Woman at Sam’s Club notices something when the employee hands her the receipt. Then steps to the side: ‘just tell me if I’m tripping’

A woman named Nicole, who posts on TikTok under the handle @lifewithnicoleeee, shared a video claiming she had a troubling experience at a Sam’s Club location. In the video, which she captioned “Sams Club Racist Experience,” Nicole alleged that a male employee at the store’s food counter treated Black customers differently than a white customer during the same visit.

According to Nicole, she had finished her grocery shopping and went to the food area to order a whole pizza, a drink, and a pretzel for her children. She said she paid with cash and placed the money directly into the employee’s hand. Nicole claimed that instead of handing her the change and receipt back, the employee placed both items on the counter, and she said he appeared to do so with an attitude.

Nicole said she did not react right away. Instead, she said she stepped to the side to observe whether the employee was treating other customers the same way or if the behavior was directed specifically at her.

Nicole says she watched the employee hand a receipt directly to a white woman, but place items on the counter for Black customers

According to Nicole, what she observed while watching from the side confirmed her suspicion. She said she noticed the employee hand a receipt directly into the hands of a white woman who was walking away from the counter. Nicole claimed that for every Black customer who came up to the register after that, the employee placed their items on the counter rather than handing them over directly.

“So every Black person that came up to the register, he did the same exact thing,” Nicole said in the video. “He placed their stuff on the counter instead of putting it in their hand.” Nicole said she was trying to stay calm during the experience. “I’m trying to just keep my composure because I just feel like when I go off my, my top go from here to Canada, b**h,” she said, explaining why she chose to observe quietly rather than confront the employee directly.

In the video, Nicole can be heard encouraging viewers to watch the footage carefully and draw their own conclusions. “Y’all just go back, watch the video, just slowly kind of see exactly his – what he does,” she said. “And y’all just tell me if I’m tripping or not. And if I’m tripping, I delete the video or I’ll stop tripping about it.”

Nicole also referenced the ongoing rollbacks of DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion, programs by various organizations, though she did not directly link that to the employee’s alleged behavior. She did say, however, that she believes anyone with racist tendencies should not be working in customer service.

“If you know that you are racist or you have any racist trait in you towards like specific races, you should not work in customer service,” she said. Racist tendencies should not be tolerated in customer service, like the incident where a woman alleges racism at a New Mexico nail salon.

Nicole directed her frustration at Sam’s Club as a company, saying she spends a significant amount of money there and feels she should not have to shop somewhere she does not feel welcome. “I just feel like it’s getting to a point to where I’m just not gonna shop where I’m not wanted,” she said. She also warned that confronting the situation directly could have led to legal trouble for her. 

“I’ll be in jail, and that’s not for me,” she said. She ended the video by calling on Sam’s Club to take a closer look at how certain employees treat customers. “Sam’s Club, everybody tag Sam’s, y’all gotta do better when it comes to certain employees,” she said. Similar frustration with the shopping environment has led other customers to question their membership.

The video drew a range of reactions in the comments. Some viewers said they saw the same pattern Nicole described. “I seen it so you’re not tripping,” wrote a commenter named Baby Washington. Another commenter echoed that view, writing, “You not wrong. I see it. I told myself from now on I’ll be asking for my money back when they put it on the counter instead of in my hand.”

However, not all viewers interpreted the footage the same way. A commenter suggested an alternative explanation, writing, “He put the receipt on the counter for the two boys before the lady. Maybe he gave her the receipt bc she had her hand reached out right next to the register.” 

Another commenter appeared to agree, writing, “Yeah I saw the same thing, he put it on the counter as well.” He added that the right course of action might be to bring the concern to store management, noting, “They have cameras rolling, I’m sure they will be able to see a pattern in his behavior. I can’t see a pattern based on 4 people being different nationalities.” Sam’s Club has not publicly responded to the video, and the employee has not been identified or heard from.