'The customer is king': 20+ retail workers share the craziest demands customers have made on the job

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Dec 18, 2023 4:00 PM EST

Many people say that working in retail builds resilience and character, but perhaps it just exposes you to the worst kind of people in this world. I guess in some sense, that builds resilience and character, but that has to be the only silver lining that comes with having to deal with entitled Karen customers on a daily basis. Otherwise, these workers deserve the kind of prizes and medals that heroes and soldiers receive because I'm sure it feels like every shift is an almost Sisyphean fight for victory.   

This list was compiled from the following r/AskReddit thread, wherein current and former clothing store employees shared the most insane demands customers ever made while they were on the job. Keep scrolling below for the full list and feel free to share your own experiences. When you're done, check out this collection of top 'first world' problems and this compilation of top irresponsible financial decisions.

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  • 01
    "[She asked me to] change their baby's diaper while she shopped... No."
    via Korie Cull
  • 02
    r/AskReddit Posted by u/kloppcd 6 Clothing shop employees of reddit, what's the craziest demand somebody made of you?
    via u/kloppcd
  • 03
    [deleted] I worked at a Levis and a man came in to try on a plaid shirt that was displayed in the shop window. He said he had OCD and asked to try on every plaid shirt (probably 50+ shirts) we had in his size because he needed the lines to match up at the seams. I was bored af so I decided to help him instead of focusing on other customers. The sale took about an hour and a half but he bought $400+ worth of clothing and then called our district manager to say how happy he was with me because oth
    via u/kloppcd
  • 04
    CrotchWolf. I was working customer service at a JC Penny's outlet store when we had a woman walk in wanting to return some items. When I asked for her receipt, she said she lost it so I thought to try scanning the barcode to see if I could bring up the purchase in our system and that's when I noticed the tags had the store logo on the back.... ....for Hudson's. A store that had been gone since the 1990's. When I confronted the lady about the fact these clothes were bought from another store (and
    via u/kloppcd
  • 05
    snow-vs-starbuck. When I worked at BabyGap we didn't have the correct size onesie that a woman wanted to buy. She then demanded that I go into the back and have "them" make her one. I had to explain to her that the clothes are sewn in China and shipped to us from a distribution center. There are no seamstresses making baby onesies in the stock room of your local BabyGap. 8.7k ↓ Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 06
    wolfgirl2345. I used to work at a little Gothic clothing shop. Corsets, dresses, t shirts etc. I once had a really huge guy come in, pretty I overweight, and ask for a corset. For himself. And he wanted to try it on. We did have a little changing room but corsets are tricky to get into at the best of times so he was definitely going to need some help. Not wanting to upset him or make him feel bad (I could tell it was quite a big deal for him to ask) so I had to try and help him into this thing.
    via u/kloppcd
  • 07
    Next he wanted a bag. The owner was an idiot and didn't want to pay out for bags but of course this poor man didn't want to walk all through the shopping centre clutching a rather large corset so I had to run next door to the pet shop to borrow a bin bag for the poor guy. I hope he was happy with it in the end. Edit: for those asking it was a Gothic lacy corset, can't quite remember colour but mainly black and I think there were some red bits. He was definitely aware of his size. Both of us coul
    via u/kloppcd
  • 08
    Yes not having bags was terrible. The owner kept saying he'd get more but never did. He was hopeless and an and went out of business soon after. I was the only employee there each day so didn't get any help and was eventually told (by my replacement when I came in to open the shop one day) that I was fired. No reason. Wasn't sorry when he went bankrupt. Asking for a bag was no big deal really. It was the 17 year old me having to squeeze a middle aged very large sweaty guy into a lace corset that
    via u/kloppcd
  • 09
    Capitansan She tried to return underwear and had a go at me when I told her that we don't for hygiene reasons. Made me call my manager and everything. There was a hair in it. It was also 50 cents. ↑ 5.6k ↓ Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 10
    dazzleduck I had a woman SCREAMING at me that I needed to "look in the back" for another size of a shirt she wanted. She couldn't comprehend that she was in a thrift store. 5.3k ↓ Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 11
    Helloypres Take the security tags and wire off a $499 North face winter Jacket and allow him to take it outside to try it in the sun so he could see if he "really liked it" 5.0k Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 12
    dukeofbun Maybe not a demand because it was more of an expectation than anything else but we did once have a lady come in and tell us that the parking lot was full. But angrily. She asked if there were any other parking lots (I feel like I need to add that this was in a sleepy town where it was quite obvious there was no other lot nearby). I said that the only thing I could suggest was trying to find a spot on the street. She looked at me like I'd lost my mind and said "Well obviously!" Genuinel
    via u/kloppcd
  • 13
    BONUS EXTRA: In the same place an older guy came to the counter and asked if we had found any keys, he'd lost some that day. I checked, no keys handed in. He seemed to accept this and wandered off. A few minutes later he's back with a younger guy. Asks the same thing. I say nope, no keys yet. The younger guy starts listing random facts. "He's 86 years old!" Right... okay... still we don't have his keys so... "He's fought for his country!". I had to check with him like... you don't think I have t
    via u/kloppcd
  • 14
    Lopsided Plankton. One time this lady came into the store and starts asking me for different sizes in everything. No problem, we have all the sizes in the back, I'll go get them. She's being a bit excessive, but whatever it means I get to spend time digging around in the storage room. Eventually she comes across a sweater she wants to try on and it just so happens that I'm wearing the same sweater at work that day. She asks for a small and I apologize because we are sold out. This lady then look
    via u/kloppcd
  • 15
    extrasupersecretuser. Had a customer demand a refund because the salesperson told her if she wanted a refund she had to bring the receipt. Which woulda been fine, if she brought the product to return. Got mad cuz I refused to give her money for nothing. Got more mad when after screaming at me for 20+ minutes she asked me to lunch and I said no. 3.8k Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 16
    Ragnar_Targaryen I worked at a Nike Outlet store for a little while, and primarily worked in the shoe department. We sold shoes ranging from boots to cleats, sandals to running shoes, we sold them all. This one older gentlemen requested a sandal with a strap over the top, sort of like Tevas. I told him that Nike didn't really have any sandals like that, especially at the outlet store. He proceeded to tell me that I'm wrong and that Nike definitely sold them because he got his current pair at Nik
    via u/kloppcd
  • 17
    I took a look at his current pair and low and behold, they're Tevas....branded Tevas....so there's a 0% chance we sold them. After I explained this, he told me to check the stock room in which I basically told him no - it's a waste of time. He called a manager, requested that the manager show me where these sandals are in the back room because ya know....we had the sandals(??). My manager took me to the stock room, we sat down for a minute and chatted about the guy and went back out and told him
    via u/kloppcd
  • 18
    KymmaLabeija · Dress them. A fully grown woman wanted me to dress her because "The customer is king."
    via u/kloppcd
  • 19
    [deleted] Change their baby's diaper while she shopped. ...No. 2.5k ↓ Share ...
    via u/kloppcd
  • 20
    eztrov. I used to work at an outdoors store and someone once came in looking for a fully waterproof vest. I asked why he would want such a thing, and he told me "I have a very expensive down vest and I need a waterproof vest to cover it so it doesn't get ruined". I tried repeatedly to explain that a rain jacket will do the same job, without getting his head/neck/arms soaked. He was insistent that he can only wear a waterproof vest, because what's the point of owning a $750 vest if you're coverin
    via u/kloppcd
  • 21
    JayG420. I use to work at Vans awhile back as a floor supervisor. I had this older guy come in shopping for his daughter, it was her birthday. We helped him out finding everything he wanted and it ended up being a good sale. But when it came to checking the guy out was a different story. I was listing off the things he picked out. "Shoes, jacket,hat..." That's when he stopped me. "It's a cap" he said. I said "ok". "I don't want the cap unless you call it a CAP!" I just looked at him blankly took
    via u/kloppcd
  • 22
    lavitaetroppobreve I used to work in the 'body wear' (men's underwear and PJs) department of a high end department store. I'd have men trying to return clearly worn, sometimes stained boxers all the time. Customers were allowed to try on pants before they bought them, and I'd always tell them to try them on over the underwear they were already wearing but most didn't... I had a couple of repeat customers who discreetly asked if I could grab some lingerie/stockings from the women's department for
    via u/kloppcd
  • 23
    [deleted] Find me this item in my daughters size even though it's a sale item. Told her I couldn't find it. Got chewed out and got told if we have items on sale we should order more to meet demand. Tried to explain sale items are items that didn't do well hence why they are on sale. She then told me a store shouldn't order clothes that don't do well. Well that's news to me apparently. ↑ 973 ↓ Share
    via u/kloppcd
  • 24
    CakeAndDonuts. Had a mom of a the cusp of big kid vs juniors sizes demand that I give her a pair of adult shoes at a kid price. "She's only 11, I shouldn't have to pay full price to put shoes on her feet." When I refused, she tried to force her daughter to wear shoes that were way too small. The poor girl was in tears by the end of it. Newsflash: kids grow. Rapidly. It's your job as a parent to find a way to feed, house, and clothe your child. It's not the store's job to charge you based on age.
    via u/kloppcd

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customer service karens workplace-stories entitled parents server retail retail worker karen-customer karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people
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