Working in retail means you liiikely have horror stories that are too terrible *not* to share. From the customer that swears they should receive a deal on items not actually included in the day's sales to petty theft, we know a thing or two about being on the receiving end of said horrors. Because having a retail job is a shared experience, and we couldn't resist rounding up the wackiest experiences we've personally had or heard about. Brace yourselves — these are gonna get good...er, bad.
Mall Jobs
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Jasmine, Brit+Co Editorial Intern
"In 2012 I decided to take a job at Charlotte Russe. My co-workers and I busted a group of teens who planned to steal different Halloween decorations.
The ironic thing about it is I wouldn't have known one of them was attempting to steal had it not been for a pair of black cat ears falling out of the clothes she wanted to 'buy.' To make matters worse, she turned bright red and yelped, 'I don't know how those got in there!' Can we say busted?"
Lia*, Fossil Store Associate
"I worked at Fossil one summer and had a strict $600 sales quota I had to meet during my shifts. Unfortunately I always got the 10am-2pm weekday shifts when no one was at the mall and my hours would get cut if I wasn’t on track to hit my sales goals. I barely made any money from that job."
Camilla*, GAP Store Associate
"When I worked at GAP, I overheard a mother tell her daughter not to worry about picking up a candy wrapper she dropped on the store's floor because the people who worked in the store were getting paid to clean up behind her."
Consignment Stores
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Claire*, Buffalo Exchange Buyer
"One summer I worked as a buyer at Buffalo Exchange. People would bring in odd personal items like used and bloodied undergarments and sneakers with dog poo on them that we'd have to physically go through. The customers would get so upset when we wouldn't take their dirty crap."
Alexis, Consignor Relations for TheRealReal
"I worked in Consignor Relations at TheRealReal and the Consignors lost their mind during the pandemic. A lot of them were selling their items as a source of income so they were very aggressive, obsessive, emotional and rude. They had no empathy for thousands of people getting COVID."
Jasmine, Brit+Co Editorial Intern
"I worked at a popular consignment shop that let a repeat customer come in 10 minutes to closing one night. My manager was adamant about us meeting our daily sales goals and smiled happily while the customer tried on 10 different outfits. To make matters worse, I had to clock out at closing and stayed for almost two hours to actually count the register. Guess who didn't get paid overtime and had to drive an hour to get home?"
Pharmacies
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Dana*, Pharmacist
"Customers will frantically ask pharmacy technicians or managers for advice about different medicine but will get upset if we don't choose what they already have in mind."
Anonymous, Assistant Pharmacy Manager
"Some customers will stare at my picture on the wall, say my job title — Assistant Pharmacy Manager — out loud and ask, 'Are you the Assistant Pharmacy Manager?' Sometimes I tell them it's a running April's Fool joke between the store and I just to see what they'll say."
Phone Companies
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Nancy*, Former AT&T Customer Service Representative
"When I worked as a customer service rep for AT&T, customers would curse at me because the 'friend' they gave access to their account opened two more lines using their credit but didn't pay the monthly bill."
Anonymous*, Verizon Wireless Sales Representative
"I've been at Verizon for a little over a year and this story takes the cake. A family of six came into the store one night and the parents didn't say anything when their kids yanked items off the display shelves. The store was all but trashed once they left."
More Retail Horror Stories From Reddit Threads
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@Hokuboku, Former Target Manager
"A woman threw her phone at my employee's face when we wouldn't let her return her PS3. It was missing a box and its serial number, mind you. Also, an old man had his grandchildren, ages 3 & 5, go into the bathroom and stuff DVDs in their backpacks for him."
Deleted User
"Not so much a horror story, but upon refusing to allow a man to return a damaged tool box, he promptly yelled 'WELL THEN I'M A GONNA THROW IT IN THE RIVER!!!'"
I still haven't figured out what it is that makes some customers say or do questionable things in-store but I'm sure there'll always be retail horror stories. Moral of the story? Be kind to the person on the phone or behind the register — you never know what kind of day they're having.
Do you have a retail horror story to share? Let us know in the comments!
Header image via Ron Lach / PEXELS
*Names have been changed.
