porcelainplatinum/TikTok
August 11, 2021, 7:00 am*
Retail workers are unquestionably among those most mistreated by both employers and customers alike, and the pandemic has only exacerbated things. When they aren’t dealing with crazed anti-maskers purposely causing drama and putting people at risk, they’re still putting up with the usual nonsense from entitled customers who don’t understand that not everything and everyone caters to their every whim.
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An employee at JOANN Fabric and Craft Store was over it when one nagging customer kept berating him that the store didn’t have enough employees — and he managed to capture part of the interaction on video.
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Things start out harmlessly enough, with a customer asking @porcelainplatinum if there’s another salesperson on the floor.
He’s at the register helping another customer at the time, and lets her know that there’s no one else available, but he’ll be able to help her shortly. That’s when the inevitable Karen chimes in.
“So nobody can help?” she asks, even though the employee just explained he’d be over in a second.
Rather than wait for a response, she immediately began complaining about how scissors are in a locked cabinet and she has to wait for someone to come unlock it.
“I’m not standing in the line for this,” she says.
Complaints that customer service isn’t quick enough have gone up in the pandemic, as it’s been more and more difficult to find people willing to risk their lives for minimum wage. This isn’t a sudden phenomenon, and one would think people would be aware that many places are understaffed by now. But it’s obvious that the employee has heard complaints about a lack of additional workers more than once in recent days.
“I mean, we have applications online if you want to apply,” he offers.
“No I don’t want to. I just needed scissors from the sales floor,” she says. “But you need more employees.”
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“Well, tell the world and tell COVID, but I can’t help you with that. I’m sorry,” he replies.
The way the employee straddled the line of not being outright rude to the customer, but not putting up with her repetitive and unhelpful commentary resonated with viewers, who are always happy to see anyone stand up to customer Karens.
“Normalize putting customers in their place,” wrote @amabearbear.
“As a customer service rep I love that our world is shifting away from ‘the customer is always right’ to ‘here’s your own energy back how’s it feel?’” added @itsme_kylee.
@porcelainplatinum noted in the comments that he brought out the store’s official sign urging customers to apply for a job online following the interaction, undoubtedly in the hopes that any other would-be Karens would catch on before giving him grief over something out of his control.
*First Published: August 11, 2021, 6:59 am
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