In the world of customer service, employees often encounter individuals who let their rudeness and entitlement take center stage. However, every now and then, there comes a moment when a rude customer is met with a well-deserved dose of reality.
In this collection of stories, employees recount the satisfying instances when they witnessed a rude customer being put in their place. From quick-witted comebacks and firm boundaries to unexpected acts of justice and poetic justice, these stories showcase the empowering moments when employees successfully stood up to disrespectful behavior.
Prepare to be inspired and entertained as we delve into the experiences of those who bravely confronted the rudeness head-on. These stories serve as a reminder that even in the face of difficult customers, employees have the power to assert themselves and restore balance in the realm of customer service.
All content has been edited for clarity.
That Man Is A Hero
“I was at Starbucks, typing away to meet deadlines when a woman’s grunt made me look up. The barista apologized for the hundredth time; they simply can’t do her vegan coffee as they ran out of soy milk that evening.
She slammed a hand on the cashier counter, ‘I don’t care, get me the soy milk. There’s a Tesco just right around the corner,’ implying the poor girl should now run to get the soy milk.
I don’t know what’s the procedure with Starbucks but I do know most establishments use a specific brand by a supplier to maintain their quality or something etc.
This woman was just not having it. She continued berating the poor girl by telling her she would report this inefficiency issue to corporate blah blah blah. A line steadily formed behind her as the after-office hour crowd streamed in. The other barista (I assume the supervisor) politely asked her to move to the side to allow other customers to order.
But she kept on yapping and yapping like a chihuahua, holding back everyone in line when a guy quipped, ‘Hey lady if you marched your a*s to Tesco 5 minutes ago, you could have gotten yourself the soy milk instead of making everyone listen to you whining like the world is gonna end cuz you can’t have soy milk with your coffee!’
And with that, he threw some cash on the counter, ‘Here’s the money for your soy milk!’
Shocked that she was yelled at by another customer, the woman picked up her purse, looked wildly around, and quickly exited the store.
The guy ordered, paid for his drink, and told the barista, ‘Keep the change. I was a barista 5 or 6 years ago, in this same store. You are definitely not paid enough for that sh*t.'”
You Never Know Who You’re Disrespecting
“Right out of high school, I was working for a big box retailer. I had only been working there a couple of weeks when I saw this happen.
I was working as a cashier and this little old lady (around 80 y/o) came up with her items – and she had quite a few of them. She was walking with a walker and moved pretty slowly.
We had just opened the doors for the day, so it was around 7 am and there were only two of us, so pretty barebones staff. The rest of the staff would be in about an hour later – and this lady had been waiting at the door when we got there.
Just as she finished putting her items on the counter, this guy in a business suit comes up to the counter and asks me if I could ring him up really quickly – he was in a real rush.
I told him that was up to the lady who had just finished unloading her cart.
She said no – she was late for an appointment herself and he would have to wait.
He cut her off and INSTRUCTED me to ring him up right then.
I said no.
He then told me to get another cashier up front, right this d*mn minute.
I told him the only other person working the store at the moment was the receiving guy and he was unloading the truck – and couldn’t use the registers anyways as he didn’t have the codes to the registers. I was the only cashier and would be until 8 am.
He got really irate – I’m going to call the manager, etc., etc., etc. He was kept raising his voice until he was almost screaming. Other customers started to gather to watch.
When he finally got to the question, ‘Don’t you know who I am?’
The little old lady yelled back at him, ‘Yeah, you’re an a*shole so shut the f*ck up before I ram this walker where the sun doesn’t shine.’ She also said some other even more choice words to him, but it’s inappropriate to post here.
He was just shocked by this little lady. He was so embarrassed, that he left his stuff in the basket, dropped it on the floor, and left.
Turns out, this little old lady was in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II. As the women’s division equivalent of a drill sergeant. She had been married to a USMC drill sergeant and her two kids became USMC drill sergeants.
She didn’t take sh*t from anybody.”
I’m Surprised People Let It Slide For That Long
“My wife has the best story for this.
She used to regularly go to a Starbucks in Vancouver for her morning coffee on the way to work. So did this other guy. This other guy deemed himself tremendously more important than everyone else in the room and routinely jumped the line. She’d seen this happen many times before, but she was usually on her way out the door.
Not this day though. She was at the head of the line and was making her order when he thrust himself between herself and the counter and started his usual shtick, and she would have none of it.
‘Excuse me, who the h*ll do you think you are? Get to the back of the line!’
‘I’m late and I have to get going.’
‘I don’t care. Nobody gets between me and my coffee in the morning!’
‘Don’t you know who I…’ because, of course, he said that. She cut him off.
‘It doesn’t matter. Get in line like everyone else.’
‘I’m going to get you fired!’
‘How? I don’t work here!’
‘That’s it! I’m never coming back to this Starbucks again!’
The staff and other customers couldn’t be more relieved! She was literally getting free coffee every other week and the story had been told seemingly as part of the training program, because any time new employees showed up at this Starbucks, there’d be an exchange that roughly went, ‘Are you the lady who…?’
For years that went on. She’s a legend.”
Some People Are Way Too Bold
“1972, Los Angeles, California
My friend and I would sometimes go to a high-end department store just to dream. We both worked entry-level jobs so our salaries would definitely not support our fantasies. We in no way looked like we belonged in that store.
The staff there never hovered, unless a customer wanted them to, but they were quietly and unobtrusively vigilant. These people knew we weren’t there to buy, but they treated us as respected customers.
A well-dressed black woman and her young daughter were looking at little-girl dresses. My friend also had a daughter (not with us), so she, too, looked at the outfits (way out of our price range).
A slightly older, white woman aggressively snatched a dress from the black mother and snarled, ‘That’s mine!’
The black lady quickly moved to another rack of clothes. The white woman did it again. And again. She snapped, ‘You don’t belong here, girl.’ This was all in less than a minute.
The black woman started to speak, looked at her frightened child, and moved away. The white woman stood with hands (still clutching the children’s clothes) on her hips glaring after them.
The store staff saw it all. As one saleslady moved towards the woman and her child, a very distinguished-looking floor manager approached the other woman.
He bowed slightly (it was a different time) gently took the merchandise from her (which she didn’t want to buy after all) and offered to take her to a more comfortable place so she could calm down.
She looked so pleased with herself! He asked if she had the store credit card so that he could change her status, and she beamed! An upgrade for being nasty?!
He took her arm and led her OUTSIDE the store. We couldn’t hear what was said, but her face was golden.
It seems that he told her she was no longer welcome and refused to give back her card. The guard at the door blocked her when she tried to re-enter.
As he passed us, we thanked him. He nodded slightly and continued on his way to the mother and daughter.”