Randomly rotten customer service stories

The BBQ Pit
21

My parents have used the same dry-cleaners for years. Most of the loads are my mom’s work clothes, but my dad’s the one who does the drop-off and pick-up.

A couple months ago, Mom was putting away her dry-cleaning when she realized an expensive white blouse of hers was missing. She called and had what became a heated conversation with the guy in charge, who insisted:

1)They didn’t need to check their premises. She’d never dropped it off. She needed to check her closet because “You use your 'magination!”
2) They’d given it to my dad. “Your husband drop it in parking lot!”

A week or so later, it was in with their latest batch of dry-cleaning. Turns out Mom wasn’t psychotic, and Dad didn’t drop it in the parking lot.

22

Sure, that’s true, but she didn’t.

Project much? Who mentioned making a fuss? Asking politely for a resolution, and being told that no mistake was ever made, then leaving, isn’t making a fuss (it wasn’t even me).

I’m sorry, but if I buy and pay for something, I expect to get that. If you have stupid employees that can’t spell, don’t have them decorate cakes. Sure, it’s not going to kill me if I get a shirt missing a button or with a little stain on it, but if I paid full price, why shouldn’t I be a bit miffed?

23

A few months back I went to Circuit City to buy a stereo. I’d picked it out online and just wanted to pick it up and pay for it. Standing in the stereo section for 15 minutes, no help. I ask someone for help, he says he’ll send someone over. 10 minutes later, and no one has shown up. I stroll over to the CDs, five feet away from my stereo, and pick up a Prince 2-CD set while I’m waiting. Still no one has come over to help me with this stereo. So I take my CD to check out and let the clerk know that I had been willing to drop a couple hundred on a stereo, but I couldn’t get any help. The manager comes over, listens to my story, and snatches the CD out of my hand. He then proceeds to get the stereo out of stock, ring it up, and comp the CD. Then he bitches about the CD being $20 instead of the $10-12 he’d been expecting. Finally, I’ve got my stereo all paid for and I’m ready to leave. I go to the pick-up area and ask for help in getting my stereo to the car. The guy bitches about having to do it, actually asks me why I can’t take my stereo out myself. I have to explain to him that I’ve recently had abdominal surgery and am unable to lift it. Haven’t been back to Circuit City since, and have no plans to.

24

I have a pretty mild dry cleaning story… It does not involve screaming as requested in the OP. I get about 5 shirts laundered a week for business. I had been at a newer drycleaner for about 8 months (we had moved). When I went to pick up my shirts the owner started bitching at me that I had left a pen in the pocket and had stained a whole load of shirts including other people’s shirts. She said it had taken her hours to get the shirts clean. I was a little bit sorry that I had left the pen in the pocket, but this seemed to me to be a likely enough occurance that the drycleaner should probably check the pockets first. So I took my shirts and life went on. I was on a business trip about a week later and had the exact amount of shirts with me for the trip. When I put one shirt on it had blue stains from the pen.

So after the trip I go back to the cleaner to discuss the shirt. The owner said she had told me one of the shirts still had a stain (she did not). I felt the shirt was ruined. She said I could still wear it as the stain was hardly noticeable. I would have been happy if she would have given me a store credit for half the value of the shirt. It was clear no such offer was coming. She said she could re-clean the shirt, but it might be damaged with harsher cleaners. I think it was pretty clear to her that I left unhappy and probably would not be back. A store credit of $40 could have kept about $60 per month in revenue.

I went back to my old cleaner and asked the question “do you check pockets for pens before laundering shirts?” They said “of course.” I asked them to see what they could do with the stained shirt, the stain came out completely. I have switched back to the old dry cleaner. As an added bonus they had a small order of shirts waiting for me that I had completely forgotten about.

25

It depends on the defect. A spelling mistake on a cake is really no big deal (except, I would assume in some exceptionnal circumstances) and just worth a laugh, contrarily to, say, finding mold on the cake.

26

I wasn’t responding to your post, but to a comment made by someone else.

I was making a general comment, not attacking you.

A little stain might be difficult to fix, and you can not find a matching button, but a cake is intended to be eaten, and though I could see the point of complaining if the cake decoration was completely messed up and ugly, a spelling mistake isn’t even worth giving a phone call, in most circumstances, IMO. Asking for a whole new cake for a minor thing like that also seems a little over the top to me. Except maybe if you paid some exorbitant price for it and, as a result, could expect a very high quality product.

The mistakie might be “stupid” but we’re long away from an “insane”, let alone “evil” situation.

27

I haven’t been back there since a few years ago when I read about a ridiculously good deal on something I wanted (can’t remember what–a printer, maybe) in the paper early on Sunday morning, with the sale price starting that day. I drove over and went in right as they were opening up (I saw the guy unlock the door just before I walked in).

Inside, they had the price tag for the printer, with a “sale” tag, underneath an empty printer-sized space. “Oh, we’re out of those,” the guy said when I asked. They weren’t getting any more, either. They had plenty of more expensive printers right beside it, of course.

“So you’re telling me that the printer that went on a ridiculous sale today is already sold out before the first customer could even get to them, and you aren’t going to get any more, yet you went ahead and put out the “sale” price anyway?” I asked. “Is it possible you’re trying to bait and switch me?” He didn’t say yes, exactly, but he gave me a look that screamed, “Sorry, dude, I just work here.”

I thanked him for his time and never went back.

28

By the way, you want an example of an IMO good reason to be pissed off for a defective cake?

The one I bought once for new year’s Eve, and that contained eggs, after I specifically asked several times whether or not it did (and was assured it didn’t) and mentionned in no uncertain terms that I intended to eat it with a person severely allergic to eggs.

Fortunately, her “egg detector” worked, she spat the fist mouthfull and “merely” had an irritated throat and spent most of the new year eve’s night throwing up (as opposed to two weeks in the hospital the last time she had eaten a product containing eggs). Should I mention she didn’t ever buy any kind of cake (or eat a bought cake) since?
On the positive side, I got to eat the whole cake, and it was very good.

29

Well, since it was my comment that you quoted, I guess you were responding to me. I just don’t think that arguing with a customer when a mistake was made is the right way to go. Even if the customer did originally ask for a word to be misspelled (and surely if she had it would have been noted on the order form), and then changed her mind and kicked up a fuss, it takes two minutes and some icing to fix a mistake like that. I would think it would be better to fix it and keep someone’s business.

Besides, (IMHO) decorated cakes aren’t just food; they are usually also the centerpiece of the gathering. The fact that the cake was still edible doesn’t mean that the bakery should not have fixed the error.

And I agree with you, the egg thing could have been very dangerous and the fact that you were lied to is just beyond the pale.

30

I don’t think it was exactly a lie. I think she didn’t really know, or maybe asked to someone who wasn’t really sure and tell her “I don’t think there are eggs in it” or somesuch (I don’t remember if she asked someone else or not). It’s rather an issue of ignorance we were confronted with several times when she was my girlfriend.
A lot of people translate “allergic” as “might have, maybe, a pimple on the face tomorrow” not as “might be in a casket tomorrow if the emergency vehicle isn’t there quickly” and react accordingly. That is by thinking “I’m not going to waste my time with this high-maintenance annoying customer. This probably doesn’t contain eggs, anyway she likely won’t even notice if it does, that’s good enough” . I suspect that ignorance about severe allergies is much more widespread in France than in the USA. I wasn’t myself really aware of the issue before I met her (or more exactly before her allergic reactions became really severe, since it happened while we were together).

As for the spelling mistake on the cake, yes, it wouldn’t take much to fix it, but I still think it’s generally speaking not worth trying to have it fixed. I propose we agree to disagree and stop arguing about the issue.

31

Some of you may remember the grocery worker strike from about 2 years ago. When the strike was settled, one of the chains offered 10% of to “randomly” selected customers. Although I was one of them, my card wouldn’t always register the 10% off. The cashier would call a manager who would punch in the 10%. It took several visits for the whole thing to get resolved, but the cashiers and managers were always wonderful about it. From the experience I learned how they usually handle this situation.

A couple of weeks ago our local store had a huge re-opening event after spending the last 8 months remodeling. I got a brand new club card in the mail along with a flyer telling me I would receive 10% off of every purchase for the next two months. Sweet! I filled out the form (name, address, phone number) and took it in on my next shopping trip.

After a week of saving 10% without incident, I found myself without my card yesterday. Mr. EW had used it the night before and forgot to put it back in my wallet. I didn’t realize this until after the cashier was finished ringing up my cart full of groceries. No problem, I’ll just punch in my phone number.

Cashier: That phone number is invalid.
(I tried again)
Cashier: That phone number is invalid.
Me: I don’t have my card with me. Can you look it up since you don’t have my phone number in your system?
Cashier: No.
Me: Well, what can I do since you don’t have the phone number attached to my card?
Cashier: There’s nothing you can do. I can give you an application for a new card.
Me: My card has the 10% off until the end of August.
Cashier: There’s nothing I can do.

I pushed my card full of groceries aside and left. I searched my car hoping to find a receipt from the past two weeks showing my card number and the 10% off I had received. I ended up having to drive home (1.5 miles–not a big deal) to get my card.

When I returned to the store, I got back in her line and waited my turn. She glared at me.

Cashier: Your groceries have to be rung up all over again.
Me: That’s fine. You can re-ring them and call a manager for me.
Without saying a word, she flipped her light off, turned her register off, and stormed off. She returned with a manager.
Cashier: This lady didn’t have her card so she left without paying for her groceries and now they have to be rung up again.
Me (After explaining the previous conversation): She refused to help me. She said there was nothing she could do, but there was a lot she could have done.
Manager: What could she have done?
Me: She could have called a manager to over-ride the sale and give the 10% off. She could have referred me to the customer service desk so they could call and find out why my phone number isn’t coming up. She could have offered to finish the sale as is and refund the difference when I came back with my club card. There were lots of things she could have done, she chose to do nothing.

Yes, I know I could have done some of those things on my own. But without her help, I knew my groceries were going to have to be rung up a second time anyway. The quickest solution for me was going home. The quickest solution for her would have been calling a manager.

The manager took me to another register to ring up my groceries. He apologized for the cashier refusing to do anything for me.

I got to thinking about it later. I should have accepted the new card and just bought the soda that was in my cart. It is cheap, but there is a limit of 10 12-packs. A new card would have meant 20 12-packs for me!

32

We had something like that happen at a Pizzeria Uno once. Four or five of us had gone to lunch and they had the same sort of deal, lunch in fifteen minutes, with the timer on the table and everything. When the food didn’t show up in the allotted time and we tried to claim our free lunches, the waitress explained that one person at the table had ordered something that wasn’t on the “15 minutes or free” menu and because of that, the entire table was ineligible for the offer. :confused:

33

I’ve gotten ripped off on that 15 minutes or free deal in the past, too. Which makes me wonder: Do they ever actually honor it? Or is there always some excuse to avoid giving it to you?

34

My husband and I were eating at a Bennigan’s restaurant one night. I was wearing a sweater that was by no means racy at all. It was just a standard sweater, not revealing or flashy.

The waitress, whom I have never seen before in my life, comes over to take our order and she is standing slightly behind my right shoulder. Before we could order, she leans down to me and in a non-whispering, non-quiet voice voice says, “Hey girlfriend, why don’t you give me some of them titties!” and laughs maniacally, nudging me.

Both my husband and I just stared at each other, mouths open.

Now, I have big boobs but they’re not noticeably out of proportion or anything–I have a big butt too!

I just said, “Excuse me?” and she said that she was just kidding and took our order.

We complained to the management and he denied that his employees would do that. Why in the hell (and how!) could I make something up like that?

We never went back.

35

I wanted a widescreen TV a few years ago, so I watched the newspapers carefully for advertised prices. An electronics store advertised the TV I wanted for a great price, so I went into the store after I got off work. A sales associate told me they had no more in stock and didn’t expect to get any more.

I told the sales guy if the floor model had all the manuals and had a full warranty, I’d consider taking it at 10% off the advertised sale price. Haggling ensues, but I get what I want, with the caveat that I have to help the salesman move the TV from the 2nd floor down to the first. I figure that’s a good deal, so I agree. We hadn’t yet rung up the sale, but we would do that once we got the TV to the first floor.

Without getting into too much detail, while carrying it down to the first floor, the salesman managed to drop the TV on my finger, cutting it open to the bone and getting blood all over the place. Once I got my finger out from under the TV, things got worse.

The salesman handed me a bunch of paper towels and directed me to a bathroom. Another store worker brought me a bunch of Band-Aids, which I couldn’t yet use because my finger was gushing blood all over. I went into the bathroom and rigged up a makeshift bandage by wrapping the paper towels around my finger and wrapping about a dozen Band-Aids around it. When I got out of the bathroom, the first salesman was nowhere to be found. I eventually found him on the first floor helping another customer.

So I’m standing there, waiting patiently in pain for the salesman to finish up with these other customers while my finger continues to gush blood into the paper towels. About 10 minutes later, the salesman gets the hint that that I’m really pissed off and disengages with the other customers. I tell him that it was really inappropriate for him to try to make me wait after he had just cut open my finger, but I still wanted my TV. I told him I wouldn’t make a big deal about my finger if he would agree to give me the floor model at 50 percent off and if he would deliver it to my apartment for free. He agrees to this.

I go home, decide against getting stitches in my finger (bad mistake) and chill out. Someone from the store calls me, tells me my TV will be delivered the next day, and gives me the obligatory three hour window.

The next day, my three hour window comes and goes. The delivery guys show up two hours late in a massive delivery truck. Before double-parking the truck in front of my apartment, these guys manage to sideswipe another truck that was making a delivery in my area. While they’re screaming and yelling back and forth with the guy they hit, I’m sitting on my couch shaking my head, looking at my finger and telling myself the whole ordeal simply wasn’t worth it.

Today, the TV sits in my living room. It’s quite nice. I get compliments on it all the time. People ask me what I paid for it. I tell them, “You’d have to draw blood to get a better price.”

36

My wife often runs into this same problem with sugar in coffee. She and her cousin, another new mom, and a diabetic, often visit each other, and when they do, the vistor brings coffee to the “host.” My wife makes sure when she orders to specify exactly the additions to the coffee. More often than not, instead of splenda or “sweet & low” being added it’s straight sugar, still congealed on the bottom.

Usually, she notices before leaving (or driving off from the drive-through), and gets them to correct it, most often with :rolleyes: from the “workers”. Recently, it took 2 attempts at the drive through, then a visit inside the store (with our baby, the reason she went to the drive through in the first place), and they were still unable to get it right. This was AFTER she told the inside staff (and the manager) that this was unacceptable, and WHY!!!

Her cousin (and myself, though I’m not a diabetic, I am a diet-soda drinker) often also find that when ordering a soda, it often comes as “regular”, instead of the ordered diet, and I can’t tell you the :rolleyes: that she and I get about that.

Instead of just complaining that I want what I ORDERED, I often pull the diabetic card as well, mostly to (hopefully, though not likely) make the staff/management, realize how this could be a REALLY bad thing. Most of the time, they get the danger issue, but scoff and :rolleyes: at the “desire for the correct order.”

I’ve worked fast food, it’s not that tough to get the order right. I was underpaid then too, but I still took some pride in my work, even if it was lousy work. Work is work, do it right, or don’t do it at all.

-Butler

37

Hey I get to pull two seperate parts of this thread together!!

I’ve been to Applebee’s twice (never again) the second time was the "my food didn’t come for ever and ever mentioned in the OP, but the first time…

I was with my ex. At the time, she was a vegetarian. They don’t have much vegetarian at Applebee’s but she settled on a chicken pasta dish sans chicken.

The waiter brings it out and she takes a bite. She asks the watier if there was pepper in it, because she was allergic to it. He said no and walks away.

After a few bites, she tells me she’s pretty sure there’s pepper in it. I take a bite and can taste the pepper very strongly. (She wasn’t very allergic and just got a tingling in her mouth)

The manger comes by and we tell her what happened and she took it away and replaced it with a cheese pizza thing.

When the waiter came back and saw that the food had changed, we told him the dish did have pepper in it.

His response…

“Oh, well I didn’t really know”

You know, he could have said that in the first place.

38

Some friends of mine were getting married and had their wedding list in a swanky shop in town. In this shop, there is a special super swanky counter for customers who want to get copies of the wedding list for their friends. The day I was there, I counted seven staff behind the counter, all talking about where they were going at the weekend and who would be there, etc, etc. Fascinating, I’m sure.

There were also seven customers queueing up at the counter.

I became the eighth person in the queue. After observing the staff and the queue of customers for about oooh, must have been a whole minute, I said, in a pretty loud voice
“Is anyone actually serving here or should I have made an appointment?”

INSTANT ACTION

Three of these staff looked over at me and raised their eyes to heaven and carried on with their chat; two of them ran over to me - and I was the last body in an eight-person queue, let’s not forget. One of the staff glared at me and shouted
“INNAMINUTE” and vanished out the back and one of them said to me
“Well, excuse me, but it’s not even as if it’s your turn, Madam. You’ll have to wait” and walked to the front of the queue to address the first costomer, with a big smile plastered to her face for that lucky, lucky customer at the head of the queue.

What? Seven of them and not one of them knows that if there is a queue of people, it might be the thing to do to toddle over and find out what the customer might want?

Listen dolly with the big smile - I knew it wasn’t my turn, but it was you and your cohorts apparent belief that it was no-one’s bloody turn at all that I was querying.
And as for you two donuts who came over to see what the shouty woman wanted - get serving the people at the front of the queue, you brainless saps.

I did not buy anythign in that shop, I gave my friends money for their wedding present and told them the story. They complained to the manager and got vouchers for the shop.

God help then if they expect any of the shop assistants in the place to deign to actually take them off them, you know, in return for goods.

I wrote a letter to the manager to complain about it and never heard a word back. So the stupidity and incompetence comes from the top down.

39

As someone who works in a library and NEEDS that library card if patrons want to do something I can’t really sympathize. You forgot your card. That is your fault and after that there’s nothing the store should have to do. There’s something they could do, but otherwise, you’re out of luck.

All the rest of you, right on, customer service people are pretty dumb.

40

Justin_Bailey I am going to argue that a grocery store discount card is different then a library card. If I recall, isn’t a library card a valid form of ID? I’m pretty sure I can’t cash a check with my Albertsons card.

In fact, I never carry my Albertsons card on me, I just enter in my phone number. For a while my phone number wasn’t showing up and the cashiers would just scan the discount for me anyway.