30 Of The Worst Experiences With A ‘Karen’ Managers Have Ever Had That They Shared In This Online Group

It seems that the name Karen has long lost its original purpose of being an individual person’s name and became a common noun that acquired a new meaning to it. Usually a person is called ‘Karen’ because they act entitled or demanding more than can be done, they are rude and inconsiderate.

‘Karens’ are often described as people who demand to see a manager. That often means that regular servers, retail and other workers can have a sigh of relief that the person is not their problem anymore. However, the manager is the one who has to solve the problem. And with ‘Karens’ it’s never easy, but they have the power in their hands to serve justice and it’s so satisfying to hear those stories.

We collected the best ones from a thread created by the Redditor externalodyssey when they asked “Managers of Reddit - what is a Karen experience like? What was your worst experience?” for your enjoyment. Let us know which ones you found the most satisfying and please do leave your own in the comments.

More info: Reddit

#1

I was the only person on shift, which made me the de facto manager.

Five minutes before closing, a woman comes in and is sooo angry that we don't have any decaf. She demands to speak to the manager. I tell her that's me because I'm the only one here, and the coffee pots are cleaned for the night because it's five minutes to close. No, I'm sorry, I can't make another pot just for her. There's another place around the corner.

She screams at me, tells me she's going to "find a real manager and get my s**t a** fired," throws half a cup of cappuccino machine sludge at me, and starts to look like she's gonna jump the counter. I'm holding a hammer under the counter thinking "don't do it, don't do it."

I pick up the phone like I'm going to call the cops. She leaves. I lock the door.

She COMES BACK AND RUNS FACEFIRST INTO THE GLASS DOOR. LIKE A BIRD.

Image credits: wrrrdgrrrl

#2

The staff did not know it at the time, but our ketchup dispenser was empty. A boy, aged 10'ish, was just smashing down on the handle trying to get ketchup, but none was being dispensed.

A staff member noticed the kid smashing the ketchup dispenser, so I went out to see what was going on. "Oh, the ketchup is empty. I'll get a new bag from the kitchen. Give me two minutes and I'll be right back with some new ketchup."

I remove the empty container, take it back to the kitchen, clean the dispenser and place in a new bag. Take it out to the condiment stand and get met by a Karen.

K: "WHY DID YOU TAKE THE KETCHUP AWAY FROM MY SON?!

Me: "The ketchup was empty, so I replaced the bag."

K: "WHY DID YOU TAKE THE KETCHUP AWAY?! GO GET YOUR MANAGER!"

Me: "uhhh, okay. One minute."

I walk about two meters, turn around, and introduce myself as the manager.

K: "WHY DID YOU TAKE THE KETCHUP AWAY FROM MY SON?!

Me: "Ma'am, please lower your voice. The ketchup was empty. I explained to your son that I needed to take it back to the kitchen to refill it."

K: "NO YOU DIDN'T! I WAS STANDING HERE THE WHOLE TIME. YOU TOOK THE KETCHUP AWAY FROM MY SON!"

Me: "Ma'am, please lower your voice. You were not with your son. He was here alone, trying to get ketchup, which was empty."

K: "DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH?!"

Me: "Nope. Ma'am, please get your belongings and leave this establishment."

*Queue the screaming and yelling*

K: "I WILL NOT LEAVE THIS ESTABLISHMENT! I AM GOING TO BURN THIS PLACE DOWN!"

*Other patrons are visibly upset with what they're witnessing*

*Police are called*

Karen gives a statement. Police question me; I give a statement. Karen told the police that I struck her son, pushed him out of the way, and moved the ketchup to an area in which her son couldn't get access to the ketchup.

I disputed the claim and offered to provide video evidence (with sound) of what actually happened.

Police watch the video once, thank me, and walk out to the eating area.

Officer: "Ma'am, does your son has someone who can look after him?"

K: "HIS FATHER IS AT WORK RIGHT NOW!"

Officer: "Okay. You're being placed under arrest for making threats and a false police report."

*More yelling, threats, and now tears*

In the end, she was charged with making the false police report (but not the threats), and received a lifetime ban from not just our restaurant, but the entire mall our restaurant was located in.

I felt kinda bad. Not for the Karen, but for her son. He has to live with that...

Image credits: Lily_Loud_Cat

#3

Bestest of the best interactions I ever had.

Karen griped about not wanting to pay the price for the services performed on her computer, which was exactly the price quoted when she dropped it off and which she had signed for. She demanded to speak to the service manager. I called him from the back.

Service manager listened to her spiel as to how she should get a lower price because [irrelevant, pea-brained reason]. Service manager made eye contact with me over her shoulder; I did not react, he said no, price quoted was the price that would be charged.

She said that was unacceptable, and she would be complaining to the owner, who was a good friend.

Service manager observed that he was evidently not that good a friend, since that he (me) was the person she was originally speaking with when she asked for the service manager.

Her face was glorious, and made the whole thing worthwhile!

Image credits: garycarroll

#4

Hoo boy. This brings me back.

So, when I was a younger man I was an assistant manager at Blockbuster Video. For you young'uns out there, before Netflix you would have to go this place called a video rental store and actually pay money to rent a movie. Once upon a time they even came on these boxy things called VHS tapes. So, one day I'm working an evening shift and the phone rings. This woman I'll call Karen is on the other end. She says she got a call earlier in the day about some videos being overdue. She was absolutely livid, as if we had urinated on her ancestor's grave by letting her know some movies were overdue. I brought up her account on our computer and sure enough, three movies were still out and were due back a week before. She goes ballistic. Absolutely screeching at me over the phone that her daughter rented those movies for a sleepover and had returned them.

I check the return bin, nothing. I even walk out to the floor and check the copies on the shelf to see if maybe it's them. (For those not in the know, every movie had its own code.) No dice. Finally, she just screams at me that we're trying to rip her off and she's going to tell her husband whose an attorney and he'll sue us all out of existence. I go about the rest of my shift and lo and behold, about an hour later this woman comes marching in, comes right up to the counter and slams a stack of three VHS tapes on the counter before yelling some profanity at the poor clerk. I had witnessed this from the other end where I was checking in returned movies. I looked at the stack of movies and sure enough, they were the ones her daughter had rented and "returned."

Bonus: The next day I was also working there and this man in a suit comes in. Real friendly guy who asks to speak to management. I walk over to chat with him and he tells me that he's the lawyer and he wants to apologize for his wife's behavior. I s**t you not he actually said, "We're trying to get her under control. The doctor just prescribed her Xanax."

Image credits: [deleted]

#5

I was a House Manager (HM) at a big performing arts venue, & I encountered my worst Karen at a Saturday night showing for the Book of Mormon.

I still feel rage when I think about it.

Karen’s problem? Just a young man seated in front of her in his standard size wheelchair (a veteran no less! as I later discovered) and his older parents, who were seated next to him in banquet style seats.

A bit of background: the banquet seats are what we used when we had mobility requests. We would remove a small, strategically located section of seats to make an empty place for the mobility device, then place the banquet seats for the other ticketed spots.
The venue used those specific seats precisely because they were the exact same height as the theatre seats.

Karen didn’t care though! Those people were ruining her view and they needed to go. And no, she wouldn’t move to a no-show seat! Didn’t I know how much money she spent on these tickets??

But when I said I wouldn’t move the other patrons, who had also bought the expensive tickets, well then how dare I bring up money!! That’s hardly the point!

And on, AND ON she ranted—gesturing wildly, with her designer purse & gold-ringed fingers.

She ranted through the entire 18 minute intermission while I tried to quietly shut her up somehow. It was excruciating. I even had security on standby. The shrill voice that emanated from her white, toothy-maw was a weapon in it’s own right—enough to make a whistle jealous.

The worst part though, is she was so extremely rude that the family of the man with the wheelchair decided to leave anyway!

I tried SO hard to make other arrangements for them, for free—tickets on another day, or to another show, or a even just a refund for that night. They were very kind to me, but just wanted to go home :( Meanwhile, Karen got to go back in & watch the rest of the show!

Man, F**K that entitled b***h Karen. I hope she has to leave halfway through every show she ever goes to, for the rest of her miserable, unsatisfied life.

Image credits: WateryTart_ndSword

#6

When I managed a movie theater we had a couple who always came in - Karen and Boss. Boss was called that because he would always say like “how you doing today, boss?” Etc. It got to the point where we would see them purchase their tickets at box office and we would begin to get their concession order ready. They would walk to and their food items would be ready just the way they liked them. I’d say that’s good service for a regular customer.

But Karen always found a reason to complain. Instead of coming to talk to a manager, she would email corporate. We’d get the forwarded complaint and always have to give them free tickets and concession items.

We had another regular customer named Bob. Bob would cook for us and I mean cook. He’d make full course fresh Italian meals. We all loved Bob and he was great to us. He actually became a really good friend to the general manager and would have him over to his home for dinner too.

One day, Karen and Boss walk in and Bob was standing with the general manager talking. The GM rolled his eyes and Bob asked him what happened. GM told him he’s just tired of Karen complaining all the time when we provide them with great customer service. Bob looks to see who it is and tells us it’s his freaking cousin. GM printed the email to show Bob and Bob ran over and asked her “what the f**k is this?”

Karen never complained to corporate again.

Image credits: GentleSea

#7

I saw an account terminated and their address PERMANENTLY banned from service by a senior VP. The lady called in to try to restart her service, then proceeded to complain and ask for management when she was told she couldn't. I can't even imagine the amount of complaining she had to have done to get to the senior VP level, since even major escalations only get to a level that's like 3 levels below that.

I read the notes and looked at the account, and she had 6+ service calls every month for 3+ years. This lady apparently called in almost every day to complain and ask for credits due to her service not working.

The address was blocked, and the notes basically said, "This address will never get service again. If this lady somehow gets service from this company again, everybody involved will be fired"

Image credits: Meta2048

#8

After going back and forth on an issue we couldn't help with the customer on the phone said something to the effect of, "Well that's not good enough."


And after being fed-up I simply said, "Well you not liking the answer doesn't mean the answer changes."


And she said, "That's really unprofessional." And I said, "You thinking it's unprofessional also doesn't change the answer."

And then she said, "Let me talk with your manager."

To which I got to say, "I am the manager, we're going in circles, if you'd like you can email me at "manager@companyemail" in which case I'll review your complaint to determine if it needs to be escalated."


She was not happy when she hung up, my manager was laughing thou.

Image credits: TacoMagic

#9

Happened before I became a manager, but once while I was serving at Steak 'n Shake, customer had a coupon for a burger, fries and a shake for $x.xx, can't remember the price anymore. Anyway, on the coupon it specifically stated that cheese on the burger was $0.39 up charge, although it did have a picture of a burger with cheese on it. Lady THREW A FIT in the dining room that I was treating her unfairly, it was false advertising, etc. etc. I told her I agree it's false advertising with the picture, but the text specifically states the up charge and unfortunately I can't do anything about it. The lady at the next table over heard everything and literally got up and put $0.50 on the table to cover it and said something to the effect of "I'll pay for your damn cheese if you just shut up." This pissed the cheese lady off even more. My manager obviously sensed the issue and came out. Took the cheese up charge of the bill. Like WTF Karen.

Image credits: woahhhmom8

#10

I love the ones who seem to think extra food is free. Your not going to go anywhere and get extra meat/queso/ guacamole etc for free.

I had a couple come in got a salad. They asked for extra meat, then queso then even more queso. I told them they would be charged for each scoop. She flipped out, she started cussing at me about how it’s wrong she shouldn’t have to pay for more then one, why must we be so expensive the other location does not do this. I gave her a big smile and let her know I am the general manager of that said store and help here when needed. So no you do not get that treatment there sorry extra food is not free. She then started screaming for corporate number and the store owner. I told her I couldn’t give out people’s private numbers and told her to leave and she is now banned from both stores. She did put in a compliant and guess who sees them and makes return calls? Me, she hung up on me when I called.

Image credits: AnxiousMom4

#11

Long story, but I think it's worth it. One of the best things I've ever seen:

I worked for a mostly virtual bank. We didn't have branches, but we had what were effectively kiosks at grocery stores, which is where I worked on my own. No doors, no cash service (you had to go to the ABM just outside the kiosk) but I could help with other things.

A 40-ish-year-old woman came in because her husband had died a few days earlier and she needed to sort out his accounts. As was not uncommon, she was crying a bunch through the entire process... and I hate the fact that I can't offer her better privacy (I'm right in the main entryway, everyone walking by can see her).

Anyway, Mr. Dimwit goes to my ABM and I guess it took his debit card. He can 100% see that I'm with someone, and 100% see that she's crying, meanwhile I'm on the phone talking to one of the departments we need. But he decides to interrupt (by shouting from where he is) and tell me it took his card. This can happen for a few reasons, he could have timed out the transaction, he could have had fraud on his card, or the ABM could be malfunctioning. But, by far, the most common thing is that the guy tried to put a damaged card into the machine -- something we had a bunch of signs saying not to do. I let him know that I can see what's happened and get him a new card, but I'd be 30-40 minutes and I go back to helping the widow.

Mr. Karen then goes to the ABM and it takes his card too. He's clearly frustrated, but looks like he's about to leave, when Mr. Dimwit walks over to him and says "Yeah, it did the same the me, and he (pointing to me) won't do anything about it". Again, ABMs take cards all the time. The fact that it took one from someone else doesn't mean I know it needs to be placed out of order, and I'm a bit busy trying to sensitively help a woman whose husband just died. Mr. Karen doesn't know this, but he can see I'm with someone who's in tears. But he doesn't care, so he starts yelling and swearing at me. The widow looks awful, and I feel awful for her. So I basically just apologize to the guy, say I'll put a sign saying the machine is out of order, and that I'll be happy to help him when I'm done. He goes off to buy his groceries, and I put a sign up, apologize to the widow and go back to helping her.

A little bit later, Mr. Karen has bought his groceries and is leaving, but decides to stop and yell at me some more. He tells me that I've ruined his day, and then mentions the widow I'm sitting with and says I must be a "totally f*****g incompetent r****d" to have upset her that much. The widow lets out an absolutely primeval scream like I've never heard before, gets up and goes and pushes the f*****g guy in the chest. He falls backwards into his cart and hits the back of his head on the cart. Not going to lie, it's one of the best things I've ever seen happen.

Some of the store employees, including the store manager, come over to help the guy. He tells them "the b***h" in my office went crazy and attacked him. I cut in with "Dude, you slipped. I know you're embarrassed, but she was sitting in my office the whole time" and the Mr. Karen just looks at me and her and leaves.

The widow asks me if I'll get in trouble for lying to "my manager", and I say I don't really give a s**t (I'm a banker at a grocery store, it's not my dream job and I don't work for the store anyway). But when we're done she went up front and told the manager the truth. I wasn't there when it happened, but I was told that Mr. Karen came back to complain the next day. The manager said he'd reviewed the tapes, which showed he slipped. The guy got angry, the manager told him he'd call the cops and charge him with trespassing, and he left again. I was told that by other employees, though, I never heard another word about it from the manager.

Image credits: [deleted]

#12

I was a manager at a Little Caesar's about 15 years ago. I'd typically work three or four closing shifts a week, and then one opening shift.

Back then, they ran the $5 pizza thing but it was typically only on Wednesdays. Throughout the week, they usually ran "2 pizzas for $X" specials. This happened on one of those nights.

A male Karen placed an order via phone, and then came to pick it up. I believe he ordered something like a "two pizza" deal, but then wanted bread and sauce when he got there. Well....he didn't have enough money for the bread and sauce. He only brought enough for the pizza.

I told him that I'm sorry, and there was nothing I could do. He looked at me and said angrily "My kids want that bread..." I repeated to him again that there wasn't really much I could do. I couldn't give away food without it being paid for as I would get in trouble. Keep in mind, he was there while there were several other customers in the store. Had he been alone, I might have just handed it over. He threw an absolute s**t fit, called me several names, and then told me "This isn't over!" and then he left with the pizzas that he paid for.

I found out the next day that he talked to the store manager, and he obviously fabricated quite a bit of the story. She called me at home, and reamed me over the phone. Apparently, I belittled the guy for being too poor to afford bread for his kids and I embarrassed him in front of other customers. When in reality, I apologized probably three of four times, and just told him that I would be in trouble if I just start giving stuff away.

She decided to write me up for a lack of customer service skills, and ended up comping the guy an order up to $40 to be used whenever he wanted. He came in the very next day when both the store manager and I were working. I was nothing but pleasant to him even then, and I even apologized if there was a misunderstanding. He still acted like a prick while I was taking his order. He threw in a few "the customer is always right" mentions and "the younger generation doesn't know how to treat customers."

Whatever, I'm glad the store manager was there that day because I was planning on quitting for being disciplined for doing nothing wrong. I made his pizzas very well, then I tossed them, pan and all several feet across the kitchen onto the oven conveyor, making a slight mess, and told the store manager that I refuse to work for a "has-been hag who treats her employees like garbage." I walked out and told the guy to enjoy his pizza.

I worked there for two years. I had a 9-5 manufacturing job a few days later at a small family owned company right near home. I had no clue that some companies actually treated their employees like human beings until I worked there.

Image credits: RowBoatCop36

#13

Loss prevention manager at a retail store. So part of my job was to be the no guy. If there was a customer we were not able to help and they started becoming hostile I was the one who went to defuse the situation because if it escalated I was the only one certified to touch a customer if it came down to safety and security issues.

On this particular time my Karen was at guest service with her small child in a shopping cart maybe 2 years old or so? Karen was super frustrated with my employee who was trying to tell her that she could not return her dvd she had purchased for multiple reasons. She didn’t have a receipt which she could have used an ID to return it however the dvd was also opened and the dvd had a scratch as well.

I can already hear her screaming as I approach so have an idea of what’s going on already and she immediately begins yelling at me about how my employee doesn’t know the store policy’s and she just wants to return the dvd. I explained to her that it’s not only store policy but also a copyright law was involved since it was an unwrapped open and apparently used dvd. She said ok well I got home opened it and there was a scratch on it so now what. I told her well in that case within our policy and the law I can of course exchange that for the same item however I would have to open it before she leaves so that no laws are broken and she doesnt try to return it elsewhere. After more screaming and cursing in front of her child she finally says fine I don’t want to return it anymore you can just have it! Then she winds up and frisbees the dvd past my head!

Here’s the best part now she leaves kicking and screaming and about 30 mins later I get a call to guest service and it’s the same lady this time she says she talked to her husband and there was a misunderstanding and she would like her dvd back. Which I sadly had to tell her I’m sorry ma’am we have already added that to the trash compactor.

I may have escalated the situation a bit too as it was only I think a $10 dvd and if I really wanted to I could have done something to help her for only $10 but with the way she was acting there was no way I was doing anything to encourage that behavior.

Image credits: MrCrispy38

#14

I was working at a public pool in my town, and the rules are that you can't bring outside food or drinks into the pool. This rule didn't please Karen, who was very eager to let me know that she had just spent 12 DOLLARS on this coffee from STARBUCKS. She argues with me by saying that the public pool in the next town over allows it. I keep saying the same rehearsed response, that its our policy that outside food and drinks can't come in the pool. Anyways she dumped the coffee onto our computer and I called the police.

Image credits: PmMeFemdomHentai

#15

I was the assistant manager at a large women's clothing store and we had a woman come in with some items and a gift receipt. Store policy is that item returns with a gift receipt are not given back cash, they are given gift cards. Madness ensues. Karen gets so upset that she is forced to leave and on her way out she slams the glass door and it shatters. Since we had her information because she left her receipt, she was sent a bill for the door.

Image credits: availablepoet

#16

I’m the head of a complaints department for an international chain and Karen’s are basically my bread and butter.

To speak to me they have to have escalated their concerns through agents, supervisors and managers, all of whom are empowered to resolve complaints.

Many a time the conversation has gone:

“Unfortunately Karen, we’re not able to meet your expectations. I do hope you find your next visit to be more to your liking”

“That’s ridiculous, I only want a holiday to the moon and the keys to Atlantis! I want to speak to your manager”

“I’m the highest level of escalation Karen, that’s our final answer”

“You’re not the owner of the company, I want to speak to them.”

“No Karen, I’m the highest point of escalation”

-Karen hangs up and emails the CEO about me and my terrible attitude-

-CEO forwards email to me-

“Hi Karen,

As per my previous email...”

Image credits: Wrathful_Man

#17

This is a bit long, I m sorry...

So this happend to me and my manager... We work at a small theater. Two things to keep in mind: 1. I was pretty new at this job when this happened and Me and my manager are both women on the smaller side of the spectrum and this guy was huge. 2. Here in germany we have extremely strict fire safety regulations, which means that there is just no way that you can let 121 people into a show room which is only for 120. We didn t make these rules, but for some unknown reason some people just don t get it.

Opening nights are like hell. Seriously. We have a certain amount of people who get tickets for free, like the press and sponsors. If you want to buy a ticket you have to either call us or buy one online, but they are gone within a couple of days, so you have to be super quick. In the end there are mostly a lot more people than the ones who ordered tickets, because they hope that someone s got a spare one or somebody got sick or whatever... So there was this one guy, a male Karen, if you want... he was friends with one of the producers of another play, which was part of our repertoire 10 or so years ago. He just ignored the people who were standing in the queue, waiting for us to print out their tickets and came straight at us:

Me: Hi, how-

male Karen (mK): I m friends with the producer.

Me: Okay?

mK: So I guess I can go in for free, right.

Me: Ehm... what s your name?

mK: Karen

Me: I m sorry, but we don t have a Karen on the list for the free tickets, who s friend are you, again?

mK: [Old Producer]s.

Me: Well, he isn t even the one for this play, so I m sorry, but could you please go back to the end of the line? These people were here before you...

mK: What? How dare you?? I m friends with the producer and I come here all the time! You don t know what you are talking about! Let me speak to your superior!

My Manager (who was in the back the whole time): Hi, how can I help you?

mK: I m friends with the producer, you know me, I want a free ticket for this show.

Manager: Sorry, but you are not part of our list, please go back to the end of the line. If there are tickets left, we can talk about the price. Thank you.

The mK looked pretty pissed, but went back and I thought this was the end of it... boy was I wrong...So we gave out the rest of the free and the preorderd tickets and then sold the last 5 or so to the people who were first in line. When we were out of tickets my manager announced this to the crowd who was still waiting. Nobody complained, everyone was really nice about it and asked for tickets to the next show. Everyone. But Karen: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT??? You don t have any more tickets? How dare you! You (insert a lot of mean insults here)! You made me wait and you promised me a ticket by the end of it! How dare you???! I m friends with the producer! I come here all the time! Let me go in!

Manager: I m sorry, but I can t let you in, we are full.

mK: You are a liar! I was in your show rooms before! You have plenty of space!

Manager: Listen. We have fire regulations, we can t let you in.

mK: So what? You (more insults)! I m not just anybody! I will thell this [old producer]! You suck at your job!

Manager: Listen, you can complain all you want, but if you seriously want to come to any of our plays ever again, I would advice you to come back when you have calmed down and apologize to us. Have a good day, Sir.

And with that she slammed him the little window between us and him in his face. I just stood there flabbergasted and not quiet sure if I should be more shocked about this guys entitlement or my managers reaction.... She was really pissed for about a week and told the whole staff and cast about it. Especially after the mK came back, with his tail between his legs, because his producer friend explained him the whole fire regulation thing...

Image credits: linyblue

#18

My worst Karen was a middle aged woman who I caught trying to switch price labels around on some blocks of cheese. She found a £5 label for a multipack of chicken breasts (it said chicken breasts on the label) and tried to pull the plastic strip off the shelf to put the new label in place. When I caught her and asked if she needed any help (pro tip, never outright ask a Karen what they’re doing) she pointed at the blocks of cheese which were £6 and said “these were £5 the other week.” I politely explained that they were not, it was a different brand of cheese and she said “well why are they in the sale bit then?” (They were not) I again explained that the cheese was not £5 and she walked away muttering to herself. I thought that was that and carried on with my tasks when I heard shouting coming from the till and my staff member rang the management bell and I headed over, knowing it was her. It was, she was facing him and yelling that “the manager said I could have them for £5!” And he was trying to explain that he needed manager authorisation so I approached and asked what the problem was and she immediately said “you’re not the manager!” I said I was and I had said no such thing about letting her have the cheese for £5 and she then said “Listen! I’m a close personal friend of the managers and I...” and I immediately cut in with “Yeah I’m going to stop you right there, I’m the manager and I’ve never seen you before in my life!” Because at that point she had pissed me off. She left the store screeching that she was going to head office about my “incompetence” followed by our security guard.

The next morning there was a round robin email from other branches in the area about a middle aged woman trying to sneak a discount on blocks of cheese. She’d gone to every store in the area just to try to get £1 off some cheese!

Image credits: [deleted]

#19

I used to work as a manager at a sandwich shop. Our policy for any pick up orders was to not cook their fries until the customer came in so that they have fresh fries. This is always told to the customer on the phone. I had this one b***h call in her order and ask me if I could cook the fries immediately so that she didn’t have to wait them. I told her I couldn’t do that because if she doesn’t come in to pick her order up within about 5 min, those fries will be soggy and cold. She seemed to understand this. She ends up showing up about 45 min after she placed the order and proceeded to yell at me because her fries weren’t ready. I explained to her that if I had cooked her fries when she placed the order that they would be very cold and soggy because she took 45 min to come pick her order up. She didn’t care. She continued to yell at me about how she’s a nurse and has no time to wait for the fries. I told her oh well, you either need to wait for them to cook (which takes literally 2 mins to cook) or leave. She waited. What a b***h.

Image credits: [deleted]

#20

Oh hell yeah. Buckle up.

I worked as a manager at a chain BBQ restaurant, we will call it Popular Charlie’s.

There was this lady who we called “Nacho Lady” -I’ll get into why. She was that ‘kinda over weight, holistic living, anti vaxx, essential oil, military wife, my 2 year old daughter who I talk to like a coherent adult is going to change the world’ type lady. With all the “Karen” aesthetics to match. We all dreaded her when she came in.

We call her Nacho Lady because whenever she comes by, she orders our nachos at our take out area. No big deal. But she would want everything on the side. Which again, no big deal in most situations because I understand that nachos get soggy really, especially To-Go. But what some people don’t like/understand is seeing the actual proportions for everything. 2 oz of anything really isn’t that much. That goes for the Cheese, chili, beans, nacho sauce, all the works. Even tho it is all proportioned equally, the customer doesn’t like what they see and that’s where the back lash happened with Nacho Lady and the “karen” moments starts happening.

She didn’t like the actual proportions and wanted demanded more but refused to pay for it. Our Take Out specialists were good at standing up for themselves and the rules. Of course She didn’t accept it, so she had to speak to a manager- myself or 2 others depending on the day.

She would also order 2 kids meals- pork sandwiches and fries. Again, no big deal But she was very particular about this one as well. The pork had to be dry (no bbq sauce) in a separate container. Kids buns toasted, which we don’t usually do. The fries had to be dropped as soon as she walks in the door so they are crispy and fresh for when she takes them all the way home.

Because of her extreme specifications, it got to the point where only a manager was allowed to take her order and only a manager could review the order with her. This was always the most nerve wracking part because she would sit down at our waiting table in the Take Out area, and open every single box and inspect everything. Which we would typically do in the first place, but the way she went about was very... karen This is when all the issues would happen.

-fries were never hot and fresh and crispy enough, sent back to get new ones.

-not enough of the portioned pork for the kids sandwich, demanded more.

-not enough cheese sauce and shredded cheese, demanded more.

-not enough tortilla chips, you know the rest.

The list goes on. And to top it all off, she somehow got a hold of a s**t ton of “free kids meal” coupons that were blank- meaning no manager signature, dates, or any sort of validation that she got it legit. A coupon is..

No big deal..

But a typical coupon can only be used one at time with one transaction, but a Karen being a Karen, she demanded we used two out of giant stack so she gets her kids meals for free.

This got to the point where things had to be ran by the GM. Even if it means calling him on his day off. He was bit of a b***h and always allowed it, but she started costing us money. It wasn’t feasible for her to keep coming back and having her as a customer because 9.5/10, we would end up having to send stuff back to the kitchen which would get wasted. My other manager, Billy Jo, was a fierce b***h that never let anyone walk over her, she was awesome. She finally stepped up and made a call over the GM’s order and 86’d her.

When that moment came, we all huddled in the office and watched the security cameras as Billy Jo ripped her a new one. That was an unforgettable day.

I left and got out of the restaurant industry and management because of how toxic that field can be, but I do love that I have a “Karen” story.

Image credits: bob-le-tree

#21

One time a Karen tried to return an expensive handbag that had obviously been used. She proceeded to say I was calling her a liar and her anger escalated as she paced back and forth at the till point.

The Karen then proceeded to tell me that she was going to call in some guys to come after me after I finish work. Throughout this I am politely repeating my request that Karen leave but in hindsight I think this must have been rather annoying... as Karen proceeded to grab the bag and launch herself over the till at me in an attempt to hit me with it.

At this point in time, a colleague who was yet to start their shift (therefore appeared as a customer) was on the shop floor and had witnessed it all. They tackled Karen into the wall, knocking down glass shelves which had been displaying around 30 bags. Karen is a crumpled mess on the floor, appears shocked, stumbles upright and runs away.

Image credits: [deleted]

#22

I think the one standout I remember was a few years ago when my company (cell phone provider) gave everyone unlimited data for like 3 months for no charge. It was essentially a stress test on our network, but everyone was getting free data so it wasnt like anyone could complain.

Or so I thought.

I talked to one lady who had demanded a manager because unlimited phone data wasnt enough, they wanted unlimited data on their hotspot as well. She then threatened to "get us all fired" because we wouldnt give her unlimited data through her hotspot, which was actually a feature we didnt even offer paying customers at the time.

She ranted and raved for a while and we ended up passing her between like 5 levels of supervisors before she gave up.

Image credits: SayNoToStim

#23

Years ago I was managing a store in a local pet store chain. I was young and often dismissed as a manager. One night a woman walks up to me holding a normal parakeet cage, about $30, and asks me if she buys the cage can we "throw in" extra perches, food, and other accessories. I politely tell her I can't do that but I can get her a discount if she's buying all those items. She instantly flips her s**t and starts reading me the riot act. Telling me she works retail and she knows I am supposed to do whatever makes the customer happy. This goes on for a short while, never giving me a chance to get a word in. She then sets the cage down and storms out of the store. We all sort of laughed it off, even a few customers who saw it go down saying things like "I don't know how you deal with people like that."

About a half an hour later my cashier tells me there is an angry woman on the phone, obviously the same woman, wanting to speak to the manager. I pick up the phone and introduce myself. She immediately starts telling me about her awful experience with the "rude kid" I have working for me. She rehashes the entire situation with all sorts of embellishments mixed in. She says that when she approached the "rude kid" he was throwing ferrets into the ferret pen from 10 feet away saying I was playing "ferret basketball". (Never happened). She told me that she simply asked if there was a discount for large purchases because she was buying an "expensive parrot cage" and all the necessary supplies for her "expensive parrot" and would be spending well over $500. Again, literally not a single part of that was true. But the "rude kid" told her that cheap people don't get discounts and if she can afford a $500 cage and a $2k parrot she can pay full price.

The entire time I just let her rant on, trying not to laugh. So I finally tell her I can give her corporate's number. She says no she just wants me to know what type of people I have working for me and how I (he) should be fired.

So I asked who it was and started describing myself. She confirms and I said "Well ma'am, you might want to take the number for corporate and tell them because I the 'rude kid's you talked to, none of what you just told me actually happened, and we have 24 hour surveillance cameras in the store and I can pull up the entire ordeal in case my DM would like to see what really happened."

She screamed at the top of her lungs "F**k you punk!" And slammed down the phone. We didn't actually have cameras but I knew the bluff was enough. It was quite the satisfying moment. I had many "You are speaking to him" moments in my old career, but that was the best because she was so bats**t.

Image credits: sebrebc

#24

Not a manager, but a kitchen chef in a pizzeria. We occasionally get this lady that orders a pizza then tries to complain about it in order to get it for free. We always deny her and she always with threatens to give us a bad review of Yelp or b*****s to whoever is unfortunate enough to be on the phone with her. One time, she ordered a pizza with gluten free crust and complained that the crust was “too doughy”, so she demanded it to be free.

Gluten free crusts are as crispy as a cracker when they come out of the oven and are almost the same while we make it. Even if someone didn’t bake it in the oven beforehand for whatever reason, it’s virtually impossible for it to be doughy.

For about a week, all of us would tell each other, “Make sure that it isn’t too doughy” as a joke when we had to make gluten free pizzas.

Image credits: MetaGigaZ

#25

Work at a vacuum repair shop. People dont pay attention to their vacuum cleaners as much as you'd think lol

I cant tell you how maney times someone comes to pick up their vacuum and says "oh this one isn't mine" or "mine didnt have scratches down the side"

I can tell you it is, and it came in with all those scratches on the side.

After the first 2 times it happened to me we started taking pictures of the unit with serial numbers and customer info, send them home with the serial number and require them to bring it back for pick up. Despite the evidence, I've had a lady close to tears because we didnt have her vacuum. Even with the pictures we had of it at drop off, her information, the matching serial numbers.

Sure it's a big conspiracy we just love taking in vacuums and switching all the information around because its fun. People need to pay more attention.

Image credits: myacheivement

#26

Obligatory not a manager and I've posted this elsewhere before. Dont know if it counts as a male Karen but he felt like one! TLDR: Guy threatens to beat me up because he was p*****g in public, supervisor tells him to get out, no hesitation.

Not me but a bada** supervisor I had that had my back when I was threatened on the job. I was a pretty meek young lady at the time of this story (and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still but I've grown a bit). The management at this establishment was pretty awesome, honestly.

Setting: Truck stop swing shift, hot summer afternoon, on the side dealing with large semi truck pumps. Note that I actually like this side better since other than the occasional douche, the truckers are normally more polite than your average general customer, believe it or not!

Event: One of my coworkers doing perimeter garbage pickup comes to the desk to tell me someone is on one of the truck pumps p*****g in a bottle. Not in his cab, oh no, this guy has his willy out p*****g in a bottle, with RVs with families in them walking around on this hot summer day. He is on one of the closer pumps, so it's maybe two minutes at a crawl to get to the bathrooms inside the store. If he'd been in his truck, who cares, it's not the most disgusting thing someone's done in a truck, trust me. But no, out where god and everyone can see him.

As is procedure when someone is doing something frowned upon at a pump, I get on the PA system for a GENERAL UNTARGETED announcement. I do not say pump numbers. I do not give descriptions. "I would like to remind all customers there are restrooms inside the store for your convenience, and that you are on camera on the pumps." Just that. No identifying information. Could have been anybody.

Sure enough, about 60 seconds after this, a big guy comes strolling in, belly hanging out of the bottom of his barely fitting tank top, and is SCREAMING at the top of his lungs at me behind the desk: "HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? YOU EMBARRASSED ME! I HAVE A BLADDER PROBLEM! YOU MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT LIKE THAT AGAIN AND I'LL F**K YOU UP!"

My supervisor is standing right there. Note that he is about a foot shorter than this trucker and sure as s**t he looks right up at him and says clear as day, "No, you're going to remove yourself from the store immediately."

The blubbering for a solid 10 seconds was priceless, before the guy started flipping us off and yelling that he'd never come back as he left. I never said anything, though I dearly wanted to say that nobody embarrassed him but himself, since nobody would have known who I was talking about if he hadn't screamed it for the whole world.

Image credits: Koranami13

#27

This was 30 years ago and there was literally no way I could help this woman. She left while yelling that she hoped my dog died.

Image credits: gutterpeach

#28

AH not my worst but actually my favorite.

Once I got Karen’d while working solo in the front of a small wing restaurant on a busy Sunday (owner’s day off) so when she asked to speak to MY manager (the owner) I momentarily forgot he wasn’t there so I went into the back, had a “oh!!” moment, and then reentered with a huge smile and said, “Actually, I’m acting manager. Anything else I can help you with?” I ended up refunding her only three dollars out of the 20 she wanted back because the fries with her meal were the only thing she hadn’t eaten out of before deciding it was the wrong order.

Image credits: BeePoNo

#29

I'm not in retail anymore, but I was managing a popular mid range handbag store. Think "typical Karen bag", about $200-400. Anyway, most customers were fantastic. This one woman was this Shrek-looking large redheaded lady who stomped in and demanded that we repair her 20 year old bag for FREE... and if we couldn't do that, she demanded that we exchange this old ratty smelly 20 year old bag for a brand new one for her. Recently policy changes had resulted in new prices for this service, but free repairs had about a 1 year warranty on a new bag... not a 20 year old one. I tell her as such. I was pretty young to have had the role I did so she, dissatisfied with my answer, asked to speak to a manager. I told her I'm the manager and she began turning as red as her hair. She screamed and yelled about how she'll call corporate and never shop here again!! Well, that sounds like a real loss, losing a customer that is too cheap to repair a 20 year old bag and hasn't bought new from us in just as long.

I give her my best s**t eating grin and say "im so sorry, thats just the policy." She demands corporates number. I give her the customer service line that you can find on Google, unbeknownst to her. She huffs away, forgetting her keys on the counter. She's halfway out and she remembers, turns around, red as a beet, huffs in my smiling face and snatches the keys off the counter. It was hilarious. She came back months later, worked with a different person on the team, and didn't even look my way.

Image credits: [deleted]

#30

Whats the male version of a Karen? Would it be Dave? I'm going with Dave.

Dave 1. I'm opening a call center offshore, Dave 1 refuses to speak to anybody that isn't American. I'm american but was working at that site during that project phase so when the call escalates to me his first question was are you in the US, at the time that was a no. He hung up. He spent 3 hours calling and hanging up. He'd ask to speak to an american they'd transfer to me, then he'd ask me if I was in the US. 3 hours of the same process. Finally he follows up the are you in the US question with I told them I wanted to speak to an American, I said I am. That long pause as he processed how much of his day he's wasted.

Dave 2. Dave 2 was in the military, Dave 2 thought everything should cater to the military or run with what he perceived as military efficiency. First complaint he had to verify his info, when he called his cable company he didn't. Cable company and phone, and cell were all with the same carrier I.E grouped and they apparently were willing to accept that as verification. You call on thier systems you must be who you say you are. Well we aren't the carrier we verify. Dude wanted to go round and round on that point till I told him if that's what you called about I can take the note, we aren't changing anything but I'll note your concern. Dave complaint 2 and the main reason for his call. Being in the military he wanted to have his car payment auto deducted from his pay check. Don't know if this has changed but at the time the military allowed for 2 free the rest had to go through a company called fort knox, they charge a 2 dollar fee for every one. He wanted that fee waived. Problem, not our fee. He refused to believe that we didn't get some kick back, we honestly didn't actually had to pay fort knox ourselves but it's worth it to have a few hundred thousand payments come on with 0 effort. And the fee on our end was minuscule compared to what we paid in ACH fees. Round and Round with this guy, who do I need to talk to XFER me I want to speak to your manager blah blah blah. Eventually told him no one here can help you. It's your pay check through the government, a third party they have worked with to authorize the process we just get a check, call them, call a senator, speak to your CO, but it ain't us.

And I'll toss in a Karen. Customer calls angry her account is not paid off. We are at her loan expiration date, but she still has a substantial balance due. She wants it waived because she made all her payments, her loan should be PIF, she's a CPA she knows how loans work. We look at her loan together, this isn't her first time calling with this complaint she has a full payment history in front of her. First payment 90 days past due, second payment 90 days past due, first year was basically 90 days past due. Not a single payment was made on time. I walked her through the first 4 payments doing the math. She had a total of about 100 dollars go to the principal during that time. Should have been a lot more. She says are you telling me I don't know how to do my job, I'm a CPA I know how loans work. I say I've never seen you do your job but you seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of how this loan works.

Image credits: tdasnowman