AITA for leaving a bad review on a small store

In a world where love often hides in the smallest traditions, a couple’s quirky anniversary ritual unfolds—a tender dance of separate shopping trips and shared surprises in the car. Their story is one of deep passion, where anime and video games are more than hobbies—they are threads weaving their hearts closer together.

But beneath the lighthearted tradition lies a moment charged with misunderstanding and judgment. When a stranger questions the authenticity of her love for anime based on her gender, she stands firm, her tattoos telling a story of devotion and identity that no skeptic can erase. This is a tale of resilience, pride, and the quiet power of knowing one’s truth.

AITA for leaving a bad review on a small store

So my boyfriend and I have a tradition for our anniversary that we each go to a store and separate, and after we buy each other gifts we exchange in the car. It’s silly and cute.

We walked into this new mom & pop anime store (I am a huge anime nerd and my boyfriend likes video games which they also sell).

We separate and I go look at stuff for my boyfriend. A worker walks up to me and starts chatting, then points at my leg. I have a pretty big tattoo of Kakashi from Naruto on my thigh, among other anime tattoos.

He asks if I got that for my boyfriend and I said no, I’ve always loved Naruto and then showed him my other tattoos which included the leaf village symbol, Gaara of the sands gourd, and a piece on my arm of Asuma Sarutobi.

He started quizzing me on the lore of the anime and I told him I wouldn’t have spent $1000 on tattoos of an anime I didn’t know about, and I didn’t appreciate him trying to catch me in a “Gotcha” moment.

He told me he didn’t believe a girl could ever fully understand the real story of Naruto and the depth behind it (lol).

I told him I didn’t need his services and he can go back to the front desk. He told me I was a “rude wannabe bitch” and walked into the back and I continued purchasing my items.

I left a review later, TLDR: if you’re feminine presenting enter with caution, one of the employees will call you a bitch when you don’t want to prove your “nerd cred” to him.

The owner left a comment on my review asking for an email conversation and asked that I take down my review because people have started complaining about this employee as well and his sale revenue has dropped.

I told him I wouldn’t and maybe he shouldn’t hire misogynists if he doesn’t want bad reviews. My friends tell me I’m over reacting.

AITA?

Here’s how people reacted:

Free_Bumblebee_7935

NTA. Woman anime nerd here and let me tell you that the gate-keeping in the community by men is insane. I have yet to understand why any of these try-hards feel they have to quiz fellow nerds of the opposing gender like they can be the only ones to know anything on this particular media. I have had my fair share of roasting these kinds of guys and I’m never sorry about it. Now we, as women, certainly don’t have to prove anything or flaunt our nerd cred to make a point to these douch-canoes but personally, I enjoy talking circles around people like them. It is frustrating and you were right to leave the review and refuse the owner’s “request” because if you’re willing to back a misogynistic employee, then it speaks volumes on your character as the business owner for refusing to put two and two together. Clearly you weren’t an isolated incident and word spreads in the nerd community fast.

Inside-Big-8158

NTA. If the owner really wanted to remedy the situation he would fire the employee for harassing you. At the very least force the worker to apologize to you.

On a side note can we stop acting like a person needs to know every minute detail of series, show, movie, or whatever to be a fan? Seriously not everyone is going to be super obsessed to know every little thing about a show, but can still enjoy it just the same. It’s one of the most annoying things about liking things. I just want to enjoy things, I don’t want to study them.

ladygreyowl13

NTA – it’s within your rights as a consumer to leave a review of a store you patronized. It was completely unethical for the owners to ask you to remove your review. That they put their request in public is amusing since now everyone can see how they unethically respond to negative reviews. I’d screen shot it. In case they remove it, you can post the screenshot of their response on the same review page.

LookAtNarnia

It’s simple. The store manager needs to respond to the review by saying how this employee has been disciplined and that please contact the manager directly if this ever happens again.

He can’t erase the history, he needs to change the future and that is easiest if he takes ownership of the problem and fixes it and shares publically what measures have been taken to fix it. NTA.

Mewples

NTA.

As a woman who’s into anime (especially Naruto) and video games, I’d want to see a review just like this as warning. If I were in you’r shoes I’d want to know that my sweet tradition with my partner wasn’t going to be ruined. Especially by an employee assuming I can’t grasp the depth of an anime for preteen boys.

halfadash6

NTA. the obvious solution for the store owner is to apologize on the review and say that that employee has either been fired or at the very least spoken to about this. There’s no reason to keep on employees who are rude to customers, and if they’re going to do that they deserve poor reviews.

emmodii

NTA. The owner clearly only cares about your review because it’s hurting his profits. He evidently doesn’t even care about his employee’s behaviour, since his concern lies with trying to get you and others to stop conplaining about it, rather than doing something about the guy.

sammasc123

NTA. You’re not ‘overreacting’. If the store owner wants to get his revenue back, he can fire the misogynist.

You are under no responsibility to put up with men treating you poorly just because you’re female-presenting. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

mofohank

ESH. If you’ve got a complaint about an employee it’s only fair to raise it directly before hitting social media, give the owner a chance to act on it quickly. That said, if this guy is getting complaints and losing sales the owner should know what to do.

exotics

ESH. You should have asked to talk to the owner at the time. You shouldn’t have purchased anything. If the owner didn’t correct the employee then the review was justified but you need to give the owner a chance to make it right

BeepBlipBlapBloop

NTA – I would be willing to have a conversation with the owner and consider updating my review with the steps the owner took to rectify the situation, but as long as you were honest in your original review it’s fair play.

DiagonKitty

NTA

Reviews exist for a reason. People want to go somewhere that feels accepting. It sucks that the owner’s sales have dropped, but that’s not your problem. Clearly that employee is causing people to feel unwelcome.

Fan0fJigglyPuff

NTA. Why doesn’t he just fire the employee? I’m thinking nepotism. He’s probably related to the owner… so this problem will never go away.

SuccotashTimely9764

NTA…
He can fire the employee.
Why does he want to keep an employee thats to rude to customers?? Guessing it’s family member…

cocoprezzz

NTA. Misogynists deserve to be called out and if the owner doesn’t like it, then they’re part of the problem as well.

Conclusion

The original poster (OP) faced a confrontation where an employee challenged her knowledge of anime, leading to offensive language from the employee and a subsequent negative review. The central conflict lies between the OP’s right to enjoy her hobbies without being tested and the store owner’s desire to protect his business reputation and revenue.

Was the OP justified in posting a highly critical public review, or should she have accepted the owner’s request for an email discussion and removed the review given the impact on the business? Does the employee’s behavior warrant public exposure over private resolution?