15 Craziest Requests Shoppers Have Made in Stores
Updated: Dec. 02, 2022
Retail workers have heard more than their share of ridiculous questions. Here are some of our favorites.
Wait, self-checkouts don’t have spell check?
“I was working the self-checkout lane when a customer asked me why his onions weren’t scanning through properly. I walked over and saw that he had typed in the word ‘ONIINS.’ He went on to insist that our machine was the problem and that his ‘ONIINS’ should have been free because they weren’t scanning.” —a former Reddit user. These are the funniest typos that have ever been published.
Leaf laughs
“Started working at Lowe’s in college. This happened within about a week of me being hired: A woman in her mid-20s came up to me in the garden center… I asked what she needed help with, as she was looking concerned. She tells me, ‘I bought a tree back in May and the past few weeks all the leaves fell off. Is that normal or do I need to bring it back?’ This was October.” —Reddit user Major_Glory_Hole
Mewing and chewing
“When I worked at a pet store, a customer asked if we sell gum for cats.” —Reddit user fu-face
Boom, roasted
“[I was] working at a small coffee shop that roasted their own beans/had their own brand. CUSTOMER: ‘Do you sell Starbucks here?’ ME: ‘No ma’am, we roast our own coffee.’ CUSTOMER: ‘Well that’s just bad business!'” —Reddit user NoDoThis. Learn the biggest pet peeves of Starbucks baristas.
Soundproof, not waterproof
“‘How did you get dolphins into the recording studio?’ asked a customer holding a CD of dolphin songs.” —Reddit user Cyclokitty
It’s just like bug spray, right?
“I worked at REI (a large outdoor sporting goods co-op) a few years back, and we sold bear spray (pepper spray for bears). A woman came in with her two kids one day and bought a canister because they were going camping. She gets to the front door, then comes back to the register as an afterthought, and asks if she’s supposed to just spray her kids from head to toe with it.” —Reddit user jra312.
Cutters never win
“I’m a cashier at a grocery store and one time I had a lady ask me if I could ‘tell everyone else to let her go first.’ Like, she expected me to force everyone who had been patiently waiting in line to let her cut them. It wasn’t like she only had one or two items either; her cart was packed.” —Reddit user Arii797ros. These are the craziest things Walmart employees have seen at work.
The Liquor King
“I work in a liquor store whose inventory is 80 percent wine. You literally have to walk past aisles of wine to get to the hard liquor near the back. I was in the scotch aisle in the back of the store when a customer approaches me, looks me dead in the eyes, and asks ‘Hey, where do you keep the wine?’
“I took a few seconds to react, not sure at first if the guy was messing with me or not, but upon inspecting his sincerely frustrated gaze I arrived at the conclusion that the man was indeed serious.
“I responded by simply pointing behind the gentleman and then sweeping my arm from one side to the other like I was showing my lion cub all of the land that would one day be his to rule.” —Reddit user theoutlet
I think you’re Mc-staken
“I used to work at Starbucks. And I don’t know how many times people would come through and order Egg McMuffins, McGriddles, hash browns, basically anything on a McDonald’s menu. And [I’d] say ‘Oh I’m sorry, this isn’t McDonald’s, we don’t have those,’ and they’d freak out and yell ‘YOU DON’T SELL MCMUFFINS?!?!?!'” —Reddit user darcendale. These are the secrets McDonald’s employees won’t tell you.
Puppy love?
“CUSTOMER: ‘Where’s the condoms?’
“ME: ‘For your dog??’
“For reference, I work in a pet shop.” —Reddit user fondizzlee. If you think that’s crazy, check out the most ridiculous requests people have made on airplanes.
Capital offender
“Back when I did tech support, I received a call from a customer with a peculiar keyboard problem. It seems that he was having trouble with the shift key. When he typed a letter with the shift key pressed, it gave him the uppercase letter, but when he typed a number, it didn’t do that. ‘Didn’t do what?’ [I asked.] ‘Type the uppercase number,’ [he replied]. I had to break it to him gently.” —Reddit user donut2099
What in the world?
“Once, while working in the travel section of a bookstore, a customer asked for a globe of Britain. I got a lot of dumb requests, but that floored me.” —Reddit user Camberwell_Carrot. Check out the craziest requests hotel guests have made.
It’s just a game… right?
“At Gamestop, I had a man call… here is the conversation:
“ME: ‘Thanks for calling Gamestop, etc, etc.’
“CUSTOMER: ‘I have a really… really stupid question… umm, yeah, uhhhhh, have you played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2… for PS3?’
“ME: ‘Yes sir, I have. Beaten it, in fact.’
“CUSTOMER: ‘OK, well… is there a part of the game where… everything goes black, and the Nation Alert System comes up saying the Russians are attacking…?’
“ME: ‘Uh… yeah, after the EMP goes off, yeah.’
“CUSTOMER: (breath of relief) ‘Oh thank God. OK… OK, thanks.’ (click)
“His first thought, when faced with a Russian invasion: ‘I better call Gamestop.'” —Reddit user Luthalis
Take a wild guess…
“One time I saw a man pick up a product and say to a colleague, ‘Have you stopped selling these?’ while holding said product.” —BuzzFeed contributor rosie02796
Free samples
“I was working at Office Depot doing computer sales and service when this young guy, maybe 23 or so, comes up to me near the front of the store.
“He says, ‘So it says on the door you guys have got free WiFi?’
“[I reply,] ‘Yes we do.’
“[He asks,] ‘So, like, can I have one?'” —Reddit user Duriel68. Next, learn the secrets your sales clerk won’t tell you.
Originally Published: March 08, 2019
