August 17, 2025 at 5:36 am

Customer Mistook A Delivery Truck For A Taxi Service, So The Manager Had To Explain Why Building Supply Drivers Don’t Offer Free Rides

by Benjamin Cottrell

delivery driver sitting in his truck

Pexels/Reddit

If there’s one thing working retail teaches you, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Still, one delivery driver for a local supply store didn’t expect to be asked for a 40-minute ride home in his company truck.

It was equal parts bold and baffling.

Keep reading for the full story!

Random Person Asked Us To Be A Taxi Service.

The store a friend works at is part of a small chain of building supply stores, where their boss owns several locations and has a fleet of delivery vehicles for each store.

Most of the stores are within or just over an hour of driving distance from one another.

One day, they were approached by a customer.

So the coworker said they had a person come into the store and ask for the manager. When the manager arrived, the person explained they are from a town roughly 40 minutes away.

But they were coming to the back town in a few days to have work done on their vehicle.

This customer had a pretty unexpected request.

And in their words, “I see your company vehicles driving all around. So I want to ask if I can get a ride back to my town in your delivery vehicles since work on my car will take several days.”

The manager pretty much told them no.

The manager tried to point the clearly confused customer in the right direction.

If they need a ride back to their town, they are better off getting some sort of taxi or arranging for a family member or friend to give them a ride, because the delivery vehicles are not a taxi service.

It’s important to note, he lived within 20 minutes of one of the other supply stores, so their vehicles are in that person’s town regularly doing deliveries.

The request was pretty baffling.

It is extremely rare they make the trip down to my friend’s location.

I think this person walked out rather disappointed.

But who in their right mind would ask a building supply company to give them a ride home to a place 40 minutes away?

Talk about a liability…

What did Reddit have to say?

It’s too bad a business like this doesn’t already exist… Oh wait — it does.

Screenshot 2025 07 28 at 4.32.09 PM Customer Mistook A Delivery Truck For A Taxi Service, So The Manager Had To Explain Why Building Supply Drivers Don’t Offer Free Rides

Perhaps this person was just looking for trouble?

Screenshot 2025 07 28 at 4.32.52 PM Customer Mistook A Delivery Truck For A Taxi Service, So The Manager Had To Explain Why Building Supply Drivers Don’t Offer Free Rides

This request may end up costing this person a pretty penny.

Screenshot 2025 07 28 at 4.33.30 PM Customer Mistook A Delivery Truck For A Taxi Service, So The Manager Had To Explain Why Building Supply Drivers Don’t Offer Free Rides

No business owner in their right mind would go for this.

Screenshot 2025 07 28 at 4.34.13 PM Customer Mistook A Delivery Truck For A Taxi Service, So The Manager Had To Explain Why Building Supply Drivers Don’t Offer Free Rides

The request was so far out of left field, it was almost laughable.

The customer is most definitely not always right.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.