Customer shut down employee for speaking Spanish — then came crawling back for help for her Spanish-speaking grandfather
'A young woman in the group literally sneered at me and said I didn't have to speak Spanish to them because they all spoke English.'
Everyone working in the service or sales sector has had that one customer who just keeps getting on their nerves. An employee at a suit and tuxedo store who goes by u/Any_Figure_5199 revealed that he, too, experienced an entitled customer at work, and while the customer is meant to be “king," this employee knew where to draw the line. In a post shared on January 16, he shared how he managed to deal with a rude shopper who called him out for speaking in Spanish. It happened as a huge bridal party came to shop at their store, and his response is sassiness at its finest.
AITAH because I refused to speak Spanish with a customer after being told it wasn't welcome?
byu/Any_Figure_5199 inAITAH
“They were renting six tuxedos and buying two suits. The suits were for the father of the bride and her grandfather,” the post revealed. As any other employee would, this man wanted to deliver exquisite service to the bride and her fellow shoppers. While the assistant dealt with the rentals, the man, being a part-owner, decided to negotiate the suit purchases with the bride. “I noticed that the family was speaking Spanish, and I made it a point to speak Spanish with clients at the beginning to keep them from trying to be private in their conversation,” he explained. So when this group arrived, he blended English and Spanish in his conversations. “A young woman in the group literally sneered at me and said I didn't have to speak Spanish to them because they all spoke English,” he recalled.
Though he was stunned by the attitude, he decided to put professionalism first, apologized, and stuck to English. “All was going well until I got to Grandpa,” the employee noted. Since the elderly man did not speak any English, contrary to what the bride boasted, he was struggling to understand and communicate with the owner. However, he was given a clear caveat not speak in Spanish, so the grandpa’s only option was to call the woman and have her translate everything. Undoubtedly, she got perplexed by the scenario before she was stopped and reminded that she was the one who insisted on English in the first place. Things went well that day, but she went on to grudgingly post a negative review.
She falsely wrote that the employee “was unprofessional and made her translate when I spoke fluent Spanish.” “I responded with my side and offered to provide a video of her telling me to speak English. She removed the review when people started mocking her,” the post read. The woman couldn’t own up and instead threatened to cancel her order. However, when the owner gladly agreed since alterations had not yet begun, things quickly changed. “Her mother brought her in. She apologized for the way she spoke to me and said that she would like to keep the order the way it was,” he wrote.
Customer Service Keynote Speaker Geoff Ramm shared a post on LinkedIn about his experiences with ungrateful and ruthless customers and how it affects employees and the business. “If you want to receive great service, then give it first!” he wrote. "I am no expert on societal issues, but there has been an alarming surge in rudeness, aggression, and entitlement since COVID." He further shared data he received from Jo Causon, CEO of the Institute of Customer Service, via email. It revealed that “42% of customer service staff across every sector experienced abuse in the previous six months, up 19% from March 2024.”
Just because customers are treated well upfront, it doesn't give them the liberty to misuse kindness and behave in an entitled and reckless manner. And many agreed with this. u/kipsterdude said, “I love that you called this girl's bluff so calmly. I wish I had your poise.” u/iseeisayibe remarked, “She was very clear and cold in her direction. She doesn’t get to be mad at you for following her exactly. That’s hypocritical.”
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