The Unbelievable Behavior Of The World’s Worst Customers

Anyone who's worked in the service industry can recall dealing with some nightmare customers in their lives. Whether they had overly specific standards that employees just had to guess at, rude attitudes that never seemed to abate no matter how special people tried to make their experience, or just shocking levels of entitlement, some people are just unpleasable.

Unpleasable customers are sadly common but some manage to find new lows in human behavior. Their actions may not have been insane or illegal enough to make the news but they shouldn't be surprised if they earn themselves a ban from some unfortunate establishments.

Everyone hates this but I think they know that

Just because something is technically possible, that doesn't mean that anyone with sense should be doing it. For instance, it's technically possible to pay for $60 worth of diesel fuel with a bag full of dimes but anyone who does this should expect the death glares they get.

dimes
Comprehensive-Art229/reddit
Comprehensive-Art229/reddit

It's pretty much impossible not to take this personally. However, that only means that the worker gets to turn the sadism back on the customer by making them wait as they count it. Of course, if it's short, they shouldn't be surprised when they force them to use another payment method.

ADVERTISEMENT

What did she think was going to happen?

ADVERTISEMENT

One customer likely caused a significant delay in service for herself and everyone else when she drove into the pit at this body shop while trying to get her vehicle serviced. At first glance, it might seem overly harsh to consider her one of the worst customers for doing this.

car
MinnesotaSux/reddit
MinnesotaSux/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

After all, accidents like this happen to the best of us and it can be pretty embarrassing when we try our best, yet still end up in situations like this. However, Reddit user MinnesotaSux said she was both texting and eating hot chips while pulling in. So, it's safe to say she wasn't trying her best at all and it's amazing this didn't go worse.

ADVERTISEMENT

Why stores get uptight about bringing food and drinks in

ADVERTISEMENT

Anyone who's ever wondered why they weren't allowed to bring food or drinks into a store should heed the tale of one customer who walked into Old Navy with her coffee. She didn't realize the cup was leaking for a solid ten minutes, and these were the results.

ADVERTISEMENT
jeans3
lesbipain/reddit
lesbipain/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Not only did she easily ruin at least a couple of hundred dollars' worth of inventory (there was nothing they could do) but at least one other customer almost slipped on the mess she made on the floor. Accident or not, that customer became a certified menace that day.

ADVERTISEMENT

They must have been looking for an excuse not to tip

ADVERTISEMENT

If it's hard to make out what this note on a restaurant bill says, that's not your fault. Thankfully, ExtendedMacaroni explained that they had to take over for one of their coworkers who reached the end of their shift, and the customer apparently thought this meant neither server deserved a tip.

ADVERTISEMENT
bill2
ExtendedMacaroni/reddit
ExtendedMacaroni/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Not only that, but they left a negative tip, which means they seemed to be under the impression that the restaurant owed them $3.50. I'm sure they'll take that wholly legitimate outstanding debt seriously. The customer better not try to sue, or their legal documents will be just as confusing.

ADVERTISEMENT

The last thing that anybody wants to be paid with

ADVERTISEMENT

Although people usually prefer to be paid in bills rather than change, even 100 pennies would probably be preferable to receiving this absolutely disgusting dollar. To their horror, Reddit user meat_uprising discovered that it left a residue that wouldn't wash off.

ADVERTISEMENT
dollar gross2
meat_uprising/reddit
meat_uprising/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Fortunately for them, another user with some experience they didn't elaborate on explained that this is the sticky byproduct of a certain narcotic. For anyone who receives a similar dollar bill in the future, the answer is apparently a cleaning solution with at least 90% rubbing alcohol. The more you know.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sure, this seems like a totally reasonable response

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user 14jander explained, a customer called their store to complain that their dishwasher was taking three hours to wash and dry his dishes. While that may sound inconvenient, the uploader said he got exactly what he paid for because it was a basic unit with advertised energy-saving features that make the process take longer.

ADVERTISEMENT
dishwasher
14jander/reddit
14jander/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

However, none of these explanations satisfied the customer, who said that if the store didn't take it back, he'd shoot the dishwasher and drop it by the business's front doors. It's unclear what he hoped to accomplish by doing that, but if nothing else, he was true to his word.

ADVERTISEMENT

Gotta love the confidence, but not much else about this

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user gurksallad explained, one customer came in and told them the words no cell phone repair technician wants to hear. In their words, "I know how to solder, so I replaced the charger-port but now my phone is not working. Can you help?"

ADVERTISEMENT
solder2
gurksallad/reddit
gurksallad/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Not only does this make it hard to believe that they know how to solder, but it confirms that they have no idea when to solder. As a result, they ended up fusing all of the USB port's parts together, thus shorting out the whole thing. In other words, no. The uploader cannot help.

ADVERTISEMENT

From a certain point of view, this is the best customer

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user illlogic explained, this burned out car part was the result of a customer not knowing how to drive with a manual transmission. When she drives her Volkswagen Transporter, it's always in third gear, which means that it only took a year after getting a new clutch to look like this.

ADVERTISEMENT
clutch2
illlogic/reddit
illlogic/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

From the mechanic's perspective, that's not fun to deal with because her car also stinks and makes horrible sounds when she brings it in. From the owner's perspective, she's dream come true because they can always count on her to need a new clutch every year.

ADVERTISEMENT

Good luck keeping your appetite with this one

ADVERTISEMENT

There's a long-standing trend where Starbucks customers will stress the baristas out with overly complicated drink orders, and it seems the employees at one Subway location know how those baristas feel. Every time they come in, one customer gets their sandwich smothered with absolutely everything until it's just an open-faced pile.

ADVERTISEMENT
subway2
shelblikadoo/reddit
shelblikadoo/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Not only is this probably arduous for the employees but imagine being the customer who comes after this person. Would there even be any sauce left? The manager must be wondering where all the inventory is going, too. People like what they like but this is ridiculous.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's like they want people to spit in their food

ADVERTISEMENT

Since it's generally a minuscule percentage of the total bill, it's hard for most servers not to be disappointed by a dollar tip at the best of times. Indeed, that's the case for at least 30 years by now. However, there's no way anyone can consider this the best of times.

ADVERTISEMENT
dollar
RainbowDash118/reddit
RainbowDash118/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Unless this customer caught the server making out with their partner or something, it's hard to imagine what they could have done to deserve the indignity of fishing through the customer's lemon water for a dollar. Does the customer get their paycheck by crawling under barbed wire?

ADVERTISEMENT

The shark found some weak prey here

ADVERTISEMENT

When Reddit user Batmo_bil held up this bag full of pennies, they explained that their coworker had accepted 30 euros in change from a customer, which then inconveniently spilled over into other pockets in their register. However, that's not the worst of it.

ADVERTISEMENT
change scam
Batmo_bil/reddit
Batmo_bil/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

As it turned out, the uploader had every reason to be mad at both the customer and their coworker because this wasn't anywhere near 30 euros. Not only did this mean the customer scammed their store but the coworker didn't even bother to count this to confirm that. "Trust me bro" still works on some people, it seems.

ADVERTISEMENT

How to turn a mechanic's face pale in one easy step

ADVERTISEMENT

In the abstract, one can understand that being a hoarder is a worrying symptom of a serious mental condition. As such, that can lead to an understanding that shaming a person for exhibiting those tendencies is not as productive as encouraging them to seek help for it and taking steps to clean their spaces.

ADVERTISEMENT
hoarder
TheShadyTurtle/reddit
TheShadyTurtle/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

That said, that doesn't make those tendencies any easier for anyone else to deal with. So if a mechanic suddenly encounters the smells and infestation risks of a car like this and either wants to vomit or run away screaming, that's also pretty relatable.

ADVERTISEMENT

It's hard to tell without context but it's like the Devil did this

ADVERTISEMENT

The food packages on this line are all intended for one customer. At first glance, that's not exactly the end of the world. Some businesses need big orders and while it's hard work to fill it, the payday should be worth the effort, right?

ADVERTISEMENT
food2
RyuuAraragi/reddit
RyuuAraragi/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Normally, that argument could certainly be made. However, the customer that ordered all of this cancelled their order right after the employees were finished making it. If whoever did this gets banned from their delivery app for that, they shouldn't be surprised. At the very least, they're about to learn what a blacklist is the hard way.

ADVERTISEMENT

Buyer's remorse is not the store's problem

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user rosspointsmiles explained, they're a manager at a furniture store and recently had to deal with a dispute a customer filed with her credit card company. Her reasoning was that the fabric in this chair was awful, meaning that she didn't like the look of it.

ADVERTISEMENT
chair
rosspointsmiles/reddit
rosspointsmiles/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

In a sense, that's easy to understand because many people wouldn't want this in their homes either. However, she gave the store's management every reason to think she did because she custom-ordered this exact pattern. She went out of her way to have them make this chair, but now wants that to be the store's problem.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sometimes it's not about what customers do at the register

ADVERTISEMENT

While there are many ways that customers can be awful to staff when it's time to order or pay. In this case, a regular customer came in while Reddit user Eternally_Tiredxx was enjoying breakfast on their break and loudly and aggressively commented about how much food they were eating.

ADVERTISEMENT
meal2
Eternally_Tiredxx/reddit
Eternally_Tiredxx/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

At the best of times, this was none of her business and uncalled for. However, since the uploader has a history of disordered eating and digestive issues, this was the worst thing she could have said. It's also part of an unfortunate trend of judgmental comments, but this one almost made the uploader cry. Thankfully, they weren't deterred from finishing their breakfast.

ADVERTISEMENT

Why do so many people do this?

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user SandwichesANDMilk_ explained, these five full carts were all abandoned by their customers and left for the employees working the closing shift. That means that every item in them has to be sorted, processed, and then put back onto the sales floor. Obviously, that's a lot of work to make somebody do for no good reason.

ADVERTISEMENT
carts2
SandwichesANDMilk_/reddit
SandwichesANDMilk_/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Granted, sometimes there is a good reason to suddenly leave everything behind. However, it's quite implausible for five different customers to have that kind of emergency at once. It's also even more implausible for three to five customers to have that kind of emergency every night, as the uploader said they have to deal with it that often. So, what is the logic here?

ADVERTISEMENT

Did they think it was a coincidence that these fit together?

ADVERTISEMENT

It's unclear what kind of business Reddit user xjsred3000 does but they made it clear to the customer that these laptops were supposed to be packed with care. Apparently, the customer didn't interpret this to mean that they should cover the laptop in these protective foam blocks.

ADVERTISEMENT
laptops
xjsred3000/reddit
xjsred3000/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Instead, they seemed to be under the impression that it's good enough to have them knock against the blocks as if they're a placeholder rather than a protective case. The fact that one of these devices no longer works disproves that theory, of course. However, this customer won't truly go from "bad" to "worst" until they deny any wrongdoing.

ADVERTISEMENT

Whatever the reason for this, it's not supposed to go there

ADVERTISEMENT

In all ways except the obvious, it seemed the customer was pretty good. Apparently, she left a fairly generous monetary tip and didn't lodge any complaints about the service. Nonetheless, she apparently saw fit to leave a period pad on her plate when the server came to collect her plate.

ADVERTISEMENT
pad
kay_shanelle/reddit
kay_shanelle/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

If it had been used, it would be a lot easier to decisively say that she belonged on the list of worst customers because that's a clear health and safety violation, to say the least. However, this one doesn't even appear to have been used, which just makes this decision baffling considering she was a model customer in other ways.

ADVERTISEMENT

The customer may have understated things a tad

ADVERTISEMENT

Before anyone gets concerned, it's worth noting that this mess is mostly composed of beans. Apparently, the customer was transporting a significant amount of frijoles a la charra and had a spilling incident that would make Kevin from The Office blush.

ADVERTISEMENT
beans
mimeofsorrow/reddit
mimeofsorrow/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

However, that's not what makes them so easy to be disappointed in as a customer. After all, accidents happen. Instead, they asked Reddit user mimeofsorrow to get "a spot" out of the carpet. It's probably more accurate to say that "a spot" is the only part of the carpet not covered in this stuff. At least prepare them for the job ahead of them.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sure, there's no better time she could have done this

ADVERTISEMENT

While this woman was waiting for the teller at this bank to take care of whatever she wanted done, she apparently thought it was a golden opportunity to crouch down and start painting her toenails. Not only was this unlikely to endear her to the teller but also to the other customers waiting behind her.

ADVERTISEMENT
bank
BelladonnicHaze/reddit
BelladonnicHaze/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

After all, even if the service was slow enough that she had time to do this, it doesn't exactly make it less frustrating for the other customers to smell the chemicals of her nail polish while they experience the same wait.

ADVERTISEMENT

The problem should be obvious but it somehow wasn't

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user salv3tor13 explained, they work at a computer repair shop and have recently had a customer bring this in. He told the uploader that his power supply unit keeps blowing out and he's apparently baffled as to why that happens so much.

ADVERTISEMENT
computer
salv3tor13/reddit
salv3tor13/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Presumably, he was much surprised by the fact that this keeps happening than by the fact that cockroaches were crawling out of his computer. It's probably fair to say that most people don't need to be terribly tech savvy to guess that the two problems might be connected.

ADVERTISEMENT

The only silver lining is that it's being taken care of now

ADVERTISEMENT

At least a year after she bought it, a customer came into the pet shop Reddit user im_tiny_nic works at with this gecko and attempted to get store credit for it because she was about to move away. Not only is that not how returns work but the uploader explained why she's one of the worst customers.

ADVERTISEMENT
gecko
im_tiny_nic/reddit
im_tiny_nic/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Geckos live off nutrients stored in their tails when they aren't fed and the fact that this one's tail is so skinny — which the uplaoder had never seen to that extent — means it hasn't been fed in about a year. Fortunately, a coworker has since taken it home and has been regularly feeding it worms.

ADVERTISEMENT

Well, the problem shouldn't be hard to figure out

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user l33ch842 explained, one of their customers apparently came in and reported that their computer was running slow. While there could be many potential reasons for this, it only took the briefest of looks inside to discover the culprit.

ADVERTISEMENT
computee dust
l33ch842/reddit
l33ch842/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Indeed, it seems outright miraculous that the computer was running at all, so it's definitely understandable that it wouldn't be working at lightning speed. At least cleaning this out will probably take a couple of billable hours. It's about the only silver lining to extended contact with this much dust.

ADVERTISEMENT

At least they showed they care, if in a misguided way

ADVERTISEMENT

Reddit user NovacaneBay was exasperated by this reason for a product return but this was largely because they deal with customers about as well-reasoned as this one every day. To the customer's credit, there's something wholesome about the idea of them deciding that if the nectar isn't good for them, it's not good enough for their hummingbirds.

ADVERTISEMENT
label
NovacaneBay/reddit
NovacaneBay/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

However, it's also easy to appreciate how frustrating it is for them not to realize that hummingbird nectar isn't going to be made with human taste buds in mind. Unless the hummingbirds start leaving their own bad reviews, it'll probably be fine.

ADVERTISEMENT

Spare a thought for the poor employee who heard this rant

ADVERTISEMENT

Whenever there's an unusual or overly specific sign in a place of business, we can typically expect that it was necessitated by a lot of customers either messing something up or frequently complaining about something petty. In this case, the use of capitals suggests that it followed a legendarily harsh rant by at least one customer.

ADVERTISEMENT
sign
cheftlp1221/reddit
cheftlp1221/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Apparently, the idea of a slicer daring to put conventional bread crumbs anywhere near their organic loaves was such an indignity that it led someone to write "the organic status of your bread will be compromised" on a sign. That's probably the exact phrase that was screamed at them.

ADVERTISEMENT

There was some surprising debate about this one

ADVERTISEMENT

As an explanation for why these planks of wood were spread everywhere, Reddit user Darthmayhem13 explained, "Customer wanted the best boards in the pile." For some, that frustration was easy to understand because no employee wants to clean all that up, especially when some boards were damaged in the process.

ADVERTISEMENT
wood
Darthmayhem13/reddit
Darthmayhem13/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

However, others countered that the uploader didn't appreciate how low-quality the boards that were being passed over often are at these stores. Specifically, their curvature is warped enough that it's hard to think of a job they'd be remotely useful for. That makes this seem like the only option sometimes.

ADVERTISEMENT

The scary part isn't the picture but the customer's response

ADVERTISEMENT

As Reddit user Ben702 explained, this is an air filter that they pulled out of a customer's car while working at a garage. Needless to say, it's been a long time since it's been changed because it's hard to describe what's clogging it as anything but alien life.

ADVERTISEMENT
filter2
Ben702/reddit
Ben702/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

However, that isn't the scariest part of this picture. Instead, it's the context of the customer refusing to have it replaced. Some suggested that was because they wanted to get a cheaper unit and replace it themselves but that that suggests more automotive attentiveness than someone would need to let it get this bad.

ADVERTISEMENT

Had nobody ever told them not to do this?

ADVERTISEMENT

It's hard not to shake our heads when we see someone take a completely unnecessary risk, but not everything of that nature needs to be a daredevil stunt. In life, many people learn the hard way that some of the most ill-advised risks they take are social.

ADVERTISEMENT
clothes
CryptographerLost407/reddit
CryptographerLost407/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

For instance, Reddit user CryptographerLost407 posted this photo to provide some context after a customer that she was about three or four months into her pregnancy. Unfortunately, it turns out that there was never any pregnancy. The only hope is that the aftermath was as awkward for the customer as her, as that means there's some hope they won't do that again.

ADVERTISEMENT

If they weren't embarrassed, they should be

ADVERTISEMENT

When Reddit user BurritoDiet showed the dirtiest device so many people had ever seen, they simply said, "Customer said their bathroom fan wasn't working." That's an understatement to be sure, as the uploader needed to explain that there was even a fan under all this buildup to begin with.

ADVERTISEMENT
fan
BurritoDiet/Reddit
BurritoDiet/Reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Honestly, it's nothing short of a miracle that this fan worked for as long as it did. As BurritoDiet put it, this was the culmination of decades' worth of dust, mold, feces particles, and other debris. They successfully removed and replaced it but they must've needed three showers afterward.

ADVERTISEMENT

Of course, why use a trash can when you can put it here?

ADVERTISEMENT

We can only speculate on how this paper towel became stained with blood but the most optimistic theory is that a customer had a simple nosebleed. Regardless, however, there should be no world in which they thought that the best place to dispose of it was in this store's cookie display.

ADVERTISEMENT
cookies
KabbyCakes99/reddit
KabbyCakes99/reddit
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

It would be unsanitary to leave this on any of the store's shelves but even if that was somehow unavoidable, there had to be a better choice than potentially ruining a bunch of food products. The worst customers are the ones employees and fellow customers alike hate.