A small business owner was left devastated after a customer sent her a harsh email after receiving a free lollipop with her order.
TLC Body founder Carissa Collins, from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, sells homemade bath and body products and likes to go the extra mile by dropping a lolly in each order for her customers.
While most would be grateful for the sweet (no pun intended) gesture - even if they weren't a fan of confectionary themselves - one buyer felt the need to send a rude email to Carissa complaining about it instead.
Carissa broke down in tears as she shared her response to receiving the cruel email, asking in the caption: "should I not be giving lollies with my order??"
Breaking down, she told her followers: "Oh my god. Normally emails like this wouldn't get to me so much but today has been a day.
"I literally just received an email from a customer complaining about me giving them a lolly. A b***dy lolly in their order. Honestly, how this email was worded, it was almost as if I had stabbed them or something."
Carissa shared the email on a greenscreen background to her video, showing what the vegan customer had written to her after she got sent a lolly for free with her order.
The woman had written: "So once again I am in a position where I will not be buying from you again because I no longer trust your word.
"I don't even eat lollies - vegan or not - what do you think you are gaining from sending someone a bit of sugary junk in the first place. I'd rather pay less from my product than get something I never asked for or wanted.
"But if they were vegan I would have at least appreciated the thought. Honestly I don't even know what to say. Darn you, I liked your products. Please put more thought into things like this in the future. I won't be buying from you again."
Carissa added that it was just a small excerpt from a longer email the woman had sent - though the mind boggles at how the buyer could possibly find any more ways to complain about a free lolly rather than just... throw it away if she didn't want it and go about her day.
While many confectionary items are made using gelatin or other animal derivatives which are not suitable for vegans, at the most she could have writtena polite note asking for Carissa to include vegan options instead for customers she knows don't use or consume animal products.
Carissa added: "When did it become OK to speak to people like this... like, what the hell. I am trying to do a nice thing by giving free gifts with orders. If you don't like a lolly, don't eat it."
Her followers rushed to the comments to support her, writing: "I am vegan and get sent extra things that aren't vegan all the time. I just give them to friends. It is the thought that counts."
Others added: "They must have a really sad life" and "you don't want customers like that, its a blessing in disguise, don't let this put you down."
Another wrote: "You should write back and tell her that you will not be accepting any more orders from her as she is now banned! You have done nothing wrong."
Carissa told Daily Mail Australia that despite the cruel email, it was soon overshadowed by all the lovely messages she received from her followers.
"I had a stressful day, so I took the email very personally. It is also the first negative email I have received like that," she told the outlet.
"I really appreciated the response online, it blew me away to be honest. I also won't be stopping throwing in free lollies with my products, I think it is a nice touch... I guess the woman was having a bad day."
