I ask you guys everything else so why not...Jobs?

Ian F wrote: I have a buddy who owns/runs a bicycle shop. He posted on FB a few weeks ago about having to throw a customer out of the shop when they refused to pay for the work they did on his POS Walmart special. Kicking the customer out also included doing a "Huffy-toss" with the bike in question into the parking lot. He's a pretty laid-back guy, so this customer must have been extra-rude to garner that sort of reaction. As far as the job thing... I got's nothin'... I'm hoping that when I've finally had enough of my job, I'll have a nice wood-working shop built and equipped and I can start making and selling furniture for enough to pay for my taxes and health insurance...

probably need to be full time if that's your goal ….

You guys seem to be confusing something regarding "The customer is always right".

It's not an excuse for azzhats, stupid or abusive people to act like jerks with the expectation that the business roll over and take it.

It is a business mantra for relating to customers in an effective way.

So, let me try to break it down for you...

First off, it says "customer". A customer is a person or organization that buys goods or services from a store or business. It's not every jackazz that walks through the door and acts like an idiot. It is about a relationship.

A customer being "right" means they know what they need or want. It doesn't mean they know how to express it, or that they don't need help, or that they are more important than the vendor. It is the job of the merchant to guide the customer's needs and wants to a sale which is beneficial to both parties. Meet the need, earn some money. It is not possible to convert a lead or a potential to a customer without meeting their need.

To that extent, the customer is ALWAYS right. It doesn't give them license to act in inappropriate ways. In fact, the business has an obligation to serve ALL their CUSTOMERS, and when someone's actions, words, or attitude interferes with other customer's experience, the business MUST intervene. Failure to do so is a failure to meet the needs of the customers, while cowing down to an azzhat (who is not a customer) standing at your counter making a scene.

Some of you are pigeon-holing the concept into much too small a box. It is a broad concept for business management and customer service which leads to growth of a business, not a narrow description or policy on how to be ineffective at dealing with problem people.

I stand by the statement, "The customer is always right".

I would also add that in today's business environment, "The customer is always right" is an increasingly rare attitude. It reflects a rapidly worsening business work ethic, which translates to smaller profits.

Employees who don't get it, don't help the business. Businesses who can't understand it and teach it to their staff suffer.

In reply to SVreX:

You are absolutely right that employees are not playing the game anymore, as it were. There is such a subpar work ethic out there in the main populous, it's insane. I actually refused to go to the office anymore if I could possibly help it (I was able to work from home, and did, 100% of the time) simply because what I couldn't see didn't anger me as much.. IE I didn't SEE my coworkers sucking at life. HOWEVER-

I firmly believe it's part of a larger problem. Somewhere along the way, customers learned to go from the "customer is always right" as you put it- to "the customer is going to demand what they want, regardless of feasibility or who else it hurts in the process". IE- demanding free stuff, or one instance in particular where I got put on a million-dollar project to fix a hospitals mistakes because they couldn't be bothered to hire appropriate staff. My answer woulda been "You guys screwed it up, it's gonna cost you extra to fix it, or you can eat a million dollars" but we goodwilled it, and I had that thing knocked out in a third of the time I should have, because I hated looking at it. But back to my point- this has caused a backlash in employment as well. You've got a whole customer base, retail and otherwise- that isn't very nice, and overly entitled. They continually beat the employees up in whatever industry they happen to be beating on, until they get their way. Or they piss and moan at the employees expense, and the employee has to eat a big ol slice of E36 M3 pie. So either the employee capitulates, and you end up with someone so demoralized, they just don't care (who I was, to a degree). OR- you get who I became, the guy that says "If you won't protect me, and I cannot protect myself, this is not the employment for me, any more." This THEN causes a situation where eventually, you've pissed off all the GOOD people enough, they won't do the job anymore. Then you're left with the entitled dregs that WERE just your customers, because that's all you can get, and that's all they can get. Suddenly you have terrible customers becoming terrible employees, and the cycle perpetuates.

I have no problem with "the customer is always right" in the sense that let's say, the customer wants Jameson and all I have is Bushmills. I'm not likely to change the customers mind, but I can try and work with it. What I have a problem with, and what I am NOT very good with putting up with is the "huffy toss" scenario, where the customer is always right- IE customer wants Jameson, I don't have any, so the customer demands (and gets) 3 free bottles of Jack. THAT demand would have a customer out on his ass, where as customer A would be a "lemme cut you a deal on this Bushmills, maybe you like it" or a "I'll get more Jameson ASAP and call you" because you're a terrible liquor store if you don't have Jameson.

Jameson is Catholic, Bushmills is Protestant

wbjones wrote:

Ian F wrote: As far as the job thing... I got's nothin'... I'm hoping that when I've finally had enough of my job, I'll have a nice wood-working shop built and equipped and I can start making and selling furniture for enough to pay for my taxes and health insurance...

probably need to be full time if that's your goal ….

Maybe... remains to be seen. The taxes bit isn't too bad: about $300/mo right now, so let's say $400 in another 10 years or so. Health insurance is the 800 lb gorilla. In theory, the ACA could help here... but it's probably going to take a year or two for the dust to settle as well as an adjustment or two before we see how that plays out. Of course, this all assumes I stay single. If I happen to meet someone, get married and maybe have a kid or two, all bets are off. I'll be working at my job into my 70's if that happens... but for some reason, if I'm supporting a family it wouldn't bother me as much.

It's easier to rephrase the "customer is always right" to "the customer is always satisfied". Even when they don't deserve it.

mndsm wrote: In reply to SVreX: You are absolutely right that employees are not playing the game anymore, as it were. There is such a subpar work ethic out there in the main populous, it's insane. I actually refused to go to the office anymore if I could possibly help it (I was able to work from home, and did, 100% of the time) simply because what I couldn't see didn't anger me as much.. IE I didn't SEE my coworkers sucking at life. HOWEVER- I firmly believe it's part of a larger problem. Somewhere along the way, customers learned to go from the "customer is always right" as you put it- to "the customer is going to demand what they want, regardless of feasibility or who else it hurts in the process". IE- demanding free stuff, or one instance in particular where I got put on a million-dollar project to fix a hospitals mistakes because they couldn't be bothered to hire appropriate staff. My answer woulda been "You guys screwed it up, it's gonna cost you extra to fix it, or you can eat a million dollars" but we goodwilled it, and I had that thing knocked out in a third of the time I should have, because I hated looking at it. But back to my point- this has caused a backlash in employment as well. You've got a whole customer base, retail and otherwise- that isn't very nice, and overly entitled. They continually beat the employees up in whatever industry they happen to be beating on, until they get their way. Or they piss and moan at the employees expense, and the employee has to eat a big ol slice of E36 M3 pie. So either the employee capitulates, and you end up with someone so demoralized, they just don't care (who I was, to a degree). OR- you get who I became, the guy that says "If you won't protect me, and I cannot protect myself, this is not the employment for me, any more." This THEN causes a situation where eventually, you've pissed off all the GOOD people enough, they won't do the job anymore. Then you're left with the entitled dregs that WERE just your customers, because that's all you can get, and that's all they can get. Suddenly you have terrible customers becoming terrible employees, and the cycle perpetuates. I have no problem with "the customer is always right" in the sense that let's say, the customer wants Jameson and all I have is Bushmills. I'm not *likely* to change the customers mind, but I can try and work with it. What I have a problem with, and what I am NOT very good with putting up with is the "huffy toss" scenario, where the customer is always right- IE customer wants Jameson, I don't have any, so the customer demands (and gets) 3 free bottles of Jack. THAT demand would have a customer out on his ass, where as customer A would be a "lemme cut you a deal on this Bushmills, maybe you like it" or a "I'll get more Jameson ASAP and call you" because you're a terrible liquor store if you don't have Jameson.

Right on the money. There's a certain set of people who have been trained over and over again this is how to do things so they can get a freebie; stamp their feet and hold their breath till they turn blue, throw a temper tantrum, etc.I'm guessing their parents didn't teach them at an early age that was not acceptable behavior or (and this is more likely) there's all these books and articles out there on doing this as a technique to get what you want.

It's gotten even worse with the whole online reviews thing. I recently had a customer who drove her 2012 Challenger through deep water, hydrolocked the engine and demanded that it be covered under warranty because 'there should not be a car that someone is afraid to drive in the rain'. (You mean 13" above the road is not high enough? ) Of course that's not gonna happen so her insurance company wound up covering it. Oh, and the scratches I documented when the car was towed in? She stated we did it and wanted the car painted as well. Nope.

She was a complete bitch every step of the way, went out of her way to make life miserable for all involved, screaming and hanging up on me and my boss every time we discussed it, having guys she knew call in and raise hell with us about it (OBTW, the way to handle that: tell them firmly you will discuss this ONLY with the owner of the vehicle) demanded that we cover her deductible (didn't happen) then she posted a Google review that blasted us for what was ultimately her stupidity.

THIS is the monster that's been created by the whole 'customer is always right' that's been taken to the extreme.

ZOO wrote: It's easier to rephrase the "customer is always right" to "the customer is always satisfied". Even when they don't deserve it.

There is no way for this to happen. See above for an example. I could also recount the story of the guy who bought a crank kit and refused to replace the one rod damaged by a spun bearing (good thing I documented it on the invoice)... his whole thing when talking to my boss was 'I'm not satisfied'. The only way to 'satisfy' this idiot would be to give him an engine. He left unsatisfied.

I have known people who would go into a restaurant, order a meal, then complain about it to the manager so it would be comped. This was not a once in a while thing; I am talking EVERY SINGLE TIME. I knew a husband/wife that did this and saw nothing wrong with it.

I know a couple that does this … used to go out with them … used to be friends of mine … I worked in the food service business for way to long to hang with shiny happy people like that … to this day they can't figure out why I won't run around with them … especially after I've explained it to them .. they really don't see anything wrong with what they do

In reply to mndsm:

Again...

1- Those are not customers.

2- The real customers are being hurt by that attitude, and the business needs to man-up and know who their customers are, and get the vultures and hyenas out of the way so they can serve their customers. The company you were working for DID NOT "goodwill" a million dollars worth of work. They CHARGED their PAYING CUSTOMERS to cover the cost. That's really bad business.

3- Caving to jerks like that is not the fault of the jerk. It is bad leadership, and bad business management.

4- If that is honestly your perspective, I still can't see how you can say you'd "love to start your own business". That doesn't make any sense.

I would also say that I think you are right- It's part of a bigger problem. Bad business management and bad attitudes from customers have both contributed to the problem of a bad work ethic. The answer to the problem is not more bad attitude from the business. I'd rather be part of the solution. I choose to run my business right- it has reaped benefits.

working in the casino industry, I am -very- glad I do not have to deal with the customers on a regular basis. I work "back of house" and only come out on the floor when I have to cross it to do some work somewhere else in the casino.

Used to be a time at Harrah's Atlantic City that the "seven stars" members (highest level of player) could get a person fired if didn't like mhow they were treated.

Thankfully, that rule has gone away several owners ago