Retail runs on rules, but customers and managers don’t always like following them.

When a gimmicky promotion allowed only one discounted frying pan per person, one seasoned retail employee knew it would cause trouble.

But when his manager overruled him in front of a customer, he decided to let the chaos play out for the rest of his shift.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one!

Ok my turn now

Years ago, I worked at a department store that was known for gimmick promotions.

This particular promotion was: spend $50 and get this frying pan for $5. It was a quality item worth more.

But it was one per customer. Management stressed that because they didn’t receive a large quantity.

Customers quickly pushed their luck with this rule.

One day a lady says, “I spent $150, can I get 3 of them?” Politely, I said no, it’s one to a customer.

She throws a hissy fit and demands to see the manager.

The manager ends up caving to the customer.

I call him and he arrives, chats with her, then tells us to give her 3 pans.

OK, he leaves. Another customer comes up and asks, “How many can I get?”

Now the employee is giving up on following the rule.

My reply was, “How many can you carry?”

My coworker said we can’t do that, but I did—and I did that for every customer who asked.

We ran out of pans quick.

The manager became more thoughtful about embarrassing employees in front of customers after that.

Serves this manager right for embarrassing his own staff.

What did Reddit think?

Managers often end up making their employees lives harder instead of easier.

Managers are also usually the ones to break the rules they made.

Usually managers who were employees first make for better leaders in a retail setting.

This commenter calls into question how logical this rule was in the first place.

The store ran out of pans in record time, and the manager had no one to blame but himself.

This malicious compliance was served sizzling hot!

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.