Customer Is Always Right

JaysusMacfeck wrote:

Always right me boll0x. The only people that say this have never worked in the service industry.

I always thought it was "The customer must always believe they are right".

Sleepy wrote:

I work in IT so for me it's "The user is always absolutely clueless".

Yeah, but, as some who's been in IT, I've noticed that "the admin is always a lazy, grumpy, condesending git"

From age 16-19 I worked in Penneys, in the Omni Park.
I used to work on the customer service desk, and so I had to deal with a load of HowRya's, who would scream the shop down just to get a £1 refund (seriously).

One day this girl comes in, she was about 21/22, attractive and very well spoken.

She said she had bought an underwear set and after just one wear the bra had completely lost its shape.

She showed me her receipt, and removed the bra from her bag, to show me the damage.
Yes, the bra had indeed lost its shape. It also had been worn more then once, had greyed in colour and had sweat stains on the under arm.

I had expected something more form this girl, as she gave the appearance of being rather well to do, so I was a bit shocked that she would have the neck to bring the shoddy garment in to begin with, let alone demand a refund. (I think it was only worth a 5er or something).

Anyhow, I told her I wouldn't be issuing a refund as the garment was unsanitary and had clearly been worn more then once.

She kicked up such a fuss that I finally decided to get my manager to deal with her.
At this stage, for me, it was a matter of principal. As far as I was concerned she was a dirty bitch who was just chancing her luck.

However, my manager couldn't have been arsed arguing with her and told me to just give her her money back, to get rid of her.

I was mortified, but what could I do.

(The whole time she was banging on about how the customer was always right)
So i put the refund through the till, and as I was about to hand her her change she says, "I suppose you'll be wanting the matching briefs" and pulls the offending garment from her bag and places it on the counter.

I am not joking you, she placed worn, soiled, underwear in the counter, took her money, and proceeded to walk away.

I was actually speechless, but the woman who had been waiting behind her in the queue had no problem finding her words.

"Ya dirty, fcuking, jumped up bitch" she said, "Security, here, don't let her leave the shop before she takes her filthy dirty fcuking knickers with her".

Security guard comes over and I tell him that yes, the girl had indeed left her filthy underwear on the counter.

Now in the Omni the customer service desk is at the back of the store, so the girl had yet to make her way out of the shop.

Our security guard rang outside, and just as she set foot outside the store 2 centre guards asked her, politely, to return to the customer service desk as she had left something behind.
She was escorted back to the desk where she, without saying a word, put the knickers back in her bag, turned on her heel, and walked, quickly, form the shop!

No such thing as a graceful exit though, as the woman who had been waiting behind her told everyone who would listen what she had done, and they all had something to say about it.

Anyhow, that’s my story, I had a few cnut customers in my time, but she was one of the most shocking.

My current job thankfully doesn't involve dealing with the public. I used to work in a call centre and felt the company I worked for might as well have been anally violating its customers given the way we had to treat them (insurance industry, who would have guessed it?)

On the other hand a lot of customers were clueless, ignorant, rude morons regardless of how well you would treat them. So no, the customer is not always right, but they do deserve to be treated well as long as they do nothing to indicate they don't deserve to be.

Well as already pointed out the phrase isn't supposed to be taken literally but was probably originally used by businesses when training staff how to deal with customer complaints. The problem is it some how "got out" to the general public who now, sadly, take it seriously.

I work part-time in the service industry and always take the path of least resistance when dealing with customers, i.e. just give them what they want and to hell with the "rules" management tell you. In my experience managers when faced with a customer will usually do this anyway, making you look like a fool in process, even though you were just doing as you were told.

The OP said that he doesn't like people who say 'The Customer is always right'. Where did he say he didn't treat them with respect or process their complain as he should. Just because he and others have stated that they don't like people who waltz in and bellow this phrase at you does not mean that they don't do their job properly.

I've been working in retail for 5 years now and have met some truely lovely people, some horrendous individuals and some strange people.

A few months back a woman in her 50's walked into the shop and asked if she could return something. I asked to see her receipt and was shocked to see that the goods were 8 years old!!!!! Granted they hadn't been used, but I mentioned to her that there was nothing wrong with the items and that although she didn't need them that we weren't obliged to take them back as there was nothing wrong with them.
She asked me if we wouldn't have some use for them. I pointed out to her that A> they were bought longer ago than I had been working in the shop which is a long enough time and that B> they were bought pre-euro.

These two facts didn't stop her though and she kept at it again and again.

I can tell you another one about a guy in Wicklow, a TFT and his involvement with us and the manufacturer. He was highly unpleasant. Let me know if you want to hear it...


I never assume the customer is always right, nor do I assume that they are wrong. I ALWAYS listen to what they have to say and base my actions on that.