Karma (@kaykarma1), a TikToker and Kohl’s Sephora worker, aired her frustration with suspicious customers who think that every time she attempts to sign them up for rewards points, believe that she’s trying to sign them up for a credit card.
While some commenters apologized for being stand-offish with retail workers in their own shopping ventures, others said they’ve had employees attempt to hoodwink them into applying for credit cards. They say this is why they are defensive in the first place.
Karma explains when checking folks out, she usually asks for email address and name to sign up for rewards. The issue arises whenever she asks folks for their birthday.
“And then I say, ‘What’s your birthday? Just the month and day because you get a free birthday gift every year,’” Karma says. “And then they say, ‘Oh I don’t want a credit card.’”
Karma squints her eyes as she chews gum and looks into the camera.
“It’s rewards,” she emphasizes, before continuing, “Not a credit card. It’s just for your earned points. Yeah, I didn’t ask you for any other personal information other than your name and birthday.”
She says she would need an ID or “real information” for a credit card signup.
“I only asked you for a name, birthday, and email address,” she says she tells them. “And then they go, ‘Oh, OK then yeah.’”
She detailed her frustration a bit further in a caption for the video, writing, “I can’t make this up.”
Some commenters didn’t seem too sympathetic to her plight in dealing with dubious patrons.
As one viewer responded, “Nah, I’m traumatized cause Macys tricked me into a credit card like this.”
@kaykarma1 I cant make this up 😭 #kohls #sephora #rewards ♬ original sound – Kay Karma
This was a sentiment echoed by another TikToker, who said of retail workers, “Nah cause sometimes they be tricking us.”
“I’ve seen a lot of cashiers be sneaky and trick the customers who can’t speak English well to get the cc. It’s sad how these companies make the sales associate push the cc so much in some stores,” another said.
Another viewer said their defensive reactions to workers asking for their personal information are rooted in a “trauma response.”
“I’m guilty of this. It’s just a trauma response,” they commented. “Them department stores start the conversation like that.”
“They do that at tj maxx lol. It be a rewards credit card,” another wrote to Karma, who replied that the only way this inquiry can become a credit card application is “when someone asks you for your SSN.”
Another person responded that retail employees would sometimes perform “soft pulls” on people’s credit using just their name and birthday.
“Because back in the day (90s/early 2000s) dept stores would do a soft pull with your name and birthday,” they said. “People are traumatized lol.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Karma via Instagram direct message and Sephora via email for further comment.
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