It’s can be frustrating working customer service so it’s nice when every once in a while a customer stands up for an employee. These folks share the time they saw a patron put a rude customer in their place.
Lady Slams A Bully At Lowes

“Just recently, actually. I went to Lowe’s to pick up an order. There was a guy ahead of me at the customer service counter who was really angry. I have no idea why. He was a really big guy and he was huffing and puffing and just throwing a fit. One of the girls at customer service told him she would go get a manager for him and, as she walked away, he said something about her being a stupid, fat cow. All the girls there was heavy set, but that doesn’t make someone stupid, a cow, or deserving of being put down. Furthermore, he looked like he could be carrying quintuplets, and had no business talking about anybody else’s weight. I promptly pointed that out.
He made another comment about ‘all their fat lazy butts’ and I said ‘so what? You’re fat.’ He said ‘I’m healthy’ and I said ‘you’re a fat idiot.’ He then called me a skinny prick and said I looked like a crack addict. I’m not skinny. I’m average-sized to chubby. I guess body-shaming is his go-to for insulting women though… He told me to mind my own business and I told him it was my business. He said he wasn’t talking to me, and I told him that didn’t matter. I told him those girls couldn’t stand up to him because they were at work, so someone had to. He was really out of sorts.
You could tell he was a bully who never expected anyone to talk back to him. If another guy had told him to shut his mouth, it might have led to a physical fight. He was more than double my size, and I’m a woman. I don’t think it would have worked out well for him if he swung at me in front of all those people. He turned red and just sounded like more of a moron by the minute. The place was crowded, and other customers in line were snickering and giving me approving looks. Finally, the manager came out and called him away from everyone else. One of the girls at the counter discreetly mouthed ‘thank you for that,’ to me.”
Low Class Attitudes In The First Class Cabin

“Years ago, we were attempting to complete a safety demonstration on a Boeing 727 aircraft. I was working in the First-Class cabin, and we had to stop the demo several times for a woman sitting there. I suspect that she had been drinking because she was loudly talking over the demo to her seatmate, discussing ‘important’ business affairs, distracting others and making it difficult for them to hear.
I asked her to keep her voice down, and she said, ‘We fly a lot, and we’ve heard it so many times that we know it by heart.’
The second time we stopped the demo and I asked her to speak quietly, she said, ‘I’m a CEO of a large corporation and I have business to do.’
The third time, she rolled her eyes dramatically and informed me that I was getting tiresome and should mind my own business! ‘You go along and do your pretty little presentation and leave us alone to handle the important things!’
Before I could reply, a passenger seated behind her stood and motioned for me to let her speak, she leaned over the seatback to speak to the loudmouth, and sweetly said, ‘I get it. You’re pretty important to be a CEO!’
‘Dang right, I am! And I worked hard to get here!’ loudmouth replied.
‘I’m sure you did!’ the woman said. ‘It’s not easy.’ And her voice took on a hard edge, ‘But you know,’ she went on, ‘these people don’t come into your boardroom and interrupt you when you’re making a presentation. And you’re in their office now. You need to afford them the courtesy of making their presentation without interruption and without being so rude. They’re doing their job, and the rest of us need to hear them. So, this behavior is going to stop, isn’t it!‘ That last two words were a statement, not a question. And they were very firmly stated!
Surrounding passengers grinned in approval, some even snickering. Looking around and realizing that she was alone, loudmouth immediately shut up and sank down into her seat, looking properly chastised. We continued with the safety demo and she didn’t utter a peep until we were done. And for the rest of the flight, she spoke in near whispers.
Peer pressure can be extremely effective!”
Does My Name Ring A Bell?

“When I was in high school some friends wanted to go hang out at a classmate’s apartment. Her mom was gone and it was a Saturday night so about 6 of us went over.
About 30 minutes later the property manager who lived on-site because it was over 100 units banged on the door. When my friend opened it he started screaming at us telling us we were too loud and everyone was complaining and we all needed to leave.
I said to the man, ‘It’s 8 pm on a Saturday night. We aren’t drinking or playing loud music we are just hanging out. What is the problem?’ He screamed at me got in my face with his finger and told me to shut up and leave or he would call the police.
I said call them for what? He then almost hit me he was so angry I was talking back at him. I was doing it politely and my friend freaked out and was worried she would get in trouble as I guess this guy was a total prick hole to all the tenants.
So we left. As we were walking away he screamed at me that I was a hoodlum and would fail in life and I should feel lucky he didn’t call the police on me.
I stopped in my tracks and turned around and said ‘Sir you are WAY out of line. I would check yourself.’
He laughed and said ‘Yeah, what are you going to do?’ I told him – HAVE YOU FIRED TOMORROW.
He just laughed and asked ‘AND HOW ARE YOU GOING TO DO THAT. YOU GOT NOTHING…’
I walked up to him and said ‘MY PARENTS OWN THIS ENTIRE COMPLEX. DOES THE NAME MOSELEY SOUND FAMILIAR?
He was silent. I said yeah, I’m Kera Moseley. Then turned away and walked. with my friends one of which said that was so awesome, you totally freaked him out. Especially since your parents don’t own the building.
Actually, my parents did own the building.
I just never told anyone and that property manager was FIRED the next day by my parents.”
Don’t Mess With This Missus

“Right out of high school I was working for a big-box retailer. I had only been working there a couple of weeks when I saw this happen.
I was working as a cashier and this little old lady (around 80 y/o) came up with her items – and she had quite a few of them. She was walking with a walker and moved pretty slowly.
We had just opened the doors for the day, so it was around 7 am and there were only two of us, so pretty barebones staff. The rest of the staff would be in about an hour later – and this lady had been waiting at the door when we got there.
Just as she finished putting her items on the counter, this guy in a business suit comes up to the counter and asks me if I could ring him up really quickly – he was in a real rush.
I told him that was up to the lady who had just finished unloading her cart.
She said no – she was late for an appointment herself and he would have to wait.
He cut her off and INSTRUCTED me to ring him up right then. I said no. He then told me to get another cashier upfront, right this dang minute. I told him the only other person working the store at the moment was the receiving guy and he was unloading the truck – and couldn’t use the registers anyways as he didn’t have the codes to the registers. I was the only cashier and would be until 8 am.
He got really irate – I’m going to call the manager, etc. He kept raising his voice until he was almost screaming. Other customers started to gather to watch.
When he finally got to the question of ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ The little old lady yelled back at him – ‘Yeah, you’re a little prissy prick so shut the F up before I ram this walker where the sun doesn’t shine.’ She also said some other very choice words to him, but it’s inappropriate to post here.
He was just shocked by this little lady. He was so embarrassed, that he left his stuff in the basket, dropped it on the floor and left.
Turns out, this little old lady was in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II. As the women’s division equivalent of a drill sergeant. She had been married to a USMC drill sergeant and her two kids became USMC drill sergeants.
She didn’t take trash from anybody.”
Her Teenage Son Knew More Than This Fool

“One afternoon, my oldest son and I were at Whole Foods, waiting in line at the butcher counter. My son was about 17 at the time. The lady in front of us is screaming at the man behind the counter that she wanted ‘grass-fed, vegetarian chicken’.
So a bit of background… we have had chickens for most of my kids’ lives. They’re fun pets and breakfast producers. So, my son knew chickens and they are anything but grass eaters. They are feathery miniature t-rexes when it comes to eating.
As she was getting more ticked off and the man was trying to explain they had grass-fed beef, but not chicken. My son couldn’t keep his laughter quiet anymore and he let out a big guffaw that led to a few minutes of serious laughter.
The woman turned around and in the same condescending tone she was using with the employee, shouts at my son, ‘what’s so funny?’ And he says, ‘You! Chickens are far from vegetarian and there’s no way they would be able to live eating grass.’ And kept laughing. He couldn’t help himself. Honestly, it was all I could do to stifle my laughs.
She then turned on me asking if I was going to make my son apologize. Oh, no honey. I gave her a quick lesson on chicken digestion and that even the grains they get in the prepared feed are pretty much just used as more grit in their gullet. And proceeded to tell the story of one set of young hens we had that would play keep away with field mice until they’d finally eat them. And toads, frogs, insects, whatever they could get their beaks on.
She got really incensed and stormed off. The butcher was so pleased she was gone he gave us a discount on the meat we were getting.”
“She Needs A Nap”

“I was checking out my once a month groceries with four kids under the age of 10 and the woman behind me started ranting about how ‘It’s people like you that are overpopulating the earth and making it difficult for rest of us to exist!’ She continued snide comments until people started to look around. I turned to look at her as the cashier two aisles overmatched the woman’s volume and greeted me by name and asked if the kids’ adoption was final yet.
I smiled at the cashier and said, ‘Go easy, she is setting a great example to the kids as to why kindness and good behavior are important for everyone to learn.’ They may be young and many, but even they knew the importance of respect for everyone because we never know what happens in people’s lives that leads to moments of poor behavior or bad choices.
I have never forgotten the sound of that woman’s screechy comment and the kids saying softly to each other, ‘She’s just havin’ a mean minute.’ and the younger one telling me, ‘She needs a nap.’
With the bio parents convicted on 32 counts of criminal neglect, these young ones had known more trauma and loss in their short lives than this indignant woman would probably experience in all of her years. As we were loading the groceries into the car one of the kids simply said, ‘I’m glad she’s not adopting us.’
I chuckled, gave him a hug, and said, ‘I am too!’”
This Lady Got Her Just Desserts

“An entitled customer came through my line when I was cashiering at Walmart in 2001 or 2002. This was back before they had the readers they do now, so the only reliable way to have a card go through was for us to swipe it. Naturally, I checked the card for a gender-matching name and checked it against the signature when the customer allowed it – usually only when the card was labeled to check ID.
Lady comes through with a child in a cart. Had photos, candy for the kiddo, and a couple of other small ticket items – the total was under $20. Used card on her end, and I asked to verify the card and check it against the signature. She agreed to but said she’s on the account. Red flags cued up, I check the card, sure enough, an obviously male name for a female customer. I refuse to process the transaction based upon the suspected fraud, stating I cannot verify if they are on the account, and request another form of payment. Meanwhile, I flip my light so it flashes, and she stands fast to her story. CSM comes over (customer service manager), diffuses the situation by suspending the transaction, taking her over to the service desk, and says that they can call the card company to verify. Off she goes, and I continue checking out other customers.
About 5–10 minutes pass, I look over, and I see police at the service desk, handcuffing the lady. I did not see what happened to the child she had with her – hopefully, his dad came to pick him up… Turns out she was going through a bitter divorce, and she was trying to clean him out little by little to try to avoid suspicion. Hated seeing the kid go through that, but it was what I could do to prevent fraud.”
Wait Your Turn!

“I could hardly believe what I was hearing. A well-dressed woman screamed at the receptionist at the tanning salon. ‘No, I will not wait for a bed. I don’t have time for this,’ she said.
‘But all these people are ahead of you. You must wait your turn or come back later,’ the young lady explained.
‘No, I will not wait and you will get me in a room right now! These other people are waiting so they obviously don’t mind waiting. I, on the other hand, DO mind waiting so I should go first!’ The receptionist looked like she was going to burst into tears while the woman continued her rant. ‘Now do your f-ing job, you idiot.’
I stepped forward and in a calm, but firm voice said ‘I won’t listen to you berate this poor girl any longer and I’m sure everyone here agrees with me. You need to leave. Right now.’
The woman glared at me but took a step back. She glanced around the waiting area, then without another word, walked out the door.
The receptionist thanked me and even gave me an upgrade on a tanning bed— when it was my turn. The others in the waiting room offered me high-fives and their support.
I hope I never meet someone acting so entitled again.”
Thanks, But No Thanks

“Years ago, I was out at one of my favorite restaurants in NYC with two friends – one had driven down from PA to take us out to dinner just to catch up.
It’s a small Italian restaurant just off Times Square. Their main draw is the Italian sampler – basically, they make three different kinds of pasta each night and they come around to each table that has ordered this and you can eat all you want. You can try all three kinds of pasta or just get extra helpings of one. It’s always been a go-to for me. You have a dedicated server, but they’re not the ones who bring the pasta out. Think Brazilian steakhouse, but with pasta.
We were sitting next to a couple who were just being AWFUL to our server. They were blaming him for everything; yelling at him for no reason; just harassing him up and down. He wasn’t from the US, but even with his thick accent, his English was great and he certainly didn’t have any issues understanding them (or us).
They were getting done with dinner and asked for the manager. The manager came over and they just continued to lie about the server and tried so very hard to get him in trouble. I don’t know if they were hoping to get a free meal or what, but it was just over the top and I couldn’t sit by any longer.
When the server came over to check on us, I told him that he was doing a wonderful job and could I please speak to his manager to let him know.
The manager came over (the couple was still sitting next to us) and as loud as I could without screaming, I let the manager know how amazing the server was and how he was on top of everything and always so gracious and friendly and just couldn’t say enough good things about him. I looked over at the couple next to us and told the manager that everything they had complained about was a flat-out lie and they were either looking for a free meal or were just flat-out nasty people. The woman tried to interrupt, but I politely let her know I was not speaking to her.
The manager thanked me and left. The server came over and was so thankful. He was so afraid he would be fired if there was another bad comment about him, but I assured him I let the manager know the couple was lying about everything they’d said about him.
The couple started to get up and leave when the manager came back over. He brought our table desserts and merlot as a thank you and as the couple, looking so angry, started to leave, he said to them, ‘Thank you for your business, but we would rather you not return again.’
It was one of my favorite things ever. We also left a really nice tip for our server because we figured the couple next to us probably left nothing. I love going to this restaurant every time I’m in New York.
It’s called Becco if you are ever looking for an amazing experience for dinner in NYC.”
Wait Your Turn, Sir

“I was at the airport. It was awesome.
This was a long time ago. I was probably 25 or so, flying from Denver to New York. I entered the Denver airport and headed to the United counter to check in — the United First Class Counter because a rich relative had bought me the ticket. There was no line — the place was pretty empty — but the woman at the counter was clearly in the middle of doing something, so I approached the counter but stood a few feet back until she looked up at me.
It didn’t take long. She looked up and smiled and asked how she could help me, and I started stepping all the way up to the counter when suddenly a guy came out of nowhere and quickly squeezed in front of me. I had to hop out of the way so he didn’t knock into me. I started to express surprise, but he just turned his back to me and said to the woman, ‘I need to check-in for my flight.’
The woman looked at me, and I just shrugged. This guy was older than me and looked like he belonged in first-class — nice suit, briefcase, busy air about him. And he was sort of out of breath, so I figured he was late for his flight. Whatever. I started to back up so she could help this guy check-in, but then she says to the guy, ‘Sir, this young woman was here first.’
He didn’t look at me, just responded something like, ‘But I’m going to be late.’
And then she tells him:
‘Sir, if you would like to check in ahead of this passenger, you’ll need to apologize to her and get her permission to take her place in line.’
He paused.
And then he did it! He looked at me for the first time — 20 years his junior, wearing fraying jeans and flip-flops — squirmed for a moment, and then said he was sorry and asked if he could go ahead of me.
I looked at the woman at the United counter, and her face was impassive, totally professional. I told him, ‘Sure, no problem,’ and stepped away from the counter.
I still can’t believe she did that. I can only imagine when you work First Class you see a lot of entitled behavior, and she just didn’t take that biz anymore.”
The Correct Response

“1972, Los Angeles, California.
My friend and I would sometimes go to a high-end department store just to dream. We both worked entry-level jobs so our salaries would definitely not support our fantasies. We in no way looked like we belonged in that store.
The staff there never hovered, unless a customer wanted them to, but they were quietly and unobtrusively vigilant. These people knew we weren’t there to buy, but they treated us as respected customers.
A well-dressed black woman and her young daughter were looking at little-girl dresses. My friend also had a daughter (not with us), so she, too, looked at the outfits (way out of our price range).
A slightly older, white woman aggressively snatched a dress from the black mother and snarled, ‘That’s mine!’
The black lady quickly moved to another rack of clothes. The white woman did it again. And again. She snapped, ‘You don’t belong here, girl.’ This was all in less than a minute.
The black woman started to speak, looked at her frightened child, and moved away. The white woman stood with hands (still clutching the children’s clothes) on her hips glaring after them.
The store staff saw it all. As one saleslady moved towards the woman and her child, a very distinguished-looking floor manager approached the other woman.
He bowed slightly (it was a different time) gently taking the merchandise from her (which she didn’t want to buy after all) and offered to take her to a more comfortable place so she could calm down.
She looked so pleased with herself! He asked if she had the store privilege/ credit card so that he could change her status (an upgrade for being nasty???), and she beamed!
He took her arm and led her OUTSIDE the store. We couldn’t hear what was said, but her face…
It seems that he told her she was no longer welcome and refused to give back her card. The guard at the door blocked her when she tried to re-enter.
As he passed us, we thanked him. He nodded slightly and continued on his way to the mother and daughter.”