Archived Best Tirades/Threats

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Hello everyone! Last night got me thinking, what are the 'worst' threats you have received from a guest? or just tirades you have witnessed in general. We all know there are good ones every day.

Last night I had a guest threaten to have me arrested for 'harassment'. The guest swore he should get a 5 dollars giftcard for purchasing 3 items, which I am sure the sign was in the wrong place so I told him I would give him the 5 dollars and have them change the sign because it's wrong. I guess he took offense to me saying the sign was wrong and started raising his voice and getting out of line so I asked him to calm down and I could help him quicker and that's when he began dialing 911 and yelling for my manager. It was a pleasant night, I can tell 4th quarter is coming...:wacko:
 
A lady came to FA demanding popcorn "without that poison s**t".
Our FATL told her that it would require breaking down the kettle, cleaning it of the oil & seasoning but there was no way to pop it without the oil so - not happening.
She began shrieking about how we're poisoning everybody with chemicals before AP walked over & she walked out still shrieking.
 
Hello everyone! Last night got me thinking, what are the 'worst' threats you have received from a guest? or just tirades you have witnessed in general. We all know there are good ones every day.

Last night I had a guest threaten to have me arrested for 'harassment'. The guest swore he should get a 5 dollars giftcard for purchasing 3 items, which I am sure the sign was in the wrong place so I told him I would give him the 5 dollars and have them change the sign because it's wrong. I guess he took offense to me saying the sign was wrong and started raising his voice and getting out of line so I asked him to calm down and I could help him quicker and that's when he began dialing 911 and yelling for my manager. It was a pleasant night, I can tell 4th quarter is coming...:wacko:

I say this in all seriousness.... TMs really shouldn't take what guests say (threats) as jokes these days. Maybe it is just because all the stores in my area are in the ghetto, but we have had incidents in which TMs were seriously injured. A few years ago we had one incident when a TM was literally kidnapped from the parking lot after he got off work by two thugs who had felt insulted by him. Fortunately they got cold feet and threw him out of the car a few miles down the road.

We have had guests assault TMs for literally nothing as well.

Take all threats seriously and watch your back... people will do crazy things these days....
 
A lady came to FA demanding popcorn "without that poison s**t".
Our FATL told her that it would require breaking down the kettle, cleaning it of the oil & seasoning but there was no way to pop it without the oil so - not happening.
She began shrieking about how we're poisoning everybody with chemicals before AP walked over & she walked out still shrieking.

She was probably talking about diacetyl, the buttery flavor. Diacetyl is in everything, it is sometimes added to real butter and occurs in some alcoholic beverages. You should have told her you're on the list for a lung transplant.
 
I once had a guest to threaten to sue us for false advertisement because we were taking down sale signs at 9PM on a Sat night, even after I told her the prices will still ring down at the register
 
Had a woman have a complete fit over the fact that we were out of cat litter that was buy 2 get $5 gift card....late on a saturday night. Like seriously. Don't show up that late on Saturday expecting to get something popular like that. She had a fit and swore she was never coming back & this is why she hates shopping at Target. I just said sorry and walked away.

OH and the fact that it is "inconvenient" that our carts lock at the mall entrance.

I think the best one was this elderly man who argued with 3 or 4 of us (all women) because he had seen something a few days before & now couldn't find it. Once he described it, we realized it was something on clearance that we likely had sold out of. He demanded we order it for him and have it sent to the store. Tried to explain we can't do that, but he could see if it was still available on Target.com and have it sent to his house. He started screaming that we apparently didn't want his money and we were all assholes and this and that. It took a male TM coming over for him to calm down. Basically we determined he didn't want to listen to a woman tell him no.

Since moving to the PA position, I've had less tirades...only people who are like "why the hell don't you carry this item?! You need to order it so I can buy it!!" And I'm just like sorry not how it works. Complain to corporate if you want something in the store. Even then, good luck.
 
A lady came to FA demanding popcorn "without that poison s**t".
Our FATL told her that it would require breaking down the kettle, cleaning it of the oil & seasoning but there was no way to pop it without the oil so - not happening.
She began shrieking about how we're poisoning everybody with chemicals before AP walked over & she walked out still shrieking.
I had at least handful of people that wanted dry popcorn. Then I got wise and used the line that making popcorn without oil can damage equipment, and burn the popcorn.

Then Target came out with the memo saying that are to be no custom orders; everything had to be made to the standards of the recipe cards. So I threw it back on Target.

Hello everyone! Last night got me thinking, what are the 'worst' threats you have received from a guest? or just tirades you have witnessed in general. We all know there are good ones every day.

Last night I had a guest threaten to have me arrested for 'harassment'. The guest swore he should get a 5 dollars giftcard for purchasing 3 items, which I am sure the sign was in the wrong place so I told him I would give him the 5 dollars and have them change the sign because it's wrong. I guess he took offense to me saying the sign was wrong and started raising his voice and getting out of line so I asked him to calm down and I could help him quicker and that's when he began dialing 911 and yelling for my manager. It was a pleasant night, I can tell 4th quarter is coming...:wacko:
Let him call 911. Let him get arrested/ticketed for calling 911 over something stupid.

I would say sorry sir but I can not help you. Walked around the corner and called AP and LOD.

Being at Guest Service, I think TMs get the most threats and outrageous demands there. I had people yell, scream, lunge at me, grab register monitors, and throw denied returns across the counter.

I had TMs from other stores try to dictate that they deserve an extra markdown because they were buying a display TV. The item already has an As Is sticker.

I had guests throw fits because they wanted a discount on an item with dinged or ripped packaging, and I wouldn't give it to them.

I had parents throw fits because I limited sample popcorns to 2 bags whenever they demanded like 10.

I had people purposely come over to FA after close demanding free popcorn. I told them FA is closed and the popcorn its no longer sellable. And I already but Boil Out cleaner in the kettle.

An old ETL of mine had a country music celebrity demand for a TM to push a cart for her while she shopped, and demanded to take down all the tabloids with her on the front page. Then a TM got her to sign up for a Target Card and then got upset that they wouldn't process it without her address and info.
 
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I had one lady who was pissed off that everything we had made in China.
She insisted that we were supposed to be better than Walmart so we were supposed to carry stuff that was made in America.
I said that all of the big stores would be stocked like ours and she blew up saying that it was a conspiracy to destroy the country.
The sad part is I kinda agree with her but I couldn't get her to calm down long enough to get that across.
 
I had one lady who was pissed off that everything we had made in China.
She insisted that we were supposed to be better than Walmart so we were supposed to carry stuff that was made in America.
I said that all of the big stores would be stocked like ours and she blew up saying that it was a conspiracy to destroy the country.
The sad part is I kinda agree with her but I couldn't get her to calm down long enough to get that across.
 
An old ETL of mine had a country music celebrity demand for a TM to push a cart for her while she shopped, and demanded to take down all the tabloids with her on the front page. Then a TM got her to sign up for a Target Card and then got upset that they wouldn't process it without her address and info.

Sounds juicy... how much of a "celebrity" was she?
 
I had a woman throw a fit because she wasn't able to use her pharmacy rewards. She handed me the piece with her address on it and not the physical card that comes in the mail. Apparently she was too dumb to actually read the letter that clearly tells her to bring in the card.

I saw a woman threaten to sue Target after the check lane she was checking out at crashed before it fully processed her card. She wasn't charged for the merchandise that totaled less than $10.

I saw a man threaten to call corporate because he couldn't return an, apparently, defective item he had purchased earlier that day using his card. We explained to him that, within the first 24 hours of a purchase, he would need the receipt to return it. He didn't wait a day or go back to get his receipt (or even bring his receipt in the first place), he just jumps right to calling corporate.

I've had a woman call me an a-hole while in the parking lot because my line of carts on the pusher was in the way of a spot she wanted. She completely ignored the fact that a.) I have a job to do and b.) I was here first. I simply gave her a devilish smile and a slight chuckle.

There was an african-american lady that complained to me that Target didn't sell any black magazines.

Then there's the slew of people who want to go off on you when you stop them from scamming. I actually enjoy these people. I get a sense of satisfaction from ruining a horrible person's day.

But for the most part, I hate the front end.
 
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