Dealing with difficult clients is a common part of many jobs, but some encounters are so outrageous they push workers to the breaking point. In this article, we’re diving into 12 jaw-dropping moments where entitled clients made employees seriously consider quitting. From unreasonable demands to outright disrespect, these stories highlight the kinds of situations that make even the most patient workers throw in the towel.
1.
“I work as a waitress. Once, I was serving a couple that was constantly arguing. As they were leaving, I reached for the bill and noticed the woman taking the tip and putting it back into her wallet. I asked if something was wrong, and she said, “You did a great job. But I’m not about to leave extra money when we already spent enough tonight.”
2.
“I used to work in retail. I had a customer who was in often and was very needy. She usually just talked to sales associates without buying anything. I was ringing her up, and she requested that every item individually be double bagged in case it ripped. She had a ton of items and there was one that I forgot to double bag. After she went out to her car, she stormed back in, threw her ripped bag up on the counter, and started yelling at me in front of other customers for not bagging it correctly. The item was a small bathroom rub with no sharp corners, and heavy bags usually ripped from the handles. I’m pretty sure she tore it open by hand when she saw it wasn’t doubled up. My manager calmed her down by letting her talk about it for 20 minutes. She must be pretty lonely.” BreadAndCheez / Reddit
3.
“I was working for a small ISP as phone tech support when this very entitled woman called. She was not very cooperative with troubleshooting and asked for a tech to come out on a service call. Ok, I set up the first available appointment for her, scheduled 2 days out. She blows up and insists I arrange an appointment today. I start to explain that that would mean bumping someone’s existing appointment but she isn’t having any of it. She names my boss’s boss by name, claims to be a personal friend, and says she’ll get me in trouble with the boss if I don’t give her what she wants. Something clicks in me and I decide this woman has had all the help she’s getting from me. I flat state I can’t give her an earlier appointment. She asks to speak to my supervisor, and I refuse. She asks for my name, and I refuse (I had given my name at the beginning of the call but of course, Ms. Entitlement hadn’t paid attention). She was furious, I politely said goodbye and hung up.
Now, my company records all customer service calls. Potentially, I could have got in trouble for this, but I never heard another word about it.” DanTheTerrible / Reddit
4.
“Live in a small town, worked in a Fish and Chip shop (one of two in the town). People in the town believed we were in massive competition with the other shops, but we weren’t. So, on the rare occasion whenever a customer got angry they would simply exclaim ’Well, I’m going to ’insert supposed competitor’s name here’ instead, and I won’t be back.” Like it was a big deal and would hurt our feelings/business. We would simply tell them that we don’t want them back, and they should enjoy the food from the other shop.
We owned both shops.” ToxicHazard- / Reddit
5.
“Not me, but my manager. A woman comes in every Sunday… and complains every Sunday. This past time, she said, “I won’t be coming back.” And he goes, “Alright, I’ll see you next week.” MichelleDeaEst / Reddit
6.
“A friend of mine serving a table and the kid is around 8-10. Gives her an adult glass for her apple juice. Dad says he doesn’t want her to have all that sugar so he needed to take it away and come back with a kids-sized one. My friend replied that the glasses are the same size, the adult size just looks bigger because they have thick bottoms. The dad responds ‘The adult glass is bigger and like I said I don’t want her to have all that sugar’.
My friend gives a super deliberate exaggerated nod, says nothing, and marches to our little service alley behind the bar and re-emerges with a kids cup, sets it down beside the glass, picks up the glass, and pours the adult glass lifting it progressively higher until the last drops he drops from like a foot over the glass and walks off to the kitchen without even looking at the guy like he didn’t even exist.” Labelk***d / Reddit
7.
“My brother was a waiter and was working with a really difficult woman. She ordered the salmon and asked when it got to her table if it was farm-raised. She got mad at him because he didn’t mention that the salmon was farm-raised when she was ordering even though it clearly states that it is farm-raised on the menu. She ordered the chicken to replace the salmon and my brother said “I have to warn you, it’s farm-raised”. LemonInAGlass / Reddit
8.
“Way back in the day when I worked in food service we had a customer who got a salad and when she was finished placed one of her hairs in the bowl to get it refunded, and got the complimentary “I’m sorry” free bakery item. She did this every day. Finally, the manager sat down at her table and told her this was her last day eating in the cafe, they would refuse her refund today and refuse her service in the future. She started to say something about the customer always being right and he just put up a hand to cut her off and said, “You cause us to lose money every day. You’re not our customer, and you are no longer welcome here.” Unknown author / Reddit
9.
“We have sweet biscuits with icing on top. Every weekend this lady comes in and wants them fresh, with extra icing. But every time something is wrong, the main complaint being it’s too cold, probably due to the extra icing being on top of it, which we have told her repeatedly. Well, this last time she came in, we gave her the biscuit, fresh out of the oven, loaded down with icing, and she still says it’s cold. The manager tells her the only way to get it any hotter would be to melt the icing in the microwave, which we refuse to do. The lady demands to know why. My manager says, “Because sugar is hot when it’s heated up like that and no matter how much you deserved it, I don’t want to give you an excuse to have a lawsuit against us.” Beccavexed / Reddit
10.
“Work for a moving company, customers always get mad when we don’t have the equipment available for them when they show up last minute with no reservation. ’Well, I’ll just go to (competitor’s name)!’ Would always reply with exact directions ’Great they are a block north, on the right side. You can’t miss ’em.’ Never failed to get a disgusted scoff, but we would always see them again in an hour or so to set up a reservation when competitors didn’t have any equipment either.” Kathyt92 / Reddit
11.
“I was working the counter at a ski resort’s cafe. This teenage douche came up with french fries and said that he didn’t bring any money, so could he just have them for free? I said nope, and he said ‘But I’m a good customer.’ And I said okay but fries are for paying customers, and proceeded to take them away from him and pop one in my mouth right in front of him. He had nothing to say to that but his friend apologized to him. When I turned around all of my co-workers were in awe of how perfect the moment was.” DeliciousMrJones / Reddit
12.
“I worked at Target a few years ago. When it’s time to close a speaker warns you 15 or so minutes early. This lady is going threw clothes at the speed of a snail. Taking her sweet time. Recording plays again we are closing. I walk up to her and pretend I know sign language and start fake signing. She asks, “What are you doing?” I replied, “I’m sorry I thought you were deaf.” Gorsham / Reddit