If you worked in customer service; what do you think of the phrase "The customer is always right"?

[Little Woodsman]

Back when I worked at K-Mart, the big bosses in Troy Michigan were always trying to come up with a system that allowed for better customer service, without losing the company scads of money. They actually threw out a few good ideas (though they never had the backbone to stick with them long enough for them to pay off) and one of the best was their cute slogan of "TLC".
Rather than standing for "Tender Loving Care" it was for "Think Like a Customer". When applied properly, it worked *far* better than the idea of "The Customer is Always Right". Putting yourself in the shoes of a legitimate customer, and trying to understand where they were coming from led to great customer service. It didn't mean you had to kow-tow to people who weren't legitimate customers.
There were many occasions where "customers" simply demanded *so* much that eventually our store managers would have to say no to their demands. There is just a point where a retailer is losing so much that it isn't worth it. People with those sorts of demands aren't really customers, because a retailer will never make a profit off of them.
I think that what many retailers need are better ideas of who is and who isn't a legitimate customer.

 

[Kolby Jack]

It's a stupid phrase made up by someone who either didn't think it the whole way through or truly thought appeasing the customer on every little thing was the key to success. While someone in a service position probably should avoid directly telling a customer they're wrong, management should have no problem doing it. Trouble customers are worthless customers, and worthless customers get kicked out. End of story.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Of course the customer is always right.'

If they're wrong, they're not a customer. They're some asshole that's loitering in your store and wasting your time.

 

[Johnny Impact]

That expression is totally wrong. "You must treat the customer fairly, or a little bit more than fairly" is a much better expression.

The great majority of people just want you to get it right as often as you can, and fix mistakes in a timely manner. As long as you make a good effort, they'll be happy. This really is the largest group, but it sure doesn't seem like it.

You will always have a few idiots who have a legitimate grievance but think they're King Shit Of Turd Mountain and they're going to get double their money back or whatever. You can't make these people happy, so give them the minimum you can get away with and get them off the phone as soon as possible. Unfortunately, "as soon as possible" can take a while, as the bigger the windbag, the more wind you're going to get.

Then there are the customers who make a mistake and think it's your fault. They ordered from your competitor by accident, then tried to claim the order from you. Now you owe them something for their screwup! Not being allowed to slap them upside the head means there is nothing useful you can do for these people. Again, just get rid of them.

 

[thesilentman]

Fuck. No.

I fix computers as a side hobby, and I'll just leave it at this; if I had believed that the consumer was right, they would have had almost destroyed their personal data. There's a reason that I tell them that the statement is hogwash. Especially when it comes to computers. Delete System32 or / mean anything to you? Yeah? Then shut up and listen to a guy help you fix any problems you might have. I doubt that some of them even believe me. Makes me sad sometimes...

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

In my view the saying is less about the customer being "right" and more about making them feel as if they are wanted. Its about being diplomatic, not being a jerkoff no matter how much of an ass said customer can be. Not making them feel stupid when they don't know a damn thing about whatever product or service they're buying.
Not one place I've ever worked has taken that statement literally. Example: Post black friday at a retail store, a customer came in demanding he get the sale price for a Black Friday item, almost screaming that customers were always right. I spoke to him and informed him that we cannot change our prices to match a sale that happened days prior, but we have products similar to that item that were on sale near that price. I also advised him that if he wanted to take advantage of a sale, showing up on the dates of the sale would be prudent and that no other retail outlet would honor an expired sale. I went on to inform him that were companies to take the "always right" approach to customers that stores would go out of business as said customers would set outrageous prices to get merchandise for pennies or even free. I also asked him what he did for a living and when he revealed he was an electrician I asked him simply if I were to hire him and tell him I'd only pay him 1/10 of his standard rate for a job, and tell him the customer is always right means I can pay him whatever I want, would that fly?
He thought for a moment and smiled, bought the item he was looking for at full price and asked to see my manager who he promptly told I was a damn good employee and to fight to keep me on if I ever left. Unfortunately my manager was a douchebag and I quit a few months later.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

Having dealt with rude employees, I understand the nature of the phrase. It's the principle, not the saying.
Don't be sarcastic with customers, don't be pedantic, be consistent, and try to do things in the best way you can.

That said, if a customer violates the rules of the establishment then they lose that privilege.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I hate it. I work at a returns counter in Target, and the massive majority of people that I help are polite and friendly. There are some that can be upset and irritated, but still keep it civil. But the moment the phrase, "What happened to the customer is always right?" comes out of someone's mouth, my gut reaction thought is, "Actually, most of the time they're wrong." And I suddenly will not be helping that person to the fullest of my abilities.

I'm sorry that other customers took the seventy dollar jacket, tried it on, and then placed it on the clearance rack after carrying it around the story. I'm sorry there isn't an army of my coworkers constantly patrolling the store, so that the SECOND something is placed in the wrong spot because another customer was too lazy to put it back--or just hand it to the cashier and say, "I changed my mind,"--we can put it back. I'm sorry that people are human beings. But no, I'm not selling you a seventy dollar jacket for ten dollars because it was in the wrong spot.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

It's a pain in the ass and it's one of the fastest ways to guarantee that the customer service representative you're working with will stop trying to help you and will just do whatever they can to get you the fuck out of their faces.

Obviously I know that's not always the case. Sometimes the CSR helping you really is a slack jawed fuckwit who genuinely doesn't care about their job and just hates you for making them do anything even resembling work.
In those cases you are well within your rights to be angry.

But 99% of the time I think it's safe to assume that the person you're working with knows the ins and outs of their business better than you do and if something is an inconvenience there is likely nothing that the CSR can do about it.

Example.

If you order anything from an online retailer on Friday night at 9:00pm and pay the extra shipping for "Next business day delivery." you should not expect to receive your package on Saturday and do not have the right to demand to be refunded for your shipping because you aren't getting your package until Tuesday.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

I work in customer service, and I would say, no, I've never been fired for politely correcting a customer, but maybe that's just because of how I speak to people, a joke goes a long way towards getting a customer to come back even if they had to pay full price for an item that they thought was cheaper, or when they've been angry at me for us not having stock in, or something along those lines, I've also been given a raise for kicking a dude out of the store, who yelled at other customers, and at me, dude wanted his KENO tickets RIGHT NOW, and those other people in line, one of whome needed an item double bagged, apparently pissed him off, the boss was standing in the doorway, when I simple stared him in the face, and said "Look, you yell at other customers, you yell at me, and you expect me to serve you?" He responds by pushing the ticket slip and money towards me, I look at that shit, look back up into his eyes, push it back across the counter, and point to the door, my exact words were "You see that door right there? You're going to walk through it now, and I don't want to see you in here again." in a very calm, emotionally dead tone. dude can't hold my gaze, so he's lookin all over, and turns around, screaming "Do you SEE this guy's attitude!?" to which people in the store just give him a look like "are you stupid?" and seeing as how he wasn't getting any response, he stormed out of the door.

The other customers fucking applauded, and several of them thanked me for getting that asshole out of the store, my boss just looked at me and nodded, best work day EVER, I don't put up with shit from ANYBODY, and as a cashier, I have this wonderful thing, it's called "the right to refuse business." and used sparingly and in circumstances when it's actually needed, it can be a vital tool to preserve the customer environment, and keep loyal, non-psychotic customers happy, and coming back, cuz they feel safer.

 

[Guffe]

I've worked maybe 2-3 years in a grocery store and the statement is BS!
We are all human and everyone has sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Luckily over here not many abuse or even use this at all.

Only smartasses who think someone who works in a grocery store is less of a person than them would think like this.
Most people here understand that after working mainly in the "green section" (vegetables, fruits, herbs etc) of a store for a year or so you learn a lot about said stuff, by the people who bring it to the store, your superiors, customers who have knowledge in said area and so more than often people ask me for advice on what sort of potatoe is best for soup for example is a very occuring question. If I know I tell them and show them and if further interest I might even explain a bit about it, if I don't know I ask them to wait for a minute while I search/call my superior to ask for their help. Being polite goes a long way, and you can always discuss.

As said earlier, only a snobb who thinks you're worth nothing because you work in a grocery store thinks he/she is right even if their not "because the customer is always right".

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

"The customer is always right", you say?

Granted, I may not have the longest history in retail, and I've only worked in a dollar store as a cashier. But, I have had enough experience to know that this is pretty much my primary reaction to the phrase "the customer is always right".

 

[HoneyVision]

That quote is just a saying that helps you deal with the customers' lack of knowledge about something without fully blowing up at them. Obviously it's not to be taken literally.

My favourite thing to do with rude/stupid customers is to give them a very short bitchy answer and then quickly follow it with "Is there anything else I can help you with?" LOL It's very dismissive and uncaring for their 'problem' without being one bit rude. And if that causes them to become even more rude (which it will), threaten to terminate the call hahaha

...needless to say I was an AWESOME customer service agent.

 

[purplecactus]

The customer is not always right. Even though that thing is a guideline and not the literal statement that a lot of people seem to think it is, I'm still gonna say the customer is not always right. Sometimes the customer is an ass.

I've spent the majority of my working life dealing directly with the customer, and while I can say that about 75% of customers I've encountered have been either decent human beings or at least vaguely nice, the other 25% are the ones that give customers in general a bad name. These are the ones that you have to try and bend over backwards to please in the most ridiculous of circumstances. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Tiger King]

I completely disagree with the statement.
some customers take the statement as literal and think they can treat people like shit just because they are parting company with a few pounds.

as a teen I've seen and experienced some really vile, nasty, people take out their aggression on innocent employees.
but hey they are in the right....
the worst I saw was this nasty woman who had a stick up her ass.
after arguing with a co-worker over something incredibly petty, she started laying into him on a personal level.
"well I can see you've not done very well in life, so I don't expect you to understand my problem"

my co-worker, and I don't know how he kept his cool, calmly explained that he actually had a degree as an architect and was waiting to get a job in that field.
(he was hinderd by the "we want experience" thing but he got there eventually)

but yeah people like that there is no talking to them.
one day they will say the wrong thing to the wrong person, then they will be in trouble.

 

[Yaridovich23]

I really dislike that statement as well. It makes the customer feel like they're above the people working in the store in some cases. That unfortunately means that honestly can go to some peoples' heads and thinks it gives them the right to act like asshats to the cashiers or whoever. The whole thing should just be dumped, really.

 

[xmbts]

That phrase is mostly there to brown nose the customer because if you don't do that then they'll go elsewhere. I had a customer say "The customer is always right" when trying to get me to give her something for free. It's a grocery store, it doesn't run on good vibes, quite the opposite in fact it's a den of misery and moneygrubbing.

 

[Sacman]

That phrase is mostly there to brown nose the customer because if you don't do that then they'll go elsewhere. I had a customer say "The customer is always right" when trying to get me to give her something for free. It's a grocery store, it doesn't run on good vibes, quite the opposite in fact it's a den of misery and moneygrubbing.

And food... I'm fairly certain there is food at grocery stores...<.<

OT: never worked much in retail of any kind... but from personal experience, it's a load of crap, making the customer feel more entitled to the store, than the people who work there, and generally breeding a hostile attitude towards works... where they're considered more servants than actual people...<.<

though I suppose you do get paid to take that shit...