While working in the customer service industry, employees encounter a large number of people every day. Unfortunately, not all of them are nice. In fact, oftentimes, they have the ‘customer is always right’ mentality that allows them to get away with all kinds of ridiculous behaviour.
To show how infuriating and exhausting it can get, Bored Panda has compiled a list of clients that seem to have no bounds when it comes to cluelessness. Scroll down to find them, and be sure to share your own experiences down below.
#1 If They Get Bigger, I Would Start Worrying. Possible Food Spoilage Or Alien Infestation
Image credits: ohmygoshaavash
#2 A Customer From Florida Parked In Front Of The Cart Return, So I, The Cart Pusher, Started A Line Beside Their Car, And Now Customers Are Leaving Carts All Around Their Car
Image credits: Awkward_Ad_7981
#3 Charge Them For A Cappuccino, VIP Price
Image credits: lisa_anne9999
Since this list is blatant proof that customers aren’t always right, let’s look at how the opposite of this phrase came to be and why it’s so important in the realm of customer service.
The slogan is believed to have been coined by Marshall Field, who introduced this idea when he established Chicago’s first department store in 1893. Then Henry Gordon Selfridge took this concept overseas to London, where he popularized it further.
#4 This Person Didn't Know What A Bay Leaf Was
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#5 Customer Service "Sucks" Nowadays
Image credits: TheLatinGerman
#6 Do You Lemonade?
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The original quote was actually longer, saying that "Right or wrong, the customer is always right." Almost 100 years later, César Ritz introduced this mentality to the hospitality industry when he founded The Ritz Carlton Hotels.
His was a bit different, stating that "Le client n'a jamais tort," which translates to the customer is never wrong.
#7 People Who Do This Are Jerks
Image credits: 420fmx
#8 "I Love To Work In Customer Service"
Image credits: Addison_Peacock
#9 A Restaurant Review I Stumbled On. The Customer Is So Many Kinds Of Wrong
Image credits: chassepatate
Before this phrase was introduced to the customer service industry, the client wasn’t exactly treated well. In fact, it was the opposite. The person who bought the product was fully responsible for inspecting its quality and reporting any problems before the item was purchased. It wasn’t up to the seller to reveal anything about the commodities they offered or provide assistance to the customer.
#10 Customer Bought Wheels And Tires Online. After Advising Multiple Times That The Tires Are Too Small For His SUV He Insisted For Us To Put Them On
Image credits: EstrangedEncounters
#11 Scrolled Across This Gem Someone Posted Today At A Local Grocery Store
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#12 Standing In Line At The Bank, And The Current Customer Chooses This To Be The Perfect Time To Paint Her Toenails
Image credits: BelladonnicHaze
So when business introduced the concept of ‘customer is always right’, they flocked to them, as they weren’t used to being treated with this level of consideration and care. Over time, many variations of this philosophy became popular globally.
#13 Clueless People Who Don't Know Where They Are Going
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#14 This One
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#15 Scammers Never Take A Day Off
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In Germany, it became ‘Der Kunde ist König,’ translating into ‘the customer is king.’ In Japan, the slogan reads ‘okyakusama wa kamisama desu,’ or ‘the customer is god.’ Spain has the phrase ‘El cliente siempre tiene la razón,’ implying that “the customer always has a reason." All of them ensure fair trade practices and build great relationships with clients.
#16 Customer Guessed I Was Around 3-4 Months Along. I’m Not Pregnant
Image credits: CryptographerLost407
#17 Customer Got Mad Because His Debit Card Wouldn’t Work
Image credits: Cymarga
#18 Why Are You Like This, Target Shoppers?
Image credits: Dork_Of_Ages
This mentality doesn’t necessarily mean that customers can do no wrong. Instead, it ensures that they receive the services that satisfy their needs (within reason). Customers have the power to make or break a company, so it’s important to meet their expectations. If not, they can quickly take their business elsewhere. That’s why even the most difficult customers deserve to feel seen and heard.
#19 Being A Cinema Worker And Having To Clean Up After These Delightful People. Yes, Sadly, The Boxes Are Still Half Full Of Soggy Cereal And Milk
Image credits: maebyline
#20 Friend Is A Mechanic. This Was One Of The Cars A Customer Dropped Off
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#21 Told The Customer To Pack The Laptops With Care. This Is How That Worked Out
Image credits: xjsred3000
There seem to be a lot of unsatisfied clients. The National Customer Rage Survey found that 74% of customers had an issue with a product or service in the last year, up by 8% from 2020. A US study found that 81% of customer service employees deal with verbal abuse from clients, and 36% have even received violent threats. 43% of customers confessed to raising their voice when communicating with customer support.
#22 He Really Wanted The Full Price
Image credits: Glaciaca
#23 Lady Goes To Self Checkout, Makes Attendant Unload Her Cart, Scan And Bag Each Item
At the grocery store, we crossed paths with the lady in white shopping and loading her cart. We go to check out, and she is there, making the self-checkout attendant unload her cart, scan, and bag each item. Then she had the attendant place the bags in her cart. Note that she had way more items than you should for self-checkout, and a recommendation was made by the employee that she consider going to the standard checkout, which had nobody in line, and she refused. Poor attendant had to stop every so often to go to every other self-checkout and do overrides and I'd checks. The customer was perfectly capable of doing all this herself.
Image credits: snownative86
#24 Tell Me You Are Entitled, Without Telling Me You Are Entitled
Image credits: Madame_Spiritus
Hearing out and dealing with unsatisfied customers isn’t easy, as their hostile behaviour can take a big hit on employees’ morale. However, this can be avoided by trying to avoid issues altogether. Business owners should equip their workers and clients with helpful tools and resources to make this happen.
#25 The Audacity
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#26 Customer Mailed Back His Computer Mouse
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#27 Did You Keep It?
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It’s also important to ensure the happiness of employees. If they remain content, they can better ensure that customers are satisfied with the service. In addition, they should receive proper training to handle customer complaints. Learning how to diffuse conflict or when to get management involved can help them better deal with it. Offering aftercare for them can be another great tactic to ensure that workers don’t burn out or struggle emotionally.
#28 Some People Are Really Clueless
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#29 Someone Is Walking Around The Store Eating Chicken Wings And Tossing The Bones On The Floor
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#30 As If Having More Bags Is Going To Make Things Lighter Somehow
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#31 Customers That Leave Frozen Food In Dry Food Aisles
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#32 The Grocery Store Had This Caution Tape Up Because They Are Redoing The Floors And That Is Wet Cement
An old man on an electric buggy lifted the tape and drove straight into the cement and then said, "I didn't know that was wet cement. They should have a sign-up." Umm, there was a caution tape...
Image credits: Sea_Panic9863
#33 Customers Spraypaint Testing On The Floor
Image credits: DoctorBlazes
#34 The Aftermath Of A Customer Who Accidentally Got The Wrong Burrito
I was a manager for Taco Bell last year, and we accidentally put red sauce on someone’s bean burrito (they asked for no red sauce), so he punched the drive-through window in, shattered the front door, and smeared his food on all the lobby windows.
Image credits: mangocucumbers
#35 I'm Being Harassed At Work. There’s This One Customer Who Keeps Coming Into The Store I Work At To Hit On Me And Talk For An Hour At A Time, Coming In Multiple Times A Day
Ignoring my clear requests to stop. Today he came in with perfume. My boss won’t do anything about it.
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#36 This Register Will Never Be The Same Again
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#37 Someone Ate A Pack Of Raw Mussels They Got From The Grocery Store And Left The Scraps At The Cafe
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#38 People Who Leave Their Trash On Shelves In Stores
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#39 I Would Have Told Them To Leave
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#40 I Really Hate It When People Do This. Take A Minute And Put It Back Where You Found It
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#41 This Intake Form I Got From A Massage Client Who "Didn’t Want To Fill It Out"
I know you don’t take me seriously, but I do need to know if you have had surgeries or epilepsy.
Image credits: ThrowRA-giantlemon
#42 It Is 11, And Two Closing Announcements Have Already Been Made. Customers Decide To Stop And Have A Reunion
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#43 But Wouldn't A Dull Axe Cause More Issues?
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#44 Someone Returned A LEGO Set Because They Didn't Know LEGOS Came In Pieces
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#45 Customer Blocked 6 Parking Spots In Front Of Our Store And Walked Off
Image credits: reddit.com
#46 Target Nail Polish Aisle
Kamryn, Finley, and whomever else is in this presumably middle school girl crew decided to claim damn near every display in the nail polish aisle.
Image credits: reverendsectornine
#47 Remarks Like This Make Me Wish Mechanics Could Make People Retake Their Driver's License Test
Last week, I replaced a battery in a customer's car, and she is trying to claim the battery is causing weird things to happen to her car now. This morning, she said the red line was never there before the battery was replaced and wants a refund. Lord, help me.
Image credits: Kingtripz
#48 The Film "Five Nights At Freddy's" Doesn’t Really Have Jump Scares, So How Does This Even Happen? Last Theater, I Had To Clean And Had To Stay 10 Extra Minutes
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#49 Customer Dissatisfied With Dishwasher
We had a customer call in and complain that his dishwasher was taking 3 hours to wash and dry his dishes. While this is also somewhat true, he bought the dishwasher with the fewest features, and it was Energy Star-rated, so it does not dry fast to conserve energy. He said if we didn’t take it back, he would shoot it and put it at our front door. This is what we walked into this morning.
Image credits: 14jander
#50 Someone Decided To Make Slime At Target On Top Of The $150 Knife Sets
Image credits: annahare833
