'It was tense when she walked in': Rude Karen pretends to be friends with the District Manager, gets put in her place when he shows up

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jul 29, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

Work in any customer-facing role, and at some point, you're bound to encounter someone demanding special treatment because they're friends with the owners or some other upper manager. Nine times out of ten, these people are absolutely full of it, and mentioning their name to the owner or manager at a later date will be met with an eye roll, facepalm, or "Who?" No, this person isn't their friend; in some cases, they might be a mutual acquaintance, but what kind of friend would go into their friend's business, be rude to staff, and demand free or discounted items? 

Sure, there are probably some jerk owners with jerk friends who treat staff poorly. This means it can often be hard to know when to comply with the "friend's" demands—to avoid being personally named in a complaint from someone who could be their closest mate—and when to shut it down.

When this entitled customer repeatedly treated staff at this chain restaurant poorly, name-dropping the district manager as if they were a close friend, they had the staff—who were worried about keeping their jobs—on a hook. It wasn't until the District Manager himself addressed the situation that her deceit was revealed—they were mere acquaintances and, even then, only through their kid's school.

Next, see this customer who left a 1-star review for a bike shop after they helped him for free.

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  • 01
    Font - You know the manager? Well yeah, so do I. OC Karen was a regular at the chain restaurant that I used to work for. Every time she came in, she would loudly complain about the food and the service. When we tried our best to resolve her issues, she'd make vague threats about how we should do better, since the district manager was a good friend of hers.
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 02
    Font - It happened so regularly, that the whole restaurant staff were aware of her, and it was tense when she walked in. None of us wanted to be specifically mentioned in her complaints to the district manager, so we gave her the best service possible, even though she didn't deserve it. Behind her back we were all making fun of her though, because why would you keep going back to the same restaurant if you clearly hate everything about the experience?
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 03
    Font - It was even worse when she brought in her two bratty daughters, who must have been about 10 and 12 years old. These two little girls had clearly been learning a thing or two from their mother, because they also sat there loudly criticising us. One time I brought them their drinks (after less than five minutes of waiting), and the eldest girl said is a snarky tone "finally! how long does it take you to get some drinks out of the fridge?" and when I looked over at Karen, she was just sittin
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 04
    Font - One glorious day, the district manager was visiting our location, and he pulled me to the side and asked if I'd had any unpleasant interactions with a "good friend of his", who came in regularly. I was a bit uncomfortable, thinking that she must have complained about me personally, but he reassured me that I wasn't in any trouble. Quite the opposite!
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 05
    Font - He just wanted to let me know that Karen was in no way a friend of his, and that his actual friends would never come into the business that he manages to make a scene. He said that he met her once before, because their kids went to the same school, but they were in no way friends! He then pointed out that I actually knew him better than she did, and told me that I shouldn't tolerate her causing a scene anymore. I think he may have had a similar talk with Karen, because I never saw her in
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 06
    Font - RandomPersonOfTheDay 7 hr. ago You all tolerated that bs way too long. "I know the district manager. He's a good friend of mine." "What do you know, so do I. Isn't that a coincidence. Should I call him?" Call their bluff and move on. No need to tolerate being treated like that for any reason in any position. Especially food service. 173 Reply Share
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 07
    Font - SockFullOfNickles. 7 hr. ago Lmao I love it when they do that. Im a Sr Advisor/direct support for the owner of a mortgage brokerage. I routinely take the calls that she doesn't have the spoons for. She's the number cruncher and im the personality that keeps everyone calm and happy. Every once in a while people will say they want to speak to a senior manager and they get me. I've been told more times than I can count that the client is friends with the Owner yada yada yada. Especially funn
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 08
    Font - dr-sparkle 6 hr. ago Once, during a freak rush, the DM happened to be there and was pitching in. Some d-bags were trying to get over claiming they were friends with the DM and he was going to be sooo mad. The Dm was wearing a name tag with her name and "district manager" on it, and she had come up to me for something and hear them. She heard them and said "Impossible! I don't have any friends." Reply Share SERON Ja 28 HootieRocker59 - 5 hr. ago Epic response! 10 Reply Share ...
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 09
    Font - metalmike556 · 7 hr. ago Hopefully after having that same conversation with the other employees, one of them took it as a full opportunity to tell Karen what everyone really feels about her and how the jig is up. That's my hope. Reply Share 11
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer
  • 10
    Font - emax45 hr. ago You should have asked for the DM's name. Whether or not she gave the correct name you should have said, "Nope. That's not it." and shown her the door. 10 Reply Share QuarrelsomeFarmer OP 5 hr. ago she did actually mention him by his first name, which is why we all believed that they really were friends. In hindsight, it's obvious that a cool guy like him wouldn't have been friends with such a horrible woman, but her dropping his name was enough to get us worried that she ac
    via u/QuarrelsomeFarmer

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customer service karen restaurant entitled parents entitled customer karens entitled people
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