Entitled customer expects retail employee to apply outdated discount on an item their store doesn't sell, an audacious argument ensues: ‘He got all huffy when he didn't get his way’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
May 3, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Customer service, particularly retail, could be a grueling industry to work in. Dealing with entitled Karens and Kevins isn't for the faint of heart, especially when you deal with multiple entitled customers a day. You'd think at some point, customer service employees would be used to humans who clearly don't care about other humans, but we want to believe that not everyone is that way. That belief, however, is the hamartia of humanhood. At least half of any store's customership makes it their mission to inconvenience employees, no matter how helpful they might be.

In this next story, a retail employee realizes that not every customer has their head screwed on the right way, and it shows. The customer in question calls the store looking for a discount on an item the store doesn't sell, and then starts an argument when the employee explains the situation back to them. Entitlement knows no bounds.

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  • 01
    "And then I hung up on him."
    via Icons8 Team for Unsplash

    The image does not describe the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02

    "Entitled customer has the audacity to ask us to apply the sales price from a sale that ended two weeks ago on an item we don't even sell."

    A few weeks ago, we had a "10% off store wide" sale. That sale ended two weeks ago. Queue this customer emailing us a day later, asking if we sell item X. We don't. However, it's
    via soberonlife
  • 03
    something one of our suppliers sell, so I told him we might be able to get it in as a special order. Since we have never sold this item before we need to work out the retail price based on the cost
    via soberonlife
  • 04
    price, shipping, tax etc, which means a bit of back and forth with the supplier to get shipping quotes etc. Because it's quite a process, I didn't want to start it until the customer was happy to proceed.
    via soberonlife
  • 05
    He was happy to proceed, so I started to finalise the price. Our supplier is in a very different time zone so a back and forth takes a few days. It's essentially one
    via soberonlife
  • 06
    email per day because there isn't a single overlapping business hour where we're both open. However, we figured out what it would cost to get in and what it would cost to sell. It was $500.
    via soberonlife
  • 07
    So I told the customer price, and this conversation ensued: Customer: Is that with the 10% discount? Me: No, that's just the price.
    via soberonlife
  • 08
    C: Oh okay, so I'll only have to pay $450 then? Me: Um, no? It's $500 C: But where's the discount?
    via soberonlife
  • 09
    Me: What discount? C: The 10% discount Me: What 10% discount? C: From the store wide sale
    via soberonlife
  • 10

    "...we don't even sell this product. It's a special order."

    Cheezburger Image 10500912384
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 11
    Me: That ended two weeks ago C: Yeah but I asked about the product the day after the sale ended Me: The sale is over and we don't even sell this product. It's a special order.
    via soberonlife
  • 12
    C: Um, most stores honour the discount if the customer is just a day late, y'know.
    via soberonlife
  • 13
    Me: Yeah, we do that for products that we have in stock that were for part of the sale. Not for products that are special order. We have never stocked or sold this item, so it was never on sale. Since there was never a sales price that you missed out on, the cost is $500.
    via soberonlife
  • 14
    C: Well I'm not buying it unless you give me a discount Me: Okay then, feel free to call back if you change your mind.
    via soberonlife
  • 15
    And then I hung up on him. I just couldn't believe it. Imagine expecting a discount on an item a store doesn't even sell, two weeks after a sale ended. Keep in mind, he didn't ask for a discount, he expected one. He
    via soberonlife
  • 16
    just assumed he was entitled to one because he asked about a product we don't sell the day after a sale ended, then he got all huffy when he didn't get his way.
    via soberonlife
  • 17
    I should have just told him it was $555, then sold it to him for $500 "on sale", but unfortunately I lack the foresight to predict such bulls.
    via soberonlife
  • 18
    De-railled When he calls back, increase the price and blame it on tariffs. We have a "pain tax" in my company, it's about 5-10% increase.
    via De-railled
  • 19
    JustanOldBaby Boomer I would blacklist that customer and refuse to do business with them again.
    via JustanOldBabyBoomer
  • 20
    BootlegFC Nah man, everytime they insist on a discounted price raise the quote by the discount. First ask, with discount the price is $550. Second ask, With discount is $605. And so on.
    via BootlegFC

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customer service entitlement retail retail worker karen-customer customers reddit story customer entitled people karma entitled reddit thread tales-from-retail Reddit entitled people
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