'People want those crates!': Karen sewing circle starts drama demanding empty wine crates without having to buy any bottles, store clerk faces their wrath

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jun 5, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

What was this sewing circle of Karens up to?

That's what this wine store clerk was asking when three Karens in a row started incessantly calling the store demanding empty crates of wine without having to make an actual purchase. As one might expect, the best way to get a wine crate is by purchasing the wine that comes with it. It turns out that these Karens wanted a bunch of empty crates so they could use them to build a bookcase. However, as we know all too well on FAIL Blog, beggars cannot be choosers and these Karens were not about the get a bunch of free empty crates, nor was the clerk going to ensure that he'd save these crates for them. This, of course, led to a temper tantrum from the entire sewing circle. Our heart goes out to the store clerk who had to endure it all.

For more stories like this, check out this post about a Karen employee's unruly behavior.

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  • 01
    19713 ETAP TTT BEER ABLE to go R we're here with beer H we're here with beer
    via Kyle Wagner
  • 02
    A while back, I worked at a wine store. Everything in the store was at least 80 points, for those of you who understand what that means. So we understandably get some things in rather nice packaging. The cigars are the fanciest packaging in my opinion, but honestly, to someone who sells the stuff, it's just a box.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 03
    Boxes inspire ideas; not all of them good. Just imagine what kinds of people would show up to someplace, with the pretense of "lots of boxes". Those people show up to wine stores. Except, used wine boxes have replay value for people buying wine. So there's a built in demand, that really prevents waste. Only completely useless cardboard gets crushed and only dirty boxes get thrown out. It is not a goldmine of boxes.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 04
    So, one day, the phone rings. It's an old lady, with a sweet demeanor, asks if we have any wooden wine crates available. I put her on hold and asked the sommelier if we had any, and she told me "We get them here once in a while. But when one is available, it goes quickly,
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 05
    usually to the first person who asks for it. We have to actually sell enough wine, that comes in a wooden crate, before that crate can be up for grabs." The lady thanked me, and said goodbye.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 06
    I go on with my day. It's not an unusual question, but it's the first time I'd actually gotten an answer. Previous times, I'd just said I didn't know. Now I do. Cool.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 07
    So then the phone rang again. Another old lady. She tells me that she heard that we have wooden wine crates, that will be available after a sale is done and she wanted to be sure she was the first person to ask for one. As if there was some actual waitlist, and some big sale event they were just being used for. I explained that no, there is no word on when a single crate would be available. It's random. So, all the bottles that are stored in this crate,
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 08
    need to be sold first. I explained this particular set of facts a few times. I answered that lady's questions and she actually seemed to get the whole thing. The matter seemed settled. There were no crates available because of some sale. Got it.....
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 09
    After about an hour of unremarkable wine store business, the phone rings. I swear it somehow rang harder than normal, even though phones don't actually ring anymore. This one was a frantic old lady. She'd heard that a sale ended, and we'd removed all the wine crates,
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 10
    so they were unavailable to customers. "People want those crates!" I repeated all of the information I told to the last two callers. I then tried to figure out what all the fuss was. We talked enough, that I resolved all the concerns.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 11
    While on the phone with this same caller, I explained more detail about how one of these boxes would even become available. I really thought I was off the hook at this point.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 12
    Boss lady Karen calls. This lady sounds like the type who grabs her pearls and screams "Oh my STARS!" She needs an organist to follow her around.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 13
    The best I could gather was that she heard that we were redoing our warehouse and that we aren't holding wooden crates for anyone.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 14
    Supposedly we were crushing the crates to make sure they all fit in the dumpster. Then a ramble about how beautiful those wooden crates are and how people reuse them. And she begged me to ask the wine clerk for six of them.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 15
    I put her on hold, laughed my head off, and decided to ask a random clerk if it could be done. The guy looked scared for his job, so I disregarded his reluctant yes, because he told me the sommelier would be mad and the crates, currently full of delicate, expensive products, wouldn't even stack well.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 16
    I even looked at the room where wooden crate wines are stored. They're not even from the same places in the world, built from completely different woods. They only stack with same-brand. Also, the temperature of this room was fantastic.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 17
    The lady calmed down, once she learned that no, we didn't even have a machine that crushes wood crates. I have a background in sales, but I regret not trying to actually sell all the wine in question.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 18
    Three days later, a perky college girl called me and when she began asking me questions about wine crates,
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 19
    as if she was trying to make sense of something. It just turned out she saw a wine crate book case on Instagram and wanted to build one.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 20
    Fortunately, she apologized and was glad I found it funny, that her grandmother's actual Sewing Circle caused so much drama.
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 21
    Adjulane 2 days ago Now I want a wine crate. I think I'll call around...
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 22
    gernb1 2 days ago Tell her she needs to buy the case of wine to get the crate..
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 23
    Ok_Adagio9495. 1 day ago Ask a Sewing Circle, they probably know
    via u/EvolZippo
  • 24
    tryintobgood 22 hr. ago Karen "Can I have a wooden wine crate?" Sure, it comes with 12 bottles of wine. How many would you like?
    via u/EvolZippo

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