Well, SCs have to work somewhere

[Lace Neil Singer]

What's the rudest person you have ever encountered while shopping or at a restaurant? The waitress who ignored me for ten minutes was pretty rude, but the worst person ever was this shop assistant who went up to me in House of Fraser and said bluntly, "Pardon me, but you don't look as tho you can afford to shop here."

was my initual reaction. No, I wasn't dressed to the nines, but even so, it was rude. I had given her no reason to think I was a shoplifter, and I was actually going to buy something. I walked away from her, found a manager and complained. And yes, I did still buy what I came in for, cuz I wasn't about to cut off my nose to spite my face. I go there to buy Lancome lip gloss; it lasts forever and has the most awesome staying power, so it's worth the extra cash. ^^

[Mr Yuck]

In a local restaurant my wife and I went in to eat about 90 minutes before closing. It didn't appear very busy that night. While we were waiting at the table we could hear several waitresses arguing over who had to take our table.
Not sure if a couple of them were trying to get out of there early or what.
Anyway, after 15 minutes and no one showing up at our table we just got up and left.

Another time my wife and I walked into Tiffany's in Herrod's in London. We were dressed casually, but nice. Apparently not nice enough. The first sales lady we encountered started to open her mouth, i'm guessing to ask if we needed assistance, then gave us an appraising look, closed her mouth, and walked away.
We kind of laughed about it. We were only looking anyways.

[draftermatt]

My parents had a car salesman tell them they "didn't belong on his lot" after they told him the payments they were looking at.

[Princess-Snake]

The birthday cake fiasco about ten months ago. I already posted it, but for those who don't know, the cake decorator didn't know that Allison is a girl's name, said I looked nothing like a girl, asked us to write down Allison three times before she got it, and did not understand what color pink is. Also, the cake was supposed to be chocolate, but she switched it to vanilla without telling us. It was still good, though.

[bunnyboy]

Only one I can really rmemeber was at one of the local Mediterranean (read Greco-Turkish) restaurants, I had gone there with my grandfather and well I'll just say this, we come in, takes us 10 minutes to get seated....and before someone goes, it was busy....guess how many people besides us the cooks and the waitress there were in the building....yup 0, nada, zeeeeeeeee-ro. it then proceeds to take another 5 (due to her having some conversation on her cell) to get our beverages, then another 10 to get our food orders, food is served promptly, check comes, and knowing a little about it, we can't in our own minds tip, I would expect a harried, busy restaurant to take 90 minutes from sit down to meal finish, but not one where thr only patrons are the two people in the story.... however it doesn't end there, we pay the check, and get up to leave, get out to the car and what happens.

SW- Sucky Waitress.

SW: Oh sir, you forgot to leave a tip.

needless to say I to this day say she made me feel inadequate in the size of my testicular fortitude... yeah we didn't forget, unfortunately we may have been a bit sucky for not leaving one, but this wasn't just poor service, this was the bearest minimum....with ignoring the customer to boot, so yeah nothing even remotely deserving (in my mind) of a tip)

annd then there's my favorite sushi place(s) in the area, same chain, I've been to 3 out of the 4 in our area, it's a great place, unless the staff doesn't feel like doing something, since you can request certain things....at all three I asked for Tekka Maki (tuna rolls num) and only once did I actually get it....and the head sushi chef had to YELL at the guy making the rolls to make it...ugh... and it's not like it was as difficult as what the guy was doing (spider rolls) however the guy was making that for someone who not only came in after my group, but also had an attractive lady... yeah hate some of the staff, but the sushi's great.

[GyroKat]

I once went to buy my cousin a birthday present. Now, I'm a big girl, but I am no elephant, and I could actually fit into quite a few of the blouses in the store if I had been interested in that style. But I was looking at stuff for a 11-year-old at the time. A young shop assistant, around my age at the time (19) came over, gave me a disgusted look, and said "I seriously doubt we have anything for YOU in here"
Needless to say, I left immediately. If it had happened today, I'd tried my best to get her fired, but I was wimpier back then (and I had to leave quickly so she didn't see me break down crying)

[wraiths_crono]

Back when I had a WELL paying job, decided to hit the car dealers, for fun, and cus I coulda afforded it then, looked a a Viper. Asked if I could sit in the car, one manager says yes! few min later, other manager walks by "Sir out of the car, we do not sit in that car!" funny part I was wearing normal, business casual clothes (dress pants, with a nice looking collerd shirt, but NO tie, and Boots. Got out of car, found first nice manager, and apologized that we would be leaving now.

[Amina516]

Hubby and Sister in law and I went to a certain 24 hour diner. We would go every friday so we were acquainted with the manager there. We order and my SIL orders mozzarella sticks...

Hubby and I get our breakfast and we wait a few minutes for SIL's cheesy sticks to come out and but they never do. So I flag down the waitress and tell her "We never received the cheesesticks we ordered."

Now, if she was confused or something this would have been the time to ask. But her response: "You DID NOT order any mozzarella sticks" really nasty sounding.

I look at her and say "Yeah, we did, SHE (and I point at SIL) did when the rest of us ordered breakfast"

Again she goes, "No, you didnt so stop lying"? Just as nasty as ever.

REALLY? Why the hell would I lie about ordering f*^$ing cheesesticks?!? So, I wave the manager over who wasnt all that far away and tell her what happened while the waitress look dumbfounded at the fact I had called the manager over. lol

We tell manager whats happening and Jenny (manager) looks up at the waitress and tells her " I heard them order from over there. They ordered the mozzarella sticks. The order needs in...NOW".

The waitress' genius response? "They never ordered no cheesesticks..."

WOW..just WOW...alll over mozzarella sticks.

So Jenny herself walks over and puts the order in herself then comes back over and tells the waitress "Youre lucky theres no other staff to cover you, b/c I would have sent you home now you need to get away from these people."

Needless to say, that was the one and only time I left NO tip....Im sorry, but if you didnt hear the order the first time thats ok...but to fight with us about we ordered?! Go f*#$ yourself!!!

Next week, we walk in and shes no where to be seen. I asked the manager where she was and found out she was fired. Not just b/c of us but she apparently had selective hearing when it came to taking orders.

[Sableonblonde]

I can't really think of any terribly rude experiences...lucky I guess! But I stopped in 7-11 a couple weeks ago and was on the opposite end of the "customer in line chattering away on a cell phone" scenario. I had to buy a lottery ticket for my mom, and there was just one guy behind the counter, taking care of both regular customers and lottery, so I waited for a minute. While the guy was in the middle of ringing up the other customers he got a call on his cell phone. When he came over to me, he was still talking away on his phone, and I just kind of stood there for several seconds, unsure if I should wait until he was done. Finally he made a face at me that prompted me to go ahead, and we did my transaction all the while he carried on his conversation. I didn't mind at all, it was just funny as you hear about so many customers not discontinuing their cell phone calls during transactions, to encounter an employee who won't stop theirs

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, there is the barbeque incident. That's probably near the top, if not at the top.

My husband and I were thinking about upgrading to a nicer house couple years ago and I dropped into a place where they did really nice kit houses (probably never gonna buy a prefabricated house, mainly because they are a bit too close to trailers and I have no intention of living in a trailer ever again* if I can help it, but this place really had some pretty, high end stuff, and I view houses the way most people view porn, so I had to stop in and look).

I pulled up in a pickup truck, jeans, boots, hair slicked back into a ponytail. I walk in and say "Hi" and the first thing out of the bitch at the desk's mouth is. "we don't sell trailers."

What. The. FUCK?

I just smiled an icy smile, said "well, thanks for sharing that. I'm not interested in buying a trailer." and turned around and left.

Speaking of trailers, I did live in one when I was in college, and one asshole trailer salesman refused to talk to me when I was buying one. He wanted to talk to my boyfriend, who was just along for the ride, about it. My penniless, car-less boyfriend, who kept saying "talk to HER, she's buying not me." I finally told the guy "if you speak to Boyfriend one more time, we're leaving."

So what does he do? Asks me if I liked the color scheme and the drapes. I just looked at him like he was the stupidest mouth breather I'd ever met, said "Get in the car" to Boyfriend, and off we drove.

This fucker was under 40, too. so it's not like he had an excuse.

Then of course, I've had the usual experiences most women have had with stupid bitches at perfume and makeup counters who think the fact that the shit they are selling costs a lot, that that makes them affluent by proximity. I always feel like saying, "Bitch, would I be shopping here if I was broke? Would you be working here if you were rich? Get over yourself!"

* I've lived in trailers before and I mean no insult to any trailer dwellers out there. My fear of storms is what gives me that attitude, not snobbery. There are some lovely prefabs out there, and I'm not even entirely closeminded about them. Which is why I was willing to stop and look.

[smileyeagle1021]

oh RK, don't feel bad, I grew up in a pre-fab... I wouldn't buy one either, they are mostly shoddly built, a trailer would often times be better.

Oh and speaking of rude car sales people... I remember when I was getting ready to graduate high school I decided to cash in some of my inheritence and trade in the old minivan that I had kinda sorta inherited when I got my drivers license and get a new (or newer) car... I had narrowed my choice down to a Chevy Aveo or a Suzuki Reno (within what I was willing to pay)... I heard that one of the used car lots was doing a fleet clear out on Aveos and decided to go take a look... I drove up in the beat up minivan, sale person seemed polite enough, took a test drive, I liked the car, my mother and I (I was under 18, so she would have had to cosign any paperwork) went in to work out the sale and the sales person said "will you be financing in house or using your own bank or credit union" and I responded "after getting everything signed we'll be back within an hour with a certified check to pick up the car" ... I couldn't make this up, the sales guy looked at my mom and said "ma'am, you should be ashamed of yourself allowing your son to waste our time like that with this little joke of his... there is no way in hell that kid has 8 grand in an account that he can get a certified check by this afternoon, how is he really going to pay"... she stood up and told him "well, he really was going to get a certified check out of the account that is holding his inheritence from his father... but as it is that you aren't interested in that form of payment I guess we can go elsewhere to get a car" ... I ended up paying 4 grand more for a Suzuki, which really was an inferior car... and even knowing it was an inferior car I was willing to pay the extra price because the sales person there was professional and really did go out on a limb for us, we didn't get there until after the banks closed and he was willing to hold a personal check overnight until we could come in the next morning with the certified check and he'd return the personal check for us to void... really nice guy, if I ever decided to go with suzuki again (not likely) I'd be willing to drive all the way back to Reno to deal with him again.

[otakuneko]

Nothing sucky about leaving no tip for an EW posing as a waitress. The proper response to an EW waitress is to complain to a manager, IMO. Tips are supposed to be earned.

My dad and I went to a Don Pablo's in Orlando once. Not only was the waitress bitchy, but slow as hell, like she couldn't be arsed to do her job. It wasn't even busy. We left no tip for her lack of service, and she had the unmitigated gall to come after us, outside the restaurant, screaming about it.

I can only imagine the words my dad had with the manager after that, as he told me to stay in the car.

But that's not the worst one I've run into.

Me, a friend, and my dad, went to an Iron Skillet late one night (sort of a country/down-home type place, at a truck stop, 24 hours IIRC). My dad got the salad bar, and me and my friend ordered off the menu. When we go to pay, she tried to charge us for two salad bars, claiming she saw my dad sharing with my friend. She got bitchy about it, refusing to remove the charge.

Unfortunately, there was no manager there to complain to. Not only did she not get a tip, we didn't pay for the meal, either. And we (regulars, up to this point) never went back. Six months later the place closed down. Maybe the stupid bitch pissed off all their customers.

At a chinese buffet where I was dining alone, I got practically no service. I got my drink, and that was it. I never saw the waiter again after that. He didn't even bring the check. After waiting fifteen minutes, toying with my empty glass, empty plate pushed aside, I left. Guess they didn't want my money. Odd too because generally those places are pretty quick about delivering the check, like they watch for you to go get desert or something.

And finally, a car dealership. My old Saturn was on its last legs, and it'd cost about as much as what I originally paid for the (used) car to fix its various problems, thus, I was shopping. The salesman at this Acura used car dealership was fairly nice, considering I told him up front I couldn't afford much. His manager sucked to high heaven. He kept pressuring me to make a commitment right then and there, to not contact my dad about it, just sign the paper and put some money down, the car might not be here tomorrow, much less next week! (Bullshit it's in the back, unwashed, untagged, unprepped). He was a shark in the water and he at least thought he smelled blood. I got up and left, telling the manager in no uncertain terms that he'd lost the sale because of his high pressure bullshit. This manager had also nixed a deal I was willing to make on a different car that had a broken taillight (the lens was broken, and only a little, the bulb was fine).

I ended up buying the used Impala from the guy at the Chevy dealership just up the road. Damn near brand new condition. The salesman there was very laid back, accomodating for my finances (He suggested once and only once that if I put the amount of money I was going to pay down on a new car, I could get ridiculously low payments) and in general just let me sell myself on a car, rather than him pushing me into one.

[Fenrus]

I had that when I went and bought my new car (08 scion tc ). The first salesman I tried to go through kept telling me I could do this, no problem, but almost every week, I'd get another call saying they were gonna need another 500 bucks, or they couldn't release the car, every week for a month, they needed another 500 bucks, and I hadn't even officially bought the car yet! IT was still being shipped from the factory (yay custom orders)

So I went downtown to another dealer, told the saleswoman my dilemma, she looked at the paperwork I signed, basically said I was paying out my ass for something, and they had that exact car on the lot, sans a couple customizations they'd do in house... I went back to the first dealership, told them they better have a check for all I'd given them (and I brought a bank statement, so they couldn't short me), then bought it that day from the other dealership. Never looked back...

The second dealership was great, though... I got a call about 2 weeks after I bought it from the saleswoman, making sure I still loved the car, and if there was anything she could do for me otherwise. I'm definately going back there if I get another car.

[prb]

I had that when I went and bought my new car (08 scion tc ).

Scion's are nice.

I'd like a tC, but they aren't approved by the Registrar of Imported Vehicles. So I can't bring one into Canada. Actually, the 2008 is, but would be too expensive for me. The stupid RIV has the list saying 2002 to 2009 Scion tC, if manufactured after September 2007.

I might pick up a used xA or xD. My neighbour has an xB, which I'd love, but I can't get or they'll think I've copied them

[BookstoreEscapee]

I responded "after getting everything signed we'll be back within an hour with a certified check to pick up the car" ... I couldn't make this up, the sales guy looked at my mom and said "ma'am, you should be ashamed of yourself allowing your son to waste our time like that with this little joke of his... there is no way in hell that kid has 8 grand in an account that he can get a certified check by this afternoon, how is he really going to pay"...

If I were in the salesperson's position, I would have simply assumed that either you had the money (who am I to assume you don't) or that it was coming out of your mom's account. Plenty of teens work and save their money, and plenty of parents buy their kids cars (or some combination of the two). As much as I see parents let their kids get away with crap these days, I would never believe that a parent would actually involve him/herself in a "practical joke" like that.

I did the exact same thing when I bought my car ('02 Hyundai Elantra, bought at the end of the model year so the '03s were starting to come out). They held my personal check for 15 grand (like they'd ever be able to cash that ) and my dad and I went to get a cashier's check the next day. (Granted, I was in my mid-twenties when I bought my car, but my dad came with me.) I had insurance money from the accident that killed my previous car, took half of the balance from my savings account, and "financed" the remainder through my dad (we went to the credit union, transferred the money from his account to mine, and then got a cashier's check; I paid him back over two years, and he charged me interest equal to what he would have been getting on his savings account [read: $1.54 a month on $150/mo payment]).