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(vent) god I hate customers (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by bermuda@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org
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I've said it before on beehaw but I work pizza delivery. You'd think it would be an easy job, just drive around and drop off pizzas and enjoy music, but holy shit the amount of pure hatred I've gotten from customers over the dumbest little thing is just insane. I had a guy call me, a white-male, a racial slur because we have a $5 delivery fee. I've had people scream swears at me because I forgot their food, or call back demanding I get fired for it.

And then I went on reddit to vent about it on my company's subreddit. I know reddit is normally pretty toxic but there's really no "pizza delivery" analogue that I can find on beehaw or lemmy in general, and there's just so much hate and vitriol on that subreddit that I can't even bother opening it. Customers telling me that I should "find a new job" or "quit working entirely" because they can't stop being mean about food. Not only is it just pizza, it's fast food! My company is even globally known for giving people free refunds on a whim so I just don't understand why they would hate me so much for venting about my job?? Do people not like being reminded that people like me go through so much shit on a day-to-day basis? It's so fucking insane to me that it's just a commonly accepted thing to be told to "get over it" after being called a slur for something that's not even my problem. 99% of the time when an order is fucked up it's not even my fault? I just delivery them!

I really want to understand why people are SO rude about pizza delivery but I Just can't! I've never in my life even considered cussing out a food service worker but these people are just doing it like its their job!

For anybody that says it, I'd have quit by now if I wasn't making so much money. You try making $16/hr + upwards of $100 in tips a day (yay US tipping culture). I've got so much money now I don't really have a whole lot to do with it, compared to my last jobs at least.

(I also desperately want to scream back at these people so much but I know I can't do that. I know my manager's got my back but if I do it in the store I'll most likely be fired.)

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[–] SkepticElliptic@beehaw.org 28 points 1 year ago

When I worked at McDonald's I would "kill them with kindness" my manager would get calls from people so pissed off because I would escalate the niceness to match their enragement.

Customer: "you can't do anything right!"

Me: "Have a wonderful day!"

Gets them mad for sure.

[–] MadMenace@beehaw.org 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just recently left my job as a manager at a pizza place. One thing that helped my sanity when dealing with crazy customers is to laugh at them. They get so upset, over what? Pizza? Can you imagine how shitty their life must be to get so worked up over something so minor? It got to the point that I'd have to stifle my laughter in order to not piss them off further, especially when they asked for my name. Yes, please waste your time complaining about me, nothing will come of it because you're full of shit. I especially liked scolding customers in my kindergarten teacher voice when they cussed. Can we behave like adults today?

Also, coworkers are great for venting about customers to each other. You get a little quick validation and it goes a long way.

[–] loops@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Validation can also be acquired by seeing fist sized holes in boxes that you didn't make.

[–] Helix@feddit.de 22 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So that is why pizza delivery people are always so submissive when they fucked something up. We're always like 'no biggie' and they look like I just took a huge weight off their shoulders. Sorry you have to endure this. Humans are awful.

[–] bermuda@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Yep. It's the worst when I realize I messed something up about 5 minutes into a 10 minute drive. If I go back to fix the mistake then I gotta apologize for being late. If I keep on truckin' then I gotta apologize for whatever mistake I made (or heck even a mistake I didn't make). So instead of enjoying a longer drive with good music I end up worrying the whole way there about what a customer would say.

[–] MadMenace@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So much of the time, people will just make up complaints to try and get free food, so you have to be constantly on guard for manipulative assholes. Getting a customer who treats you like a person even after you actually made a mistake is a total relief.

[–] Helix@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

Nice. Will continue doing that then :)

[–] moonsnotreal@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah I work retail and the majority of customers are fine, but it's the 5% that are assholes that make you hate everyone.

[–] TwinTusks@outpost.zeuslink.net 1 points 1 year ago

Yup, retail is really toxic

[–] Schedar@beehaw.org 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ve only had a little bit of retail experience from my teenage days and even with that this just brings back such flash backs. People getting mad at a kid just because the store didn’t have the DVD they wanted or because they’ve been asked to park up at the drive through and wait 5 min for their food.

Personally I think any business owner, especially a home delivery service like pizza, should be firm and quickly blacklist customers who act like this. Delivery drivers put themselves at risk, they are lone workers going to random people’s home. It should be treated seriously.

World would be a lot better if people who treat service workers poorly quickly found that they could no longer get service at all.

[–] Helix@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

World would be a lot better if people who treat service workers poorly quickly found that they could no longer get service at all.

True. They should get a notice that they have been blacklisted for x amount of days which should be like 14 for the first time, then 30, 90, 365, 1500... and that for every service where they treat people poorly.

At some point they couldn't even get gas at a gas station.

[–] PhatInferno@midwest.social 5 points 1 year ago

But think of how much money those big mutimillion dollar companies would lose 😢

Wont anyone think of them!

[–] Schedar@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Rereading it may look like I’m advocating for a China / black mirror style morality social point system.. oops!

Meant more: if someone is abusive to staff to be that business should exercise their right to refuse to serve that person.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I empathize bud (gender neutral bud). I really do, I have 5 years mcdonalds and 5 years retail under my belt and people. fucking. suck.

The general public are just the worst to deal with, especially if they view you as "beneath them" in the societal ladder. Boomers by far were the most hateful generation, an entire generation who has been handed everything and just throw childlike tantrums if they don't get what they want.

Nothing humbles you like being screamed at by some 60 year old woman because you put "too few" pickles on a $1.50 burger. Or too many. Or who really cares, no one should care so much about how many pickles are on their burger enough to literally scream at an employee. But these people are so unaware, they have no idea that they look like the idiots in that situation. The managers don't want a fight so they'll just give them what they want so they leave.

As for what to do with money. SAVE. Save what you can. If you have a 401k put that money into it, 10% is a good measure if you can. Pay off all of your debt if you have any. Finally, invest. If everything else is done then invest. The economy is in a downturn and the way I like to think is that "stocks are on sale". Use that money now to fund yourself in the future, you'll thank yourself later.

A good order of operations is

  1. 401k/retirement, 5-10%
  • If your work doesn't offer it you can still open some at your bank, look into IRAs
  1. Pay off debts
  • (like a lot, don't just pay minimums, do principal only payments and get that stuff off your back. Then you'll really have a lot of extra money)
  1. Save 6 months expenses for rainy day fund
  • High interest savings accounts like Ally can give you some interest on this too
  1. Save for down payment on a home if you're interested in home ownership
  • Some people aren't, but imagine all that money in rent going towards your own equity, not someone else's. That's a game changer for sure.
  1. Ad-hoc investing
  • This comes after everything, but can be stocks, funds, or a managed account of some sort.

Also we absolutely should get a talesfromretail going somewhere. I know we have !talesfromretail@lemmit.online but that's just a clone from Reddit and it's pretty much read-only. (and the reddit stories you can really tell are just karma farming)

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The managers don’t want a fight so they’ll just give them what they want so they leave.

Unfortunately, this contributes to the problem. It's a reward for being an asshole. I don't blame managers or staffers for giving in just to get rid of the asshole because it's not worth getting screamed at. But it's like the "customer is always right" approach devolved into "being an asshole gets you free shit". I wish corporate culture was "treat our employees well and we'll treat you like a king, be an asshole and you're banned for life" or something along those lines.

Also, your money recommendations are on point and OP should definitely do some smart saving while they have the extra cash. It'll help them out a lot later in life.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah I know :( Too many bad managers who just don't want to deal with it. The best manager I had worked retail with me and she would always say "My employee here did everything right, they were holding up the rules, and did not deserve you yelling at them for doing what they were taught to do. I am going to make a 1-time exception for you this time, but that will be it, I know you now and this will not happen again." Which I loved. You can appease the customer to get them to go away, but at the same time you can stand up for your employee. Sometimes exceptions need to be made, but the big part was having the manager actually defend me, standing up saying I didn't do anything wrong. Too many just swoop in and Karens act all snooty like they won somehow.

[–] middlemuddle@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

That seems like a pretty solid approach. It still rewards the asshole, but calls them out on it without being rude and commits to not letting it be repeated. I don't think screaming at someone over a missed fast food order is ever warranted, but I think it's reasonable to be extremely charitable and give the person a chance to recognize and learn from their behavior.

[–] argv_minus_one@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

This. Don't negotiate with terrorists, or they'll just keep on terrorizing.

[–] bermuda@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well I'm in college so most of my money is going to tuition and the rest towards rent, but it's nice to have some extra money left over after food/gasoline/utilities/car maintenance to just play around with. I don't know if it's nearly enough to invest in stuff, but it's more than what I had in my old jobs.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 1 year ago

If you have loans start paying them now, trust me, I exited college with way way way too much in loans. Anything, literally anything can save you soooooo much money down the line. Extra hundred or two every once in a while can save so much more in interest later, and get you started a bit easier too. After that, just get a savings account up and running. You'll rest easier knowing you have a few months of rent and groceries in your savings account in case you are ever out of a job.

[–] admin@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Solid financial advice here.

[–] zettajon@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

imagine all that money in rent going towards your own equity

IF you have a 15 year loan. If you have a 30 year loan, it takes you 14 YEARS to pay off just the first 25% of your loan balance, and that's assuming you put 20% down, and not 10% like majority of people today. Then there's house expenses like HOAs (if you get a townhouse or condo) or roof repairs, lawn care services, etc. Actually, depending on how long you plan on staying at a property, if you list out expenses plus the loan principle you pay each month, you actually might be paying more by getting a 30 year vs renting, depending on where you live.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or you can put more on it a month like any loan and pay it faster. Or do a 15 year loan if you feel like you can afford it like you said. Or an ARM if you really hate interest and want to pay off fast.

Even if only 15% goes to principal that's more equity you're building than renting.

[–] zettajon@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

But equity can be a losing strategy if you're getting that little in a 30 year. Take the "winning the lottery" example. People always think, lump sum vs lifetime small payments? Always take lump sum. Invest it all in a safe ETF, and live off the interest.

The only reason people "build equity" is to sell that house in the future. I'd much rather minimize my monthly expenses like principle and HOA, and invest that difference. The best part is that you can see that "investment equity" immediately, and sell any if needed.

The market always beats house equity. For example, my parents bought a house in NYC for $340,000 in 2000. Today, it's appraised for about $800,000. Big win right? NOPE. 340K in 2023 dollars is 600K meaning my parents got $200,000 in house equity over 2 DECADES. And that's the extreme high side of house growth in the NE USA. I highly doubt others will do better than that, meaning their gains will be less. And the market DOUBLED in that time, meaning they'd have made much more money simply putting that money in an EFT and letting it ride. They can't even realize that "house equity" until they leave their home, but they still need a place to live, so those wins are sitting until they decide to move later on, which is useless imo as they'd be older.

Again, housing is not always the best way to make money. If you have the extra cash to do it, it's nice to fix up a home you own like adding a pool that you can enjoy. But for someone who's trying to make it big early on, investing in 401K, IRAs, and a general investment account are the best things to do when young.

[–] storksforlegs@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Im glad youre earning a decent amount thanks to tips, but holy shit. I worked in retail (cashiering, sales clerk) for years, but I can only imagine how much worse things are now given how entitled and fired up assholes seem to be. And you have to deal with them when they're hungry!! Anyone serving food or customers face to face should be receiving hazard pay at the moment, honestly. Please keep venting here, I think it helps.

[–] Ejh3k@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sorry you are going through that. I have only been mean or rude to a service worker one time, and that's because they were actively being an asshole to me by serving everyone else at the table besides me, and after their orders were brought, I had to make it a point to ask for food and drinks. And everyone else had refills and their food before I ever got my drinks.

And let me be clear, by mean or rude, I mean I just didn't tip them.

One time I got a tray of drinks dumped on me by our server as they were bringing them. I paid for those drinks and the replacements and I still tipped that server.

I don't get people that are rude to service workers. Even at McDonald's when they forget fries or something, no need to be a dick. Just politely ask for them. They literally don't give a shit and will usually give you a bigger size.

But OP, if you are making so much money doing this, why stress about it Just enjoy the money and don't let it get to you.

[–] bermuda@beehaw.org 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But OP, if you are making so much money doing this, why stress about it Just enjoy the money and don’t let it get to you.

your comment was so good until I read this. "Just don't let it get to you" is a really really annoying thing to say.

[–] Ejh3k@midwest.social 1 points 1 year ago

Pay me enough and I can forget about how much work sucks.

[–] Generous1146@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

🫂

[–] MilliaStrange@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

This hurt to read :( so sorry to hear! I don't want to tell you what to do, but I'm glad to hear you're making enough money that you can save it. Hopefully that can give you some freedom if you need to distance yourself from this job or this company in the future. Fuck, I wish people weren't so awful to service workers