'I just over-charge her every time but she think she's won': Coffee Karen doesn't reach card minimum but insists on paying with card, manager complies by overcharging her

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 30, 2023 2:00 PM EDT

Karen might go about her day thinking she won, but we know the truth. We've all been in those coffee shops or small stores where there's a credit card minimum. Sure, it can be frustrating for a moment because who has cash on them these days? But still, you tend to just throw a banana on top of your order so you can reach the $5 minimum and continue to pay via credit card. You don't throw a fit, you don't make a scene, you respect the rules of the establishment that you're in, and you proceed. 

 

Now, when a Karen like this one confronts the same circumstances, the interaction is less, shall we say, cordial. She does not respect the rules of the establishment she's in because she is named Karen after all. She goes by her own rules, which means that she will throw a fit and she will make a scene. That's exactly what happened in this story, which was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by u/javiba64, who was working behind the counter during this unfortunate encounter.

 

Thankfully, the manager had dealt with this woman before and figured out a way to abide by the rules and give Karen what she wants. Well, sort of. His way of dealing with her was simply by charging her the full $5 credit card minimum no matter what. Clearly, this woman was not the brightest bulb considering that she didn't notice the charge on a receipt or a statement. Note to self moving forward: the best way of dealing with a Karen customer is by overcharging her!

 

For more stories like this, check out this post about a Karen's feud with her neighbor.

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  • 01
    Gesture - Coffee Karen
    via Nathan Dumlao
  • 02
    Font - Coffee Karen S OC Dear daughter (15) works casual at a kids recreation centre and only just started behind the kiosk counter, enter a mum Karen who orders a coffee ($4.40) and wants to pay by card. DD apologises and explains minimum card payment is $5 and she can either pay by cash or can buy something extra to take it up to $5.
    via u/javiba64
  • 03
    Font - Karen gets angry and demanding, says this has never happened before and insists she's paid by card a 'hundred times' before. Eventually Karen demands to 'see the manager!' Enter the manager who takes over the transaction and cops the wrath of Karen. Manager swipes the card and hands over the freshly brewed coffee.
    via u/javiba64
  • 04
    Font - Karen, having won. walks off with a eating grin and a narky comment of "you ought to train your staff better". DD quietly turns to her manager and enquires if it's okay to charge less than $5 to card? "Nah, I charged her $5 for her coffee, she does it all the time but I just over-charge her every time but she think she's won". Miss 15 never felt so satisfied ever.
    via u/javiba64
  • 05
    Font - ugheffoff +2.2 hr. ago That sounds vaguely theft-like. Also, I feel the manager should be sticking up for their staff because all that does it reinforce such heinous entitled behavior.
    via u/javiba64
  • 06
    Font - murica_1776boi 1 hr. ago Card swiper: "Insert Card. Credit or Debit? Sale $5.00. Please remove card." No theft here. The minimum for card it $5. She wanted to use card, and she pressed the green button.
    via u/javiba64
  • 07
    Font - ugheffoff +2. 44 min. ago I'm assuming, given the details in the story, that it was a swiper attached to the screen only the employee can see. It's swiped and handed back to the woman.
    via u/javiba64
  • 08
    Font - smiles___ 35 min. ago True, but she is also undoubtedly still offered a receipt.
    via u/javiba64
  • 09
    Font - ugheffoff +2. 31 min. ago Offered perhaps. Accepted? Doubtful if she does the same thing every day with the same results. But hey. I'm not her so maybe she does take it and sees the upcharge and is fine with it. I doubt it, but maybe.
    via u/javiba64
  • 10
    Font - . murica_1776boi · 6 min. ago Regardless of what model of swiper it was, all card swipers are designed so that the customer can verify what they're charged and then agree to pay either with a PIN or a signature on the recipt. If that doesn't happen, it opens the business up to trouble.
    via u/javiba64
  • 11
    Font - Evilelfqueen 2 hr. ago This reminds me of the time I was working at Best Buy customer service and this lady wanted to return an item she purchased a year before (open too). It was way beyond the policy return period, but she was yelling in my face for a solid 20 minutes before she made me get my manager. The manager listened to her for another 5 minutes screaming and yelling, and eventually gave in and returned it. That Karen was so smug when she looked at me. I wanted to punch her.
    via u/javiba64
  • 12
    Font - PirateJohn75 2 hr. ago +1. Managers like that have no business managing
    via u/javiba64
  • 13
    Font - Jakyland 1 hr. ago I honestly wish more places offered this as an option. I don't want to spend unnecessarily on something I don't want, just charge the minimum and take the difference as pure profit.
    via u/javiba64
  • 14
    Font - yaboyjoebro 2 hr. ago LMAO Nice. I would stop making her feel like she won though. That's the problem.. entitlement to be above the rules. Someone just needs to tell her no for once.
    via u/javiba64
  • 15
    Font - sittinwithkitten. 2 hr. ago I don't think that's a good idea, what if that manager wasn't there in a later transaction? If it's a rule then they need to stick to it to avoid confusion. When I was a server I hated when management would bend rules for people, especially when they were a rude idiot.
    via u/javiba64
  • 16
    Font - sylvar +11 hr. ago Do they not just offer to round up for customers who are almost at $5? My public library has a $1 minimum for cards and I've seen people agree readily to pay 10x the usual price for printing a single page because they didn't have any cash or didn't have time to go back to their car for it.
    via u/javiba64
  • 17
    Font - St_Ander +1 - 1 hr. ago One of the nicest things here is that I can swipe for 20c and there are no card/transaction fees. No one bats an eye if I want to swipe for small amounts. I have an €20 not in my wallet from a year ago.
    via u/javiba64
  • 18
    Font - dsdvbguutres 53 min. ago One coffee please: $4.40 +2. Coffee and the manager: $5.00
    via u/javiba64
  • 19
    Font - Diasies_inMyHair +1. 5 min. ago Well, Karen was told that the minimum charge to pay by card is $5. She's insisting on using her card anyway. Seems fair to me.
    via u/javiba64

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customer service karens coffee shop manager malicious compliance server coffee karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people
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