October 28, 2026 at 3:55 pm

One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

by Chris Allen

broken down car in parking lot

Shutterstock

Not everything sitting inside a store is merchandise.

One shopper refused to understand that.

He demanded a homemade project car.

Then he climbed inside it.

Let’s digest all the details below.

No. Just because my car is parked in the back doesn’t mean it’s for sale.

Looking back, my time at a certain family-run appliance store was pretty laid-back.

Relaxed jobs can be great.

I played on my laptop for half of the work hours like everybody else, about 5 purchases could supply the daily quota, and the delivery truck came only once a week.

I only had one “bad” day, but it wasn’t story-worthy. My manager basically got a closing competitor’s inventory for a bargain, and we had two whole mac trucks of loosely-packed supplies.

That would be terrible.

A few air conditioners were destroyed by toppling off a tower of about 7 units. It was put to the fault of the ones who stacked it, breaking laws/rules. I don’t know the details, but they received punishments.

The job was so laid-back that a certain family project, an experimental car built by every guy related to me, got parked in the warehouse to have “professional” work time.

This is an amazing perk of working there.

Our tools were way better than the ones in the wooden shed. The “experimental” part of it was whatever way we felt like powering it that month.

It ranged from small gas motors, to electric, to water attempts, to even rubber bands and industrial springs we found in a junk yard. Only the obvious worked so far.

What a fun project.

I didn’t so much power the car as I was better at styling and interior. I put a small tv and radio in it, and styled the body like a rocket.

This thing was never, and will never be for sale. It’s just a family tradition at this point. It’s been a solid 17 years of grease and welding.

I bet people loved looking at this interesting vehicle.

Sometimes people would see it through the windows of the storage room door and ask questions, but they never assumed that it was up for purchase given it’s rough appearance.

A few kids even sat in it and played with the controls that usually weren’t plugged into anything.

Hopefully these people don’t cause any problems.

However, this story wouldn’t exist if this guy, DA, didn’t come in one day. He even had a wife, who I’ll call GW for “good wife”.

I’ll be OP, and there’s two coworkers/family members C1 and C2.

I can see why he is curious.

DA: What the heck is that?

OP: It’s a project car.

DA: How much is it?

OP: Oh, it’s not for sale.

That is not how things work, sir.

DA: But it’s in the store. You have to sell it to me.

OP: That’s not true.

DA: Don’t argue with me! My son has been looking for a car for months, that thing will do fine!

OP: It doesn’t even have an engine in it.

DA: Then how did it get here, huh?

C1: We got a trailer. It’s parked outside.

Why is he upset about this?

His face was getting red.

DA: Sell me the car.

OP: It’s not for sale.

This guy sounds insufferable.

He basically said the exact same thing for about 5 minutes until he walked off to his wife, who was just looking for a decent stove.

We went about stacking shelves until he suddenly disappeared. I had C2 look around while I checked the cameras in the back next to the car.

Is he going to try to steal the car?

As soon as I got to the window, I saw this guy in the drivers seat, rapidly turning the key and messing with wires trying to turn the car on.

I called C1 and C2, C2 watched the store from the door as we walked over to DA with our arms crossed.

C1: You’re kidding me, right?

Obviously they don’t want to sell it.

DA: This car is terrible! You can’t sell it like this! This is horrible service!

Is this guy serious?

OP: This car is not for sale, and the engine is currently suspended over your head.

I bet he was surprised to see that.

DA looked up and saw a strange amalgamation of metals and plastics with stray splashes of paint and wires everywhere. I still don’t know what it’s intent was, but it was the engine.

He sputtered in anger, red like McQueen, as his wife stomped in and just glared at him.

GW: What are you doing?

DA: They are refusing to sell this car for our son.

At least she is smart enough to know that she doesn’t want it.

GW: WHAT? This is piece of crap!

Might sound rude, but I did nickname it “Mr. Ugly” so I don’t care.

DA: I can fix it up!

She knows how to deal with him.

GW: No! We are getting him the Honda, end of story!

DA: I am getting this car, and none of you can stop me!

Sometimes you have to put an end to this type of stupidity.

C1: Sir, you are trespassing and possibly damaging our property. Leave now, or I will call the police.

He has two options: forget the non-functioning, experimental, rusty, three-wheeled joke of a car; or get arrested.

Wow, what an idiot.

He got arrested.

Banned from the store and paying a fine. All the money we got out of it was put into the car, of course.

At least some good came out of this.

Thanks for the new bumper, pal. Couldn’t have done it without you.

Why would he even want this silly car? Some people just can’t be reasoned with.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about it.

I was surprised as well.

comment 1 29 One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

This would have shut him up, I’m sure.

Comment 2 29 One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

Right, like the worker is just going to give up and sell it.

Comment 3 29 One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

This was pretty funny.

Comment 4 18 One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who isn’t happy with the company’s new time tracking rules, so decides to find a way around them.

Sheer dumb luck.

Comment 5 16 One Bizarre Sales Dispute Turned Serious When A Customer Ignored Repeated Refusals And Was Caught Trying To Take A Project Car Anyway

A customer demanded the unfinished family project car, then entered the storage area and tried starting it.

He ignored every warning, got arrested, and the resulting money went directly toward the car’s new bumper.

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