# Worst Customers Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491 "2011-10-23T00:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/41 "2011-10-23T03:55:41Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Dude, this is the Pit. Filled with the most foul and loathsome demons who pay no attention to facts and context when their ability to froth and rage is on the line. Yeah, but the animal trainer in me just can’t help trying to fix bad behavior… 😃 > [@](#): > > I handle every person who calls me as an individual, starting from the assumption of positive until they actually speak to me or I am being told otherwise by someone who has been speaking to them. I have always maintained that the bad people are a small percentage of the people I speak to, and in this thread am only saying that, over time, these particular subsets of Humanity have demonstrated (in my experience) a higher than baseline percentage of jerkitude. Yup. Anyone who has had to deal with customers knows this. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/42 "2011-10-23T03:57:11Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m thinking they said “Oy Vey!” at some point, and just possibly “Har! Har! Har!” It’s the big noses. They get in the way of the receiver, so they sound funny. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/43 "2011-10-23T03:59:15Z")
Now who is the racist. Big nose jokes? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/44 "2011-10-23T05:06:51Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Running back to the ‘pile on’ behavior, Guin? In other words, you can’t defend your own arguments. Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/45 "2011-10-23T05:27:25Z")
My thoughts as they occurred. _Free reign to name the worst customers you experience in your particular line of Customer Service._ Oh, stories about rotten customers. These are often funny. _Warning to observers: Naming a racial group is NOT racism, it is generally a fact of customer service, although to be certain, it almost never applies to every single member of any group._ Uh oh. This is going to be racist, isn’t it. _Rest of OP_ Yes, yes it was. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/46 "2011-10-23T05:35:34Z")
_“Dude, you just dropped a hard J!” “No man, he is of Jewish descent and that is a lot of toilet paper. That is going to take a lot of time to clean up. I was thinking about the context the whole time.”_ Just for you, OP: I took a work comp call last week from the Jewiest Jew I’ve ever knowingly talked to. Lived/worked in New York City, had the classic accent, had _ **ten** _ dependents (the most I’ve ever, ever heard of in my 3+ years there), works at a kosher catering place and monitors the kosher level of their food, and mentioned that he hadn’t returned to work yet only because it was the week of Sukkot. And you know what? He was super nice. He was the most memorably polite caller I’ve had in a really long time, and that is really saying something because I talk to dozens of people on a daily basis. Kiss my ass, you racist scumbag. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/47 "2011-10-23T05:40:02Z")
The worst customers ever are racists who use the screen name Chimera, and then create a phony pit thread about customer service as an incredibly lame excuse to spew racist garbage. I think you’ve just associated your twisted perception of the various backgrounds and cultural associations of these people with their ability to tell what a useless customer service rep you are. If I was your brother-in-law I’d fire your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/48 "2011-10-23T06:32:25Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Your problem is that you do menial jobs - security guard and call centre monkey, for fuck’s sake - that give you a tiny amount of power, and you are determined to exercise that power at any opportunity, presumably to compensate for some deep sense of inadequacy. The only good side is that at least you’re not a cop. As a one time security guard, I knew what the extent of my ‘power’ was. I was getting paid to exercise that power, otherwise they wouldn’t need me to do it. The problem normally arose when some person who didn’t work at a ‘menial’ job figured that they didn’t have to follow the rules I was there to enforce. So, I could have let any idiot into your offices because they showed up with an easily copied business card saying they forgot their keys, but even this ‘menial’ could figure out why that would be a bad thing. And a few of my ‘betters’ made the same comments that you have even though I always told them the reasons why and was invariably polite to them even when they didn’t deserve it. Who was the most likely to cause problems? Lawyers. Never remember their key card and expect me to break the rules just for them. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/49 "2011-10-23T09:27:49Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > If you’ve had a problem with that many and varied different people, you are the problem, not them. I thought the same thing at first… but if he really is a miserable little petty tyrant projecting his inadequacies and failings onto the world around him, why would **curlcoat** identify with him? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/50 "2011-10-23T09:56:39Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > The problem is (speaking as a middle aged woman), we were mostly taught to be ladies, and to agree with everyone. And we have problems distinguishing between assertive and aggressive. If we act the way we were taught, then everyone will steamroller right over us. If we’re screaming bitches, it works more often than not. We might not get respect, but we generally get more stuff done by going into bitch mode than by being the sweet little demure flowers that we were brought up to be. > > The thing is, I know at least as many men of all ages who will go straight into confrontational asshole mode when they have a customer service issue. The men might be quite pleasant otherwise, but when they want a refund or some special accommodation, they don’t start off nice and then ratchet up the aggression. Nope, instant asshole. > > Personally, I’ve found that being nice to the customer service people pays off. Having worked in different offices doing CS since 1995, I try to be nice when on the phone, but I will also note that in general people fall into 2 categories. Helpful and raving assholes. Unfortunately most people fall under the raving asshole category. It is probably because they are told they have to be rude to get what they want. Blame the damned magazines and internet for articles/blogs on how to get what you want. Hell, anybody remember last year about this time [I think] when some of us got upset because Readers Digest had an article telling people to reserve the handicapped rooms in hotels so they get more room? ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/51 "2011-10-23T11:13:11Z")
OP, I think you should change your profession. As a security guard or call center worker, you are probably dealing with people at high levels of stress. Or seeing more bad behavior than normal. This is feeding the misconceptions you already have about race. That’s how I see it. You know, maybe you can’t help it because this kind of nonsense was pounded in your head during your formative years, but you can grow beyond this. When everyone can see it but you, it’s time to pull your head out of the sand and at least look at the possibility that maybe, just maybe, you have some problems with race. Just a thought. ---
**Author:** ![Oliveritaly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oliveritaly/32/15233_2.png) [@Oliveritaly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oliveritaly)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/52 "2011-10-23T12:30:03Z")
This whole thread is either HILARIOUS or I’ve been reading FAR too much Tosh.O. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Creature_Turner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/53 "2011-10-23T12:40:53Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Lol. Queue the stream of hyperboly and recreational outrage. Translated into proper English: Cue the stream of hyperbole and recreational outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/54 "2011-10-23T12:45:54Z")
> [@Uzi](#): > > As a one time security guard, I knew what the extent of my ‘power’ was. I was getting paid to exercise that power, otherwise they wouldn’t need me to do it. The problem normally arose when some person who didn’t work at a ‘menial’ job figured that they didn’t have to follow the rules I was there to enforce. > So, I could have let any idiot into your offices because they showed up with an easily copied business card saying they forgot their keys, but even this ‘menial’ could figure out why that would be a bad thing. And a few of my ‘betters’ made the same comments that you have even though I always told them the reasons why and was invariably polite to them even when they didn’t deserve it. Who was the most likely to cause problems? Lawyers. Never remember their key card and expect me to break the rules just for them. To wit, a prime example being; > [@Steophan](#): > > Your problem is that you do menial jobs - security guard and call centre monkey, for fuck’s sake - that give you a tiny amount of power, and you are determined to exercise that power at any opportunity, presumably to compensate for some deep sense of inadequacy. The only good side is that at least you’re not a cop. So cops are “menial” too, and therefore beneath you and their power doesn’t appy to you, so you pull out the phony “overcompensation” argument? You’re a prime example of the Delusionally Self-Important. You think that you are above people, so their authority in their area doesn’t apply to you. Therefore they are abusing their authority and there is something wrong with them if they expect you to follow the same rules as all of the other “menials”. You’re not that important. You’re just some dick who doesn’t want to listen to people he sees as “below” him. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > In other words, you can’t defend your own arguments. Too bad. Going forward I will remember that the idea that you’re past all the shit that people have ragged on you for over the years on this board is patently false. > [@Oliveritaly](#): > > This whole thread is either HILARIOUS or I’ve been reading FAR too much Tosh.O. Has been fun for all the wrong reasons. ITD rages on me for being racist while deliberately ignoring parts of my post, then throwing out her own racist joke. Guin goes back to her “wait to see where the wind blows then pile on” past. Steophan shows himself to be a self-important jerk with anger management issues when it comes to authority figures and at what level he percieves them to be. Others scream “racism!” and mention one particular group that I posted about while ignoring all of the others, which was a pretty broad swath including a fuckload of white people. And really, no one I would consider to be of any import has joined in. ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Creature_Turner)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/55 "2011-10-23T12:52:09Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Your problem is that you do menial jobs - security guard and call centre monkey, for fuck’s sake - that give you a tiny amount of power, and you are determined to exercise that power at any opportunity, presumably to compensate for some deep sense of inadequacy. Not to mention that he holds these jobs _and_, by his own admission, is middle aged. That must increase the impotent bitterness, like, a thousandfold. > [@Steophan](#): > > The only good side is that at least you’re not a cop. Oh, but in his own mind, he’s probably John fucking McClane. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/56 "2011-10-23T13:12:33Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Free reign to name the worst customers you experience in your particular line of Customer Service. I’d like to start the ball rolling in actually answering the OP, because I respect Security Guards and their jobs are damned hard. I was in CS for 8 years, but I never saw my customers as I was only on the phone and didn’t get close to them. I treated each as a numpty (idiot) and was never disappointed, and rarely surprised. I was very knowledgeable in my job, taking every break to read up on more info. Colleagues would come to me for advice and I would have lengthy discussions with bosses about the wider world of our industry. I think because I put so much work into my job I focused less on the customers and more on my service. I only remember one bad customer amongst the thousands I spoke to, but I remember many, many times that number of good customers. I assume that’s because I was good at my job and had a good attitude. I learnt early on if they’re going nuts it’s not because of you, they’re just venting their fury about their own inadequacies. Let them vent, pause, pause some more, then ask them how you can be of help. It works … every time 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/57 "2011-10-23T13:23:00Z")
> [@Sea\_Creature\_Turner](#): > > Not to mention that he holds these jobs _and_, by his own admission, is middle aged. That must increase the impotent bitterness, like, a thousandfold. It is always interesting to see how much of people’s self worth is tied up in their perceived importance of their job. And how much of their perception of the worth of others is tied to the importance of those people’s jobs. My job is just something I do to pay the bills and allow me to do other things. As I learned a long time ago, “There are no jobs that are beneath you. There are only jobs that you don’t want to do”. And that there are a cosmic fuck ton of very insecure and frightened people whose lives are lived on the knife edge of retaining their perceived position in life and keeping themselves above others. Maintaining their self-worth with the illusion that they are better than the people they want to see as beneath them. Must be hard living with that much inner terror over maintaining one’s superiority. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/58 "2011-10-23T13:23:30Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > To wit, a prime example being; > > So cops are “menial” too, and therefore beneath you and their power doesn’t appy to you, so you pull out the phony “overcompensation” argument? > > You’re a prime example of the Delusionally Self-Important. You think that you are above people, so their authority in their area doesn’t apply to you. Therefore they are abusing their authority and there is something wrong with them if they expect you to follow the same rules as all of the other “menials”. > > You’re not that important. You’re just some dick who doesn’t want to listen to people he sees as “below” him. > > Going forward I will remember that the idea that you’re past all the shit that people have ragged on you for over the years on this board is patently false. > > Has been fun for all the wrong reasons. ITD rages on me for being racist while deliberately ignoring parts of my post, then throwing out her own racist joke. Guin goes back to her “wait to see where the wind blows then pile on” past. Steophan shows himself to be a self-important jerk with anger management issues when it comes to authority figures and at what level he percieves them to be. Others scream “racism!” and mention one particular group that I posted about while ignoring all of the others, which was a pretty broad swath including a fuckload of white people. > > And really, no one I would consider to be of any import has joined in. My “racist joke” was an example of hyperbole to illustrate the absurdity of your line of thinking. The idea that you can categorize people ethnically over phone, without the cues **Rachellogram** obviously had. You are serious in your assertions; mine was a stereotypical mirror of that. Satire, y’know. Just because every example isn’t racist, just ugly, doesn’t mean the others are not. No one is screaming racism at you. You started by saying this isn’t racist- which opens the door for people to disagree. You threw the gauntlet down, with contempt, prejudging anyone who might assert racism. Pre-judging, of course, is the theme of your entire post, so quelle surprise. You then accuse anyone who disagrees with you as not reading, ignoring or not comprehending. This type of argument is the last vestige of the closed mind. You blindly ignore the possibility that outside observers have an insight you lack in this situation. So whatever dude. This bit of trollery has been a delight, but I am off to more interesting reads. I hear there’s a My Liitle Pony thread. Really? What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/59 "2011-10-23T13:37:15Z")
> **[Monty Python's the Meaning of Life (1983) - Quotes - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085959/quotes/?qt=qt0256730)** > > Monty Python's the Meaning of Life: Directed by Terry Jones. With Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle. The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way. > [@](#): > > So now I’m cleaning up in here but I can’t be really sad. / Cause you see I feel that life’s a game. / You sometimes win or lose. / And though I may be down right now at least I don’t work for Jews. Well, to be fair, Chimera, grabbing those lawyers’ packages to see if they were circumcised was bit over the top, don’t ya think? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/60 "2011-10-23T13:38:28Z")
“OK, everyone, I know you’re probably going to think this stuff is racist, but it’s not - it’s really not, I promise!” _racism_ “Wow, that was really racist!” “LOL I KNEW you would think it was racist! You’re so stupid! It wasn’t racist at all!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491.md?page=4)