Not Always Right ("Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes") is one of those unaccountable hearsay blogs. Readers of, say, Photoshop Disasters, almost always have a good way to see that the mistake being claimed actually occurred. But there's no way at all for even the operators of Not Always Right to tell whether any of these events actually transpired. Let alone people who only read the blog.
If you just completely invent a terrible tale of customer craziness, then unless you insist that the customer was fifty feet tall and eradicated Cleveland with radioactive fire-breath, there's no way for Not Always Right to tell that you're lying.
Sometimes, though, the tales are so off-kilter that they're either definitely true, or the work of a seriously talented writer. Either way, they're worth reading.
17 July 2008 at 3:43 am
A significant fraction of the Not Always Right stories culminate with the manager/owner/supervisor telling some jack-hole to get the hell out of his/her store and never come back.
I cling to the hope that these events are not mere fantasies.
17 July 2008 at 8:23 am
Hmm. Sounds to me like people are telling the stories the way they'd have liked them to go...
17 July 2008 at 8:35 am
While I fully believe that these events probably transpired, there are sure signs of personal embellishment and heroics that most likely didn't happen. Most people, when at a job that they have actually managed to keep, will just take the abuse and, when it becomes obvious there is no solution in sight, either shunt the patron off to a higher manager or out the door. Most places, no matter how irate, inconsiderate, profane, and/or rude the customer was, will discipline you for anything that could be considered hostile toward a customer. So unless the person actually rose to the level of breaking the law (by either threatening physical harm or trying to give it), the best one can usually do is to smile and nod and get rid of them as fast as humanly possible.
18 July 2008 at 11:55 am
I have no problem whatsoever believing that this one happened just as described. I also can't stop laughing at it no matter how often I read it.