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The Customer Is Always Right…

“The Customer Is Always Right”. We’ve all heard it at some point or another. Manager’s use it to deal with irrate customers, customers use it to as a defense to acting like assholes. One blogger wrote that that phrase is what’s destroying American culture and that it is one of the worst phrases ever created. People have lost all sense of what good manners are and run around like self-absorbed, entitled assholes.

Today I got in line behind a middle aged woman in a fur coat who was barking orders at the poor bagel girl like she was a dumb misbehaving dog. Fur Coat was ordering multiple bagel sandwiches from a list, but instead of ordering them in such a way that would make sense, she was attempting to order them all at the same time. The Bagel Girl was obviously confused and you could tell by her shaking hands that Fur Coat’s harsh tone was intimidating her. Finally, Fur Coat snapped, “I said light butter on that bagel! Light butter! Jesus!”

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I cut in, “You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”

Fur Coat glared daggers at me and stated, “I’m not.”

“Well, I beg to differ.”

We’ve all been behind this person. They speak as if they are entitled to make belittlling comments to the person behind the counter. I know people personally, who barely say two words to the waitstaff in a restaurant, other than barking a few demands here and there for more Coke or bread. I guess it’s that whole attitude that these servers should be seen and not heard. The problem is that they are just doing their job and don’t deserve the attitude from a customer with a chip on their shoulder.

And worse, these asshole customers get treated like royalty by management. They complain and are awarded with free gift certificates and free meals, further massaging their ego and giving more credence to the fact that they “are always right”. As one blogger says:

The phrase ‘The Customer is Always Right’ is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self absorbed little children.

The truth is that customers AREN’T always right. I can tell a bank teller that I have $5000 in my account, but if I really don’t have that amount of money, I’m obviously wrong…and they’d be wrong to hand me $5000. The point is that there are rules of conduct in every establishment and businesses need to begin the process of training their customers on what goes and what doesn’t go. Instead of having the mentality that we’ll just appease the customer and give them whatever they want, we should be explaining to them that it’s not going to be accepted for them to sit, pout and scream at our employee’s. And furthermore, if they don’t want to abide by the rules, they are more than welcome to go somewhere else.

One of the problems I find with wussy managers that accept shit from unruly customers is that they treat the customers who act like assholes like Gods—letting them get away with anything, but don’t give too much thought to what kind of atmosphere this customer is creating for your other customers. Is it better to keep the one asshole coming back creating a hostile atmosphere, or the five customers behind him coming back in a peaceful atmosphere.

When I worked at the grocery store, I dealt with various personality types. Most were okay—they didn’t care about me, but weren’t rude about it either—mostly just preoccupied. Then there were the friendly types and to balance them out there were the assholes. I remember two or three occasions where I had to call a manager over to finish checking someone out because I refused to complete their transaction. I don’t care if you make $3 bucks an hour or $3000 bucks an hour, we all deserve respect. And if you’re incapable of giving it, then you certainly don’t deserve it in return.

I think what we need to do first, is do away with the phrase “The Customer is Always Right”, and instead turn to the thinking that “The Customer Deserves the Best Service We Can Possibly Give”. As a customer, I expect good service. I don’t think I’m always right, but I expect that the person behind the counter won’t throw the coffee at me or speak to me like I’m a piece of shit. It’s a slight difference that let’s the customer know that we feel they are important to us, but aren’t always right.

And as clients of these establishments, it might not be a bad idea to let the poor coffee girl off the hook when some bitch is going off about how her mocha latte isn’t HOT enough. Telling the lady that she’s being a bitch and needs to chill usually shuts people like that up.

I think they only act that way because no one ever calls them on their bullshit. The poor kids behind the counter can’t stand up for themselves lest they lose their jobs and other patrons look the other way claiming ‘it’s none of my business.’

Fuck that. When I see some self important asshole verbally degrading a teenaged kid with dead eyes behind a counter, it ruins my day. So, I say some shit. Besides, I feel that if I stay silent, I am almost giving an abuser permission to act like a raging asshole. Ignoring their behavior suggests to them on some sick level that what they’re doing is Ok.

It’s not OK.

And it’s true. As someone said, “if you’re not part of the problem, you can be part of the solution”.

Tags: customers, rude, retail

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