Does the service field entitle customers too much?

[Sky High]

I have a story from my years at Sears outlet.

one night I'm up in the clothing department doing the usual jerkin around trying to to be bored, when a customers walks up asking if they can buy some clothes with a Sears gift card. noticing it's a Sears gift card and not a sears: Outlet I tell the lady that chances are you can't use this card for the purchase. she of course doesn't care and asks me to try and run it anyway. which I do until the last step to where the card is declined. she asks me to pull some sort of magic trick to make it work. I tell her I can't get it to work, so the best bet she has is talking to one of the managers we had on duty down stairs.

while all of this is going on we chat, tell a quick story or two, overall i thought it was a great exchange given how customers USUALLY react to something not going their way. I try a few more times, and I tell here "yeah I cant do anything with this" "it's a sears gift card and it wont work on this machine, maybe get the manager to help?" to which the lady tells me "ok", "thanks for all your help" and she goes down stairs. I'm satisfied that I did the best i could and to the best of my abilities.

next day however the manager that spoke to the woman asked me to come to the back. she then told me how irritated the customer was that I wasn't able to get them what they wanted. I explain that there was no way I could have gotten a gift card that isn't for this store to work here. but nooope! NOOOPE! the customer was upset that i wasn't helpful enough and that I didn't do anything to help her purchase a pair of fuckin bras or something. and I was getting reprimanded over a customer who was too fucking dumb to figure out her gift card didn't work. and because I COULDN'T make her satisfied. I was getting in trouble for it.

it was the most infuriating moment in my life. I'm amazed I didn't pop my lid and go off on her and just storm out of that shitty store.

[Berengil]

The customer isnt always right, and more employers need to grow a spine and tell them NO.

And lose their business.

It comes to this: can you afford to lose them AND potentially the people they will bad mouth you to?

EDIT:

Sam Walton's rules of business:

1) The customer is always right.

2) If the customer is wrong, see rule number 1.

[Crissi]

And lose their business.

It comes to this: can you afford to lose them AND potentially the people they will bad mouth you to?

losing that persons business isn't always a bad thing. Keeping them could create a hostile atmosphere, which is also bad, if not worse.

[Vynny]

I used to work as a cashier at McDonald's and people would always argue the prices with me. It was ridiculous, I mean, I was just a cashier, I didn't decide how much I was gonna collect from them, my job was just to collect it, but what I figure is that any time you're subordinate to someone who is not accountable to you then there is going to be a bit of abuse and all you can do is shrug it off.

[Kuntantee]

Some businesses go "fuck PR", some take it seriously. I've seen plenty of "customer isn't always right" type and I detest them. I am one of the easiest customers you can find, make no mistake. Upper management have you and possibly mid-level management to deal with all sorts of shit. They don't give a damn how asshole some customers are as long as they are kept happy, somehow.

[Abysthor]

A customer spit in my eye last week after berating me for being out of stock on item that our shipping warehouse is out on for a department I don't work in. The butcher in the bloody meat coat should have those out of stock frozen pizzas stocked! The customer is always right! Retail is a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone.

[Pendulous]

I once almost ran over a kid with a pallet that weighed 150+lb being dragged behind me.

Store or not, the rules of physics still apply. You, the person with the light cart, can move and gtfo the way faster than a pallet that not only will not stop, but will run all of us over should I be foolish enough to try to stop it with my own body. They're not exactly silent, either - the rumbling noise makes it quite clear that something big is coming toward you and maybe, just maaaaybbeee you shouldn't play chicken with the laws of physics.

Oh man. Our aisles, for whatever reason, are barely wide enough to fit a pallet through. And yet, customers will walk straight at you with a cart, expecting YOU to move. Meanwhile, there's nine other directions they can go, but they choose to slide two inches to the side, which clearly doesn't work.

[Vanyali]

Oh man. Our aisles, for whatever reason, are barely wide enough to fit a pallet through. And yet, customers will walk straight at you with a cart, expecting YOU to move. Meanwhile, there's nine other directions they can go, but they choose to slide two inches to the side, which clearly doesn't work.

I feel like they're the people that ask you to help them move, then bitch and moan about how heavy all the stuff they packed is and expect you to give right of way when they've an empty load because it's their house.

[Bodakane]

To answer the question in the title....yes.

The biggest problem in America is the thought process behind the concept of, 'The customer is always right." Since you can't be a customer without currency, another way to say this is, "if you have money, you're never wrong."

Everything bad in the US from our politicians to our childcare is affected by this stupid and basically evil concept.

[Orlong]

Here's the thing though: pain in the arse customers are not profitable when you average it out. A business is better to refuse service and palm them off to a rival with lower standards. They are overly demanding and kick up shit if there is any hint they might be able to possibly wing a freebie somehow or wring a droplet of attention out of some non situation. They take pride in it. Meanwhile it annoys the fuck out of "decent folk" trying to go about their business and causes them to go elsewhere. A) because they are taking up the time unfairly of service personnel B)they are often in earshot having tantrums. I don't want to hear this shit. I'll even pay a bit more to avoid it, both for my sake and the people that have to put up with that shit all day.

It was easier to tell people to STFU before we had kids. Now my 5yo will point at them and say "He/She's naughty..." I just agree with him, loudly.

This is the reason that if I was going to open a store it would be one that caters to rich people like Neiman Marcus. Rich people might be snobby, but they dont act like animals because something rings up for 50 cents too much, and they dont buy garbage like a Sceptre TV at Walmart and then bitch when the cheap ass piece of shit breaks in 6 months.

I used to work retail selling electronics and you wouldnt believe all the asshole customers that expect you to return shit like a TV with cracked screen from when their kid knocked it off the shelf, or when something breaks outside the return period, they demand we fix it like we are the manufacturer or something. IF something breaks, call the manufacturer, not the store that sold it.

[Bodakane]

This is the reason that if I was going to open a store it would be one that caters to rich people like Neiman Marcus. Rich people might be snobby, but they dont act like animals because something rings up for 50 cents too much, and they dont buy garbage like a Sceptre TV at Walmart and then bitch when the cheap ass piece of shit breaks in 6 months

lol, you've never met a rich person.

[Kapadons]

My best one;
A couple ordered a family meal, ate half of it in the store. Twice on camera, a manger, not an employee, checks on them and asks them if everything is alright. They say yes. They leave with the other half of the food. Call 3 days later saying there order was wrong and we needed to replace it. $35 worth of food. I told them I couldn't replace food they ate that clearly didn't have anything wrong with it. So they called corporate and said they were suing ME for being a fraudulent individual. Posted on Facebook that I was a racist( they are black and I am white) and posted a few negative reviews. Luckily we are a franchise and corporate couldn't MAKE us do shit. So the owner told her to fuck off while corporate have her a $25 gift card to shut her up.

[Deleted]

This is the reason that if I was going to open a store it would be one that caters to rich people like Neiman Marcus. Rich people might be snobby, but they dont act like animals because something rings up for 50 cents too much, and they dont buy garbage like a Sceptre TV at Walmart and then bitch when the cheap ass piece of shit breaks in 6 months.

I used to work retail selling electronics and you wouldnt believe all the asshole customers that expect you to return shit like a TV with cracked screen from when their kid knocked it off the shelf, or when something breaks outside the return period, they demand we fix it like we are the manufacturer or something. IF something breaks, call the manufacturer, not the store that sold it.

We have a choice of a few areas to shop on the way back from work. One is a major city centre with a mix of all types of folk but parking can be horrendous and we hit it at rush hour and it means picking the kids up later. The next area is a really rundown town centre where 50% of the people have the shittiest attitudes and nobody would really ever go there out of choice as you have the major city so close and again it's before we get the kids. Where we live is a really nice family area with a healthy mix of incomes and a good range of chain and independent shopping around. Pretty much shopping is always chill both in terms of staff and other customers but, as we have a waterfront here, sometimes the scumbag element migrate for a day out, not a big issue as we tend not to shop at weekends but they can be seen foraging for beer in the supermarkets after having their pasty bodies sunburnt and just being a general nuisance. Seems to only really happen on the first sunny long weekend of the year.

The final area we can shop or hang out locally is the next one over. It is an extremely wealthy area but for some reason there is a vocal minority of pains in the arse likely to manifest themselves in any shop, cafe, restaurant or pub. It seems to be a generational thing and not just an "old money"(as it would be called it in the US) thing. Seems to be wholly restricted to people between their late 50s to early 70s and they are always seemingly alone. Our daughter takes beginner kayaking lessons over that way once a week at a sailing club where most of the people are incredibly posh and also extremely nice. The only guess I have is that the reason the shops and so on in this area seem to have some whinging old farts tottering around is that these are the bitter retired people who couldn't find an interest that makes them happy like most have done and are itching to have a go at anyone and they feel they can do it within the confines of the customer/employee thing. They are usually totally lacking in class once they get flustered and really shit at the confrontation once it starts. In restaurants in particular it is usual they will be asked to leave if they are pissing off other people and its not uncommon for other patrons to tell them they should go. That will often happen if they are bullying someone who is young. In the tradition of british banter we normally take the piss out of someone if they are being a dick. It can be awkward when their is an age difference though. I paid for a miserable old bitch's meal last year to nullify her non-complaint and get rid of her from a couple of tables over("there problem gone, BYE!"). Everyone else around there is probably sailing, playing golf or hanging out with a horse or something rather than being a tit as a hobby but there does seem to be a bitter, small, contingent of the comfortably off and they seem to love to give shit to people who they presume to be beneath them. We don't see it all the time every time in that area but perhaps once every month or two. The funniest part is when people, either staff or other customers, start apologising to my wife as she is not British, in case she is a tourist "we're not all like that!"

[Goatfish]

I've worked in plenty of service industries. People can be absolute dicks you're right, but if you're running into 30-40%... sorry to break it to you, but you're the problem.

Considering I work in a rich area of town in a high-end grocer... you would be surprised. Besides, I only said that those 30-40% need to be taught respect, not be thrown out or refused. They are people who have never had to work a service job, or sometimes even, never had to work at all. They treat people who work in my industry like people who are "People working a low paying job since they are too dumb to do anything better." (When talking to a customer during one of my lunch breaks.)
"I refuse to raise my voice for the lower class." (After kindly asking someone to repeat themselves so I could hear what they said over the noise of cleaning.)
"You people aren't worth my time." (When asking someone to "please wait" while I called a manager to help them)
"You're worthless. I don't know why they hire nothing but idiots here." (When I hadn't tried a certain item they wanted to know about.)
"You're cooking is so bad it's why I have cancer." (A customer to one of our chefs after finishing her meal.)
"You're so dumb you can't even make a burrito." (A customer to one of our chefs after he ordered a quesadilla and changed his mind after the fact.)

This is a short list of things I've heard or been told. There is literally hundreds of these over a 3 year period.