Disturbing Stories From Local Retail Workers

Having worked in retail stores, I sympathize with anyone who has the courage to do it. Retail is surely at the top of the list for jobs that offer small pay and some of the most offensively impolite and ill-mannered customers on the planet.

I never could wrap my head around the notion as to why there are so many people out there who think it's acceptable to treat retail workers so inadequately. Chances are that in a different setting, they'd never be so dreadful and villainous.

This article is in honor of all of those brave souls who put on their armor and go to work in the retail business every day. We salute you!

Here are some of the most awkward and disturbing moments, told to us by our friends retail. Our sympathizers come from Jellico, LaFollette, Jacksboro, Williamsburg and Corbin.

I work at a fast- food restaurant in Jellico. Once I was handing some drinks to a lady (at the drive-thru) the drink holder slipped and one of them fell into the parking lot. I apologized and was turning to pour her a new drink. She jumped out of her car and threw the other three drinks through the window at me. I was soaked, the cash register was soaked. It was a mess.

A man once came into the grocery store where I work and threw a bag full of rotten fruit (covered in roaches) down on my counter. He demanded a refund claiming that they were like that when he purchased them.

I worked returns at our local Walmart and a woman came in with her year-old breast pump and wanted to return it with dried, crusty breast milk still inside of it. I politely told her that I couldn't refund her for the item since it was over a year old and was clearly used. She got really angry with me and demanded to speak to the manager (since I was an idiot and didn't know how to do my job.) Her reason? “Well, I don’t need it anymore.” ?

A lady wanted to return a half-eaten bag of peanut M&Ms because there was chocolate in them and her kids were allergic. I told her, respectfully, "Um, there's chocolate in every M&M." And she argued with me claiming she's had purchased peanut M&Ms without chocolate before. She dumped them on the counter and demanded that I eat them.

I worked in a deli where we made fresh cole slaw. A lady (who came almost every day and always had a problem) purchased some slaw. She opened it and took a big bite of it and then spit it right in my face. She said that it had too much milk in it. She was granted a refund and I was handed a towel to clean my face off with. :(

One time in Lowes, a woman was trying to return something without the receipt and without the actual item that was trying to return. “Just give me the money back, and I’ll bring it with me the next time I come in.” After at least 10 minutes of trying to explain to her that it just wasn't going to happen, she started yelling and getting irate. We eventually had to call the police to remove her.

I used to work at a shoe store and once myself and another worker watched a lady put on a pair of shoes and stick her old worn out ones back on the shelf. I kindly asked her if she was ready to check-out and she replied "no, I'm just browsing." She walked out of the store and was sitting in her car, so we called the police. Before the cops even got there she walked back in and tried to return the pair of shoes that she had just stolen. She attempted to argue that she had purchased them 2 weeks ago, but the surveillance cameras seen the whole thing. While she was in the middle of getting loud and ugly the officer walked in.

I once had a guy try to return a pair of very worn and dirty jeans.

Me: “Have these been worn?”

Him: “No.” They've just been laying in my truck until I could return them.

Me: Do they not fit?

Him: Nope, I picked up the wrong size and need to just get my money back.

Me: Okay, do you have your receipt?

Him: No, but I purchased them here a couple of days ago, so do I really need it? (he's starting to get snappy and rude.)

Me: Well, do you have your I.D?

Him: (using profanity) I must have left it in the truck, just give me my damn money so I can go.

Me: (pointing to the jeans laying on the counter)“ Is this your wallet in the back pocket?”

He grabbed his wallet and stormed off, leaving his dirty jeans and cussing me out the whole way.

I worked at Macy's and a lady wanted to return her daughter's prom dress because it had stains...stains her daughter got on it at prom. I called the manager and the manager approved the return. Then she came back like 30 mins later and was on the phone with her daughter and had to buy the prom dress back because her daughter still wanted her dress. She also had the nerve to ask for a discount because the dress was stained....

I once had a woman trying to return a blu-ray movie because the disc itself was not blue. I was so confused. Since we can't accept open movies, she got really upset and even called the main office right in front of me, demanding that I be fired and telling them that I was discriminating against her for being color-blind.

I once had a man bring me a can of coffee that he had purchased. He wanted a refund because he said that it "tasted like dirt."I tried to open the container and he jerked it back out of my hands. He said "You don't need to open it, I'll take a refund or a replacement, which ever is easier for you." I replied, "If you'd like to replace it, just go get a new one and bring it to me and we'll trade." So he walked away and took his old coffee with him. When he returned he still didn't want me to open the old can. He began getting really rude so I called the manager. Come to find out his old can was filled with dirt and he was trying to swap it for a new can of coffee. When the manager called him out, he argued that we had sold him a can full of dirt and he'd sue the store.

When I worked at Walmart in the customer service dept. I once had a guy try and return 2 week old ground beef that he didn’t want because it wasn’t good anymore. I had to explain to him that meat goes bad and it was already on a manager special (meaning it was gross to begin with) he then opened the package and threw the ground beef at me and called me a “f(bleep)g idiot”. I walked away and explained the situation to my manager and she was on my side and he was escorted out of the building, with his gross ground beef in a bag. I smelt like rotten meat for the rest of the day.

A woman tried to return a full bathroom set (garbage can, tooth brush holder, soap dish, etc.) from her wedding registry from 2 years ago. Not only that, but I was trying to tell the woman that it still had the Bath Beauty & Beyond sticker on it, this was Walmart, we don't sell BB&B items. She still kept fighting and cussing though. She got so foul that she had to be escorted out of the store, but not before threatening to be waiting for me outside.

One day the police walked into the store, he said that he had found this lady in the parking-lot. (she was as high as the wind) she said I was "drugging her ice cream", and proceeded to dump the melted, runny ice cream all over the customer service counter, screamed and yelled, and tried to walk out.

A customer tried to return a used pregnancy test. She claimed it was faulty, I’m pretty sure she just didn’t like the results ??‍♀️ when I told her we wouldn’t accept it - she threw it at my head and stormed out.

When I worked at Rite-Aid a lady came in and purchased a big bottle of vitamins. Before she left she demanded that I open the bottle and count each one to make sure that they were all there. I explained that I couldn't do that, so she opened them herself and proceeded to pour them out all over the counter and then demanded a refund.

Every since the COVID-19 pandemic I have had so many rude and mean customers deliberately try to cough toward me. They use the pandemic as a tool to get what they want and to mistreat public workers, it's sad but so common now-days.

Customer service workers aren’t peasants put on earth to listen to your griping, deal with your anger, and politely agree with your insults. Do not underestimate the simple gesture of kindness and what a polite ‘thank you’ or smile can do to turn someone’s day around.

Be nice! There's absolutely no valid reason for mistreating someone just because you can. These people have families at home just like you do. They're out there trying to make a living, just like you do. Show some kindness, be the person who makes their day just a little bit better.