Bakeries deal with all kinds of people coming into their shop for all kinds of reasons. Birthdays, weddings, every event both big and small. With all those exciting, stressful events, the customers sometimes get a little...fussy. These poor workers had to deal with some of the angriest, most entitled customers ever. Luckily they went online to share these stories so we could all enjoy laughing at these customers' futile rages. Content has been edited for clarity.
They Have To Hide The Bread In The Back From Grabby Customers
“So I work in a bakery, in a supermarket, and amongst your regular baguettes and sliced loafs and rolls and stuff, we have your more ‘upmarket’ breads, including pane ciabatta, pane di casa and sourdough etc.
One of these breads is really popular (though to be honest I can’t see the fuss about it but if the customer wants it, then they want it), and so sometimes we run out. It can be hard to predict sales because there are a few people, when they do come in, they’ll buy several of them and freeze some I guess. But if they don’t come in, we might not sell them all. Because the name might identify me, it shall remain nameless.
So cue busy Saturday morning. We get a phone call asking to hold a couple of loaves aside, sliced, to be picked up at noon. We comply, and store them in bread crates. Well, so busy that we quickly sell them all and the bakers start to prepare some more.
We get your usual requests for them, and we apologize, explain the situation and most people understand. Not this one lady however.
Lady: ‘Have you got any of that bread?’
Me: ‘No sorry, it’s sold out and the next batch will be some time away.’
Lady looks past me and sees the order.
Lady: ‘I see some there, can I have that?’
Me: ‘Sorry, a customer has ordered that and will be here soon to pick it up.’
Lady: ‘Well I’m here now, so you can give me, and they can have the next batch.’
Me: ‘No, I’m sorry but the next batch will be too late, and we’ve already promised them that bread at that time.’
Lady mentions something about first in first served, and I’m just like, they had the foresight to understand that and order some ahead of time. If you’d done that then we’d do the same for you. But either way, one person is leaving empty-handed. Priority goes to the person who ordered because we’ve promised them, we haven’t promised you.
So I eventually manage to convince her and get back to my work. Or so I thought. I find out she straight away went to another worker to ask the same question – can I have anther customer’s item. Again she was denied, but she acted like a child asking dad because mum said no.
Not only did the customer who ordered them come only minutes after, I’m told we keep it further in the bakery than we used to because some customers in the past have literally walked in, ignoring all signs, without hair nets, and grabbed what they see in crates to buy. Ignoring the fact that they sometimes are old, unsafe, or recalled products waiting to be processed. So we changed the layout to make it harder to see, and harder to barge in and take without being caught. She might’ve tried this because apparently it’s happened before.
Anyway, she huffed away in a ‘never coming back’ attitude.”
“What Do Ya Mean It’s Not Free!?”
“I work at a bakery and most of our regulars are really nice, and I enjoy talking with them, but there’s one guy who’s rude and grumpy every time he comes in.
A little context: we have a sale on our donuts and muffins at the end of the night because we throw them out after we close. The sale starts at ten, we close at 11. You can get 6 donuts, or 4 muffins, for like $3.50. This is a steal because otherwise it would be like $8 and change.
I have a few regulars come in for this sale pretty frequently, one of which is this old man. I’ll call him OL. I was already on his bad side because I’ve refused to give him the sale early before. He comes in often, so he knows it starts at 10. I have no idea why he’d come in a half hour early for it. The most I do for people is give the discount ten minutes early, but not any more than that.
Anyway, OL comes in, takes forever to look at the muffins we have. Picks out four and then an extra one, so he has five in total, also grabs a bottle of milk. I ring him up and it comes to $7 and change. I tell him his total.
OL: ‘$7!? What the heck? Come on now! Why is the total so high?’
I print the receipt and check it, the total sounded about right to me but it is possible I made a mistake. Nope. There’s the 4 muffin sale, one extra muffin, and a bottle of milk. I hand him the receipt to show him.
OL: ‘Why are you charging me extra?! This is so expensive!’
At this point, I’m confused, I know he knows the muffin sale is four of them, not five. He comes in often and when he ordered he said he wanted the fifth one as an ‘extra’ one. So I reference the receipt again and tell him the total is correct.
OL: ‘People here usually give me the extra one for free! You can’t just give it to me!?’
I wanna make it clear, there’s only one person who gives it to him for free, and that guy only works out front a couple times a week. No one else does this. He’s extremely rude and sarcastic every time he comes in, and honestly if he was nicer, I probably would have thrown it in for him, but forget that guy.
So I tell him I can’t do that, it’s against the policy. He gets fussy, tells me to put it back, goes on this rant about how we’re forcing him to go someplace else (good luck finding somewhere that’s gonna give you free food, buddy), starts slamming his money on the counter and storms out.
I am just baffled that rudest and sarcastic customer I have would expect me to give him stuff for free. If you want something from somewhere you have to buy it, it’s that simple.”
Crazy For Minions
“Me: ‘Thank you for calling Flour and Water Bakery, how can I help you today?’
Customer: ‘I need to order a Minions cake for a small party.’
M: ‘Ok, for which day?’
C: ‘I need it in 30 minutes.’
M: ‘Ma’am, custom cakes need to be ordered 48 hours in advance. Would you like to pick from our selection of cakes we prepare daily?’
C: ‘Ok, but I need a Minions cakes! Would you be able to decorate it?’
M: ‘I’m afraid not on such short notice. But we do have Minions cake decorations available for purchase.’
C: ‘What do you mean, you can’t do it? I order from here all the time. I want to speak with your manager.’
M: ‘I am the manager and it is store policy that custom cakes require 48 hours notice.’
She just hung up.
I would like to say that this is a rare occurrence, but it isn’t…”
Her Bun Demands Were Too Much
“I work in a grocery store bakery part time. Because I have the closing shift, most of my job is packaging up buns and unsliced bread, then labeling them and putting them out on the shelf to sell them the next day. I was in the back slicing some bread when I hear a lady call for me. ‘Hello, is anyone there?’
Me: ‘Hi ma’am, how can I help you today?’
Lady: ‘Can I just get one hamburger bun?’
Now I was a bit confused at first because we had packages of hamburger buns (of 6 and 12) out on the rack. Who buys just one hamburger bun? Did she want two for just one burger or actually just one bun? I had already emptied and packaged the ones left in the bulk case.
Me: ‘I’m sorry ma’am, but the bulk case is empty. We have packages of buns right here though!’
Lady: ‘Yes. I can see that. But I want just one. You don’t have any in the back?’
So I explain to her that we don’t keep any in the back and if they aren’t in the bulk case, then there’s no more singular buns available until tomorrow. She’s asks a question about why the bulk case is empty, so I turn my head to look at it while I answer her question. And she has the AUDACITY TO SAY:
‘When you are talking, you LOOK at me.’
So at this point I don’t feel like helping her at all anymore. I just tell her once again that because the case is empty she has to buy the bags. She just rudely huffs and walks away from me, and I stand there for a few seconds kind of shocked.
I later found out from a coworker that she wanted to take one bun from an already PACKAGED AND LABELED BAG and was very ticked off that she could not. Why are people like this?”
Real Mature, Guy
“I work in a grocery store at the bakery counter. We always have customers coming up to the counter asking for help with something from produce and the deli since we’re between those departments.
Well today I was standing behind the counter pulling hamburger buns off a rack and putting them in bags and printing off the labels when a guy walks over from the salad bar and tells me there isn’t any ranch dressing.
I said, ‘I’m sorry sir, give me a moment and I’ll get someone from produce to help you.’
As I’m walking away, he says, ‘Why can’t you just get it for me!?’ in a really demanding tone.
I just smiled and said, ‘I work in the bakery, sir. The salad bar is run by produce… but it will only take a minute for me to get someone.’ The dude smacks the counter and straight up stomped his feet back over to his salad.
Do people not understand? I work in the bakery. I can and will gladly get someone from another department to assist you but I can’t pull ranch dressing out of my butt.”
Ms. Lemonface Showed An Unexpected Side
“This story happened back in ’14. I was the bakery clerk at a chain grocery store. This store, in particular, was located near an extremely affluent (I’m talking multi-millionaires, celebrities) part of town. In fact, we were on the only road that led to a gated community just two miles away. Therefore, the vast majority of our clientele were either butlers or elderly retirees.
One known customer was known to the staff as Ms. Lemonface. She was a rude, bitter, demanding older woman that no one liked dealing with.
I, however, thought I could break through her shell. Once a week, Ms. Lemonface would come into the store, demand I bake her a fresh loaf of a bread, and expect it to be waiting when she got done making her rounds of the store.
When I learned to predict she’d be there, I would bake the bread in advance and give it to her. This didn’t make her happy. She said the bread would be cold by the time she got home. So I baked it normally and took it to her wherever she was in the store.
Then, I tried to enact conversations. At first, she dismissed me. Then, she responded with brief answers. Eventually, we got to a point where we would actually chat. It was light conversation, but it was better than stink-eyes.
After five months or so, we’re on great terms. And then, one day, she begins crying. She spoke of how her husband had died some years ago, her kids were off spending their money in foreign countries, and she was all alone. She thanked me for my time and conversations, which had become the highlight of her weekly visits.
At this point I confessed to her that I would soon be moving. She promptly asked when. Not just the day. The time I would be clocking out for the last time. I let her know, and on my last day, as I went to the time clock, there she was. She was waiting with a cake and an envelope.
She thanked me again for my conversation, hugged me, and told me goodbye for the last time.
When I got home, I cut myself a slice of cake and sat down to read the letter. In the envelope was a beautiful, heartfelt letter, (I admit that I cried about ten times reading it), and $5,000 in cash. I was shocked. I know for her it may not have been much, but to a struggling student like me, it was a ton. It pretty much paid for rent and food for almost a year.
In retrospect, the fondest memory is still our last goodbye. Retail is rough more often than not. And sometimes, I want to tear my heart out. But some people make it all worthwhile.”
Tried Her Best To Help And Still Came Up Short
“Orthodox Easter was on April 12, and my bakery makes amazing Easter bread which is on high demand these days. So one lady kept coming to the store late during the past three days and we were always out of it. I was telling the lady that I could hold one or two for her if she wanted, but she kept refusing. Today, she came again, late noon again, and we were out of Easter bread, of course. She started complaining.
Woman: ‘This is the fourth time I come here and there is none left. This is unacceptable.’
Me: ‘I’m sorry, but our Easter bread is very popular these days.’
Woman: ‘Why is it so popular? It’s still Lent! I think you are not making enough.’
Me: ‘We do make a lot. It seems that people love our Easter bread, and eat it during Lent. But we will bake more today, and I can hold one for you!’
Woman: ‘What time will they be ready?’
Me: ‘Around 8 to 8:30 tonight.’
Woman: ‘I certainly cannot come again that late.’
Now, we normally don’t do home deliveries, but my husband sometimes delivers products to regular customers that live nearby, if he has the time.
‘That’s ok,’ I said. ‘My husband will deliver it to your house if you like.’
She accepted that and left.
When our Easter breads are out of the oven, we leave them for a while to cool down, and then wrap them up with food wrap.
It was around 8:20 and my husband had just left with her bread when she called me. She didn’t say ‘Hello’ or anything, she just said: ‘Yeah, I’m Ms T. Is he going to bring me the Easter bread or not?’
Amazed by her rudeness, I told her he was on his way. ‘Ok, thanks,’ she said.
My husband came back to the store and told me that she took the bread, looked at it, thanked him, and he left. Five minutes later, she called again.
Woman: ‘It’s Ms T. Tell me, why so much sketchiness?’ It’s the exact word she used.
Me: ‘Excuse me?’
Woman: ‘The bread you sold me is in food wrap.’
Me: ‘Yes, that’s what we always keep them in.’
Woman: ‘No it’s not. You used to keep them in paper with your brand on it.’
Me: ‘Oh, that paper is when we are asked to wrap them up for gifts.’
Woman: ‘But I do want to gift it to a friend.’
Me: ‘But I didn’t know that, you didn’t tell me.’
Woman: ‘So how am I supposed to offer it to my friend now?’
Me: ‘Well, you can bring it to the store and I’ll make it for you.’
Woman: ‘Are you asking me to come all the way there for something that was your fault? I’m not doing that. Tell your husband to bring me another bread on paper.’
I had enough. ‘No, I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘My husband has a lot of work to do here, and doesn’t have time for this right now. So, if you like, bring the bread here and I will gladly wrap it up for you.’
She replied with something like, ‘Yeah, ok,’ but sounded really dissatisfied. She never showed up.”
They Were Just Supposed To Guess What She Really Wanted
One Angry Mama
“I worked at a lovely bakery while I was in college. We made everything from scratch, the prices were extremely reasonable, and most of our customers were great, and had shopped there all their lives. It was a mom-and-pop shop.
At one point, a competitor had to shut down for an extended period of time. I think they had some flood damage or something, and they had to do some extensive repairs and couldn’t open. We had quite a few of their customers come in to get birthday cakes, cookies, etc., since there were only a few bakeries available outside of a chain grocery store or Wal-Mart. Most of them were very nice and understood that we didn’t offer the exact items that our competitor did. Some even chose to come back after the competitor reopened.
There was one woman that did NOT understand. A young mom pushing a stroller came in one day inquiring about a birthday cake for the adorable cherub in the stroller. She asked about flavors and fillings. When I asked her how she wanted it decorated, it went sideways real quick.
CL = Crazy lady. M = me.
CL: ‘I want the cake carved into the shape of a one and covered in fondant with no buttercream.’
M: ‘I’m so sorry, we don’t carve cakes, and we don’t use fondant at all. I can ice a number one on the top in a shade of blue to match your decor, or just about anything else.’
She was visibly getting red as I was talking. She didn’t say anything for about 10 seconds, then she unleashed…
CL: ‘HOW CAN YOU NOT USE FONDANT? [Competitor] USES FONDANT ALL THE TIME! YOU CAN CARVE CAKES, THERE’S NO REASON YOU CAN’T!!!!’
M: ‘We don’t make fondant, and the majority of our customers don’t ask for it. We are kind of known for our scratch-made buttercream. It’s really good.’
CL: ‘BUTTERCREAM IS AWFUL! I DON’T WANT MY BABY EATING THAT GARBAGE!’
M: ‘That’s all we use, except chocolate, cream cheese, and German chocolate. And we don’t carve cakes because our cakes are too fragile, you would have a pile of cake crumbs and icing once you got it home.’
She continued ranting for a few minutes, and was so loud that our baker in the back came to check what the noise was. She never did ask for a manager, or ask to speak with someone else, she just yelled at me.
To his credit, the kid slept through the entire thing. I’m sure he was used to it.
She finally stopped yelling long enough to stare at me for a second, point in my face and say:
‘I will NEVER come back here again! You lost a customer today! Worthless!!’
I just smiled and told her it was no problem. Have a nice day.
She angrily marched to our door and struggled to get the stroller through, while giving me a death stare. I just smiled and waved goodbye.”
Picking On The New Girl
“Back in high school, I worked in the bakery section of an upscale grocery store. This was my very first job and after a few weeks of working there, a guy in his late 20s came to my counter to order some pastries.
Me: ‘Hi, how are you doing today?’
Guy: ‘Yeah, can I get the tart?’
Me (looking at a showcase with like 20 different tarts): ‘Sure… um which one?’
Guy (annoyed): ‘That one!’ He pokes at the glass and left a fingerprint, which was my biggest pet peeve.
Me: ‘Alright, so the chocolate caramel?’
Guy: ‘Uh huh.’
So I boxed it up for him, and he was on his way. About an hour later, he returns to the counter, and when I walk up to it, he tosses a ripped pastry box in my direction.
Guy: ‘What’s this?!’
Me: ‘…Sorry, what?’
Guy: ‘What is that? This is not what I ordered.’
I look into the box and see a quarter of a tart shell that has clearly been bitten into, almost completely finished. I was new and anxious and wasn’t really trained to handle customers like this. So I asked him if we wanted a different one, and he said yes, so I put his new choice in a box. I knew I wasn’t allowed to give away free stuff, so I thought it was a good move to price it at $1 (it was originally like $3.50), and boy was I wrong.
Guy (fuming): ‘What’s the dollar tag for?’
Me: ‘Oh… I don’t know… I just thought because you ate the first one already but weren’t satisfied that a discount would be nice.’
Guy: ‘This should be free. I’m reporting you to the owners.’
I was so nervous about being fired from my first job went to the back room and had a breakdown. Thankfully my manager didn’t get mad and just told me to call them next time and they would deal with it.”
His Dry Cake Was The Reason For His Fury
“So I work for a franchised supermarket chain, in an in store bakery, and we make cakes to order. So one day a few weeks ago, we get a phone call out of the blue. The man was fuming and yelling. He said he bought a cake from us and it was dry and he didn’t like it. So he rung up customer service to complain, and claimed that they said he’d get a refund and a replacement.
The problem was, we currently only make these cakes to order. And we hadn’t had any orders recently, and it was revealed that the offending cake in question was bought two weeks prior. And despite contacting customer service at the time (without actually bringing in the cake and/or proof of purchase), the issue hadn’t been resolved.
We advised him that we cannot do anything about it so we got the duty manager, who apologized but said that they can offer a replacement (though if you didn’t like the first, would you want a replacement?) or a refund, but not both. That didn’t appease the guy, and he went on about how he was going to cause a stink, go to the media, see if it could go to court, tell everybody not to shop with us etc.
But of course he was going to come down with the receipt to get a refund first. Only when he picked up the receipt, he realized, it wasn’t our supermarket, but another close by. He then apologized profusely for his behavior.
So long story short, none of us work for that supermarket, and we cannot account for the actions of their bakery or their customer service team. We work here, but you didn’t shop here. I don’t know how he managed to call us considering our number isn’t close to the other’s, and aren’t next to each other in any directory. I also don’t know why he let the issue sit for two weeks, or why he thought he’d get a refund and replacement, especially without returning the first cake. That’s basically two cakes for free.
The moral is, don’t abuse employees, but especially don’t abuse employees who don’t even work at the offending store.”
“It’s Just Whipping Cream!”
“A customer came in and wanted to order a birthday cake for her daughter.
Me: ‘Hi there, how can I help you?’
Customer: ‘I would like to order a birthday cake for my daughter.’
M: ‘Ok, we have a catalog of designs to choose from or did you have something in mind?’
C: She selects two tier ornate design from the weddings section of the catalog. ‘I like this design.’
M: ‘Ok, that is from the weddings/anniversary section. The pricing will be different and it will require a deposit for the cake stand.’
C: ‘How come? Why is it so expensive? I work in a bakery as well, it’s just whipping cream!’
M: ‘Yes, I recognize you from the nearby doughnut/cookie shop. If I recall correctly, your shop has a different price for customized cookies.’ I really wanted to say, ‘Isnt the cookies just icing, sugar, eggs and flour?’ But I didn’t.
C: ‘I do, but I want a fancy cake for my daughter’s birthday!’
M: ‘I understand, but just like the custom cookies, it takes time.’
C: ‘Ok, I’ll just order this design. But I just don’t understand why it’s so expensive!’
After that I completed the order sheet and she left. But seriously… ‘It’s just whipping cream!’ Really?”