We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the tackiest things they've ever seen rich people do. Here are their infuriating responses:
1. "A former boss of mine not only had a high salary, but she also had a wealthy husband. One of my coworkers applied for a promotion, and she shot him down. She said he wasn’t qualified. She confided in me that she didn’t give him the promotion because he got disability checks from the military, so he already earned 'too much' for what he did. His disability check was for injuries he received during the war, and it wasn't related to his job. When I finally found another job, I sent her my transfer notice with an explanation that I had been offered a position with less responsibilities and more money. She found out it was a $5,000 raise and said during her speech at my going-away luncheon that if she had known I would 'turn on her' for only $5,000, she never would've hired me in the first place."
2. "I used to work in a family-owned furniture store. One day, we had a meeting where the company owners berated us for not having sold enough during COVID. They made us feel horrible and acted as if they were going to lose the business. We all felt awful and did everything we could to help. A week later, the owners bought a second Porsche. They didn’t even pay us proper, legal wages, but they had two Porsches and a Hummer."
3. "I went to this really small, private university in London on a scholarship and found out after a couple weeks of starting lectures there that the university was known for being wealthy, and honestly, you could tell. Half of the uni students were dressed like they came straight from Paris fashion week with all the latest couture. Anyway, one time I saw a student rushing to the lecture hall with an iPad in hand (latest model at the time). One of the super heavy doors into the hall was closing, and instead of grabbing the handle and opening it, he used his iPad to stop the door from closing. The screen was completely cracked, but as soon as he sat down, he just pulled another one out of his bag. I was shocked. That iPad cost the same as my rent for a month!"
—Anonymous
4. "My ex-boss’s wife once was upset because the first-class seats were sold out on a flight. She told me to call the airline and get them the 'reserved seats for people with real money.' She literally thought the airline held back seats for rich people that weren't advertised but you were entitled to them if you were rich. This only slightly beats the time her daughter was running late for a flight (hungover) and I was told to call the airline and have them hold the plane...like, that was just a thing they’d do for someone rich."
—Anonymous
5. "We were eating at a nice steakhouse in San Francisco. This place had the different raw cuts displayed on a serving platter so you could see them as you checked in with the hostess. On our way out, my boss grabbed one of the raw display steaks, headed outside, slapped it into a homeless guy's hand, and told him to have a good night. He was laughing as we walked off, and I was mortified."
—Anonymous
6. "My future brother-in-law (my SIL's fiancé) comes from a wealthy family who got their money by being a landlord in NYC. He constantly asks us why we can’t afford to move out of our parents' house when it’s because of people like him who keep us from affording rent. Drives me nuts."
7. "My mom worked as a live-in caretaker for over a decade. Most of the families had money, and the majority were fairly nice. The worst was actually this millionaire family. Their house was super isolated, which meant that there were no grocery stores around, so all the shopping was controlled and done by one of the sons. They had cameras all over the place that monitored my mom and the other two caretakers (yes, they had THREE) at all times. My mom even got reprimanded for going to the bathroom at night and opening the fridge for a snack after a certain hour in the evening. It took them one month to reimburse my mom's train ticket for getting there, and about two or three months until they finally paid her (after she had already left) because the three sons kept blaming each other and claiming another one was responsible for paying her. One of the sons told my mom, who is overweight, that he hates fat people because they're all 'lazy and sleazy.'"
8. "I worked at a nice restaurant in my hometown where the extended family of a high-ranking politician frequented. Most of them were great folks — very gracious and friendly. However, the father remarried, and his new wife was such an a-hole. She expected everyone to bend over backwards for her because of her new connections. We would be out of a soup, for example, and she'd say, 'Tell them it's for the [family name],' like somehow their name would summon more soup? The funniest thing was her first name and new married name rhymed and sounded so stupid. Luckily, their marriage didn't last."
9. "When I was little, my dad used to find rare books, generally for wealthy collectors. Sometimes, I went along with him because he couldn't find a sitter while my mom was working. One of his regular clients had a normal-looking chair positioned near the front door where they asked anyone coming into the house to put booties on over their shoes. You were not allowed to sit in the chair. It was just there for decoration. My dad found this out when his client went ballistic on him for sitting down to put on the booties. The chair was apparently hundreds of years old and an antique."
10. "I used to be an escort. I was often hired for black tie events, where I was usually expected to be sophisticated and charming. One guy, however, introduced me to a group of eight people at a high-class event and said to me, 'Show them all the cash I just gave you.' Tasteful!"
11. "My sister babysat for our dad's former boss a few times. On one occasion, they had a roast for dinner. My family was middle-class, so any time we had a roast, we ate leftovers until it was gone. This family had their dinner, which wasn't even half of the roast, then threw out the rest. They didn't even give it to their dog."
12. "My husband is a server at a ritzy hotel restaurant. Once, a customer wasn’t happy with his fish. He requested that the chef come to his table and taste the half-eaten dish in front of him. He also asked that a family move tables because he didn’t want to sit near kids. He also threw a fit when the wine he wanted was sold out."
13. "I briefly dated a wealthy jerk who bought a Corvette that he didn’t need and insisted we drive it to my blue-collar, rural hometown so the people I grew up with could see how the 'better half' lives. The license plate he got for the car had his last name on it, too, which I mocked him for endlessly until dumping him after he told me I needed to go to the gym more."
14. "My ex is adopted, and his father is very wealthy. He got used to getting thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of gifts and even more money on top of that for his birthdays and Christmases. One year, his father was moving and couldn't swing the 'normal' $5,000 for his birthday that year. My ex was livid and threw a temper tantrum that would rival a 4-year-old. He purposely broke his laptop that he had just gotten that last Christmas (his birthday is in February, so it was only two months old) so his dad would be forced to get him a new one or pay him out for it. Then, he told his dad off for being a 'lousy father' for only giving him $2,000 that year and a 'crappy dinner out.' I was so embarrassed. Warranty covered the laptop, so he didn't get anything but a replacement, and he shut up when his father threatened to cut him off completely. SPOILED."
15. "I used to work at a very expensive, fancy beach resort during summers when I was home from college, and most of us babysat guests’ kids at night for extra money. One night, I was babysitting for a very wealthy family with two young kids, and the father made a big deal of telling me that they normally travel with their nanny, but the nanny was also vacationing at the time. He said they’d be home by midnight. Nope. In spite of the front desk’s numerous attempts to reach them, they were gone for nearly 24 hours."
"Finally, a day later, they reached the dad who explained that they’d actually driven an hour to Miami to party and checked into a suite there to 'sleep it off.' I’d been with these kids for a day, feeding them (as a broke college kid), and it was only after I threatened to involve law enforcement that they came home. You’re probably wondering if I was paid handsomely. No. The dad complained to the desk that I was 'insubordinate,' and I was only reimbursed for his kids’ meals."
16. "They didn’t attend the funeral of their live-in housekeeper/nanny who raised their three kids and lived with them for over 30 years because the service was the day after Thanksgiving, and it was too inconvenient for them to drive that day."
—Anonymous
17. "I’m family friends with an upper-middle-class couple who has three kids. The parents planned on having three kids, yet spend almost no time with them. They have a live-in nanny who does EVERYTHING. The mom works from home, so she is always around, and neither of them have any real friends (mostly because both are insufferable to be around). Whenever we see them, all they do is complain about their kids, brag about how they have a live-in nanny, and brag about how they have the best of this or that. They spend most of their free time buying the biggest of everything so they can brag and look wealthy, but they come across as ignorant, arrogant, and insecure. Needless to say, we try our best not to see them at all or take them up on any of their invitations. I don’t know why rich people like to flex about having kids and not taking care of them. I always feel so bad for the kids."
18. "I used to work for a luxury bathroom store. Out of the billions of stories of being treated like trash by rich ladies in fur coats, I think this is the worst. My client had spent a couple thousand dollars on towels and bathroom accessories and needed to take them outside to her car. I worked on a busy street in a city, so it was not uncommon for clients to pull around to the front so we could put things in their trunk. However, this particular client didn’t want to waste time pulling to the curb and stopping the car, so she just slowly rolled down the street and popped her trunk. I had to jog behind her car in heels tossing bags into the back, then shut the trunk so she could speed away. She then reported me to my manager for my unprofessional behavior because I didn’t send a thank you note for the sale."
—Anonymous
19. "I have two best girlfriends. One is middle-class (like me), and the other is super rich. My middle-class friend picked us up in her Honda Accord. It was pretty messy, and she said, 'Sorry about the car.' Our super rich friend drove a Ferrari. She scoffed and said, 'It’s fine. One day you’ll be able to afford a nice luxury car like me!' I was so embarrassed!"
20. "I worked for a mid-sized consulting firm in NYC when I was younger. One quarter, I did exceptionally well and was invited to lunch with a handful of people and the president of the firm. The lunch was going great, and everyone was having a good time. Then, the president dripped some salad dressing on what I have to assume was an expensive tie. He lost it. He took the tie off and had someone at the lunch go try to clean it for him. Then, when the stain wouldn't come out, he got frustrated and left. I get that ruining a $200 tie would stink, but this guy made millions. It kinda ruined the whole experience, and to this day, that's the only thing I think about when I think of my two years working there."
—Anonymous
21. "I delivered furniture when I was younger. One Saturday, we delivered way out of our range for a customer to a beach house in New Jersey. It was a large mansion with many floors. We were delivering an armoire that was extremely heavy. We were not allowed to place it on his exotic wood floor. We had to lift this very large and heavy item up multiple flights of steps without putting it down. It was very dangerous. He tipped us $5 — $2.50 each. Later that day, we delivered a mattress to a modest, one-story home. It took 10 minutes. The tip: $20."
—Anonymous
22. Finally: "I work in a preschool, and we had one family who was loaded. They had a custom-built house worth over a million dollars with an indoor pool and a fitness room on private land. The mom was a stay-at-home mom, and both she and her kids dressed in expensive labels. Being a label girl myself, I complimented her on the boots she was wearing one day. Instead of saying thank you, she told me they were expensive and I couldn’t afford them. My boss couldn’t stand her because not only did she complain about everything, she thought the world revolved around her. One day, her 4-year-old misplaced her jacket, and all hell broke loose."
"My boss sincerely apologized to her and did everything she could to diffuse the situation. She screamed at my boss, telling her that she couldn’t do her job, and that it was her choice to dress her children in expensive things because they had money. She also remarked how she didn't have to work and pointed out that my boss was 'poor' and had to work. One of my after-school students and I caught the tail-end of the conversation. My boss was visibly upset, and the coat was found a few days later."
—Anonymous
What's the most tasteless thing you've ever seen a rich person do? Tell us in the comments. 💰
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.