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Why "The Customer Is Always Right" Policy Needs to Go the Way of the Dodo

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  • #1

    Why "The Customer Is Always Right" Policy Needs to Go the Way of the Dodo

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alexan...b_5145636.html

    A very nice counterpoint to the "Bad Customer"! thread [http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s....php?t=105791]

    I wish more CEO's and corporations thought like this...
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  • #2
    "We will miss you. Love, Herb."

    Fire up the cloning machines!
    "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
    "The difference between an amateur and a master is that the master has failed way more times." - JoCat
    "Thinking is difficult, therefore let the herd pronounce judgment!" ~ Carl Jung
    "There's burning bridges, and then there's the lake just to fill it with gasoline." - Wiccy, reddit
    "Retail is a cruel master, and could very well be the most educational time of many people's lives, in its own twisted way." - me
    "Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down...tell you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens...makes her a home." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, "Serenity" (2005)
    Acts of Gord – Read it, Learn it, Love it!
    "Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read." - me

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    • #3
      One of the comments to the article really bothers me: The customer service in this country is horrible. No, no it's not. If you go to a store that specializes in customer service, the customer service is great. If you go to a store that specializes in loads of choices and cheap prices, the choices and value is great. I will never understand why people don't get this.

      If I go to Home Depot I don't expect the employees to understand the difference between pvc and abs glue, or to even know they are different things. I expect them to know where plumbing is, to know where a ladder is to reach something high, and to know where there are carts to move bulky items. It has advertised itself as a store with everything you would need, at less cost. If I go to a small independent hardware store I expect the employees to know about products, to have opinions about different brands, to take some time and give you tips, and to really understand what you need help with. This is excellent customer service. Products are a little more expensive. It costs money to have well trained employees and have enough of them that they can each help individual customers. That's part of why it costs more.

      It seems like (the vocal minority of) customers want everything cheaper, more convenient and with better customer service, and they don't understand why their expectations are the very thing that is causing problems for everyone, including themselves. It's really not a hard concept, you just have to choose the right store for the kind of shopping experience you need.
      Pain and suffering are inevitable...misery is optional.

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      • #4
        NC, I don't disagree with you at all, but I think there's an even bigger problem. It's that people define "great customer service" as "getting everything I want - whether the store actually sells that item or not - for as little cost as possible, preferably free, whenever I want it (even if it's 6 pm on Christmas Eve), and having it handed to me the moment I walk in the door, without having to ask or look for it." It also means being able to scream at and abuse employees with no repercussions and being thanked and catered to for existing, whether they spend money in the store or not. Oh, and let's not forget stealing anything they want without getting caught, trashing the store, letting their kids run wild, using expired coupons, getting sale prices after the sale, etc., etc.
        When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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        • #5
          NC., well put.

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          • #6
            How weird that you posted this. One of the bosses printed it off and put it in the breakroom today. It was probably the store manager, given the nasty customers we've endured lately. He's really pushing the customers-first philosophy at us, but at the same time recognizing where the customers are definitely wrong and promising to ban the bad ones. He already kicked out some guy who got around the soda limit by coming in 3 times one day.
            "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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            • #7
              Quoth EricKei View Post
              "We will miss you. Love, Herb."
              Fire up the cloning machines!
              Yeah, right? Quick sidenote: Herb (prolly his PR office actually, but signed note) sent my wife and me a very nice Mikasa crystal bowl for our wedding as a follow-up to my letter to SW saying how helpful their airline had been in our "courting" phase. Very kind

              Necc and Moon, I agree with both of you. Expectations are just out of control.

              I'd like to add to the article - they kind of touch on it but don't go in depth: bad customers being catered to PISSES GOOD CUSTOMERS OFF! It wastes our time AND our money. Nothing irks me more than to see someone getting an undeserved freebie, as all I can think is "Well, that just raised the price of my item by five cents."

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