Imagine working retail and overhearing a customer complaining to a manager. Would you stay out of it, or would you try to help by clarifying what the manager’s saying?

In today’s story, one employee tries to help but quickly realizes there is no way to help this unreasonable customer.

Let’s read the whole story.

My first unreasonable customer.

I started working retail a little over three years ago as a side job to my long time factory job.

I’m divorced and the kids are grown so I was bored and applied when a new store came to town and they hired me, big surprise to me, but I’m older and responsible so they work with me on the hours and it works out.

I’ve actually been having a pretty good time with it since it’s so different from my full time job and I really wondered about the horror stories people tell about the horrible customers they encounter until about a month ago.

OP overheard an upset customer.

I was working the register when an older gentleman comes in and starts raising hell about something.

I’m occupied and there was a new boss talking to him so I wasn’t paying much attention.

The new boss is a younger girl and she’s a real sweetie and I don’t think she deals with things like that well so this guy is just reaming her.

The manager messed up.

One of our services is filling propane tanks, like you use on a grill, and I guess this guy is missing an O ring to his tank. He is saying we are responsible for maintaining the tanks and we need to take care of this problem for him.

New boss is trying to help him but she screwed up at first and told him we don’t maintain the tanks and that wasn’t what he wanted to hear so he’s on a rant, a rant like I haven’t heard out of a customer.

I finish with a customer and have a bit of time so I walk over and catch up with what is going on just as he’s talking about our responsibility to maintain his tank again.

OP tries to explain.

So I step in and tell him we fill the tanks and that is it.

I tell him we don’t have parts, training or any kind of tools to work on tanks.

He isn’t having it and seems even more angry that I’m arguing with him and keeps repeating himself about our responsibilities.

So I ask if the gas station where he fills his car is responsible for maintaining it, which pushes him further over the edge.

The customer was completely unreasonable.

But he just keeps repeating the same thing over and over like it didn’t matter what we said, if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear he wasn’t going to acknowledge it.

I finally just told him he needed to leave.

And he told me wouldn’t be back.

I don’t recall ever seeing him there before so I doubt he’ll be missed but now I know what it’s like to have an unreasonable customer.

It had to happen sooner or later, dealing with a crazy customer, that is.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is probably true.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!

Don’t be surprised if he comes back.

Get ready for more crazy customers!

This person loves the gas station metaphor.

Some customers are completely unreasonable!

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.