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5 People Tell Us About Their Worst Experience Working In Retail

Everyone hates working in retail. Here are five true horror stories that help explain why.

1. Max Erstad, Macy’s

“I’ll never forget this one regular customer who always insisted on paying with pennies that had been touched by NBA legend Michael Jordan. Counting out the pennies always took him forever, and watching him taste every single penny to check if it had been handled by Michael Jordan made things even more tedious.”

2. Devin McCarthy, Toys ‘R’ Us

“It was Black Friday and we had great deals on slugs. I’m not talking about the normal 50 percent off slugs you usually see, no. I’m talking about 99 percent off all slugs in the store. Within seconds of the doors opening, I was knocked to the ground by a slug-hungry family of four and cracked my chin open. I lay there bleeding for hours as every team of paramedics that showed up to assist me got distracted by the great slug deals.”

3. Diana Green, Best Buy

“I once caught a shoplifter red-handed. Turns out he was stealing the items to give to me for Christmas. Unfortunately, by this point, I had seen every single gift. I ruined my own Christmas surprise.”

4. Amy Moore, Blockbuster

“I was working late one night when the entire cast of Friends walked into the store. Not just the main six, but every person who appeared on the show over its 10-year run. They approached the desk and said in perfect unison, ‘Do you have the Friends reunion movie?’ I told them that it hadn’t been made yet and they all snapped.”

5. Steve Bickel, Apple

“A customer asked me where the changing rooms were and I told him that we didn’t have any. He became enraged and demanded a place to try the iPhones in private. My manager overheard, apologized to the customer, and insisted that I give the man the keys to my apartment so he could have some privacy. I was terrified of being fired, so of course I said okay. Now he lives with my wife and kids, and he won’t let me in.”