‘She wanted to return a cake that was almost gone. How bad could it have been? Normally, if something is spoiled or not up to standards, it’s returned almost intact. This thing was a pile of crumbs. But it gets better: She demanded cash, yelled at me, and started causing a scene. I hope she never comes back.”

“He brought his car in for a repair and demanded that we detail it at no charge. ‘You have no idea who I am!’ Well, I didn’t. His car was a low-end luxury car. Our customers with real money don’t act like that. The entitlement oozed out of every pore in his body. I handled the situation, but he was horrible!”

Encountering customers with challenging behaviors—sometimes colloquially referred to as “Karens”—is an inevitable part of business. (Apologies to all of the very nice people in this world named Karen.) If not handled properly, interactions with these people can escalate and affect the morale of employees and the reputation of the business.

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