Entitled hotel guest berates front desk employee because their hotel does not have the ESPN channel: ‘I just work here and I don’t choose which channels we get’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Oct 4, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

If there's one thing most people have in common, it's that darn television. Wherever we go, we're looking for that moving image box, hoping we can tune into our favorite program at any given moment. If you stay in budget-friendly hotels like I do, you'll realize that most don't have cable television. I'm fully prepared to watch something in a language I don't comprehend because that's what I paid for. Sue me! I love a good deal.

Even if you shell out the big bucks on a slightly non-mediocre hotel stay, it's a bit unusual to assume that they have your favorite television channel. The hotel guest in this next story expects their hotel to have ESPN, and when he finds out that they don't, he takes it out on the unassuming front desk employee.

Now listen, I get it. I know plenty of sports fans. 20 percent of them would, in fact, take their frustration out on an employee, rather than try to understand that the employee genuinely has no say in whether the hotel offers ESPN or not.

Buckle up for this one. Football season has created many demons, and this hotel guest unleashes theirs upon this employee. Scroll to read.

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  • a flat screen hotel tv displaying ESPN television channel
    via Tech Daily for Unsplash

  • "Grown man having temper tantrum over ESPN"

    A guest comes over to the front desk asking if we have ESPN because they can't see it on the TV and I tell him we don't. And then
    via veAinet
  • goes asking why, which I can't reallt answer because I just work here and I don't choose which channels we get.
    via veAinet
  • He then goes on yelling at me saying this is unacceptable and that every hotel is supposed to have ESPN. He continues
    via veAinet
  • being like, "I want to talk to a district manager!" Which I'm like, you can talk to my manager when he gets here tomorrow. And he's
    via veAinet
  • being like, "I want to talk to a district manager!" Which I'm like, you can talk to my manager when he gets here tomorrow. And he's visibly p ed off.
    via veAinet
  • He ends up going back to his room, yelling profanities like: "Sh a hotel! b ! What hotel doesn't have ESPN,
    via veAinet
  • etc." Which, honestly, what am I supposed to do about that? I can't just get you ESPN and stuff.
    via veAinet
  • a man grimacing at the camera so as to look like he is looking at the hotel desk employee
    via Paul Jai for Unsplash

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • He comes back down like five minutes later saying he wants to leave and get a refund. I
    via veAinet
  • see it's a virtual card so I tell him he needs to call the third party he booked with. He
    via veAinet
  • gets even more ped off and starts yelling at me even more about how this is unacceptable and stupid, but in front of a crowd this time.
    via veAinet
  • Like I get being upset over not getting ESPN but why do you take it out on the people who just work there?
    via veAinet
  • I find it especially more insane that it's grown men, like over 40, that are the most unhinged about it. But it's
    via veAinet
  • common where I live (southern USA). Anyways, sorry for the rant.
    via veAinet
  • Update: He came back a few minutes later wanting a cancellation, which I told him he needed to call the third party
    via veAinet
  • because it was a VCC. He gets p ed off and starts recording me over it and yelling at me saying I'm refusing
    via veAinet
  • his cancellation. I'm not, he just needs to talk to the third party. He does this for like five minutes
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  • straight and I'm getting p ed off and giving him attitude. I tell him to leave and then
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  • comes back, finally calling the third party, cancelling, and leaving. He's gone but he's
    via veAinet
  • probably gonna post that video of me in a fit of rage when he's literally in the wrong for yelling at me over ESPN. But yeah.
    via veAinet
  • georgecm12 "Sir, if the accommodations are not to your liking, you can check out at any time and find a different hotel. If you'd like a refund, you can request one tomorrow from the manager. If you insist on continuing to interact with me in this way, I will be asking you to leave immediately and you will not be receiving a refund."
    via georgecm12
  • lawrik02 Can't you watch that on your phone now lol
    via lawrik02
  • MarlenaEvans I had a guest losing it because the cable went out and her husband wanted to watch NASCAR. She said she was going to leave and go up the street. I was like "There's one cable provider up here so that won't fix it." Like, I get that it was frustrating, I like watching TV to relax too but yelling at me wasn't going to fix the cable. It came on really fast anyway.
    via MarlenaEvans
  • IJustWorkHere000c Bro. Go to the bar.
    via IJustWorkHere000c
  • hateexchange No a FD but a guest. A hotell for me is room with a bed and a bathroom. And if i leave without bedbugs it was a nice stay. Everything else is a bonus.
    via hateexchange

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customer service espn hotel guest hotel entitlement front desk customers tales from the front desk reddit story entitled customers entitled hotels reddit thread r-entitled Reddit entitled people
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