Working in a customer facing position can be stressful and even dangerous.

In today’s story, one employee tells us about a woman who was pretty angry about the store rules, to the point where the employee informed the police – and called a tow truck to boot.

Let’s see how the story escalates…

Customer came in demanding I break the rules for her

I’m an overnight cashier at a gas station.

Pretty chill most nights. There’s a few bad apples, as always, but nothing too bad.

Every now and then, I’ll get an entitled customer that demands I sell them beer without an ID (against state law. Wouldn’t dream of it)

Or sell them cigarettes despite being 20. Sorry kids, not happening.

One lady though, she really got under my skin. Happened a while back.

The lady wanted to buy a lottery ticket.

She comes in around 11:30, so well past time we shut down lottery.

(We turn off the machine at 10 as per our store regulations. There’s a ton of updates the machine undergoes nightly, and it takes 6-7 hours)

I keep an eye on her, and notice she has one of the ball draw style lotto cards in her hand.

I call out and explain that our machine is off for the night, so I cannot sell her the tickets.

The lady didn’t take the news well.

She scoffs loudly and says I’m lying and don’t want to do my job.

I reiterate that the machine is already undergoing maintenance, so she will have to return at 5am when the machine is ready for service.

She throws the ticket on the ground, and stomps to the beer.

I’m already annoyed, and in my head, I know I’ll make sure my coworker takes care of her next time.

I don’t want to deal with this drama.

She needs to see her ID.

She comes back to the counter, beer cans in tow, and slams them onto the counter.

I grab one to scan, and ask for her ID.

Lady, once again, scoffs and asks if it’s really necessary. She has wrinkles older than me.

I explain that it’s store policy and state law to see ID for alcohol purchases.

The lady complies but yells at her.

We go back and forth for 5 minutes.

It only ends when I tell her she can either give me the ID so I can do my job, or she can leave beerless AND lottoless.

She passes me her ID, face bright red.

And. The lady. Just. starts going off.

She’s saying I need to lose my job, my manager- whom she called by name- would be soooo upset to hear how I’m treating a regular.

She refuses to sell her cigarettes.

I write my name, my manager’s free time for the next day, and tell her she is free to come in and complain about me doing my job.

It’ll go absolutely great for her.

She snatches the paper, and starts asking me to sell her cigarettes.

I tell her I’m not selling her anything else, as she has repeatedly made me uncomfortable and I have the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason.

She leaves screaming that she’s going to come back and kick my rear.

She tells the managers and the police about the lady.

I leave a long text to my managers in the group chat explaining what happened, along with a description of her.

Couple hours later, some of my regulars come in for their nightly coffees. Two of the local sheriffs.

I give them the rundown of what transpired, and one of them promises to swing through a few times for a few nights to make sure she’s not causing trouble.

She calls a tow truck.

Here’s where I get petty.

She had parked at the front of the store. I had perfect view of her license plates, so I took note and waited.

Lady shows up two nights later and parks by the dumpster. She’s standing on the sidewalk for two hours waiting for me to come outside.

About an hour in, I call the tow service our store uses.

I say there’s a broken down car in our parking lot in prime parking position. As per rules.

The police also show up.

Cops come through, as they always do, for coffee, and they ask me if she’s the customer harassing me.

I confirm it.

They go out and talk to her.

At this point, the tow truck pulls in.

She has yet to come back.

Lady starts walking away from the cops to talk to the driver confused and upset.

I didn’t get to hear much of the encounter, but I watched as she got arrested, put in the back of the patrol car, AND they waited for the tow truck to finish hauling off her car before leaving.

No idea what happened to her.

She hadn’t come back in, and I didn’t get in trouble with management.

This story proves that the customer is NOT always right.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted…

This reader thinks the lady was drunk.

Another reader has “respect” for employees in her position.

Another reader suggests an alternate ending.

This reader shares a story of a girl who didn’t show ID.

Another reader laughs about “regulars.”

This reader focuses on the lotto hours.

The customer lost big time, and the employee was the big winner in this story!

Respect.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.