Tailor in Bali Clashes with Customer, Sparks Racial Tensions, Now Seeks Forgiveness

A video of a dispute between a tailor and a female customer in Badung, Bali, has gone viral on social media. The incident is believed to have been triggered by the customer’s disappointment that her clothes had not been finished.

As reported by detikBali on Monday (20/7/2026), the tailoring business is located on Jalan Raya Subang, Sibangkaja Village, Abiansemal District, Badung, Bali. According to the circulating video, the dispute began when the customer claimed she had left three pieces of clothing to be altered on 30 June 2026.

The customer claimed the tailor had agreed the garments would be ready the following day, 1 July 2026. However, when the deadline arrived, the clothes had not been touched.

Promise after promise of completion on the following days was allegedly not kept, leaving the customer disappointed and demanding that both the clothes and her money be returned. When this request was refused, the situation heated up, and the tailor allegedly uttered coarse words in Balinese.

It was reported that the tailor allegedly threatened to bring thugs to beat up the female customer. Beyond the verbal threats, the customer also claimed she had leftover food thrown at her and was threatened with a stick.

The owner of the tailoring business, Sintya Tailor, Ni Made Tiadnyani, has spoken out about the incident. Sintya admitted uttering coarse language during the dispute with the customer, saying the words came out spontaneously in the heat of emotion.

“I really did not mean to mock or insult anyone. I said it purely out of frustration and anger. I admit I was wrong to say it, but there was genuinely a cause,” said Mrs Sintya when met by detikBali on Saturday (18/7/2026).

She admitted her emotions were provoked because she was verbally abused first while she was eating. She felt she was treated disrespectfully by a customer who was far younger.

“I was so worked up — I was eating and got shouted at and cursed at. I had already apologised and asked her to wait just 15 minutes, but she was impatient. I’m old, yet I got told off,” Mrs Sintya recounted.

She acknowledged there had been a delay in completing the orders, which were being worked on in stages. However, she admitted some of the shirts due for servicing had not yet been attended to because of a backlog of kebaya orders.

“In short, some things got left behind. I told her to wait just 15 minutes. As shown in the video, I’ve now done the work,” she continued.

She also explained that the total cost for the three shirts belonging to the customer’s boyfriend actually came to Rp 75,000, with each cutting and repair job priced at Rp 25,000, while the female customer’s own garment cost only Rp 10,000.

Sintya realised that her anger, which led to the coarse and sectarian remarks, was purely a spontaneous result of her frustration. She said she had no intention of making threats, and her anger, she admitted, was momentary.

She has since met with the woman’s boyfriend and they have exchanged apologies. The serviced shirts have also been handed over, although one shirt belonging to the female customer remains uncollected to date.