Retail workers often juggle difficult personalities all while trying to meet impossible demands.

So when one customer decided $10 was worth making a scene at checkout, one associate found themselves caught between company policy and customer entitlement.

Read on for the full story!

“You are making a big deal over $10”

I am at a clothing store that ranges from T-shirts to suits, and a man comes in with his wife looking at suits.

Ignoring my manager and me, they are going through displays looking for sizes.

The man tries a jacket on only to find it is far too small, gets frustrated, and gets my attention.

Before long, he starts to look like a lucrative customer.

After helping him with his size, he then asks me to grab his size in two more jackets and matching pants for each jacket.

We need this boost, and this sale is looking incredibly good for us.

After trying on the suits, my manager leaves as she is finished for the night, and I am closing in four hours (late night trading for us—Friday night).

After the manager leaves for the night, one lone employee continues with the sale.

C: “I like these two suits. Can you put these aside for now? I will look around for some more stuff to grab.”

M: “Not a problem at all—gives me time to hang these all up and bag them.”

C: “Actually, can I get a new suit jacket?”

The employee can tell the customer is quite particular, but no harm yet.

The customer notices a single loose thread, which is not actually attached to the jacket, so I go out the back and take the thread off.
This happens twice for each suit jacket.

Once he is satisfied with them, he goes off on his store walk.

After doing a store walk, he comes back to the counter and looks at our shoe display.

Here’s where the sale begins to go off the rails.

C: “I need shoes.” [staring at me]

M: “That’s no problem, but I need your shoe size and which shoes you want.”

C: “Oh, okay.”

The customer picks two pairs and ultimately decides on one pair to grab.

It’s clear he thinks he’s somehow doing the store a favor and he deserves something in return.

Throwing the shoes on the counter, he then asks:

C: “What discount am I getting for all this? Also, I will only get one suit, not both.”

The employee tries to set him straight.

M: “Well, the suit comes in a deal, so I can’t discount that since it won’t let me override it—and the deal is better than any sort of discount I could have given.”

C: “I don’t have an account here, by the way. Only in [other country branch].”

This associate usually tries to be generous where they can, but this time, it’s simply a logistical issue.

This is where the issue stems from, as I am feeling somewhat generous and he is spending over $200 worth of stuff, and he can’t use his account where I am.

Usually, when you sign up, it takes a couple of days at most, and then you get 20% off any full-price items.

So they offer the best they can to the customer, but of course, that’s not enough.

M: “That’s no problem. I can re-sign you up for an account here and apply your discount now. You will get 20% off the shoes, but because the suit together is in a deal, it won’t take anything further off that.”

C: “You’re telling me I can’t discount the suit??”

M: “Yes, the suit together gives a bundle where, if bought together, they take $20 off the pants.”

Finally, the two are back on the same page.

The customer just nods, and I proceed to put the customer through.
I make his new account, fill in his details, and discount the shoes.

After doing so, I read the total out and let him know what’s discounted and by how much everything is discounted.
He happily pays.

I give him his receipt, give him his bags, and he starts to head off.
He suddenly turns back to me:

But that didn’t last long.

C: “I just realized that I could have bought the jacket and pants separate, discounted the jacket, and I would technically pay $10 less.”

M: “Yes and no. For the suit total, yes, you would save $10—but then the shoes wouldn’t be discounted because I can only use your discount in one transaction.”

C: “So refund me the suit and then we shall do it that way.”

M: “I’m sorry? I can refund you the suit but can’t give you a second discount. I don’t have that power.”

C: [laughs] “Sure you can, come on.”

The employee lets him know there really isn’t.

M: “I think there is a misunderstanding. I have already used your discount on your shoes. Even if I was to refund your discounted shoes along with the suit, I don’t get that discount for you back. You only get one discount for signing up, and I can get in trouble for just giving out discounts.”

C: “Why are you making such a fuss over $10?!”

They continue their explanation.

M: “Sir, it’s not a fuss. I am just stating I can’t just take back your discount and then apply it multiple times over multiple transactions. Even if I somehow could, I am not a manager and therefore don’t have that sort of power.”

C: [sarcastically] “Yeah no, it’s whatever. Just don’t understand why you are making such a big deal out of $10. What’s your name and your manager’s name?”

Happily gave those details to him before he stormed out.

This associate kept it professional, but the customer still acted like he’d been robbed.

What did Reddit have to say?

A fuss over $10? That’s nothing.

This user thinks the customer had much more nefarious intentions than he was letting on.

Customers like this should really stick to shopping online.

Hypocritical much?

The associate bent the rules as far as possible without breaking him, and if that wasn’t enough for this customer, then likely nothing else would be either.

No discount in the world could fix an attitude this bad.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.