From Best Bastard:

Been in retail/customer service since I was 13. Everything from paintball field management/customer service, retail sporting equipment store manager, IT support and now.... Best Buy.

Woo-fucking-hoo.

I've got stories out the ass but I'll start with a quick one that took place today. The Computer section of BBY was PACKED. We had, what, 4 employees on the floor (2 of which actually DO their job) and over a few dozen customers.

My manager was helping a couple when ENTER ENTITLED, ARROGANT, DOUCHEBAG OF THE WEEK (and quiet, mousy, somewhat unresponsive wife).

I had just finished helping a nice older lady find a netbook for her grandson, when a manager walked over and asked me if I was free. I said yes (MISTAKE). She points him out and says, simply "He needs help."

Oh, how right she was. I saunter over and...

Me- Good morning sir, anything I can help you out with?

DBAG- (steps over to crappy gigantic 18in Toshiba) Get me this one.
Me- Alright sir, did you want anything with your laptop today? Microsoft Office, Optimization and Antivirus are all very common addon purchases with laptops.

DBAG- No.

Me- Ok then, I'll just grab the keys from my manager and we will pull out your laptop.

DBAG- (sigh) Fine.

I hurry to find the manager because I know how precious his time is and I just want to throw him to the front registers and have them ring him out so I don't have to deal with him anymore. I actually get the keys really quickly (in under a minute), unlock the case, pull out the laptop, return the keys (as per SOP) and return to the customer.

Me- Alright sir, I've got your Toshiba right here. Did you want to grab anything else such as an external mouse, keyboard or carrying case?

DBAG- No.

See this is where I made my mistake. Instead of just taking him to the front registers for him to check out, I decided to be nice and ring him out in the back to avoid the huge line in the front of the store.

Me- Well, it looks like the line is really long out front, I'll ring you out back here so you can avoid it.

DBAG- ...

I ring up the items as fast as possible and, as per BBY SOP, offer our extended warranties.

Me- Have you heard of our protection plans for laptops?

DBAG- Stop offering me things.

Me- Ok, then.

Oh God, please let's just finish this.

Me- Your total comes to $xxx.xx, is that card debit or credit?

DBAG- Credit.
(swipe, ID check then that EXCRUCIATINGLY LONG wait before it pops up....... APPROVED! YES! OH GOD YES THANK YOU!)

Then, it happens. Receipt. Paper. Jams.

Me- FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU

From u/DragonDeadite  Tales From Retail:

Basic rule is we don't leave the store to look at people's appliances they have in their truck. I'm far too delicate and someone could decide to kidnap me and we're just not having it (plus we're not techs so we don't really know what to look for on your machine). Yesterday this was well tested when I had a customer come in and ask me to go look at their gas stove to try and figure out what is wrong with it.

Well, first off, if there's no power hooked up to it, OR GAS, I can't really figure anything out. Second, it is a brand we don't even deal with, so I'm batting somewhere around negative 300. I tell the guy this and where he needs to go and he gets all pissed off because I wont walk out to his car to look at a machine that will result in me telling him the exact same thing. Fine, whatever, he walks off yelling about great customer service.

Maybe half an hour later I get a customer that comes, tell me he has his part in the car and asks if I will come out and look at it. Great... another one. I explain that no, he needs to bring the part in. He grumbles, says he just wants me to come look at it. I again refuse and tell him to bring it inside. Keep in mind he has said PART, not machine, so he has a PART in his car. I'm thinking maybe a console or a motor or something he just doesn't want to carry.

Noooope. It is a thermostat. A high limit dryer thermostat that is about the size of a quarter and weighs almost the same. He wanted me to walk out to his car to look at a THERMOSTAT that he just didn't feel like bringing inside with him.

Some people...

--u/DragonDeadite

From u/TinHawk  Tales From Retail:

I work at a big box electronics retailer. Recently I've been stuck answering phones. 90% of the calls where people ask to be transferred to the tech support company that services computers in store can be solved by me over the phone.

Customer: i need to talk to [tech support company]

Me: what seems to be the issue? Maybe i can help.

Customer: yeah I just purchased this desktop and the mouse and keyboard don't work.

Me: oh, that's not good! Are they wired or wireless?

Customer: wireless.

Me: and they have fresh batteries?

Customer, becoming frustrated: yes.

Me: did you plug the dongle into a working usb port?

Customer: ................. The what?

Me: the dongle. It would look like a small usb flash drive like what you store photos and documents on? It lets your keyboard and mouse talk to your computer, and they don't work if it's not plugged in.

Customer: it didn't come with one!

Me: sometimes they're hiding inside the mouse near the battery compartment, or it could still be in the box.

Customer, indignant, agrees to check.

I hear the customer rustling through a box for a few seconds. The rustling stops abruptly. There's some clicking, an audible sigh, then the sound of him hanging up.

--u/TinHawk

From  u/TinHawk Tales From Retail:

I work in a big box electronics retail store. I recently got stuck answering phones.

Me: Thank you for calling [electronics retailer], how can I help you?

Customer, very loud voice, clearly frustrated: is this [tech support company who works in the store]?

Me: No, sir, this is [electronics retailer], but [tech support company] is in the store here. Maybe I can help. What's the issue?

(90% of these issues don't need to be transferred)

Customer screams the name of the tech support company in my ear.

Me: Sir, in order to get you to the correct person, I need more info. What's going on?

Customer screams the name of the company again, slower and louder in my ear.

Me, done completely with this guy, transfers him to the corporate robot line.

Moral of the story: look, I'm a human. I get you're frustrated, but i don't deserve to be treated like that. Especially since i had literally zero to do with why you're upset. If you treat people in customer service like they're idiots or less than humans, you're going to be forced to talk to robots instead. And that tech support robot is the actual worst.

Update: He called back today and did it again. I wonder how many times we will do this dance, sir.

--u/TinHawk

From u/thetoader14 I work at Best Buy and found this before the end of my shift.

From u/Metroidzoid Tales From Retail:

After today, I don't have high hopes for the rest of the week.

I was helping a customer today with computer issues, so she has her laptop open on the counter, I've helped her (after many many user-error issues on her end) connect to the wifi, and her service/purchase is finished and rung up.

I tell her the total ... aaaaand nothing.

She's just typing away. I have a lobby full of people, 6 angry faces staring at me, and I again say "Miss, that'll be X dollars, do you want to put that on a card or cash?".

Silence for another 20 seconds and then she says "Are you waiting on me?" without even looking up.

She couldn't even hand me her card without going back to whatever she was typing before.

I wish I had manual control of the wifi.

--u/Metroidzoid