If you work in retail, you know some customers just want to complain.

They’re angry, unhappy people and they would rather everyone else in the world felt that way, too.

This cashier was completely befuddled at the way this customer treated her.

The details will probably make you sad, fair warning!

“You THREW my receipt at me!!”

This happened last week. It’s one of my craziest retail experiences.

I work at a craft store, which is usually a pretty chill job.

You can typically count on crafters to have a little more patience than most people.

I am usually a cashier, but that day they wanted me to run a demo, which I love to do.

I’m in a great mood and chatting with the customers about the product we are demoing.

I look up at the registers and notice a customer walk up.

She is the only one in line behind the current customer at register.

No biggie, right?

Of course, it was a biggie to this woman.

Well she seems agitated.

Like eye rolling, fidgeting, looking around for another cashier to come up. I am with a customer at the demo for a minute and finish up.

In that 1-2 minutes 2 other families line up. I rush to the register to help out with the line. I call her up to the check stand (remember she was waiting a maximum if 3 minutes.)

Customer: FINALLY!

Me:(utterly confused because I know she hasn’t been there that long) huh? Pardon?

Customer: Its about time! I shouldn’t have to wait forever.

Me: oh, (inner eyeroll) I’m sorry. Did you find everything okay?

Customer: (very icily with actual eyerolls) yes.

Me: okay, great!( this woman isn’t going to kill my mood.)

Customer pays, machine takes forever to process, because life is funny that way. By then customer is visibly fuming. Not my fault, but apparently is.

Then, the weirdest reaction happens.

Receipt prints.

Me: thank you very much, enjoy the rest of your day!

Customer starts dragging away calendar and I try and put receipt on top so she can carry both.

Receipt lands on countertop because she moved it to fast.

Customer starts to walk away turns around and screams “You threw my receipt at me! How dare you!”

Me: wait what? (Genuinely I am still baffled)

Customer: you just threw my receipt AT me, that was so rude! (Yelling at the top of her lungs, drawing a crowd of customers who are all watching.)

Me: (looking around absolutely confused as to why this woman is screaming at me for something I absolutely would never do.)

Um, I’m sorry, that definitely wasn’t my intention, I would never mean to do something like that. (Trying to smile and be friendly to alleviate the situation)

Customer: you did too, I know you did! How dare you sit there and smile at me! I want to return this!

Me: okie dokie, can do! (Anything to make this stop, the line is much longer at this point and the customers are staring at me.)

She just won’t let it go.

Customer: (continues to berate me with the same accusations for the entire return and is getting progressively more amped up as I continue to smile through my utter embarrassment and emotional distress, as I am literally quivering from the stress.[thanks PTSD])

Me: (finish the return) Thank you, have a nice day.

Customer: No, I want to speak to a manager!

Me: okay, can do (call up manager)

Customer continues yelling and making a scene, but I don’t remember exactly what was said.(again, thank you PTSD) I look around at the customers gathered and they are all super uncomfortable, I look over at her family and they are looking everywhere but where their wife/mother was making a scene.

Manager arrives and introduces herself, customer starts unloading on her and says basically everything that she already said including a few minutes long tirade about how I am just stand there and smiling all smugly.

Trust me when I say I was NOT smug.

My manager listens to her for a while and just says “okay.”

She knows me well enough to know that it is not my style, I have multiple customer raves every week in our surveys.

This poor girl.

Customer: Is that all you have to say? Aren’t you going to do something? What are you going to do?

Manger: (looks at me) would you like to head to the back.

Me: yes, thanks.

I leave the situation get to the break room and cry from the emotion and stress of a crazy person unleashing on me out of no where.

After about 5 minutes I have calmed down and cleaned my face up. I ask if I can go back to the demo and I do.

For the next hour I had customers come up and apologize for her behavior and applaud me on how I handled the situation.

Why are people so awful?

I bet Reddit is incensed, too.

I mean, honestly.

Definitely.

It is nice to think she was annoyed in return.

This is exactly it.

What a jerk.

This woman shouldn’t be allowed in public.

What utter nonsense.

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.