'Every interaction ends with a rant': Pizza shop manager "fires" repeat customer

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 18, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

At what point is a manager allowed to "fire" a bad customer? It depends on the industry: some customers are allowed to do almost anything they want, while others can be refused service at the drop of a hat. 

It also depends how experienced a manager is, too. It seems like a lot of bosses who are freshly promoted to their new role tend to be extra nice to customers who really don't deserve their kindness. More experienced managers have this sixth sense for customers who can't be pleased, and are quick to turn them away. It takes time to learn the difference between a customer who's upset, and a customer who's trying to take advantage of your niceness. 

Some customers cannot be pleased — and more importantly, they don't want to be. They like to stir the pot; they enjoy riling up the employees and bugging them until they get their way. I think they feel a sense of power and superiority as they get snippy with people who have to grin and bear it, or else face losing their jobs. There's no telling what will actually make these people stop and leave the employees alone, but at least the commenters below had some great advice for a manager who was struggling to get rid of one cranky customer. 

Next up, check out these bizarre thrift shop and online marketplace finds, like one person who felt a strange item "staring at me from across the thrift shop." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10495346688
    via Ahmet Kurt For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    At what point do you refuse a regular? I work at a small family owned pizza restaurant. I've been the GM for 8 months. Almost 85% of our customers are regulars (1 checked haha) and most are very nice or at least polite. We have one lady who routinely complains. It's gotten to the point
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 03
    that my employees recognize her number, put her on hold, and get me. I've okayed this because she will talk over employees asking for details on her food saying "how should I know, make it how you normally do" when she orders a build your own. She has complained about my staff, my
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 04
    food quality, my ticket times, the order I bring out togos, drink options, everything. The owner cares very deeply about reviews so I'm told to de-escalate and hope a difficult customer doesn't come back. Today she was very upset a customers Stromboli came out in between her pizzas. I
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 05
    explain that the food is put into the oven when it's done. It's not held unless it's a dine in. I get a nice three minute explanation from her on why that is "extremely bad sequencing and poor employee management."
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 06
    Every interaction ends with a rant about how we did something terrible. Her pizzas were no more than five minutes apart and the one done was in the warmer. I'm tired of dealing with this customer. How can I tell her to find a different pizza place? |
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 07
    have never given her a gift card or free food so she's not a "freebie" customer. She has paid full price for everything. Even toppings we usually don't charge for like extra cheese, I normally throw it in for free for the regulars. My employees refuse to acknowledge her when she comes to pay, I am beyond irritated with her, and the owner is no help in this scenario.
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 08

    In no uncertain terms, commenters gave this manager the language to use to get this customer out of there once and for all

    LOUDCO-HD "Since we have proven to be incapable of satisfying your standards we must insist you take your patronage elsewhere effective immediately. We will no longer accept your phone orders and I am trespassing you from our property."
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 09
    Isn't your job hard enough without allowing customers who make it even harder, to treat you like a doormat? Fire her!
    via u/Ok_Tutor_4520
  • 10
    playcrackthesky I would have already fired this customer. She doesn't seem to like your restaurant, but of course keeps coming back. Tell her she's not welcome at your restaurant and you hope she finds a place she likes more. She will likely leave a poor review, and your owner will ask for your reasoning. The content of your post is said reasoning.
    via u/playcrackthesky
  • 11

    Maybe she's never considered going elsewhere

    Beautiful-Repor... "Sally, why do you continue to order from us when you seem to be dissatisfied with everything we do? Perhaps, Bob's Pizza down the road would be more to your liking"?
    via u/Beautiful-Report58
  • 12
    Another way to handle it is to call her out. Look Sally, I'll take your order, but if you're going to complain about every little thing, then we're not the place for you. No one here will even talk to you because of how difficult you have become. Deliver it in a Robin Williams tone to get message across, but gently.
    via u/Beautiful-Report58
  • 13
    lucky_2_shoes I have a regular to iike this too. We have this book we keep, if someone calls with a complaint they can either come back right away and we will remake it or they can be put in our book for a replacement item. This one. family comes, always has a huge order which is great. They come two to 3 time's a week. They started to complain about missing
    via u/lucky_2_shoes
  • 14
    items here n there, which i believed since their orders were always so big. Than it got to the point that every time they came thru they said they were in our book for this or that, than eventually they couldn't even remember what they were in the book for. It got to the point i felt like they were nit picking and not being 100% honest. So what i just recently started doing is i
    via u/lucky_2_shoes
  • 15
    always personally bag their order and wen i hand it to them in the drive thru i ask them to pull to the front and check to make sure they have everything n its all correct. This way any real mistakes can be handled right than n there and if they
    via u/lucky_2_shoes
  • 16
    call later i can tell them that they checked their order while here so im not accepting any more complaints once they've pulled out of our parking lot.
    via u/lucky_2_shoes
  • 17
    cookinupthegoo... Just ask her why she keeps coming back when it always seems like she is unhappy every time. Any type of asking or telling her to find a new restaurant pretty much guarantees a bad review. But if you lead her to that conclusion herself I doubt she will write a bad review.
    via u/cookinupthegoods
  • 18

    This person had the simplest solution:

    Randoms post... Block her number
    via u/Randoms***poster37

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