'I was laughing': Lazy DIY customer complains to management about an exemplary hardware store employee after ignoring 80% of his advice on a project, gets called out

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 30, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Internet tutorials make DIY projects look like a walk in the park. Watching a sped-up video of a professional woodworker dismantling, staining, and rebuilding a piece of street furniture makes upcyclers green with envy, but whenever an amateur grabs the same set of tools, most people realize they're all thumbs. Anyone who's ever watched a time-lapse of a home improvement project thinks for a brief second that they could totally do that themselves, but when it really comes down to it, most of us should be hiring professionals to do the heavy lifting, because there's a lot more to being a craftsman than just sheer determination.

In our next story, one girl realized her shortcomings almost immediately, but never fessed up to herself or the employees at the hardware store that she was a total failure.  

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  • Every naïve girl secretly wants to be a do-it-yourself Debbie, but a lot of people simply lack the skills and the know-how to pull it off. I certainly admire someone who's willing to put in the hard work on a DIY project, but when your own shortcomings become everyone else's problem and you start playing the blame-game, I lose some respect. 

  • At one hardware store, an exemplary employee was happy to help a wannabe DIYer, but quickly realized she lacked a critical component of hard labor: work ethic. Scroll for the hilarious backfiring of one girl who was quick to point a finger at the person who messed up her DIY project, without realizing she had three fingers pointing back at herself. 

    Up next, here's another tale of well-deserved backfiring where a Karen tries to dispute property lines with a new neighbor and realizes she's actually on his property. Talk about an uno reverse!

  • 01
    "No, that's too much work" 2441 44 45 40.
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  • 02
    r/r/MaliciousCompliance Posted by A u/FlorentinaLovett 6 hours ago But that's too much work LOC This story comes from my previous job at Sherwin Williams an unnamed retail paint store.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 03
    Honestly, it was a great place to work. Customers are generally friendly and the pay was alright. The store I was working at during this story dealt almost exclusively with general/painting contractors. Roughly 95% of our business came from people we saw 2 or 3 times daily, so we knew most people on a first name basis. THIS story, is about the other 5%.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 04
    A young woman come into the store alone and heads over to the section with the wood stains. Not uncommon, I just think she's looking for color samples to give to her builder or something like that. It's the weekend, so we're not too busy. After a minute or two, I go over and ask if I can help with anything. I'll be ME, and she can be L (lady).
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 05
    ME: Good morning, can I help you find anything? L: Oh actually maybe you can. I'm looking to stain a wine rack I just bought, and I'm not sure exactly what steps need to be taken to do it.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 06
    This is VERY typical of DIY customers and I actually like helping in these situations, so I have a whole speech prepared on what to do in what order. For those curious, because she's staining the wood, we need the wood to be bare in order to stain (duh).
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 07
    ME: Okay yeah of course. Is it bare wood or has it been coated before? L: It's currently stained. It's something close to this color right now. ME: That's actually my favorite stain color (truth), but it's pretty dark. What color were you thinking of changing it to? L: Probably something like this.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 08
    Now I'm not sure if you've tried to use a penetrating stain before, but going to lighter is a huge pain in the rear. You basically have to sand off the lacquer, sand off the sealer underneath it, THEN sand down to the natural color of the wood. Keep in mind this is a wine rack, so it's not a lot of large open flat surface, so this will take some serious time and effort. I, doing my job, let her know that this will be a project and explain step by step what she needs to do in order to change the
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 09
    ME: speechless ME: (politely) I'm sorry ma'am, what? L: No, that's too much work. I think I'll just stain on top of the finish. ME: Ma'am, it's called a 'penetrating stain' for a reason. It needs to go directly on the wood so it can penetrate into it, changing th- L: Look, I don't need you to try to sell me a bunch of stuff I won't need. Just the stain please.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 10
    ME: If you want it to be less steps, you could paint on top of it. You won't get that wood loo- L: (getting impatient) Do you want me to go to Home Depot that unnamed department store down the street and spend money there?? ME: No ma'am, I just want to make sure your finished product looks good and stays that way. L: Then sell me this stain. Now.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 11
    This is the part where I need to cover myself for when she comes back in 3 days saying the stain didn't work and I lied to her (it's happened before) I flag down my co-worker and make up some excuse as to why I need her to ring L up. For every line in a sale, there is a 'Comments' section that saves in the system, but doesn't print on the receipt. Since she listened to our entire
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 12
    conversation, she can put the comment in saying 'Ser_Thank_You explained the correct process for stripping and staining. Advise ignored. Told to sell stain anyway.' Sure enough, later that week L comes in ranting and raving about our terrible product and crappy customer service. She immediately recognizes me as the one who helped her, and starts throwing insults towards me and the store in general.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 13
    ME: I'm very sorry ma'am, let me get the manager up here and he can take care of you, alright? L: Just go! Hopefully HE knows more than the rest of you people.. Manager: What seems to be the problem? (knowing I'm a model employee) L: This guy told me all I needed to do was throw the stain on and it would work!
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 14
    Manager: Of course, let me just pull up your order and we can get you a full refund... -typing- Well I see here that my other employee working that day agrees with him, and claims that he did in fact tell you how to do this correctly. That being said, would you like me to help you pick out everything you would need for this?
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 15
    She ended up saying something about going to that hardware store and how they would help her. I couldn't really hear because I was laughing to myself in the back room. You asked for my advise and I gave it. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it wrong.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 16
    tl;dr Customer asked me how to do something difficult. Didn't like my answer and wanted it easier. Blames me for skipping 80% of the work and having the project fail.
    via u/FlorentinaLovett
  • 17
    browser1958. 2 hr. ago It happens at the Depot too. Whenever they find out about stripping the previous stain they suddenly think their laziness alters chemical reactions. I've never sold stripper to a customer I've recommended it too. But yet the stuff sells. Those who know, know. Those who ask think we're cheating them.
    via u/browser1958
  • 18
    mechant_papa . 3 hr. ago I worked in plumbing at HD. When people insisted I tell them what is the easiest way to do it right, I'd tell them to hire a plumber.
    via u/mechant_papa
  • 19
    (( Wodan115 hr. ago Yeah stripping a wood wine rack would be a nightmare job. Just paint it, lady, or buy a new one that matches your decor. Vote Reply Share Unlucky_Decision4138 4 hr. ago I agree. I wouldn't have the patience for this.
    via u/Wodan11
  • 20
    Extension Cook1507 - 3 hr. ago A third option would be to paint it the color of the original wood, then use gel stain to brush a wood-grain look on the paint. Then mix gel stain and clear satin poly 50/50, and apply in one even coat. Done. Faux stained wood.
    via u/Extension_Cook1507
  • 21
    ToothlessGuitarMaker 4 hr. ago I'm an amateur luthier, building guitars and basses from either kits or raw-wood parts, and that lady's ignorance was downright painful. Good woodworking is all about NOT taking shortcuts or choosing the lowest-effort option.
    via u/ToothlessGuitarMaker

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management customer service boss employee backfire manager work story retail lazy work advice project home improvement DIY reddit thread Reddit payback diy project
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