Retail Workers Share The Craziest Reasons Why People Asked For Refunds

“The customer is always right.” It’s a saying that’s probably been repeated by your boss countless times, but as any retail worker knows, it isn’t always true. In fact, the customer is often very, very wrong. Retail horror stories go viral on social media every single day, but only those who have lived it understand the ugly truth. From customers who mistreat employees and throw ice creams over the counter, to those who take serious advantage of company return policies, most retail workers have seen some pretty wild stuff…

The rise of “serial returners” has been causing major issues among retailers, costing them money and headaches. It’s becoming increasingly common to eat an entire sheet cake and then return it for a full refund, or literally break a disc in half to get your money back. And guess what? You’ll be able to read those two exact two stories, and more, as retail workers reveal just how far a customer will go to get their money back.

Taco Hell

I work at a Taco Bell. I once had a lady buy a taco salad, hand it to her daughter, and the daughter dropped it and got it all over the car. Now, if she just wanted a replacement, that would be cool. Stuff happens. But she demanded a replacement, a refund, and that somebody come out and clean her car for her. 

She was swearing and calling us all useless and yelling. Luckily, the manager on duty was not one to take that kind of behavior from people, and it was around 10PM, so she was already pretty worn out. We all were. She tore this lady a new one, gave her a new salad, and told her not to come back. It was pretty great. Reddit user: MrMeltJr

Flower Child

A guy tried to return flowers a week later because “they had died.” Our flowers do not have any kind of “will last 5 days” guarantee or anything. I called my manager, and the customer argued with her for over half an hour about his £2 bouquet of flowers. My manager just sat there completely deadpan and calmly listened to him talk.

However, every time the guy stopped talking, she simply said, “I’m not refunding you for dead flowers.” When the guy eventually left (throwing his flowers on the floor) my boss cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes. I just couldn’t believe that this guy caused such a fuss and wasted his and everybody’s time over some cheap flowers. Reddit user: reverendmalerik

Slightly Damaged

Finally, a reason to share this amusing story from the other day. We have a local store called Bargain Bin that buys lots of returned items and such from other stores. I bought something the other day from there that still had the little return slip taped to it. One of those hard plastic packages that you practically injure yourself trying to open.

They likely make them difficult to open on purpose, but clearly the guy before me didn’t like that. It had cut marks, stab marks, and the plastic was melted in a spot, but it was still unopened. Reason returned? “Customer did not like the way it was packaged.” It just struck me as funny, and maybe even a little frightening. Reddit user: maddomesticscientist

Conehead

I was working a shift at Dairy Queen, and it gets really busy at this store. So busy that we have 30+ orders off screen waiting most Sunday evenings. Someone who had just ordered 5-10 minutes earlier came up to complain about how it shouldn’t take so long for one ice cream cone, even though he was probably about 20th in line. 

I tried explaining that we’re busy and his order is behind a lot of others. He didn’t seem to get the concept that it’s done by first come, first serve, not by what’s quick or easy to make. He demanded we drop the other orders, make his cone, AND give his money back. I tried telling him that I couldn’t do that and that he could be refunded, but he would not get the cone. 

He demanded to speak to the manager, who told him the same thing. The guy was an awful person who managed to make her cry somehow, and I felt bad for putting him on her. Eventually, another customer told him to get out, and that if he didn’t want to wait 10 minutes for a cone, he shouldn’t have come to the busiest DQ in the city during its busiest rush. Reddit user: Juicyb17

Yard Work Rentals

When returning tillers, or any type of yard equipment, people can get rude, annoying, and downright creepy. Sometimes the tool will be all scratched up, with dirt all over it and clearly used…but the customer will be saying, “It is not doing what I need it to.” It makes me wonder what exactly they need it for and how it isn’t working. 

People will do the same thing with other household tools or yard equipment, which I’ve realized working at Home Depot. They’ll buy it for a day when they need to do an activity around their house and then come back later to return it all dirty. Some people even tried to return their trees after the holidays, which was particularly baffling. Reddit user: Cbuck24

Objects In Mirror Not At All As They Appear

The jewelry was “not as described.” It was a necklace featuring a word in a script font hanging on a chain. The customer’s complaint was that in the photos you can see the word when the model was wearing it, but when she tried hers on, she could only see the word when looking in the mirror. Yeah, she was wearing it backward.

You would think she would be embarrassed about such a ridiculous error, but she wasn’t. She just treated us like we had wronged her and stole her money with our “fake” necklace that was totally “false advertising.” This is the problem with online shopping these days; everybody thinks they’ll look just as good as the model wearing it, or will put a necklace on backward. Reddit user: anoukeblackheart

The Physics Of Cheese

I was eating at Olive Garden a few months back, and the lady at the table next to me sent her food back because it “didn’t look the same as the photo of it on the menu.” To clarify, the woman had ordered something that was stuffed with cheese and mushrooms. The cheese melted and, as cheese does when in liquid form, did not stay neatly inside the chicken breast. 

She was upset about the physics of cheese, and that it didn’t look as pretty as it did on the menu. The staff tried to reason with her, but the woman refused another entree because she didn’t “know what they would do to it back there.” I wouldn’t have blamed them after the ridiculous way this woman acted. Reddit user: bonjourbrooke1017

Pouring Pesticide On DVDs

I had a customer come in with a bag of relatively expensive items from our grocery store, such as vitamins, dog tablets, DVDs, etc., and they were all covered in pesticide. And she had claimed we packed it all into the same bags (which is against our policy) and that she needed a refund on everything. She was pretty adamant about it. 

I felt something fishy was up, so I told my manager…and she quickly checked the surveillance cameras. She saw this woman walk in with a bag from home and stuff as much as she could into it and then pour pesticide all through it. Caught it all on camera. Most of the time if something is crazy, it’s probably a scam. Reddit user: teagziee

Car Trouble

I used to work for a Chevrolet dealership. It was a Cadillac dealership with a different owner before. It shut down, and he opened a new dealership elsewhere. We had been open for less than a year when I started working there. A lady came in and said she bought a used Cadillac there two years ago and something was wrong with it, and she wanted this thing fixed for free.

I let her know that the previous owner shut down almost a year prior but has a new dealership on X road and she could check there. She said, “But this is the building I bought it at.” I said, “Yes, but this is no longer a Cadillac dealership. They moved to X road. We are a Chevy dealership with different owners.” She could not grasp that a business can move. Reddit user: [redacted]

Birthday Cake Woes

Somebody once came into my work and returned a birthday cake because it was stale. The cake was still before the use date and unopened. Somehow they knew it was stale without touching or tasting it. It was pretty bizarre, but it also made me wonder if maybe the reason they were trying to return it was because nobody showed up to the party. 

On the other hand, it goes both ways. We’ve also had people come in with just one tiny slice left of a giant sheet cake demanding a full refund because it was stale or “tasted funny.” If it was so bad, why did you eat the entire thing first? I can’t decide which of these scenarios is worse. People are ridiculous. Reddit user: ljkempson

Brush It Off

My 94-year-old grandad has started to learn a little bit about the internet over the past 4 years (due to my mum buying him an iPad). He has therefore figured out that you can contact the customer service department of almost any major retail store at the touch of a button. I’m starting to feel sorry for those poor people.

Because my mum had previously told him about contacting John Lewis over Twitter to complain about the kitchen we bought, and which was installed by them, my grandad decided to also contact John Lewis but via email. He was not content with a toilet brush that he had bought 5 years previously and which he had been using. 

He then proceeded to upload photos of said used toilet brush to try to highlight how the chrome finish had started peeling. I think the customer service rep/manager must have been disgusted and overwhelmed, because he/she sent my grandad some vouchers to use in-store. Reddit user: CustomBlendNo1

Wii Need A Refund

I’ve had a couple of people try and scam me by returning eBay items I sold them. Before I sell something, I always take photos of the model number(s) and small unique marks that tell me that the item is 100% my item. I sold somebody my old Nintendo Wii, which worked perfectly fine, and they claimed it was broken and wouldn’t run any discs. 

I told them they could send it back to me and I’d test it and give a refund if this were the case. I also mentioned I had photos of the exact Wii I sold them so I’d know if they were swapping it with a broken one to get their money back. They never replied or sent the Wii back. Reddit user: Toby95

 Book Smart

When I worked at a bookshop, someone returned Homer’s Iliad because it “wasn’t like the film.” Troy had just come out at the cinema, and I guess they were expecting some more violence and action. To be fair to the customer, we either had stickers on the book or a poster, I can’t remember which, saying, “The book that inspired TROY” with a picture of Brad Pitt’s face on it.

This instance only happened to me that one time, but I’m sure it happens to tons of other book shop employees. It’s a much harder job than people realize. You just want to hang out in the shop and tell customers all about your favorite novels, but all they want is the book based on the movie where Brad Pitt is looking super hot. Reddit user: BonnieMacFarlane2

Burger Fail

I worked at a small burger shop in college, and a lady demanded a refund for her burgers because the buns kinda stuck to the wrapper. Yeah, seriously. We got scammed a lot on refunds, so we had a detailed form to track who was getting refunds. She refused to fill it out and stormed off threatening a tear-down in local media.

When you work in fast food, people are always going to come back and try to get a refund out of you. I thought the form that the customer needed to fill out for a refund was a really good idea, as most people are too lazy and will just storm out with their “unsatisfactory” food. Good riddance, lady. Reddit user: ozzmeister00

You’re At The Wrong Place

When I was 17, I worked customer service at Circuit City. One weekend afternoon, I had a mom and her son who came in wanting to return a DVD player for some reason or another. Everything started out normal enough; she handed me a receipt, and I reviewed it with a puzzled look on my face. Then I looked at the DVD player, then back at her and her son.

They just seemed really, really out of it. “Ma’am, this is a receipt for Best Buy, you’re in Circuit City.” They both took a big step back and looked up at the overhead sign that must have 4-foot letters spelling it out for them. They burst out laughing and started to walk out. “Yhhhh, you guys still want this DVD player?” Reddit user: UroutofURelement

Fish Out Of Hose Water

I worked at Home Depot, and a guy came in to return a hose. I figured it would just be a case of a cheap fitting that made it not work well. Instead, he tells me that it’s full of holes and leaks when he runs water through it. That’s when I flip over the hose and see it’s actually a soaker hose. 

I take a few minutes and try to explain to him that it’s designed to have holes throughout and point to the picture on the front showing it spraying water in various directions. I honestly don’t believe that he ever actually understood me, but finally I gave up explaining, so he began telling me what happened to him.

Apparently he hooked up the hose to drain a large fish tank in his living room. However, he hooked it up and left without actually checking anything. Therefore, when he came back, the old aquarium water was now sprayed all over his living room. That was probably a good time. Reddit user: Goombill

Diaper Bandit

Some lady came into my work and tried to return hundreds of dollars worth of diapers with no receipt. When asked, she said that her child had passed away recently and that she didn’t need them anymore. Everybody was about to offer their condolences and let her off the hook, but I knew something seemed off, and it definitely was. 

It turns out that she had just stolen them and tried returning them for profit. Obviously we turned her away, but it made me realize just how far some people will go for money. I don’t know if she had kids for real, but how could you even make up such a terrible lie to gain sympathy and profit? It was very insensitive. Reddit user: Dane-the-Mane

Game Over

I was an ASM at Gamestop for a while, and one evening about 15 minutes before closing, a woman comes in looking furious. My co-worker and I are sitting there thinking, “Oh great, this is going to be fun.” She comes up to the counter and throws down two copies of Fifa 14. We ask her what’s going on, and she starts explaining.

“I got these for my sons, and I can’t take it anymore.” Again we think, “Ugh difficult customer, probably has little kids that don’t know how to play and can’t score goals.” She tells us that she can’t stand listening to her kids play the game anymore; we find out they’re 18 and 19, and she goes into how belligerent they get with the TV alone in their bedrooms.”

We think she’s joking, but she’s completely serious. We chat with her for a while, and she goes on about how they play all kinds of stuff and how they don’t even act like that when they play GTA or “violent” games. We got a good laugh and made a good customer. She even brought her sons in so we could meet them. Reddit user: beedyeyedguy

Don’t Cry Over Burnt Popcorn

I worked at a movie theater. That place had its fair share of issues, but they mostly happened at the snack stand. After you dump popcorn from a popper, one or two kernels may stay in the popper. When this happens, they break up into tiny black pieces (I’m talking salt-grain sized). I had a customer come back and ask for a full refund. 

He also wanted to keep the popcorn. His reason? His popcorn was burnt. He didn’t even taste it first. He just looked at it, looked at me, and said those little salt sized grains were reason enough for his money back. For his five bags of popcorn. It was still good enough for him to eat though, apparently. Reddit user: Bar1no

Well, That’s Gross

I used to work at KFC, and this lady tried to return her food because the box had gotten too soggy and the chicken fell out in her car. We asked her how long ago her purchase was, because none of us working remembered her, and she told us about two and a half weeks ago. We had to refund it because at the time that was the policy.

I haven’t worked there in a long time, but I really hope that times have changed and this kind of behavior isn’t allowed anymore. Not only was it super gross, but retail workers aren’t just here to cater to your every need. Next time, she may want to consider refrigerating her food or maybe even buying it hot. It’s better that way. Reddit user: lilkillerjk97

My Patience Is Tanking 

I worked for PetSmart for a while. I had a customer who wanted to buy like six or seven 10 gallon fish tanks. No hoods, lights, or frills, just like six 10 gallon glass fish tanks. I spent a ton of time tracking down all these fish tanks in the back stock room, then he insisted on loading them into one shopping cart.

I guess his reasoning was because he wanted them all stacked fairly precariously. I offered to help him out to his car and he got snippy with me. Got ten feet outside the door after paying for them and tipped the cart over on the curb. Broke every single fish tank. My freaking boss let him return them. Reddit user: Lawny3

Wait… Water Is Deep?

I book cruises for a living. A lady calls and books a cruise paying full price for her family sailing out of Florida to the Eastern Caribbean. The whole time she’s talking to me, she’s not really showing any signs of hesitation about anything and just seems like she wants to go on vacation with the family. Just asking the generic first-time cruise questions such as costs/food/entertainment.

A couple of days later, she calls back and says she needs to cancel because she was under the impression that while sailing through the Bahamas, she was going to be able to see islands at all times. Also that the water was not deep enough to where you couldn’t see the bottom.

She stated she suffered from a fear of deep water (thalassophobia). She lost the whole $1,400 because they were already in penalty and wanted my agency to refund it for not telling her she would not see land and the water is deep…on a cruise. Reddit user: State_the_obvious

Can I Have $3?

I worked at a shoe store when I was a teen. We had a policy where if you had no receipt, you would only get an exchange. Now one sunny day in August, a woman came in and literally took the shoes off her feet asking for a full refund. When I asked her for her original receipt, she said she didn’t have it.

I informed her that it was our policy to only offer an exchange in this situation. She then told me that she wanted the exact same shoe model. Okay, sure. So I checked our store’s database and told her that we didn’t carry her size, but a store in the next town over did, and I printed her out the address of the other store and a $3 off coupon for something else because of the trouble. 

Handed everything over and thought I dodged a bullet in not having to do an awkward exchange for her. However, this woman didn’t end up leaving. She put her shoes back on and started browsing around the store. Sure, you’re free to look and make new purchases.

She then popped back up to counter ten minutes later and said, “I didn’t see anything I wanted for $3, so could you just give me $3 in cash?”I had no words. My manager had to escort her out after she made a fuss for 20 minutes because I wouldn’t give her $3 from the register. Reddit user: anngeelaa

She Got Away With It

I worked for Borders in the mid-’90s, and we had some issues with refunding/exchanging, so we started to track who was returning items. We had a list up at the registers for the 10 worst offenders: people who had returned more than $500 worth of merchandise in the past 6 months. Well, I’m the manager on duty one morning when the #1 offender comes in.

She has a pile of books and no receipts and wants to exchange them. Some of the books were obviously read (broken spine). Others were books that we didn’t carry in the store (some mass market romance titles). And others were copies of books that were well over 2 years old (the covers had noticeably changed in the interim).

I was called up and had to explain to the woman that I could not accept these returns and that, in the future, if she wished to return or exchange anything, she would be required to have a receipt. Oh man, the language coming out of her mouth. I was called just about every name in the book. I just stood and smiled and then handed her a card with the national customer service number on it.

She called up and (I found out later from the store’s GM) was a) allowed to return everything (even the stuff we didn’t carry) and b) get a $25 gift card. Because what better way to boost employee morale than to reward customers for being thieves. Reddit user: rayrayheyhey

Uh-Huh

A restaurant I worked at in college had a lady bring back a half-eaten appetizer. She just threw it on the counter and said “uh-huh” and only responded to questions with “uh-huh.” We tried to figure out what was wrong. We didn’t see anything wrong, but made her another. She again responded with “uh-huh” and was just zero help at all.

Finally, the manager just gave her money back. She went and sat back down at her table with her friend, where she was overheard calling our manager stupid. It was incredibly annoying to hear her say that after we’d gone out of our way to give her a good experience, and she was so rude to us, but at least she finally said something other than “uh-huh.” Reddit user: [redacted]

New Shoe Loophole

This was at my first job working in a shoe shop; I had a guy come in and return a pair of very heavily used shoes. These things were destroyed, leather completely mangled, soles coming away…they looked as if they’d been worn every day for 5 years. He had his receipt (from 5 months ago) and wanted a refund or a replacement pair. 

I asked him how they got to be that way, and he was honest. He said that he wore the shoes to work every day. He worked in a factory, and the floor was often drenched in coolant, detergent, and various other chemicals. I was amazed when my supervisor simply handed him a new pair and sent him on his way! The old ones went back to the factory to be disposed of. I think that guy may have hit upon a loophole to get free work shoes for life. Reddit user: pandodle 

Refund On My Free Food, Please

I work in a movie theater, and a few days out of the week, we give out a free bag of popcorn with the purchase of a ticket. A guy comes in one day and purchases a ticket (it was only $5) and gets his free popcorn, then goes into the theater. About 15 minutes later he comes out with an empty bag of popcorn.

This guy started complaining nonstop about the popcorn. He said that it was disgusting and too salty and demanded a refund. On the popcorn. That he already ate. Which was free. I still don’t really understand what he wanted. Money? More popcorn? Free movie tickets for life? Either way, he got nothing. Reddit user: hazestickyhaze

I Told Her

I was at a gig that my friend was playing and had organized. His mum was on the door, so I was chatting to her a few times through the night. At the end of the gig, I was chatting to her, and these two girls came up and said, “Can we have a refund?” We asked why. “Because it was bad.” So I turned around and grumbled at her.

 “Well, that’s like going to a restaurant, eating all the food, and then complaining you didn’t like it.” “Yeah, of course it is,” she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. I laughed and said, “Yeah, it is!” She turned around and said, “Well, you’re just dumb.” I told her if she was going to have that attitude, she could leave. She did not leave, but just went back to the bar. Reddit user: __Severus__Snape__

Sold Myself Up

I worked at a hardware store in a pretty sketchy part of town. It was a big city, so rather than driving, most people would ride their bikes to work. One day, a man came in looking for some bolt cutters, so a coworker who had just started work the day before offered to help him out and got him a huge pair. 

The man checked out and left and was back in the store within two minutes saying he changed his mind, so the cashier didn’t think anything of it and refunded his money. Ten minutes later, the new coworker was leaving on his lunch break, and his bicycle was nowhere to be found. He instantly realized he sold the man the tools to steal his own bike! And the guy had the nerve to return the cutters! Needless to say, we never let my coworker live that down. Reddit user: zaang

Waiting Game

I work at Burger King. We don’t really do refunds, more so replacements. This one elderly lady came in and ordered 2 cappuccinos, 1 latte, and a hot chocolate. The coffee machine isn’t fast, and the customers are told coffees may take a while to make, upon purchase, because of this. I made the HC and latte and handed them to her immediately. 

She went to her table and handed them out and then she sat there, watching me through the glass making the cappuccinos. I called out the order literally 3 times. I waited for her for a good 5 minutes until she waited for me to leave and make other orders. Then she called the manager over and said her coffee was cold.

She had the nerve to lie to her face about me not calling it out when the manager knew I did. I was told to make a new one, and she did the exact same thing. Luckily the manager was watching, saw what happened, and the customer ended up getting a cold coffee. Reddit user: OminousGray

The Dress

Their dress was stained. Seems reasonable. Except THEY stained it. They went to a BBQ and got sauce on their new white dress. The sauce wouldn’t wash out and stained the dress. I said no. We don’t offer refunds for worn, damaged merchandise. I told her, “Maybe you can dye the dress a different color that hides the stain.”

I even offered other solutions for her. “Or you can get a patch or something you like to cover it. This is a great opportunity to personalize your look.” Cause I’d get in trouble for not being willing to help. She called and spoke to someone else who sent a return label and issued a refund. I hate people. Reddit user: monstermayhem

Grinding My Nerves

When I was a manager at a coffee shop, we had a seriously crazy lady customer. She would buy 2 pounds of beans, get us to grind them, and then she’d come back 2 or 3 weeks later with the mostly empty bags. She would hold up the drive-thru line insisting that we replace the coffee because it had gone bad. 

The first time we honored the “just say yes” policy per the store manager, but after that, we had to try to explain to her that coffee doesn’t stay fresh after you open it, and we can’t replace a bag weeks later after you used most of it. She tried to keep the crazy train rolling by bringing in the nearly empty bags of FREE coffee we’d given her the first time.

She wanted us to replace them a couple of weeks later. Even worse, she purposefully came through the drive-thru and used the excuse that WE were holding up service because we wouldn’t honor her request as leverage to get us to give in. She always came in during the morning rush, and it always took at least 10 minutes for a manager to deal with her. I think the store manager eventually asked her to take her business elsewhere. Reddit user: sekantbrekfast

No Internet, No Xbox

I once had a customer return an Xbox One because she didn’t know it required internet to play online, which they don’t have. Guess she could afford the Xbox, but not the internet. Funny how that works. Bonus story: customer tried to return/exchange a new 3DS XL saying it was missing the charger. I showed them on the box that it says it doesn’t come with one. 

She then asked what she was supposed to do with the 3DS then if it didn’t have a charger. I simply said for her to buy one. Then she said we were trying to scam her and she just wanted her money back. All of the headache could have been avoided if she just paid the 15 bucks for the charger or read the box. Reddit user: Sodaducky

The Sport Of Cycling

I wasn’t the one it got returned to. But I was at an REI garage sale. These sales are where the company takes all the returned items and sells them to members for a huge discount, depending on damage/use. The average deal is a pair of boots that retail at $150 being sold for $30-40, stuff like that. I saw a bicycle that looked nice. 

The retail price was $650, but the bike was marked to $280. The price tags have the reason why the customer returned the item. You usually see “customer didn’t like how shoes held up,” “customer didn’t like fit,” “customer wanted smaller size,” etc., but the line on this bike was the best I’ve ever seen: “Customer did not like the sport of cycling.” Reddit user: PatrickBecerra

Is That What You Want?

Back in the day, when I didn’t have a home printer (which I now don’t, again), I was at the local Staples using the copy center to print reports for school. There was a dad there with his son asking the copy center guy about how to use this strange custom paper he’d brought. The Staples guy was polite but firm when speaking with him.

He informed the dad that they didn’t allow customer-provided paper in their copy machines and told him the reasons why. After a little back and forth, the father yelled, “If you don’t let me put this paper in the copier, I’m going to go buy a printer, bring it home, use it once, and return it tomorrow. Is that what you want?” Such. An. Idiot. Reddit user: TheGlennDavid

Wedding Crasher

I work at a retail store where we engrave items, mostly for weddings. A woman ordered 2 champagne flutes for a wedding she was traveling to, and we finished the flutes for her days before she was leaving. She came to get them the night before she left. We always suggest people pick up their items a day or so before they need them, so if there is any issue, we can fix it. 

This customer came in at 5:55 pm on a Sunday night when we close at 6. I showed her the glasses, and she was livid. The lettering looked “terrible, cheap, and awful,” and she wanted a refund. I told her I could refund her, but that she couldn’t take the glasses with her. “But I have to have them and you’ve ruined the entire wedding with this engraving, that E is SLANTED!” 

For the record…the font she chose has slanted Es. I told her I could have new glasses engraved by noon tomorrow, but her plane left at 8 in the morning, so that’s impossible. I found store locations near where the wedding was, and I told her I could contact the closest location (10 miles from her wedding site) and have them engrave new glasses for her. 

“Why should I be unconvinced because of your incompetence?!” I asked her for the address of her hotel; we could ship her new glasses in 2 business days. “I don’t know WHERE I’M STAYING!” She wanted a complete refund for her product and wanted to take it with her. Didn’t happen. Reddit user: makethatnoise

I Thought It Was A Travel Iron

I had a guy come in literally 20 minutes until closing time the day before Christmas. He wanted to return 4 mini hair straighteners. Since he brought the receipt and everything, he got the money back no problem. He wasn’t rude or anything, and it was the holidays… so I did my duty as a retail worker and made small talk with him. 

As we were chit-chatting about it, he told me he thought they were some fancy small travel irons for shirts and collars, and so on…so he had bought 4 for his brothers and brother-in-law. To top it off, they were all bald. I guess technically he could have used them for that reason, but it wouldn’t have hurt to read the box. Reddit user: HoneyMooh

Let It Snow

I own a snow cone stand and had a lady and her daughter order a large. Once they received it, they ate it in their car and left. Flash forward 4 HOURS later; I get a call from a very angry man. He demanded a refund for his wife because the snow cone was dry. I explained that his wife and child ate their snow cone right in front of me in their car.

I also told him that if they had an issue, they could have simply walked up and asked for more syrup without charge or question. That was on them, not him. NO, that was not the answer he was looking for. He proceeded to personally insult me and continue to demand a refund for a snow cone that was consumed 4 hours prior. 

Eventually, he hung up after a few more insults and me calmly explaining that I couldn’t refund their 3 dollars for something that was eaten 4 hours ago. Well, he called back 3 more separate times demanding to speak to the manager, and then the owner. He wasn’t very happy when I said that I’m both.

And the insults and abuse continued to be hurled my way. Each time, his harsh words were met with an apology and a calm and professional response. So guess who got a very slanderous review on one of those Pinterest mom websites! Reddit user: CallMeMrsSlender

Can I Smoke In Here?

They couldn’t smoke inside the vehicle. A middle-aged and very professional-looking lady needed an insurance replacement rental car after her vehicle “inexplicably” caught fire. She signed the contract, and I did the inspection with her. I gave her the usual spiel about putting blankets down for pets and no smoking in the car. Yeah, yeah. She goes and signs off. 

I go inside, she gets in the car. Five minutes pass, and then she comes back in. “So I can’t smoke in the car?” We tell her no. “But my car is the only place I can smoke at work.” Okay, odd, but we reiterate the policy. She then asks if any other rental agencies allow smoking. We tell her she could try asking them, but we’re pretty sure it’s an industry-wide policy. 

She then says she wants to return the vehicle, and could we give her a ride home? Since we’re nice people, we say sure. A couple hours pass, and she comes back looking defeated. Nobody else in town allows smoking. She decides to take the car and promises not to smoke in it. When she returned it, it smelled a lot like smoke. I tried. Reddit user: [redacted]

Blue Day

My first day on the sales floor at my old job at a Sony outlet, a customer came up and purchased a Blu-ray copy of a movie. This was in the infancy days of the Blu-ray being a format. So it was our policy to explain to everyone what it was, how it differed from a DVD, and that they needed a special player for it.

The customer rolled his eyes at me like I was an idiot for even asking. Came back an hour later saying the disc was defective. I asked what happened, and he said it wouldn’t play in his car DVD player. I explained that it was a Blu-ray disc, not a DVD, and wouldn’t work in a standard DVD player. He said since it didn’t work he wanted a refund.

Our store had a policy that opened media was not returnable. We even had a whole spiel we gave at checkout where we highlighted the relevant portion of our return policy and had our customers sign it to verify we explained it to them. So I told him about this but then said, “Let me check with my manager, maybe we can do something”; he started hemming and hawing about it.

My manager didn’t budge. I felt for the guy. He thought he knew what we he was talking about and now was left with a $20 purchase he couldn’t use. He asked, “So what, it doesn’t work and now I can’t get my money back?” His attitude made me no longer feel for him. I said, “The only returns are for broken items and that’s a straight swap-out.”

He said, “Only broken, huh?” He picked up the disc. I had a brief moment of “wouldn’t it be funny if he broke the disc?” Well, he broke the disc. Cracked it into several pieces and then threw them at my face. That was a good first day. Reddit user: ZekeD