# Work rants- bring your worst clients, customers, and coworkers. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634 "2007-04-25T19:35:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/61 "2007-04-27T04:14:29Z")
And you can’t expect me to meet a deadline if you keep changing your fucking mind for no reason! Dumbass! ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/62 "2007-04-27T04:24:57Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] Consistently, at Walgreens, my worst customers–the ones I greet with a smile on my face and “oh shit” in my heart as they come up to my register–are the middle-aged women, black or white, doesn’t matter, who have a whole shopping cart full of crap…and a fistful of coupons. It isn’t the **old** ladies with coupons, because they know exactly what they want, and it’s only a few things, and they don’t have issues. They boost the blue shopping basket with the raisins and the mandarin oranges up onto the counter, hand over the coupons, and they’re done. [/QUOTE] Christ. I’m sorry. I thought it was bad waiting behind these women for 10 minutes just so I can buy a fucking candy bar or something for $2. Who the hell spends $50 at Walgreen’s? Go to Target! It’s right down the street, 10% cheaper, has more than two employees in the building _and_ more than one cash register! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/63 "2007-04-27T13:03:33Z")
I spend nearly all my time these days calling clients because they didn’t fill out the form right. And before you think, “Maybe it’s a problem with the form”, I mean I’m calling people up and saying, “Hey, we got those biopsy slides you sent…wouldja mind telling us what part of the patient’s body they came from and oh, by the way, what’s your fax number, and is anyone going to pay us for this?” We get cases with post-its on them that basically say, “Dr. Smith wants this reviewed kthxbye.” :rolleyes: Gee, I wonder if that’s the _famous_ Dr. Smith. I think I’ve heard of him…oh no wait. I haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/64 "2007-04-27T17:51:07Z")
My main beef with customers is when I ask them a question and they try to interpret it and answer what they think I want to know…instead of answering the question I have actually asked them. Examples; “Has your business received any advertising in the mail from us?” “I have a friend who uses your services.” Well, that is very nice and we appreciate referrals, but that isn’t what I asked. “How many employees are there in your business?” “We want to cover two people.” That is also very nice, but not what I asked. Please people, just answer the actual question you were asked! Oh oh, another related point. It is usually quite clear if a question is meant to be answered with a yes or no. When such a question is asked, it is not neccessary to spend 45 seconds to a minute or more answering. When I ask, for example, if there is an email address that I can forward the documents to…I do not need a full explanation of how you are having computer issues, don’t know how to use email and that your second cousin twice removed will be teaching you how six months from now. A simple no would suffice. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/65 "2007-04-27T19:13:52Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] It is usually quite clear if a question is meant to be answered with a yes or no. When such a question is asked, it is not neccessary to spend 45 seconds to a minute or more answering. When I ask, for example, if there is an email address that I can forward the documents to…I do not need a full explanation of how you are having computer issues, don’t know how to use email and that your second cousin twice removed will be teaching you how six months from now. A simple no would suffice. [/QUOTE] On the other hand, if I asked “Is there an email address we can forward things to?” I would be less than satisfied if the person answered, “Yes.” ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/66 "2007-04-28T02:50:39Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] What fucking world do these people come from where the proper response to “thank you” is _another fucking “thank you”_? Let me help you out, asshole: on my planet, it is customary to respond to “thank you” with “you’re welcome”. If you’re going to be an asshole, don’t say anything at all, or say “you’re welcome” in another language, or make something up, or even flip me off. Don’t be a jackass and thank me for thanking you. That’s not how it works. [/QUOTE] But don’t you see that this is totally arse-around? You’re doing something for me, not vice versa. I thank you, because I really appreciate this coffee (because my day has been crap / I’ve had customers scream at me / my boss has given me a last-minute assignment / it’s a lovely day and coffee just makes it THAT much better) … for whatever reason, your smiling face and delicious cappuccino have brought some extra goodness to my day. So thank _you_. 🙂 Whether you appreciate being thanked is another issue, and one I can’t help you with … but the thanks are genuine. And no, I won’t say ‘_You’re welcome_’ because that, in my mind, turns you into a servant - someone who should be \*thankful \*that I’m giving their unworthy selves the opportunity to provide me with coffee. That’s not how I feel about it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/67 "2007-04-28T03:36:54Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] **Urine Stream** [/QUOTE] Oh, burn! You really got me there. How old are you? ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/68 "2007-04-28T04:47:10Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] Oh, burn! You really got me there. How old are you? [/QUOTE] Well I’m glad that you saw the validity of my comments. It’s nice to see that you’ve learned how to use capital letters. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/69 "2007-04-28T07:07:43Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Put the " after the . Like this: ." I use “hacker style” (not British style): if the punctuation was originally part of the quote I’ll put it inside the quote marks, but if I added it I put it outside of the quote marks. This comes from \*nix systems. In vi, God’s gift to the text editor world, pressing the period key repeats the last command you ran, so picture the effect of this hacker-style manual line: > [@Hypothetical vi manual](#): > > To delete a line, press “dd”. Versus the effect of this American-style manual line: > [@College teacher's vi manual](#): > > To delete a line, press “dd.” If the user took this at face value and tried to delete a line by typing “dd.”, he would delete _two_ lines. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when you’re dealing with code you can break a program that way. So I use hacker style to eliminate confusion, even at the most mundane level. I give this explanation to every teacher who claims my punctuation is wrong, and I refuse to change it even if they take points off. > [@Elza B](#): > > Okay, I’m guilty of this, but only because our Walgreens is NOTORIOUS for advertising sale prices and then not delivering at the cash register. And if it’s a difference of paying $6.99 vs. $3.99 for my sinus meds, you’re darn right I’m going to argue about it. > > This has happened three times to me in the past two weeks, and every time, I’ve been right on the sale price. Hey, sale pricing is serious business. In California, advertising the wrong price can mean the state (or county, whichever is running the sting) seizes the items and sells them for 100% profit. At a store like Walgreens, losing 20 boxes of $7 sinus meds can be a big deal–$140 of shrink is no laughing matter! > [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > Perhaps the caffeine industry is not the best fit for you. I actually like my job, for the most part, and anyway it doesn’t factor into my long-term ambitions. I like to think I don’t let my irritation at the little things affect my customer service. I’ve had enough compliments on my service skills and salesmanship that I think I have it under control. > [@Astroboy14](#): > > Dude, I can get LSD in my coffee? 'Cause I can be in the car in like 2 minutes… what coffee shop do you work at? I’m so there! I wish! Not gonna happen at my coffee shop (we can only sell drugs to our coworkers 😉 ); it sounds like a particular notorious coffee shop at UCSD is a better fit for you. (Never been, but I’ve heard you’re more likely to get extra “sugar” in your coffee a la Starsky and Hutch.) > [@tdn](#): > > Can you explain this one to me? I answer “thank you” with “thank you” all the time. Silly me, I thought I was being extra polite, and thanking the person for their fine service. But evidently I was being an asshole, and doing things the “wrong” way, and being a jackass. (Insert several other misguided posters with their hearts in the right place.) No, if it were “thank _you_”, with emphasis on the word “you”, that would be perfectly cromulent (and extra polite, as you say). Instead, it’s a flat “thank you”, exactly like the one I give out with the coffee. The impression it gives is that I’m being completely ignored. The weird thing is this doesn’t just happen every once in a while, when a customer gets distracted, or as an act of malice by a few assholes–almost everyone does this, almost every time. I can’t figure it out. > [@Jodi](#): > > So FYI: The lunch is not for random people who happen to work in the building. Buy your own damn food. And to _my_ coworkers: when the cafe puts out samples of upcoming seasonal products for other employees, it’s not for the purposes of staging an eating contest. One day we had to sample out enough of the upcoming summer products for everybody _three times_ before the sweet, timid employee who’s–get this–_busy doing her job_ instead of running to the back room to stuff her face, got to try them. She’s not a doormat, but she’s too nice to consider it an affront when she gets shorted, so we finally had to actually sneak samples out to her to keep them safe from the vultures. If you drink a (discounted) mocha and have a (discounted) chocolate doughnut and still need a plateful of cookie and milkshake samples to satiate your sweet tooth, it’s time to consider switching from pot to cigarettes before work. > [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > You’re doing something for me, not vice versa. Au contraire. I make cappucinos all day long for all kinds of people. And you could’ve gotten a cappucino from anyone–I have a handful of coworkers who could’ve made it and there are approximately 47,000 Starbucks locations within 5 miles. You, however, are a significant part of the reason I have a job. Cappucinos are nice, but they just can’t compare to paychecks and tips. I’m not just blowing smoke up the customer’s ass when I say “thank you”–the company is failing and every transaction is potentially important to my livelihood. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/70 "2007-04-28T07:14:25Z")
PS: Don’t have a cow, mods–there are a number of coffee shops at UCSD and you’d have to know the local lore already to know which one I’m talking about. Think of the above as the West Coast equivalent of a bodega joke. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/71 "2007-04-28T07:53:49Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] \No, if it were “thank _you_”, with emphasis on the word “you”, that would be perfectly cromulent (and extra polite, as you say). Instead, it’s a flat “thank you”, exactly like the one I give out with the coffee. The impression it gives is that I’m being completely ignored. The weird thing is this doesn’t just happen every once in a while, when a customer gets distracted, or as an act of malice by a few assholes–almost everyone does this, almost every time. I can’t figure it out.\ [/QUOTE] This is where you start saying “You’re welcome” to the customers instead, and watch the puzzlement crease their foreheads, often before they shrug and move on, but sometimes you’ll see one flash you a slightly guilty look before leaving. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Like\_Tears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@Time\_Like\_Tears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Like_Tears)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/72 "2007-04-28T09:36:14Z")
[QUOTE=FairyChatMom] A variation on this theme: Those who sign up to bring a bag of paper napkins to a pot luck, then jump to the front of the line and go back for seconds and thirds. Or those who bring the cheapest, most undrinkable generic sodas, then take them all back home, unopened, after the fact. Or those who sign up to bring cookies, then toss a $2 bag of fake Oreos on the table. Not that it bothers me any longer - I opt out of these fiasco events. [/QUOTE] Totally with you on this one. Last place I worked, we had two potluck dinners in three weeks. Many of us signed up to bring homemade food (I took baked mac 'n cheese and black bean/chicken chili) and the rest signed up to take care of plates, rolls, cups, etc. Even the guys who just wanted to eat took the time to stop by and grab a bucket of chicken or a box of doughnuts. This one girl, who had signed up to bring the bowls for the chili and sodas, didn’t come through. Instead she brought _fried squirrel_, about 4 pieces. She of course proceeded to pig out on what everyone else brought. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/73 "2007-04-28T12:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] No, if it were “thank _you_”, with emphasis on the word “you”, that would be perfectly cromulent (and extra polite, as you say). Instead, it’s a flat “thank you”, exactly like the one I give out with the coffee. The impression it gives is that I’m being completely ignored. [/QUOTE] Can you give a few slack points for people in their precaffeinated state, though? You’re right, they’re totally running on auto pilot, and their heads aren’t in the right place. They’ve regressed to the stage of toddlers, parroting back the last two words they heard - words that just don’t make sense at all, but Mommy keeps repeating them until you say them and then you can get your stuff. Just think of them as 180 pound toddlers with cell phones and you’ll feel better about the whole thing. And this somehow ricochets me to my work rant, which is that I can’t figure out how to teach my daughter to say “Thank you!” Here’s the problem: generally, when she doesn’t say something correctly, we simply repeat what she said, but with the right sound, “Caileigh, get the ball!” I’ll say. “Baw!” she’ll say, and I’ll say, “Ball! Yes, that’s a ball; bring it here!” (Scintillating conversation, I tell ya.) So, we’ve been trying to teach her to say thank you. We started out with me saying both parts:“Here’s your yogurt! Say ‘thank you’,” I prompt. Silence. “Thank you!” I say for her. “You’re welcome,” I say for me. So a few times it went like this: “Here’s your yogurt, say ‘thank you’” " 'ank oo." “You’re welcome!” Well, I guess she figured I was correcting her. So now it’s turned into: “Here’s your yogurt, say ‘thank you’” " 'elcome!" she says. “No, say ‘thank you’” " 'elcome". “No, you say, ‘thank you’ and I say, ‘you’re welcome’.” “…” “Say, 'thank you,” I try again. " 'elcome!" It’s like playing Who’s On First with a teeny-tiny straight man. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/74 "2007-04-28T12:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=Time Like Tears] This one girl, who had signed up to bring the bowls for the chili and sodas, didn’t come through. Instead she brought _fried squirrel_, about 4 pieces. [/QUOTE] Fried squirrel. Fried. Squirrel. Fried SQUIRREL??! :eek: Please tell me this is a slang term for something…else. ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/75 "2007-04-28T14:45:01Z")
[QUOTE=Aspidistra] Fried squirrel. Fried. Squirrel. Fried SQUIRREL??! :eek: Please tell me this is a slang term for something…else. [/QUOTE] Yep, it’s slang. It just means any small mammal fried in oil, usually served on a stick and eaten with catsup and celery salt. Around here, you usually find fried groundhog, though I understand that squirrel is more common back east. And of course they fry and eat copious amounts of nutria and coypu in New Orleans. It’s popular enough that the local nutria and coypu populations run a serious risk of extinction around Mardi Gras every year. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/76 "2007-04-28T22:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] It’s like playing Who’s On First with a teeny-tiny straight man. :smack: [/QUOTE] Yes, it is. Welcome to Parenthood. Treasure these moments…they’re so cute and they don’t last long at all (ivylass, who has a son about to graduate high school in a month. :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634/77 "2007-04-29T03:29:21Z")
**Zabali\_Clawbane** , when I first noticed the redundant thanking while working at a college bookstore, I decided I was going to say “you’re welcome” every single time anyone said “thank you” to me–_every single time_. Eventually they got the point; with those customers I had a long period of interaction where I helped them find their math book, then pushed through three rugby scrums and led an interrogation in the English section (Teacher? Section? Course? Subject material? Favorite color? Give me _something_, here!) that would have made Sam Waterston proud, and then helped them find their biology book and their psychology book and finally gave them directions to the cash register, which often had to be done four times. (You could say my college has low admissions standards.) That meant I could easily spend twenty minutes on one customer and process a lot of excessive thanks, and they got the picture. (Usually they got a nice little chuckle out of it, and we moved on.) But in my current business, by the time I can say “you’re welcome” most customers have left my world, never to be seen again. And when I do get a chance to spurt out “you’re welcome” they don’t get it. So it can get a little frustrating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/work-rants-bring-your-worst-clients-customers-and-coworkers/401634.md?page=3)