Close encounters with the EW kind!

[sstabeler]

actually, the original idea was you fobbed the customer off with something inexpensive so they came again; the idea was that the additional purchase meant the customer paid the company more money than if the company had taken hard line the first time; the problem came when implementation ended up as give the customer what they want, ( essentially, the original idea was customer complains about item costing X. You give them item costing X-Y to satisfy them. they purchase another item costing X later, you have 2X-Y. the problem came when implementation ended up being giving the customer something worth X+Y, so that you ended up making a loss, as the customer always complains)

oh, and also: it was treat the customer as if they are always right, you never punished te employees for the complaint unless it was actually correct.

[PandaHat]

Surely part of it is similar to "innocent until proven guilty".

You go into every interaction assuming everyone is a decent human being that's had an unfortunate circumstance you can help. Unfortunately, it breaks down because we're not all decent human beings. There's a lot of scammers, and EW and SC and ...

[Jay 2K Winger]

My point: the next time some customer pull out "The customer is always right," pull out a sword. They will change their tune very quickly.

The reverse is also true in this case. I'm reminded of a scene in the game "Full Throttle." A trucker is playing "five-finger fillet" with a knife at a table in a bar.

Ben: (the PC) [says something about how it'll damage the table]
Trucker: (calling to barkeep) "Hey, Quohog! I'm gonna be knifin' up your table for a while, that all right?"
Barkeep: "The customer with the knife is always right."

[PandaHat]

The reverse is also true in this case. I'm reminded of a scene in the game "Full Throttle." A trucker is playing "five-finger fillet" with a knife at a table in a bar.

Ben: (the PC) [says something about how it'll damage the table]
Trucker: (calling to barkeep) "Hey, Quohog! I'm gonna be knifin' up your table for a while, that all right?"
Barkeep: "The customer with the knife is always right."

Man, that was a banter game. I recently learned that Mark Hamill did some of the voice work for it. Fun times!

[Dadeo]

actually, the original idea was you fobbed the customer off with something inexpensive so they came again

Actually actually, the original quote was from Cesar Ritz, founder of the luxury hotel chain: "The customer is never wrong", it was meant as a level of service, not to kowtow to their every petty request. A modified version "The customer is always right" was adopted Marshall Fields in the United States and by Selfridges in the UK, again, to express a level of service that was to be provided to the customer. It's not clear whether they were influenced by Ritz's slogan but as they were both wealthy men, it's possible that they had been exposed to it at a Ritz hotel as some point.

It's only through the human capacity to read what they want into something that is has evolved into the Battle Cry of the SuckPublic.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Famous sayings are alway getting modified. I have read on this forum the "the customer is always right" started out as "treat the customer as though they are always right." This is just like "money is the root of all evil" was originally "the love of money is the root of all evil." In both instances, two completely different concepts.

I offer a new version: "The sucky customer is never right."

OK, so it might not be new, but it is right.

[wolfie]

Since people were channelling the Gord, I've got this to add: If the customer is always right, that means the door is to his left.

[Redbeard]

Little Timmy forgets that he's not on the internet, hilarity ensues.

SC: I am going to smash your head into the concrete, you F****T, You are so DEAD!!!!

At this point Mall Security showed up and led the SC off who was still screaming at my boss swearing that he would sue my boss!

[Argabarga]

The customer IS always right, but, at any given moment, the business has the right to summarily end any customer relationship Think about that one for a bit.

[PepperElf]

The customer IS always right, but, at any given moment, the business has the right to summarily end any customer relationship Think about that one for a bit.

Kinda like one that Jester has in his sig.

"The Customer Is Always Right...But The Bartender Decides Who Is Still A Customer."