The Official Bad/Strange Customers Thread

[Reeyal]

I work in the IT field, so quite often, I receive calls about computing related problems. There are two things that completely drive me up the wall.

1. Ill mannered: A caller who is seeking help with his computer but starts screaming in my ear while calling the computer a piece of shit. Someone people just don't understand that when you're seeking support, it doesn't help to yell at the guy who is trying to help you. Oh, don't mind if I surf the web while I put you on hold.

2. Asking for opinion. When someone asks for my professional opinion on a subject, this person starts arguing with me because he doesn't like my opinion. WTF. Why ask for my opinion in the first place... It seems like you're already made-up your mind. Stop wasting my time.

[Reeyal]

Originally Posted by tool001

not my workplace but....

a moron walked into a bestbuy and asked them to pay for his time he spent waiting for them to install WIN10..

Good one. I remember this thread.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by Reeyal

I work in the IT field, so quite often, I receive calls about computing related problems. There are two things that completely drive me up the wall.

1. Ill mannered: A caller who is seeking help with his computer but starts screaming in my ear while calling the computer a piece of shit. Someone people just don't understand that when you're seeking support, it doesn't help to yell at the guy who is trying to help you. Oh, don't mind if I surf the web while I put you on hold.

2. Asking for opinion. When someone asks for my professional opinion on a subject, this person starts arguing with me because he doesn't like my opinion. WTF. Why ask for my opinion in the first place... It seems like you're already made-up your mind. Stop wasting my time.

Couldn't agree with you more. I work in support too. Customer just don't get it. The more you yell and the more you scream the less likely we will help you and we will follow everything by the books even if we could help you when we don't have to.

I also stop giving opinion. Simple people either keeps asking or they argue with you. Pretty much I just said I am not sure or better check online. Save me the hassle.

Some of the bad customers I have to deal with:

1. Chinese people. They call in and the first thing you hear is "Chinese! Chinese! Chinese! Chinese!" So do you want someone who speaks chinese? Do you want to tell me you are a Chinese? What do you want? If you can't learn to speak simple English you shouldn't be here. Also don't just assume the person picking up the phone will be a Chinese and starts speaking Chinese right off the bat. That's rude. And no I can't book in you today if you just call. Our schedule are pretty much all book up in a week. And no paying me or the tech extra money out of your pockets will get you a faster time. This isn't China money can't buy everything.

2.People who say they are not tech savy and needs a service tech for everything. No what I ask you to do doesn't need you to be tech savy. Most of the stuff requires you just a few simple instructions IE power cycle the router. You have no idea the amount of people who said they have no idea what's a power cycle and that's right after I explain all that means is unplug the power from your router for 15seconds and plug it back in. I had people who ask how do I unplug the power cord their router? Not sure how to tell you in simpler terms..... And no I won't book a service tech to come to your suite to power cycle your router. Saying you are not tech savy and won't do any trouble shooting will earn you a service call a week later. You didn't want to do a thing that means you don't really care so you can wait. There are people with actual issue so they come first.

3. People who wants more promo. Basically if you call and ask for one I will give you one but don't try to push for more because our promo policy is standard. No one is going offer you more than what we can. And yes we can see your account history so don't try to lie and said I haven't had a promo for x months x years so I deverse more. No you don't coz you just got off a promo a month ago and I will say that in your face when you had your promos and how long and I will tell you how many times you have a promo with us. Don't lie about it.

4.Customer with sleepy ears. If I explain something to do it means it is important at least pay some attention to it. I know you don't want to talk to me on the phone so I will make it quick. If I explain something and ask question about it I know you didn't pay attention and I am going to explain everything from the beginning just so you are aware. It covers my ass in the long run.

5. Customers who screams and yells. Sorry the more you act like that the less we want to help you. In fact it makes up want to come up with every excuse not to help you and stick to the policy.

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by OGCStrike

Was asking for key fob prices at the store in Parker place for my dad.

then a mainlander kid just comes in waving his mercedes keys around, and just yells to the guy who was serving me. didn't even give a single shit that there was someone there before him. was just standing there for a good 5 minutes while rich boy was getting his issues fixed

Proves money can't buy class.

I would push him aside and tell him line up like everyone else.

[mk1freak]

we had a couple young guys eat in the restaurant, i was doing admin so I was just sitting there at a table close by.
I was shooting the shit with them as they were from out of town and staying in the hostel.
Anyways found out the were here for a few days, they ordered a big lunch and I let them eat their food.
They finished and were acting shady, turned out as soon as the wait staff were in the back they said bye to me and walked out without paying.
I lol'd, not only were they staying in the hostel for another day but they didnt know I was part of the restaurant.
I decided to use this situation to teach the current wait staff on the importance of keeping an eye out on things (shit like this is common) and that i'd let the guys ride until tomorrow when i'll go collect.
Next day as I was coming back to work I see the guys smoking out back. I asked them how their sightseeing went and if they met any vancouver girls and we laughed and shot the shit.
Right when I was about to leave i said "
Oh btw, I'm in management in that restaurant you walked out of yesterday without paying,
I've already got your names and CC info from the staff upstairs and if you return to pay and apologize to the waitress I won't be calling police"
The look on their faces when I said that was priceless. Needless to say one of the guys came back to pay and apologize.
I love my work.

[CorneringArtist]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

5. Customers who screams and yells. Sorry the more you act like that the less we want to help you. In fact it makes up want to come up with every excuse not to help you and stick to the policy.

This I understand, but when I had to call Telus FIVE TIMES to get a constantly cutting connection fixed, I was pretty damn angry. Otherwise, I try my best to be co-operative and reasonable since I work in customer service as well.

[320icar]

We had a car in the shop last week. Vehicle comes in and doesn't have a wheel lock. So we wait for the member to get it and come back. He went back to his mechanic which the vehicle was just at with like 10 wheel locks. One fit. But one wheel bolt (the locking one) was missing from the front left.

So we do the tire change, and then on the left front the wheel will not bolt back on. We try all 4 wheels and none of them fit. Upon further inspection, the hub on the left front has been hammered and pried against and is oval'd.

We call the member and within seconds he had his mechanic on the phone (must be friends) and the mech starts yelling at me over the phone "I've been doing this for 50 years, you guys fucked up etc. Apparently the member just had the suspension worked on, and the castle nut on the axle/hub was clearly brand new. So obviously the mechanic who worked on it fucked it up. Since we are a nice shop, we offer to pay for the tow truck to bring it to whatever shop the member wants, but that's where it ends as it has nothing to do with us. He leaves happy.

Next day he comes in screaming for over an hour because his (clearly his buddy) mechanic says we did it.... All we do is tire changes... Nothing to do with hammering and prying on a wheel hub. So we said fuck it, if you want money from us you can fight our insurance company lol

[Reeyal]

Originally Posted by CorneringArtist

This I understand, but when I had to call Telus FIVE TIMES to get a constantly cutting connection fixed, I was pretty damn angry. Otherwise, I try my best to be co-operative and reasonable since I work in customer service as well.

I think most of us get upset because we know something should work but it's not clearly working, and we don't know why. I've gotten aggravated many times. What I've been doing, and it seems to be working, is to walk away for an hour or two and come back with a clear mind. This keeps me sane... every work day.

[6o4__boi]

Originally Posted by Reeyal

I work in the IT field, so quite often, I receive calls about computing related problems. There are two things that completely drive me up the wall.

1. Ill mannered: A caller who is seeking help with his computer but starts screaming in my ear while calling the computer a piece of shit. Someone people just don't understand that when you're seeking support, it doesn't help to yell at the guy who is trying to help you. Oh, don't mind if I surf the web while I put you on hold.

2. Asking for opinion. When someone asks for my professional opinion on a subject, this person starts arguing with me because he doesn't like my opinion. WTF. Why ask for my opinion in the first place... It seems like you're already made-up your mind. Stop wasting my time.

Yup. I especially hate the ones that keep interrupting and acting like THEY'RE the experts (bitch, why the fuck did you call in the first place?) after every suggestion i say.

[Ronin]

"Alright, sounds like you have everything under control since you're an expert. Have a nice day, sir."

[Impreza]

Originally Posted by CorneringArtist

This I understand, but when I had to call Telus FIVE TIMES to get a constantly cutting connection fixed, I was pretty damn angry. Otherwise, I try my best to be co-operative and reasonable since I work in customer service as well.

Same here, most of the time I'm ok over the phone but things just bug me when CS give me th run around. one time I had to call Rogers to fix some issues with my bill, took a few month to get the amount right, they keep giving me the answer your bill will be fix by next month and you will get a credit for this month. But there was one month I called in and they changed some stuff on my file and after I hung up I went online to look at my statement and to make sure my packages were still right. But I can't log in. I called again and they said I never signed up for online account and will not be able to look at my account until next month. I got pissed and asked to talk to the manager and it got no where as they stood on I never applied for an online account. It got nowhere. The next day my account work. I did not sign up again. I think they somehow deleted my account and gave me the runaround.

[Raid3n]

Originally Posted by CorneringArtist

This I understand, but when I had to call Telus FIVE TIMES to get a constantly cutting connection fixed, I was pretty damn angry. Otherwise, I try my best to be co-operative and reasonable since I work in customer service as well.

i meant to ask you about that, did my suggestion work?

[ae101]

i duno about u guys but most of the CS on phone are all lazy mother fuckers

i remember i signed up for telus $30 home bundle (i dont remember if it was $30) right before the vancouver winter olympics

the store says my area is available for installment, but when i phone telus they told me my area is not available for installment

i called back & forth while i going to the telus store back & forth, it drove me nuts..........it was to the point where i was gonna tell them that i would call olsen on your side (now called steel on your side)

i had one month of no tv & internet service cuz both parties left me hanging, also telus ppl said they i have to pay them if i switch to another provider when i didnt even have my service installed yet

i went back to shaw for a while in till they phone me up & have me a free xbox 360 & hp laptop without paying extra (as i was going to cancel my phone service with them & go bundle in all with shaw)

[Raid3n]

lol those "gifts" aren't free. the cost for them is built into year 2 and 3 of your 3 year contract.

[Dragon-88]

Plus who the hell wants an HP laptop..

[The_AK]

Not really a bad customer experience but an ongoing event at work. I work at a fairly large retail chain's head office and more often than not I'd be in the bathroom sitting on the throne only to get interrupted by the cleaning lady midway with a broken English "Hello?", her way of signaling for me to gtfo since she would be entering soon to perform her clean up. Well just now I got the usual "Hello?" only for me to respond with the usual "Hello" back except this time she proceeded to enter and commence cleanup. So here I am now sitting on the shitter writing this waiting for her to finish up...

[Impreza]

Today I was having lunch with my wife and kids at Churches Chicken on Slocan and Kingsway and was sitting facing the side enterence. (Not the cashier one). I see this Asian woman look in the window as she was looking for someone. After a bit of peeping in she open the door grabbed the newspaper I top of the garbage can and booked it out to a gray QX not sure which model, but it looks fairly loaded. I think I saw camera on the front grill. Talk about cheap. Have loads of money but won't spend a few dollars on a newspaper.

[underscore]

Originally Posted by ae101

i duno about u guys but most of the CS on phone are all lazy mother fuckers

There's regular lazy, and then there's the fuckers at Dell I've been dealing with for the last few months. A few times I've actually had someone pick up the phone after I go through their menus, and then just hang up on me without a word (but I can hear the background noise in the call centre).

[underscore]

The best story I can remember at the moment was from when I worked at a patriotic store that rhymes with Cambodian Fire. I worked auto parts, which was pretty neat being a car guy and all, but sometimes we got the absolute stupidest possible people coming in. One day this girl that looked to be in her early twenties comes in with her friends, asking for something like brake pads or a bulb for her car.

Me: "Not a problem, what kind of car?"
Her: "A Saab."
Me: *types it in* "Ok, what model?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "Alright well there's two options here, a 900 and a 9000, do either of those ring a bell?"
Her: "Err no, not really."

A bit odd, but not the first time I'd heard that, so I tell her to go get her insurance papers from her car, since I figure if she doesn't know the model she won't know the year either, and that's the easiest way to get both.

Her: "Oh, I don't have them with me."
Me: "Okay well that's the easiest way to get the info we need. Could you maybe go and get them? We're open for a few more hours."
Her: "Well no, they're at home."

Now until this point, I assumed she was a local, and just a bit daft. However the look on her friends face made me realize I wasn't correctly assessing the level of her stupidity.

Friend: "Wait, they're at home?"
Her: "Yes."
Friend: "At your moms house?"
Her: "Yes?"
Friend: "...in Ontario?"
Her: "Uh, yes?"

Apparently for whatever reason she had driven herself and her friends in their Saab (which ended up being a 900, as we learned after a quick phone call to her mom that ended while I was waving frantically trying to stop her from hanging up as I still needed the year, which ended up being 1992 after phone call number 2, if my memory serves correct) all the way to BC with no insurance or registration papers of any kind. Eventually I got them whatever part they had come in for and sent them on their way, I still wonder sometimes if they finished their trip without any incident or if they ended up spending a bunch of time trying to explain to a police officer what they were doing in BC with a car on Ontario plates with zero paperwork.

[yray]

Got a call to do a price check. Customer thought the item A was 1.49 but the checkout price was 1.99. She kept arguing she saw it was 1.49.

Went to do a visual check and it clearly said only item A was 1.49. Item B is 1.99.

Cashier tells her the truth, she starts throwing a temper tantrum , I lol'd and went back to do a 5k sale.

[Jmac]

We didn't even bother checking if the difference was less than a dollar unless they were buying multiples. $0.50 isn't worth anyone's time or the customer's potential dissatisfaction.

Cashier would just take a note, get someone to check it later.

[JHatta]

Spoiler!

Originally Posted by yray

Got a call to do a price check. Customer thought the item A was 1.49 but the checkout price was 1.99. She kept arguing she saw it was 1.49.

Went to do a visual check and it clearly said only item A was 1.49. Item B is 1.99.

Cashier tells her the truth, she starts throwing a temper tantrum , I lol'd and went back to do a 5k sale.

You left a $5,000 sale to do a meaningless price check?

[vixroar]

Originally Posted by yray

Got a call to do a price check. Customer thought the item A was 1.49 but the checkout price was 1.99. She kept arguing she saw it was 1.49.

Went to do a visual check and it clearly said only item A was 1.49. Item B is 1.99.

Cashier tells her the truth, she starts throwing a temper tantrum , I lol'd and went back to do a 5k sale.

Wait, so the customer was right?

[yray]

Originally Posted by JHatta

Spoiler!

You left a $5,000 sale to do a meaningless price check?

Customer has to come a few times before the deal is set. They were here before so I let them loose and do other crap like answer the phone.

Originally Posted by vixroar

Wait, so the customer was right?

Nope, the cashier told them price in the computer is right and it is displayed as such. Cashier manager came up to check and he gave a and I was like .

[Impreza]

Originally Posted by Jmac

We didn't even bother checking if the difference was less than a dollar unless they were buying multiples. $0.50 isn't worth anyone's time or the customer's potential dissatisfaction.

Cashier would just take a note, get someone to check it later.

But sometime it is hard to do that if you have no power to override the price. I sometime work with customers at my work and if it is that small I would just change it right away, but I deal with return customers in my business.