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Horror/stupid stories from work.

edited November 2006 in General
We all have some stories from work that we tell our friends. Why don't we all share a few here? I sure have seen my share of stupid customers.

I used to work at an ice-cream stand inside a mall called Dippin' Dots, that sold that crazy super cold ice-cream in pellet form. Big colourful stand that had a huge sign on it that displayed the store name. Within the stand, you could see the freezers full of colourful ice-cream flavours. Plus I had to wear a dorky shirt and hat, both of which had the store name and logo on it. Then, one day, some lady walks up to me, looks at the sign, looks at the ice-cream, and then looks at me, and asks "Is this the mall customer service desk?". I bawled over laughing for a few seconds, then looked back, and realized that she was serious. She didn't seem too happy at my reaction.

Comments

  • edited November 2006
    I was working at an insurance agency and got an email from a client with an attachment in the wrong format. I was having a hard day and was pretty annoyed, so I forwarded it to my colleague with a rather stroppy message. It said how I was fed up with crap like this and could she please sort it out. Shortly afterwards I received a reply from the client, apologising profusely for sending me the wrong format and attaching the correct one. These days I don't mix up the 'reply' and 'forward' buttons.
  • edited November 2006
    Oh I have lottttts! I've worked at many different retail jobs in the past 7 years...

    Probably my favourite was from when I worked at SilverCity theatre in Richmond. As you probably know, the small popcorn bag costs like $5 and is not refillable (only the large is refillable).

    Anyway, it was a Friday night and I was training 3 brand-new people as well as trying to be the supervisor (as you can tell, they are really disorganized there). So a man comes back with his small popcorn bag and asks for a refill. I explained how it works with the bag sizes and refills. Then he starts getting mad. Really mad. Because he'd paid so much and blahblahblah (as though the $12 movie ticket wasn't an indication as to what he was getting himself into!) So I offered to let him trade-up his bag to the large and pay the difference. I was bending the rules for him, but he refused and got angrier still. I was trying to work with him to find a solution... but instead he freaks out and throws the popcorn bag at me. It was empty and is quite small, and it didn't even hit anyone. He stood there for a second, kind of amazed that he'd thrown it, then stormed back to his movie. Everyone who saw (customers included) started laughing so hard as soon as he walked away... What a spaz!
  • edited November 2006
    Magnificent_Bastard said:
    I used to work at an ice-cream stand inside a mall called Dippin' Dots, that sold that crazy super cold ice-cream in pellet form
    Which mall did u work at? There's one at Coq Centre... it's annoying at times when customers walk up to our kiosk with one of them things in hand and dropping them all over the counter :angry:

    Anyway... here's a few of mine...

    1. So I work at Fido in the Coq centre kiosk... I dont know if it's jus because its crack shopping season or wut... but lately we've been gettin a lotta crack heads around (according to the ppl who work a lot at our store... although I've personally only seen 2) and u can DEFINATELY tell they're on something.

    So on one occasion, this lady walks in... wanting to get a plan from the store... so she told me wut she needed, and I, at that point I realized that she was not "all there" but I still tried to be professional and explain to her the difference between what a fido to fido plan and unlimited incoming plan was...
    her: "so wuts the difference between this plan and that one?" pointing to the two different plans
    me: "well one give you unlimited calls to and from other fido subscribers and one give u unlimited incoming calls from anyone"
    her: "isnt that the same thing??"
    me: "no... *repeats wut i said the first time*"
    her: "inst that the same thing??"
    me: *repeats it again*
    her: "isnt that the same thing??"
    at this point I was quite pissed and I could imagine myself tellin her to "piss off"... but then I calmed myself down and didnt explode... and I explained it to her again... this time she finally got it... WOW!! but she jus kinda said ok and bolted off... at this point half the customers around and all my coworkers were laughin their heads off... I guess the joke was on me -_-"

    2. This one happened to one of the co-workers...

    so he was workin and this middle aged lady walks in (he said she was in her early or mid 40s) and wanted to get a fone fixed or something... since it takes a while he was tryin to make convo to pass the time... and then at one point she started saying how she just got divorced... blah blah blah... and I guess the coworker was bein empathetic and mentioned that he had jus broke up with his gf too... and then according to him it got awkward... the lady started saying things lik "oh the girl must have been stupid to break up with someone like u... im sure ur a decent boy and fine looking... and sexy..." when he heard that he just stopped talkin... doubled the speed of fixing the fone... and just sent her on her way... he said wut freaked him out was partially wut she was saying and the tone she said it in... while she was kinda licking her lips... and I think we all know wut that gesture means... lol :angel:
  • edited November 2006
    Haha, great stories.

    The Dippin Dots I worked at was in Ontario, and it was years ago, so don't blame me for your dirty counters =P

    Anyhow, here's another one. I worked at a Rogers Wireless for a while back in Mississauga, ON, and there was such a high volume of customers, that we'd have one crackpot pretty much every day. On one particular day, a lady comes in, claiming that both of her phones were broken, and that I needed to give her new ones for free because it's Rogers' fault. Well, okay okay, that's never the case really, but fine, I'll hear her out, and the conversation went a little something like this:

    Me: Okay, so tell me what's wrong with your phones.
    Lady: Well, I was driving down the highway with my window open, and I was on the phone, and suddenly, my phone flew out the window! And now I don't have a phone, so you need to give me a new one.
    Me: *blank stare of bewilderment* Uhh....okay....umm...I don't think that's covered under the warranty
    Lady: Why not??? I bought it from Rogers, and now I need a phone!
    Me: Yeah...okay...so what happened to your second phone?
    Lady: I gave it to my mom, and she used it for a bit, and she lost it. So she needs a new one too.

    At that point, I just wanted to smash my head repeatedly into a wall. Anyhow, after a 15 minute explanation of the warranty regulation, I think she kind of got the point that she wouldn't get new phones for free. I think people expect too much out of cell phone companies.
  • edited November 2006
    AHAHAHAHA... omg... this jus remind me of 2 more...

    People often come in with cracked LCDs... and we all know that Cracked LCDs = physical damage = NOT COVERED UNDER WARRENTY rite? (well for those who didnt know it... u do now :p )

    1. So this guy comes in to the kiosk with a Razr that had a cracked LCD... claiming that he called customer service and they told him to come down to a kiosk (which is really stupid on the CS side... but I digress) so I looked at the fone... and it was in perfect condition... and I held it horizontally and looked at it... and I noticed the fone had CURVED... Im jus lik... WTF... how the hell do u CURVE a fone!? and then I noticed there was a dent just below the small front Display... so I sent him away I told him that something had smashed the fone and it's not under warrenty...

    The moral of the story is... WTF DO U PEOPLE DO WITH UR FONE!?!??!! -_-"

    2. I took a shift once at the Repair center which fido has at Royal oak... this customer comes in CLAIMS his LCD cracked when he closed the fone "lightly" (it was a flip fone) of course the guy helping him didnt believe him, so the customer got really mad... and demanded to speak to someone who "knew wut they were doing" so after some hassel... the tech guy comes outta the back to talk to him... and the customer kept his argument... so the tech guy goes to the back... grabs out a OTC fone of the same model... booted it up... showed him that the LCD works perfectly, turned around and said to us "watch this" so he goes back to the customer. He opens the fone, and then holding it in a v shape with one hand, and went WHAM and snapped the fone shut... (I swear it was the loudest sound anyone has ever made flipping close the fone... well maybe except for the fone i hav cuz it makes this loud sound closing already -_-") then he open the fone up... surely enuff the LCD is still working... and then he repeated the process again...

    At this point the customer was totally red from the neck up... realizing how much of an ass he's made of himself and how much more of an ass the tech is makin of him... picked up his fone and quietly left...

    As the guy left u can also see some other ppl leavin from the huge lineup that store usually has... lol... i swear that guy TOTALLY made our day
  • edited November 2006
    hhaha ^some of those up there are priceless.

    mine is when i worked at White Spot (i didn't last there too long...ahah) and for a period of time, we had a mice infestation problem. our white spot is pretty disorganized, i.e., us workers take advantage of our managers...but anyway...
    so it's extremely dead, about 2 tables in the whole restaurant...

    there's a couple from out of town waiting to be seated, so i head on over, and show them to their table...

    but when i turned around to walk them there, a FAMILY of small mice(mind you, not rats--so it wasnt TOOO gross) ran across the restaurant, in full view.
    i turned around, embarrassed for my establishment, and asked "Do you guys still want to eat here?"
    and they replied, "uh...YEAH"

    i dunno, but if i saw that in a restaurant, i would get the hell outta there.

    oh, and just a gross kitchen story in that same restaurant:
    a food prep grabbed a box of bacon from the storage, opened the box, and out pops a mouse...SOME of the bacon was eaten...
    nonetheless, the restaurant being so poor, the management told the kitchen workers to use what was left....
    never returned there again.

    yum.
  • edited November 2006
    Ew, Meesh! What White Spot was this?!?!

    I have a funny one about when I worked at Black's Photography.

    For a while they offered a great warranty for their film cameras. You could pay $20 and if ANYTHING happened to it it was replaced or fixed, no questions asked. Even if you damaged it yourself. So a lady came in one time and said that her camera was broken. I asked to take a look at it. It looked fine... until I opened up the back where the film goes! Out poured a small pile of sand! Turns out she had been on vacation, filled up a film canister with sand as a memento, then FORGOT there was sand in there and dumped it into her camera. Smooth, lady! Luckily she was really nice and we fixed her camera for free. Probably the best $20 warranty around!
  • edited November 2006
    Malakaiii said:
    Ew, Meesh! What White Spot was this?!?!

    I have a funny one about when I worked at Black's Photography.

    For a while they offered a great warranty for their film cameras. You could pay $20 and if ANYTHING happened to it it was replaced or fixed, no questions asked. Even if you damaged it yourself. So a lady came in one time and said that her camera was broken. I asked to take a look at it. It looked fine... until I opened up the back where the film goes! Out poured a small pile of sand! Turns out she had been on vacation, filled up a film canister with sand as a memento, then FORGOT there was sand in there and dumped it into her camera. Smooth, lady! Luckily she was really nice and we fixed her camera for free. Probably the best $20 warranty around!
    aww that woman sounds so cute! i would give her a big hug.

    this is the White Spot on S.W. Marine Drive and Oak St (in Vancouver). it's right beneath a hotel.

    which reminds me, i was doing bitch work there so i had to do some room service too...
    and man...some people, they just think it's alright to be wearing a small towel when they open the door!

    but anyway, so i was working at this place back in high school, and i'm up for room service, knock on the door, and this guy from school who is younger than me (we know each other, but we don't talk--so i guess that makes it more awkward), is staying in the room.

    soooooo i'm like.."HI! *huge fake smile* What are you doing here?!"
    he's like "um. well, we're renovating the house soo...we have to stay here"

    of course, his dad then walks out of the washroom, after taking a shower, with just a towel around his waist.
    he notices this guy and i are talking so the dad says, "you two know each other??"
    and i'm like "yeah"
    and the guy's like "yeah..."

    and it's silent.
    finally the dad signs it to his room (and leaves me a fairly generous tip).
  • edited November 2006
    ahahahahah!!! I can't BELIEVE it's THAT White Spot! I used to work right by there and we'd order from them all the time. Things were always awful. One time they sent a coworker a styrofoam container full of bacon instead of the salad she'd ordered! They are seriously a mess there... so I'm not surprised!
  • edited November 2006
    HAHAHA oh my gosh, that's hilarious!
    yeah, once i clued into what was up with the restaurant, i basically booked it outta there.
    they're terrible there!
    they even "miscount" people's hours when they get their pay stubs by several hours!!! i mean, 1/4 of an hour...those are understandable. but some people had 10 hours cut off!! like um what?! how could you miss those?!

    and plus, they are so understaffed that i remember when i started, i basically worked a full week straight, no day offs, no nothing. and split shifts too so i'd basically be working day and night. it was shittttty.
  • edited November 2006
    LOL you I didnt know all this happened behind the scenes but thats nothing compared to what happened with me and my bf when I was working at Royal Bank... my then-boyfriend and I were making out in the file room when the manager lady walked in. He (my boyfriend) had one hand up my skirt and the other up my sweater. The manager looked flustered and quickly left. We didn't hear anything about it, but it was pretty embarrassing - and nerve-wracking, while we were waiting for the hammer to drop. ahhhh so glad to finally get that out :D
  • edited November 2006
    I don't see how this is going to help with their careers but I'm laughin my ass off over here

    When I was working as a receptionist, I accidentally flung coffee all over the very expensive switchboard. It made some very pretty sparks as it was being destroyed...

    what a waste of coffee
  • edited November 2006
    Malakaiii said:
    ahahahahah!!! I can't BELIEVE it's THAT White Spot! I used to work right by there and we'd order from them all the time. Things were always awful. One time they sent a coworker a styrofoam container full of bacon instead of the salad she'd ordered! They are seriously a mess there... so I'm not surprised!
    btw, forgot to ask, which place were you were working at?

    and the night shift isnt too bad at white spot, the food is actually well handled.
    well when i was there at least.
    last thing i heard was that everyone started leaving, and the managers got so desperate they made 16yr old high school kids kitchen supervisors and gr12s shift leaders on the front. gr12s can't even serve alcohol legally. let alone, run the fricken place.

    morning is...usually questionable. so take it from me, DO NOT EAT BREAKFAST @ THAT WHITE SPOT!
  • edited November 2006
    I worked at Basalite Concrete which is right near the water by those huge cement silos. It was an office job, pretty easy stuff. My mom still works there and they call me in once in a while.

    hahaha... I still can't get over it that I actually ate at that restaurant sometimes...

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