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Top 5 reasons why The Customer is Always Right is Wrong

positivesharing.com — Here are the top five reasons why the phrase “The customer is always right” which was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge is WRONG.

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  • dancee, on 03/20/2008, -7/+89Very interesting article.This is the first time I have read something on this subject from the employees point of view.
    • gimlik, on 03/20/2008, -6/+4My employee point of view:
      *best mummy voice* The customer is always right. The customer is always right. / drinks more kool-aid
    • Zippo, on 03/20/2008, -2/+12For more information, please check out: http://community.livejournal.com/customers_suck/
      22000+ service-industry employees will be more than happy to tell you why the customer is not always right.
    • OhhWell, on 03/20/2008, -1/+14The article is actually from a management point of view. It is just employee-centric.
      • Gir53457, on 03/20/2008, -3/+26Well anyone who has ever worked retail is aware that the customer is a ***** retard.

        Anyone who has ever done Janitorial work for a Target will also know that despite the fact that the women's bathroom door is closed, with a sign on the front that the women's room is closed an the cleaning cart blocking the entrance; a horde of ***** women will still attempt to circumnavigate all these obstacles and act like it's the end of the world when they see me in there with a mop and freak out because there is man in the women's bathroom.
        • inbred, on 03/20/2008, -1/+7HOLY *****, that's so true.

          /former Target employee :(
        • SpectralSounds, on 03/20/2008, -8/+1I can't believe you are being dugg up. You honestly get mad that people who really need to use the bathroom, try and get into the bathroom to use it? That's ***** up. Yeah, it might be annoying that you have to leave while the women come in there and come back when they are done... I can sympathize with that. But, I also know from experience that when nature starts screaming... I don't give a ***** if a cleaning cart is in the way with a female cleaning the bathroom. She can stand there and watch for all I care... I need to go.
    • trogdor282, on 03/20/2008, -14/+4"Customer is always right": We have no problem selling you this dangerous/unhealthy/crappy/defective product, but as consolation feel free to be a total dick to the girl at the cash register.
    • nikkesen, on 03/20/2008, -2/+10I was taught something slightly better and it is that while the customer may indeed be wrong, they should leave satisfied, meaning you gently let them down if they were disappointed with the product even if they were never right to begin with.
      • Jonjonr6, on 03/20/2008, -2/+4Sounds great, but some people are just ***** off and cannot be satisified if you sent them 100 hookers carrying a million dollars each just to serve that douchebag's whims.
        Especially when it comes to computers and electronics.
        • Gir53457, on 03/20/2008, -2/+18Bitch: You! The wedding registry is broken! Fix it!
          Me: I'm sorry Ma'am, I don't know anything about that, I'm just the Janitor. I can direct you to customer services or to one of out Team Leaders.
          Bitch: You're the Janitor so you have to fix it!

          (about two minutes of this and I radio to the LOD for help.)

          Bitch: I don't understand the incompetency of your employees!

          LOD: You just need to touch the screen to start the registry.
        • justbloggin, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6Anybody with a brain and with any experience working with public will know that the customer only thinks the he is right. The policy that is far more accurate, should be rule # 1. "customers lie" . Welcome to the retail world. This is also why it is so hard to deal with companies when you have a ligitimate complaint. Most good people are wearing brass underwear.

          • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6Customers will also be shocked when they start running into another fresh idea whose time has come: WE DON'T NEED YOUR BUSINESS. If dealing with you means treating our employees badly by not backing them up when confronting your angry demands, bending over backwards to go against our usual customer service standards to give you special treatment, putting up with your racial slurs, putting up with your rudeness or just having to give you something to just SHUT YOU UP and GET YOU OUT OF THE STORE, then NO, WE DON'T NEED YOUR BUSINESS, WE DON'T WANT YOUR BUSINESS, YOU ARE WRONG, and our BUSINESS IS MUCH BETTER WITHOUT YOU. Have a nice day.
    • thanakar, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5When my buddy started selling cars the lot owner gave him a book to read and learn from entitled "The Customer is Always Wrong".
    • qber, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3http://notalwaysright.com
    • slvrbullet87, on 03/20/2008, -2/+12I work in tech support, the customer is almost always wrong
    • Bilabrin, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Not only the employee but management as well. Crap sometimes rolls uphill.

      THe common thought is that 100% of your customers need to be satisfied. This should be modified to 98% of your customers must be satisfied. There are always those who will not be satisfied no matter how f.ar you bend or how much you comp and you could go broke trying to satisfy that %2
  • JAVandiver, on 03/20/2008, -5/+147Everyone in management should read this article.
    • gypsi, on 03/20/2008, -8/+43everyone knows management can't read. just tell the bullet points
    • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -6/+5Then all it takes is a few nasty phone calls to corporate from irate customers to get them fired. The problem isn't that management doesn't think the same as you, it's that the people that control their destiny (as far as working at their current position is concerned) have never actually had to interact with real people.
      • JAVandiver, on 03/20/2008, -6/+6I am in management, thank you very much.
        • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -6/+4Is it possible you meant to reply to gypsi's comment? You know, the one that said, "everyone knows management can't read. just tell the bullet points".
          • JAVandiver, on 03/20/2008, -3/+6No, I meant to reply to yours. Gypsi's comment was funny so I dugg it up. Your comment was inaccurate and shallow so I dugg you down. Thanks for playing.
          • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2@ JAV: Which part was shallow and inaccurate? Granted it all depends on what business you're in, but my experience is in corporate retail and management turnover was awful high during my tenure there. On top of that our DM didn't know a damn thing about day-to-day life in an actual store.
    • faraggi, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Not only management; I´m an architect, and I´ve had to learn, with time, that I- as an 'expert' in my field- know better than a normal person. People always think they know more than everyone else, especially ***** rich guys.
      I now just know how to stand my ground and it's my way or the highway.
  • TomK88, on 03/20/2008, -13/+33I didn't know people actually believed that old saying anymore...
    • Gutterpunk, on 03/20/2008, -7/+11You might wanna stay away from http://consumerist.com/ then

      /hate that web site
      • RobotChicken1, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3MOST of the stories (that I see on Digg anyway - I don't actually frequent the site) are from customers with genuine complaints about bad customer service, even if it is brought upon by what the article discussed. However, occasionally I do see a story with the Consumerist siding with a customer on a dumb story where they're clearly wrong.
        • iruber1337, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2Of course a story written by said customer would never be skewed to make every employee seem like an insensitive asshole...
    • allahuakbar, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5It was only originally coined as a mantra for companies. He never meant for a**hole customers to act like it should always apply to them when dealing with anyone...
    • stix213, on 03/20/2008, -0/+10When I used to work in retail, every "bad" customer would say "But, the customer is always right" when they were trying to get something for nothing. I have never heard a reasonable customer ever say that, but at least once a month from the crazies
    • AtiimKiambu, on 03/20/2008, -7/+1Yeah, the customer isn't always right. The customer is USUALLY right. If I walked into a restaurant and demanded free food just because I said so, no restaurant would honor that. Employees try to accommodate the customer as much as possible, but they won't let customers get away with anything. Customer relations departments let customers get away with even more, but they're still not always right.
      • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7The customer isn't even "usually" right. They only need to perceive they are right.
    • xsquirrel378x, on 03/20/2008, -2/+6"the customer is always right" is obsolete, wrong and anyone that has ever worked in retail knows this. its a tool used by corporate fat slobs that dont even know what customer service is and like to treat their employees like *****.
  • jthei, on 03/20/2008, -3/+298"This job would be great if it wasn't for the ***** customers."
    • julialopez, on 03/20/2008, -2/+23i wouldn't say the customer is always wrong, just the vast majority of the time.
      • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -1/+14If you work retail you know that unless you're the manager of the store, you are only going to do for the customer what your operations manual tells you to do. From return policies to add on sales pitches at the counter, the clerk is only doing what they are trained to do. Yet, still, folks feeling wronged over their Bon Jovi CD or a $1.50 cup of coffee immediately shout for a manager, but even managers, even upper management, are really "tired of hearing it" and they often will only do what company policy allows them to do. As a long time retail manager the one thing I do know is that often there is a way around anything and I will often go out of my way to help you out, but if you're a jerk telling me "you're always right!!!" just because you feel like being a bitch today, I really don't have to give you crap and I have a policy manual that will back me up.
    • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -3/+3As a former logistics supervisor who had sales quotas impressed upon him I agree. Luckily my managers knew it was absurd and no formal corrective action was ever taken.
    • mjgenovese, on 03/20/2008, -2/+16And I'm not even supposed to be here today!
      • skeletorcares, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4oh dante, when will you learn.
    • skeletorcares, on 03/20/2008, -2/+1537? 37!?....try not to suck any dick on the way through the parking lot.
    • drewbeta, on 03/20/2008, -0/+15"The customer is always an asshole!"
    • purelithium, on 03/20/2008, -0/+10I hate people.
    • Bravesguy18, on 03/20/2008, -7/+1Dugg for Clerks quote.
    • fletcher008, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4"i believe in a ruling class, especially because i rule"
    • Janv1er, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Aren't we all customers?
    • Zergo, on 03/20/2008, -1/+1You likely wouldn't have the job if it wasn't for the customers.... however, wonderful article, the customer is NOT always right.
  • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -107/+13Another bitter retail/customer service worker... the customer is always right because the customer pays your wage. If all you want to do is tell me I'm wrong, I'll take my money somewhere else. Your paychecks aren't just magically printed and owed to you perpetually no matter how well your employer does... you are paid based only on how much revenue your employer is bringing in, which is based on how customers are treated. The customer is always right because no one goes very far in business by treating customers like idiots.

    Some people are meant to do customer service. I have found a few over the years... instead of seeing a problem I have as a stupid anecdote to go whine about on their livejournal as evidence of how stupid customers are, they just fix my problem and think about how their current system lead me to be confused. These sorts of customer service people tend to have incredibly loyal customers - the ones who left places that hire people who like to talk about how stupid customers are. If you're in an industry where customer service quality doesn't really matter, you are a commodity and paid like one... so I guess I understand why you need to whine on the internet.
    • diggface5000, on 03/20/2008, -2/+57Maybe you misunderstood the article. The article didn't say "how stupid customers are" or that you should treat customers like idiots. He's still saying to provide good customer service, but not at the expense of your dignity. I've watched someone bring in an item to my store, pull a tag off of a similar item, bring it to the counter and say they want to return it with the tag (which happened to fall off.) Why should I return that? I've had one of my cashiers calmly explain a policy to a customer and in return get screamed at and verbally abused. That customer isn't right. Clearly you've never worked that kind of job, because if you had you'd know the abuse that "the customer is always right" slogan forces people to put up with.
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -51/+2No, I don't work retail... I have a real job.
        • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -2/+27...and now now you show your true colors.
          • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -2/+10He is who this article was written about. He is also the person around whom more restrictive returns and customers service have been designed. He is also the type that have forced many companies to start saying, "you know what? it's time to put our people first and start rewarding our great customers" instead of rewarding the whiniest, bitchiest, most foul mouth, scam artists that walk through our doors because they know the longer they whine and bitch someone usually coughs something up for them. Well... thanks to customers like him, many stores are changing that, and its actually for the better. I want to do the most for my best customers and stop rewarding my worst at the expense of my employees.
          • TheMidnight, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6There was another article linked to this one about "How to Get Rid of Jerks at Work." Don't let your colleagues read it.
        • dlllb, on 03/20/2008, -1/+26I was gonna make a smart ass comment but I think the following will suffice;

          Nacho, you're a prick.
        • BrewBeau, on 03/20/2008, -1/+20Hey, you're one of the people discussed in the article. I always knew the real jerks are the ones who haven't had to actually work a day in their lives.
        • nomadofthehills, on 03/20/2008, -1/+17So what did you do in high school? I plan on getting a "real job" after I graduate college, but all throughout high school, retail it was. And you know what? If you are GOOD at what you do, you can make a ***** load of money in retail.
          • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -16/+2I worked in groceries for 5 years through high school and college. I liked it, and never encountered a customer I thought was stupid (but then again, how hard is it to buy groceries?) I did encounter rude customers... that's to be expected. I'm sure if I went looking for stupid customers, I would have found them. But things that were obvious to me weren't obvious to customers... the company hired me to negotiate that problem, not to make fun of people on the internet for it. This is probably why I was always turning down supervisor positions because I was focused on school... while my customer-hating co-workers wondered why they were stuck as baggers even though they'd have welcomed a promotion.
      • nomadofthehills, on 03/20/2008, -15/+2You should accept the return, and send them on their way. In the end, you will just be making more money, when that customer invariably returns and buys something. Customer loyalty is better in the long run than a small short term loss of profit.
        • anstice85, on 03/20/2008, -1/+19No. A customer like that will more than likely keep ripping you off once they see that they can get away with it. This is not better.
          • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -1/+9That's one hundred percent correct. The reason most business no longer have wide open return policies is for that very reason. The more people know you'll take anything back, it stops becoming a customer service feature and it starts becoming a haven for every cheat, crackpot and scammer. There are teams out there who go from store to store taking advantage of that everyday. That's why a lot of stores now have tightened the ability to return merchandise.
        • emalen, on 03/20/2008, -1/+12Clearly you lack not only business sense but common sense as well.
        • fatjoe, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2you sir are a moron
    • WaxenPith, on 03/20/2008, -0/+49Did you even READ the article?
      • Aensland, on 03/20/2008, -1/+18Clearly, this isn't the kind of customer whose business we want to keep.
        • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -26/+1Maybe not at Starbucks, but I work for a company with clients that pay us millions of dollars a year for our service. If I treated them the way people think stupid customers should be treated, we'd lose their business and I'd get fired.
          • breadfred, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7I am pretty sure if you vent your customer focused views to your manager he will be delighted that you are not dealing directly with them. I have been in negotiation sessions with million-dollar customers, and they try to take you for a ride if they can. Nothing personal, but business is business. They don't expect to be treated differently then they treat you. Certainly in a business where the customer value is that high, you CAN afford to be stubborn.
            However, you misunderstood the article. This was not about business customers (B2B) but individuals (B2C). A whole different ballgame altogether. Have you ever worked in a call center and had a customer shout at you because his insurance policy got canceled because he didn't pay? Is the customer right to think he does not have to pay for his insurance? Yes you can empathize with the customer, but you have to be strict. No pay, no insurance. Also, if a customer shouts and yells and starts verbally abusing you, you don't have to accept that. Just tel the customer to calm down so you can see how you can help them, or ask them to call back when they are calmed down. If they are insisting on their rude behavior, just tell them that you understand that they are angry, but if they persist talking to you in this manner you will have to close the call. If they still persist, hang up.
        • dlllb, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2^ Sounds great
    • Fullvinyl, on 03/20/2008, -0/+23This from the archetypal asshole customer referenced in the article. Have you ever even been involved in customer service besides "paying the wage"?
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -26/+1I work for a company with clients that pay us millions of dollars a year for our service. If I treated them the way people think stupid customers should be treated, we'd lose their business and I'd get fired.
        • dlllb, on 03/20/2008, -1/+12You can stop saying that now... Your earlier comment was also dugg down... Sheesh, take a hint.
          • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -12/+1It really just means a lot of Diggers are still working pretty menial jobs... sorry that truth hurts, guys.
          • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -1/+5A lot of Diggers are also still in high school and college, and will probably end up being your boss one day.
          • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5Go back under the bridge, troll.
          • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1@PoonGnarfler - You totally pwned him. lol Nice job!
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5It's because you don't get it. It's not about treating folks badly, it's about rewarding great customers and stop servicing and bending over backwards for horrible customers - at expense of good customers and employees with higher prices and more restrictive return policies. It's a hard concept to grasp if you haven't worked retail (other than bag boy) - especially retail management, but the whole trend, thanks to big box discounters, has been to treat bad customers with great respect ("getting to yes") while not respecting your front line employees who first have to deal with customer by undoing everything they have stated, correctly, to the customer out of their customer service operations manual just so the customer "will comeback again" and give the next employee an equally hard time. It's about saying to those customers, no we don't need you, no we don't want you... please do go away. At the same time it's also about rewarding great customers with great customer service and products while also making your frontline people the greatest team they can be.
    • apothekari, on 03/20/2008, -1/+48Well said diggface5000.
      My store is currently in liquidation and it has been very very difficult in many ways.But last Thursday just had to take the cake.
      We have 10 or 15 HUGE signs saying all sales final {we ARE liquidation after all} and that morning I rang up a guy for 5 or 6 videos and sent him on his way.
      A couple of hours later this guy {who was wearing a postal uniform I should add at this point} came back in with a video that had NEVER been in our store and tried to exchange it and said I had sold it to him that morning. And he became infuriated when I told him that DVD had never been sold here. I even showed him all the transactions including his that I had rang that day on the screen and that his DVD wouldn't even come up in our inventory database!
      STILL he ranted and raved suggested I was calling him a liar{Which I didn't but he was}and threatened to call in and get me fired as if I was going to have a job in a week or 2 because we are GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!
      If I had my way EVERY man woman and child in this country would be mandated to work retail during the last two weeks before Christmas 2 years out of every five.If they did this country would have a little more respect for the Retail employee.
      • dlllb, on 03/20/2008, -5/+2.
      • BESTenemy, on 03/20/2008, -1/+9 It's sad to see how scared of customers some of the retail workers get, as if they're not people, as if they don't have rights, as if they have to put up with everything.

        I never attack clerks or even telemarketers, cause I know they'd be elsewhere if they had a choice. It's a minimal wage job. They're not CEO's to be saying: "customer's always right". It's not their motto. As a customer you're not special and you shouldn't be. You're one out of hundreds of people they might have to deal with on daily basis. Cut them some slack. Their day is a lot less exciting than yours and if you've just had a bad one, keep it till you get home and then you can yell at the walls all you want. Those people have nothing to do with your problems. They're just doing a job that very few actually enjoy doing.
        • imikedaman, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1"It's sad to see how scared of customers some of the retail workers get, as if they're not people, as if they don't have rights, as if they have to put up with everything."

          The right to swindle? That's a new one to me.

          We wouldn't be having this problem if so many people didn't have a false sense of entitlement, where apparently their right to your stuff is more important than store policy, ethics, and sometimes even the law.
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Their not scared... they are stand-offish - prepared for a fight or for abuse... because they are just a retail guy.
    • saigumi, on 03/20/2008, -0/+19So, Nacho... where do you work?

      I DEMAND everything you have for 1 penny.... no, make that a penny that I am going to cut in half. I am the customer, so I am right. Give. NOW!

      Argue your way out of that box.
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -26/+2Well we wouldn't accept you as a customer. In the org chart, my boss, who owns the company, lists his boss as "our clients". And he takes that seriously. Some demands clients make are unrealistic, but the attitude that's made him a success isn't "let's prove to them that they're wrong" but "Let's see how we can both be right".
        • Dweller99, on 03/20/2008, -1/+25"the customer is always right because the customer pays your wage."
          How does that equate with "Some demands clients make are unrealistic"? "Always right" except when they are being "unreasonable"? I AM a business owner, and some customers cost more than they bring in. That is a fact of business.
          • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -26/+3"The customer is always right" is more of an attitude than something that you have to literally follow in every situation. My client is right that they can only afford $1,000 for a given service... so I don't think of them as ignorant even though the wholesale cost for me to provide that service is over $1,000. That's probably all the money they can offer under their circumstances. We're both right... I try to find something that works for both of us, rather than me say "Hey you dummie, do you know how much it costs for us to do that? get real!"
          • nomadofthehills, on 03/20/2008, -8/+4I agree with nacho, sure, "the customer is always right," if you want to make a profit in the long run. Which most smart people do. Obviously, it is just a motto, not set in stone. If you look at everything 100% literally, you are a tool.
          • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -7/+2nomadofthehills summarizes my point, which is what everyone thus far has missed. Of course the customer isn't literally always right, but your goal as a business shouldn't be to prove them wrong, but to help them whatever the problem is so you can get their business anyway.
          • 10lbhammer, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2god, nacho! basic reading comprehension skills should be mandatory for your job, I'm assuming. so why do you insist on reading into the article that the stated goal is to prove the customer wrong? nobody is saying that! it is simply stating that you don't have to bend over backwards for an unreasonable client/customer, something you obviously agree with.

            get. the. *****. over it already.
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5Clients to a company are hardly the equivalent of dealing with 500 different customer situations in a day. In a busy big box store it's easy to do that and more in a given day. Any customer that costs me money is not a customer I want. They can go home and have a nice life. I coach my teams on bringing in and keeping the customers we do want.
        • emalen, on 03/20/2008, -0/+8Wow, you just managed to contradict yourself, prove that you're a moron, and incur the wrath of Diggers all in one comment.
        • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Seriously, I'm counting right now and nacho got Dugg down -196 Diggs just in the span of that single comment and all of it's replies.
    • WhatInThe42o, on 03/20/2008, -3/+27Another self-entitled douchebag who only proves the point that customers can be assholes. Buried for being a dick.
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -21/+2I didn't say anything about being an asshole to employees... I just don't want them to treat me like an idiot. And I'm "self-entitled" because I'm paying... welcome to the real world.
        • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -0/+18I was threatened by a guest about 13 years ago because I wouldn't let him smoke in a line he was waiting in. I immediately contacted Security and had him ejected. According to your logic, he was a paying customer that should be able to get away with breaking the rules and threatening employees.

          I don't think you understood the article or even know what you're arguing about. The article doesn't state that the customer is always wrong; it says that they aren't always right. Abusive customers are bad customers. Losing them isn't necessarily going to cost you any business. Do you think those people are really going out praising your business when all they do is complain anyways? Good riddens!
        • JStraum, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4What goes around comes around and judging by the tone in your post, I'd say a number of us will come to the conclusion that you are getting what you're giving...take a look in the mirror for most of your percieved problems...
          Treat them like idiots, you get that back 10 fold...
          • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -5/+1Again, I don't treat any employees like an idiot. But if they treat me like one, they don't get my business. I really rarely have problems with employees... even in retail. But when the service does suck, I start looking for another place for my business.
        • WhatInThe42o, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5Oh, I know you didn't say anything about being an asshole to employees; it comes so naturally to you that you don't think it's worth pointing out. Your attitude of "I have the money, so I make the rules" makes you an asshole. Everywhere you go, every store you shop at, they all hate you, and your misconception of the working reality of commerce means you get much worse service and, likely, goods than the guy who just treats people like peers. Welcome to the real world.
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2What you're saying isn't necessarily wrong, it's the sense of entitlement that some folks have just because they grace a store with their presence that tends to rub folks the wrong way. I will do anything for you as a manager. I can pick up a phone and have something over-nighted to you AND refund your money to you in order to keep you as a good customer. You tell me I'm inferior to you or demand that I do things for you because you have a "real job" and I'm a retail schlub, and I wont lift a damn finger to help you, AND I'll tell you my part time employee was completely right when he said he couldn't help you because it wasn't our policy.
      • sodoh, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1If you expect assholes you get assholes. While I agree with some of the article above a lot of frustration from customers is down to bad customer service. The OP is correct that at the end of the day the customer pays your wages. Not your company, not your boss.

        I recommend reading "Customer Satisfaction is worthless, Customer loyalty is pricess" -> http://www.gitomer.com/products/Books.html

        It even covers dealing with customers who like to complain.
    • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -26/+3I think there's some confusion between "customer" and "client". I'm sure that if you work retail, it doesn't matter that you're rude to the 1-2% of your idiot customers. But like I said, you're a commodity and paid like one. When you're dealing with clients who may have the power to influence or even cancel hundreds of thousands of dollars coming into your company, you just do not treat them like idiots... and you're paid well for your work. ANyway, your clients at that level aren't going to be idiots anyway. "The customer is always right" is important to remember when losing an individual customer could be a disaster for your company. It doesn't hurt to remember when you work at Starbucks, either... I'm guessing your supervisors got promoted because they followed the spirit of this axiom. It's not easy, I'm sure... but retail/customer service isn't for everyone. If I worked retail I'd probably sound like you guys.
      • qber, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7If you don't work retail and never have to deal with idiot customers, why are you so argumentative over something that is outside your realm of experience? Unless you are the idiot customer...
        • Chassit, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5Idiot customer? Well he is certainly at least half of that description.
      • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2Where the ***** do you work anyway? All I ***** hear is "I work for a company that brings in millions of dollars and I get paid very well for it. Just because a customer pais you a lot doesn't mean that the can't be costing your money or not worth your time. I am sure that your boss delas with a lot of idiot "clients" and has had to cancel quite a few contracts if the client is being totally unreasonable.
        • WhatInThe42o, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Isn't it obvious by his screenname? He's the guy who supplies movie theaters with those crappy bags of nachos.
    • Nanite, on 03/20/2008, -2/+16This 'NachoBusiness' guy is the petulant, unreasonable, angry, and demanding customer that the article is describing to a T!

      Congratulations, you just outed yourself as a douchebag!
      • Chassit, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4Douchebags like him find themselves outside of my store in moments.
    • StatusWoe, on 03/20/2008, -0/+9"you are paid based only on how much revenue your employer is bringing in"

      LOL, on what planet do you work? You are paid the absolute least they can pay you while still being able to fill your position.
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -10/+1In crappy jobs, sure. But I'm given raises and bonuses (or not given them) largely based on how clients evaluate me. Even in a Starbucks-like job, the people who get promoted are the ones who understand customer service... not the ones who hate the customers. You can only do the most menial levels of customer service if you hate customers.
        • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6The whole point of the story is that having unruly customers and abiding to their demands because of this rule is what makes your employees unhappy and hate customers. Stop ***** talking about "crappy jobs" if you've never ***** had one.
          P.S. Stop thinking that you are the ***** just because you work for a large company or firm, a lot of people either don't have that kind of opportunity at the moment or are in high school or college. You thinking that you are better than everyone who currently has a ***** job just proves how much of a deuchebag you are.
    • atticus8, on 03/20/2008, -3/+1This is like the guy who goes "I pay to your salary" to cops, thinking that obviates the fact that he just broke the law. This situation almost always involves traffic stops or housecalls.
      (I have, however, had a cop tell me I pulled a 90 degree turn at 40 miles an hour and give me a ticket for reckless driving. Later, I even had my physics professor help me work out the math on that claim and show that it was PHYSICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. So it is not like cops / employees can't be lying dickheads themselves.)
      • NachoBusiness, on 03/20/2008, -7/+1Having a "stupid question" isn't illegal, I'm under no obligation to give my business to anyone.
    • stklaw, on 03/20/2008, -1/+6CAN I HAZ TROLLBURGER?
    • barkus, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1This article should not bother anyone who is respectful to customer service/retail workers. Funny that you find it so disagreeable.

      For the record customers do not pay the employees wages, the employers do. It's link in the chain you're forgetting. If you think taking your business elsewhere will make 2 ***** of a difference to anyones wages you're a douchebag. The point of the article is to address that there are a small minority of rude/unreasonable assholes that are worth losing as customers. Because it's a very small minority, it won't hurt the bottom line and, in theory, employees with better morale will be better at their jobs, and will more than make up for the (small) losses. Unreasonable dick can kill someones morale... especially if the employee has to bend over and take it from them.

      Also I've never worked a day in my life in the customer service industry, but unlike some people I'm not a complete moron who needs to experience something first hand to know right from wrong.
  • Gophergreg, on 03/20/2008, -1/+77I had a retail business for a few years, and the customer is definitely not always right. Some of them (a very few, fortunately) are nothing but a giant suck on your time and resources. I had to fire a few customers and I didn't feel a bit bad about it. Most of the time, a problem is something that can be worked out pretty easily and the customer will leave happy. But for those soul-sucking customers that can never be pleased, just show them the door. You'll be better off in the long run.
    • ScottOrwig, on 03/20/2008, -1/+5That's one of the things that can make constituent-facing government jobs so miserable. You can't fire those rare customers who take up all the time and resources. If they aren't satisfied, they can continue to go "up the chain" until they get to someone who is in an elected position. Ultimately it's the other members of the community who suffer, and ultimately the other members of the community are the only ones who can help.
  • diggface5000, on 03/20/2008, -2/+69I think this was a good article. I used to work in a well-known underwear store where the policy was to return ANYTHING. If the computer could can it, we could return in. One rather large lady was clearly too big for the largest size we made. Still, every few months she'd bring her worn out and stained underwear back complaining that the elastic waistband didn't hold up. First of all, I was in high school and horrified at having to regularly dispose of her dirty underwear. Second, you can't just go and get free underwear whenever yours break! How can a company make money that way? Only your profitable/polite customers get to always be right.
    • dpknc84, on 03/20/2008, -1/+65Good story, not so good mental image this early in the morning right now.
      • FunkyMo, on 03/20/2008, -1/+5So it would be a fap-worthy mental image at night?
    • DephexTwin, on 03/20/2008, -1/+41Wow...... I think you just described what it is like to have literally no dignity whatsoever.
    • mckirsch, on 03/20/2008, -2/+15Agreed, Good story.

      But....

      EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
    • Dissipate, on 03/20/2008, -0/+11What kind of an underwear store lets you return the underwear?!! I don't care how fat, ugly or even hot a woman is, that is just plain NASTY.
      • ichunxo, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Try Victoria's Secret. CBS did a special report on that a while back..

        WASH THEN WEAR, PLEASE!
  • jasonsalas, on 03/20/2008, -2/+10dude, three cheers for this article.good pragmatism about dealing with unruly customers.
  • doctorfungi, on 03/20/2008, -2/+51I've always failed to see why someone who's been in a shop 10 minutes is automatically correct over someone who's been working there 10 years. In my experience, if the customer is making statements about your shop, product or whatever... 90% of the time they're wrong.
    • TheSpook, on 03/20/2008, -5/+2When I worked in retail, I always felt the customer was wrong unless he agreed with me. :) Of course, I would still try my best to help the person either a) understand our position, or b) try to come up with a reasonable compromise.

      And I would never be rude, even when they were rude to me. That probably got me in trouble more than it helped, though, because they would just raise their voice even louder when they realized I wasn't going to bite back. Ehh, I demand a higher wage now and push off the bad seeds to the project managers. As much as I hate contributing to scope specs, they are a wonderful tool in those types of meetings.
      • jameskong15, on 03/20/2008, -2/+3"When I worked in retail, I always felt the customer was wrong unless he agreed with me"
        You just showed us why the saying was created; so we don't have to deal with douches who think they are always right no matter what the circumstances are.
        • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2If he'd been working there for 10 years and knew the ins and outs of the business, you don't think that he would be right most of the time? Sure, everyone is wrong from time to time but the fact that he has experience in the business gives him a little more precedence over some asshole that comes in just thinking that he is the expert.
  • lisaawesome, on 03/20/2008, -2/+192I worked as a customer service manager at WalMart, and when I had to bring higher up managers into a dispute with a customer (usually over return policies) my managers consistently sided with the customer disregarding the fact that my job was to enforce the policies. These customers then realized they could argue with me over anything and get free products or money back. Some would come back on a weekly basis and treat me like ***** and waste my time and generally make me feel as though my soul was being crushed. Nothing in my work experience has ever made me feel as awful as being thrown under the bus by my managers. And for what? The store doesn't make money off of customers like these and it crushes the morale of their employees. Thinking of all this has made me kinda sad now.
    • diggymow, on 03/20/2008, -1/+70>hug
      • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Yes I feel for Lisawesome too. That was my old companies policy, "Getting to Yes" even if it meant letting your front line part timers go a few rounds with the customer, you still had to then completely knock their dignity out from under them and do whatever the customer wanted. Finally I said, no more. I value my employees far more than any ***** customer like that. The value of morale and teamwork in keeping great customers trumps slitting your employees throat by rewarding bad customers every time.
    • rolf, on 03/20/2008, -14/+3I never had a bad experience at Walmart returning anything -- and they make a good amount of money from me as I return maybe 1 item out of every 50-60 I buy max or when it's broken out of the box for an exchange and they are fairly lenient -- thus deserve my business from that aspect.

      But the worst customer service experiences I had was with companies where they had jackass policies the worker was enforcing and the manager, when called, wouldn't budge an inch either. I almost never raise my voice unless I'm getting jerked around and try to treat the employees with respect as I had those jobs as well in the past -- but I would never go back to those places either. I expect the manager to be more lenient because he has more leeway and I would not call on him except when I feel I'm getting a raw deal.

      It's not that the manager is throwing you under the bus, but doing public relations with the bad cop/good cop type of routine. But sometimes I wish they started tracking customers by CC# or bonuscard to see who is a good customer and who are the jerkoffs that return every other item because it suits them -- then the good customers could get some leniency in special circumstances while the worst ones can be told to take a hike.
      • superdrew0413, on 03/20/2008, -2/+8Having worked in retail for years I can tell you that managers don't play "good cop/bad cop". The manager was just trying to avoid being yelled at by the customer. This is the kind of crap that makes customers believe that when the answer is no that the can just disregard what ever the first employee is telling them. When working retail there is almost nothing worse than seeing the smile on some customers face that means whatever you said or did doesn't mean *****.
        Why is it that if I ran my own business with a sign on the door that said all sales final that people would be ok with that, but if a business has a bunch of stores with a more liberal return policy that a customer feels that they have the right to return any item for almost any reason?
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Exactly, but I would also say that any company that can't state their return policy, or any policy, in no more than two sentences really needs to look at streamlining how they work. There is nothing worse than multiple people needing to be called in to "adjudicate" whether or not a customer can return something, or worse having to explain that last week you were allowed to return something, but this week "the other manager" wont do it.
      • Serapthi, on 03/20/2008, -1/+6"...where they had jackass policies the worker was enforcing and the manager, when called, wouldn't budge an inch either."

        Guess what? That's the way it should be. What the hell is the point of having policies when everyone expect the manager to break them?
    • wjlaw100, on 03/20/2008, -9/+2Thank God you Didn't work for the Post Office, and live in a liberal "gun owning" state.......

      Did I say that?
      • DephexTwin, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4You typed it, but I don't know if you also said it.

        Hope that helps.
      • Bantec, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3What the hell are you talking about? When was the last post office shooting? What does it have to do with customer is always policy? The post office never followed this policy. It's a government agency. Didn't one of those shootings happen in NJ?
        I really hate it when somebody decides to veer completely off topic in order to promote some political agenda. That said, I'd like to point out that the 'Customer is Always Right Policy' is a plot concocted by the Illuminati to further suppress our instinct to defend a valid position and continually have to suck-up to an unseen authority figure. It's all about control.
      • TheSpook, on 03/20/2008, -1/+6"Liberal" gun-owning state??
        • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0It's a mix between New York and Kentucky. Known as Nentuckork.
    • DeFex, on 03/20/2008, -4/+16what do you expect from people who prefer to buy crap for a few dollars left at expense of their entire countries future.
      • arjung, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3what do you expect from people who can't differentiate between "country's" and "countries"?

        /douchiness
    • senatorpjt, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4I think this is a slightly different case, where Walmart doesn't give floor employees the authority to make decisions on returns that don't specifically fit the policy. I used to work at Walmart, and I know I always got the manager. Then again, I never really argued with the customers. I didn't say "You're going to have to speak to the manager" in that sort of tone, I just said "I'll have to get the manager to approve this return".
      • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3Which is absolutely what any customer service person should do. If you've gone a few rounds with the customer with blood sweat and tears, you've FAILED. If you're not the last word... WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO THIS PERSON AS IF YOU ARE? If a manager needs to approve it, if you're being asked to do something you're "not allowed" to do, you pass it off right away. If you're not allowed to pass it off, but are required to take it in the teeth until they demand to speak to your manager... get a new job!!
    • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -1/+13Welcome to retail. I've seen managers on the corporate and store levels completely ignore policy fairly regularly. When I worked for Office Max we had a new store manager authorize a return for ~$700 worth of special order office furniture. The problem was that it was purchased at Staples down the road and was a product we didn't even sell (needless to say there was no receipt). This occurred when I was the person in charge of the furniture section so the next time our Vendor Rep. came around in his usual visit to give RAs and do repairs I asked him what we could do about it. He took one look at it and told me it was from Staples. We ended up throwing it out. The problem here is that everyone in the store knew it was a bogus return including the assistant managers, but the store manager was a long time buddy with our DM so nothing was ever done. It was never reported to LP or anything. This person wasn't even our customer and the store manager broke multiple policies during this transaction.
      • screensnot, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4How did you figure out how much to refund?

        No receipt. You don't even sell the item(s). Something doesn't add up.
        • musicbear, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Yeah that sounds fishy... that was a scam of some kind...
        • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Of course it was a scam. Office Max and Staples sell furniture from the same vendors that is relatively similar, but with different trim and finishes. The return was done using UPCs from the Office Max equivalent of the furniture that was returned. Anyone with half a brain knew they weren't the same. They were returned, carted off to the back room and never openly spoken about by management again. I had to have the on hands of the products' UPCs that were used in the transaction adjusted back to our actual values after which they went in the dumpster. On top of this, it was against policy to accept returns to the store for special order furniture because it was just that, special order, and it didn't appear in our POS or SAP systems since the purchase was processed through a different system altogether (If you're wondering how the return was processed then. A UPC has to scanned or typed in and if it's not recognized then a description and a price were manually entered.).
    • joeyc85, on 03/20/2008, -2/+3I'm a CSM right now and its getting to me I dont know how much longer I can take it..Walmart is havng us do sooo much that I just cant keep up anymore....
      • lisaawesome, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I say quit while you still have your sanity. It was not worth the raise. Especially once the company restructured the cash office position. They took away most of the CO's responsibilities and gave them to the CSM's and added all this extra paper work to the process. No one got a raise for having their workload doubled and their responsibility increased and (at least in my store) their set shifts pushed later into the overnight hours w/o getting overnight pay. Pure BS.
    • thehuntedpossum, on 03/20/2008, -2/+3I'm sorry to hear that. I'm a manager for Target and I always back up my guest services peeps. Mostly because they know the return policy better than I do, lol.
      • lisaawesome, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I wish you had been my manager.
    • lolinyerface, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Customer Service Department is the Jump Through Hoops Complaint Department.
    • vspazv, on 03/20/2008, -1/+1Your manager's job is to make exceptions to policy to keep the customer coming back. Also, if the item is $20 or less and several people get involved it's going to cost more in payroll for the employees than you'd lose giving the customer a refund and throwing the product in the trash.
    • 80hd, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1well since there are no standards in Wally world, there is no line to cross as long as no laws are broken-too badly.
      I totally agree that some people push for things that aren't just degrading to business, but the expectations that society holds of itself. Stupid Walmart seems to promote this free fall of lifestyle.
    • norcalscan, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2It's okay - Dilbert has his soul crushed right now too. He's trying to figure it out.
      http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilb ...
  • VladislavIII, on 03/20/2008, -2/+18I don't think anybody in IT ever thinks the customer is ever right. Unless they've contracted with you to perform the detailed requirements analysis and signed off on what you've produced. Then they're right. Until you discover that you failed to discover critical elements of the business requirements in your analysis. Then they're wrong for signing off on your work.
    • mckinnej, on 03/20/2008, -9/+4Which is why so much IT is outsourced. If IT acts like a dick all the time, no one is going to mourn or even resist their departure.
      • turkeyssr, on 03/20/2008, -1/+4EXACTLY! Play nice or get outsourced!
    • Coffeedemon, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Get a third party analyst in from an integration unit and blame it on them ;)
    • Ovalteen, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3So very, very true WRT to IT. Anyone who's ever worked an ISP helpdesk knows that if you let the customer proceed according to what they think the problem is you'll never get anywhere. Sometimes you need to lay down what's what.
      • senatorpjt, on 03/20/2008, -0/+5Unfortunately, those people are the reason I can't just have a quick service call for obvious hardware failures. I gotta run through their script first.
        • anstice85, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I used to work at an ISP helpdesk. Do you have any idea how many calls I got in which the customer said "don't make me restart because I know that isn't the problem". Then they restarted and it fixed the problem?

          The script is there for a reason...
          • zeromous, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I dugg you up for truth, but just remember lowly CSRs, its a different ballgame when someone says "FFS I already rebooted three times while I waited 30 minutes on hold to get to you. Its definately not a hung driver!"

            Sometimes ppl with skills have to call your line in order to get to third level (ie someone who can discuss real technology issues)
          • senatorpjt, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1It's not just that I "know that isn't the problem", it's that I already did what they said. I don't take calling the helpdesk lightly. I would consider it a huge embarrassment and a personal failure if I ever called a service desk for a problem due to my own incompetence rather than product defects. (It has still never happened.)
      • flashingcurser, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2I used to worked for MSN helpdesk years ago. After working tier 2 for a while, quality liked me so much they had me doing the "angry customer manager" job. I was the guy you got if you screamed for a "manager". I'd roam around the cubicles and take the really irate calls. I ALWAYS backed the people I worked with because I knew what it was like to be in their shoes. It was the most fun you could have at work.
    • zeromous, on 03/20/2008, -1/+5Right, because the business always puts their requirements in clear, digestible and reasonable terms.

      Seriously if thats what you think of IT, that IT is out to GET YOU, and FARK YOU OVER, maybe thats why- you are begging for it! You know what happens to dicks right? KARMA is a bitch, and IT isn't in the business of doling it out, it just sort of COMES AROUND.

      I'll admit If I had a nickel for every time a bizarre, unclear, and/or uncessary requirement gets signed off by IT, I'd be a rich man. Though, wouldn't you know who's doing the signing? A manager who has likely been forced to sign at gun point by the business.

      So be angry at IT all you want, while not completely perfect, I usually chalk it up the kind of stuff you are talking about to a business that already knows what solution it wants, then asks the IT engineeers to architect a competing solution, only to throw it all out in favor of the predetermined solution...you know just so it looks like an RFP actually took place. Then you all go whine on the internets when you think IT is actively out to screw you over. You just wind up looking like a turd to anyone who actually provides you service.

      You're the customer after all... and IT is not your whipping boy. Take your axe and grind it against *****-poor management if IT ***** you off so much.
      • VladislavIII, on 03/20/2008, -1/+0It was just a joke. Don't get your knickers in a twist.
        • zeromous, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Its not a joke, do you have any idea how many people actually think that way? Don't perpetuate the stereotype.
  • eightfivezero, on 03/20/2008, -1/+29I wish my boss would read this.
    • triskele, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Depends on what business you're in, but a few obnoxious customers can get him fired very easily.
      Take this scenario. Customer is an asshole. Your boss sides with you. Asshole customer calls corporate or your DM. Your boss gets fired, and if it doesn't happen right then it'll happen eventually. I've seen this happen in retail.
    • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -1/+1I wish the CEO of my company would read an article about how to keep employees happy and loyal.
    • diggopolous, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Well your wish has come true. I am your boss and I AM reading it. Now go clean out your desk because of your bad 'tude and no, you can't keep the stapler.
  • skamper, on 03/20/2008, -5/+47Damn working at Starbucks we basically throw ***** right at the customers if they want it. Hate that *****. I'd rather tell them to F off and find a better business. Go ahead and digg me down since I know 99% of you hate starbucks. It's a pay check. :)
    • jmpeagle, on 03/20/2008, -6/+5i low starbucks especially the seasonal peppermint mocha frapps, plus it's a nice place to sit while your wife/girlfriend shops for hours without end during the holiday season
      • skamper, on 03/20/2008, -0/+11You can get peppermint mocha frapps year round. We carry peppermint and mocha all the time.
        • ryan899, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4They just don't carry the red sprinkles year round.
      • moletimer, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Agreed, Starbucks is a great place to chill out for a while. Plus, the mango frapps are pure awesome.
    • JQP123, on 03/20/2008, -4/+4"...we basically throw ***** right at the customers if they want it."

      You're right about one thing, I don't really like Starbucks. Their business model is all about image and perception. They take cheap coffee beans and either over roast them or add some flavoring and then sell it to an unwitting public as "gourmet". When your business model involves ripping people off on a daily basis, it probably makes good business sense to "throw stuff at the customer" if necessary to keep them coming back. Working in this sort of environment, it's a given that you'll have to eat a lot of *****. My advice is try to find a different job.
      • jthei, on 03/20/2008, -2/+7Gourmet is a subjective word, there is no standard of measure. I'm going to go ahead and trademark the word "gourmetrics" - an iced caramel macchiato weighs in at about 7 gourmons per liquid ounce.
      • Shawn4168, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1When did they ever claim to be gourmet? Most people that I know never go to Starbucks for the coffee. They go for the espresso drinks, and they go for the Wi-Fi, neither of which are consistently found anywhere else. It's a good business model, because they give their customers something relatively unique, and they give them a good atmosphere in which to enjoy it. Plus Starbucks takes better care of its hourly employees than just about any other business out there. I'm not saying they're perfect, but they're certainly 5 or 6 steps ahead of most other food service establishments.
    • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Starbucks is expensive, but damn I love their drinks!!! Besides, you can pay about the same price for a mixed drink at a bar. Hmmmm.....but I think the mixed drink is a better deal. :)
    • simplynix, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7Starbucks takes care of their employees. even part-timers can get health insurance.
    • Cyrus042, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I worked at a competitor of Starbucks in the Seattle area, Tullys. To be honest, the asshole customers are pretty few and far between, at least where I was. Of course you get them from time to time, but it's often because we get incredibly busy and they wait longer than they expected (During rush we could have up to 10 drinks on the line with two on bar). Regulars are great, and a little bit of graciousness goes a long way towards the average customer.

      I worked in retail too. There's more difficult customers but if you give a little humanity, you get it in return. Problem is that too many people work in the wrong industry when they just don't want to deal with people.

      That's not to say there's no assholes but they'll just ruin your day if you let them get to you.
    • Rhenthalin, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Same goes at Panera Bread you could walk up to the counter and ask for anything and they'll just hand it to you so you go the ***** away
    • novemberdream07, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1as a fellow partner:
      venti xtra hot no foam
      venti bone dry cappucino
      venti coffee in a grande cup

      i love the people that think that because they handed someone at register money that means the barista can magically defy the rules of physics.
      • skamper, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2Do you ever get the one that wants a hot drink in a cold cup because of the straw?
    • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0Aren't you happy that you got Dugg up?
  • solidus636, on 03/20/2008, -1/+145I read somewhere that a lady went into EB games to get Super Mario for xbox and she wouldn't leave. There's your reason.
    • superdrew0413, on 03/20/2008, -1/+20When I worked retail I had the same thing happen. I also used to get called a liar repeatedly for stating that Pokemon is only for gameboy/N64 and not for Playstation.
      Also, back when there was still a transition from vhs to dvds I used to get yelled at because we only carried a new movie on dvd and not vhs. For example, we carried the Matrix on DVD for months before it was "released" on VHS and a lady yelled at me because she thought that because the DVD cost more that that we were forcing her to buy it on DVD. I tried to explain to her that you could, in fact,buy the Matrix on vhs at the time the DVD came out for something like $110 but, she would have to buy it through WB. She asked why "we" would charge so much for a vhs tape and I told her that WB was forcing you to rent it on vhs. Ticket+rental+buy vhs+replace w/dvd= more money.
    • dgp1, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Haha I remember that whole "VHS's cost hundreds of dollars when they're new so only video stores can afford them" scam.... weirdest thing ever. I'm glad DVDs didn't inherit that suckiness.
    • hammburglar, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1i used to work at target and once a woman flipped a ***** because we had to nerve to be out of stock of wii's by 8 o'clock on a saturday.
  • punchinelli, on 03/20/2008, -1/+59My best friend used to work at Papa John's and he said this nearly ruined their net income every month.......

    He said people would come in with a pizza that is 95% gone, and say "there's a hair on it" and make them bake an entire new pizza for them to "fix the problem" and that the same people did it over and over again
    • Ovalteen, on 03/20/2008, -0/+37Should be easy enough to fix I'd think. Open the pizza box before it leaves the store and have both customer and employee verify it is satisfactory. If the same customers continue pulling that crap, deny them service. Sure, they might badmouth your company, but they probably aren't saying great things about it now.
      • rolf, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2Even easier, just replace the one slice. Won't be worth it for them to come back....
        • jefbob, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Well, they would probably then complain that they had to make another trip back, blah blah blah....
          so you'd have to give them 2 slices.
    • senatorpjt, on 03/20/2008, -0/+11Easy, give them 5% of a pizza. May seem wasteful to make a pizza and throw out 95% of it, but not giving them more than they're returning will save more in the long run.
      • TheSpook, on 03/20/2008, -0/+10Wait a minute, you NEVER throw away good pizza.
      • czeman, on 03/20/2008, -0/+17No, split the remaining 95% up among the employees! :)
    • hermslice, on 03/20/2008, -1/+7Same thing used to happen to me when i worked at pizza hut. i used to go out to the complaining customer, at which point they explain that there was a hair in the pizza. it would be a long blond hair, the funny part is that there were all guys working not of them with long or blond hair. and the two women sitting in front of me both had long, blond hair. so ...... yeah what the heck. i feel you.
      • yacks, on 03/20/2008, -0/+8and afterwards they both invite you to their bedroom for a pillow fight?
    • KingGorilla, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3It's simple. Just have everyone that works there shave their heads and maybe their arms
    • vidorian, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4The average person who finds a hair in their food doesn't want another. If i find a hair give me my money back because my appetite is ruined and i won't be able to eat that type of food for a very long time.
      • 3vno, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2true i found a hair in my valentino's pizza. I stop eating there.
    • onlyclave, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3I guess those are the customers that don't know that complaining about that kind of thing gets you a replacement pizza with extra pubes and spit in it.
    • Wootstapler, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2True that! I work at a Home Run Inn pizza restauraunt in the kitchen, and we always get orders coming back saying it wasn't exactly half mushrooms or we get very picky orders like 1/2 no sauce, 1/2 garlic butter crust or 1/3 sausage, its ridiculous.
  • reginaldino, on 03/20/2008, -2/+22I'd like to punch that guy in the face. Having to bite your lip because you have to please a stupid customer who is a know-*****-all is depressing and ***** me off. The amount of times i've been told that i'm lying to a customer (usually over prices) is unbelievable.
    One time i didn't hold back and proved that we were the cheapest in the City and compared to big e-tailers. The amount of abuse i got was uncalled for.
  • chrissku, on 03/20/2008, -1/+19Some people are just assholes in general and nobody should have to deal with them. We all know who those people are and those people know who they are.
    • Stewage, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4"those people know who they are."

      Amazingly they don't, they think they are the greatest thing to walk the planet and we should all be thankful for their presence. Don't believe me? then call them out and watch the look of shock on their face as they stumble backwards and declare "Wha... me, an asshole!?"
  • wintersland, on 03/20/2008, -1/+44That didnt last too long:

    http://duggmirror.com/business_finance/Top_5_reaso ...
  • daxsymbiont, on 03/20/2008, -17/+1wtf bosses writedigg?
    ***** this *****.
  • bgmowen, on 03/20/2008, -1/+27My boss just agreed with me on this one XD
  • superdoofus, on 03/20/2008, -18/+8i'm supposed to take advice on customer service from management decisions and anecdotes culled from the airline business?
    excuse me while i go laugh my ass off. maybe i'll go and ask michael vick about pet care while i'm at it.
    • anstice85, on 03/20/2008, -2/+3You must not fly much. I've witnessed many, many asshole passengers treat a completely polite stewardess like *****. hint.. just because you're in first class doesn't mean you get to pour your drink on the flight attendant because it wasn't "chilled" enough.
    • stix213, on 03/20/2008, -1/+3So where do you work so I can get all my free stuff?
  • Apocrypha, on 03/20/2008, -20/+2Yay, another stupid list.
  • pcm128, on 03/20/2008, -15/+3If that maxim were true, then Steve Jobs would be broke. So I guess it's false.
    • senatorpjt, on 03/20/2008, -0/+12Huh? The policy at Apple is "Steve Jobs is Always Right, you just don't know it yet". Seriously though, Apple customer service is certainly a cut above most other computer sellers, but if you show up at an Apple store with a load of ***** you're still not going to get far. I've been sitting at a Genius Bar and seen people show up with iPods that were obviously abused and they were basically told "The new iPods are over there."
    • TheSpook, on 03/20/2008, -0/+8And you people wonder why we call you fanboys...
    • eatbeefjerky, on 03/20/2008, -1/+7There is no arguing with the quality of Apple's customer service, and that's coming from someone who will probably never own an Apple product.
  • ineptsavant, on 03/20/2008, -1/+73I'm a small business owner and have to deal with annoying customers regularly. One lady kept complaing so much even after I had gone well beyond the call of duty as a business who is supposed to make money that I just told her to "listen lady my service is obiously horrid, so you can take your ***** and go get somebody else to fix it". I loved the look on her face it's like I could see the gears grinding as her first thought was "you won't get any of my business" and then realizing that is exactly what I wanted and that there was no way for her to win from that point on.
    Anyway customers suck which is why I'm shutting down my business and changing careers.
    • m28915, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I own a small business and it seems like you get the most complaining about how the work is done from people that you tried to be fair with. In my business it is not uncommon to change out more parts than necessary to bring up the price but when you only do what is absolutely necessary and charge 1/2 the usual rate people complain more than if i just billed them for stuff that didn't need to be done.
  • gingerchris, on 03/20/2008, -1/+57theres one person that actually believes that the customer is always right; the ***** customer
  • nicksauce, on 03/20/2008, -5/+52After working at walmart for a year, i can safely say the customer is always a *****.
    • Testiculese, on 03/20/2008, -4/+4After walking into Walmart one time to buy a bungee cord (a total of 15 minutes in teh store), I can safely say all their customers are *****. I won't go back.
    • jameskong15, on 03/20/2008, -6/+2After shopping at walmart a few times, I can safely say the workers are always *****.
    • Kyan, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3After seeing a Walmart corporate get-together on YouTube one day, I can say Hillary Clinton clearly agreed Walmart workers are not worth much at all..
    • jameskong15, on 03/20/2008, -2/+2lol @ the douches that digg up a generalized comment about consumers, but not one about the idiots who work at walmart

      Lots of digg users must work in retail... Don't be mad at consumers just because you guys couldn't get a real job. haha
  • Kev585, on 03/20/2008, -1/+14Basically, a customer looking to abuse the "customer is always right" policy is business a company really doesn't need. While they maybe be a loyal customer they also are the customers most likely to heap abuse on your employees and try to get something for nothing. At that point what it comes down to is for every one jerk customer is another five that are loyal and polite, so why bother with the former?
  • Rxbrent, on 03/20/2008, -1/+31Didn't Sprint kick about 1000 of these type customers out a few years back? I thought that was great when I read about it.
    • manstein01, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Yep, and ironically Sprint got slammed for it on Digg, but they were completely entitled to what they did .
  • piratearggghhh, on 03/20/2008, -3/+31I worked in Best Buy years ago at the tech services dept (which is now Geek Squad) but it was fun developing stereotypes for customers. Yes, it's wrong but I'd say me and my coworkers can guess how a customer is by just by looking at them - taking race, gender, dress etc. with almost perfect accuracy. You know which ones are gonna be a pain in the ass. People who work customer service jobs know what I'm talking about. One of my coworker's dream was for a customer to spit in his face so he can kick his ass..that's how bad it got.
    • shmatt, on 03/20/2008, -1/+13Best buy treats their customers like ***** already.
      • daskatzsocrates, on 03/20/2008, -1/+12The sad truth though is Best Buy still treats the customer better than it's employees.
    • mewho, on 03/20/2008, -2/+8It's true though. I worked in the floral industry and could tell when guys walked in what type they were: "dozen red roses and then complain about the price" "what's on special" "um...what do other people get" "oh, just throw something together. Maybe $10?" and my favorite, "it's um, for prom. and uh, I'm supposed to get flowers. I, um, I think she wears them. I don't remember what they're called." Worst were the funerals. I've been sworn at many times by people ordering funeral flowers
      • MrSteamTank, on 03/20/2008, -3/+10Seriously, what awful annoying customers. Not knowing the prices of flowers before-hand. Sheesh!
      • Gudeldar, on 03/21/2008, -0/+1Yeah, people who have had their loved ones die can be real dicks sometimes.

        Asshole.
    • underdog138, on 03/20/2008, -1/+9We did this all the time in the restaurant industry. Sad to say, but when your income and livelihood depends almost solely on tips, you learn quickly predict who tips and who does not with a surprisingly high amount of accuracy as soon as your take their drink order.
      • MrSteamTank, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4if they order water does it usually mean they would tip less? How can you usually tell?
        • vidorian, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Yes because i order water with a lemon wedge. And i consider myself a decent tipper.
        • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1No, just because they order inexpensive things doesn't mean they tip badly. A lot of the time actually the richer people who buy more expensive meals tip a much lower percentage, because they became rich by obeying that maxim, be cheapas ***** about stuff that you don't have to spend on.
        • andyisarambler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2i can only speak for myself, but when i worked at a restaurant, the assumption most of us had is that if people were not assholes, they were going to get good service, if they were nice, they would get great service. if they were rude, they got a LESS service
      • yacks, on 03/20/2008, -0/+10And of course, it sucks when they think you don't tip and they don't give you any service at all. They just ignore you the whole time which makes you not want to tip them at all.. sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy there, isn't it?
        • billbillbilly, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3that happens to me alot, if you go into a resturant with college students you WILL recieve horrible service, based on the assumption that you wont tip well.
  • MonkeyMoFo, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2This is good stuff! Thanks.
  • mark101, on 03/20/2008, -17/+2If the business DOESN"T accept the customers money, they isn't a customer. Once the business has accepted/ taken money for an understood service or contract, the customer is usually right. If you don't like your customers complaints, give them their money back.
    • rolf, on 03/20/2008, -0/+6Business is a 2 way street, like any other relationship. That means a "X is always right" is bound to be abused, just like an "X is always wrong" is to bound to be abused by the employees. In business, I would give the customers the benefit of the doubt... until there is some evidence or they act in a way to lose it.

      No need for extremes.
    • Gutterpunk, on 03/20/2008, -0/+4Where exactly is it understood that the contract implies anything else than a rendition of service? Both party has to agree to the term of a contract, and no one in their right mind would agree to a contract that say that the other party is always right.
    • Bilabrin, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2For some, that isn't even what hey want. Some customers want to make you go through unreasonable hoops. Giving them their money back is just another polite way of telling them to f-off.
    • jtscira, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Your in the group that business tried to avoid.
    • anononon, on 03/20/2008, -0/+3Get out of my store.
  • laughandsing, on 03/20/2008, -8/+1mirror?
  • moletimer, on 03/20/2008, -1/+19I've always hated that 'customer is always right' maxim, especially when you know the customer is wrong.
  • liuite, on 03/20/2008, -2/+8if you think working customer service at Bestbuy, try waiting on tables...for a guy, you either learn to butter people up or else learn to grin and bear it! it's funny that a select few restaurants are known for crass service from the servers, and people go there to take the abuse. the next time you dine out, remember not to pass along your negative vibes just because you had a bad day.

    btw, i know i am not alone when it comes to bad service from India...use consumerist website to lookup who there ceo is!!!
  • Gizza, on 03/20/2008, -2/+14I'm not sure I've ever met a customer that was right about anything. Some people just seem to go out of their way to make service staff miserable.
  • benenglish, on 03/20/2008, -19/+24That was a great story until they got to the last little illustrative tale. For those who didn't read the article: A flight attendant took offense at the silent political speech (an article of clothing) worn by a passenger and made up some fiction about how it was illegal to interfere with a flight crew to justify suppressing that speech. She got a member of the flight crew to enforce this fakery for her and force the passenger to remove an article of clothing. When the passenger later complained, the suits supported that decision.

    Here's a few basic customer service principles -

    You'll spend your days with people different from you who have different opinions. They may dress too sexy or wear a t-shirt with a message you, personally, find offensive. Grow a thicker skin.

    If your skin is too thin, have the personal integrity to be honest with your customers. This approach: "I find that offensive on a personal level. Apart from our employee-customer relationship, speaking just as one human being to another, do you think you could cut me some slack and remove it? It would just be a courtesy, a way to make the trip more pleasant for both of us." is at least intellectually honest.

    If you try to reach someone on that level and they tell you to get stuffed, go back two paragraphs.

    If you're in a position of authority and one of your underlings comes to you with a request for help along the lines of "Someone back in the cabin just did something that offended my fragile sensibilities. I want you to go back there wearing your mantle-of-authority uniform and lie to that person saying there's some legal reason why they have to acquiesce to my petulance." then please have the personal integrity to decline and tell your underling when they are employing bad judgement.

    I work customer service all day long. I have management that understands customers can be wrong and will fully support me when that happens. But when I encounter a customer who decorates their cubicle in some way I find offensive, I'm sure as hell not going to go crying to momma for some made-up, quasi-legal excuse to force the customer to change their behavior.

    Damn good article till they blew it right at the end.
    • zeromous, on 03/20/2008, -8/+8Why are you digging this person down? OH simple common sense on digg. I understand now.
    • groberts1980, on 03/20/2008, -5/+6They weren't making a silent political speech. They were wearing a hat with KKK and Nazi symbols on it. Yeah, you left that part out of your "argument." If the person had an Obama hat on, and the flight attendant voted for McCain, then you'd be right. There isn't thick enough skin to have to put up with that.
      • ProducedRaw, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1So its free speech for everyone (unless its offensive)?
    • stix213, on 03/20/2008, -2/+4"Freedom of speech" is a protection of your rights to say whatever you want and be protected from the government telling you to stop. This is completely different. The airline is not the government, and the airline can set whatever standards of conduct for their customers they want. Now, there are government regulations that relate to this, but because the plane is PRIVATE PROPERTY the airline actually has a lot more leeway than you might think here.

      Normally in the case of irritating people while you are on private property, the property owner should simply ask you to leave - problem solved. But, there are government regulations here because an airplane is a special case where you cannot ask the customer to leave, so allowing airlines to have more control of their customers rather than just having parachutes for them seems pretty reasonable.

      In summery, freedom of speech is a protection from the government, not from a private enterprise.
      • PlayRadioPlay, on 03/20/2008, -0/+2What was the civil rights movement, then? In your argument, any business has the right to refuse service to anyone based on race, religion, or political affiliations. I, personally, think it's a very thin line. Obviously, the KKK isn't a respectable organization, but I don't think that's a reason to force someone to not wear a hat.

        Also, the fact that Airlines take the public's tax money to save themselves from bankruptcy means they shouldn't be considered a "private company" until I get my money back.
      • samby, on 03/20/2008, -1/+1I think you are right Stix. However, if you take the issue to be whether the regulation they used was appropriately applied the answer is 'no'. The passenger wasn't actively interfering in any way. There were merely symbols on the hat and passengers (and stewardesses) were free to look away. You are right, the issue is not 'free speech', which does not apply here (and BTW does not always protect you in public life, as in disorderly conduct). However, the regulation they used was not applied fairly.

        An admittedly remote comparison is when courts refuse to convict under disorderly conduct when a person is wearing a t-shirt with the words 'F*** you'. The issue again is that the person is not actively acting disorderly, merely wearing a t-shirt that is offensive to most. Back to the airline, merely wearing a hat cannot fairly be said to interfere with the activities of airline personnel, especially when they are free to look away.

        Its not that what he did wasn't wrong in a moral sense, its just that the particular regulation they used cannot fairly be 'stretched' to apply here.
    • pearlygate, on 03/20/2008, -6/+4what the hell is wrong with nazi symbol and KKK? it's just a symbol ffs

      go ahead and bury me *****
      • zeromous, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2Its ok I happen to agree with you. Most people can't even tell the difference between a chakra and a swastika.
        I firmly believe your right to swing your fist ends at my nose.

        No one was forced to look, listen, or accept this persons message of hate or otherwise. Why can't people just mind their own business and let Karma do the dirty work.
  • aladrin, on 03/20/2008, -14/+7I love how everyone here is a worker and not an owner or manager. "The customer is always right" is not a literal statement. Other versions that are a little clearer include "The customer is always right, even if they're wrong" and "The customer may not always be right, but they're always the customer."

    It's very simple: If you don't treat your customers well, even the assholes, you won't have customers. -Everyone- you treat poorly has friends. You alienate their friends when you alienate them. Some of those poorly treated customers will take it a step further and go up the food chain at your company, or other consumer groups.

    Yes, I worked retail for years. Being a good employee meant knowing where to draw the line, but -always- being polite to the customer, no matter what happens. If you can't say 'no' politely and firmly at the same time, you suck at your job. Period.

    But in case that's not clear enough, remember WHY you are there. The company PAYS you to take care of their customers. If you don't like the customers, the answer is not to scare them away. The answer is to quit and go elsewhere. You'll find that assholes are everywhere, though, so you might as well learn how to deal with them.
    • skidooer, on 03/20/2008, -12/+3"It's very simple: If you don't treat your customers well, even the assholes, you won't have customers."

      That's not really true. No company has become successful by providing exceptional service. Product is king. If your product is the best on the market, you'll still get all the customers no matter how poor your service is.
    • mOdQuArK, on 03/20/2008, -2/+5@aladrin: It's very simple: If you don't treat your customers well, even the assholes, you won't have customers. -Everyone- you treat poorly has friends. You alienate their friends when you alienate them.

      Not true, which was the point of the entire article. Not only will it be impossible to please a lot of those assholes (and will cost a helluva lot of money & time to try), but they make both your employees & your other customers unhappy. Also, the chances are pretty good that the "friends" of those bad customers are assholes too. Keeping all of them away from your business is good business.

      There's only one situation where you have to put up with a bad customer, and that's when you're doing so much business with the "bad" customer that if you lose them (and can't find another to replace them), your business will go under.

      For most businesses, where they have quite a few customers & only a few bad ones, it will save them a lot of money & stress if they tell the bad customers to go shop somewhere else.
    • thehuntedpossum, on 03/20/2008, -1/+2I'm an assistant store manager, and I completely agree with this article (except maybe for the last example). If a customer starts harassing one of my employees, they never get their way on whatever it is they are complaining about, period. I could care less if I never see them again.
    • crichton101, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1I shouldn't have to quit and go elsewhere because certain customers can't treat me with respect. My company pays me to take care of the customers yes, but the customers do business with us because we provide them with a service of some sort they need, whether it be service, goods, or entertainment. If the customer cannot treat me with respect if I am doing all I can to meet their needs and my best to make them happy, then I am not the one with the problem who should look for somewhere else to be. Just because someone pays my wages doesn't mean they can treat me like *****, and I shouldn't have to put up with it or quit, I should be able to expect that people I deal with will treat me with respect. If you cannot give respect you do not deserve respect.
  • BigPapi, on 03/20/2008, -2/+43You can't really blame companies like Costco for tightening their policies and saying "no" more often. A few years ago I once saw a guy in the return line at Costco ask for a refund on a 3-4 year old television. He had no receipt, box or remote, just the dusty, scratched TV, lying upside down in a shopping cart, and he wanted a refund. It was just ridiculous. And what was even crazier is that they gave him 75% of his money back!





    • Hincapie, on 03/20/2008, -1/+10i worked at tjmaxx...a customer tried to return a blanket that was soaked with cat *****. the customer service chick said no, but the manager said yes. makes the employee look like the asshole for being reasonable.
    • redmaxx, on 03/20/2008, -1/+6What is ridiculous? Costco honoring their policy? How do you know that TV didn't have a 3-5 year warranty and the company wouldn't help? I would be royally ***** if I bought a TV, paid a premium to have the long warranty and when the company doesn't honor the warranty, Costco reneges on it's guarantee at the time of sale. There's a reason I pay for the membership and the premium prices for electronics and it's not out of the goodness of my heart.

      Just take the time to look up the numbers on Costco's electronics losses due to giving refunds under their old policy. You'll see it was motivated by greed. Sure, there are customers that are motivated by greed but Costco did not have to punish everyone for the few. The fact that they did instead of implementing a policy that covered the greedy customers, they reduced the return policy for everyone, a wrong decision.
      • PoonGnarfler, on 03/20/2008, -0/+0Yeah, why didn't Cotsco just ask every customer if they were "one of them greedy folks" and then adjust their policy from there? Sorry, but in this case the few ruined it for the many, and Costco is totally right in reducing their policy.
  • Treoinmypocket, on 03/20/2008, -0/+40I haven't worked in retail since I was in High School and the article won't load because of the "digg effect" but one of the most liberating things I ever learned was how to "fire the customer".

    An old boss of mine - not in retail but sales - taught me that if it isn't "good" business then it isn't worth having and how to walk away. I had a very powerful customer in that they did millions of dollars worth of business with my company but the margin was so low and the cost (in terms of the amount of work required to earn it) actually overwhelmed the profit. The day I interrupted the guy in mid-rant and said simply, "I don't think we can help you with this. Let me give you the name of another company who I think might be able to" And I gave him one of my competitors.

    The guy just sat back and blinked. I left. He called my boss (we'd already discussed it). My boss backed me. And I moved on. I never felt better.
    • carlosos, on 03/20/2008, -0/+8It is great to have a boss to back you up. I'm lucky enough at my current job to also have a boss that backs me up even if it means loosing a customer. Even if the customer is wrong we try to help him/her if we know that the customer is a good one but if a customer complains almost every single time we just refuse to go the extra step to make the customer happy. If the customer isn't happy about the normal service that we provide for all the other customers of which 99.99% are happy with than the customer can just go somewhere else. Those customers just cost too much money and make the job for the employees a hell if it keeps going on.
      • Treoinmypocket, on 03/20/2008, -0/+7The funny thing is, if yo do this right, the customer will actually come back sometimes. And, they'll come back with a better attitude.

        That customer I fired? Called me and apologized. I kept his business, made a bigger profit and everyone was happy about it - including him.
    • yacks, on 03/20/2008, -0/+1Ugh retail sucks at times. I wish I could fire a lot of customers.. Especially when you have managers that say try to save the customers at any cost but when you ask them for any discount on an item to save said customer they demean you and give you squat to save said customers.
  • randomizer9, on 03/20/2008, -5/+17I