In the world of customer service, setting clear expectations can prevent a world of headaches.

But for one unsuspecting health food cafe, ignoring the fine print on a point-of-sale system led to a series of misadventures that would send their business back to the dark ages.

Read on for the full story!

“Fine! I don’t care, just come and get all your crap!” “OK, works for me.”

So I work for a company that sells and services POS equipment (Point-of-Sale, i.e. those newfangled cash registers).

We also usually install updated network equipment, run wiring, and set up new wireless that has separate networks for both the business and guests if need be.

The company is very thorough in making sure their customers know exactly what they’re getting.

When we go to install this equipment and get the customer set up, we have various documents for them to fill out and sign.

These documents range from confirming they received the equipment in working order to whether they wanted a guest network set up and what they wanted it to be called.

With one important fine print section.

One of the important areas that we have the customer initial before signing the bottom of the form is that, if for any reason they decide to cancel their contract with us, we would remove all of our equipment.

So in comes what would prove to be a particularly difficult customer.

We had just demoed and sold a system to a local “health food” cafe, and I was tasked with getting all of the equipment installed and set up.

They “did us a favor” and didn’t open until noon on the day we installed.

When I arrived, I discussed all the things in the document for them to sign and told them that if they wanted to review it before signing, they could.

I would start unloading all the equipment and would answer any questions they had.

The technician noticed the customer didn’t read the fine print, but regardless, they got to work.

Like most customers, they skimmed it and then signed.

I installed the registers, credit card readers, got the internet provider to allow our router to take over, installed the wireless system, ran cables for the kitchen printers, and the whole nine yards.

Taking pride in their work, the technician had no trouble putting in extra effort.

I even went the extra mile by running an additional cable for their manager’s computer (about 15ft away) and resetting all of their Nest cameras to work with the new network.

So needless to say, I did a little extra for no cost as a courtesy.

But this customer interaction wouldn’t have a happy ending.

They had the system for about 1.5 months before one little thing wouldn’t work how they wanted (we never said it would), and they got mad.

They told us to come get their stuff and said the only times we could come were either before 6 a.m. or after 7 p.m. when they closed.

The company sets boundaries, and the process drags on.

We agreed, but advised them we would have to charge them an after-hours service call because those times were well outside our service hours.

This went back and forth for about a month until they got their next payment for the equipment auto-deducted from their account (because they refused to let us come during normal business hours).

The customer wasn’t playing nice at all.

At that point, the calls started to get more and more heated until the fabled line in the title happened and they said I could come the next morning, and their manager would be there.

So finally, the technician arrives at the business again.

So the next morning I arrived at about 8:30 am, after their morning rush, and found that their manager wasn’t even there yet.

I advised the employee what I was there to do and how that would affect them.

I asked if they would like to call the manager first to confirm, and I could wait (I’m not a total monster).

They called and confirmed what I was there to do, so I started unplugging our stuff.

So out everything went.

Router, gone.

Wireless network, gone.

No more network means, no more accessing cameras.

Phones are VOIP, so they stopped working.

Their old POS system they reinstalled was all on wireless — oops, no more wireless.

It took all of 5 minutes to get our stuff out, and I plugged everything back in how it was before.

I was lucky enough not to have any customers come in until after I left.

Turns out, the customer had not thought this through.

Aftermath – they were down for a day and a half on their internet because they refused to call their ISP to get it configured how it used to be because that “was our job.”

Then they called and said “we NEEDED to come hook their cameras back up how they were” and started threatening legal action if we didn’t.

In comes the fine print.

I finally just took a picture of the form they filled out, highlighted the part they initialed, and just started ignoring their calls.

I think they finally got the hint and stopped calling.

I never heard from a lawyer and found out later that half the staff left because of the owner’s attitude towards everything.

Since they started using Square again, their credit card fees went back up.

Some wires just shouldn’t be crossed.

What did Reddit have to say?

Difficult customers never seem to understand just how difficult they are to deal with.

“User error” is a common barrier to integrating new technology.

It’s amazing how much you can gauge about a business from a first impression.

Turns out, these types of customers are despised across the industry.

This cafe’s refusal to read the fine print ultimately left them in the dark, both literally and figuratively!

Cutting corners in business rarely goes smoothly.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.