People often say that the customer is always right, but that is definitely not based in reality.

What would you do if you had a customer who complained about every little thing you did while taking them where they needed to go?

That is what happened to the driver in this story, so he finally gave up trying to be nice and aggressively drove her back to the mechanic.

Check it out.

Don’t mess with the person responsible for driving you…

At the time of this story I was in college and had spent the last few summers and breaks working at a major car dealership.

I was, and still am, obsessed with cars, and all I wanted to do was spend my days around cars and people who knew them.

It was overall a great job.

First I was washer, then parts stock boy, detailer, delivery driver, mechanic’s assistant, then a mishmash of all the jobs at the same time since I knew the place and how things worked.

This particular day I was driving.

There was one customer, Marge, who seemed perfectly fine at first.

Marge and a separate couple had dropped their cars off very early (7:00 am) and needed rides.

The couple just wanted to get dropped at their place which was only a few miles away, while Marge needed to go into the nearby major city for work, which was about 20 miles.

Upon starting the shuttle van I asked my usual “what kind of music do yall like?”

Instantly the dude from the couple says “Oh, put it on K-whatever, we were rocking out on the way over!”

Without any comment from the others in the van I obliged.

After some conversation with the couple about Springsteen and 80’s rock I dropped them off and carried on.

Marge had been mostly quiet thus far, saying only where she was going and what time she needed to be picked up in the evening.

Duly noted.

As we got closer to her destination she became visibly agitated, and even though I knew pretty well where I was going she began giving me excrutiateingly specific instructions as to which cars to pass, which lane to be in, how fast to go around the exit, etc.

I took it in stride and easily acquiesced to her direction, despite it being more than a little condescending.

This kind of micromanaging continued until we pulled up to her office building.

She reiterated that exactly 5:00 was the time to be there, and specifically said to be in the exact parking spot I had stopped in to let her out.

It was a public spot, parallel parking with no meters, so I thought it was a strange request, but said OK anyway.

The last thing she said before getting out of the van was “I also HATE, absolutely HATE this music”.

Internally, I said “Ok, you could have told me 30 minutes ago…”

Great customer service.

but again played the nice driver and outwardly said “I’ll remember that!”

The rest of the day went by and the last thing I had to do was get Marge from work.

I stopped at the dealer to check in, and had about an hour to get to Marge’s office 20 miles away.

I knew rush hour traffic could be bad in the city so I left plenty early and told my manager I was heading out to be safe.

Traffic was about as terrible as can be, so around 4:30 in gridlock I called Marge’s office from the van to let her know there’s a chance I might be a few minutes late.

She doesn’t answer and it rings FOREVER.

Eventually her cubicle neighbor picks up the phone and tells me she’s already left for the day.

I tell the guy on the phone if he sees her to please call me.

Immediately after hanging up I call my manager and inform him of the situation.

Manager: “She just called asking where you are. She said she tried calling you three times and got no answer?”

Me: “I just tried her office and someone said she already left.”

I checked my phone and had no missed calls, then asked “What time did she want to be picked up again?”

Manager: “5 oclock, you still got 30 minutes so it’s alright, don’t worry about.”

I told my manager that if she contacts again give her my number (again) and that I would try to call her office in 15 minutes regardless.

At this point I figured that even surface streets would get me there in time so I exited off the highway.

This was generally correct until I got downtown.

I was only a couple blocks from the office when I hit a roadblock for construction that wasn’t there when I dropped her off in the morning.

It was a one-way that led straight to the front of the office, so I had to figure out a way around.

This was about exactly when I told my manager I would call her office, around 4:45, so I pulled over and called.

This time Marge answered, not the coworker.

I informed her of the situation and she was audibly angry.

At this point I’m still 15 minutes before our schedule pickup time, as confirmed by her twice and my manager once, but she is obviously upset.

I play the “customer is always right” role on the phone, get enough information from her about the neighborhood to get around the construction, and arrive in front of her building no later than 5:02.

I call again.

Again the coworker picks up and tells me she left for the second time today.

Momentarily later I see her walk out the front and go to the parking spot where I dropped her off this morning, no more than two spots behind me.

There was no way I could have taken the same spot since there was another car in it, but the van was OBVIOUSLY in view with its huge dealership logo on it.

It seems as though she is refusing to walk over to the van when I see her take out her phone.

Expecting my phone to ring I wait, and nothing.

She seems very controlling.

She seems to be looking directly straight at me and clearly aware of the van when my phone finally rings.

It’s my manager, saying that she is looking for me and can’t find me, accusing me of being late.

I step out of the van onto the sidewalk and call her name while still on the phone with my manager.

She slowly wanders over without saying a word gets into the front passenger seat of the van.

Ok then.

I tried to make a quip about it being 5:04 and she is just totally silent.

Ok then… Let’s get out of the city onto the highway.

As soon as I get up to highway speeds she FLIPS OUT.

Claiming she had heat stroke from waiting outside for so long (???), saying she’s never seen such unprofessional behavior, claiming that I (very unspecifically) insulted her personally, and demanding to talk to my manager when we get back.

Ok then…

At this point I’m oscillating between being good by the dealership versus being good to myself.

At first I decide on the former, and apologize profusely.

She is completely numb to anything I say and just keeps repeating how she can’t believe how horrible of a person I am.

I can’t even understand what she is so angry about and so I continue to attempt to make nice.

I even offered to order her office lunch the following day, to which she replied “Nothing. There is nothing I want to hear from you. Just get me back so I can talk to your boss and don’t say anything else to me”.

Ok then…

A few miles down the road she begins her micromanaging again, telling me which cars to pass, what lane to be in, how fast to drive, etc.

At this point I was still resigned to my fate serving this woman until she made a request.

“Because we’re late” (four whole minutes???) “I need you to stop at my house. It’s on the way.”

She directed me to her house, which to be fair was actually on the way.

Wordlessly she got out and went inside, only to emerge a few minutes later with a tiny little lap dog on a leash.

I swear she stared me down until she was out of sight as though she was proving something, walking that yipper around the block.

Wow, she is very inconsiderate.

She got into the van 4 minutes later, most of which was because she was too stupid or blind to see where I parked, but she spent 40 minutes walking with that 10 pound dog while I sat there in the van like a dope waiting.

“Enough,” I thought. “I’ll be a senior next fall I don’t need this job.”

She came back to the van and got in.

I put on the radio station she told me she hated that morning, only this time much louder.

She very angrily indicated she didn’t like the music.

When I didn’t react she reached and lowered the volume herself.

Oops, steering wheel controls!

It’s actually LOUDER than before!

Don’t like it?

Why don’t you try changing the channel this time?

Oops, now we’re on the hard rock channel, and somehow even louder!

Change it again?

Nope! Back to hard rock.

Now I want to reiterate I said earlier that I’m obsessed with cars, but I will clarify specifically that I have been racing since I was 10.

I started on carts, moved up to shifter carts before getting my license, got into track days with my dad by 17, and had built myself a focused auto-x competitor by the time this story happened.

I was known to my friends as “the one who should drive if we really need a driver.”

It doesn’t matter if you’re driving a Chevy Venture minivan, any car is capable of a lot more than the average driver thinks it is.

And I was just young and stupid enough to consider proving that this day.

So we set off with a goal unbeknownst to her.

You’re upset about being late?

Let’s get you there as fast as possible!

With Alice in Chains blasting on the radio louder than I would ever personally care to listen to it, I’m pushing this pokey minivan harder than anyone has pushed a minivan before.

It doesn’t have much pickup, but on braking there’s predictable understeer and the off-throttle weight balance makes for a nice and controllable oversteer albeit with considerable body lean.

Front wheel drive means I can get the engine and tires to make scary sounding noises while pulling through a corner she was already terrified upon entering.

Wow, I would be freaking out.

We hit an offramp at 80 and I late-brake from the left lane into a right turn at the intersection when she grabs the door handle and SCREAMS to slow down.

We hit that apex perfectly don’t tell me how to drive.

What?

Slow down and move into which lane?

Sorry, what I heard was pass traffic on the shoulder at 40 and keep going despite all the gravel and debris.

Please slow down you say?

Did you mean run through the Kohls parking lot outer connector at 50 to cut the boulevard and skip the light?

Because that’s what I heard.

It’s all for you ma’am, let’s get you there on time!

It was only about 10 miles from her house to the dealer but I probably took 1000 miles out of the life of those tires that day.

We arrived at the dealer and she was flustered to grossly understate the situation.

I stopped in front of the service door and gave my business-as-usual “Here we are! Have a great day!’ and waited for her to get out.

She was still gripping her seatbelt and slowly stammered, “I want… I need to speak with… your boss, manager…”

Given that I already decided to quit I responded with a tone that probably sounded more fitting to a child on Christmas and said “Oh, yes! I’ll get him for you!’ and promptly got out of the car while she was still sitting.

I jaunt inside and find my manager hanging with one of the parts department guys.

All I say is “Marge wants to see you… she’s not happy,” and both of them immediately burst out laughing hysterically.

They laugh. And laugh. And laugh for so long that I am certain it is a joke at my expense.

Finally I remind my manager that there is an angry customer and, less considerately ask, what do you two think is so funny?

They are apparently very familiar with her.

“That woman is terrible; she complains every single time we do anything on her car” says my manager.

The parts guy says “Last time she accused John (usual shuttle driver, 65 years old and patient as a saint) of being disrespectful, and accused Greg (service advisor) of stealing from her.”

I wasn’t really sure how to react at this point, but because she made me sit and wait 40 minutes while she walked her purse dog I had gone overtime so just silently went to clock out.

After clocking out I went back to the service office to eavesdrop on the conversation between her and my manager.

I heard her quite honestly, and in great detail, recount every traffic violation and personal indiscretion I perpetrated, only in a very disjointed and exasperated manner.

My manager quietly listened to all of it, while I was around the corner wondering if I would even have a chance to put in my notice before getting fired.

When she finally slowed down and gave him a chance to respond, all he said was:

“Marge, it seems unusually regular that you are dissatisfied with our service, maybe it is better for both of us if you take your car to (competitor dealer) next time.”

And with that, I turned and walked off, knowing that I had both gotten away with something awful and apparrently unknowingly solved a problem for my coworkers at the same time.

Well that worked out perfectly.

Because she had been such a thorn in the side of everyone in the service department, nobody even cared to look into whether there was any truth to her claims.

The following morning I put in my two weeks notice with the head of the dealership.

“Does it have anything to do with yesterday?”

“No, I’m heading back to school in four weeks and I just want a couple weeks off before hand.”

He wished me luck and I finished out my two weeks without being asked to drive another customer anywhere.

Some people just love to complain about everything.

Let’s see what the people in the comments think of this story.

The story was perfect.

This person wants to do this to his customers.

He worked out perfectly.

I can just picture it.

This person says he should have left her at home.

Best day at work ever.

And he didn’t even get in trouble for it!

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.