This is precisely the type of thing you encounter while working in a bike shop. Of all the customer service roles you could ever work, working in a bike shop will confront you with some uniquely bewilderingly entitled experiences. The idea of “you haven't done enough for me for free” will somehow recur time and time again as 1-star reviews bombard you for going out of your way to help someone who doesn't understand how much they don't understand about their bike. Bonus points here for being bla…

You can't have your cake and eat it too—and the people who work for you are people, not cake. I don't really know exactly how to unpack that statement further… but let's just say that you shouldn't be surprised when your workers want greater compensation in exchange for the increased responsibility you've been giving them. If they're doing the job of a manager already, make them a bloody manager. The amount of hoops that retailers want their employees to jump through in order to achieve a promo…

There are glorious times in customer service when doing what the customer has asked necessitates doing technically nothing. It's a rare occurrence but oh-so-good when it happens to chance upon you. When this worker promised to give an angry Karen a refund, they did so by promising to refund the amount that it would cost them to park on the street: Nothing. This left the Karen happy to go merrily on their way, and with the problem now out of sight and out of mind, she was never the wiser. It's g…

Get ready for the oldest trick in the retail handbook: First, insist workers close and lock the doors precisely at closing—not a moment sooner, so that you don't miss any sales. Next, schedule workers' shifts to end precisely at closing time and make it as hard as possible for the workers to claim the inevitable overtime they accrue while trying to complete basic closing tasks that need to be completed after the doors are locked. If they try to claim five or ten minutes daily, just tell them th…

We've all had less than stellar encounters with customers, but coming across a one-star review about said encounter online isn't exactly a great feeling.

Working retail is the biggest soul sucking job known to man. Nobody grows up aspiring to be a cashier working the register, forced to endure customers's stupid jokes ("if it doesn't scan it's free, right?"), listening to mild pop music on loop, and surviving inadequately balanced AC. However maddening the endless onslaught of beeping barcodes, inventory nights, matching aprons, and dealing with incoming merchandise, the worst thing by far about working in retail are the Karens.

LOL

If you're going to be this confidently incorrect about something and then be rude when the person who knows what they're talking about tries to correct your mistake—you deserve whatever is coming to you. In this case, what's coming to you is a horrifically inconsumable sugary drink of the likes your tastebuds have never encountered before. When working in customer service, you end up dealing with these people quite often. Over time, instead of bending over backward to correct their mistakes (ge…

When this woman's phone memory filled up, she knew exactly where to go — back to the store she bought her phone from. Customers are usually convinced that they're correct, and that they know exactly what they're doing. So then the employee, who does this all day every day, is at the mercy of the customer, who is utterly unflappable. It's not fair to these retail workers , and of course, this happens in every industry. This employee shared their story to r/talesfromretail about a woman who showe…

Dealing with a demanding customer can be a nightmare—ask anyone in customer service. It's not as straightforward as you might think either—the more you bend and break for them, giving in to their demands, the more they will ask for in return. It's like a lion attacking a herd of wildebeest; the hunter can sense the weakness, and showing any will make you a greater target. Plus, if you actually manage to close a sale with these people, there is an infinitely greater chance that they will become…

The leave approval process exists for one reason and one reason only: To ensure that workers have a proper guarantee and assurance that they will be able to be absent on the submitted dates before spending money and making social commitments. It's a rather simple process, black and white, really; can the employee take leave or not? Yes or no? Well, this manager decided to introduce a whopping massive grey area into the middle of “Yes” or “No” by first saying yes, forgetting they had approved th…

This manager found their workload increased dramatically when their co-manager was fired for a ridiculous reason. They then had to operate the entire store alone, which was rife with unique issues. The boss continued to be pettier and pettier. When they finally hired a replacement co-manager, they expected the manager to "cut their hours" immediately, which led to the titular confrontation. This thread was posted to r/MaliciousCompliance by the manager in the story, Redditor u/A-Stackhouse. Whe…

When you deal with customers, no matter how big or small your operation is, there's the inevitable risk that, at some point, you'll stray across an unreasonable one. It's incredibly likely that your experience with this someone with culminate with them blaming you for problems and unhappiness of their own making while gesturing wildly in a manner reminiscent of a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man—just to be sure they've gotten their point across. If the experience doesn't end in an…

Anyone who has worked retail or otherwise dealt with customers knows all too well that customers generally will try anything and everything to get their way. This includes (but is not limited to) quoting irrelevant pieces of legislation, being generally aggressive, hurling insults, demanding a manager, and name-dropping the owner (or some other executive.) In the case of name-dropping, if you actually bother to bother the person whose name is being dropped, they'll usually have no idea who the…

All this over a screw?

Every retail or service person has learned the hard way why you don't make exceptions for customers and guests. It's always the customer you think is level-headed, sane, and “gets it” who ends up being a woefully entitled complainer, review bomber, and exceptionalist. These people will go feral on you and make your life a verifiable living hell for a few weeks until they've done the damage they're seeking and disappear into the void of their miserable existence to ruin someone else's day. The c…