Working in retail means balancing rules with keeping customers happy.

But one employee quickly realized that no matter how much patience they showed, one woman was determined to make the day harder at every turn.

Even a patient customer lost her patience!

Keep reading for the full scoop!

Well, I AM handicapped!

I’ve worked at this particular retail store for about 2 years now. This story happened just last weekend.

I was working the fitting room, so I was responsible for processing all of the clothes people didn’t want, letting people into rooms, etc.

This shift was a particularly hectic one.

I will start by explaining that it was an insanely busy day, as it was a Saturday in December and we had a huge sale going on.

All 13 rooms were occupied, and a woman walked into the fitting room. W is the woman.

The interactions started something like this.

Me: Hi there, all of our rooms are occupied at the moment, but I will get you into one as soon as the next one becomes available.

W: Okay. I have 9 items. I want the big fitting room.

But the employee had to let her know they don’t give it out to just anyone.

The big fitting room she was asking for is actually our handicap room, and it is labeled so. It is made larger for wheelchair accessibility.

We do, however, make exceptions for people with baby strollers because they won’t fit in the other rooms.

Me: Oh, that is actually our handicap fitting room, we reserve it for our guests who have wheelchairs or baby strollers, I’m sorry.

This customer was quick to assure the employee they were, in fact, handicapped, although the employee wasn’t really buying it.

W: Well I am handicapped, and I need to use the big fitting room.

I looked at her bewildered, as she clearly had no visible physical disability, and had been pacing around the store since before my lunch break.

But the employee knew questioning it could get them in even more trouble, so they try and play along.

I thought, well it would be inappropriate for me to challenge her on this, or to ask her what qualifies her as handicapped, so I decided I would let it slide.

Me: Oh…I didn’t realize. As soon as it is available I will set you up in there.

So a few minutes passed as she stood near the entrance waiting, while other customers were leaving/entering rooms.

So finally this customer gets set up in the big fitting room.

A woman with a baby in a stroller left the big fitting room.

I helped her set her things inside of the room and let her know I’d be close by if she needed me.

But this customer soon made it clear she didn’t intend on following anyone else’s timeline but her own.

She then proceeded to leave the fitting room.

W: I need to grab a few things, my purse is still in there so don’t let anyone in there.

Me: Oh, umm, okay…

In the meantime, another customer came up who actually qualified for the big room.

She was gone for about 10 minutes, and during that time another woman with a baby stroller entered the fitting room.

I explained to her that the big room was occupied but I would get her in it next.

She was understanding and patient.

The woman returned as if nothing happened, with more clothing.

The employee tried to hurry her along, but she couldn’t be bothered.

I let her know that I had someone waiting on the room she was using and that if there was anything I could do to assist her, I would be happy to.

W: Okaaaay I’m almost done!!

She spent another 20 minutes in the room. It almost seemed like she purposely took longer than necessary.

She took so long that the waiting customer moved on.

The customer who had been waiting patiently lost her patience, I suppose, as she silently left the fitting room.

The woman was finally done.

W: There is no one even waiting, so you rushed me for nothing!

Me: Actually ma’am, the customer who was waiting on the handicapped fitting room left after waiting over 20 minutes… Did those work out for you?

But finally, the customer got out of the employee’s hair and they could move on with their shift.

The woman just looked at me like I had 3 heads.

I smiled and she left.

Luckily, I was able to spot the lady with the stroller and inform her that the room was available. She was very pleasant about it and took the room.

At least there was one good customer here to cancel out the bad one.

What did Reddit think?

This abandoned purse was a liability waiting to happen.

Perhaps a different naming convention could have saved some trouble.

This commenter would never think of being as inconsiderate as the customer in this story.

This user reminds everyone that there are many disabilities that aren’t outwardly visible.

Customers like this never fail to make working retail a huge headache.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.