Topic: Craziest Complaints

[Bailgang]

I work for a structural steel company and the receiving end of the plant can sometimes have trucks lining up waiting to be unloaded, the receiving yard doesn't have the overhead crane capacity to unload all the steel off a truck in just one shot so sometimes it can take some time to unload a trailer. Once there was a truck driver waiting in line who thought the guys in the yard weren't hustling fast enough so he kept blowing his air horn impatiently. When his turn to be unloaded finally came around the yard supervisor looked him straight in the eye and said "So you don't think we're working fast enough eh? Well I tell you what, why don't you and your truck go to the back of the line so we can show you just how slow we can be?" The truck driver about came unglued but the supervisor stood his ground and to the back of the line he went.

On the other hand the other truck drivers waiting took full notice of what just happened. You wouldn't believe how kind and polite a truck driver can be when they know they're dealing with a yard boss that won't take any BS at all.

[Gordon]

I sell cheese, and over the years I've had several people call or come into the store and complain that a piece of cheese they bought a few months ago, and that has been sitting in their fridge since then, has gone moldy.   

[72 yellow]

In the mid-70's among the many different jobs I've had was working for a landscaping and excavating company.  I was delivering topsoil to residential customers.  We would dump the dirt in the approach unless the customer would sign a waiver that stated if we cracked the sidewalk or driveway we would not be responsible.  I pulled up to the house and rang the bell.  A woman answered and said she wanted the dirt in the back.  She willingly signed the waiver.  As I backed up the drive she kept saying a little further back.  I stopped as I was close to her garage door which was open.  She asked me why I stopped as she wanted the dirt dumped inside her garage as it was going to rain and she didn't want the dirt to wash away and make a mess.  I asked her how I supposed to fit a truck that stood over 8 feet high through a 7 foot high opening.  And how was I supposed to run the box up to dump it.  She looked at me and said "You are the truck driver."  I just looked at her.  I pulled up some and told her I would just dump it here, and did.  She called the owner and complained.  He asked me what happened.  I told him and he just looked at me and shook his head. 

[MoMo]

I worked in the paint dept. at Home Depot, where the tinting of paint is totally computer controlled-one of the craziest, stupid and most irritating complaints is, "You mixed my paint wrong, the color is not right".  It is usually said in an accusatory, irritated tone...Larry

Yeah, my pop has told me a few stories like this, they give him barely a dime-sized sample and expect the exact same color and demand a 5 gallon bucket instead of a sample to try on their surface. Then there are the idiots that think they can game the oops paint when all he does is tint it a different color after they return it.

A very familiar scenario.    When we had a no questions asked return policy people would order the color they want, return it and then buy it back at the reduced OOPS price- 5 for a  gallon and 20 for a 5 gallon.  I have practically an endless amount of scam stories pulled by customers...Larry

[70CB750]

I worked in the paint dept. at Home Depot, where the tinting of paint is totally computer controlled-one of the craziest, stupid and most irritating complaints is, "You mixed my paint wrong, the color is not right".  It is usually said in an accusatory, irritated tone...Larry

That is rich!
Yeah, my pop has told me a few stories like this, they give him barely a dime-sized sample and expect the exact same color and demand a 5 gallon bucket instead of a sample to try on their surface. Then there are the idiots that think they can game the oops paint when all he does is tint it a different color after they return it.

A very familiar scenario.    When we had a no questions asked return policy people would order the color they want, return it and then buy it back at the reduced OOPS price- 5 for a  gallon and 20 for a 5 gallon.  I have practically an endless amount of scam stories pulled by customers...Larry

[donny]

 A friend sold paint, two old ladies (sisters) bought a lot of paint and  returned always with a complaint of some kind.  He said they always used all of it, a cat couldn't lick another drop out of the can.
He had ways of getting back at this kind of customer. 
 When someone returned paint that was "wrong"  he didn't discount the can...until months later,
 so they couldn't wait a day or so and re-purchase it.
   Word gets around. It was a kinda small city, the business people knew each other and in various networking situations they discussed by name all the scam artists, shoplifters and complaint artists, crybabies and idiots.
 Karma...these shop owners screwed with these people whenever they could, one way or another.
They never got a break, like others did. 
They knew who the shoplifters were when they came in, it doesn't mean they are easily caught.

[tortelvis]

I sell motorcycle parts and a common complaint is "you sent me the wrong part!" We make notes on phone in orders listing make model and year and part description. Guess how many times the customer has asked for the wrong part? Even better are the Internet orders as there it is in black and white. I had a customer that ordered a Lime Green side panel for a 250 Ninja that didn't match their RED bike. Somehow this was MY fault! Upon receiving the correct red part they then complained that it didn't exactly match a 5 year old California bike. Ummmm....paint fades in bright sunshine. I have a regular that is the pickiest, whiningest guy I deal with. He wants ATV headlights BUT there are 16 models of a 400cc by this company. "Reg, I really NEED a VIN to ID this one." No way he says, I know what the hell I'm doing. THREE times I ask for the VIN but he swears he knows what he has so a week later...YOU SENT ME THE WRONG PART! "Reg, I'm not even going to go there until we run the VIN."" He gives it to me and it isn't even a 400 AND he is 3 years off on the model.

[FrankenFrankenstuff]

I sell side covers for the Honda cb550F and cb550k...can't tell you how many times someone buys the cb550F covers and tries to fit them on the K....and tell me that I made them wrong because.....'my bike is an f and these don't fit'. Sometimes F means........FOUR...either way we figure out and I get them the correct cover with both of us apologizing. Is this a complaint or a shameless plug?......WWW.fb-stuff.com  a store for new side covers! 

[754]

Tortelvis, tell them no refund,,that might get them to bend over........and look at their VIN.

[MoMo]

Customer comes back with an empty can of paint and complains that it was running off the walls as he was applying it.  So..................what does management do you may ask?  Give him his money back of course...Larry

[dave500]

complaints?i was at a dump today,its mostly an industrial type with heavy trucks and loaders etc,i had just started to empty a bin when a toyota van backs in close along side and to the rear of my truck just as #$%* was starting to falling out,it was long steel roof sheeting off cuts and timber and bits of brick and coke cans and #$%* and cardboard boxes and dust and more #$%* and something hit this jerk with no common senses van and did stuff all to it but he went off at me,i just ignored him,and he goes "so you arent even going to say sorry?,i just ignored him again,if he was already there i wouldnt back in and empty next to him id wait for him to leave or back in far enough away to be safe,seems common sense aint so common anymore?

EDIT..im at a dump every day i drive a dumpster truck for a living.

[dhall57]

I've worked in a car dealers parts dept for many years(more years then I care to remember) so I've heard thousands of complaints. Here's a few: Customer, I need a new tail lamp for my car because I backed into something and broke it and I don't have to pay for it because I have a bumper to bumper warranty We have sign in bold letters sitting on the retail counter saying NO RETURNS ON ELECTRICAL PARTS and we even stamp their invoice NO RETURN. But we still get the same thing day in and day out, Customer, this part didn't fix my problem so why can't I return it and demand their money back Customer, My rear AC is not working on my van what part do I need to fix it? Well after running it through the shop to find the problem, found out the problem was the van didn't even have rear ac on it like the seller had told the buyer Customer, It has to be a recall on this part because it shouldn't of broke   Customer, I checked on a part several weeks ago and you had one it in stock so Im here to get it now and then get pissed off at us because we sold the part since talking to him back when. Customer, This new door and fender I just got are the wrong color, my vehicle is white these are black, how do I get the right color, yes the life of a parts man. And just the other day, customer, think I need a gas tank or maybe a fuel pump. I've got gas leaking everywhere, how much would that be? Well found out the truck had a bed cover on it and the 5 gal can of gas the owner put back there and forgot about had turned over!!!!!

[MoMo]

Another paint story,  customer returns two full five gallon containers of paint and an 800$ paint sprayer with the complaint the paint was defective so he did not need the sprayer or the paint.  Of course Depot returned his money, about 1200 . Turns out the 5 gallon pails were filled with water-he used the paint and sprayer and got all his money back...Larry

[trueblue]

Dhall, I don't envy you in the slightest.  I'm a mechanic for a small earthmoving company here.  At the front of our workshop we have a spare parts store.  I was helping out there a few weeks back.  One fella called in wanting a thermostat housing for a 3 cylinder perkins. 
I asked "What model Perkins is it ? "
dumbarse"I'm not sure, it's in a tractor"
me"Ok, what model tractor is it ?"
da"Umm I think it is a David Brown."
me"What model David Brown ?"
da"Ummmm.....I'm not sure."
me"Ok, without a model of the engine or tractor, there is no way I can give you a price or even any idea of what part you may need."
da"Oh, I thought all 3 cyl perkins would have the same thermostat housing."
me"-_- ....................Tell you what sir, if you can get me an engine number and the model of the tractor I should be able to help you."
da"Where can I find the engine number?"
me"stamped on the engine."
It continued on like this for another 5 minutes or so it seemed before I finally convinced him that he needed to get me some details on the engine before I could do a damn thing for him.

[70CB750]

I have experience from the customer side of the counter, sometimes it's trying too.

See my CJ7 has HEI distributor from an old chevy 250 inline six with amc v8 drive gear on it, TBI injection from 4.3 GM V6 and plenty of similar reliability conversions - and the standard line of questions what year and make is your vehicle just does not cut it.

[dhall57]

Another paint story,  customer returns two full five gallon containers of paint and an 800$ paint sprayer with the complaint the paint was defective so he did not need the sprayer or the paint.  Of course Depot returned his money, about 1200 . Turns out the 5 gallon pails were filled with water-he used the paint and sprayer and got all his money back...Larry

Not long ago the parts mgr got burned. Customer brought back about a $200 part he had bought earlier in the day that we stock and said he had found he had other problems and didn't need this part like he had though and had not even opened the box could he please return it. He had his invoice and the part in the box unopened so our mgr refunded his money. Well shortly after this we were putting the part back in the bin location and looked at the box a little closer and noticed the corner flap on one side of the box looked odd. This sorry A$$ had done such a good job at hot glueing the flap back it almost looked like it hadn't been tampered with. Guess what used part in box. He got us!!!

[MoMo]

This isn't a complaint story but a scam inline with dhall57s  last post.   The latest ripoff craze is the customer prints out a UPC code for say a $10 item, brings his code into the store, then attaches it to an expensive item(tool combo kit, high end faucet, etc.) and then goes to the self checkout and purchases a $400 or so item for $10. It gets worse and worse as the moral structure deteriorates and the economy plummets...Larry

[Don R]

Ater a plumbing repair job, the customer complained that I swept the floor with their broom. Should have used my own broom. 
One silly customer complained we put his new furnace in the new house next door instead of his new house. Luckily the neighbor hadn't hired a heating contractor and was pleased and happy to pay for it. There weren't any numbers on the houses yet.

[motocyconomad]

I like it when a (big name company) calls to ask if we are done processing the parts that have not ever got to us.

[brooze72]

I do field service on production machinery and I remember being called out to look at a 20+ year old unit awhile back.
Usually one of my first requests is for the electrical/hydraulic schematics to review and it is very common for the customer to lose or misplace them.  This one made me laugh when he turned to me in all seriousness & says "That reminds me, I never did get those from you guys when I bought this machine!" 

[Duke McDukiedook]

Another paint story,  customer returns two full five gallon containers of paint and an 800$ paint sprayer with the complaint the paint was defective so he did not need the sprayer or the paint.  Of course Depot returned his money, about 1200 . Turns out the 5 gallon pails were filled with water-he used the paint and sprayer and got all his money back...Larry

Yeah, they tried the water scam too with my pop there. People will try anything to game the system.

[754]

After they try the water trick, they gotta be getting second rate service. If they show their face after that..

[MoMo]

there
After they try the water trick, they gotta be getting second rate service. If they show their face after that..

Since there are so many Depots, usually within a 15 mile radius of each other,  they go from store to store running the scam.  Depot is so afraid of lawsuits(or some other reason unbeknownest to me)  the return clerk is not even allowed to open a returned container to see if it is paint or water...Larry

[Retro Rocket]

Momo, the staff must be pretty silly , those 20 liter {5 gallon} paint drums have a seal that has to be removed {can't be put back on} before you can take the lid off, i'd be looking for better staff......

[MoMo]

Momo, the staff must be pretty silly , those 20 liter {5 gallon} paint drums have a seal that has to be removed {can't be put back on} before you can take the lid off, i'd be looking for better staff......

I'd be looking for better management, as it is established policy that a clerk cannot check the contents- and that is a big WTF...Larry