50 Photos of customers being the worst

Article Sources:

Shareably

Bored Panda

To learn more read our Editorial Standards.

“Customer service jobs are easy… Anyone could do them.”

If you’ve ever worked in customer service, this sentence probably grates on your nerves like nothing else. Because the reality of working in customer service is so different than many people assume.

Yes, you get your good customers. But working in a people-serving job is the biggest wake-up call you could get when it comes to just how crazy humans can be.

If you don’t believe us, these 50 photos of customers being the worst might just convince you otherwise.

[/slideshow_start]

1. Restaurant assault

This poor waitress was assaulted by customers while she tried to do her job. Sharing a photo to Reddit, she wrote: “Customers assaulted me with drinks and food. My back is bruised by how hard a grown man threw his drinks at me. Can I press charges?” We hope she was able to take legal action with this one.

2. Lazy waste

This person decided to put out their cigarette in a dog dish outside a store. Think of all the dogs that might end up drinking the disgusting ashy water if their owners didn’t check it was safe first. So not cool.

3. Window of shame

This is totally what we’d do if we owned our own store – post CCTV images of customers who are banned for stealing, smoking in the toilets, and whatever other crazy stuff people get up to in public property. Apparently the window in question is at a gas station in Washington, and there are about 35 images in total.

4. Thoughtless shopping

This person decided that they no longer wanted the bag of frozen chicken breasts they’d picked up, so they followed their logic and left them to drip all over the cakes in a random aisle. Everything below that chicken will now have to be thrown away in case of cross-contamination. They should technically have to pay for doing this, as the food can never be bought by a customer.

5. 83¢…

This person is obviously a special breed. Whether their waiter intended to take their 83 cents or not (and we’re guessing they didn’t), it’s definitely not a reason for them to leave a bad tip. Honestly, some people!

6. Excuses, excuses

Single moms have it tough, we know – but it’s all about your priorities. This mom was happy enough to go out drinking, which she never should have done if she knew she couldn’t afford the tip. It’s one or the other, and oftentimes, having kids means making sacrifices.

7. “Super” sorry

This person left an abysmal tip, and somehow hoped that a scribbled apology on a piece of paper would make up for it. How is this okay? If you’re going out for food, you need to have a means of paying the tip, or it’s just not worth your waiter’s time. This isn’t rocket science.

8. Sitting on raw chicken

There’s a time and a place for sitting down in the grocery store. This customer doesn’t seem to have picked up that basic knowledge like anyone else, though, and has parked himself right on the raw chicken section. Not sure what’s more gross – his butt touching raw chicken, or raw chicken touching his butt.

9. Spoiling it for everyone

The problem with the worst customers is that they end up ruining a shopping experience for everyone. In this case, a pet store felt inclined to put this sign up on their door after kids had caused chaos. Honeslty, a pet store is hardly the place to take your kids for a day out – unless you’re actually there for a practical purpose.

10. Blocking the handicapped space

On the subject of where not to sit inside a grocery store, here’s where not to sit outside a grocery store. This customer must have missed the memo about never blocking a handicapped space – not to mention smoking next to a baby in a stroller and chucking the used cigarettes on the pavement.

11. Stealing a cat

Come on, you can get a cat for free if you choose to rescue… why steal one from your local flower shop? Thankfully, the cat was returned, and the owner didn’t choose to press charges. This awful customer got off lucky if you ask us.

12. Tips are for “normal” people

People are getting more and more inventive with their excuses not to give tips these days. Unless we’re missing something obvious, this waitress seems completely normal-looking to us. If the tipper really doesn’t like non-natural hair color, they shouldn’t be living in the US.

13. Keep away from the tent poles…

You serve alcohol to the public, and you sort of have to expect that the customers will go to any means to cause chaos. In this bar’s case, the manager became so fed up with customers pole dancing on the tent poles that they put up this sign. You have to admit, this one’s pretty funny.

14. Unhygienic stealing

This person went lowest of the low when they stole a bra from the store – and replaced it with the one they’d been wearing. Disgusting on so many levels! Surely you’d just buy the bra rather than leave someone to deal with your unwanted cast-off?

15. Lowest of the low

Stealing anything from the shop is a silly idea, but stealing the tip jar? That’s about as morally bad as it gets. This store reacted in the best way by getting a new tip jar – then sticking a photo of the person who stole the last one to its front. Imagine if she came face-to-face with her own photo if she visited the store again!

16. The “PS” says it all

As if it’s bad enough to not leave a tip, this person went one step further with the sort of sexist comment that you should never feel entitled to make to a stranger. Especially writing it beneath “God Bless” – just no. This is wrong on so many levels.

17. Trashing the board games

This bar hands out board games to keep its customers entertained – and look at the state of them after just a week. The depressing thing about this photo is that it’s not just the work of one customer. It looks as if every customer who has borrowed a board game has left it in a chaotic state.

18. Tried it on their dog

This customer tried out a self-cleaning sticky brush, in store, on their dog. Fine if they were making a guaranteed purchase, but then they put the brush back on the shelf and left without buying it! Who do they expect is going to want to use the brush now? Some people really do have no consideration for others.

19. Those people…

Anyone who’s worked in customer service will be so familiar with the people who remove their money from a place that isn’t a pocket. Bras tend to be the most popular option, which, as this store points out, just isn’t hygienic. If you don’t have pockets, find pockets, or just carry your cash in your hand.

20. Dirty diaper

There are some things you can get away with leaving at your restaurant table. Napkins, for instance, come hand-in-hand with cutlery and food. But a baby’s diaper? Definitely not. This also raises the question of whether this customer changed their baby’s diaper at the table, which is incredibly unhygienic.

21. Dumb return

This customer apparently wanted to return some produce because it was “too ripe”. So, naturally, the cashier assumed that he’d taken a bite out of the fruit, and that’s how he could come to that conclusion. But when asked if he had tried eating it, his response was, “Does it look like I touched it?” Er – he’s not kidding anyone.

22. That solved it

If you make a mess in a food place, it’s natural instinct to panic and instantly clean it up like it never happened. But not for these people. Nope, they were quite happy to leave their mess after a pitiful cleaning effort. A few more napkins would have solved the problem just fine.

23. It can’t be…

Look, we’ve all had times when nature has called, and we’ve had nowhere to relieve ourselves. But does that mean we’ve ever peed in a store – let alone into a store’s products? Definitely not. This person needs to learn how to hold it in and find a decent place to do their business.

24. In the ice machine

It’s not quite clear exactly what’s going on here, except that a customer has decided it’s a good idea to get into the ice machine at a gas station. Surely her only motive isn’t to take a snap for Instagram? Unfortunately, that’s what seems likely.

25. The work of kids

It isn’t always adults who are wreaking havoc in stores – kids do it too. But the reality is, having parents who don’t force the kids to clean up their mess after they’ve made it is a big part of the problem. Let’s hope this family was barred from this thrift store for life.

26. Lazy cart drop-off

Some customers are just too lazy for words. Instead of simply taking their carts to the nearest drop-off point, a whole load of people left them in a disabled parking space. The worst thing is, one person was the first to put the cart in the space, and instead of clearing it out of the way, other people decided to follow suit.

27. Freezer raiding

What’s pretty terrifying to know is there are actually people out there who open ice cream in store freezers, lick the top, then put the lid back on and leave the tub there. This store had to lock its freezers after customers were caught on camera doing exactly that. Makes you only want to buy food with a seal.

28. Questionable cleavage

Unless this is some bizarre dare, we really couldn’t be sure why this customer is walking around with something very child-unfriendly poking out of her bra. Why anyone would think this was suitable, especially in a grocery store of all places, is beyond us. And honestly, this is probably a question worth leaving unanswered.

29. Car stealing

While you may chuckle initially at this photo, it’s still a sign of the worst sort of customer. Not only do they steal a low-cost kiddie toy, they then have time to write out a slogan on the empty box. It’s even possible they stole the car just so they could write the slogan, which is a bit sad.

30. Stolen key caps

Yes, there are certain letters on a keyboard that take more of the brunt than others – but if that’s the case, you spend less than $5 on some new ones. This customer, though, decided that instead of the reasonable solution, he’d be unreasonable and steal the key caps off one of the tester keyboards in store.

31. “Bad lettuce”

This woman was caught ripping the “bad lettuce” off every head and dropping it on the floor. She apparently did this until she found a lettuce head with enough “good lettuce” to take home with her. No bother about the mess on the floor. Why are some people like this??

32. Trashed car

Customers who want their cars cleaned naturally aren’t expected to have the cleanest cars in the world. But this… this is excessive. The small plus side is that at least they didn’t chuck their cigarettes out the window. But why could they not stub them out in a designated ashtray at least?

33. Bare feet in public

Is there anything more vom-worthy than this? We all know the unspoken rule: you can do what you want at home, but when you’re in a public place, putting your bear sweaty feet on any surface is just wrong. It’s bad enough when you have your shoes on, but this is even more horrendous.

34. Childish tips

This waiter had a grown-up customer and her boyfriend, both of whom were at least 21, leave a crude drawing on their bill instead of a tip. Oh, and there was also a separate alcohol bill at $40, which wasn’t paid for either. When will people learn that this sort of thing just isn’t cool?

35. Who said they could do that?

We’ve all been to a stationary store and seen a little pad of paper where you can test certain pens. But that doesn’t automatically mean it’s fine to test spray paints on the floor. Clearly a few people have taken to this idea, despite the fact that there’s no sign anywhere inviting them to do so. They should clean it or be banned from the store.

36. Open racism

Not all bad customers are an annoyance for staff and other customers. Some are just bad all-round, like this openly-racist man in a grocery store in Texas. Hopefully some employee plucked up the courage to tell him to leave, or see that he gets arrested on the spot, as he would in other countries.

37. Off the rails

This is an aisle in Forever 21, not that you’d know it, as it’s starting to resemble a clothes waste center more than anything else. We’ve all had something fall off the hanger when we’re browsing, and the most obvious, decent thing to do is to pick it up and put it back on again. Obviously, hundreds of people disagree.

38. Off the rails #2

Just in case you thought it was only women’s stores that ended up this messy, think again. This men’s shoe store has been completely trashed by customers who can’t be bothered to return them to the shelves after trying them on. Think of how many gross feet have been stuffed into the shoes before a sale even gets made.

39. Not legal?

This person has decided to make up their own tipping rules here – not only are they not going to tip, they’re also going to take some money off their own bill for the “bad” service. Hmm, that’s definitely not legal. Hopefully they didn’t get away with this.

40. Aggressive customer

Workplaces should have some sort of policy where if the customer behaves on this level of rudeness, they don’t get treated at all. “The customer is always right” is an outdated approach, and makes people think they can he as unnecessarily entitled as this guy. It’s completely uncalled for.

41. Stealing Buddhas

This person’s local store keeps getting their little Buddhas stolen, so they left a sign to try and prevent people from doing so. Out of all the things to steal, a Buddha surely isn’t a wise choice. Just think of all the bad karma that’s going to come their way…

42. “Shopping” list

This customer left their shopping list at the store, and it turned out that the list said a lot about the kind of person they are. Not only had they written down what they needed to buy, they’d also noted which things they should steal. How completely bizarre – why not just buy it all?

43. Seems logical

Some people seem set out to deliberately make the world of customer service a terrible place. There’s no way you could possibly open a nail polish and turn it upside down by accident. Whoever did this should be made to pay for their trouble – plus clean up the mess this will inevitably make.

44. More childishness

This dollar note can only assume to have been defaced by a 13-year-old boy. The fact that it was put in somebody’s tip jar was in bad taste, but cash like this does get handed around quite a bit, as unfortunately, being defaced in this way doesn’t mean it loses its value. At least the money can still be spent.

45. “Clever” trick

These people left their table like this for their server, obviously thinking they’d pulled off a clever trick. Nope – they just made a mess and an inconvenience. If only customers had to clean up their own mess before they were allowed to leave a restaurant. That would probably cut down on incidents like this massively.

46. No need for changing rooms

We’ve talked a lot about unspoken rules already, and here’s another one: never strip off in a store to try on clothes – especially not where there’s a changing room. But this particular customer didn’t seem to care either way, and casually whipped off her leggings to try on something right in the aisle. Classy.

47. Fantastic parenting

There’s letting your kids play, and then there’s letting your kids play to the inconvenience of the bar you’re visiting. Who has to clean up the spillage this little girl inevitably makes? It won’t be her, and nor will it be her parents. For that reason, this is a really rude thing to do.

48. Toilet paper globs

Some customers can’t help themselves when it comes to making a mess with absolutely no shame or regret. This retail worker visited the disabled restroom in her store and discovered wet toilet paper globs had been thrown against the mirror. Why anybody would do this is a mystery.

49. Even greater parenting

Of all the places to take your kid on the weekend, an adult toy shop isn’t one of them. Yet this customer was happy to have her son trailing behind her while she made her purchases. The poor boy’ll be scarred for life.

50. Basket stacking

And finally, here’s a reminder of how not to stack baskets in a supermarket. If you do stack a basket wrong, remember the domino effect – other people will do the same thing as you, and you’ll end up with a chaotic pile like this one. It only takes a second or two more to get right.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Article Sources:

Shareably

Bored Panda

To learn more read our Editorial Standards.