They say the first rule in business is that the customer is always right. But anyone who’s worked in retail knows that sometimes — often, in fact — the customer is very, very wrong.
Some people just seem to lose their minds around store employees. Or maybe they never learned manners, to begin with. Either way, they feel very comfortable making the most outlandish, almost impossible demands. As long as they’re the customer, they get to do whatever they want, right?
But the demands are annoying if not out of line. And sometimes, they’re so bizarre that employees can’t even figure them out. Then, more often than not, the customer gets irate over the misunderstanding and storms out.
A viral Twitter thread from user Pigeon Fancier recently asked: “What’s the most ridiculous demand a customer has made of you?” And boy, did the internet deliver. People from all industries weighed in with stories of the most entitled, bizarre, and outlandish requests they’ve heard in their line of work.
So, kick back, relax, and enjoy these 75 stories of entitled customers. And while we’re at it, let’s all resolve to be nice to the retail workers in our lives. They deserve it.
1. What an opportunity
One poster said a woman approached them at their retail job with a strange request. She wanted them to leave the store and drive her to her Botox appointment, then to the mall to shop.
2. Just the bones
Customers are notorious for trying to return items that should never be returned, but this one takes the cake. Or rather, it takes the rotisserie turkey, which is exactly what they tried to take back to the store. It had been eaten, of course.
3. She didn’t understand how hair works
Weeks after getting her hair colored, a customer stormed into the salon to demand a refund. Why? Because her roots were growing in, even though they’d had “permanent” hair color applied.
4. I’ve got nothing else to do
When a customer called a pet supply store to pick out a toy for his dog, he was stumped about which one to get. His solution was to have the employee pick up each dog toy and squeak them into the phone receiver until he heard the one that sounded right.
5. Yes, exactly
When an employee came to the store while off the clock to pick up their paycheck, a customer demanded their help. They said they weren’t on duty. She replied: “So you only help people when you’re getting paid to do it?”
6. Birds are known for being extra cooperative
A photographer turned up at an aviary to try to get some photos of the exotic birds. He demanded the store employee convince them to sit down for a group picture. Oh, he also wanted them to sit in a row, going from the shortest to the tallest.
7. Who’s going to break the news?
A customer was looking for a book on dinosaurs for her child’s school project. She was livid the store didn’t carry books with real photographs. Who’s going to tell her that dinosaurs died well before the invention of photography?
8. *slow clap*
Sometimes, employees have the best clap backs. A customer demanded an employee interrupt a food delivery to go get him some milk. When he told them: “I’ll have your job,” the employee brought him a job application.
9. We’re just making up laws now?
A bartender kindly let a girl stay after the bar was closed to search for her Fitbit. After an hour with no luck, they had to ask her to leave. She told them it was illegal to close a business that contained lost property.
10. Weird flex, but okay
A worker in the seafood department at a grocery store was shocked by a strange request. A customer asked if they had any free samples. Then he bought some raw squid and ate it right there.
11. Do you need a map?
A waitress in Germany was allowed to accept Swiss Francs, but regularly had customers demanding change in their country’s currency. They were in Germany, so by law, they had to give the customer change in Euros.
12. Sure, let me get you a parachute
It’s common to hear customers demand to see a manager, but it’s a little less common on an airplane. Guess what, buddy? In the air, the flight attendants ARE the manager.
13. How would this be possible?
A customer showed up to a gas station, pumped his gas, then came in and demanded a refund because he decided he didn’t want it. Oh, he also wanted them to take the gas out of his car.
14. I hope they like to cuddle
A party of 14 showed up at a restaurant and was furious not to have a table. They asked to be seated at a table for eight. Apparently, they didn’t see the problem with that.
15. No, that’s called breaking the law
If you work at a fancy store, you’ll have affluent people making ridiculous demands. A poster who worked at Lord and Taylor frequently had women asking not to pay taxes on perfume because they were church elders.
16. Ah, kids
A lifeguard at a lake got a strange request from a little girl. She was upset the lake didn’t have waves and asked them to make some. “I pretended to call my coworker and request waves,” said the poster.
17. This is not how grown-ups act
An adult customer walked up to a closed register, looked around, and screamed for help. He was 10 feet from the customer service desk and several employees. Can we all use our indoor voice?
18. Sure, I’ll just do a quick remodel
One woman decided not to look where she was going while leaving the grocery store. After running into a window, she asked the bagger: “Why isn’t there a door here? Shouldn’t there be a door here?”
19. Lemon, apple, or cherry
A restaurant manager was flabbergasted when a man came in asking for a free pie. Why? Because he found a piece of plastic in a pie from a different restaurant. He also had a list of acceptable flavors.
20. Good answer
A client protested the price of her haircut because the stylist had only given her a trim — as she requested. The stylist responded: “I’m not a butcher and I don’t charge by the pound.”
21. Can you break the laws of physics for me?
A woman with a huge grocery load had an impossible demand for the bagger. They couldn’t use too many bags…and the bags couldn’t be heavy. Try to figure that one out.
22. So much for one trip
After a customer bought $300 of groceries, they demanded the bagger put a maximum of four items in each bag. They must’ve had dozens of bags by the end.
23. How would someone even do that?
After buying $1,200 of glass knick-knacks, a customer made the cashier wrap each piece individually in paper. Then when she realized her credit card was gone, she made them unwrap each piece to find it. Her card was in her wallet.
24. Someone needs to tell her
Everything has an expiration date. A customer tried to return an item that expired because she believed expiration dates shouldn’t exist. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that one day, even she’d expire,” said the poster.
25. I’ll do my best
The checkout belt at a grocery store had a steep incline, and the cashier was often asked to make items go down more slowly. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop gravity from existing.
26. You know what? I quit
After a poster helped a fellow customer pick out some beer, she asked them to carry it to her car. “She…threatened to get me fired,” said the poster. “I only then realized she thought I worked there.”
27. The audacity
An American customer at a restaurant in Thailand told the owner he’d made the red curry wrong. Why? Because it was different than what he’d in Los Angeles.
28. Come on, dude
One customer regularly called the local tennis court to ask whether the weather was good. The kicker…he only lived a few blocks away and could’ve easily checked himself.
29. This is sweet and strange
Not every over-the-top request is necessarily bad. One customer went through the Krispy Kreme drive-through and bought one doughnut hole. Then he asked the employees to give it to his dog in the bed of the truck.
30. Does she think people are spying on her groceries?
A woman swore at a grocery store employee for wrapping her order in a translucent paper because she didn’t want people seeing what she bought. That’s taking privacy to the extreme.
31. I don’t think you understand bread
A bakery employee was asked to put an already-baked, already-sliced loaf of bread back into the oven. Why? The customer thought it would melt back into an unsliced loaf.
32. You need to use words
Sometimes, customers get mad because employees don’t understand their nonsensical demands. One customer left a coffee shop in a huff after workers didn’t understand their order for a “hot iced coffee.”
33. It’s an affliction
A librarian was confused when a patron said she couldn’t sign out books due to a medical condition. She said she couldn’t touch any paper. Yet somehow, she could read books in the library without a problem.
34. Doesn’t everyone decorate the traditional Christmas cactus?
At a nursery, a woman asked for a pine tree sapling to “commemorate Christmas.” The employee told her they didn’t have anything that qualified. She pointed out cactuses and said: “Why didn’t you tell me about those?”
35. As long as she’s not picky about results
Some customers honestly have no idea what’s going on, like the woman who marched into a bookstore and asked for a haircut. Yes, she asked for a haircut in a bookstore.
36. Just a couple
A woman came into a video store and asked for a copy of “Three Dalmatians.” When the confused employee repeated, “Three?” she said, “I don’t know, there could be more.”
37. Is it too much to ask for hot ice?
Some employees have the best responses to ridiculous customer requests. A woman went to McDonald’s and asked for a hot iced tea. The employee said they were out of hot ice.
38. And it better be organic
An employee at Whole Foods said they’re used to customers asking that cashiers not swipe barcodes on their groceries. I guess they believe those lasers are “toxic.”
39. The baby’s very particular
One cashier had a woman get irate for a very strange reason. She told them: “Hurry it up because I’m on a strict breastfeeding schedule.”
40. Why won’t you commit felonies for your clients?
An IRS employee was speaking to a woman about a form her husband needed to sign. She demanded they sign it instead. The employee asked, “You want me to forge your signature on government forms?”
41. What an interesting phobia
A security guard at a museum was confused when a visitor approached him with a strange request. She told him she was “afraid of the art” and wanted him to look at it with her.
42. I get it, but no
A restaurant patron handed his baby to the server and asked them to take her somewhere else. He wanted to eat dinner in peace. That’s a lot of trust in a stranger.
43. A little notice would’ve been nice
A grocery bagger was used to being asked to carry groceries to customers’ cars. But one day, a lady asked him to follow her…then walked two miles home with him carrying all of her stuff.
44. I know you have it
Sometimes, customers have demands that make no sense at all. One walked into Radio Shack and asked for “the internet.” The employees were never able to find out what that meant.
45. Well, get me the architect
A customer asked to talk to a manager because he disliked the architecture of the building. In his mind, managers build stores.
46. Did they think the fire was for fun?
On vacation at a campground, a family asked rangers to get rid of the smoke from a nearby forest fire. They also asked for the rangers to let the elk out…you know, the wild animals.
47. How old was this lady, exactly?
An employee at a streetlight outage hotline got a call from an elderly lady. She was very upset about her streetlight being electric because she preferred gas.
48. Oh, that one
A customer turned up in a record store and asked an employee for “that song with the harmonica.” Amazingly, with some sleuthing, they were able to find it.
49. Camping might not be for you
An employee at a campsite got an impossible request from a camper. They wanted to make sure their campsite had no bugs. I’m not sure how to break it to them…
50. Oh, the humanity
A restaurant patron was very particular in his choice of water. He called the server over to complain the bubbles in their carbonated water were too big.
51. Ice cream has a time limit
A patron at a movie theater was furious when his ice cream melted. So, he demanded a free replacement. The thing was, he’d bought it 25 minutes before the movie started.
52. That’s not how Pokémon works
Customers at a comic book shop purchased Pokémon booster packs at the height of the craze. Then they’d erupt at the employees when the random packs didn’t have what they wanted.
53. Does she think eggs come from humans?
An old woman went off on an employee when she learned the store was temporarily out of eggs. She told the employee to “go make more” or she’d have their job.
54. No one’s ever needed that many cigarettes
A customer tried to buy more than $200 worth of tobacco products with food stamps. The cashier told him that it was illegal. Then he demanded them for free.
55. She needed a booster seat
A wealthy woman regularly went to a posh restaurant where she had a strange request. She wanted servers to fold tablecloths and stuff them under her backside so she could reach the table.
56. Was she providing lunch?
When a photographer arrived at a session with a client, they heard a strange request. The client wanted them to eat a full meal first so they could perform their best work.
57. We’ll get right on that
A woman stayed an extra night in town because she wanted to attend a movie at a local museum. The thing was, the museum wasn’t showing a movie. She demanded they pay for her hotel.
58. Just charge him $500 to make him happy
A customer shopping in New York was angry that the shop didn’t offer any pre-wrapped items costing more than $500. He said he wanted to buy something fancy for his wife.
59. I know where your driveway is
A customer called a store asking for directions but wasn’t happy with the ones provided. Finally, she got across that she wanted to know which way to turn out of her driveway.
60. Magic, of course
An elderly customer was irate that the free DVD she’d received wouldn’t work. The store employees finally understood she didn’t own a DVD player.
61. It doesn’t
A woman called a help desk at a university to have someone walk her through how to set up her internet. After a long explanation, she asked, “But how does it work if I don’t have a computer?”
62. I’m not going to do that
Grocery baggers get some pretty weird requests. One woman asked for the employees to put her groceries in alphabetical order. Just…why?
63. Probably shouldn’t let him near a stove
A man came into a grocery store looking for melted butter. He was furious when the employees told him he needed to buy regular butter and melt it at home.
64. Sounds like a lonely guy
A man came into a pharmacy and bought a packet of toy cigarettes, then had them gift-wrapped. He had them delivered to his address…for himself.
65. I hope they called the police
A restaurant server had to bring her children to work. She sat them at a table but was shocked when a woman left her child there, demanding they watch her.
66. That’s going to be tricky
On an airplane, a passenger asked the flight attendant for whiskey on the rocks without ice. What did he think “the rocks” were?
67. There’s such a thing as too much butter
A woman came to a restaurant every day and ordered a baked potato. She always requested 20 packets of butter and 10 packets of sour cream. Yuck.
68. There’s an easy answer: no
A woman and her daughter arrived at a museum only to discover it was closed for an event. When they learned this, they demanded a gift card and a free taxi ride back to their hotel.
69. It’s just basic hygiene
Of all things to try to return, dirty lingerie might be the most disgusting. A woman demanded a store give her a refund and was furious when they refused.
70. Stranger danger
A woman walked into a toy store with her two children and told them to play with the employees until their father picked them up. She was furious when management refused.
71. Got one right here
A regular at a grocery store demanded an employee escort her around the store while she shopped. She had questions about every product and once, she demanded an Italian help her select tomato sauce.
72. Aren’t you a carpenter?
A woman at a restaurant asked the server if they could make the table bigger. They thought she meant pull another table over. No. “Just make this one bigger,” she said.
73. Just don’t ask
At a grocery store, a woman told the cashier not to touch any of her groceries or reusable bags. The reason? They’d been “blessed.” Any touching would taint them.
74. Oh, well in that case
Back in the days of video stores, a customer demanded a free copy of Guns n Roses live. Why? Because he claimed he’d written their recent album.
75. Part-time bookstore employees are surprisingly powerful
A customer was furious to learn a bookstore no longer stocked an unpopular book from the 80s. They wanted it back, as well as a personal apology from the employee.
People share 75 over-the-top demands customers have made
Cedric Jackson
02.20.20
They say the first rule in business is that the customer is always right. But anyone who’s worked in retail knows that sometimes — often, in fact — the customer is very, very wrong.
Some people just seem to lose their minds around store employees. Or maybe they never learned manners, to begin with. Either way, they feel very comfortable making the most outlandish, almost impossible demands. As long as they’re the customer, they get to do whatever they want, right?
But the demands are annoying if not out of line. And sometimes, they’re so bizarre that employees can’t even figure them out. Then, more often than not, the customer gets irate over the misunderstanding and storms out.
A viral Twitter thread from user Pigeon Fancier recently asked: “What’s the most ridiculous demand a customer has made of you?” And boy, did the internet deliver. People from all industries weighed in with stories of the most entitled, bizarre, and outlandish requests they’ve heard in their line of work.
So, kick back, relax, and enjoy these 75 stories of entitled customers. And while we’re at it, let’s all resolve to be nice to the retail workers in our lives. They deserve it.