt and he refused to make the purchase unless it was tax exempt. He said, ‘You just lost a big sale, buddy.’
I was already on my way back to the stock room, so I replied back, ‘Well, I’ll just go the back and cry, then.’ He got ticked off and asked for the manager. ‘I AM the manager.’
‘Well then, who’s your boss? I want his number.’ I grabbed a business card and wrote down his name and office number on the back. After the guy left, I realized I might have given him the wrong number. I ended up calling the district manager anyway and explained the situation. He agreed I was right for refusing the transaction. I then called the airport authority and spoke to HR, who explained that the person was just fired that morning. They were pretty sure the card he’d tried to use hadn’t been deauthorized yet and thanked me for notifying them.”