TikToker Trey Knotts uploaded a viral interaction between him and a customer he says treated him disrespectfully. As a result, Knotts denied the woman service at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car location he works at. He kept the camera on him during their conversation, but the woman’s voice could be heard off-screen, and folks who saw Knotts’ video thought that the woman was self-victimizing as she accused the man of discriminating against her for being white.
Though Knotts gave evidence disputing this fact to the woman, she ignored his points and continued to talk about how “offended” she was, causing the TikToker to become visibly frustrated. However, throughout the majority of the interaction, he managed to maintain his cool.
Knotts begins the video with a text overlay that reads: “Karen came into my job today and this is how it went…please watch til the end.”
In the caption for the video he wrote, “Y’all come look at what I have to deal with at work.”
@treyknotts Y’all come look at what I have to deal with at work 😂 #karen #karensgoingwild #fyp ♬ original sound – Trey Knotts
The TikToker begins by telling the woman, “All right, so, Miss Smith I do want to inform you unfortunately you cannot pick up from this location just based off of how our interactions earlier. I did call my manager and it is my discretion whether if I want to put you in a vehicle or not and I’m choosing not to.”
At this point in the clip, there are several seconds of silence as he looks at the customer off-camera, awaiting her response. He continues, “You can go to a different location if you like I know there’s one in Rockingham, Southern Pines has one as well, but I’m not renting to you here.”
She then insults the man stating, “So you’re not just an asshole, you’re a dick, too.” Knotts smiles in what appears to be an attempt at containing his emotions.
“Ma’am, I gave you a ride to the bank…got you back here…you then said I had a smartass mouth and if I was your boyfriend you would beat my ass? So, I’m not putting you in a car. Not here,” he replies. “Like I said, you can go to a different location, completely fine, but if you want to pick up from [our location] no ma’am, not today.”
The woman then responds to him, “You are a real, genuine piece of pure joy, really helpful.”
The TikToker responds by saying, “No problem. You’re very welcome.”
The female customer doesn’t leave just yet and continues to speak to the employee.
“I feel offended,” she continues. “I know why you’re doing this. ‘Cause I’m white.”
At this point Knotts gives off a confused expression, saying, “I literally just put a white lady in a vehicle. So what’s the problem?”
The female customer acknowledges that this is the case. “So, what’s the problem?” Knotts continues.
“‘Cause I’m white and you offended me,” the woman replies. “I feel offended.”
“How, why?” he asks incredulously.
“Because I feel like you’re discriminating against me, because…” she trails off.
“Ma’am, you literally said if you were my boyfriend I would beat your ass,” Knotts retorts.
She ignores his remarks. “I feel offended,” she says and then asks for the man’s name and says that she’s going to go on TV in order to out his behavior.
“My white life matters,” she says.
As she walks out of the business, he then flips her off, presumably while her back is turned.
TikTokers applauded Knotts’ ability to maintain his composure while in that situation, while others castigated the woman for being disrespectful.
“Trey u did a great job with your professionalism but yessss keep telling em NO we not putting up w it any more,” a user wrote.
“Her accent told me everything,” another said.
“Y’all was having a staring contest,” one viewer wrote.
Others empathized with Knotts as a worker who deals with all sorts of customers every day.
“The sniffle. as someone who works in customer service. the sniffle said it all,” one user shared.
“lmao I cannot I hate customer service for this reason,” another said.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Knotts via Instagram direct message for further comment and Enterprise via email.
