Being too nice can feel risky, especially when it breaks the rules.

What would you do if you gave a small gift to a customer out of pure kindness, only to find out they reported you to your boss? Would you brace for the consequences? Or would you see how it all plays out?

In the following story, one retail manager finds themselves in this exact situation and gives a whole new meaning to customer service. Here’s what happened.

The $198.81 candy bar.

I work as a manager at a small chain of C-Stores (30ish locations)

I am putting away my main order of the week when a woman comes in asking for a Nutrageous bar. I told her with a smile that we had some right in front of the store, as I pointed to a blank spot on the shelf.

It turned out we had sold out over the weekend, and I had just broken this poor woman’s heart and shattered her dreams with false hope. She had been searching relentlessly for weeks and couldn’t find one anywhere.

She chased the lady out the store.

I apologized for the bad fortune and said I would order more straight away. The woman sighed, bowed her head, and walked out of the store like a dejected puppy.

I turned back to the order, opened the tub, and right on top was a brand new box of Nutrageous bars. I tear open the box and vault over the counter like a bad *** cop sliding over a car hood, sprinting out the door like I had just clocked out.

I caught up to her just as she started to pull away from my store. She turned and saw me lumbering towards her holding the candy bar like a newborn child I had just delivered into this world. I had never seen someone so happy over a candy bar.

Then, the District Manager found out.

She runs to me like a veteran returning home from duty, running towards their children for that first swirling embrace. I tell her to have it on the house and have a good day.

Then, just now, I get a call from my district manager demanding to know if I was the one who gave away a candy bar to a customer for free.

“****.” I think to myself, I do something nice for someone, and this ******* ***** calls my boss to tell on me.

Luckily, he’s going to share the prize with her.

So I tell my boss, “Yeah, it was me.”

He tells me that she called and was so happy with our company that she would be choosing us for the local volunteer firefighter appreciation gifts this year.

$2,000 in gift cards, $25 each for the volunteers. My boss says he is giving me a 10% commission for the gift cards, minus the price of an outrageous bar.

Wow! That was quite a twist!

Let’s see what Reddit readers have to say about it.

According to this person, some bosses reward and punish at the same time.

This person doesn’t think most people would’ve chased the woman down.

So true!

Here’s someone who was surprised by the end.

That could’ve ended way differently! Either way, it’s nice to hear that some managers do care about what their customers want.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.