20+ Retail employees who got to ban customers from the store: 'Best day of work I have ever had'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jul 23, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

In retail work, you'll have a few truly excellent days, like the day you hand in your 2-week's notice, the day you actually leave for good, and the day you get to tell off your worst customer ever. Those last two may actually happen on the same day, depending on how strongly you let the customer know that they're wrong! 

Working in retail can really sap your faith in humanity. Or, if you enjoy looking at the glass half full, it can really boost your confidence in your own intelligence! When you find yourself arguing over and over about the same things, it just drains you. Customers will look you right in the eye and lie about the price of items. They'll stand right next to a 10% off sign and insist that it says 50% off. They'll say they gave you a $100 bill when they actually handed over a $20. Some will just insult your appearance or badmouth your job. Life would be so sweet if every cashier was allowed to talk to customers in the manner they deserve, but no, many bosses prioritize customer service over telling the customer he's a big dummy. However, there are times when that customer is so wrong that the employee takes a chance and dunks on them, and there are a bunch of these glorious stories down below. 

Next, read the ongoing saga of the grocery store that keeps letting an employee named Kevin do the ordering, even though he's constantly messing things up: "Kevin ordered too much… The Great Cereal Conundrum Part 6." 

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  • 01
    justbecause999 Years ago I was a manager in a grocery store. Woman brought a pie back that she said was undercooked. I asked to see it so I could send someone to go get another for her. She didn't wait for me to finish my sentence are after my first three words she threw the pie at me. I promptly told my
    via u/justbecause999
  • 02
    office cashier to call the police. This woman must have thought I was kidding so when the cops showed up and she was still there I had her arrested. The look on her face was priceless. Years of putting up with like her just washed away. Best day ever, at least at that time in my life.
    via u/justbecause999
  • 03
    Jormungand1342 I work at a Chili's and I had a customer come in one day give and give me his name for a pickup. I go over and look at the orders I had with no name matching. I ask him again to make sure I didn't get the wrong name and he goes off about how we messed up. All the usual things "how hard it your job, how could you screw up, what is wrong with you." etc.
    via u/Jormungand1342
  • 04
    I keep my cool and ask him what he ordered so the kitchen could make it as quickly as they could. As soon as he got to the ahi tuna salad I told him with the straightest face I could muster that he had ordered from the outback next door. He said nothing, not even an apology and just turned around and walked out. I still get a nice laugh about it today.
    via u/Jormungand1342
  • 05
    wickedmal I was working at a Holiday Inn on a sold out weekend when a guy showed up to check in. I type in his name but we have no reservation under that name. I tell him we don't have a reservation by that name and he immediately gets pissy, making snide comments about how hard is it to look up a name and then starts spelling it out really slow and
    via u/wickedmal
  • 06
    loud like I'm mentally challenged or something. I tell him there is still nothing by that name, nothing even close. I ask him if maybe he has a confirmation number because sometimes names get typed in incorrectly. He is getting really ped at this point and says yeah he probably has it in an email
    via u/wickedmal
  • 07
    but doesn't feel like going through all that and just make him a new reservation. I of course tell him I can't do that because we're sold out. So he pulls out his phone to look up the email, the whole time going on and on about how stupid people are now days and how hard can it be to find a - reservation yada yada yada. He finally
    via u/wickedmal
  • 08
    pulls up the email, says "Here!" as he shoves the phone in my face. I look at it for about half a second and see the Days Inn logo. I just looked at him and said, "This is for the Days Inn. You're standing in a Holiday Inn." He just turned around and walked out without another word but the look on his face right before he left made me feel sweet sweet victory.
    via u/wickedmal
  • 09
    AhrmiintheUnseen Bit late to the party but I need to share this. I used to work at a small water park where there were some dry rides up the southern end. There was this 8-year old kid just being a little sh ; pushing in line, climbing up the slide of the playground, knocking other kid's hats off, that sort of bulls | warn him several times then ask him to leave, but he
    via u/AhrmiintheUnseen
  • 10
    doesn't. I go and ask my supervisor what to do and he says "Get the scissors". He means to cut his wristband, without which he can't go on any rides. I call him over, and he surprisingly complies, and before he can react, I grab his wrist and cut off his wristband. Naturally, he starts crying like a b . He runs off to get his mum and she comes back about 15 minutes later and comes and talks to me
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  • 11
    (without her son). She asks why I did what I did, and I explain the situation to her, and how it is standard procedure. She nods and understands, and knows that her son is a demon- child. She leaves, but, lo and behold, 10 minutes later here he comes. He tries to cut in line again and I stop him, and ask him to go back to his mum. His first reaction was to punch me in the
    via u/AhrmiintheUnseen
  • 12
    b. Oh sh, no he didn't. My supervisor sees and immediately calls security. Apparently his mum saw too and she comes running. She doesn't say anything to her child, but goes and tells the supervisor to 'scare' him. When security arrives (30 seconds later) they grab the kid, whirl him around and handcuff him. He's s ing himself at this point. They grab him and take him off in their golf cart. A few
    via u/AhrmiintheUnseen
  • 13
    minutes later they return and the kid has obviously been crying, and hard. He jumps out of the cart and runs straight to his mum, who grabs him and walks out. People watching were stunned, but amazingly, and I sh you not, some applauded as they went off. Best day of work I have ever had.
    via u/AhrmiintheUnseen
  • 14
    itsloveyhowell For a few months after college, I worked at a check cashing/payday lending place (hey, I needed a job, okay?). We worked behind bulletproof glass with a small opening at the bottom where you could slide things through. I had a guy who wanted to cash a check. Without ID, I couldn't do it. He screamed at me for awhile and then took his full
    via u/itsloveyhowell
  • 15
    Big Gulp-sized Mountain Dew and threw it at me. I flinched automatically but remembered just about the same time that he did that I was behind glass. Most of the liquid splashed back all over him. He was instantly even more p ed, but likely sort of embarrassed, and stormed out swearing like crazy. I mean, I did have to mop the Mountain Dew out of the tray, but I think I came out ahead on that one
    via u/itsloveyhowell
  • 16
    without having to say a word or do a thing. TLDR; A_h_le customer tried to drench me in soda but got himself instead. Sweet (but sticky) justice.
    via u/itsloveyhowell
  • 17
    BlowhardFunke When I worked in the customer service booth at a supermarket, I had someone come in very angry at me that her shrimp had tasted horrible. It ruined her party, the dog wouldn't even eat it, etc. I refunded her money and told her that she was welcome to go by the seafood department and let them know herself.
    via u/BlowhardFunke
  • 18
    She comes back about 5 minutes later and said that she spoke with someone at the counter, who evidently put her in her place. She had purchased fresh, uncooked shrimp that she thought was precooked. She just plopped it out on the table and served it. Raw, uncooked shrimp. She was horribly embarrassed. It was pretty funny.
    via u/BlowhardFunke
  • 19
    [deleted] I used to work in retail a few years ago. One day a lady came in to buy about $600 in clothes. When I was ringing her up I asked to see her ID for the credit card she used. She quickly got defensive and for some reason decided to call me a "loser" while going through her bag. I ignored the comment and waited for her to find it. After a few
    via u/[deleted]
  • 20
    awkward seconds of her looking she told me she must have lost it. I looked at her and said "well, who's the loser now?" She left without a word and after years of dealing with customer's sh I felt really good that I got away with my response.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 21
    Pro... I worked in Central Market Bakery, and people were always getting us confused with our south store and the Whole foods up the street. This lady comes in to pick up a cake order. "cake for Mary smith" (fake name)" enunciating every word at me like I'm an idiot. I go check with our orders, I cant find her cake. "Ma'am what kind of cake was it?" "a
    via u/ProfWashu
  • 22
    birthday cake." "Any other name?" "NO, I ordered it it's under my name." I go back to the kitchen and call our sister store across town. They don't have it. go back to the lady. she's tapping her foot and yelling into her phone about how this || is taking forever with my order." I interrupt her without blinking. "Ma'am Neither our store nor our sister store has any record
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  • 23
    of your cake order, are you sure you ordered it with us? We do get confused with Whole foods a LOT." "Yes, I ordered it from this very store. i called and ordered it from you." "Ma'am do you remember what flavor cake it was and whether it had a theme?" "it was a birthday cake and i ordered it here!!!" she's nearly throwing a tantrum. I calmly walk back to the kitchen, the cake decorator comes running to
    via u/ProfWashu
  • 24
    catch me and walks me back up to our bitchy customer. "Ma'am, I'm the head cake decorator, I just got off the phone with Whole foods on south street and they said that your cake is ready and waiting for you there." she doesn't say anything but stomps her feet like a spoiled child and storms off.
    via u/ProfWashu
  • 25
    [deleted] I used to work at A&P grocery store when I was in high school and early college and I had a lady customer who had very specific requirements for how her groceries should be bagged. Due to some sort of back problem, none of the bags could weigh more than a pound or two and she always asked that the groceries be quadruple
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    bagged so she could be sure they wouldn't break. This 'uber-bag' should consist of two paper bags on the inside and two plastic bags on the outside. This particular day, she had decided to buy a five pound (which isn't very large at all) bag of rice. I knew immediately there would be nothing I could do...
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    So, I put the little five pound bag of rice inside an uber- bag and waited for the inevitable... "Ughhhhhh! This bag is TOO HEAVY! I told you to not make the bags so heavy! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CARRY THIS!"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    "Ma'am, if you would like, I would be happy to rip that single bag of rice in half and put it in eight bags..." ...Silence...
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    [deleted] Was working in the mail room of a huge government office. Signed for a delivery of some 75 boxes for us (a big delivery, but not too unusual). Fifteen minutes later the courier comes back and starts shouting at me about how I signed for a package that wasn't ours, I'm an idiot, and he needs the package back immediately. I told him that i
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    signed for some 75 boxes, and if one of them wasn't for us, it was his fault, not mine, and that I was too busy to check them all immediately, it would have to wait. This goes on a bit longer, and he demands to speak with my manager, who I call happily. He shouts at my manager "Your clerk here is treating me like an idiot." to which my manager replies, without missing a beat, "Well, sir...are you being an idiot?"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 31
    D REAL FOO
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 32
    63hz I deliver pizzas for a place in (lets call it Minneapolis, MN) that also happens to have a store in (lets call it Iowa City, IA.) One saturday night during the bar-time rush, some college aged girl calls and goes through the song and dance of ordering a pizza, and when the time comes to get her address, she gives a street name I've never delivered to. I ask her
    via u/63hz
  • 33
    to repeat, and she starts to get ride and repeats it. I ask her where it is, and she snaps JESUS, I live RIGHT down the block from your store, in front of the lowa City HALL (or something like that.) At which point I politely tell her that she's harassing the wrong store and should call our iowa city store. I would have loved to hear her internal monologue after that exchange.
    via u/63hz
  • 34
    Loving_Cheese I work at a popular bakery in my town. As a server, my job (basically) is to take your order put it in a box and take it to the register. Now, when your box exceeds a certain amount of pastries, I am required to get them from the racks we have in the back. This is because we do not want to empty the displays in the front, and the pastries from the back are
    via u/Loving_Cheese
  • 35
    usually a little bit more fresh. This lady order a dozen pastries, I excuse myself to the back to get the pastries. I come back, and she furious that I had not gotten the ones from the front. She complained, "I like the ones right there in the front! Not from the back, but those!"
    via u/Loving_Cheese
  • 36
    I calmly take the rack from the display, and place it on the table behind it (she could bot see the box with the pastries nor the rack from the front). I pretend to scramble things up, and move pastries around. I did ABSOLUTELY nothing, did not even move a pastry. I showed her the box, she promptly replied "Yea, those are the ones I liked! :)"
    via u/Loving_Cheese
  • 37
    My coworkers and I had a good laugh about it in the break room later that day.
    via u/Loving_Cheese
  • 38
    RedPotato Working at a museum really early in my career and I was doing coat check. Woman turns to her teenage daughter and said "this is why I'm making you go to college. So you aren't an uneducated idiot who hangs coats." Took my graduate school text book, Strategic Planning for Arts Non
    via u/RedPotato
  • 39
    Profits, out from my bag, slammed it on the counter and asked if she wanted to discuss the regulations for 501c3 organizations or if she'd like to edit my graduate thesis. J took her coat and walked out.
    via u/RedPotato
  • 40
    omahameg Working for the local police. department, I have angry citizens calling to complain regarding ...well, everything. One week, a lady starting to calling to check on her stolen car. Understanding how frustrating this is, I was doing everything in my "I'm a secretary" power to help her. She called. Daily. For two weeks. Then she started threatening me. Finally, a
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  • 41
    month into this nonsense she asked, "Do you know who I am?!?!" to which I replied, "Do you know who I am?" Not expecting this, she stuttered a "No" and I replied, "Good!" and hung up on her. I should feel bad; to this day they haven't found her car, but I figure: tl;dr: Be nice to civil servants or karma will steal your car. grin
    via u/omahameg
  • 42
    b-w... I sold a used car to customer that was an "as is" vehicle. I warned the customer up front of the risks involved but, he decided to buy it anyway. I advised him during his purchase to buy an extended warranty which he scoffed at and told me was a waste of money.
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  • 43
    2 days after the sale his transmission blew up and he called me, understandably upset. I told him I would do everything I could to help him out because I felt very terrible about his misfortune. I told him the best I could do was cover the labor for the repair (out of my own pocket, which equalled about 2 weeks of my pay).
    via u/b-west
  • 44
    The customer BLEW UP! He told me I was a lying b amongst many other less. than choice words. He kept repeating, "OH, YOU rd A H LES GOT ME!" Being a car salesman I am very resentful of the negative stigma attached to my position and that was the phrase that finally put me over the edge.
    via u/b-west
  • 45
    I snapped back at him, "You know what?! You're right, when I warned you of the dangers of buying this car, and told you to buy a warranty I had this PLANNED the whole time! I WANTED to be having this conversation with you and I was just waiting for you to buy this car so I could press my magic 'transmission explosion button'. I did all that because I'm a sociopath taking part of the worldwide
    via u/b-west
  • 46
    shady car sales conspiracy and I love watching the misfortune of others. WE GOT YOU!!!" When it was brought to light how misplaced his anger was and how ridiculous he was being he took a deep sigh, paused a second, and said.... "You're right, I'm sorry." My manager overheard was so impressed he covered
    via u/b-west
  • 47
    the labor cost so I didn't have to pay anything. The customer apologized again when he picked up his car from our shop. Since then, he has been one of my best customers and referred 3 people to come do business with me. tldr; Be nice to your auto sales and service people. They are trying to help you and there is no auto conspiracies.
    via u/b-west
  • 48
    Featof Clay Can I speak up as a witness? A woman came in to a pharmacy where I was a customer, to pick up a prescription refill she had called in. They didn't have it ready; in fact, they didn't even have any record she'd called or of her prescription. She just went OFF on their incompetence, while the rd dealing with poor b
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  • 49
    her kept his cool, and repeated, apologetically, that she wasn't in their system. She was loud and obnoxious. She ended her sneering tirade by saying she had the pill bottle in the car and she'd bring it in.
    via u/FeatofClay
  • 50
    I was still within earshot when she stomped back in and thrust it into the pharmacist's face in smug triumph, eagerly awaiting the profuse apology she expected. At which point he gently pointed out that it was from a completely different pharmacy. She spun on her heel and stalked out without apologizing.
    via u/FeatofClay
  • 51
    [deleted] I work at a Papa Murphys and sometimes customers order online but come in and pay in the store. This one woman paid online and tried to use a coupon but it didn't work so she came into the store asking about it. Whenever there seems to be a problem, my manager (thankfully, I was still pretty new) always comes over and sees how she can help. I told
    via u/[deleted]
  • 52
    her how this woman couldn't use a coupon and we discovered that the reason why she couldn't was because the pizza was already on sale and you can't coupon a pizza on sale. The woman asked us if we could do it anyway and forget the rule and my manager (HUGE on the value of integrity) firmly tells her that she cannot do that. The woman freaks out and leaves, saying she'll never
    via u/[deleted]
  • 53
    come back. About an hour later she calls and my manager is gone so my supervisor talks to her. The woman yells at my supervisor, saying how my boss and I were mean to her and wouldn't let her discount her pizza. My supervisor knew the story so she firmly told her why we couldn't do it. Then this
    via u/[deleted]
  • 54
    woman yells at my supervisor that she knows. the man that owns ALL of the papa murphys and will have us all get fired. My supervisor told her that that the man that owned our particular store only owned three more spanning across a few cities and basically told her that that wasn't possible. The woman angrily hung up and we laughed about it for a few minutes later.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 55
    [deleted] I work at a Lowe's, and about half a year ago I was promoted from cart pusher to an Inside Lawn and Garden associate where I had to learn about various garden equipment. One day, a customer comes in to return a lawn mower. Me, being the new guy and the only associate around to make sure the lawn mower wasn't damaged (we make
    via u/[deleted]
  • 56
    sure they are in working condition to re-sell at a discounted price). Apparently this guy was a regular here, and even more so for my department. I walk up, and he asks me: "You the OPE (outdoor power equipment) guy? You look new, what are you gonna be able to do?"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 57
    "I am new, but I've had some experience in diagnosing these mowers. Let's take her outside and see if I can get her started" He immediately says "It's not worth it. I tried for 20 minutes, changed the oil and the gas and the spark plug. Changed the pull starter, and even checked the carburetor. It chokes every time and dies out.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 58
    Besides, it would be easier to get my money back because you're a new guy and I really doubt anyone with such little experience as you could do a thing when you don't know how to even start it." "Sounds like it's an internal issue. It might be the manufacturer's problem but I have to check anyways" So I unscrew the gas cap to see it's full. Check the oil tank
    via u/[deleted]
  • 59
    dipstick to see it's full. I prime it, give it three de d pulls to warm it up. I bend down, and give it one good rip and BAM. She starts right up. I look at him and said "Make sure you clean the blade every once in a while to prevent clogging". Wheeled the mower back inside and let the head cashier know that the mower is fine and doesn't need to be returned.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 60
    The guy left p ed off saying "If I have to come back here for the same _ reason, I'll be getting all of my money back and then some. This is RIDICULOUS". Never saw him again, and it's been half a year. Not to mention this new guy who knows absolutely nothing JUST got a promotion 2 days ago.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 61
    20
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 62
    Geminii27 Working corporate IT in a team handling the incoming calls from 25,000 white- collar admins, supervisors, managers and executives, I started noticing a pattern in the incoming emails one day. One name turned up over and over and over. I pulled - the history of this caller and discovered that out of
    via u/Geminii27
  • 63
    25,000 people, she had become the source for fully a quarter of ALL our incoming work. She'd apparently decided that she was the technical contact for a large chunk of one of the more populous states in the country, and had told everyone to come to her first with computer problems. Except that she wasn't a tech contact, mainly
    via u/Geminii27
  • 64
    because she had the technical skills of pudding. She'd listen to what the person with the actual problem said, f their problem even worse, and then write a rambling catastrophe of a word salad to us. I collected all her emails and ran some stats, talked to my manager's manager, and then rang her back to tell her and her direct boss that
    via u/Geminii27
  • 65
    not only was she now officially banned from pretending to have any kind of technical knowledge whatsoever, she was also banned from contacting the IT department in any capacity. If she ever thought she had a genuine technical problem of her own (NOT someone else's), she would pass it to her boss, who by the grace of my extremely thin patience at that point would still be allowed to talk
    via u/Geminii27
  • 66
    to IT. And a final point - I would be monitoring the incoming feeds and tickets for both their names for the next two years, and if I saw anything. AT ALL which wasn't a genuine technical issue, or any attempt to act as a go- between for another staff member, the ban would then get applied to the boss, and HIS manager in turn would
    via u/Geminii27
  • 67
    be informed exactly why his two subordinates had caused additional duties to land on the desk of upper management. Their names never turned up in the ticketing database ever again.
    via u/Geminii27
  • 68
    [deleted] Worked at a restaurant. Some couple (with a toddler, great example) ate their whole meal and walked out without paying. My manager (this rockin' grandma type of older lady) walks out to him in the parking lot and confronts him. He claims the food was bad, and she points out that they ate all of it, and regardless they have to pay anyway. She finaly
    via u/[deleted]
  • 69
    threatens to call the cops, at which point he gives in. The check was about thirty dollars and she walks back inside with two twenties. A minute later, the guy comes back inside and my manager is standing by the host stand. He walks up says "Hey, I gsave you 40 for a 30 dollar tab, wheres my change?" My manager looks at him, says "Are you crazy?
    via u/[deleted]
  • 70
    You're not getting change, that's the tip for my server." and storms off. Legally, he could have gotten her in trouble, but he just stood there with this stunned look on his face and drove off. Never heard from him again.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 71
    [deleted] I sold phones at Best Buy and on Black Friday all the weirdos came out. I asked my first customer for all of the identity verification needed (Number, Name on the account, last 4 of social, and driver's license). Different carriers require different things. Verizon requires the driver's license number. This first a h le is refusing. With a whole line
    via u/[deleted]
  • 72
    behind him. He doesn't understand why I need it. "Uhhh? No, you shouldn't need that. They don't need that at verizon." "Since we're a third party retailer we need different identification-" "But why would you need that? I'm not trying to have my identity stolen." ". ..... "This went on for a few minutes.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 73
    He refused to listen to me and I told him every way I could that I couldn't access his service and upgrade his phone. My manager was generally a no nonsense type of guy and he especially was at midnight on Black Friday. He comes over when it seems like the guy is giving me a problem
    via u/[deleted]
  • 74
    and says "Uh hi, if you don't wanna give her your information then you gotta step out of line cause there are people behind you who will." Guy was pretty quiet after that.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 75
    llort_revocrednu This reminds me of the time me my, gf, and my mom were on a road trip and pulled into a Wendy's drive thru to grab a snack. We start ordering and it gets to me and I'm like I'll take 2 whopper jrs. The drive thru lady was like what? so I was like 2 whopper jrs. she was like what? and now I'm a little peeved I repeat "2 whopper jrs!" She then
    via u/llort_revocrednu
  • 76
    replies I can't do that and I'm like "What do you mean you can't do that!?" and she replies We don't got any and I'm in ticked disbelief yell "How can you be out of whoppers?!??" there's a pause... Sir this is a Wendy's, you can find Whoppers at another fast food chain.
    via u/llort_revocrednu
  • 77
    So I did what anyone would do. I got out of the front seat and laid down in the back with a blanket over my head until we got the rest of our food and pulled out.
    via u/llort_revocrednu
  • 78
    juliefy I'm a flight attendant and the other day as my friend was giving out trays one of the passengers turned to his son pointed his finger at her and said "See? This is why you have to study or you will spend your whole life like her, serving people". Right away she turned to the kid
    via u/juliefy
  • 79
    and said with smile "Yes, it's very important that you study or you will be like your daddy and spend your life flying in economy class".
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  • 80
    elliok7 I was a waiter at a retirement home in high school, really nice place. So one night they served open faced tuna melts and this one resident got mad and said I forgot the top bun, then I told her what open faced meant. She then still asked for another piece of bread to make it a regular tuna melt.
    via u/elliok7

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