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Ever had a customer smell so bad, it almost made you vomit?

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  • Ever had a customer smell so bad, it almost made you vomit?

    Just like the title said. I almost *literally* vomited because a customer smelled so horrible (luckily I didn't, but I was fighting to keep it down).

    I couldn't even describe the odor. Kind of like BO (of course) and grass. You know, like a landscaper who hasn't bathed in weeks. My husband was a landscaper, he has never even come close to smelling like that after even the hardest of days work.

    The guy was older, probably 40s or 50s or so. His clothes didn't look the cleanest, but they didn't have any holes or rips in them. He had really greasy hair underneath a baseball cap and was wearing a lot of clothes. I doubt he was homeless because he had money (he bought movies and a ring).

    I figured it was probably coming from his coat. It has been fairly warm lately and coats tend to take on their own odor after a while when they're not cleaned and are constantly worn. But after a few minutes, the smell steadily got worse (like a delayed type thing).

    He had about an 8 ft. cloud around him. His odor took on a mind of its own, it crept around corners and hung in the air. I was so relieved when he finished picking out the ring (he was looking for a cheap ring, I don't know why) he wanted and I had to ring him up. Even walking in front of the guy I couldn't escape the smell.

    And, unfortunately, when ringing him up, I'm stuck in a small area, so I couldn't really escape, I had to press myself against the back counter (I only got about four feet away from him), which didn't help (that's when I almost lost my cookies). I was breathing through my mouth and was obvious I was doing so when I was talking to him (kinda like when you have a stuffy nose). I hurried through the transcation and sent him on the way.

    But not before, "you look great by the way" before hurrying out the door.

    Wow . . . thanks . . . I guess . . .
    This area is left blank for a reason.

  • #2
    I came out of our office one morning and was heading towards the pharmacy in the back of the store to look at some paperwork when about halfway through my little journey, I literally ran into this wall of funk. I didn't know what was going on, but as I rounded the corner where we have a small waiting area for those waiting to pick up prescriptions, the stench became almost so unbearable that I'm sure whatever sensory nerves I had in my nasal passages were immediately burned away by this foulness.

    There were two old men, sitting in the waiting area, so it had to be one of them. I walked around the corner once inside the pharmacy and saw our pharmacist at the counter with this look of distress on her face. "So which one is it?" I discreetly asked as I came closer to her. Usually, when I joke around with my co-workers they all have a good laugh, but not this time--all she could do was look at me and say, "I'm not kidding, I am literally about to pass out from being so nauseated."

    Never did figure out which one it was, since the uber-stench lingered well after both of the old men left.

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    • #3
      That guy ought to be forced to shower with Ajax, but that would require people getting close to him.
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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      • #4
        Oh, hell yes! he smelled so bad, i wanted to cough!

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        • #5
          I had a couple with a baby come into the lobby one time smelling like they had bathed in skunk discharge.

          I rang them up and got their food as normal, trying to keep a straight face. Customers behind them started to breathe through their noses.

          After they left, my manager handed me a $5 and told me to please HAUL IT to the neighboring CVS and buy a huge can of Lysol.

          I did so and sprayed down the whole place. Even several hours later, when customers would enter the lobby, their faces would scrunch up and they would ask loudly "What's that SMELL?"

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          • #6
            When I used to be at the store at the opposite end of the mall from where I am now (), we had this one guy that would come into Housewares. We literally had to tag-team on helping him. He happened to have one leg that had been amputated above the knee. Now we're not sure, but we thought it was coming from him not keeping the stump clean? Kind of smelled like dead person and dog poo. Blerg, it's been about 5 years and I still get sick thinking about it!
            It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

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            • #7
              I think I've posted about "John" from the hobby shop before. This guy is in his late 60s (early 70s?), and can usually be found leaning on one of the shop counters, boring the staff to tears. Nice guy, knows plenty about Pennsylvania steam locomotives, but is usually annoying as hell. Oh, and the stench from him is unbearable! It's like he's worked all day, every day since about 1952, and hasn't taken a shower since I mean, I've literally seen people walk into the shop, sniff the air, and then leave it's so bad. Needless to say, he's not exactly welcome in there anymore, and it's been months since I've seen him. Good riddance
              Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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              • #8
                I get nauseous at the smell of curry, and there was a family from India that came into a store I worked at that smelled like they all bathed in it. One at a time I could handle but when the family huddled together to decide on a purchase I had to do a fast-walk-trying-not-to-be-rude-and-flat-out-sprint to the breakroom before I started hurling.
                "You know, there are times when it's a source of personal pride not to be human." - Hobbes

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                • #9
                  I had this guy one time who smelled like he had marinated in cat pee and washed his clothes in the same. You could smell him coming before you could see him. I wondered how he could possibly not notice the smell.
                  My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.---Cary Grant

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                  • #10
                    While i was working at Target there was a regular that came in every sunday. He was probably in his late 20s or 30s but came with his parents, as he seemed to be mentally handicapped. I belive i may have posted about him a couple years ago but to this day the memory of his smell haunts me. I was more upset with the parents for letting him out like that without helping his hygiene. The guy wore the same shirt every time, and it never looked clean' in fact it looked dirtier each time. his hair was long and greasy. and every sunday afternoon the odor tracked from the front door to toys getting stronger with each passing aisle. One time i had to ring him and the family up and i Just about lost my lunch. from that day forward , i learned when he came in ( i could smell him after all) and timed my breaks /lunch or bathroom visity to miss out on the "pleasure" of his visits.

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                    • #11
                      I got a call one day from a woman at the jewelry counter who wanted a new battery put in her watch. I told her I'd be right there and headed towards Jewelry. When I got to the counter, she was standing opposite the opening so I walked behind the counter and headed towards her.

                      The closer I got to her I could have sworn I walked right into a room full of cats who had just finished marking their territory. She reeked so badly of cat spray that it took my breath away. I instinctively said, "What the heck is that smell," before I realized it was her!
                      Retail Haiku:
                      Depression sets in.
                      The hellhole is calling me ~
                      I don't want to go.

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                      • #12
                        Never had one happen to me, but only because I was on break when the guy came into the store. According to the girl that had to check him out, the man smelled like he'd fouled his pants a week ago and hadn't changed or showered since. I can understand somebody like a garbage-man or someone not being able to get all the odor off, or not wanting to go shower before pick up some stuff after work, but I caught a look at him on his way out and this guy looked like he'd never done manual labor in his whole life.

                        How the HELL do people who can afford to spend $100+ on a Limited Edition Alien(s) box-set (that I'd had my eye on, another mark against him) not have access to a shower and laundry? The local rec-centers all had showers and a membership was only $10 a month, no contract, and it's only a couple bucks to do a load at the laundromat. I found THAT out the hard way when a pipe fitting came undone under the newly constructed place we'd just moved into, and we were without water for over a week.
                        ...WHY DO YOU TEMPT WHAT LITTLE FAITH IN HUMANITY I HAVE!?! -- Kalga
                        And I want a pony for Christmas but neither of us is getting what we want OK! What you are asking is impossible. -- Wicked Lexi

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                        • #13
                          There's a (presumably schizophrenic) man who comes into my former convenience store at least once a week to buy some godawful subspecies of donut. We will call him Stench here. Stench clumps about the store heavily, usually perusing each aisle before he comes up to the counter. Then, Stench carefully selects a donut, occasionally rifling through several of the pastries before deciding on his prize. When he closes the donut display, a horrid foul breeze is blown toward the cashier's area. Stench then methodically sorts through his pockets (regardless of season, he always wears several sets of clothing, sometimes with the shorts outside the pants) and produces a beaten plastic baggie full of bills and change.

                          At this point, my gorge begins to rise at the recollection of Stench. The cash always smelled of damp mold, decaying vegetables, and some kind of low-grade infection. The competing odors of cash and Stench left me wondering what to do once he left -- the entire store reeked (and this was not a shack-sized gas station) and I felt an overwhelming urge to wash my hands, sanitize the counter, and soak the currency in Lysol.

                          To this day, the scent of maple bars sickens me.

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                          • #14
                            we have two semi-regular customers like that.
                            Bag lady:
                            Bag lady is homeless, but seems to have lots of money. Maybe she's a rich woman with mental missues, I'm not sure.
                            She comes in dragging her two, tatty kit bags behind her, wrapped up in about siz dirty layers. Her face is grey-brown with filth, her teeth are rotten and she has a pair of the most scratched up and disgusting glasses.

                            We all fight to not have to serve her.
                            SHe comes in once a month or so. She smells like sour, unwashed sweat, dried stale pee, pigeon poo and just general dirt. It lingers for about two hours in the places she's been. We have a can of heavy duty airfreshener under the till for when she leaves.

                            The other is not only stinky, but pervy too.
                            He stinks of garlic, sweat and stale cigarette smoke, and comes on to all of us- always with these lines
                            'How old are you?'
                            'Oh, you look MUCH younger' (with a curious and disturbing delight in his voice. Usually to me. I'm 21 and look 16 in my work uniform)
                            'How much do you get paid?'
                            'You know if you married me you'd never have to work again'
                            All said in this same, insinuating, pervy voice while this stench washes over you and you have to fight not to gag.
                            Deepak Chopra says, "Fear deprives people of choice. Fear shrinks the world into isolated, defensive enclaves. Fear spirals out of control. Fear makes everyday life seem clouded over with danger.

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                            • #15
                              The other is not only stinky, but pervy too.
                              He stinks of garlic, sweat and stale cigarette smoke, and comes on to all of us- always with these lines
                              'How old are you?'
                              'Oh, you look MUCH younger' (with a curious and disturbing delight in his voice. Usually to me. I'm 21 and look 16 in my work uniform)
                              'How much do you get paid?'
                              'You know if you married me you'd never have to work again'
                              All said in this same, insinuating, pervy voice while this stench washes over you and you have to fight not to gag


                              We have one guy that thinks he's all that and a bag of chips as well and we all try to dive behind the counter when he arrives but at least he doesn't lack personal hygeine. He's just a dirty old man.

                              As for my stinky customer story, I had one so bad, I was literally holding my breath through the entire transaction before I let it out. She was a large woman(just to be politically correct here). I just nodded when I needed to and was generally polite but she had the money to buy a full sheet birthday cake, couldn't she buy a bar of soap? Just so you know, I am somewhat of a large woman myself but I know how to use a bar of soap and cleanse myself on a daily basis. I don't care how big or small you are. If you have B.O., you have B.O.

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