Topic: Craziest Complaints

[Frostyboy]

Whether it's a trade you're in or a business, no doubt over the years you've received a complaint from a customer.
They may sometimes be justified or other times totally ridiculous
I'd love to hear some of your stories. I'll start it off with this one. I thought it was a screamer.

A panel shop adjoining a workshop I used to work in had a customer's car that they just totally repainted.
He came back the day after picking it up & said: "Since you painted my car the indicators don't cancel from the left."

[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

[70CB750]

I worked with a huge group of photo editors at AOL, they would match - typically a royalty free -  picture to an online story.  There are agencies who sell tons of pictures on various themes of life, anything you can think of.

Anyway, the story was about gays breaking up and sure enough there was a ton of pictures of two gloomy guys sitting, standing, talking in bedroom.  So this photoeditor cut the picture, send it to the publisher of the story and the picture came back that those two guys look too gay, that he wants them to look less gay.

LOL, that was a whiskey, tango, foxtrot moment, right there 

[greenjeans]

My coffee is too hot.

[MoMo]

My coffee is too hot.

McDonalds??

[madScientist]

I manage internal server infrastructure. I'm going to paraphrase the complaint that I just received.

"After moving us to our own instance utilizing faster hardware, better memory, and the general latest, fastest features we dont like that the server names change (even though we dont reference anything by the names themselves but use a load balancer that interprets the destination). Please move us back to the slow, overutilized, and very out of date environment"

It should also be noted that their applications were running the best they have ever run in 3 years.

[Lenny55]

When I worked in a bicycle shop I sold a guy a $1500 mountain bike.  He came in the next day with a bent down tube and fork and said he wanted warranty.  He couldn't seem to grasp the concept that riding your bike head-on into wall at night wasn't a manufacturer's defect.  Needless to say, he didn't get warranty.

[DH]

An owner of a 1971 mercury cougar once cussed my boss for replacing a bad idler arm. "It don't need no idler arm..It idles just fine".

[Retro Rocket]

This is one of the best ones I've ever heard....

ORIGINAL - Please Move The Deer Crossing Sign. HILARIOUS STUPIDITY. Must Hear!!

[72 yellow]

Watched this unfold at a local Ford dealer.  A man and his wife came storming into the service area.  They were upset because they paid for a tune-up and other services and the van would not go over 45 mph.  They demanded to see the service manager.  He offered to take it for a ride with the husband.  When they returned, the service manager was trying to stifle a laugh.  The man told his wife "Let's go."  She asked if he demanded it be fixed correctly.  Again he said in a louder voice "LET'S GO."  After they left everyone  wanted to know what happened.  Turns out they had carpeting and a floor mat  jammed under the gas pedal.  It would only go down part of the way.  The manager removed the items and took the guy for a ride on the freeway.  He said at 85mph the guy was screaming to slow down.  No better job than working with the public.

[MoMo]

This was not a complaint but I had a customer ask, "Do you have any yard sticks longer than  this?" as he was holding a wooden yard stick that we sell in his hand ....Larry

[Frostyboy]

During my apprenticeship back in the '60's at a Ford dealership, a guy pulled up in reception & complained that the word "FORD" on his hubcaps were sometimes upside down or on an angle.

Good work so far fellas, keep 'em coming.

[mrbreeze]

Not really a complaint but back in the 80's I was a truck driver hauling computer equipment in the Silicon valley/ SF bay area. One time we had a real heavy machine that had to go upstairs so we had like 5 or 6 guys and we rented a stair crawler. We got this thing about halfway up the stairs when this lady came up downstairs from us and said " Oh that looks dangerous. Shouldn't you use a forklift?" We bout dropped the sucker from laughing so hard. We told her that our forklift had bald tires and wouldn't make it up the stairs. After that ...everyone around was cracking up!!

[scottly]

In the early '70s a guy brought his TV to my dad's shop for repair, loudly proclaiming "It's not a bad tube; I tested them, and I'm an engineer, so I know what I'm talking about." (Dad and I exchanged a knowing glance. ) After Dad replaced the faulty horizontal out-put tube, we gave his TV the normal service, cleaning the tuner etc. Dad left to do service calls, after instructing me to not close until the guy came to pick his TV up, as he had also stated he wanted the repair done ASAP...
About 5:30 (we closed at 5:00) the guy calls. I tell him his TV has been repaired. He asks what the bill is, and I tell him $36. He says he will be right over.
Fifteen minutes later the guy bursts through the front door, pissed off as hell!!! He demanded to see the bill, and then proclaimed we were ripping him off: "You didn't pay $12 for that tube!!!" "That is the suggested retail price from RCA", and I show him the price list. "Well, this is a rip-off! I could have fixed it myself, but I didn't have the time" I'm biting my tongue now. I tell him if he wants to leave with the TV, he will have to pay the bill, other wise he will need to come back the next day to discuss it with my father. The guy storms out, even more pissed off.
He came back the next day, and Dad went over each of his complaints one by one. "Do you think that MY time has no value? Do you think we have no expenses? Do you think it is wrong that we make a profit on parts?" (the profit margin on women's shoes is MUCH greater than we had for vacuum tubes) No matter how Dad tried to explain the realities of small business, the guy felt abused. Of course, he was drawing a steady paycheck as a government contractor...

[mrbreeze]

I hear ya Scottly.Some people have no regard for other peoples time,expertise, etc. When I worked as an auto tech in Wyoming....had a guy wanting an estimate for a oil pan gasket replacement on a Toyota truck. I looked it up on Mitchells and it called for 3 hours. The guy gets all pissy with me saying he could do the job himself in 1/2 hour. that really pissed me off and I told him to have at it himself because at that point....I didn't want to do business with him anyways.

[Frostyboy]

In the early '70s a guy brought his TV to my dad's shop for repair, loudly proclaiming "It's not a bad tube; I tested them, and I'm an engineer, so I know what I'm talking about." (Dad and I exchanged a knowing glance. ) After Dad replaced the faulty horizontal out-put tube, we gave his TV the normal service, cleaning the tuner etc. Dad left to do service calls, after instructing me to not close until the guy came to pick his TV up, as he had also stated he wanted the repair done ASAP...
About 5:30 (we closed at 5:00) the guy calls. I tell him his TV has been repaired. He asks what the bill is, and I tell him $36. He says he will be right over.
Fifteen minutes later the guy bursts through the front door, pissed off as hell!!! He demanded to see the bill, and then proclaimed we were ripping him off: "You didn't pay $12 for that tube!!!" "That is the suggested retail price from RCA", and I show him the price list. "Well, this is a rip-off! I could have fixed it myself, but I didn't have the time" I'm biting my tongue now. I tell him if he wants to leave with the TV, he will have to pay the bill, other wise he will need to come back the next day to discuss it with my father. The guy storms out, even more pissed off.
He came back the next day, and Dad went over each of his complaints one by one. "Do you think that MY time has no value? Do you think we have no expenses? Do you think it is wrong that we make a profit on parts?" (the profit margin on women's shoes is MUCH greater than we had for vacuum tubes) No matter how Dad tried to explain the realities of small business, the guy felt abused. Of course, he was drawing a steady paycheck as a government contractor...

I hear ya Scottly.Some people have no regard for other peoples time,expertise, etc. When I worked as an auto tech in Wyoming....had a guy wanting an estimate for a oil pan gasket replacement on a Toyota truck. I looked it up on Mitchells and it called for 3 hours. The guy gets all pissy with me saying he could do the job himself in 1/2 hour. that really pissed me off and I told him to have at it himself because at that point....I didn't want to do business with him anyways.

Those stories remind of this oldie but goodie:

When her car broke down, a woman called out a local mechanic to repair it. He lifted up the hood, looked in the engine, whacked something with a hammer and said: "Try it now."
     
To her amazement, the car started straight away.
"That's incredible," she said. "You've been here less than a minute and you've managed to fix it. I'm so grateful."
"All part of the job, madam. That'll be $250."
The smile vanished from the woman's face. "How much? How can you charge $250 when all you did was hit it with a hammer?"
"I can write you out an itemized bill if you like."
"Yes, please," she said firmly.
So he wrote out the bill and handed it to her. It read: "Hitting engine with hammer - $10. Knowing where to hit it - $240."
 

[mrbreeze]

Which reminds me of the joke about the doctor and the mechanic. The mechanic complains that the doctor only works on 2 models (male/ female) while he works on many different makes,models, years although he makes so much less than the doctor. The doctor says try working on it with the engine running......

[MoMo]

In the early '70s a guy brought his TV to my dad's shop for repair, loudly proclaiming "It's not a bad tube; I tested them, and I'm an engineer, so I know what I'm talking about." (Dad and I exchanged a knowing glance. ) After Dad replaced the faulty horizontal out-put tube, we gave his TV the normal service, cleaning the tuner etc. Dad left to do service calls, after instructing me to not close until the guy came to pick his TV up, as he had also stated he wanted the repair done ASAP...
About 5:30 (we closed at 5:00) the guy calls. I tell him his TV has been repaired. He asks what the bill is, and I tell him $36. He says he will be right over.
Fifteen minutes later the guy bursts through the front door, pissed off as hell!!! He demanded to see the bill, and then proclaimed we were ripping him off: "You didn't pay $12 for that tube!!!" "That is the suggested retail price from RCA", and I show him the price list. "Well, this is a rip-off! I could have fixed it myself, but I didn't have the time" I'm biting my tongue now. I tell him if he wants to leave with the TV, he will have to pay the bill, other wise he will need to come back the next day to discuss it with my father. The guy storms out, even more pissed off.
He came back the next day, and Dad went over each of his complaints one by one. "Do you think that MY time has no value? Do you think we have no expenses? Do you think it is wrong that we make a profit on parts?" (the profit margin on women's shoes is MUCH greater than we had for vacuum tubes) No matter how Dad tried to explain the realities of small business, the guy felt abused. Of course, he was drawing a steady paycheck as a government contractor...

I hear ya Scottly.Some people have no regard for other peoples time,expertise, etc. When I worked as an auto tech in Wyoming....had a guy wanting an estimate for a oil pan gasket replacement on a Toyota truck. I looked it up on Mitchells and it called for 3 hours. The guy gets all pissy with me saying he could do the job himself in 1/2 hour. that really pissed me off and I told him to have at it himself because at that point....I didn't want to do business with him anyways.

Those stories remind of this oldie but goodie:

When her car broke down, a woman called out a local mechanic to repair it. He lifted up the hood, looked in the engine, whacked something with a hammer and said: "Try it now."
     
To her amazement, the car started straight away.
"That's incredible," she said. "You've been here less than a minute and you've managed to fix it. I'm so grateful."
"All part of the job, madam. That'll be $250."
The smile vanished from the woman's face. "How much? How can you charge $250 when all you did was hit it with a hammer?"
"I can write you out an itemized bill if you like."
"Yes, please," she said firmly.
So he wrote out the bill and handed it to her. It read: "Hitting engine with hammer - $10. Knowing where to hit it - $240."
 

An old standard frostyboy,  I usually hear a similar version where the owner is at  a gas station and the mechanic charges $45-  five dollars for adjusting a screw and forty  dollars for knowing which screw to adjust...Larry

[greenjeans]

Ran a sign shop for a while and I made some signs for a realtor.  When she came to pick them up, she wanted to take them and pay me after the house she was listing sold.  Of course, I said that I needed payment before the signs left the shop.   She responded with a furry of curse words and insults.   I just kept my mouth shut until she was done and offered to call the owner on her behalf.     I should add that we had a large, impossible to miss sign stating our terms directly behind the counter.

My owner asked her 2 questions:   Did you think that we were some sort of bank ?  And, do you try that at the grocery store ?

She still complained and said she would never use us again.   To which he replied, "thanks, and don't come again.  I'll forward the bill to your company office."

Guess who showed up 6 weeks later sweeter than sugar ?

[Duke McDukiedook]

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.

[andy750]

My sister worked on a cruise ship and that particular day was working at the guest help desk. A couple came up to her and pointed to the Whale watching sign in the lobby that said "Whale watching at 10am" - they complained it was 10am and there were no whales visible.

Another guest came to her and complained that her toilet roll wasnt folded properly.

[ogsmakdade]

I'm an HVAC contractor.  After installing a complete new system, I had a customer call and complain that her house was too cold when running the A.C. with the thermostat at 72 degrees.... "I'm sure something is wrong" she said. 




I told her to raise the temperature at the thermostat and the house should warm up a bit... ha.

[72 yellow]

In the early 90's I worked for a company that did police car conversions.  The owners partner wanted to open a 2nd shop.  He was not very knowledgeable about the actual work involved (He handled the billings).  Against every ones advice he hired a few people and began operations.  He only had one guy with some dealership experience.  The radio, vehicle locator were located in the trunk connected by a thick cable that ran along the passenger side next to the foot well.  In the hurry to finish the guy ran a screw for the prisoner screen through the cable.  The first time the mike was keyed the trunk and back set filled with smoke.  The radio was ruined, the cable was destroyed.  When I took the cover off the radio, part of the circuit board looked like a back of a frightened porcupine with all these trace wires sticking up.  I was told to take it to a guy we knew to see what could be done.  He just tossed it the basket.  The company lost the contract from that department and of course had to pay for the damage.

[flybox1]

This was not a complaint but I had a customer ask, "Do you have any yard sticks longer than  this?" as he was holding a wooden yard stick that we sell in his hand ....Larry

"YESSIR, WE DO.. they're right over there by the tile stretchers and black highlighters." 

[Retro Rocket]

Which reminds me of the joke about the doctor and the mechanic. The mechanic complains that the doctor only works on 2 models (male/ female) while he works on many different makes,models, years although he makes so much less than the doctor. The doctor says try working on it with the engine running......

Fred, check your PM's mate.....