Customer Service Experiences

This post is going to be different from my normal posts. I couldn’t figure out what to write about for this week until I saw a TikTok of this man talking about an experience he had while working in customer service. Then, I decided, “Why not share my experiences with everyone for a good laugh?” I have been working in customer service since I was 16 years old, and as much as I had hoped I would never have to deal with mean or creepy people… well, that was just stupid of me to even hope for when it comes to working with the public.

So, let’s get started with one of my first ever poor experiences.

1. At the first gas station I ever worked at, we had this man who was a regular at the store. He ALWAYS used a motorized buggy to get around, even though he was very capable of walking. So, when he wanted to come inside, he would just sit in front of the gas station door until myself or another customer who was trying to enter would open it for him. I never had any crazy issues with this man until one day, he decided to crack a little “joke.” It was wintertime, so I was wearing a hoodie. Once I started cleaning and stocking, I got hot and began to take my hoodie off. This man was in the back of the gas station eating food and talking to other grown men, and he yelled, “Why don’t ya take off a little more while you’re at it?” I was so shocked. I had no idea what to say or do. I was 17 years old when this happened, so of course I didn’t know what to say or do in that moment. It scared me more than anything. I felt so disgusted and grossed out. When this man came up to pay for his food, he went on and on about how it was just a joke and he wasn’t trying to make me feel uncomfortable. Finally, after the third apology, I cut him off and said, “Okay. Just don’t ever say something like that to me ever again.” I never had any more problems from him, but man, if I could go back as myself now, I would tear that man a new one.

   
   

2. There was another man that would come into that same gas station who was an absolute creep. One day when he came in, my best friend at the time was standing at the register talking to me with her back turned to him. He must have thought I would think it was funny for him to pretend to spank her with his walking cane…. You guys should have seen my face. It was obvious he did not care that he made both of us uncomfortable.

   
   

3. I also had an incident where a kid I used to go to high school with tried paying for his drinks with a box full of jewelry, a note, and a few other random things. After telling him I couldn’t accept that as a way of payment, he proceeded to walk out the door and steal the drinks. Well, I hate getting in trouble, and this boy wasn’t about to steal these drinks on my watch. So, what did I do? I chased him out the door. Luckily, I got the drinks back with no hassle, but I believe he was on drugs at the time. Praise the Lord I did not get hurt! I haven’t seen that boy again ever since, and I pray he has healed.

   
   

4. Now, let’s move on to a specific experience that is engraved in my brain from working at Topgolf in the city. This one makes me laugh now, but at the time, I felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable. I was a food runner, so I delivered the food to the tables from the kitchen. When I got to the table that I was supposed to deliver food to, I had to stand there and wait until the customers got done recording themselves. What were they recording themselves doing, you may ask? Well, while this one man and woman stood on the little area where you stand to hit the golf ball, the woman was bent over shaking her booty all over the man who was standing right behind her, grinding up on her. The third friend was the one recording. The families at the bays right next to theirs were all staring at me like, “Do something!” and I was staring at them like, “Is this actually happening in front of my eyes right now?” I ended up throwing their food down on their table and left because it was going on for way too long. That was a task for a manager, not me.

   
   

5. Let’s move on to the gas station I currently work at. These are my favorites because what do you mean I got threatened by a customer that they were going to talk to my boss (who also happens to be my brother-in-law) about me because I would not put his credit card in the credit card machine for him? At the time, we had a piece of plexiglass up at the register because it had been left up since Covid (I’m assuming, not sure if that is actually why it was there). This man got his hand up under the plexiglass, leaned across the counter with his finger in my face, tearing into me for being disrespectful and not putting the card in the machine for him. Now, if you have ever been in that gas station while I’m working, you know that I am in customer service mode, and I am very kind and very helpful to anyone that comes in. Had he simply asked me nicely or gave me a kind explanation as to why he could not put the card in the machine himself, I would have helped him. However, he obviously did not feel like being nice to me. So, I kindly refused to put the card in the machine for him, and after a few unkind words from him, GUESS WHAT! He put the card in the machine all by himself, like a big boy! Sometimes you just have to be the one to push people to their full potential. On a real note, this man hates me, and I can tell by the way he avoids me when he comes in on the days I am working. It is so unfortunate because I am a kind person, and I don’t like it when people make me feel the way he made me feel.

   
   

6. I had another instance happen where a woman tried coming into the gas station at like 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday when we didn’t even open until 5:00 a.m. I had the door locked, but she saw me inside, and I could tell she was mad that the door was locked. When we finally opened at 5:00 a.m., she came inside to buy cigarettes and proceeded to shove her phone in my face, treating me like I was an idiot because the opening time online says 3:30 a.m. She kept shoving her phone in my face saying, “See! See! See!” After taking a step back to get away from her phone that was stuck in my face, I tried to stay nice and respectful while telling her that we only open at 3:30 a.m. on weekdays and that today was Saturday. Online it says we open at 5:00 a.m. on Saturdays, so she was looking at the wrong day. She was not a fan of me correcting her, as she continued by asking me the price of the cigarettes, throwing her money at me on the counter, and then looking at my coworker and thanking her for being “so kind unlike the dumb broad behind the counter.” I just stood there staring at her, wondering why she was treating me like that. She continued calling me very mean and inappropriate names as she walked out. NEVER in my life have I wanted to retaliate so badly, but instead, I refrained and told her to have a nice day. After she left, I had to go to the back to calm down because I was so mad I almost cried over it. I will never understand how people can be so rude. What a perfect way to start your morning, eh?

   
   

Anyways, these are just the most extreme ones that I can recall. I could probably write a book about these experiences. Thank you for reading! I hope you got a good laugh from these!