Some customers will take a mile if you give them an inch.

What would you do if you gave a client extra time and flexibility every day, only for them to take advantage of it, and then blame you when things didn’t go their way?

Would you keep bending over backward to be helpful?

Or would you remind them what sticking to the contract really looks like?

In the following story, one truck driver finds himself in this exact situation and opts for the latter.

Here’s how it all played out.

A customer was mad I gave them extra time so I gave them less

I’m (31m) a trucker for a parcel shipping company, and my main job is to pick up parcels from big customers and haul them back to the terminal for distribution.

I’ve been doing this for about 7 years now, and I’m very good at my job.

I have a set route every day and the same customers.

They have a deadline for pickup, which is stated in a contract.

But traffic is unreliable, and sometimes stuff just happens.

I sometimes have extra pickups or, in rare cases, deliveries that make me a little late.

Usually, it’s no problem; I know my route and can make up for the lost time.

Or I have their number and can call to tell them I will be late.

This one customer tends to always be a problem.

I have a customer who is set to be picked up from, say, 17.00 every day.

Because I’m a very efficient driver, I rarely need to be there before 17.30 to be on time for my next customer.

This gives them extra time to pack orders as they are still open until about 19 in the evening.

There are no other trucks incoming at the time, so I’m not blocking anything.

Extra time should be good right?

Except they have this annoying habit of never being finished on time.

Even when they see me loading up the truck, they just dally around, not finishing.

Usually, they come running when I’m closing the truck to tell me they got more and I need to wait, before they run around trying to pack and secure the last pallet.

And sometimes, when I get there, they are not.

There will be a finished pallet ready for me, but no people.

It’s no problem, though. I just load up and leave.

Fed up with their entitlement, he taught them a lesson.

Usually, about 10 to 15 minutes later, they call me to say I “forgot” a pallet and need to turn around.

They can’t be expected to be done because they never know when I arrive.

I always arrive within a 15-minute window, every day.

If I’m late, I’ll call them.

They have extra time, and they still can’t finish on time.

They try to blame me.

This is not the first time this has happened.

I got so tired of it that I went back to arriving exactly at my scheduled time and leaving on time.

They weren’t finished? Too bad; I have the contract on my side.

They agreed to it and signed it.

They then tried to call my boss and complain because I had left almost 30 minutes earlier than before.

But he’s awesome and just said ‘tough luck, not my problem’

Too funny! Some people never learn!

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit relate to this situation.

Here’s someone who appreciates a good delivery driver.

This person takes deadlines seriously.

According to this comment, the customer is not always right.

This trucker understands too well.

It’s in the contract!

Luckily for him, he has legal documents to back him up! Well played!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.