Rule #1... the customer IS NOT always right! Something seems to happen to people when they are in the throws of a customer service excursion, they turn into psychos half the time. Being a civilized human being is a life basic. You don't get to take out your issues on others, especially on innocents who are merely trying to make an honest living.
Redditor u/Tdog454 wanted retail employees to commiserate with us asking.... Retail workers of Reddit, what was your 'GET THE FUCK OUT' experience with a customer?
Be civilized!
Two women came into the store screaming at each other. As I'm coming out from the back, I gather from the yelling that one had nearly hit the other's car. Nearly, but no actually incident had occurred. It was a busy Saturday, people are starting to stare. I'm trying to gather my wits, thinking how best to handle it, when my manager came flying in from nowhere. She just yells, "Either come in here and shop like people or go outside with the rest of the animals!" One left, one stayed. Triangle_Graph
9-1-1....
I worked in a T-Mobile store. A lady comes in screaming about how she bought a phone the previous day, didn't buy insurance and dropped it in a pool. She was demanding I give her a new phone for free. But, she wasn't even our customer. She was a Verizon customer. She screamed at me for about ten minutes demanding I call our manager. She then started yelling at other customers about how awful we were. Called the cops. Lucasaurusawesome
God Bless Radioshack workers....
Worked at Radioshack for 6 months while in college. Pretty much had at least one terrible experience per shift.
The one that stands out the most was a guy who wanted us to honor the warranty on his iPhone cable. The thing was a mutilated mess. It had clearly stopped working and he had tried to fix it himself by cutting the cable apart and attempting to solder two wires together.
We calmly explained that we couldn't process a claim for an item that was willfully destroyed, and he starts screaming in our faces about how "Radioshack is a scam!" and "I'm going to sue all of you!" And then he tries to WHIP my coworker (a 5 ft tall non-threatening woman) with the cable! She managed to turn her head and catch the wire with her hand before it caught her in the face. Myself and another employee chased him out of the store and called the police but nothing came of it.
Read my eyes....
GiphyWhen I worked in the tool department at Sears, a guy wanted to get a replacement on his tape measure. I couldn't replace it because it was the tape that was screwed up due to the guy mistreating it and not caring cause "Sears will replace it for free."
Dude threatened to go out to his truck and get his gun, come back in and "shoot you points at me, you points at my manager who had taken over already, and you points at my coworker who was standing nearby."
I gave him the "why haven't you done it yet?" look and he left. When I worked at sears, I was ready to die. AnalLeaseHolder
Dude really?!
Had a toy collector bully a child for the last popular children's toy we had in stock. Like dude, we aren't the only toy store here and yelling at a 7 year old for a toy makes you look bad in any accounts.
Banned him from our store and he keeps coming back but we got one guy to deal with him, he's not easy miss at all, nearing 400 pounds and looking like that Warcraft player from South Park. illogicalfuturity
HUSH!!
When the old guy I was serving kept looking at my chest and making creepy facial expressions, I asked him if he wanted a drink or he was just going to keep staring. He excitedly put his hands out and went 'oh, I can do more than stare!' and tried to walk behind the bar to grab my chest. I told him to get the hell out, to which he seemed very shocked and outraged so I just started to loudly shout back to him 'sir, please do not try to grope my chest. You need to leave' over and over until the rest of the bar was staring and he was panicked, whispering for me to please be quiet. So the wife I didn't know he came with wouldn't hear him. Can only imagine the argument that unfolded while she was dragging him out. orangelego
You've lost more than a receipt!
It couldn't have been more obvious that a guy was trying to return stolen merchandise. He "lost" the receipt, didn't know when it was purchased, paid with cash so we couldn't just easily look up the transaction on a credit card.
He said he would call his friend to ask if they knew when it was purchased, and then he took out his iPhone and without pressing a button started to talk on it. I was like... I can clearly see the home screen with no call happening.
When he "got off the phone" I got a little bold and in my best retail manager voice said something to the effect of, "oh that's cool! Is that a new update where you can talk to someone without actually calling them?" He left after that. gsg4n1
Not here Satan!
I had a customer who used a racial slur to describe one of my employees for no other reason beyond the fact that he saw them and was offended that "one of them" was doing their job by doing the oil change that he came to us to do. I told him to apologize to my employee or we will push his car right out of the bay without oil. He refused, and we did just that. Told him he's more than welcome to buy his own oil and finish his oil change himself, and that he will be charged double for all services here on out if he comes into my store.
I had no problem telling this racist jack@ss to go f**k himself. LuciditySam
I WILL BE 'TATTOOED!'
GiphyI used to work the reception desk at a tattoo shop. I had MANY gtfo moments but the one that stands out was a dude coming in with his girlfriend to get his name tattooed on her. She looked terrified, wouldn't make eye contact with me, didn't talk directly to me, and barely spoke. The whole conversation was the dude giving me her license and saying "SHE wants MY name tattooed on to her." I took way more info from both of them than I needed and tried to get the woman to come in back alone so I could talk to her, but boyfriend wouldn't have it. I eventually went back and got the shop manager (big dude) and told him what was up. I came back to the counter and lied saying we didn't have walk-ins that day and dude got pissed. I started yelling, shop manager came out and physically removed them from the shop. I called the cops and provided all the info I had. Was basically told they couldn't do anything unless it was self-reported. I still think about the woman all the time.
Was basically told they couldn't do anything unless it was self-reported. I still think about the woman all the time. killersim
No McDonalds for you!
GiphyI worked at McDonalds in 1997 and we had Beanie Babies as happy meal toys at one point. It was insane.
They literally had to buy a security cage to keep the toys locked down in the back. They were delivered with a security escort. People were ordering "100 happy meals with no food" because we couldn't sell the toys by themselves.
One day I heard a commotion up front and found my high school counselor reaching across the counter grabbing one of the owners by the shirt because we were out of the pink flamingo. I'll never forget the look in her eyes. She had to be dragged out. It's scary how easy it can be to work people up into a frenzy. fernyer
No drinking and Shopping!
I work in a Dutch 24/7 gas station. This German kid (20-25 yo) came in the shop drunk (while driving). Looked for beer (which we are not allowed to sell), and got all mad that I hid the beers. He wanted to start a fight and he wanted to drive off in his car.
That was impossible since I locked the door and alerted the cops. He lost his drives license and got a huge fine, which he had to pay instantly. What an a**hole. Cantinabandsong
Just Plain Cruel....
The one that jumps out to me was when a customer was trying to return a wall mount that was six months out of policy. He was being snide and verbally abusive to the customer service rep, saying things like "I know you can do this, I return stuff out of policy all the time." Or "well, if you weren't so stupid this would be done by now."
He ended up making her start to cry when he said "Jesus, are you retarded??" Well, she worked with special needs kids as a volunteer and this pushed her over the edge. I walked over to him and told her to go into the back and asked him why he thinks it's okay to talk like that. I'm guessing since I'm a male and a manager he decided to be respectful. I was pissed off beyond belief at how he'd made her cry though so I cut off his explanations and told him to get out. He said "now hold on, let's all calm down-" and I grabbed my radio piece and told my security to go ahead and get the police on the way down there for someone trespassing. He left so fast at that comment that he forgot his wall mount. Fool. Reddit
Hang Up!
GiphyThis was over the phone, the customer was unhappy with their purchase so I sent another one out to them in case it was defective. He calls me later that week saying the new one had the same problem and he would get violent if it wasn't solved. He was in his 80's but I said you know what we will come pick it up, and you can buy from somewhere else. Not worth the hassle for a little commission. mastad0420
Gotcha!
When they try a quick change scam. Here's how it works There are many variations on it.
It happened to me once. After the transaction, something didn't feel right about it so I called my supervisor. We reviewed the security footage and I was in fact taken for $20. The guy came back two weeks later and tried it again with another employee and she was tricked as well. He came by a third time and his trick didn't work since we were all wise to it now. The owners and my supervisor immediately rushed downstairs and chased the guy for a couple of blocks. Tumbling-Dice
This Buck is for you!
I used to work for Qwik Lube in Alaska for a boss named John who was a decent manager and enjoyed handling customers. He was professional and kind and knowledgeable but LOVED to tell the couple stories of customers he told off.
The coldest move was a customer who was berating him. Customer reached out and stuffed a business card into John's shirt pocket, demanding to SEE THE BOSS RIGHT NOW. John said he took the card back out, shoved it THAT guy's pocket, and said "the buck stops here get the hell out of my shop."
I've carried that as a reminder that professionals take crap as part of their job, but nobody should take too much. any_means_necessary
No More Potato Salad!
I worked at a BBQ restaurant for my first job. We had a take out area where the customer can watch you cut the meat and pack the side dishes. The girl at the register rang up a quart of potato salad when the customer asked for pasta salad, so I pack potato salad. When the customer received his order he look through it and flipped when he saw potato salad and started screaming at me go figure. Unbeknownst to all of us the owner of the store heard the commotion and was on the other side of the swing door behind me which had a small window. The angry customer decided to throw a quart of potato salad at me which I ducked to avoid. It splattered against the window on the swing door as the owner was looking out of it. He burst through the door (he is 6'4 and very built), grabbed this scrawny dude by his shirt collar and he had straight fear in his eyes. My boss literally threw him out the door. Went back to the register to ask the girl what his totally was, grabbed the cash, and tossed it out the door at the angry customer as he was collecting himself off the ground. It was an awesome scene.
The angry customer decided to throw a quart of potato salad at me which I ducked to avoid. It splattered against the window on the swing door as the owner was looking out of it. He burst through the door (he is 6'4 and very built), grabbed this scrawny dude by his shirt collar and he had straight fear in his eyes. My boss literally threw him out the door. Went back to the register to ask the girl what his totally was, grabbed the cash, and tossed it out the door at the angry customer as he was collecting himself off the ground. It was an awesome scene. thisisinput
You're the 1!
GiphyA guy I knew who worked at Dunkin' Donuts would use the line: "my manager says I only get to tell one customer to f**k off a year, and I'm not gonna waste it on you." Not quite the the right type of answer, but relevant. Bootstrings
You're Ugly on the Inside....
He got in my face, physically, to intimidate me. When I didn't back down, he resorted to telling me I'm fat and unpleasant. All because he wanted a free replacement of a 15 year old item that he'd used to hell and back. Things is, if he'd be a normal human and not put his weasly face kissing distance from mine while yelling and spraying his spittle everywhere— I'd have worked something out for him. Instead he has a life long ban from my whole company.
Like, what made him think he could run up on me? Like that would work out for him in some way. I don't know how I had the strength not to Hit him. msblackwine
Too Fishy....
Colleague was cleaning the front of the fish tanks (pet shop) and one of them had this weird stuff on it that smeared as she wiped it. Asked me what the hell is this. It wasn't there when I was catching fish about 10 minutes ago... I have this awful realization... I go check check the cctv and sure enough I see what I knew I would see, even though I was really hoping not to. A guy masturbating on it. Onto the fish tank.
W. T. F.
I recognized him as he was hanging around earlier. Worse, I had to clean this up myself as no way did my young minimum wage colleague deserve to deal with that!!Needless to say next time he showed his face, I banned him from the store right there and then. My voice was a little loud.
...shudder... :(
TLDR: guy liked our fish a bit too much. Cleanup was required. Banning was also required. Wolfsabre
Faith Restored!
I had a customer threaten to call the cops because I wouldn't give them 50% off of a CHARITY bear on boxing day. 100% of the proceeds from these teddy bears went to the Make A Wish foundation and they were only $15. The store had a 50% off everything sale for boxing day, but it didn't include the CHARITY bears. I add capitals because it's a charity bear... it's purpose is right in the name!
I basically just kept saying "ma'am...it's a charity bear..." because I didn't know how else to explain that the point of the bear was to raise money... that seemed... obvious. People in line were starting to get really upset with her and she just started to freak right out and was starting to dial 911. My boss, so upset (she lost a son early in life to cancer so make a wish was important to her) just gave her a bear and told her to never come back. A bunch of familiar customers of ours were so upset they pitched in the $15 without us even saying anything which was super kind of them. It was a restoration of faith in humanity, but what a nightmare for no reason. Especially on boxing day! Lady_Of_The_Shadows
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.