'When she called corporate to complain about me, she also got me': 10+ Satisfying moments that retail workers got to say, "Actually, I am the manager" to their worst customers

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 29, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

These managers had an empowering day at work when they got to tell their worst customers that they were in fact the person in charge. It must be an incredibly satisfying way to end a conversation with a nightmare customer. 

U/ProfessorUber decided to ask people about their best "Actually, I am the manager" stories, and hundreds of people shared their favorite tales. After working in retail or food service for a few years, you know all the rules and regulations like the back of your hand. So when a customer starts asking you to bend the rules or do things you're just straight up banned from doing, you know you can't do that, but the customer will still insist on talking to a manager. That manager is just going to tell them the same thing you've already been trying to tell the customer for the last 10 minutes. They just have an official title that makes the customer believe what they're saying (finally!). So it makes sense that when an employee finally gets promoted to the manager position, they've waited a long time to say those magic words: "I am the manager here." 

After that, read about two retail managers who worked together to get back at a completely irrational customer, telling them, "I've spoken with one of our experts." 

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    Cheezburger Image 10410200064
    via Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    What's your "Actually I am the manager" story?
    via u/ProfessorUber
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    PoolStoreGuy I off customer asked for the store managers card and when he will be in so he can complain about me for charging him a restocking fee per policy. I hand him the managers card and tell him he will be able to speak with him the following day. I am the manager. He called, I answered, he hung up.
    via u/PoolStoreGuy
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    d... I was the manager at an EB Games back in the day. This was probably about 2000- 2001. I was there for the launch of the PS2 and Diablo 2 (two biggest events I can remember). We had an older lady come in one day and wanted to "return" a system she had bought for her son. She claimed he had gotten bad
    via u/docholoday
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    grades in school and was returning it as a punishment. She handed me this ridiculously old and beat up cardboard box. I opened it. to find a dirty, dusty, cheeto fingerprint covered PS1. I knew that the original PlayStation launched in 1994 (...and now I feel super old), so what I was looking at in the box was at least 6 years old. I paused, looked back at her, and for whatever reason asked if
    via u/docholoday
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    she had the receipt. She actually did. Sure enough, it had the date printed on it, and it was from some time in '94. I still hadn't said anything more, I was just looking at the mess in front of me when she spoke up and said something along the lines of "and I'll just take the cash back, that will be fine." I laughed, which was
    via u/docholoday
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    probably my first mistake, and said "I'm sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to return this, this is six years old, and clearly used." She tried to argue that she had bought it here at this store and the manager at the time told her she could return it for "any" reason and went on this crazy diatribe about her kid being bad, etc, etc. It went on for a good 5-10 minutes. When
    via u/docholoday
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    she was done, I just flipped the receipt over and read her the EB return policy. "30 days from date of purchase for unopened merchandise... etc". She completely lost it. It escalated so quickly I contemplated calling mall security (ha!) and the police. She wasn't having it. Then I told her she could "sell" the system back to us (it was worth about $40 at the
    via u/docholoday
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    time), which would have given her something, but she wasn't biting on that one. She asked for the manager, demanded to see the manager, wouldn't rest until she told the manager how I had been (I was pretty much a saint for most of this) and was going to get me fired. I just pointed to my name tag, and in the most
    via u/docholoday
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    satisfied tone humanly possible said "Lady, I AM the manager, and there's no way on God's green earth that I'm returning an opened, 6 year old, clearly used, dirty PlayStation." She stormed out, never to be seen again. It was glorious.
    via u/docholoday
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    SalemScout I ran and ice cream shop. I must have had to say "Actually, I am the manager" at least once a week. My favorite was this woman I eventually banned from the shop. She would come in with her husband and kids. Then she would try to order a large (three scoops) and ask me to put it in three single scoop cups, but only
    via u/SalemScout
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    charge for the large. I said no. You either order three single scoops or you order a large. The difference in cost is quite a bit, but it's fairly standard for companies to do it this way. I wasn't having it. She got pissy that I wouldn't do it. First she said "Well the manager let me do it last week."
    via u/SalemScout
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    "No I didn't," I told her flatly. "Well than whoever was working let me do it and they said they were the manager." "No they didn't. I believe my workers over you." "Well I want to talk to the manager." "I am the manager. You are talking to me. I said no."
    via u/SalemScout
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    "Fine!" And she and her little family stormed out without any ice cream. No skin off my back. She was to me and my workers, I wasn't going to let her treat us that way. Then she proceeds to call the shop the next day, when I am working again (as the manager, I worked a lot.) She said "Hello, I need to speak to the manager."
    via u/SalemScout
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    "Speaking. How can I help you?" "I was in there yesterday and some little I lied and said she was the manager, but she wouldn't let me get what I wanted..." "That was me. You're banned from our location. Don't come back."
    via u/SalemScout
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    Bonus justice : She tried to call corporate to report me. Corporate outsources complaints to the manager with the highest rating in the area. Which was me. So when she called corporate to complain about me, she also got me. I wrote up the details of the conversation and forwarded all of her messages to the
    via u/SalemScout
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    district manager, and he agreed with my decision and allowed me to send her an email officially banning her from the store.
    via u/SalemScout
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    N... I used to work in the box office for an MLB team. The actual manager was usually extremely busy and couldn't easily respond to issues at 15 different windows, so we frequently pretended to be each other's managers. It was the easiest way to get back up when an annoying customer would not accept one of our policies.
    via u/Norman1515
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    On one night I was helping a very drunk customer who refused to accept a policy (I don't remember exactly what it was). He asked to speak to the manager, but he and everyone else around me were crazy busy. So I turned my back on the customer, turned back around, pretended to be a different person, and backed myself up. He accepted this without issue and went on his way.
    via u/Norman1515
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    [deleted] Dude holy this just happened the other day: Old man comes in the pizzeria I manage. Doesn't say a thing to me just hands me a piece of paper with numbers on it. We have a rewards program and I assumed it was his code for a free pizza, so the first thing I said was "oh is this your code for the VIP pizza"
    via u/[deleted]
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    and he says "yeah but I want a sub with chips and a drink" and I said "sir this code is only for a large pizza with two toppings" and he starts to throw a little geriatric fit, and of course I stand my ground because this guy, and he starts looking behind the counter as if to get my insider's attention and I quickly redirect him to me saying "uh and I'm the
    via u/[deleted]
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    manager so you can talk to me if you have a problem" and he basically demanded his free sub and I wouldn't give it to him because 1) as far as I knew this code was only for a free pizza and 2) mother he was a
    via u/[deleted]
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    and I'm not going out of my way for him. Sure I could give it to him for free but how are you that old and still don't understand courtesy and manners. He ended up taking the pizza. right.
    via u/[deleted]
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    brandnamenerd Close. Was working at a chain bookstore in the same town that the CEO lived in, and he would frequently come in to our store to get things. Had a customer blowing up at me over a return and that an exception should be made, because he "knows the CEO really well, [they]
    via u/brandnamenerd
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    go way back". Not the first time I've heard similar things. It didn't help he got the CEO's first name wrong. I wish I could have some sort of memento from this, but the CEO was in the store that day. The CEO was in the very line for the registers that annoying customer was holding up with demands to return something he didn't buy from us.
    via u/brandnamenerd
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    I knew the customer was full of since they had the name wrong and ignored his "good friend" in line. So it was nice to ask why he didn't say anything to his pal, it was nice when the CEO came up to us at the registers to ask if they needed help, and it was nice
    via u/brandnamenerd
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    to have two store managers stand there confirming that he was talking to the CEO and was caught in the lie of knowing the CEO to demand a return.
    via u/brandnamenerd
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    T….. I was an auto parts store manager. In that retail setting, you don't see too many female employees, and when some customers come in (female customers usually being the bigger offender) they want to talk to a male employee. In this case, I was working with another employee, a
    via u/TruthBeToldToday
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    female manager, when a guy came in and started asking her questions. He clearly knew little, as he was the one asking questions. Our female manager was answering them, but the guy didn't like or believe the answers coming from her. I was in the back around the corner, but listening to the conversation. The guy said she clearly couldn't help him and he
    via u/TruthBeToldToday
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    needed to talk to a man. I came out from around the corner about this time and the customer came down to the register where I was standing. He started asking me questions about parts, and I told him "Hmmm, that is a good question. Let me ask our expert..." and I called over our female manager. Customer got all huffy and said we were running a two
    via u/TruthBeToldToday
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    bit store and that we didn't know anything. He told us he'd visit out competitor and then left. That coming from the guy asking the questions, not giving the answers. I really don't like those kind of people.
    via u/TruthBeToldToday
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    [deleted] I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT. On mobile and not super Reddit savvy so I apologize. for the format. I used to work at a Hot Topic and was the opening manager some weekday a few summers ago. This woman comes in with her 25+ y/o crust punk daughter and her boyfriend to buy them some clothes.
    via u/[deleted]
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    They were pretty much regulars and I knew their faces. Anyway, the shorts were on sale or something but you couldn't mix girls shorts with guys. I let them know that and later when I'm ringing her out and she isn't seeing the sale applied to the shorts she got she absolutely snaps on me. I explained calmly that I already told her that the sale couldn't be applied as it's an automatic button and I
    via u/[deleted]
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    cannot physically honor it. She was getting really heated and starting to yell at me, basically just being an angry condescending The conversation was like this: Her: You can just change the price. It's not that hard. Me: I'm sorry but I can't do that, it's not part of the sale so I can't actually do that. (Even if I could I'm not going to give you a discount you
    via u/[deleted]
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    shouldn't have if you're a , sorry.) Her: You clearly don't understand how a register works. Me: Ma'am, I cannot give you the sale. Either you can buy these two items as they are or you can put them away. Her (1 you not, she actually said the following): Little girl, why don't you run into the back and get your manager so I can explain how this works to her.
    via u/[deleted]
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    I ALMOST EXPLODED. I WAS SO EXCITED. I WAS SO READY TO FINALLY DO IT. So, with the most smug s eating smile I simply said "I am the manager. What did you need me to explain?" It was the best.
    via u/[deleted]
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    [deleted] I was working as the shipping manager at an aluminum remelt facility. We usually shipped "sows", 1200-1800lb AL ingots. basically. My department was always understaffed and I the biggest/fastest forklift in the department parked by my office so I'd usually load. trucks myself while my guys
    via u/[deleted]
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    were trying to prepare/stage loads. Truck goes through security and all that jazz, get back to me, and the driver decides he's not gonna wait for me to get over there, he's just gonna rummage around and try to find the switches to open the gate and roll up door. Walk in on random driver rummaging around my office basically trying all the buttons like an idiot, ask him
    via u/[deleted]
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    to go sit in his truck as our insurance company doesn't allow for drivers to be out of there truck. He gets all pissy, can't back but eventually up for gets to the dock kinda crooked but workable. Gets back out of the truck to "help" me load it. Tell him. no, he needs to sit in the truck and he starts flipping that he won't let some dumbass kid (I was 22)load
    via u/[deleted]
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    his truck so he can get a ticket blah blah. I grew up with trucking so I kind of understand his point, tell him fine but he needs to stay behind a giant yellow rail. So I start loading the truck with my usual pattern, I know what the load weighs and what each stack of materials I'm putting in weigh so Im using a pattern that will make the truck legal
    via u/[deleted]
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    and symmetrical. He's the whole time he don't like how I'm loading it, tell him that if he doesn't want me to load it this way fine, I'll stack it however the he wants but I'm not going to adjust or anything after the fact, he'll have to live it. He demands to speak to my manager, explain I am the manager, he calls me a liar and calls the phone number listed for
    via u/[deleted]
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    shipping manager on his paperwork, cell phone rings. in my pocket and he backs off a bit and chuckles that he thought I was just a kid. Get the truck loaded his way, which probably had close to 40k on the drives, and he goes to our scale, that doesn't give axle weights only gross so he comes back and wants me to adjust a little off the drives just to be safe which
    via u/[deleted]
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    would mean unloading and reloading the whole truck. I remind him he demanded it loaded this way and I have other trucks to load so no. He starts flipping again and I tell him that theres a truck scale down the about 5 miles and they can axle it. He's kind of happy with this info and that it's close and leaves.
    via u/[deleted]
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    That scale is the state DOT scale. Got a call the next morning cause he was trying. to stick us with the ticket. Didn't work, but was hilarious. That's the story in as small a nutshell as I can manage, guy was there almost 3 hours just bickering over every little thing.and wanting things moved a couple inches on the truck.
    via u/[deleted]
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    TL;DR hole driver demanded that dumb kid load his truck his way and got a ticket for it.
    via u/[deleted]
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    whatdidiusefor... I managed a grocery store in high school. It was a small place with two registers up front and the manager had one at the service/video rental counter.
    via u/whatdidiuseforaname
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    There were a number of times where I'd be covering a register for someones break and get an unruly customer who demanded a manager. I'd tell them I would call the manager over to the counter for them. I'd walk right over with them, open the locked door to the office, and come out to the counter with a grin and a "How can I help you today?"
    via u/whatdidiuseforaname
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    boinksession Ive got a great one. Used to work in a convenient store during college. This convenient store didnt have the classiest of clientele. One day this lady comes in and wants some cigarettes that we were out of. They were the cheap brand and so she goes on to say, "Well, if youre out of those the manager lets her have the premium brands for the
    via u/boinksession
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    same price". I laugh right into her face and say, "Do you want them or not, theyre gonna be the price they are?" She gets upset, goes on this tirade and tells me to call the manager. At this point, I was tired of her but I fancy her request. So I say, "Ok, III do it". I pick up the store
    via u/boinksession
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    phone, call my own cell phone, let my cell phone ring for a few seconds, then answer my cell phone while still on the store phone and say "hey theres this lady here and wants to speak to the manager". The mad, then confused, then sad, then mad again face she made was the greatest of all comebacks Ive probably ever come up with in my life. It was great.
    via u/boinksession
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    -Disaster This girl has worked in a restaurant I manage for a month and a half and she is absolutely /incompetent/. I walked into a completely dirty kitchen and this girl is on her phone texting mid- shift. When I told her she wasn't allowed on her phone, she responds "You're not the boss of me." Actually... I am, and you're fired.
    via u/A**-Disaster
  • 52
    [deleted] I used to manage a Pizza shop. We had an open-view kitchen so the customers at the counter could watch us toss and make their pizza. So one day I'm sitting to the side enjoying my lunch when this older guy comes in and asks my coworker for a slice. Now we sold cheese slices and pepperoni slices at a dollar difference, and
    via u/A**-Disaster
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    'specialty' slices at a dollar more. This guy wants a pepperoni slice, but wants us to add literal fist-fulls of sliced onion and jalapeno. My coworker was like, 'ok, but that'll cost more, one dollar more'. The guy went ballistic. 'This is ridiculous!' he said, 'Where's your manager!' he asked. So, with a mouthful of lettuce, I stand up and walk over there. I didn't feel like
    via u/A**-Disaster
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    doing any talking, so I grabbed some tape and a sharpie and wrote 'Manager' on a piece of tape. Stuck it on my coworker and gave him a thumbs up. Coworker promptly told the customer that if he wanted the slice he'd have to fork over the cash. The guy did, grudgingly, and left with his slice. Watching my coworkers face turn into a mean grin was the best part.
    via u/A**-Disaster
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    7... So when I was like 12, my step dad took my sister and I to a sand pit on the Mississippi river. We're running around and exploring and having fun... but then I get paranoid and ask him "won't they be mad if we mess up something." His response: "I am they." He owned the company.
    via u/7hawk77

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