The customer is always right? I don't think so!

[mattm04]

I just had one Sc today who tired this. First of all, he will never use the FE registers. He always bothers the Floral, Prepared Foods or Bakery people, even if the FE is dead. He buys two things. One of my co workers rings him up. His receipt looks like this:

Item 1 1.99
Item 2 2.50

....

Total 4.49
Cash 5.00
Change 0.51

After co worker rings him up and walks away he motions me, like a dog. I go over to help the asshole, er, customer and the says "Sir, SHE run me up wrong!!" He shoves his two items in my face and I check the items price and the receipt, everything is correct. He tired to claim that Item 1 rang up wrong because the TOTAL was more than the price of Item 1. I explain the receipt and he says "well, I should get everything for free because the customer is aways right." I told him to see custoemr service. I called the CS desk to tell them the situation, a few minutes i hear the CS desk page the MOD for custoemr assistance. Yep, he complained to the MOD, repeating the custoemr is always right over and over. He finally left, saying he would call the GM and complain.

[greensinestro]

He goes, sits down with the large pizza and proceeds to inhale it all. Only when he has two pieces (out of ten) left, he hobbles over to me and says:

SC: It was burnt.
C: excuse me?
SC: the pizza was burnt. I demand a new one.
C: My apologies. May I have the pizza I just gave you? I'll switch it over with a new one.
SC: um...
C: what's the matter sir?
SC: I ate it.
C: In that case, I cannot give you a new one sir.
SC: but it was BURNT!

http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ad.php?t=19684

Next time someone out there has a story like this, just click this link. I think it's a great way to defeat assholes like this SC.

[Rapscallion]

Well, the blood splashes are a swine to clean up for one...

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

I think companies should instate a policy that sucky customers get shot on spot. I think it would solve a lot of our problems.

That'd solve a lot more problems than just the SC one...

^-.-^

[Shabo]

Ok, from what I have learned in my business classes, there is a pretty simple explanation as to how this stupid saying came about. During the Industrial Revolution, the customers were faced with one product that they could buy or not buy. There were no choices really, and no focus. Then, in the 20s or so, competition for products began and companies' focus was on the products. Customers would choose based on either what they knew or what they could afford. Still not really given much for choices, but it's a step in the right direction.

Next, we have an introduction of advertising in the 50's. The focus is on Ads. Now companies are beginning to market their products, and consumers respond really well to the ads, so everyone starts using them. Ads were simple, not always truthful, but people listened to them. People's choices were buy our product, or buy someone else's, but our product is better. There was a huge increase in brand loyalty, especially since people were experiencing an economic boom and weren't as bothered by budgets, so they could afford to stick to a specific brand if they wanted to. In that time, I believe retailers came up with the phrase we have all grown to hate because their towns were still small, they knew a lot of their customers, and people were generally nicer then. Plus, if any competition sprang up in the town, the store owners wanted their customers to be treated better at the store they knew and loved than at the new store. People really took on this idea since they knew that they weren't going to be getting screwed over, and it worked really well because people were less likely to milk a friend for all they were worth.

Fast forward to today: Focus is on the consumer. We have advertising everywhere, and marketers are constantly looking for new ways to reach us. Companies have realized that because of the extreme cost of marketing, it costs far less to give free stuff to a consumer to keep them than to attract a new one. Most large companies have to pay several thousand dollars to attract a new customer, while keeping a current one only costs a few thousand. I don't remember what the exact numbers were, but it was a pretty big difference. It goes along the same lines of it being more cost effective to retain good employees than hire new ones all the time, for different reasons, of course.

Now, most customers will not milk the system for all its worth, and that's why it costs less to retain them then get new ones. However, sometimes you get the really obnoxious freeloaders that know how the system works, and use it to their advantage. These, ladies and gents, are our sucky customers. And now you know why companies will bend over backwards for them.

Oh, and half the time that you get a manager without a spine, it's because they know how futile it is to fight with the sucky customers since corporate won't be backing them up, and then they get complaints and get reprimanded, the same as any of you would. I think companies should instate a policy that sucky customers get shot on spot. I think it would solve a lot of our problems.

[greensinestro]

Quote the messenger

Y: my manager
C: me
M: Store Manager, Head Honcho, The Godfather (guy whose word goes above all elses)
SC: sucky customer.



Y: oh he's a big pain in the ass. He's a regular guy-- always comes in, orders the same thing, goes away with pizza, then bitches about it.

Y: Whatever happens DO NOT give in to him. DO NOT give him a free pizza. He abuses our policies. Right there! There's the warning, but hard to believe what Y says later on!
C: -mock salute- yes'm. I shall not let him get away with the free pizza if he complains.
Y: atta girl. You certainly did your job there!


(This guy was so anal he had me repeat the order seven times.)Already a red flag for what was to come!

For all that's holy, I even go through the trouble of PRESENTING the pizza to him before he walks away and ask if all is okay.Must have been OK being we went to sit down with it.

He goes, sits down with the large pizza and proceeds to inhale it all.


SC: the pizza was burnt. I demand a new one.Read the previous sentence. Burnt, but not so much to where once slice was not enough to convince him of that.

SC: I ate it.Why? It was burnt already!

C: But you still deemed it good enough to eat, then demand a new one.As your Y said, "atta girl!"

SC: but I wasn't satisfied and I want a new one.

SC: This is RIDICULOUS! I always eat here! Where's your manager? She ALWAYS gives me a free pizza whenever I'm not satisfied. The same old line bastards like this use every day!




The look on Y's face is one of sheer anger, M is calm and SC looks smug. Smug, because this asshole already knew what was going to happen, but needed to gloat in front of you!


Y: you should have given him his pizza.Read the previous conversation C had with Y and you'll find why this is enough to anger any innocent bystander out there.

SC: I want Crazy bread too. And I want the large ones.Free food anyone? Or, free food to those who pitch a fit when they get caught scheming to steal from the company!

SC: and marinara sauce.Pig! You already ate one pizza, are getting free Crazy Bread you're not entitled to, and now you need to make sure you have stolen sauce to go with it!
M: You know what? WE'll give you two bins of sauces. How's that?I hope you choke on it!
SC: Can I have a second pizza?WTF? Well, we already knew he would get that, right?
M: Sure, we'll give you a SECOND pizza... and because I understand how troublesome this was, we'll also give you a $25 gift certificate for the store.Troublesome? Oh, you mean the trouble you caused C and Little Caesar's, not to mention the honest paying customers who don't get more than they pay for because of their shitty behavior.

And as I'm standing there, baffled, at the verge of tears as I hear what the store manager is conceding to this bastard, Y turns to me and says "Customer's always right!"Excuse me? But didn't Y already tell you about this asshole's constant ability to abuse policies, scheme for more and so on? Didn't he already advise you of how wrong he is and will be again?

I didn't even get so much as an apology.... then got in trouble for giving him another free pizza when he came in a month later even though he ate the whole damned thing too!Doesn't seem like you can win with bastards like this. You got in trouble for giving him a free pizza, but you would have had a repeat of the previous encounter had you challenged him again. And, why would anyone apologize to you? I mean, this bastard was not going to apologize to you after you fought him on what he was wrongfully doing, and certainly your managers weren't going to have marinara sauce on their faces after you did your job correctly.

All right. I admit I simply cannot get over this post to my thread. It has to be one of the most memorable ones on here. I only wish I could find out where this place is and see if we can petition to keep that man out of this and other businesses he probably does things like this with.

[hotelnpa]

What I don't understand is that we are told to maximize profits. But nothing gets me more upset than a manager caving in to a SC who is clearly wrong. Now if I gave them a refund or something free, I would get chewed out.

[allniter]

I dunno. I like giving free things out to customers when I know the management is just going to cave anyways.
I may make their day at my own expense, but really, because I got to end the call earlier than I otherwise could have, I'm the one who really gets the last laugh while the company gets to eat their shame in the form of lost dollars.

Win Win for me

[greensinestro]

The manager shouldn't have caved to this scammer. I believe that the conversation should've gone something like this.

Customer: I want my free pizza. I didn't like the one I got.
Manager(to Employee): Did you see him eat the pizza?
Employee: I saw him eat most of it.
Manager(to Customer): Sorry, you don't get a free pizza since you ate most of yours.
Customer: But it was horrible. I want my pizzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Manager: You're making a scene. I request that you leave now.
Customer: Not until I get my free pizza which I demand you make for me right now!
Manager: You're not getting a free pizza and you need to leave right now!
Customer: I'm the customer and I say that I'm getting my pizza.
Manager: I'm the manager and I say that you need to leave.
Customer: Forget it! (stomps feet)
Manager: GET OUT AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!
Customer: I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH LOSING ME AS A CUSTOMER! (storms off)

And with this last quote, I would have reminded him that he is more of a thief than a customer. As I keep saying, a customer is the person that pays for whatever they buy and not a person who constantly looks for ways to get double their money back, free food, more crap than what the amount of their purchase was, etc. People like this are lowlife scum of the Earth and should be vaporized from the Earth's surface. But, it dawns on me that people like this know they're this way and do not care what impression it makes on other people.

[greensinestro]

How could the phrase "the customer is always right" make any sense if you have store managers bend over backwards to please these customers when in actuality what's really happening is theft of services by deception?

You really should rephrase this one. As I and many others have said, a customer is not defined as this scumbag individual when the company is being ripped off and scammed each and every time he/she visits the place of business. If you're eating their food, then always finding a way not to pay for it, or pay for the one item and scheme your way into getting extra freebies the rest of us have to pay for, or if you are receiving a utility bill each month and literally intimidating the employee on the other end of the phone to wipe away the charges......THAT IS NOT A CUSTOMER! THAT IS THE ULTIMATE PETTY THIEF WHO SHOULD BE BANISHED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH! But what makes these stories even more incredible is when you have spineless managers who actually allow this to happen all the time, especially when they know these people do it over and over again.

[greensinestro]

Is this an adult? Was she going to start screaming for mommy next?

I think I know why her friend doesn't want to talk to her.

Yes, she was definitely an adult, and every time I came back, the "I want a supervisor!" voice would get louder and louder, almost like a volcano getting ready to explode. With the change in story she did after speaking to my supervisor, it made me look at the days of when I and other kids I knew played on the telephone. Was this lady just calling to screw around with a rep, then tell their supervisor how uncooperative they were? Must have a lot of time on her hands.

[aurelemsrealm]

What is with some of these jerks? I deal with plenty of people like that in the convenience store where I work. We get some real trashy sleazes walking through the doors.

However, my manager is good about backing us if an issue arises, and the company's attitude is that we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

[protege]

Damn...and I thought Hechinger's return policies were bad. Those idiots would take anything...even things that the customers had destroyed or bought from other chains. This included dead plants, lawnmowers (even the crappy grey MTK ones) with blown engines, scrap (or destroyed) lumber, and other crap they probably shouldn't have. They were so concerned with trying to keep customers, it was no wonder that they went bankrupt in 1999. At the time, there was a Builder's Square just down the street, and a Busy Beaver next door. Everyone thought that BB was going to get squeezed. In reality, the other two were both gone after '99.

[greensinestro]

Another wonderful call I took today, regarding this bastard's inability to pay his bill on time:


Me: Thank you for calling.....

SC: Before I begin, I need your e-mail address for technical support.

Me: Certainly, sir.

SC: You need to speak up and articulate your words. I cannot hear you clearly.

Me: (Speaking a little louder) OK, sir. I can provide you with that. It is.....

SC: Hold on! I told you to speak up and do it articulating your words and with intelligence.

Me: Sir, I am speaking as loud as I can. Any louder and I would be screaming.

SC: Then go ahead and scream. You are being rude and not providing good service.

Me: Sir, not providing good service and being rude would be there if I was yelling at you. I am not going to do that, sir.

SC: (after I finally provided our e-mail address) I need to know why my e-mail addresses are not working. I have three of them and only the main one works.

Me: Well, it appears the bill is unpaid and therefore your account is suspended.

SC: Well, if you had told me that from the beginning, in an intelligent and articulate way, I would not have had to hound you.

Me: Thank you, sir. Is there anything else I can help you with before transferring you to our collections department?

SC: No, except you need to speak loudly, clearly, and intelligently and appreciate your customers. (He then hung up before I could transfer him).

Thankfully, my supervisor monitored the call, and he suspended the one e-mail that was still working at the time due to his rudeness, plus the fact he still owed money on it. The e-mail address should not have been working at all.

About ten minutes later, I received a personal e-mail from him (right before my supervisor suspended him) stating that I must not appreciate customers for not speaking up and talking intelligently, plus I do not have any care on doing a good job. It irked me some, but I simply forwarded it to my supervisor, then sent a professional reply that I would refer this to a higher up, and that I was in no way interested in making a personal matter out of this. Of course, it will be a while before he reads it being he is still suspended! HA! HA! Had he not called, he would still have access to the one e-mail that was working before calling me.

[Dips]

SC: I want a supervisor! I want a supervisor! I want a supervisor!

Is this an adult? Was she going to start screaming for mommy next?

I think I know why her friend doesn't want to talk to her.