'I don't work here, lady': Delivery guy agrees to scan woman's groceries at her insistence

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 1, 2024 3:00 PM EST

Never underestimate a customer's ability to be completely and utterly wrong. That's the lesson one baffled delivery person learned during one of their days on the job. 

Every job deals with clients or customers in some way, and at the most basic level, it's an employee's responsibility to assist them. Companies take this very seriously. For example, at call centers, most workers aren't allowed to hang up on callers, even if they're flipping out over the phone because they don't understand why they're being charged late fees (it's due to their own lateness). Or if you work in retail, you'll probably be hounded by customers who are searching for a specific green vest, only for you to insist to them that this store does not sell any vests. They will not believe this, and they'll think you're lying to them. A lot of customers just think they're right no matter what you tell them. You can walk them through the problem step by step, but they may still insist that you're way off the mark. 

This person actually gave some excellent customer service, in a way. As a delivery helper, they were dropping off various different packages at a shopping plaza. Although this dude was literally wearing their delivery uniform, one customer still insisted on being helped by them. 

Check out the whole story below, and then read the story of a ride-share driver who dropped off a difficult passenger in an entirely different country. 

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  • 01
    Lady demanded that I, a delivery man, check her groceries out. So I complied... with my package scanner.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 02
    Originally posted this over on r/idontworkherelady and they suggested this sub would appreciate it! Hope you guys like it! Had quite an amusing encounter over this past winter break.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    To set the stage, I was working as a holiday helper for a UPS delivery guy. As a holiday helper they had us wear cheap brown vests with a small company logo on them. You'd think that would be enough, but apparently not.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 04
    Now although we mainly drop packages off at peoples' houses, we also went through a shopping plaza to drop off stuff at different stores. We were dropping stuff off at Kroger when this happened. The way it worked was I would take a cart loaded with packages into Kroger along with a [DIAD]
    via u/[deleted]
  • 05

    Apparently this is a diad. Now you know.

    09.20 03.30 1030n66 $1030 98 4 UPS 1030n120 1030n201 OAK 1030n201 OAK C1200n201 OAK C1200n201 OAK $1200 178 7. N BIRCH N BIRCH M TREMONT TREMONT Sp Cnts ChaRte Comm Res/Com Edit Details Commit Notes PreRec Sched 5 3 AV 1+0 1001 AV 2+1 1001 ST 1+0 ST 1+1 8/ 9 0 1010 1045 ST 1+0 4012 ST 1+0 4015 ST 1+0 4020 ST 2+1 1038 R
    via u/[deleted]
  • 06
    (https://www.browncafe.co m/community/attachments/ diad-v-jpg.5078/), which was basically a scanner we used to log in packages and mark off deliveries. I usually did this delivery alone because it was simple and my driver could use the time to organize other stuff.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 07
    So off I go into the store with a decent amount of packages stacked up on the trolley, where I roll them over to customer service. Usually there's someone behind the desk when I come in, but sometimes the employee is out on the floor helping someone find something like they were today.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 08
    Standard practice for me is to unload all the boxes behind the counter and then just wait until an employee comes back to sign off on them. So I unload all the boxes, stack them behind the counter, and then lean up against it to wait for someone to come by. While I'm waiting I casually take out my phone and begin browsing Reddit to pass the time.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 09
    Then I heard the "Ahem." I looked up to see some fifty-something-year-old lady scowling at me, with a cart packed to the brim with food. She had greying blonde hair done in that ["I want to speak to your manager"]
    via u/[deleted]
  • 10
    wl) style and was wearing a bright pink Nike top, blue leggings, and about two metric tons of attitude. We stared at each other and her expression soured with each passing moment like the milk that was undoubtedly curdling in her cart. Finally she broke the awkward silence. "Well?"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 11
    I shrugged. "Well what?" She shoved her cart forward, almost bumping me with it. "Are you gonna keep ignoring me? Or are you gonna check me out?" I looked at her then down at my uniform, which consisted of a grey hoodie, black sweatpants, and my trademark brown vest.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 12
    Kroger employees wear black khakis, blue-collared shirts, and no brown vests. I looked back up at her, trying remain polite, and said, "I don't work here, lady. I'm just dropping off packages."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 13
    The sour woman scoffed and jabbed a finger at my DIAD. . You're just too lazy to help me. Start scanning these," she shoved the cart at me again, this time bumping my thigh, "or I'll get your manager." I wasn't sure why she didn't go to the standard checkout line either, but I guess if things got really busy, Kroger allowed customers to go through the customer
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    service desk too. (It wasn't very busy anway.) Now I could've taken the easy way out, told her to politely off, and left, but then she took her phone to make a call and snapped her fingers at me, mouthing, "C'mon. I have to be somewhere."
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    So I decided to help her out and began to unload her groceries, one by one, in the most tedious manner possible. I scanned each fruit, can, veggie, and box with the DIAD (which is normally used for recording people's addresses. Funnily enough, it didn't know where the kiwi or Rotisserie chicken live, but it does make a satisfying little bleep when it rejects an
    via u/[deleted]
  • 16
    address which sounded quite similar to a product being scanned.) I kept doing this for about ten minutes, often "miss- scanning" something or inspecting it much to the woman's annoyance. From time to time I'd interrupt her phone call to ask her a ridiculous question, such as:
    via u/[deleted]
  • 17
    "Would you like to add another grape to this bunch? There's one in here with a brown spot." She would usually answer with a huffy "What?", stare into space as she slowly worked through the question, and then shake her head sharply as she went back to her conversation.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 18
    She reached her breaking point when I inquired as to whether or not she wanted her eggs bagged individually or all together. would "What? Why the you-? WHAT?" she demanded shrilly. I stood there, DIAD in one hand, egg crate in the other, looking completely innocent while trying not to die laughing. I could swear I
    via u/[deleted]
  • 19
    heard her mind briefly shutting down at the stupidity of my question, before rebooting. Calmly and with a polite smile, I repeated the question. Her face was almost as purple as the grapes I'd offered to discount as she struggled to form words. "What... kind of a dumbass question is that?" she croaked, her manicured
    via u/[deleted]
  • 20
    nails digging into trembling palms. I placed the eggs back in the bag while nodding sympathetically. "The kind I ask someone who's too stupid to not take the hint that I don't work here." By this point the Kroger employee working the customer service desk
    via u/[deleted]
  • 21
    returned and the lady turned on them with the fury of God. "HOW CAN YOU LET AN EMPLOYEE TREAT ME THIS WAY? I SHOP HERE ALL THE TIME! HOW DARE YOU TREAT A VALUED CUSTOMER LIKE !" To their credit, the customer service worker took the verbal assault pretty well, holding their hands up in a "Holy gesture as they
    via u/[deleted]
  • 22
    tried to calm the lady down. Then they looked from her to me and back to her and simply reiterated what I said. "Ma'am... he doesn't work here..." I was fascinated to see the "doubling down when you're wrong" mentality in action, but to my surprise all the wrath leached out of this harpy in two seconds flat. It was the look of
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    someone who realized the only way they'd save face in a situation like this was to simply drop it. She pursed her lips at the employee's words and looked at my brown vest, as if thinking I was somehow still defying her logic.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    "Well," she said coldly, "you just lost a customer." Then, quick as she'd arrived, the turned on her heel with a flip of her grey attitude-do and stormed off. I was tempted to say that was more of a win, but figured I'd antagonized her enough. Holding out my DIAD for a signature, I asked if the employee had
    via u/[deleted]
  • 25
    ever encountered her before. He said he had, but never that angry. She was usually just demanding and arrogant to anyone else when she shopped there. After getting his signature, I helped him repack everything and asked if he needed me to help him take it back, but he said "no." It was worth it just getting another tumorous customer out of the store.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    Once everything was settled, I returned to the delivery van. (This entire ordeal only lasted about 15 minutes.) My driver, Jeff, wasn't too angry. He'd arranged the rest of our packages while I was delivering and just told me to be faster next time. Then we continued about our day.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    TL;DR - Worked as a holiday helper for a delivery company and was delivering packages to a grocery store, woman decided I worked there so I absolutely must check her groceries out. So I did... with a package scanner, and scanned every one of her items with extra care.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    ObviouslyAMasochist "You just lost a customer." = "I'm too embarrassed to show my stupid face in here ever again."
    via u/ObviouslyAMasochist
  • 29
    P3naught I find it interesting that she had given herself the title of valued customer despite her everything
    via u/P3naught
  • 30
    JoeXM "I'll never shop here again!" But they always do ...
    via u/JoeXM

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groceries funny stories malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit package delivery grocery shopping malicious compliance reddit funny delivery scan
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