Ever read an article on Knowable and thought, “I have a story that would be PERFECT story for this article”?
Well, now it’s happened! We asked our Knowable Facebook readers to respond to the following question: “What is your worst customer service experience?” and THESE were their responses.
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1. You’re fired.
I was 19 shopping with a friend. She was (still is) a smaller person than myself. She was trying on a shirt and needed a size up so i took it back out to find a bigger size. I couldn’t locate it so I ask a sales girl if she could help me find a bigger size. She takes the shirt in a gruff way. I ignore it.
She comes back with a hat and hands it to me. I say, “Um what’s this?” She said, “This is the only thing in this store that will fit you”, contempt dripping from her lips. I’m like, oh I see.
I go to the dressing room, tell my friend we need to leave now. She gets dressed. Tries to clean her mess I tell her leave it. We walk out, I go to the register with the hat, it’s busy. My friend asks what’s up with the hat. I say loudly, “According to that girl this is the only thing in the store that fits me.” My friend, shocked, lost her mind. Because her parents owned the store. That’s how I got a girl fired because I was feeling petty. Saw that girl later that week where I worked. I smiled and showed her what customer service should be.
Rae
2. Scares are a reminder of what you’ve been through in your life.
“You should cover up that scar. It’s ugly.”
I survived a car crash. I feel immortal when I look at that scar. It’s not ugly. It reminds me I’m alive.
Elena
3. Fashion is… pain?
Looking through some dress shirts I got nicked by a pin that was left sticking in one of the shirts and was bleeding. Took the pin and shirt to the counter and the teenage girl working there. Told her what happened and she rolled her eyes, popped her gum and said, “So?”. Pretty dumbfounded I explained again that I was bleeding because someone left a pin in a shirt. She said, “You’d better not have bled on anything or you’re paying for it.” I asked for the manager and was told to “get the out”.
Charming experience.
Heath
4. No candy for you!
Mine isn’t about clothes, I was downtown in a historical town very snobby. There was a new shopping center that opened with high end stores, there was a candy store that specializes in imported very high-end Swiss French German chocolate and other types. I had a list from my mother on what she wanted for a party. I walk in and wait and wait the lady behind the counter looked me up and down and said the candy there was not for just everyone (story continued on the next page…).
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I told her what I needed she looked at the total and said that will be $450.00 I pulled my Black AMX card she ran it and started boxing my candy. A guy behind me said he had read about the Black AMX card he asked what was my limit? I told him I used the card when my family bought the supply’s to build the shopping center we were in. Yes, my mother owned the stuck up ladies store.
Raymond
5. Doing the customer a dis-service.
Looking at and then flagging down a sales man to buy a PC in PC World with the spec we wanted and then being told that they’d sold out and I should have got up earlier if I’d wanted one (it was 3pm on a Sunday) as I should have known that they’d be popular. Refused to sell the display one. Then refused to answer the question as to when new stock would be in.
Went to another computer place with LOVELY staff, got the system with the spec I wanted and have directed family to that store ever since.
Gayle
6. But… It’s not YOUR fault.
Hotel clerk. I politely asked her how I could lodge a complaint with management. She asked what was wrong. I told her whoever did our rooms on different floors messed up, as we had been assured all our rooms could AND would be on the same floor. She tells me it’s not her fault. I agree with her; which is why I want to know how to leave a complaint for management. She gets louder, repeating it’s not her fault. Again, I agree and want to know how to contact management. At that point she starts yelling at me about rude customers and she didn’t do anything, what did I expect from just her? The customer behind me apologized to me for the clerks behavior, as we are standing there thinking what the heck?!?! I even asked a complete stranger if I sounded ride and accusatory. No idea what her problem was, but I left and came back when there was a shift change…..so I could file complaint against her.
Dena
7. Everyone deserves a friendly face and good service.
Went shopping with a friend. While flicking through shirts or something, a salesperson comes up to me, looks me up and down and says “we actually don’t have anything in your size”. I spend the next 20 minutes in a public bathroom crying. I’ve since lost 110 lbs (52 kg) and it’s horrendous how different I’m treated now. Before I could barely get service, no matter where I went. Now they’re almost tripping over themselves to service me! I often feel like telling them, that it’s the people they treat like crap, who actually needs a friendly face and good service the most!
Nadja
8. Lost more than one customer that day.
Buying a suit, went in found the suit I wanted in my size, took the suit to the counter, the guy serving looks at me and says “you can’t afford this suit” and proceeds to put it back on the rack (story continued on the next page…).
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I take it off the rack walk up to the guy, roll the suit into a ball throw it at his feet, then pull out a stack of notes waive in his face and walk out. Four other customers also left after seeing what happened.
Anthony
9. Taking away from a special day.
Being told repeatedly that my wedding dress would look great, once I lost 5-10 pounds. Not really what you want to hear.
Joslin
10. Fine, don’t take my money.
Looking for some good welding gloves, the sales person asked “So what company does your boyfriend work for?” I told her “Actually they’re for me. I’m taking the pre-employment course at the college.” And she just smirks and says “Oh. So I guess there’s no boyfriend in the picture then.” I dropped the $200+ worth of stuff I was going to buy and walked out.
Never did find out who pissed in her cornflakes that day.
Reily
11. Kebab with a side of food poisoning.
My sister went to order a kebab and she bit into it and it was clearly bad rotten meat. She took it back and the guy took a bite right there and said “nothing wrong with it” and handed it back to her.
Charlotte
12. The store lost a customer this day.
I wanted to buy a dress tot surprise my now-husband since I haven’t been able to wear one and feel good about myself for over three years. I put on the dress, got out of the changing booth to look in the big mirror and when I stepped out, the owner of the shop said (story continued on the next page…)…
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“Maybe drop a few pounds more before going on a date. This dress is great but it can never do YOU any justice.”
She smirked, I took off the dress, went to another store, got it for twenty euros less and the owner of that store was amazed at how perfect the dress was for me.
Annelijn
13. “At least…”
Wedding dress shopping
Me: “I just wish I was smaller. I need to lose some weight” (I’m 5’7″ maybe a size 8-10).
Saleslady: “Hey, at least someone wants to marry you.”
Me: Uhhhh…..
Kendra
14. All tied up.
A few Christmases ago, I went to go get a Christmas tree, just me and my two daughters. We only had a Camry at the time, I was aware that we would need help to get the tree on the car. The young man helped me while my kids sat in the car. With the doors all closed we began to tie the tree to the roof of the car. When we were all done and the tree was secured I went to open the door to drive away and realized that we had secured the ropes around all the doors! They would not open because of the ropes that were tightly tied through them, I couldn’t get in the car, and my kids couldn’t get out! I realized that we now needed to undo all the our hard work, I turned back to the young man, as he began to run away from me and left me to undo the entire thing and redo it all by myself. Lesson learned.
Traleana
15. Self-serve check out is not always self-serve.
Being told that the self service check out never gives wrong change or fails… Thing is, I was in the same shop the week before, same machine wrong changed me but this time it never recognized change put in. However the day the supervisor said it happens all the time… big difference between day and night shift supervisors in Tesco. One friendly as and the other charging at you like a raging bull declaring there was nothing up with the machine… Got the pound back the next day after they phoned me up and apologized.
Eddie
16. What is with sales people feeling like they can comment on people’s bodies? Or anyone for that matter?
Was feeling a bit down one day so decided to go shopping. Found a really pretty romper but they didn’t have any smaller sizes for me, so I asked a salesperson if they had anymore in the back or somewhere (story continued on the next page…).
She told me nonchalantly that they “didn’t sell unhealthy sizes anymore” and that I “shouldn’t try to copy the skin and bones portrayed on Vogue.” I’m not skin and bones because I want to be, it’s due to medications. Hence why I only shop online now.
Nhu
17. No one deserves to be treated like that.
13 yr old, size 12 5’7″ me shopping with my same age but much slimmer friends. We went to this store, and the size 2 sales associate looked at me and said with a smirk “I don’t think we carry anything in your size….” We left to go get a pizza. Made me very sad.
Jamie
18. This is terrible.
I was told at the gate of an international flight that I couldn’t board because i needed assistance on the plane. Assistance that I had booked weeks in advance and called to confirm days before. They are required by the ADA to offer this assistance and i made them aware of that fact, I had my booking confirmation printed out and information from my doctor about why I needed the assistance I booked and they still refused to let me on the plane. The disability representative for the company did eventually admit the woman at the gate made a mistake and should have let me board but that was well after I missed the flight and i never got the 1000 back.
Julia
19. Freshmen year of university is a tough one.
Freshers week at university, had been to a foam party the night before & in a hungover fog thought it was a good idea to brush my curly hair without washing it the morning after. I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the bus home & realized I needed to buy something to tie it back, as it would have touched the door frames if I stood between them. So I shuffle in to Claire’s accessories, take some hair bands up to the till. Where the assistant says to me, “You know we sell brushes as well?”
In fairness, I looked ludicrous. And have laughed about it often over the years!
Claire
20. It goes both ways sometimes.
This was actually when I was working in retail at a clothing store for pre-teen girls. A fully adult woman, maybe 30’s but the most important aspect was her well endowed chest. She took multiple size small shirts into the dressing room – mind you that size would fit the average 12 year old, not adult – and she came out almost hysterical that the shirts wouldn’t fit.
I gladly offered to get her a larger size to see if that would work and she began yelling at me for being so incredibly rude to call her fat and that she was INDEED A SIZE SMALL EVERYWHERE. I didn’t even try to rationalize with her so I grabbed a few other size small shirts for her to try. Surprise! They didn’t fit. She ended up leaving in a piss storm and left he dressing room an absolute disaster zone. Ok lady, chill or go to an adult store please.
Meredith
21. Breaking news: Women can own trucks.
I was at a Dodge dealer considering trading my 2005 Ram 2500 in for an even larger truck. After me and my sister had checked out a number of trucks the salesman finally came over. When I told him I was considering trading up he asked me if my husband would be upset if I sold his truck. I got it out of there, my husband’s name is not on my truck’s registration and I am the breadwinner in my family.
Jeannette
22. Can’t do anything right.
Shopping at Motherhood for a nursing bra in my size and being told I was too small to breastfeed. When I said it was inconsequential the sales woman laughed and said, “That is a big word for you as a stay at home, isn’t it?” I don’t even remember if it came up or she just guessed I was a SAHM because I was shopping with my baby in the middle of a weekday. I was floored by the double whammy. I really should have called company headquarters, instead I just never set foot in there again!
Maria
23. Second-hand soup.
At a restaurant my sister and I used to go to – we ordered our dishes and she ordered a kind of soup – the guy then proceeds to bring out the wrong order – someone else’s order – but not having tasted the dish before she didn’t know it had been mucked up. A few minutes later and after we had already eaten A few spoonfuls the guy realizes he made a mistake comes speeds over and grabs my sisters soup and then GIVES IT TO THE GUY AT THE NEXT TABLE – knowing she had been eating it and everything. Never went back to that place again.
Charlotte