From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhard-luck storyˌhard-ˈluck ˌstory noun (plural hard-luck stories) [countable] a story you tell someone about bad things that have happened to you, in order to get their sympathy or help
Examples from the Corpus
hard-luck story• Meeting anybody in Baghdad these days involves listening to a hard-luck story, most of which is likely to be true. 