'I spent $5,000+ to inconvenience and embarrass a competitor': Wedding planner exposes lying Karen, sabotages her business

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 17, 2023 2:00 PM EDT

Karen may have had some audacity, but her competitor had a spare $5K to bring her business down. For those of you who already have that kind of money on hand just for the sake of getting some petty revenge, this one is worth taking some notes to follow in this wedding planner's glorious footsteps. For those of us who dream of having that kind of money to spend on anything outside of rent and living expenses, we can keep dreaming for now.

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/Outrageous_Rise, a former worker in the wedding space who abandoned her business during the pandemic but made a pretty penny beforehand. Her biggest competitor was a ruthless Karen who OP discovered later down the road was cheating the system in order to keep her business alive. One of the ways in which she was doing this was lying about having a disability, which OP particularly resented as she was a member of the disabled community. So what did she do with the extra cash she had on hand? She participated in a work event and briefly revived her business just to sabotage Karen's career. This may have been bold and savage, but that only makes us respect OP more.

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions in the comments section. For more stories like this, check out this post about a boss's freakout and a colleague's subsequent departure. 

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  • 01
    Font - I spent $5,000+ to inconvenience and embarrass a competitor who treated me like It was worth it. So I used to run a small business (wedding space), and I was very successful in a very short period of time. To the point that I was getting all expense paid invites to industry conferences less than 6 months after I opened. Needless to say, this ruffled feathers.
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 02
    Font - Enter Kate. Kate is a chief Karen who competes in the same space and has been nothing but awful to me from the moment she became aware that I wasn't just competition, I was doing better business than her. She would complain that I had gotten expenses paid, implied that it was because I was pretty, said that she felt people who had been in the space longer deserved it more, and a vaguely statement about how my outfit colors "don't look good" on dark skinned people. She also reported my boo
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 03
    Font - Now fast forward a little bit into the pandemic. I see major issues on the horizon for my business, and so I decide to step out and sell for a pretty penny. Bought a condo. Took a job at a non-profit and moved along with my life. But some of my friends still in the industry would give me updates or vent, and I was absolutely right to sell- most everyone doing what I do has already closed including the person I sold to. Kate, however, was still going strong, though I noticed her prices wer
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 04
    Font - This really really really made me angry. I have a mobility disability, and I felt horrible for the people she was running out of business by pricing so low. So I of course reported her, but nothing seemed to come of that. Then one of the biggest conferences of our local industry came up on my calendar. This conference costs 8-10k to vend at, and many vendors make 50%+ of their yearly income from this one event.
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 05
    Font - My friend runs the vending hall, so I asked her to place me right next to Kate. Now when I left the industry, I still had great contacts on the manufacturing side because I speak Chinese fairly well. I found the manufacturer for Kates top selling items, and ordered a sizeable inventory to take with me to the conference. I priced them at cost and made ginormous signs about inventory liquidation, and created these super aggressive bundle deals that made it nearly impossible for her to do an
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 06
    Font - I could see her over there fuming, and she did try to come over and complain, but our booth was too busy to even entertain her obnoxious huffing and puffing. She closed her shop last week. I lost about $5,000 doing this, but I got a lot of people deals on packages/items that they never thought they could afford for their special day, and it was honestly fun to help people out, especially at her expense.
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 07
    Font - CoderJoe1 23 hr. ago +4. Paying to get revenge, that's petty. Was it fun having "f you" money? 2.7k Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 08
    Font - Outrageous_Rise OP 21 hr. ago Well I've still got a lot more you money to go around. The wedding industry has insane margins if you can find the right placement for your products/business. In the end, a lot of couples who were struggling during the pandemic were able to get way nicer packages and options than they could have afforded otherwise, and I pissed her off while I was at it. Most of the people at the event were trying to cut costs for their day wherever they could, and prices are
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 09
    Rectangle - terfsfugoff 22 hr. ago it was honestly fun to help people out, especially at her expense. Good ol' maltruism 718 Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 10
    Font - Jumpy_Mashed Potato 23 hr. ago Such an excellent use of you" money. $5k price to push a gouging fraudster out of the market seems like a small fee to potentially improve the market as a whole in that area. "1 394 Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 11
    Font - Outrageous_Rise OP - 21 hr. ago Plus tbh, it's fun doing weddings when you don't depend on it for your full time income. 169 Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 12
    Font - Forsaken-Yak-7581 23 hr. ago Wow sometimes spending $5,000 on getting revenge is good business. Well done you 151 151 ↓ Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 13
    Font - honne_nyc 22 hr. ago Ma'am, I am in awe at your pettiness, but even more at the fact that you had $5k to spare just to get revenge! Love it 108 Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 14
    Font - Outrageous_Rise OP 21 hr. ago The wedding industry is so bloated its ridiculous. If you can find a good angle, you start jumping into 6 figures very quickly because the standard pricing in the industry is just so cushy on the margins. But it's also a brutal space. Mess up one wedding and you'll never get hired again if it gets out with the right kind of exposure. 100 Reply Share
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 15
    Font - bloodycups 21 hr. ago You should find out if she got any PPE money. Pretty sure you just have to Google your city and see if her business is on the list. Might be hard to explain a PPE loan while you were collecting unemployment
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 16
    Font - Outrageous_Rise OP · 21 hr. ago . Oh that's a great idea! I'll check. I'm so angry for the people who already lost their businesses while she's out here cheating the system to keep hers afloat.
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 17
    Font - PJTosser 16 hr. ago . This seriously the best and smartest "petty revenge" story I've ever heard. The capper for me was "oh, and I speak Chinese." You are a rock star.
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1
  • 18
    Font - Outrageous_Rise OP - 16 hr. ago Haha well I write a lot better than I speak, which is far easier, but even broken Chinese is an advantage for building relationships with manufacturers. I sent red envelopes to all my manus last year and they were so appreciative, so cultural knowledge helps too!
    via u/Outrageous_Rise 1

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competition karens revenge work petty revenge wedding karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people
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