'Big mistake. HUGE!': Customer has real-life Pretty Woman moment with retail Karen

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jan 5, 2024 4:00 PM EST

I've always wanted to walk into a store and prove everyone wrong with my ability to purchase a wildly expensive item. So far, it's yet to happen, but there's always time. When I'm traveling, if I have some downtime, I like to wander into big, fancy designer stores just to look around and people-watch. I don't really understand the designer world, but it's fun to look at from the outside. It's a fascinating scene-- the people who can sit around asking the associates to bring them clothes and shoes and bags while they just sit there and decide what they want. If a sales associate offers you champagne while you shop, you know it's fancy. But you can never immediately tell who's rich and who's not. Rich people have a tendency to wear whatever they want, regardless of the occasion.

A recent Reddit post brought this phenomenon to light and provided a juicy revenge story à la Pretty Woman at the same time. Get the deets below. 

Advertisement
  • 01
    r/pettyrevenge u/Prize-Break8433 • 4d Dressed overly casual at a designer store so that the rude sales rep wouldn't get commission
    via u/Prize-Break8433
  • 02
    I don't typically buy a lot of designer clothing but when I do go shopping, I dress pretty casually. Last week I was strolling through the mall and there was designer backpack on display that caught my attention. I went inside the store (wearing a hoodie and ripped jeans) and went to inquire about the price of the backpack. I waited around for 10 minutes for someone to help me until I decided to go up to one of the sales representatives myself. She told me to wait because she was helping another
    via u/Prize-Break8433
  • 03
    I walked back up to her and told her I wanted to inquire about the backpack. I asked her if she could bring one from the backroom so I could take a closer look at it. She told me that she wouldn't be able to do that unless I was planning on purchasing the item. She seemed annoyed with my request. Before I could say anything else, she quickly walked away to help another customer. I'm quite young (25F) and I could tell she didn't think I was serious about purchasing it and didn't want to waste her
    via u/Prize-Break8433
  • 04
    A few days later, I went back into the store. This time I made sure to dress a even more casually than before. I walked in with a pair of sweatpants, running shoes, a tank top and zip-up. The same lady was working that day and turned her back to me as I soon as I walked in. I went up to one of the other sales representatives (this guy was younger, smiling and seemed eager to help) and I told him I wanted to purchase the backpack and he gladly went inside and got for me. He even asked if I'd like
    via u/Prize-Break8433
  • 05
    MysteryBros. 4d I used to work in a music shop in the mid 90s. My department was electronic music, so I was selling keyboards, mixers, software, that sort of thing. One slow day this older dude comes in, long straggly hair, singlet, beat up cargo shorts that looked like they'd seen much better days, and flip flops. The guitar sales team were all around in the amp room, and were uninterested in helping this guy. Now I don't play guitar, but I knew a fair bit about them, and I don't mind a chat, s
    via u/MysteryBros
  • 06
    ThreeDogs2022 • 4d Big mistake! HUGE!
    via u/ThreeDogs2022
  • 07
    CptCroissant • 4d I think it's somewhat common knowledge that if you're in a very expensive place, the more unkempt you look the richer you probably actually are because you've lost the will to give a and need to impress others.
    via u/CptCroissant
  • 08
    ImpossibleFuel6629 . 4d The wealthiest people I know (wealthy, not high income) dress the most casually, really just however they damn well please, no matter the context. Many meetings I've had with +$100m net worth folks in flip flops and tshirts. What's the point of having money like that if you have to dress for the benefit of other mere mortals?
    via u/ImpossibleFuel6629
  • 09
    -GatorFIRE- • 4d Many meetings I've had with +$100m net worth folks in flip flops and tshirts. I've been dressing that way since I was a kid. Now I just need $100m and I'm set.
    via u/-GatorFIRE-
  • 10
    savealltheelephants • 4d That woman obviously hasn't worked there long. One of my friends worked for a high end designer store in Vegas and said that the women who came in dressed to the 9s in designer stuff usually spent $ (like 2000-10000) but the BIG SPENDERS (20,000+) usually came in wearing sweats/casual clothes and looking like they were you know, spending the day walking around the mall shopping.
    via u/savealltheelephants
  • 11
    gabahgoole 4d ● my friend is a private shopper at holt renfrew. clients spending millions a year. her ultra rich clients are never dressed up for shopping appointments, sweats, oversized , runners, they buy expensive clothes for events and specific situations to dress up. any luxury store employeee knows a really rich person might not be dressed up. they generally dont look at someones clothes specifically to judge wealth, more their demeneor and how they act. a very rich person can go in anwyeh
    via u/gabahgoole
  • 12
    TheSilentSong . 4d My mom was a hair stylist that took on a lot of mid to high class customers, but certainly didn't turn away anyone below those bars. She told me one day in her first salon, a man that looked somewhere between a construction worker and outright homeless guy came in. NO ONE wanted to handle him and actively pretended he didn't exist. Turned out the guy was rich. Became a repeat client.
    via u/TheSilentSong
  • 13
    Federal-Ad-5190 - 4d I ran a country pub for a while. The richest customers dressed like they were homeless. Why replace the threadbare clothes? They were only worn when one was pottering about the land. The good stuff came out for the job in London.
    via u/Federal-Ad-5190
  • 14
    hockeynoticehockey • 4d Many years ago, part time job in my city's highest end men's clothing store. High end, like I couldn't buy a pair of socks with a week's pay high end. It's Christmas time, my coworkers had their pick of new customers since we were so busy. I noticed a man enter who looked nothing like the other shoppers. Maybe in his 50's, wearing a well worn parka, just standing there. Not one of my money grubbing co workers would even look at him, so I did. 30 minutes later he walked ou
    via u/hockeynoticehockey
  • 15
    BelaNorn 4d ● My mom used to work for a money manager. She always said the people who came in dressed up and dripping in expensive items tended to have much less money than those who came in dressed in normal or casual clothes.
    via u/BelaNorn
  • 16
    dbear848 4d ● I did the same thing at a car dealership. I'm a computer nerd and I live in shorts and tshirts, but I'm paid enough that I could buy the car with cash.
    via u/dbear848
  • 17
    18k_gold • 4d My wife works with a sales person a little like this. She will ignore someone that thinks won't buy anything, like old people. She will tell them she is busy, then another sales person will help them, make the sale. Then she will run up and say that was my customer, you stole them from me. Transfer the sales to my name.
    via u/18k_gold

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

petty-revenge-reddit retail revenge retail worker reddit story petty revenge designer clothing karens in the wild rich people subreddit reddit thread Reddit money rich karen
Scroll Down For The Next Article