25 Strange Reasons People Have Been Thrown Out of a Business

PocketEpiphany Published 03/01/2022

Chances are you have been kicked out of a business before. Maybe it was for something simple, like being too loud at a restaurant.

However, some people get thrown out of places for the most insane reasons on the planet. And these are their stories.

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1. Got banned from the mall when I was younger because I wore an inappropriate shirt that I bought in the mall-u/par337.
2. Was banned from a Mall arcade when I was a kid for holding all the whack a moles down-u/pistonkamel
3. I once got barred from a pub for burping. No sh*t, it was in the Conan Doyle pub in Edinburgh, years ago. Our small group wasn't being disruptive or anything - my burp wasn't some intentional, obnoxious "display behavior" intended to unsettle other patrons; it was actually quite discreet, and simply the result of drinking carbonated beverages, with nothing more to it than that.

But we were sitting near the bar, the barman heard, and we all got thrown out - and for objecting to it, initially thinking it was a bad joke, I got no-shit, full-on barred. Like I say, it wasn't some over-the-top "eruption" of a belch - it was the same one you'd let loose in front of your own mother, followed by an "excuse me". I thought at the time that the barman was being a neurotic, over-assertive bell-end, and my own time as a barman in the years since has only served to reinforce that impression.-u/MagicSPA
4. Also a fun story of someone who wasn’t my friend but who I used to run track with. He thought it would be hilarious to put a pebble inside a piece of gum and throw it out the window of the bus on the way to a track meet. Thought it would just stick to the windshield and be a nuisance.

Ended up shattering part of the windshield because we are in a bus going mf 55 miles per hour. Person followed the bus all the way to the track meet. Cops came. Kid was banned from track, not sure if he was banned from the bus though.-u/Apprehensive-Taro-77
5. When I was 12 my favorite thing to do was play laser tag at the one laser tag place in our town. I'd go every Friday night and play for 3 hours or so. There weren't many other regular players, so nobody else was getting better at it like I was. After about a year I was just wrecking everyone and the owner ended up banning me from the place because it was driving away customers. It really sucked because it was my favorite activity and I was just immediately cut off from it.6 years later I found a place in another city that had other players that played regularly so I was able to start playing again with people at similar skill levels.-u/LeCrushinator
6. I got "banned" from Six Flags Great Adventure (NJ) several times in the early 90s. Back when I was in high school, season passes like $40 or something, making it a no brainer to buy one if you intended to go at least twice. My friend and I went probably 5-7 days a week since we lived close by.

We knew the park and its operations better than pretty much anyone who didn't work there, and eventually grew too comfortable with taking shortcuts through employee areas, trying to climb things we shouldn't, bothering other guests, and overall being a bunch of New Jersey Teenagers (aka jerks).

Thing is, the only IDs we had on us were our Season Passes, which we always assigned fake names for no preplanned reason. (Summer of 1994 my pass said Oskar Schindler). We eventually got in so much trouble they would take our passes and tell us we were banned for life. Well, another $40 at the front gate and boom, back in as Itzhak Stern. They needed at that time to figure out the flaws in their system.-u/Phormicidae
7. I drunkenly stumbled into the big pyramid of wine glasses that were, for some reason, stacked on the side of the bar... After they all fell and smashed everywhere causing a huge scene I proceeded to tell the bartender that it wasn't me. Two seconds later I was in a headlock being dragged outside by a large bouncer.-u/_gnoof
8. This is how I got banned from Chuck E Cheese. I figured out that I could take a ball from the game where you shoot the clown's teeth and use it at the skeeball machine. The skeeball machine would count the points but not the ball used, which enabled me to play forever with just one ball and max out the machine. I did it on two skeeball machines before someone noticed and I got banned/kicked out.-u/Papaya_flight
9. I got mistaken for somebody else whilst on holiday a few years back. I popped into a local shop to grab a sandwich & drink and a staff member forcefully marched over to me and yelled “you’re not allowed in here! I’ve told you before!” as she grabbed my sandwich and bottle of water from me & put them back.

I, of course, tried to protest and explained that I had never been in there before and was a visitor to the area but she gestured for the security guard to come over to escort me out and stood watching us from a distance with her arms folded and a smug look on her face, occasionally shouting “if she doesn’t go, I’m calling the police!”.

Thankfully the security guard was a little more understanding about the situation and happily looked at my driving license which proved I lived in a different area (I offered to show it) but said “perhaps it would be best if you didn’t come in here again!”-u/Retrosonic82
10. Taking pictures of produce and price signs at a small grocery store while shopping. I was just trying to keep track of which stores had which food at cheaper prices so I could plan my shopping trips.-u/Representative_Bad57
11. I was banned from the library as a kid. Overdue fees, they let you go up to $70 before canceling your card.I was an avid reader and my mom hated taking me to the library, always said she would and then changed her mind last minute. It was a 6 mile walk round trip so I would take a wheeled suitcase and get around 25 at a time, the fees added up fast. lolI resorted to stealing books and returning them and I’m pretty sure some of the Librarians just turned a blind eye. They forgive the debt when you turn 18.-u/No_Magazine2270
12. Feeding the seagulls. We ruined the entire upper deck's dining experience with a few french fries. Dozens, maybe 100 swarmed. It was like a scene from The Birds. People had to evacuate.-u/Cup-Mundane
13. Banned from the college cafeteria for taking in a digital food safety thermometer, and a copy of the state health department temperature ranges.They were consistently 20°F-40°F low, and food poisoning was a common problem.-u/nobody_really__
14. My friend and I were “Banned for Life” from a Casino in Las Vegas 20 something years ago. We had gone for his 21st birthday which was the week prior. Despite being of legal age he looked appropriately 12. After being carded by a cocktail waitress for the 700th time, she recommended he go to the security desk, show his ID, and get a stamp on his hand showing he was 21, that way he wouldn’t have to keep pulling out his license. Great.

We go to security, they stamp my hand in 2 seconds, but start examining his ID real closely. They pull out the guidebook for all of the State’s driver’s licenses. They call over a supervisor. Finally, they just say “No, sorry, this is fake. It says Under 21 on it.” My friend at first calmly tried to explain that he turned 21 the week before, and was Under 21 when he got the license, which is why it was on there. He lived in one state, was going to college in another, and hadn’t gone home to renew his license yet, but it wasn’t expired so it was valid. They said, “This is a private establishment, we’re not comfortable with it, and we’re asking you to leave.”

Now he had a bad temper, which I knew, and he had been drinking. I tried to diffuse the situation and said “Hey, f*ck this place. There are 100 casinos on the strip. Let’s go somewhere else.” He agreed and we headed for the door. 10 feet from the exit I hear “F*ck it, I’m giving that asshole a piece of my mind.” Five minutes later we were escorted to a room off the floor, had our pictures taken, and were told we were banned for life, and if we ever returned we would be charged with trespassing. I haven’t been back to Vegas since that, but if I do I’d like to walk in to test their facial recognition software lol.-u/Jealous-Network-8852
15. Back in the late 1980s, I was in the Florida Keys with a group of friends. I got drunk and went to bed and some of the guys went out bar hopping. The next morning a deputy sheriff showed up at the place we were renting, told us to pack our things and he would escort us to the county line and we were not to come back.So not only did I get banned from an entire Florida county, I never did get a straight story about what the guys who were at the bar did to get us banned.-u/Troubador222
16. Got banned from a local KMart about 25yrs ago for figuring out that if you just slapped the handle on the old twist turn candy dispensers that took a quarter it would just give you free candy...Yeah, they call that stealing. Took my photo and everything.-u/Aquaritek
17. I tried to pay my cover (entry fee) to a bar one time with two dollar bills and instead of taking my money the bouncer told me to leave in a not super polite manner.-u/hostilecarrot
18. I was banned from Kmart. A friend and I went to the local one and took one of those air duster can things and froze bouncy balls with it. If you tip it upside down and spray it a super cold liquid comes out. Cold enough to freeze things and even cold burn you. We froze bouncy balls and shattered them. on the ground. We did it to 2 of them. We were both banned. We were also 17 at the time. We were idiots.-u/iamacannibal
19. My family has been banned from a local Marcos pizza for yeaaars because of my mom. She used to have some anger issues and also really really loves garlic butter. When the Marcos forgot to include the garlic butter with the order she called and asked them to deliver the single cup of garlic butter to our house. Marcos (reasonably) said they can't do that, but she could come get it. she stormed over there with our pizza and proceeded to smear the whole thing on their windows and counters. haven't had Marcos since.-u/biggieknish
20. I used to work at a sushi restaurant. I got fired/banned because I told the manager that some of the food smelled like it was expired and maybe we should throw it out. Next thing I know, she's giving me my check and kicking me out.-u/UnderwaterPianos
21. Went to a bar that had newly opened with friends. Ordered some drinks, cocktails etc. They took FOREVER to make it and after an hour we STILL didn’t have all the ordered drinks and some of the ones we did get were wrong. So we wanted to leave and requested the bill. They gave us the full bill like they wanted us to pay even for the things we never got simply because we ordered them. And of course, they expected a generous tip.

We argued we would not pay for drinks we never got. They called us liars and assholes, threatened to call the police and that from now on we were banned from that establishment. We told him we didn’t mind and to go ahead and call the police. When he went into his bureau to call we quickly calculated what we owed, slapped the money on the table, and got the hell out of there. They went out of business after like half a year and had to sell the bar. The new owner is okay.-u/Coco_Rose95
22. I got banned from a friend's church when I was a kid. They had basketball on Tuesdays and the guy in charge kept slapping all the kids on the ass. I told him not to touch me again, so this creepy MF doubled down and this time and literally slid his hand between my legs until he hit my balls. So I told him If he touches me again I'm stabbing him in the f*cking neck. So they called the cops and told me if I ever come back I'm getting arrested.P.S. they didn't give a f*ck that I was just sexually assaulted by an adult. My friend went back years later and he was still playing grab ass. -u/808jfizzy
23. Just in case you think you have the trashiest family I'll make you feel better. My family is banned from an Applebee's in Syracuse New York. Coming home from a game, my drunk dad started a verbal fight with the manager because he sat at a table before us swearing that we were there first. We weren't, but drunk dad was not having any of it. Every time that "Applebees on a date night" song comes on everybody looks at him and we laugh and he says he regrets nothing and stood up for what was right.-u/Waffle-Azul
24. Honest Yelp review of a sh*tty cupcake shop, that the owner violated numerous Health codes and so I reported her.(mice droppings on floor, counters. The owner smoked in "doorway" and someone showed images of ash on icing. Plus smoke sticks to food and complaints of smoke taste in reviews were always removed. When a greedy slob tries to make money selling cupcakes... you can just tell...)-u/notanotherbreach
25. They probably don’t remember, but I’m technically not allowed back in the Foggy Goggle in Boston. My friends and I did mind erasers (sweet booze with a straw that one drinks quickly) and decided that the entire bar needed to hear “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” sung at full voice. The staff did not agree. We were escorted out shortly after the song ended and asked to not return.-u/jimberley

1. Got banned from the mall when I was younger because I wore an inappropriate shirt that I bought in the mall-u/par337.
2. Was banned from a Mall arcade when I was a kid for holding all the whack a moles down-u/pistonkamel
3. I once got barred from a pub for burping. No sh*t, it was in the Conan Doyle pub in Edinburgh, years ago. Our small group wasn't being disruptive or anything - my burp wasn't some intentional, obnoxious "display behavior" intended to unsettle other patrons; it was actually quite discreet, and simply the result of drinking carbonated beverages, with nothing more to it than that.

But we were sitting near the bar, the barman heard, and we all got thrown out - and for objecting to it, initially thinking it was a bad joke, I got no-shit, full-on barred. Like I say, it wasn't some over-the-top "eruption" of a belch - it was the same one you'd let loose in front of your own mother, followed by an "excuse me". I thought at the time that the barman was being a neurotic, over-assertive bell-end, and my own time as a barman in the years since has only served to reinforce that impression.-u/MagicSPA
4. Also a fun story of someone who wasn’t my friend but who I used to run track with. He thought it would be hilarious to put a pebble inside a piece of gum and throw it out the window of the bus on the way to a track meet. Thought it would just stick to the windshield and be a nuisance.

Ended up shattering part of the windshield because we are in a bus going mf 55 miles per hour. Person followed the bus all the way to the track meet. Cops came. Kid was banned from track, not sure if he was banned from the bus though.-u/Apprehensive-Taro-77
5. When I was 12 my favorite thing to do was play laser tag at the one laser tag place in our town. I'd go every Friday night and play for 3 hours or so. There weren't many other regular players, so nobody else was getting better at it like I was. After about a year I was just wrecking everyone and the owner ended up banning me from the place because it was driving away customers. It really sucked because it was my favorite activity and I was just immediately cut off from it.6 years later I found a place in another city that had other players that played regularly so I was able to start playing again with people at similar skill levels.-u/LeCrushinator
6. I got "banned" from Six Flags Great Adventure (NJ) several times in the early 90s. Back when I was in high school, season passes like $40 or something, making it a no brainer to buy one if you intended to go at least twice. My friend and I went probably 5-7 days a week since we lived close by.

We knew the park and its operations better than pretty much anyone who didn't work there, and eventually grew too comfortable with taking shortcuts through employee areas, trying to climb things we shouldn't, bothering other guests, and overall being a bunch of New Jersey Teenagers (aka jerks).

Thing is, the only IDs we had on us were our Season Passes, which we always assigned fake names for no preplanned reason. (Summer of 1994 my pass said Oskar Schindler). We eventually got in so much trouble they would take our passes and tell us we were banned for life. Well, another $40 at the front gate and boom, back in as Itzhak Stern. They needed at that time to figure out the flaws in their system.-u/Phormicidae
7. I drunkenly stumbled into the big pyramid of wine glasses that were, for some reason, stacked on the side of the bar... After they all fell and smashed everywhere causing a huge scene I proceeded to tell the bartender that it wasn't me. Two seconds later I was in a headlock being dragged outside by a large bouncer.-u/_gnoof
8. This is how I got banned from Chuck E Cheese. I figured out that I could take a ball from the game where you shoot the clown's teeth and use it at the skeeball machine. The skeeball machine would count the points but not the ball used, which enabled me to play forever with just one ball and max out the machine. I did it on two skeeball machines before someone noticed and I got banned/kicked out.-u/Papaya_flight
9. I got mistaken for somebody else whilst on holiday a few years back. I popped into a local shop to grab a sandwich & drink and a staff member forcefully marched over to me and yelled “you’re not allowed in here! I’ve told you before!” as she grabbed my sandwich and bottle of water from me & put them back.

I, of course, tried to protest and explained that I had never been in there before and was a visitor to the area but she gestured for the security guard to come over to escort me out and stood watching us from a distance with her arms folded and a smug look on her face, occasionally shouting “if she doesn’t go, I’m calling the police!”.

Thankfully the security guard was a little more understanding about the situation and happily looked at my driving license which proved I lived in a different area (I offered to show it) but said “perhaps it would be best if you didn’t come in here again!”-u/Retrosonic82
10. Taking pictures of produce and price signs at a small grocery store while shopping. I was just trying to keep track of which stores had which food at cheaper prices so I could plan my shopping trips.-u/Representative_Bad57
11. I was banned from the library as a kid. Overdue fees, they let you go up to $70 before canceling your card.I was an avid reader and my mom hated taking me to the library, always said she would and then changed her mind last minute. It was a 6 mile walk round trip so I would take a wheeled suitcase and get around 25 at a time, the fees added up fast. lolI resorted to stealing books and returning them and I’m pretty sure some of the Librarians just turned a blind eye. They forgive the debt when you turn 18.-u/No_Magazine2270
12. Feeding the seagulls. We ruined the entire upper deck's dining experience with a few french fries. Dozens, maybe 100 swarmed. It was like a scene from The Birds. People had to evacuate.-u/Cup-Mundane
13. Banned from the college cafeteria for taking in a digital food safety thermometer, and a copy of the state health department temperature ranges.They were consistently 20°F-40°F low, and food poisoning was a common problem.-u/nobody_really__
14. My friend and I were “Banned for Life” from a Casino in Las Vegas 20 something years ago. We had gone for his 21st birthday which was the week prior. Despite being of legal age he looked appropriately 12. After being carded by a cocktail waitress for the 700th time, she recommended he go to the security desk, show his ID, and get a stamp on his hand showing he was 21, that way he wouldn’t have to keep pulling out his license. Great.

We go to security, they stamp my hand in 2 seconds, but start examining his ID real closely. They pull out the guidebook for all of the State’s driver’s licenses. They call over a supervisor. Finally, they just say “No, sorry, this is fake. It says Under 21 on it.” My friend at first calmly tried to explain that he turned 21 the week before, and was Under 21 when he got the license, which is why it was on there. He lived in one state, was going to college in another, and hadn’t gone home to renew his license yet, but it wasn’t expired so it was valid. They said, “This is a private establishment, we’re not comfortable with it, and we’re asking you to leave.”

Now he had a bad temper, which I knew, and he had been drinking. I tried to diffuse the situation and said “Hey, f*ck this place. There are 100 casinos on the strip. Let’s go somewhere else.” He agreed and we headed for the door. 10 feet from the exit I hear “F*ck it, I’m giving that asshole a piece of my mind.” Five minutes later we were escorted to a room off the floor, had our pictures taken, and were told we were banned for life, and if we ever returned we would be charged with trespassing. I haven’t been back to Vegas since that, but if I do I’d like to walk in to test their facial recognition software lol.-u/Jealous-Network-8852
15. Back in the late 1980s, I was in the Florida Keys with a group of friends. I got drunk and went to bed and some of the guys went out bar hopping. The next morning a deputy sheriff showed up at the place we were renting, told us to pack our things and he would escort us to the county line and we were not to come back.So not only did I get banned from an entire Florida county, I never did get a straight story about what the guys who were at the bar did to get us banned.-u/Troubador222
16. Got banned from a local KMart about 25yrs ago for figuring out that if you just slapped the handle on the old twist turn candy dispensers that took a quarter it would just give you free candy...Yeah, they call that stealing. Took my photo and everything.-u/Aquaritek
17. I tried to pay my cover (entry fee) to a bar one time with two dollar bills and instead of taking my money the bouncer told me to leave in a not super polite manner.-u/hostilecarrot
18. I was banned from Kmart. A friend and I went to the local one and took one of those air duster can things and froze bouncy balls with it. If you tip it upside down and spray it a super cold liquid comes out. Cold enough to freeze things and even cold burn you. We froze bouncy balls and shattered them. on the ground. We did it to 2 of them. We were both banned. We were also 17 at the time. We were idiots.-u/iamacannibal
19. My family has been banned from a local Marcos pizza for yeaaars because of my mom. She used to have some anger issues and also really really loves garlic butter. When the Marcos forgot to include the garlic butter with the order she called and asked them to deliver the single cup of garlic butter to our house. Marcos (reasonably) said they can't do that, but she could come get it. she stormed over there with our pizza and proceeded to smear the whole thing on their windows and counters. haven't had Marcos since.-u/biggieknish
20. I used to work at a sushi restaurant. I got fired/banned because I told the manager that some of the food smelled like it was expired and maybe we should throw it out. Next thing I know, she's giving me my check and kicking me out.-u/UnderwaterPianos
21. Went to a bar that had newly opened with friends. Ordered some drinks, cocktails etc. They took FOREVER to make it and after an hour we STILL didn’t have all the ordered drinks and some of the ones we did get were wrong. So we wanted to leave and requested the bill. They gave us the full bill like they wanted us to pay even for the things we never got simply because we ordered them. And of course, they expected a generous tip.

We argued we would not pay for drinks we never got. They called us liars and assholes, threatened to call the police and that from now on we were banned from that establishment. We told him we didn’t mind and to go ahead and call the police. When he went into his bureau to call we quickly calculated what we owed, slapped the money on the table, and got the hell out of there. They went out of business after like half a year and had to sell the bar. The new owner is okay.-u/Coco_Rose95
22. I got banned from a friend's church when I was a kid. They had basketball on Tuesdays and the guy in charge kept slapping all the kids on the ass. I told him not to touch me again, so this creepy MF doubled down and this time and literally slid his hand between my legs until he hit my balls. So I told him If he touches me again I'm stabbing him in the f*cking neck. So they called the cops and told me if I ever come back I'm getting arrested.P.S. they didn't give a f*ck that I was just sexually assaulted by an adult. My friend went back years later and he was still playing grab ass. -u/808jfizzy
23. Just in case you think you have the trashiest family I'll make you feel better. My family is banned from an Applebee's in Syracuse New York. Coming home from a game, my drunk dad started a verbal fight with the manager because he sat at a table before us swearing that we were there first. We weren't, but drunk dad was not having any of it. Every time that "Applebees on a date night" song comes on everybody looks at him and we laugh and he says he regrets nothing and stood up for what was right.-u/Waffle-Azul
24. Honest Yelp review of a sh*tty cupcake shop, that the owner violated numerous Health codes and so I reported her.(mice droppings on floor, counters. The owner smoked in "doorway" and someone showed images of ash on icing. Plus smoke sticks to food and complaints of smoke taste in reviews were always removed. When a greedy slob tries to make money selling cupcakes... you can just tell...)-u/notanotherbreach
25. They probably don’t remember, but I’m technically not allowed back in the Foggy Goggle in Boston. My friends and I did mind erasers (sweet booze with a straw that one drinks quickly) and decided that the entire bar needed to hear “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” sung at full voice. The staff did not agree. We were escorted out shortly after the song ended and asked to not return.-u/jimberley