One of my regular customers, an older lady, had a complete meltdown. I'd never had a single issue with this lady. She was polite but curt and liked her drinks made with half the amount of ice. Nothing too arduous.
So one morning, she comes in and orders her usual assortment of beverages. I give her the usual total and she hands me a gift card. I swipe it through the machine, and a message pops up on my register telling me that there's no money on the card. I swipe it again, just to be sure. Same result, the card is empty. So I tell her
"Sorry, but this gift card is empty. Do you have another method of payment?"
"What? It's not empty!" she says "there should be about $6 left on that card!"
"Alright, do you have balance slip from your last visit?"
"No, I threw it away. But there's $6 on the card, I'm telling you!"
"Okay, can I see your card again so I can bring up the info?"
So I manually enter her card into the system and do a balance inquiry, thinking something is wrong with the swiper. Nope, still empty. Keep in mind that the total of this order is like, $3.
"l'm really sorry, but this card is empty. I can reload it if you would like, or I can accept another form of payment."
"NO. THERE IS SIX. DOLLARS. ON. THAT. CARD. I'M SURE OF IT. SWIPE IT AGAIN."
So I swipe it again, and again, and again at this woman's requestdemand. Each time, I inform her that nope, still no $6. Before I can say anything else, this woman explodes in a fit of rage.
"THERE'S MONEY ON MY CARD BUT YOU KEEP TELLING ME THERE ISN'T. ARE YOU STUPID? DON'T YOU FEEL STUPID WORKING AT A PLACE LIKE THIS? THIS JOB IS FOR STUPID PEOPLE. YOU'RE STUPID AND YOU'LL ALWAYS BE STUCK AT YOUR STUPID JOB FOR STUPID PEOPLE."
This woman goes on shouting that I'm stupid, my co-worker who made her drinks is stupid, this business is stupid, etc. Meanwhile, my co-worker and I are just standing there, silently holding her stupid drinks while she has a temper tantrum.
So I turn back to my register and void her entire order, while she's still yelling something about us stealing from her, as if I magicked $6 off her gift card with my mind. "Here" I say, handing her her tray of beverages. "Since you're one of our regulars, why don't you just pay for this order on your next visit. If you can't resolve the issue with your gift card, there's a customer service number on the back that you can call."
I honestly expected this woman to sneer and revel in the fact that her tantrum got her a few free beverages, but if that was her plan, she was certainly experiencing a hollow victory. Instead, she silently grabbed her drinks and shuffled out the door with her head down. Maybe she realized how much she overreacted. Whatever the case, she didn't come back for almost 2 months.