The idea of working for wealthy individuals may sound nice on paper. They have plenty of money, so they’ll be generous tippers and provide plenty of benefits, right? Plus, they expect to be treated like kings, so surely they’ll want to treat their workers kindly too.
Well, unfortunately, that’s often not the reality. Apparently, working for people who have extreme amounts of wealth can be an absolute nightmare. Employees who work in high-end, luxury settings have been recalling the trashiest things they’ve ever seen affluent people do, so we’ve compiled a list of their stories below. Enjoy reading through these stories that might make you want to eat the rich, and be sure to upvote the experiences that would make you quit your job!
#1

Managed a very niche, high end retail store in nyc in my 20s. tight margins and perpetually understaffed. one afternoon this fifty-something guy came in and my 21 yr old sales associate was helping him and someone else while i helped two other customers.
i was coming out from the stock room with something for my customers and he was BERATING my lovely sales girl, with a raised voice, for not exclusively helping him and she was almost in tears. i went over and said, “there’s only the two of us in this store, we’re doing our best to help everyone. if you cannot be civil and treat my staff with respect, i will have to ask you to leave” and he immediately stormed out. i was shaking but very proud of myself. i think i was 25?
we’d somehow gotten his name and we looked him up later and he was a tech billionaire. my boss was a bit unpredictable but was always 100% down for us standing up for ourselves and when he came in that evening and we told him what had happened he was like “good, f**k that guy”.
i was coming out from the stock room with something for my customers and he was BERATING my lovely sales girl, with a raised voice, for not exclusively helping him and she was almost in tears. i went over and said, “there’s only the two of us in this store, we’re doing our best to help everyone. if you cannot be civil and treat my staff with respect, i will have to ask you to leave” and he immediately stormed out. i was shaking but very proud of myself. i think i was 25?
we’d somehow gotten his name and we looked him up later and he was a tech billionaire. my boss was a bit unpredictable but was always 100% down for us standing up for ourselves and when he came in that evening and we told him what had happened he was like “good, f**k that guy”.
29points
#3

I'm not in the industry, nor am I the wealthy (for definition, the wealthy can sign one check that makes someone rich), but I have been wealth adjacent too often. The most egregious things, in view of the wealth they hold, is the use influence and power to not pay for services and goods they have received, to the detriment of people who will never have the wealth they have. To withhold the one thing you can do with ease, that to others means more than it possibly can to you ... that is vile, that is the definition of trash.
The visual for me, is of a fat drooling dirty shirted king stuffing his face with a piece of meat while kicking away the starving servants from the table for eating the scraps that fell ... this is how I see them, in all of their glory. I've covered the tip of one such piece of trash, just to spite her.
The visual for me, is of a fat drooling dirty shirted king stuffing his face with a piece of meat while kicking away the starving servants from the table for eating the scraps that fell ... this is how I see them, in all of their glory. I've covered the tip of one such piece of trash, just to spite her.
22points
#4

Threatening to use their wealth and influence to destroy someone over a very minor inconvenience.
"I know people in high places, senators, judges. I will absolutely ruin your life if you don't give me a discount on this."
The sad thing is, people who are wealthy and well-connected CAN get you fired from your job where you're barely making enough to survive as it is - and they absolutely do not care - those kinds of people LOVE having that sort of power over everyone. All it takes is a single complaint from a person with influence and you're gone, no matter if you were in the wrong or not.
"I know people in high places, senators, judges. I will absolutely ruin your life if you don't give me a discount on this."
The sad thing is, people who are wealthy and well-connected CAN get you fired from your job where you're barely making enough to survive as it is - and they absolutely do not care - those kinds of people LOVE having that sort of power over everyone. All it takes is a single complaint from a person with influence and you're gone, no matter if you were in the wrong or not.
20points
#5

After the Fires in Maui- wealthy visitors/part time owners were demanding their luggage be flown to different locations so they could continue their vacations- while the staff wasn’t even sure if family and friends were alive… amongst other things.
20points
#6

Had a high profile client bring their family to buy a car and the daughter’s bf acted like an a*s the whole time. He tried telling me to go get him a sparkling water while helping the buyer. When I told him no, he asked what do you mean no. I informed him that NO, is a statement, and if I have to explain what the word no means, then he’s probably not a very good person and he can go sit in his girlfriends family car while we help them. He made a snide comment and I looked at the buyer and asked for them to get him out of the showroom, otherwise we can stop the deal right now and they can go try to find the car they wanted elsewhere (spoiler alert, it was a one of a kind vehicle, 2009 Brooklands, only 50 made in the world, none available with the exception of ours on the west coast). They sent the daughter and her bf to the mall.
19points
#7

I live in a small town and we have one or two big fish in our little pond.
There is one who consistently likes to park in the handicap spaces. She doesn’t care about the fines because they mean nothing to her. In any other town she would be towed, but we don’t have a local tow truck.
One time I saw someone with a handicap placard just park her in. Which seems to be the most effective way to handle her.
There is one who consistently likes to park in the handicap spaces. She doesn’t care about the fines because they mean nothing to her. In any other town she would be towed, but we don’t have a local tow truck.
One time I saw someone with a handicap placard just park her in. Which seems to be the most effective way to handle her.
17points
#8

I was a waitress at a really nice restaurant in LA and Tim Allen was AWFUL on many occasions. Treated staff like s**t, we weren’t allowed to make eye contact with him, terrible tipper and just so difficult to wait on. We would all take turns waiting on him and I started to refuse because he made me so uncomfortable, not in a creepy way but just the lack of care for me and my friends as human beings.
16points
#9

Poshy resort restaurant, very exclusive. A diaperless young child s**t on the floor during dinner. It was on an outside dining patio. The family did not clean up the feces until a manager with his tail between his legs politely asked the parents to pick up. The manager brought a stack of cloth napkins for the deed. Parents picked it up and handed the soiled napkin back to the manager.
15points
#10

This is kind of what you might expect, but I had an ongoing service relationship with a wealthy evangelist whose public facing image was a humble man of god put on this earth to do good. Off camera he was a filthy-mouthed drunk who gorged on the absolute most lavish cuisine and treated everyone around him like total s**t.
15points
#11

Not really *trashy* trashy, but I worked the bar at a venue that hosted an annual party for a charity run/mostly funded by a wealthy heiress/philanthropist (family had billions, she personally was in the 100s of millions range iirc). She herself wasn't particularly famous but some others in the family were, she was somewhat known locally. She was probably in her 60s or so at the time.
Anyway she's actually a lovely person, nice to the staff, throwing a big party (on her dime, not the charity's) for everyone who worked for the group and their families (not a huge organization, maybe 80-100 people total?), with a top shelf open bar package. We'd had a big latin music event earlier in the weekend and ran out of nearly all of our top shelf tequila and a lot of our midshelf tequila, and as it turns out pretty early in the evening the only reposado we had left was our well... good ol' Jose Cuervo. Well, a ticket comes in for a round of reposado shots, we pour the Cuervo, goes on a tray, server takes it straight to the heiress' table, she's throwing back a tequila shot with some of her employees.
A few minutes later she personally comes up to the bar and asks my coworker "hey, I just wanted to ask, what tequila was that you poured for us?" and we're thinking "oh s**t, she paid a ton of money for top shelf and we gave her s**t, we're about to get yelled at" and my coworker, bless her heart, says with a perfect poker face "That was the Cuervo Gold, ma'am."
"Thanks so much! I think it'd be nice sipping tequila, I'll have to pick up a bottle."
"It'd be a nice sipping tequila" became a meme every time anyone mentioned Cuervo for the rest of my time there.
Anyway she's actually a lovely person, nice to the staff, throwing a big party (on her dime, not the charity's) for everyone who worked for the group and their families (not a huge organization, maybe 80-100 people total?), with a top shelf open bar package. We'd had a big latin music event earlier in the weekend and ran out of nearly all of our top shelf tequila and a lot of our midshelf tequila, and as it turns out pretty early in the evening the only reposado we had left was our well... good ol' Jose Cuervo. Well, a ticket comes in for a round of reposado shots, we pour the Cuervo, goes on a tray, server takes it straight to the heiress' table, she's throwing back a tequila shot with some of her employees.
A few minutes later she personally comes up to the bar and asks my coworker "hey, I just wanted to ask, what tequila was that you poured for us?" and we're thinking "oh s**t, she paid a ton of money for top shelf and we gave her s**t, we're about to get yelled at" and my coworker, bless her heart, says with a perfect poker face "That was the Cuervo Gold, ma'am."
"Thanks so much! I think it'd be nice sipping tequila, I'll have to pick up a bottle."
"It'd be a nice sipping tequila" became a meme every time anyone mentioned Cuervo for the rest of my time there.
14points
#12

When I delivered pizza I quickly discovered the biggest houses with the flashiest cars tipped the worst.
14points
#13

I worked at a very fancy hotel that had a semi private golf course. After the member guest tournament, former yankee pitcher David wells went to the bar( hosted for the event) and ordered a drink. He tasted it and then threw it at the bartender because she didn’t make it strong enough. I as the manager, intervened and rushed her to the back of house as he chased us , calling her a stupid effing b***h.
I then went back out to tell him he was cutoff and to tell his member sponsor that they should leave. Wells then started screaming at me calling me every terrible word you could imagine. I honestly thought I was gonna fight him. I’m a pretty bug guy and he was pretty hammered, so it would’ve been awesome, but at the time I needed the job, so I kept trying to de escalate. His host was completely defending his actions even as he was screaming in the middle of the room.
I then went back out to tell him he was cutoff and to tell his member sponsor that they should leave. Wells then started screaming at me calling me every terrible word you could imagine. I honestly thought I was gonna fight him. I’m a pretty bug guy and he was pretty hammered, so it would’ve been awesome, but at the time I needed the job, so I kept trying to de escalate. His host was completely defending his actions even as he was screaming in the middle of the room.
13points
#14

Floyd Mayweather used to come with a bunch of adult workers. I work at luxury retail…. Anyways, he would always buy them a gift. This one girl picked up a $3000 bag and he looked at her straight in the eyes and said b***h you ain’t worth that much. You can get a wallet. She said OK awkwardly and then put the bag down.
12points
#15

Wealthy person myself, I see all kinds of things. Usually it comes up when paying for “extracurriculars”.
Example- I go to a country club and whenever our quarterly spend is raised, all hell break loose. Toddlers.
Throwing things, name calling, Karen’s, threaten to cancel membership, insult everyone and the establishment but still want to remain members.
We even had one guy try to start a rival country club and leave bad reviews on the Google page for our country club and urge people to join his in the reviews. He did this everyday for about 2 months straight.
He said he would not be silenced and fight for his rights….
His rights… at a private country club…. The right he claimed was being violated was having to spend $100 a month on food and drinks per quarter…
The other members, we made a go fund me for his extra $100 and that made him more mad and he was in our members app saying he can’t believe we’re ok with “tyranny”. We told him we’d all pay extra to just have him removed and that made him more upset… I guess causing the month long review flood 🤣
There is also trashiness from new members treating staff poorly and leaving literal trash all over the place and they feel entitled to it because they say “that’s why I pay dues, clean it or I’ll cancel”.
Usually all this behavior comes from fake rich people. They actually can’t afford the lifestyle they portray and become very hostile when anything might add extra expense or they feel they’re not getting their “full money worth” they become awful and trashy like I said throwing things, yelling etc.
The people who actually have the money to afford it are just like “lol ok” then we make fun of the ones being baby heads about it.
Example- I go to a country club and whenever our quarterly spend is raised, all hell break loose. Toddlers.
Throwing things, name calling, Karen’s, threaten to cancel membership, insult everyone and the establishment but still want to remain members.
We even had one guy try to start a rival country club and leave bad reviews on the Google page for our country club and urge people to join his in the reviews. He did this everyday for about 2 months straight.
He said he would not be silenced and fight for his rights….
His rights… at a private country club…. The right he claimed was being violated was having to spend $100 a month on food and drinks per quarter…
The other members, we made a go fund me for his extra $100 and that made him more mad and he was in our members app saying he can’t believe we’re ok with “tyranny”. We told him we’d all pay extra to just have him removed and that made him more upset… I guess causing the month long review flood 🤣
There is also trashiness from new members treating staff poorly and leaving literal trash all over the place and they feel entitled to it because they say “that’s why I pay dues, clean it or I’ll cancel”.
Usually all this behavior comes from fake rich people. They actually can’t afford the lifestyle they portray and become very hostile when anything might add extra expense or they feel they’re not getting their “full money worth” they become awful and trashy like I said throwing things, yelling etc.
The people who actually have the money to afford it are just like “lol ok” then we make fun of the ones being baby heads about it.
12points
#16

Not HEL setting, but product. I worked for the US office of an european high-end home component manufacturer - they made the finishes for super fancy homes, hotels, etc.
One time the delivery truck from factory 1 to factory 2 was involved in a crash, all stock is basically lost (they have very strict standards, so a slight bend or off-set s***w voids the whole product), the driver is in the hospital (he ended up being fine, I specifically checked).
the number of assistants to interior designers that cussed me out was *insane*. not a single one of them asked if the driver(s) were ok.
like, its just stuff, you will survive if [insert a-list celebrity] doesnt have a gold faucet or whatever for an *additional week*.
how entitled do you have to be to scream at a customer service rep over fixtures that aren't even delaying the project? when i hear, "there was a wreck" my first thought will always be, 'is everyone ok?' not, 'ugh my s**t will be delayed?'.
One time the delivery truck from factory 1 to factory 2 was involved in a crash, all stock is basically lost (they have very strict standards, so a slight bend or off-set s***w voids the whole product), the driver is in the hospital (he ended up being fine, I specifically checked).
the number of assistants to interior designers that cussed me out was *insane*. not a single one of them asked if the driver(s) were ok.
like, its just stuff, you will survive if [insert a-list celebrity] doesnt have a gold faucet or whatever for an *additional week*.
how entitled do you have to be to scream at a customer service rep over fixtures that aren't even delaying the project? when i hear, "there was a wreck" my first thought will always be, 'is everyone ok?' not, 'ugh my s**t will be delayed?'.
11points
#17

I worked briefly many years ago as a valet at a high-end resort hotel. A regular brunch patron - whose claim to fame was that her grandfather had been a military dictator somewhere in Central America - never pulled her vehicle into the drop-off correctly. She always rolled in against traffic. Every. Freaking. Time. And always with an “omg lol did I do it again??” She also never tipped us, and her car was easily the filthiest I’ve ever seen. Not long ago, I was having coffee with a friend on a restaurant patio and watched a giant SUV pull up and park facing the wrong direction… mostly on the sidewalk. Guess who got out?
10points
#18

I was brand new to F&B, bartending at an airport, and one day I wound up alone FoH (serving, waiting, bussing) when a pretty notable foreign celeb came in & they had a whole posse with them... family, bodyguards, agents, etc.
Things at airports cost more, and for pretty good reason. The amount of background checks, and the process of getting stuff past TSA is insane.
... anyway. I had a good dialogue with the handlers. I recommended 'better' places in the area & even offered to call for them in advance, but they chose to eat/drink with us.
My chef did an amazing job of catering to them. We nailed everything & they were served way above our standard.
The celeb/pop-star started asking me questions about why I was the only person working and how much I must be getting paid. I was polite and courteous... but, eventually admitted that I was only paid $1.00/hr and their whole group started making fun of American tipping culture.
That's when their requests started getting sorta nutty (and, illegal).
We did not have an off-site liquor license, but they wanted to take their opened bottles of booze, to-go.
When I told them I couldn't technically allow that, but that I'd bring them a plastic bottle inside a paper cup and walk away for a couple of minutes... they mentioned how well they'd be tipping me.
On a $280 tab. They left $224 cash, with a handwritten note, 'doing the math' telling me to "get a real job". They took the booze, too.
... It was their tab, with 20% deducted. Which i had to cover out of my paycheck. I made like $24 off of an 80-hour pay period, because of those f***s.
Things at airports cost more, and for pretty good reason. The amount of background checks, and the process of getting stuff past TSA is insane.
... anyway. I had a good dialogue with the handlers. I recommended 'better' places in the area & even offered to call for them in advance, but they chose to eat/drink with us.
My chef did an amazing job of catering to them. We nailed everything & they were served way above our standard.
The celeb/pop-star started asking me questions about why I was the only person working and how much I must be getting paid. I was polite and courteous... but, eventually admitted that I was only paid $1.00/hr and their whole group started making fun of American tipping culture.
That's when their requests started getting sorta nutty (and, illegal).
We did not have an off-site liquor license, but they wanted to take their opened bottles of booze, to-go.
When I told them I couldn't technically allow that, but that I'd bring them a plastic bottle inside a paper cup and walk away for a couple of minutes... they mentioned how well they'd be tipping me.
On a $280 tab. They left $224 cash, with a handwritten note, 'doing the math' telling me to "get a real job". They took the booze, too.
... It was their tab, with 20% deducted. Which i had to cover out of my paycheck. I made like $24 off of an 80-hour pay period, because of those f***s.
10points
#19

They trashed millions of dollars worth of rare books because they wanted to change the focus of their collection. They viewed selling or donating the books as a waste of their time and resources to properly oversee because they didn't trust anyone to handle the job properly.
10points
#20
Always their treatment of staff and service workers. They tip like s**t and feel they can ask whatever the f**k they want and get it.
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9points



