motherlover - 2/20/2026 00:06

Attended fuel supplier meeting last night and am friends with the manager. True to form the adult beverages get flowing after the meeting adjourns. Grabbed a couple beers and found my buddy/manager and told him the meal was good and thought he picked out an appropriate handout this year(pizza cutter) and thanked him for his service for the year. He was more than appreciative of my compliments, then proceeded to tell me about the various complaints ..,

.....I've worked too much with the public to where I don't really care to anymore, due to the way some of the public acts. Most are great, but there are a few that just are never happy, and aren't shy about complaining about it.

1) hall was too cold

...If they would have turned up the heat 2 degrees then people would have complained it was too hot. Been there, done that.

2) meal was served too late

....Was there a time on the invitation that had a meal time? If so, how far off was it. I have found that the people who complain the meal is late are the same ones who showed up 45 minutes early to be first in line, and then complained because the free beer doesn't come until after the meal.

3) why did you have it on a night when they were calling for snow

....Like anyone could know weeks ahead when planning this when it would snow. These are people clueless as to how to plan anything like this.

4) last thing I needed was another pizza cutter

....Then why did you take it? This is another one I don't get. Complain you don't want it, yet take it anyway just because it is 'free'? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

5) why is diesel so high

....Good question. If your prices are in line with everyone else, no reason to complain. Was at one meeting where our local resident complainer made that comment a few years ago, and the manager (who has to put up with his complaints every meeting) said Diesel is so high because so many people drive to meetings in a diesel King Ranch that only gets 12 MPG instead of a little car that burns gas and gets 30 MPG. I thought it was funny, but the complainer didn't, LOL

6) you should have set the tables up the other direction

....You know what? For the next meeting, why don't you come out a half hour early, and help set up? That way we can be sure to get it right.

7) why don’t you have this at your shop instead of the hall and save the $300

...Because then (those exact same) people would complain that they didn't want to eat a meal in a room that had an 'oily' smell, or cold concrete floors, or poor shop lighting, or metal walls that echoed, etc.

All of this along with the randoms from town that show up and are the first in line for the meal and don’t buy a single gallon of fuel from them.

....Yea, we had a local dealership where friends of mine worked that used to have an annual customer appreciation lunch. They called it their annual 'feed the whole town day', because as soon as people got wind of it, the random people showing up outnumbered customers probably 4-1 or better. And on top of it, there were the constant complaints from them, as well.

Why do you have roast Beef instead of Pork
Why do you have roast Pork this year instead of Beef?
There isn't enough meat in my sandwich.
There is too much meat in my sandwich.
Why don't you have sweet pickles?
Why are the pickles so sweet?
Why aren't you serving yet? It's almost 11:00 already (sign on the door says lunch from 11:30 to 1:30)

...I used to help with the FFA BBQ team, and I've heard all the above, and then some. Here, our local FFA has a couple big BBQ roasters with rotating spits, and does BBQ as a fund raiser. Only one more year before my last kid ages out and I won't have to worry about it any more. In fact, the last couple years, enough kids were available, I haven't had to help out, and don't miss the complaints one bit.


They got fed up with it, and now they just have donuts for customers. Come in during their annual winter parts and filter sale, and if you buy anything, they tell you to go to the break room and grab a couple donuts.

Just sharing my experience/ observations

Thoughts-comments-concerns?