Things that make your radar go off

[wagegoth]

"Wagegoth, I'm so glad you're available."

This is usually followed with the words, "I'm having a problem with this document," or "[Other coworker] worked on this last night, and something's not right."

Which invariably means that I'm going to spend more time repairing someone else's mistake than I'll actually spend doing my work.

[auntiem]

"Usually I book things online, but..."

Very worst is "the giggle" you all know the one. The "I'm a time wasting idiot, but I'm so cute about it that you won't get mad at me" (wrong).

[Buzzy]

When I greet them and ask the usual "Did you find everything alright?", and they either just glare at me or say "No", then I start to worry.

Either that, or as someone stated earlier, if you can smell em before you see em. (that comment made me laugh out loud! hee hee!)

[Myra]

"The [other location] store sent me here and said you could help me...."
This is only a red flag if the other store didn't call us first to make sure we have whatever part they need in stock. If they just send people over, it's because the person is cranky, or they're lazy, which makes the customer even crankier than they already are.

[ta2ooed1]

My radar always goes off when the user interrupts my opening greeting. That one thing (while admittedly minor) will put my teeth on edge for the rest of the call.

[RichS]

"I'm computer illiterate..."

Any variation on that, more often than not, I'm in for a world of pain.

[chainedbarista]

'i got this drink/retail item/food at another store and it wasn't what i wanted/expected, etc; can i exchange it here?

and the smell issue cesii brought up; if you can smell them before they hit your area, it's gonna be an uphill battle.

[Raerlynn]

When a customer tells me "your server is down, and you're going to fix it!"

...and this is the only customer to call in with a problem in the last hour.

[powerboy]

Your other store sent me over. Hello, we are the only store.
When they come in and just look. I know they are not going to buy anything.

[GayleShy]

"Your manager said I could <insert unreasonable request here>"

"I talked to someone on the phone..."

"The person in <insert department> said I could have this for 50% off" (Will never happen, by the way. The most that random floor associate can give is 10% off.)

[Sliceanddice]

Lol Late at night and laughing or rap/rock/R&B music over the Head set. That means stupid teenagers/younger people who think since its night they can screw with me.
Same goes for groups of teenagers in the lobby.
Whats funny is the goths, emo kids, punks, and geeks (I.E. people who look like they are fans of the comic books, anime, sci-fi tv) aren't an issue, its the all american teenager who Adults think are perfect.
Whats funny is the words 'i want to talk to your manager' do nothing to me, except maybe make me laugh. i think its because they normally only say that when its night and my manager works from 6 am to 4pm, then goes home or to the home office. I told one lady 'Sure, have a seat, you'll be the first person he sees.' and went about taking other orders and filling them for about 15 minutes, at which point she storms back up and says, 'well where the hell is your manager'
i smiled and said 'i don't know. Home, the store, maybe in a hotel having wild sex, for all i know'
'but you told me he was in!'
'No... i said if you sat down and waited you would be the first one he saw. You might wanna buy something else to eat, he wont be back until the morn.'
i never saw anyone so angry again

[myswtghst]

My radar always goes off when the user interrupts my opening greeting. That one thing (while admittedly minor) will put my teeth on edge for the rest of the call.

Completely with you on this. Also, anyone who tells me what I'm "going to do" is immediately out of my good graces. You can ask me to do something, but the only thing I'm going to do if you start ordering me around is to start acting like a 2yo who just learned the word No!

[hecubus]

Customer comes into the video store, is informed that they have a late fee from months ago. I would get this: "I can't have a late fee, I know that I returned it. I remember I went to Wal-Mart, then I had lunch at McDonalds, then I dropped off the movie, then I went to...." etc.

My basic rule of thumb is: the more detail a customer gives you about a day in the moderate to distant past, the more likely it is that they are lying.

[Foxglove8778]

1. someone that interupts every sentence... and then has me repeat everything.
2. "If you're the [Foxglove] I think you are, then I'm glad I got you..." <- this means I'm in for a long call fixing someone else's mistake or educating a practice I've educated many times before.
3. smell 'em before I see 'em
4. Someone that calls me by a name that is in no way close to similar to my name. <as a pet peeve - "What was your name again?" It was [Foxglove] five minutes ago, now it's "karen". >
5. Someone that says they can't hear me, but won't turn down their radio.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

• People who try to get my attention by whistling at me. I swear, the next time this happens, I'm putting something in my mouth, getting down on all fours, and crawling over to that person like a dog. Because whistling is what you do when you want to summon a dog.
• Large groups of schoolchildren, particularly during the day. that means they are out of school early and are just hanging out in the store and causing trouble.
• "So-and-so told me they got this here!"-95% of the time they didn't. You're at the wrong store.
• People who come into the store and show me ads from other stores and ask where we have a certain toy. Especially during Christmas season--a lot of those items are exclusive to particular stores. Wal-Mart has some exclusives, Toys R' Us has some, and we do as well.