20 Unbelievable Client Experiences That Shocked Everyone Involved

Working with clients can be a roller coaster. Sometimes it’s smooth sailing, and other times... well, let’s just say you start questioning every life choice that led you there. From clients who insist they know your job better than you do (but can’t even turn on a computer) to those who think “urgent” means “I’ll get back to you in a month,” the world of client interactions is a never-ending source of bizarre, hilarious, and downright terrifying stories.

Today we’ve collected 20 of the most memorable experiences people have had with their clients. Some will make you laugh, some will make you cringe, and a few may make you rethink your own career choices. Buckle up, because these stories prove that reality is often stranger than fiction!

“I love it when customers steal 4 and put the rest back on the shelf...”

• I work in a fast lube shop and once a couple came in to grease the fittings on their car. I told them we could take care of it and told the guy working underneath what it was all about. A few minutes later, the guy told me there were no fittings on the car to grease. I checked to see if he was right and told the customers that they didn't have to worry about greasing them because they were sealed. At this point the customer started telling me that I was taking advantage of him because he was handicapped (the customer was blind and his wife was driving the car).
  
  I told him I didn't have to lie to him: I wasn't going to charge him for it, but even if I did, he wouldn't pay anything anyway. He replied that the only thing that matters to kids these days is "money" and threatened to have his brother-in-law come over to "talk to me." I told him to send him downstairs and that I would tell him the same thing because I didn't understand what the problem was. After about 10 more minutes of arguing with them, they left completely unsatisfied. But just a few hours later, a big guy came in and told me that his brother-in-law had called and said that I was trying to take advantage of him. I told him the story, and he said that his brother had gone to another store where he was also told that he had nothing to grease. Stunned, I asked him why he was there, and he told me he wanted to make sure I wasn't taking advantage of the handicapped. I asked him how he thought I was taking advantage of anyone and he said just don't do it and left. The worst part is that this couple keeps coming back. @thegreyquincy / Reddit
• I used to work at a pizzeria. One day a guy laughingly threw a handful of pennies at me. The 30 or so pennies were my tip. He got angry when I turned around and left without picking any up. His exact words were, "Oh, my money is no good to you? Well, I'll never order here again!" @sixesand7s / Reddit
• A guy used to come into the store on Mondays and order 7 Big Macs. Sounds reasonable, right? But we never saw him eat them, and he never came in with anyone. One day, someone struck up a conversation with him and asked him what he did with them. His answer stopped us in our tracks: he was freezing them... and reheating one every day for dinner, which would last all week. Disgust and possible food poisoning aside, can you imagine living like that? @coffeeandarabbit / Reddit

“I think a client forgot something.”

• I worked for a while in a popular restaurant. We usually had long waits (30 to 40 minutes) during dinner service, and the hosts would let people know. But one lady got tired of waiting 10 minutes and did something that threw us all for a loop: she stormed into the restaurant, ran up to a table of 4 people, and literally yelled at them, "Are you ready? We've been waiting a long time and we'd like the table if you're just chatting...". It's completely unbelievable how some people don't care about anything and are able to do that in public. @daofuu / Reddit
• After a wedding reception at our facility ended, we were cleaning up and I started to clean our espresso machine. The party had been over for almost half an hour, and the cleaning process takes 12 minutes. People were still there as the party was winding down, and the father of the bride asked me for an espresso. I told him that I could give it to him (as we have a strict policy of always trying to meet the needs of the guests), but that the machine was being cleaned and would be ready in about 10 minutes. But then, out of nowhere, he started ranting about how much he had paid for the wedding and went to the banquet manager to tell him that I had refused to give him what he wanted. The manager was out of line and started insulting me in front of the guy. I showed them both that the machine was finishing the cleaning process and that it was impossible to make the drink beforehand. I was suspended for 2 weeks. @whomper13 / Reddit
• This was a friend. He worked in a grocery store. A woman returned some cheese. She said she was suspicious of it when she bought it, so she took it home and looked at it under her microscope and decided it was bad. I just can't imagine. @pnw-techie / Reddit

“Walmart customers are special.”

• I was checking people's tickets at the movie theater where I work when a woman came down the stairs behind me and grunted to get my attention. I hadn't even turned around when she started ranting that "the elevator was gone" and that we should have moved it. I was very confused and pointed to the sign where the elevator was, but she didn't believe it was there. So I had to leave my post to walk the 10 feet to the elevator. And when I pointed it out to her, she exclaimed, "Why are you trying to trick me? It wasn't there before, you moved it," before walking away in a huff. @theonlysl*** / Reddit
• Once a family of 4 came out of our restaurant on a busy night and we noticed that they hadn't paid the bill after about 10 minutes. I checked the cameras and watched in disgust as the father took the bill, put the money in, sat there for 3-4 minutes, looked around, took the money back and left with the whole family. Luckily our owner was a great guy and told me to just ban the guy and his family. And to my surprise, the guy came back with his friends on a busy night a few months later! I was thrilled to see his embarrassed face in front of his friends and customers sitting outside when I told him he was banned. When his wife started to get upset, I told them the whole story with the cameras, how I had seen him take the money and all. @YuriyArlyuss / Reddit
• A customer ordered one of our daily specials and didn't like it, so instead of complaining to me about the food and having me offer her something else, she complained to my boss about ME. That was in May last year. And then, in August last year, I found out that she was going to be one of my professors for the semester, teaching a MANAGEMENT course. She recognised me on the first day, but I pretended I didn't know her. @ArcanumFish / Reddit

“The worst client PC I’ve ever touched.”

• I am 17 years old and I work at the local public library. It was 7:30 on a Tuesday and I was on my knees shelving books in the nonfiction section. A woman in her 60s was standing next to me. Suddenly she lifted her leg, turned to me, and blew a hot, dusty fart right in my face. Then she looked me in the eye and said, "This is for you to remember me by." And he's gone. @werdage / Reddit
• I was 15 years old and working as an apprentice in a tattoo studio in Ireland. My boss was tattooing the silhouette of Ireland on the arm of a middle-aged man. When he was finished, the client thanked him and left. But a day or two later, the guy came back in a huff and said he'd had the map tattooed backwards. Everyone in the shop started looking at him funny while we explained that it was perfectly fine, but he freaked out, ran to the mirror and said, "No, look! It's upside down". We tried to explain that it was only upside down because of the reflection in the mirror, but the guy didn't understand. He started calling me an idiot and my boss a "stupid frog". We thought there was no point in arguing with him, so we told him to get lost. He did, but first he threatened to come back with a lawyer. We never heard from him again. Apparently people still don't know how mirrors work. @RobRoche- / Reddit
• In one of my first restaurant jobs, they had a new policy that people had to pay for the cup, not for what was in it. One day a woman came in and asked for a free glass of ice. I started to explain that I couldn't give it to her for free because of the new policy, and suddenly she started shaking and making a lot of noise. I ran over to tell my manager to call an ambulance, but when I came back she was gone. Well, it turns out the lady was faking a seizure just because I wouldn't give her a free glass of ice. @pink_croissant / Reddit

“Some of these customers, man...its like they dont have eyes.”

• One guy basically hated his order so much that he motioned for me to come over and hold out my hand. When I did, he proceeded to spit everything he had in his mouth into my hand. He then told me to give him his money back and make him something else. @Loves_me_tacos125 / Reddit
• A guy I know worked in a tattoo shop in California, and a man came in and wanted several lines of text on his forearm: the date of the day, the time he arrived, and the name and address of the tattoo shop. The tattoo artist, confused, tried to dissuade him as the customer had no other tattoos and why should he get this one? The man said he knew it was weird, but he hoped that "time travel had been perfected in his lifetime and he wanted his future self to have specific instructions as to where and when to find him." Another tattoo artist came over and took over the client, barely able to contain his laughter. The tattoo took about an hour. The man spent the whole time looking at the door, waiting to be greeted by his own familiar but older face. He finished and paid, but looked upset. He sat down in the lobby and began to look nervous and sad. By now all the staff had heard the story and were teasing him, "Maybe they'll amputate your arm," "What if you forget to read?" In the end, the man left, almost in tears, with the permanent mark of a failed experiment. @BlueCollarC*** / Reddit
• A strange customer in a ridiculous outfit of clothes and hat was pushing her baby carriage through the furniture store. But the curious thing wasn't that, it was the weird sounds coming from inside the stroller. It wasn't exactly baby talk, but more of a squeaky sound like you would make to a squirrel, but with some voice inflection. Anyway, I was about to approach her when suddenly something jumped out of the stroller. It scared me to death. It was a cat. It jumped into an entertainment center and she picked it up and put it back in the stroller. There was another cat and a rabbit in it. Everybody had gone out to buy furniture. @BlackbeltJones / Reddit

If these stories taught us anything, it’s that working with clients is never boring. Every job comes with its own share of chaos. But hey, at least they make for great stories later! And if you liked this article, you can read this one here and continue to discover anecdotes that will make you laugh, surprise you, or make you thankful you didn’t have to experience them.