A California barista based in the Bay Area, bhadbharista (@jorlala), recently took to TikTok to share an unsettling experience with a customer who couldn’t respect closing time. The video already has 3.1 million views. At the start of the video, there is a clip of bhadbharista crouched in a dark store. In the background, you can hear loud pounding, and she explains it’s a customer. The situation started with a simple, standard request. The TikToker explained that a customer called to confirm if they were participating in the Too Good to Go program. She told the customer, “Yes, we’re doing Too Good to Go. Like, as long as you place the order. Just make sure you’re here to pick it up by seven.” It’s a pretty clear expectation, right? Unfortunately, bhadbharista claimed that customer didn’t show up. Bhadbharista stated that she waited, but by 7:03 PM, she had to proceed with closing duties. She explained, “So 7:03, I take the tills into the back room, and that’s when I hear, like, this.” The TikToker then demonstrated the sound by pounding on her steering wheel. It wasn’t just a polite knock; it was aggressive. She recounted, “It was so loud. It was so f—ing loud.” The customer didn’t stop there The TikToker alleged that the customer began yanking on the door and calling the shop repeatedly. “The phone’s like, ring, ring, ring, hang up, ring, ring, like, non stop,” the barista said. Fearing for her safety and that of her coworkers, she instructed everyone to get to the back of the store. “I shut all the lights off to the store, and I was like, okay, let’s just pretend nobody’s here, and, like, maybe she’ll go away,” she told TikTok. Bhadbharista claimed that the banging continued for about 10 minutes before the person finally left. @jorlala this video always gets people mad! context: i took the first video to send to my manager chat (one of the other SL’s was outside) and the second part is the explanation. we are not supposed to unlock the doors for ANYONE after we are closed for safety reasons! #baristalife #baristatok #worklife #customerstories #customersbelike ♬ original sound – bhadbharista The comments section on her post was flooded with support from other retail and service workers. One user wrote, “7 means 7 not 7:01 or 7:05. Workers need to get home and they have lives too.” Another added, “Employees are REAL PEOPLE who also NEED SLEEP and HAVE LIVES, if you can’t get here before closing THEN DONT GET FOOD FROM THERE.” One YouTuber recently tested staff patience by bringing 50 customers to a Subway, one minute before closing. Dealing with customers who refuse to leave or show up late is a classic retail struggle. According to Retail Therapy, there are several strategies for handling those last-minute shoppers who just won’t take a hint. They suggest tactics like turning off the music to create an awkward, silent atmosphere. You could also do a “no sale” at the register just to make the clatter of coins the new soundtrack of the shop. If that doesn’t work, Retail Therapy suggests physical deterrents. Things like dragging a vacuum cleaner around or even just “accidentally” plunging the store into darkness. Of course, communication is key, but when a situation escalates to the level of pounding on doors, standard retail advice often falls short. While Retail Therapy jokingly suggests that the last resort is to “just lock the door with the customer inside and go home,” the reality is much more serious. In one strange occurrence, an elderly woman approached a Target as it was closing and begged to be let in on her hands and knees. One commenter pointed out the obvious next step: “call the cops next time.” Another user noted the futility of the customer’s actions regarding the app itself: “If she doesn’t show up at the designated time, TGTG will cancel it. So, if 7:00 was the latest time she had to pick it up, the app wouldn’t let it go through at 7:03. So, she couldn’t have gotten it anyway.” It’s easy to look back at the video and wonder why things went that far. As one user put it, “All that for coffee???” Regardless of the reason, it’s a good reminder that service workers are just trying to do their jobs and get home safely. The barista is doing fine now, but she made sure to record the incident just in case she needed proof for corporate. She ended her story with a simple piece of advice: “Maybe show up on time to get your order.”