Customers thinking certain rules don’t apply to them is pretty much a tale as old as retail shopping itself.

One cashier at a thrift store learned that even something as simple as asking for a student ID could spark an epic Karen-esque meltdown.

You’ll want to read on for this one.

Customer gets angry when I uphold company policy

When I worked for a thrift store, there were discounts offered to military, seniors, students, etc. For any discounts, proof must be offered via valid ID.

This has ticked off tons of customers who qualified but did not have valid ID (exceptions have been made in certain situations).

So it didn’t take long for one customer interaction to go completely off the rails.,

“Karen” and her daughter were shopping at the thrift store and came to my till. I did my usual spiel of asking if she had any qualifying discounts while I rang up her stuff.

Karen said “student,” and I asked for ID. She motioned for her daughter to come to the register, who happened to be wearing a school uniform with a school logo on it.

But both the customer and the cashier knew full well this wasn’t going to cut it.

Now, with this, I cannot give her the discount. It has to be a physical ID. I told the customer, and she was immediately irate, saying that her daughter’s school uniform should be enough (it isn’t).

She blabbed to someone over the phone while I continued to ring her stuff, totaling over $80.

So when the customer noticed the discount wasn’t applied, she totally lost it.

She then ended the call and asked if I got her discount, and I politely told her that I didn’t and that I needed a physical school ID.

Karen then proceeded to tell me that other stores do it too and that I’m the only one in the store who doesn’t give her the discount without an ID, blah blah blah.

This customer was nothing but rude to me for the entire transaction.

Luckily, the cashier’s boss had their back.

After the transaction was finished, she left, and I told my supervisor everything she said.

The supervisor let me know that the reason why I’m the “only one that does that” is because I’m doing my job.

It’s always great when your manager backs you up.

What did Reddit think?

Many employees aren’t willing to risk their livelihoods over the whims of an entitled customer.

Customers will do anything but admit they were wrong about something.

This Karen’s true intentions were crystal clear to this commenter.

Doesn’t this customer realize how flimsy her argument is?

This cashier may have just been the only employee brave enough to enforce the rules under pressure.

Sometimes doing the right thing means standing alone.

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.