We’ve probably all been driven to the point of anger by horrendous customer service. Some of us have probably even said things in the heat of this anger that we didn’t mean. But in a day and age when taking a photo on a plane is considered suspicious activity, you can’t just go threatening to blow up a Sears because you’re ticked off. But that’s exactly how the police ended up at the house of an 80-year-old California man over the weekend.

According to police, the man had called Sears to complain about some repair service he’d received when he was transferred to a Florida call center. This apparently pushed him too far into the red.

“He made a comment about bombing the Laguna Hills Sears store,” and Orange County Sheriff’s Sergeant told the OC Register. “He thought he was getting the runaround.”

After police questioned the man at his house, he admitted to making the threat. Authorities determined that he hadn’t intended on making the Sears go boom, so no arrest was made.

One could imagine this story could have ended differently if the customer wasn’t 80 years old or if the police hadn’t exhibited common sense. So remember: The next time you’re at the explosion-threatening point of your customer service nightmare, make it a perfectly safe and legal Executive E-mail Carpet Bomb. (But really, just refrain from using the term “bomb” whenever you’re talking to customer service.)

Police: 80-year-old man threatens to blow up Sears [OC Register]

Thanks to Jeff for the tip!

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