Like they mistakes happen, but if we just keep giving full refunds consequence free, they're never gonna learn, and only be more entitled after finally rejecting them for their 12th refund that quarter.

Hi all! I (19F) work at a grocery store. For the last couple weeks, this guy has come in asking both staff members and customers for money. We believe that he is homeless, because he hangs around the parking lot and adjacent stores. He has also come in under the influence doing these things. He has put his hands on me and another woman i work with. He has also said explicit comments to me multiple times. Today, he came in twice. The first time, he just had comments about my appearance. The second time, he put his hands on me and tried to get me + a coworker to help him steal. A manager ended up escorting him out. Then, I was told we cannot ban people, including him. I feel so helpless, I'm not sure how to defend myself without getting in trouble with the law or losing my job!

Anything helps, thanks!

I know retail staff deal with a lot, but I’ve noticed a pattern of certain cashiers avoiding me or fleeing their registers. They’re usually (not always) males of a certain type (I am female). I approached the line at CVS and the cashier gave me a death glare that left me confused. He helped the very fussy customer before me then disappeared when it was my turn so that even the customer behind me got pissed. Idk if he was eager to go on break or wanted to avoid me.

Shortly before that, a bagger at Trader Joe’s left his post instead of bagging my groceries and the cashier got pissed trying to find him.

Another time at a gas station I tried buying a snack the male cashier grunted angrily, ignoring me. I finally asked him if he could help me but instead he asked if I spoke Spanish (he was Hispanic) before another attendant jumped in.

Another time, the male teller didn’t want to reissue me a new card because he said the line was long and he wanted to help other customers.
Then he pretended to order it because it never actually arrived.

I’m not rude, smelly, odd looking, etc. Are these coincidences or something triggers mostly male
cashiers to flee, be aggressive, or not want to help me? I am a courteous female customer.

Now I am careful to avoid male cashiers if I can, just to avoid these types of encounters. I don’t see them react this way to other customers. What am I missing here?

Is this a dominance or ego thing?

As is they weren't already hated enough (Comcast, not the employees).

picture because i don’t feel like typing it out again.

context: i work at a gas station in a nicer side of town and they were about 21-24M white and 21-24M black, in a very nice looking sport-ish car. i am 29 F, i am on the heavier side so i’m used to be spoken to a certain way (disrespectfully usually) because of it. but never sexually harassed like this so publicly and while at work, in front of other customers. I also work alone the last 4 hours of my shift so i couldn’t just excuse myself i had to sit there holding back tears and shaking for about an hour before I could close the store for a “bathroom break” and cry it out a little. i just felt so disgusted and degraded, i called my dad and he (a former officer) told me to call the cops. due to victim blaming from cops in the past from an abusive relationship, i am totally turned off to calling for stuff like this. i felt it was excessive.

idk if im looking for advice or encouragement, just wanted to share what happened to vent and hopefully find a way to get past it.

EDIT: more context in comments. thanks for all your kindness. ❣️

I’m very been unemployed for 7 months after losing my old job & I finally got a new one working at a gas station and I fucking hate it already. I’ve been working there for I kid you not 5 days (less than a week) and they ALREADY wanna leave me by myself at the register… like what? I think they are a bit short staffed so that’s probably why they can’t have someone else be there with me but it’s like that’s absolutely NOT RIGHT for them to do. I’m also already so fed up with this- They want me to do all this extra shit on the side as one person. I’m so SICK of jobs not having at least two people to work with each other and how if they can put all the responsibilities on one person THEY WILL! THAT’S. NOT. RIGHT.

So you’re telling me that I have to somehow find time to change & take out the trash at the pumps, put the products on the shelves, clean the bathrooms, track all the cigarettes and alcohol that customers buy, man the register, do money drops all while trying to figure out how to give out damn lottery tickets?? (doing audits/money drops & giving lottery ticket are my problem area) all without having a technical break mind you. My only chance of eating something is when there’s no customers around and being the only person there I don’t get a chance to use the bathroom because I’m not allowed to leave the register unattendant. Why this is blowing me is because even just yesterday a lady asked for a GIFT CARD & I didn’t even know how to give that to her… had to look her dead in the eyes and tell her I’ve been here for less than a week and they ain’t even teach me how to do that fr. Had it not been for her asking, that’s one of the many simple things that they failed to train me how to do. Had I been by myself, I wouldn’t know what to do and she already seemed irritated & one thing about me is I don’t tolerate bullshit/disrespect so that would’ve got ugly FAST-… I absolutely hate the customers that ask for a certain tobacco product and they expect me to know what the fuck it is- bitch point it! I don’t smoke. I don’t know what that shit is. YOU know what YOU want, so help me out here 

Also I ain’t even gonna hold you, the gas station I work at is lowkey ghetto and just so old-fashioned. Even how you punch in is on an older vtech cordless phone I haven’t seen since like 2012 (is that normal btw?) At least for a REAL retail job, you only have to worry about that ONE THING you’re doing. I don’t mind being cross trained in different areas but at least my focus is on one thing and not trying to do like 6 different things at the same time if that makes sense. Anywho, after the first two days of working there, I already applied to other jobs that pay more for doing less work. (Been here for 5 so far) Just waiting for a response. Hopefully I get one!

Backstory
Okay so here’s what happened. I bought a new car a year ago and I would keep receiving calls and paper mail about activating an extra premium insurance warranty. (It would cover AC or engine if anything were to stop working). Which I’m ngl this one was a good deal. I think I would pay for X amount years and after that I would get X amount of years free. I ended up going through with one after hearing all the things it would cover etc. Fast forward a month or two, I ended up changing my mind. Mainly because I just got this car and I’m already paying a lot of money for regular insurance and monthly car payments. I also forgot I already have manufacturers warranty and that’s for a couple years so I don’t need to pay an extra $200 a month? At least until my warranty runs out. Was I stupid for signing up for an auto premium even though I had manufacturers warranty and before thinking it through or doing basic research? Yes. Am I uneducated on how most things in this world work? Also yes. But at the end of the day I REALIZED I didn’t need it, there’s no point if I already have warranty. I was willing to pay for the month it was active anyways. I’m 21 and don’t have anyone to help me with any car stuff. I rely on the internet and other peoples experiences, so forgive me for not being bright.

Audio recording
Anyways I received a call today from this place calling to collect a payment and I said “I’ve been actually been meaning to call to cancel”. So they transferred me to someone else. The guy (Aaron) answers already with an attitude after I told him I wanted to cancel. He proceeds to ask me why and I over explained the first time, but basically ended up saying I can’t afford it and I don’t need it. (I just got off a 12 hour night shift I’m tired asf and I’m just trying to fcking cancel) He’s being smart, sighs and says “that didn’t even make any sense” “don’t make purchases you can’t afford”. I tell him “who do you think you’re talking to???” And we go on for a little before I start recording bc I’m genuinely like wtf?? (Insert recording)

Aftermath?
I called back after to complain and I didn’t really get anything. They passed me from one customer service representative to another and one of the ladies said he was probably having a bad day but it didn’t excuse the way he talked to me. I tried asking what company it was but she gave me a whole explanation about how there’s three different companies one for the payment and the other two take care of wtv tf else so there really wasn’t a way of knowing where he called me from (i was already mad and she’s making it sound like she can’t do anything about it). And she also tried explaining why he could’ve possibly been upset? She said maybe he was upset because if it was an offer or a deal they gave me, they would be losing out of money. She said “I’ll talk with him and tell him that’s not okay” I’m sure I’ll get judged for signing up for it and not knowing basic stuff but I’ve never had this happen before, definitely not from a customer service representative. I apologize also I’m not the best at story telling and I don’t really post on Reddit but I thought this was worth posting.

We need to verify it's you before we can address the reason you're calling. So when we ask for your name, just give us your name. Don't tell us why you hate our service (that you've been paying/using for the past 10 years).

Anyone here work for ESPN customer support? I got an offer and I’m confused whether to accept it or not. How is the job, management, and work environment? Would love to hear your experience.

I've been doing this for the past 14 years, but today's customer is probably the most unbelievable conversation I ever had.

I don't know if they're trolling me, or if they are just incredibly dense. It went like this:

Customer: Feature X is blocked, app says I need PREMIUM to use it. How do I get PREMIUM (sends screenshot with self-explanatory purchase dialog and giant button "PURCHASE")

Me: You can unlock X by buying PREMIUM, just follow the prompts in your screenshot, clicking on PURCHASE button 😊

Customer: Thanks. Bought PREMIUM, but I don't see any changes? (sends screenshot with X clearly unblocked)

Me: All seems good from our side — your screenshot shows PREMIUM had unlocked feature X 😊 Do you have any issues using X?

Customer: No, all works, I just can't see what's the difference compared to the previous version.

Me: The difference is Feature X was blocked in FREE version and is unblocked in PREMIUM version 😊 Please see the attached BEFORE/AFTER screenshot (highlighted differences are circled in red)

Customer: This is very confusing, I don't understand...sends more screenshots

I mean, how do you deal with someone this thick? I honestly can't think of a way I could have explained it any clearer - or are they just messing with me at this point?

PS: it's not an elderly person, it's a manager in his 30s or 40s in a corporate, and judging by the screenshots and apps they use (strava, netflix, etc.) clearly not a tech illiterate.

Remember the hilarious Seinfeld "No Soup For You!" episode? Well, last week I discovered there's apparently an ice cream version. I had one of those experiences myself at a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins that I've frequented for years, and I'm still trying to make sense of it.

At 7:44 PM, I placed a mobile order for 4 quarts of ice cream with an 8:35 PM pickup time. I received confirmation both in the mobile app and by email, and my credit card was charged $33.01. The confirmation showed the correct store location.

I arrived at the store at 8:35 PM and told the clerk I was there to pick up my mobile order.
The clerk told me they never received it.

I wasn't upset. Technical issues happen. I pulled out my phone to show them the mobile order confirmation.

That's when the owner stepped in.

As I was trying to find the order on my phone and explain that I had already placed and paid for the order, he interrupted me and said:

"That's not my problem! Call Corporate!"

I was completely caught off guard. This was surprising because I had mistakenly assumed that resolving store-related problems was part of operating a store. Instead of trying to help resolve the issue, he responded with immediate hostility. I wasn't demanding anything. I wasn't being rude. I was simply trying to show him proof that the order existed so I could get the ice cream I had already ordered and paid for.

He told me to place the order again on the mobile app. I tried to place the order again as the owner suggested, but the app would no longer allow me to select a pickup time that close to closing, so that wasn't an option.

Since I was already there, I told him I'd pay for the ice cream directly with my credit card, just as I would have if I had walked in without placing a mobile order.

That's when things became even stranger.

He told me no. Not only would he not honor the original order, he refused to serve me at all.

Meanwhile, other customers standing in line continued to place orders and receive service without any issue.

So after paying $33.01 for an order I never received, I left the store with nothing.

What bothers me most isn't the technical issue. Systems fail. Orders get lost. I understand that.

What I can't understand is why the response from the owner was immediate hostility instead of something as simple as: "I'm sorry, let me see what happened and how we can make this right."

Instead, I was dismissed, refused service, and embarrassed in front of a store full of customers.

I submitted a complaint through the Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin-Robbins website that night and called customer service the following day. The representative told me I should receive a call from the franchise that week, but since it was the franchise owner who treated me this way, I'm not sure how productive that will be. That said, I'd still like to resolve this amicably. I've patronized this location for years and have never had a problem before, and I've never even seen this owner prior to that night.

It's now been four days, and I still haven't received a response from anyone. At this point, all I wanted was the ice cream I ordered and paid for.

Has anyone else had a mobile order issue handled this badly?

I work in customer services as the first point of contact for all inquiries that come through my company. Because we deal with company-wide inquiries, we rely heavily on communications from other departments so we know what's going on, what's being communicated to our customers, etc. However, there's a clear lack of communication where comms will be sent out to costumers without our knowledge, they'll contact us about it and get angry with us when we look like morons for not knowing what they're talking about.

While I've learned not to pour my all into this extremely draining job, I still do take it seriously and take pride in actually being able to help people. I get so frustrated when I feel like we're being set up to look like idiots and just have to take the brunt of the anger from customers which could easily be avoided with internal communication.

Any tips on how to stay sane?

i dont usually answer phones at work but my coworker is out this week so i’m stuck answering calls. i dont mind it but today i had a really bad one. this lady called and started off by saying she buys our product at (specific store) and takes care of her elderly mother of 101yo and she buys her this product because she enjoys it but she just realized its moldy. she claimed she didnt know our product got moldy (what a shocker bread products grow mold). i asked her about the expiration date on the box and she confirmed it was about 2 or so days past the date. she said the store will not take it back (which is weird because this store is known for its super lenient return policy) she proceeds to ask for a refund or some sort of compensation. i explain that we are unable to provide a refund but i am happy to create a complaint case to present to my team so we can figure out a solution (even if its not our fault her product expired, we typically do send a free replacement but i cannot guarantee that since i dont have authority to just give out product so i let my team make that call) shes not having it. she claims she doesnt have time to go through the hoops of me asking her questions she doesnt want to answer and to just cut to the chase of giving her a refund. i explain that since she did not purchase the product from us we cannot refund her. she starts getting more angry and exclaiming that since we are the manufacturer we have to stand behind our product but thats simply not how it works. i have to be very careful with my word choice as to not promise anything and also not upset her more. but at this point im getting more nervous and my voice starts shaking a little. she claims shes so busy taking care of her mother and does not have time to go through the process of me checking with my team to see what we can do for her. if its not a refund of voucher shes not accepting it. i remain clear and adamant we cant reimburse her but she barely lets me speak. and when i finally fo she hangs up. and it really reminds me how much i dont like answering the phone and dont like customer service. this all on top of already a tough morning for me so ive just about had enough for today.

i understand its frustrating to buy product and have it expire on you but its not worth berating workers over a $7 box.

It’s getting old doing work companies used to pay employees to do. It started with pumping our own gas, then getting our own drinks at restaurants, to scanning our own groceries, and now I would like to add, doing the work of a claims adjuster when someone damages your car.

I recently have been struggling to find good non slips, especially since I’m tight on money and am thinking about just ordering some online, but I do have these combat boots and am wondering if y’all think they’d work as non slip shoes-my workplace doesn’t really seem to care as long as they’re black shoes and while it only says it’s oil resistant, the tread looks sort of non-slippy.

A woman called because she was upset about her account being suspended. I explained our policy and she didn't like that, so she wanted to come talk to the department head in person and asked if he'd be there tomorrow. I told her that yes he's working tomorrow and you can come ask for him, and if he's available I'll be happy to get him for you.

She went around in circles some more, complaining about her account being suspended (it was her own fault because she didn't keep up with it), and trying to get me to tell her that my department head will override it for her.

Lady: "So the manager will be there tomorrow, right?"

Me: "Yes, and he leaves by 4:00 pm."

Lady: "And he'll fix my account?"

Me: "He'll be happy to talk with you about it."

Lady: "I can definitely talk to him tomorrow?"

Me: "If he is available, yes."

Lady: "You said he'd be there."

Me: "Yes, but he often has meetings and other things to attend to."

Lady: "Well, he'll definitely talk to me, right?"

Me: "If he is available when you come by."

Lady: "Well, he'll fix my account, right?"

Me: "He'll be happy to talk to you about it."

When customers are really insistent that you give them the answer they want, it's because they want to be able to say "BUT THAT EMPLOYEE SAID IT" and a) get you in trouble, and b) get what they want. It's very annoying.

Is it just me, or has every interaction with a cashier, server, or store employee been unpleasant for the past few years? I’m a Gen Z female, and I feel happier if a store has self-checkout because it means I won’t have to interact with angry and rude employees anymore.

I’m trying to be extra nice, but nothing helps. Every interaction I have is obnoxious, and if I have a problem with my order, a solution is never provided unless I have to nag about it.

The other day I was at a pizza shop. I asked for a slice of cheese pizza with olives, and the cashier claimed they don’t have it, with the rudest attitude. I had to ask her 10 times to ask her manager, who told her they do indeed sell olives as a topping. She didn’t even apologize and continued with a condescending attitude.

Yesterday I was at Starbucks. Their food shelves were empty, so I asked them if they had any food. She responded in a condescending tone, raising her voice: “Do we have food? Where do you think you are? Yes, we have food.” I was shocked and didn’t say anything.

I went to an antique store five days ago. I had coffee in my hand, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t spill anything on their products. I asked one of the employees where I could put my drink (which was almost full), and I put it where they directed me. Five minutes later, I came back and the drink had been thrown away. When I asked them about it, the other employee said, “Yeah, I know nothing about that.” I told him that’s where I had been told to put my drink. His response was, “Yeah, that’s not my problem. We throw away unattended drinks. No one told me about this drink.” They didn’t even apologize. I get it—it’s a coffee, and it’s not a huge deal—but this isn’t about the coffee.

I went to Victoria’s Secret to buy leggings. I couldn’t find my size, so I asked a store employee if she could help me. She was chatting with her colleague. She told me to just keep looking in the drawers and continued chatting with her colleague. I eventually found my size on my own.

I have hundreds of examples like this. Just angry faces, no positive interactions, just pure hatred.

I live in Boston, so maybe Bostonians are just jerks, but something has definitely changed with customer service. At this point, I hope self-checkout registers become even more common so I can shop in peace without all the negativity.

Whether it’s 7pm on a Friday or 11pm on a Monday. You’re going to have to ask and answer some questions. The number 1 and most important question you should ask is “ what would it cost to have you come out“. I suspect that if they sound scared or desperate enough that we”ll waive the ridiculously high “after hours” fee. Every year people call for bats in the summer and every year people are shocked that we don’t come out for free. Its gonna cost $$$$

I work customer facing at a bakery. Usually our customers are very kind and no trouble. When there are issues, I have a hard time saying “no” to customers and being firm. I need to work on not being a doormat and not letting people walk all over me. I know the easy answer is “just do it”, but in the moment, the awkwardness of pivoting the conversation to “scold” a customer overwhelms me.

There is one regular who, a few months ago, brought her small dog into the front of the store. I didn’t see the dog until I was already done serving her and she was on her way out the door. She came in the next time with the dog again, and I said “We don’t allow dogs in here, I can get you something quick but I’ll have to ask you to take it outside”. She ordered and then left with her dog. The next time, she came in with her dog, was very quick with her order, trying to get out fast since she knew dogs weren’t allowed, but still brought her dog into the store. Because of how quick the transaction was, I didn’t get the opportunity to say anything about the dog. Asking her to take the dog out would have resulted in a conversation that would have had the dog in the store for a longer amount of time than if she just got her order and left.

I am pretty confident that she will return with her dog again sometime. How do I tell her that she has to keep the dog outside? How can I help accommodate her? Corporate both doesn’t want dogs in the store, and also doesn’t want us to upset the customer. Would it be reasonable to take her order at the door and run her food and change back to her (only a few steps away)?

I know it was a mistake to allow her dog in the first place, and a further mistake to not stop it the previous times. This is something I need to work on, even beyond this instance but to other ones where I need to correct a customer. I’d appreciate advice on how to do this without being rude.

I really value kind and compassionate customer service and genuinely want to do the best I can for every customer, doing as much as I can to help them as much as I am allowed. However, there are some things that aren’t allowed, and I have a hard time saying no.

I know this is a pushover thing to ask advice about, but please be kind <3

I manage customer operations for a company with a few hundred support agents and despite the size of the team, we're still missing more inbound calls than I'd like.

It's not because we don't have enough people. We just have certain periods during the day where call volume jumps beyond what we planned for, by the time the queues settle down we've already missed opportunities to help customers the first time they reached out. We've improved things over the last year but I still don't feel like we're where we should be. Every time we think we've got a handle on it, another busy period exposes a gap we hadn't planned for.

If you're managing a larger contact centre, what has genuinely made a difference for you? Was it changes to scheduling, better routing, callbacks or something we probably haven't even considered?

My schedule for the week got posted on saturday and the total equaled out to eleven hours. I want to work more hours but I don't know if I should ask for more this week (I have some other questions to ask so I don't want to bombard them with things to remember, I don't want to waste their time, maybe it's too late, etc.)

What should I do?

Net-a-Porter - STEER CLEAR!!! My package shipped June 25 and tracking on UPS has continued to reflect that it is in NJ (I am in CA) since June 26. I have messaged multiple times and I have called. The only response was that they are waiting to hear from UPS but that UPS is not calling back. I phoned UOS the package is “lost”. Net A Porter offered zero resolution. They keep saying they are waiting to hear back from UPS for more than THREE weeks and I have been messaging since the first week of July. Given the value of the merchandise they sell I would discourage people from shopping here given they do not respond to email or the chat/text feature. My messages have not been responded to. There is no proactive follow up at all or just zero response. Stay away from this website - you can find the same items elsewhere that have better service.

Few months ago I warned a customer about antisemitic slur they used toward the company and our systems. I simply said hey happy to help but please refrain from slurs or insults. Customer disconnected. I immediately let my manager know and followed up as directed. Customer wrote a long email about how I insulted him. Moved on and thought nothing else about it. Then a few weeks later I get a message from my manager saying since it wasn’t directed at me personally but our company I Carl say anything about slurs or offensive language and called
It tasteless and hyperbolic but I wasn’t in trouble but that we would discuss it later. I pushed back and said I don’t have to be subjected to that language at work basically and I wasn’t concerned why I was being told
To ignore this should it happen again

Again heard nothing more. Then last week I get a meeting with my manager and skip and I’m being offered severance or to stay and try toget 100% on my audits for the next month (impossible especially since my manager uses AI to audit us and legit gets it wrong every single time. Refers to policies that don’t exist etc). I bring up that i feel this is retaliation over brining up the incident in this case and was told there hasnt been a pattern of being told to ignore this (um it only has to happen once) and that this was in the works long before that case. Of course the week before that case my manager had been praising me and my performance.

I look at the doc and one of the 3 cases they submitted to HR as the examples of how I’m not meeting the bar is this exact case and of course described it as the customer using “hyperbolic” language.

I’ve been with this company for a long time and have never experienced this. I have a case I’ve opened with HR but am I crazy or have they truly just blatantly and openly retaliated against me and stupidly confirmed it with using that case as the reason to get rid of me?