Working in retail is hard enough, but it’s even worse when you get nightmare customers like this woman! Carry on reading for a satisfying tale of malicious compliance.
A Good Employee
The original poster (OP), a male, works in online fulfillment at a large home, garden, and building supply store. His job is to grab orders and ensure they get delivered to customers in a timely manner.
Technically, he isn’t supposed to work with customers directly, just point them in the right direction or find another associate who works in that department.
A Busy Day
One day, the OP had a massive order to grab, which consisted of several heavy and large pieces of sheet metal and screws.
He quickly realized that the sheet metal size he needed wasn’t where it should be, so he had to scan pretty much everything to figure out what was what.
A Wild Nightmare Customer!
That’s when he heard it – the shrill, harpy voice of K, a customer from hell. She was standing a few feet away, glaring at the OP.
“Are you gonna help me or not?!” she screeched. The OP was shocked, especially as she hadn’t spoken to him at all before. He was confused and didn’t know what to do.
She Was So Rude
But K was not pleased with his silence. “Well?!” she demanded, increasingly annoyed. “I’ve been standing over there FOREVER, and you haven’t offered to help me!”
The OP took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He knew he had to be polite, but it was difficult with the way she was speaking to him.
Unreasonable Requests
“Ummm…my bad. I can try?” he said uncertainly. “I don’t work in this department, so it depends if…” But K cut him off, suddenly and actively hostile. “Try? UGH! No, you WILL. It doesn’t matter if you work in this department or not!”
He Was Dumbfounded
He didn’t know what to do or say. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Okay, what do you need?” he asked.
He was definitely unable to control the annoyance in his tone as this woman was yelling at him.
She Did What?!
“THIS!!” K said, not joking as she proceeded to suddenly pull out a screw and nearly stab the OP in the eye, shoving it towards him.
He Was Shaking
The OP pushed her hand away, feeling much less calm as he had a PTSD reaction to people putting their hands in his face, much less a screw. He was now visibly shaking.
She Was Furious for No Reason at All
“Okay, ma’am, screws are at the end of this aisle, on the left…” the OP said, trying to keep his cool. “What…” But K was having none of it. “I ALREADY KNOW THAT,” she snapped.
What Is Her Problem?
The OP was getting frustrated. He had no idea what this woman wanted, and she was being incredibly rude.
“Okay, what size is that? What size do you need?” he asked, hoping to get some more information.
But K just got even angrier for some reason. “YOU TELL ME!!!” she shouted, taking a step closer as if trying to seem threatening.
Who Would Expect He Could Do This
The OP had had enough. He couldn’t hold back any longer. “I have NO clue, ma’am,” he said, raising his voice slightly.
“There’s an entire wall of screws. It’s impossible for me to tell its size by just…looking at it.” K was not pleased with this response.
He Finally Had Enough
“You will NOT come at me like that!” she declared, speaking as if she were royal and the OP should feel afraid. “Your manager would NOT like that!”
But the OP was no longer giving a hoot. “Ya think?” he said sarcastically. “Well, I can get a manager if you’d like. Maybe one of them can identify the screw by sight!”
She Told Him to Do Your Job
But K was having none of that either. “DON’T MAKE ME MAD TODAY. JUST… DO… YOUR… JOB!”
So He Did His Job
Feeling fed up with K’s attitude, the OP decided to take a malicious compliance approach. He walked away from her to his trolley and proceeded to continue looking for the items on his order.
“What are you doing?!” K yelled after him.
“My job,” the OP said simply.
A Manager Overheard Everything
What was funny was that an aisle over, one of their assistant managers, was nearby.
With K ranting and stomping like a toddler, the OP walked over to the assistant manager and told him about his two issues: one, he couldn’t find the item, and two, he had a problem customer to deal with.
This Manager Was a Good Guy
The assistant manager laughed and showed the OP where the correct size sheet metal was. He completely ignored the woman, who was still yelling, until she huffed loudly and stormed away.
A Day in the Life of a Retail Worker
The OP couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at the situation. He had handled it professionally, even though he wanted to snap back at the woman.
The assistant manager had helped him find what he needed, and they both had ignored the woman until she left.
Some People Are Horrible
The OP couldn’t help but wonder why people act the way they do sometimes. Why did this woman think it was okay to treat him like garbage just because he couldn’t immediately help her with what she needed?
All in all, it’s just another day in retail, dealing with entitled customers who think they’re better than the people who work there.
What do you think of this story? Have you ever had to deal with a customer like K?
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The post After a Tyrant Customer Almost Took His Eye Out, He Followed Her Advice and “Did His Job” – Which Was Not What She Expected! first appeared on Fistful of Dollars.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Cookie Studio. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit