'Sorry, I'm not a mind reader': Retail worker shares story about a demanding customer who asked them to hand-deliver items, in turn, retail workers share stories where they were expected to read customers' minds

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jan 8, 2024 10:00 AM EST

There should be an award for retail workers who have to deal with weird or unreasonable requests from entitled customers.

So in addition to 'Employee of the Month', every manager at a retail store should also reward the worker who tells the craziest story regarding a customer in that month. Honestly, they deserve a reward for everything they have to deal with. Like this Redditor who shared his experiences in the subreddit r/TalesFromRetail. This one entitled Karen was not only extremely vague and impatient when she asked for help in finding an item in the store, but also made the poor worker go fetch the item for her with all kinds of specific instructions to follow. The comments to this story were also filled with retail workers complaining about customers expecting them to 'read their minds' when looking for items or asking for assistance. All great contestants for the 'Craziest Entitled Customer Story of the Month' award (the title is a work in progress).

Scroll down for the full story and the stories to follow in the comments, and when you finish, click here for a success story of front desk workers who refused to help an entitled guest.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    "Sorry, I'm not a mind reader"
    via Canva
  • 02
    Why would I know what you want when you also don't know
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 03
    What is it with people not knowing the name of something expecting us to know it. It's a general store, if I had the brain capacity to have extensive knowledge on every item we sell, I wouldn't be stocking shelves for a living.
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 04
    This lady stops me in the store and asks where the crackers are. That's not my department so I search it up on the system. As I'm doing so, she points to this other worker and says
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 05
    "that boy told me where they were and he was wrong!". I tell her that they're where he said they were. Turns out, when she asked where the crackers were, she meant an entirely different item that's in a different place (I had to figure this one out as
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 06
    she had no clue what they were called). I tell her where they are. Then she tells me to fetch them for her and find her in the checkouts. On top of that she gave me instructions on how many packs to get. "If they have the six pack get two, if they have the 12
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 07
    pack get one". She literally had to walk past them to get to the checkouts? This isn't my job description. I'm not your personal servant. I help people getting items if they physically can't get them, but
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 08
    she very much could and they were on route for her. So it's a nice mix of being expecting us workers to read her mind and being mad that we cant, then making me run around doing
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 09
    her shopping for her to hand deliver them to her fr literally no reason. Very cheeky. I also had someone ask me to tell them where juice for babies was(she wanted a specific one) I tried explaining that if I don't have a name
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 10
    or any other description of this specific item I literally can't help her. I went through all the juice that's marketed for kids (innocent smoothies, fruit shoot etc) and none of it was right. I tried explaining that I
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 11
    can't just search up "baby juice" because nothing would come up. But she just kept staring at me waiting for an answer. Older people do the same thing with printer ink. They expect me to know
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 12
    what printer they have. Then start point at printers saying "it looks like that" all printers look like that. Sorry I missed the training day where we all go to your house and see your printer.
    via u/hardrocknick_2001
  • 13
    Limit_Ok 5 days ago I had a guy lose his temper with me today as I kept asking him questions to figure out exactly what he wanted. "What's with all the questions?!"
    via u/Limit_Ok
  • 14
    Cmon man. If I didn't have to ask I really wouldn't. The less I have to speak the better.
    via u/Limit_Ok
  • 15
    llebtra5033 · 4 days ago Where is the chicken? Do you want raw chicken, cooked chicken, canned chicken or frozen chicken?
    via u/llebtra5033
  • 16
    404UserNktFound - 4 days ago Yarn Pusher Last I checked, psychic ability was not required for working retail. But customers seem to think all shop workers can read their minds.
    via u/404UserNktFound
  • 17
    I used to work at a yarn store, and people would come in and announce that they were looking for a pattern, with no additional information, like blanket or garment or even
    via u/404UserNktFound
  • 18
    whether they knit vs. crocheted. They get almost offended when questioned. Sorry, I'm just trying to narrow down the thousands of online patterns I could direct you to! (End Rant.)
    via u/404UserNktFound
  • 19
    sueelleker 4 days ago I worked in pharmacy, and often said (to myself) "sorry, I missed the telepathy training day".
    via u/sueelleker
  • 20
    Thunderliger 4 days ago I actually can't imagine telling a grocery clerk to go grab something for me because I'm too lazy to do it myself.
    via u/Thunderliger
  • 21
    dbellz76 4 days ago I used to love when people would be buying something for someone else and ask what color and size the person would need...ummm, if YOU don't know, I definitely do not know.
    via u/dbellz76
  • 22
    Klyco 4 days ago People don't understand that words mean things. Just recently I had someone tell me their fans arrived damage and they emailed me a video.
    via u/K1yco
  • 23
    look at the video and there is no damage so I asked further, informing I don't see any damage. They reply back with "There's no damage, otherwise, I would have sent a picture. The fans are making a noise"
    via u/K1yco
  • 24
    Lady, if you say damage, I'm looking for damage, not listening for sound.
    via u/K1yco
  • 25
    Accomplished-Ad3219 4 days ago Is it just me, or is this happening more and more lately?
    via u/Accomplished-Ad3219
  • 26
    alaina826 3 days ago This is always so amazing to me. So many people just seem to... not know what words mean??? Like your example with the crackers. I get so many people who say they are after something specific, but
    via u/alaina826
  • 27
    the description they give is completely different from what they actually want. I show them what they ask for and they get mad, and I end up picking up half of the products in the store to try and figure out what they are actually looking for. By the end
    via u/alaina826
  • 28
    they are all huffy and treating me like I don't know how to do my job. That, or the description is so incredibly vague that I always want to believe they're joking (of course, they never are).
    via u/alaina826
  • 29
    When I try to guess and show them stuff, they say they're not sure if that was the item. How are you trying to buy something and you have no idea what it's called or what it looks like?!
    via u/alaina826

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories employee job retail tales-from-the-workplace retail worker reddit story entitled customers workplace tales-from-retail Reddit funny entitled people
Scroll Down For The Next Article