Best Customer Service Stories Post

The Customer Service Stories cases readers rated highest and believed most — the jury's all-time picks.

1. The Man Who Screamed at Me Because the Store Was Out of Bananas

   I have been yelled at over many things in my grocery career. Expired coupons. The parking lot. The very existence of a rewards card. A woman…

   172 Upvote · 68% of readers believe this story

2. She Tried to Return a Christmas Tree in March. It Was Still Decorated.

   I run the returns desk at a big box home store, which is to say I am the person who witnesses human creativity at its absolute peak. People …

   168 Upvote · 69% of readers believe this story

3. The Woman Who Fought Me Over a Toaster on Black Friday

   I have worked eleven Black Fridays now, and I still cannot explain what happens to a normal human being the moment those sliding doors unloc…

   154 Upvote · 69% of readers believe this story

4. The Shoplifter Who Asked Me to Help Him Carry It Out

   I work at a hardware store, and most shoplifters at least have the common decency to be sneaky. They tuck things in a jacket. They cut a tag…

   137 Upvote · 69% of readers believe this story

5. The Script Said I Had to Call Him By His Full Name Every Time

   I worked the retention line for an internet company I will not name, though you have almost certainly screamed at someone like me, and I for…

   121 Upvote · 70% of readers believe this story

6. I Worked the Returns Hotline and a Man Tried to Return His Wife

   I worked the returns hotline for a big furniture chain, which is a call center that exists entirely to serve a store, meaning I got the exac…

   109 Upvote · 70% of readers believe this story

7. Every Night at 2:17 the Same Number Called and Said Nothing

   I took overnight calls for a roadside assistance line, the kind you get with your car insurance -- flat tires, dead batteries, people locked…

   71 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

8. The Caller Who Knew What I Was Wearing

   I did overnight tech support for a home security company, which, in hindsight, is a deeply ironic place to have had the most frightening shi…

   63 Upvote · 65% of readers believe this story

9. My Boss Timed My Bathroom Breaks to the Second

   I answered phones for a health insurance company, which is the kind of job that ages you like a two-term president. But the calls were not t…

   48 Upvote · 67% of readers believe this story

10. The Customer Who Only Ever Came In During the Thunderstorms

    I managed a used bookshop on a corner that flooded every time it rained hard, which in our town was often. It was a good job, quiet, the kin…

    39 Upvote · 72% of readers believe this story

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