October 2, 2025 at 5:55 am

Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

by Jayne Elliott

man looking at a grill at a store

Shutterstock/Reddit

Some customers will do anything to try to get a discount!

Imagine working at a retail store when a customer claims to know the owner and claims the owner said they could have a discount.

Would you believe them, refuse to give them a discount, or decide to call their bluff?

In today’s story, one retail worker deals with a lot of customers who claim to know the owner.

Here’s one example.

I know the owner, too.

This was many years ago, when I was still in the trenches.

Like any retail store, we regularly got “I know the owner” claims.

But we’re a small company, and everybody knows everybody, and the owner had a very open door policy for employees.

Here’s one example of a customer who claimed to know the owner.

I had one guy who wanted a steep discount on a barbecue (to the point we’d be losing money – margins are pretty low on BBQs), because “Jeff said to.”

“OK, that sounds like something Jeff would do. Let me call him and verify it.” While dialing the phone.

I think he actually did know the owner, from the way he ran out the door. Because the most likely response to that lie would have been to be banned from all our stores permanently.

That’s funny that the customer literally ran away!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This retail worker was in a similar situation.

Screenshot 2025 09 03 at 11.25.56 AM Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

Another retail worker shares how they used to handle this situation.

Screenshot 2025 09 03 at 11.26.27 AM Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

Here’s another way a retail worker handled an annoying customer.

Screenshot 2025 09 03 at 11.26.52 AM Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

In this case, the person the customer was talking to WAS the owner!

Screenshot 2025 09 03 at 11.27.14 AM 1 Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

Here’s a story that took place at a liquor store.

Screenshot 2025 09 03 at 11.27.31 AM Customer Claims The Owner Said He Could Have A Discount On A BBQ, So The Employee Decides To Call The Owner

Lying won’t get you anywhere.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.