Photo: iStockphoto
A white employee at a watch store was caught on video calling security on a Black customer who confronted the worker about damaging his watch.
The incident, shared on social media, unfolded at the Willow Grove Park Mall in Philadelphia. The customer said he visited the store to have his watch battery replaced. However, after the battery was changed, the employee told him she couldn't screw the cover back on, sparking a dispute between the two. The employee cited debris in the threading as a possible reason why she wasn't able to fix the now-damaged watch.
In the video, the worker told the customer that he could "just leave" and she wouldn't charge him. The customer responded that if another store was able to fix the issue, he would send the repair bill back to her shop, as he believed she had damaged the watch.
The employee escalated the situation by calling security to intervene, and later crying about the watch she had damaged.
“I told him there’s probably debris in the screw hole, and I can’t screw it in,” the worker told the security guard. “I gave him the option that we can send it out to our repair shop, and he says no, so there’s nothing else I can do, sir.”
“Can you please remove him?” she added.
As the employee started to cry, a bystander questioned her reaction.
“Why are you crying?” the bystander asked.
“Because I’m trying to explain to you —” the staff member said through tears.
“There’s no need to cry. This is ridiculous. This is so stupid,” the bystander responded.
During the encounter, the customer remained calm and continued to explain the situation to the mall security team.
Several social media users sided with the customer who wanted the store to compensate for repairs on his watch.
"This Guy was calm and articulate and I side with him. The company that messed up his watch would pay for all repairs plain and simple," one Instagram user wrote.
"She’s crying cos she knows she in the wrong," another person said.
"She's fully responsible for it...let's hold people accountable," a third user wrote.
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