We’ve all heard it before. Although more common for those working in the industry, we’ve all heard the phrase “the customer is always right.” It may prove familiar after watching cheesy television sitcoms about a typical working stiff who hates his or her job in the customer service industry, but it is nonetheless familiar. Of course this is merely a euphemism store managers tell their employees to prevent them from going insane while dealing with the same customers all day. By drilling this concept into the minds of customer-service employees, the idea is that their brain will prevent the mouth from saying something to a rude customer that could potentially cost the host his or her job.
While we know that this is a common motto within the service industry, we can still recognize that of course the rule is a load of crap, and false much of the time. Let’s examine a true, real-world example to emphasize the concept that the customer is not always right. This example comes from the depths of a grocery store deli-counter whose employees have seen just about all there is to see as far as customer-driven stupidity goes.
“Hey there sir, what can I get for you today?”
“Yeah, can I get a half pound of the American cheese?”
“Sure, we have several different brands, which would you prefer?”
“Ehhh, I dunno. Just give me a half pound of whatever I had last time.”
Brilliant. If that example wasn’t good enough, then examine this one that took place in the same location.
“Hi there ma’am, what can I get for you today?”
“Yeah hi, ummm do you think I could have a piece of this bologna for my son to taste?”
“Sure, would you like to try a slice as well?”
“Oh no thanks, I just want to see if my son here is allergic.”
“…”
Too easy.
Now of course not everyone can be gifted with a 150+ IQ, a good college education or enough money to hire people to do chores for them, but a line needs to be drawn somewhere. We’re all guilty of letting the occasional dim-witted moment slip by once in a while and those instances need not be emphasized due to the frequency with which they occur. These types of blunders may include poor calculations of the cost of a purchase leaving you short-handed at the register, seeing the same cashier several times over the course of a few minutes due to forgotten items, arriving at the register with a shopping cart that is unfamiliar, cursing loudly at the automated check out machine because those self-serve registers are never as convenient as eluded to, or accidentally cutting to the front of a line because of the obscure layout of said line. These types of things happen and while we feel a little silly at the time, they are usually forgotten by the time we walk out the automatic door that makes you feel like you opened it with telekinesis every time.
Most customer-service employees who encounter a dramatically mind-boggling occurrence typically have the reserve to merely correct the customer, laugh inaudibly and continue on with their job. However, while this is usually the case, as soon as said customer is out of ear shot, every other employee in the department will quickly be enlightened of their stupidity so that they might experience a good laugh to interrupt the annoyances commonly encountered by these employees. Said annoyances usually stem from rude customers who want something so specific that the trained employees even have a hard time keeping up. Because this deli counter is so popular today, let’s go back for an example.
A customer wanted some lunch meat cut fresh for her sandwiches. However, this customer wanted the meat cut extraordinary thin, but not falling apart. Even if unfamiliar with the deli counter, it is easy to understand that as things are cut thinner, they lose the ability to stay together. This customer proceeded to yell at the employee, claiming the person who cut the meat last time did a much better job and cut the meat even thinner than humanly possible. The customer left in a rage when even the deli manager was unable to cut the meat to her liking.
There are other random instances where we find out that the employee can sometimes get away with acting rude to the customer with little-to-no worry about the repercussions. Often times, the employee will experience punishment in some form (usually just a “talking to” with the store manager explaining that while this behavior is very comical, it is inappropriate work ethic when in the department,) however it is often needed to let loosen pent-up rage from irritating customers. Let’s go back to our familiar deli-counter to examine another true-life example.
After dealing with a customer who could not decide on what type of lunch meat she wanted, our employee grew increasingly irritated after having to explain what each product was.
“Hmmmm I don’t think I want any of the ham.”
“Alright ma’am, well we have several other types of products such as turkey or roast beef.”
“Hmmm no I don’t think I like any of your types of turkey. Do you guys have a baked turkey?”
“Ma’am, you bake cakes not turkey. We do not have a baked turkey!”
-Insert generic long angry rant from customer wanting to speak to a manager here.-
While these occurrences can sometimes set an irritated worker over the edge, sending them into a blind rage of consumer-induced hatred that can often cost them their job as well as their sanity, they can also prove as the medicinal needed to get through the day. Because of the sheer foolishness of these situations, as humans we cannot help but laugh at the misfortune of others, whether it be someone falling down or just down-right making an ass of themselves for everyone to see. Often times this hilarity can send workers onto the other side and provide them with the necessary fuel they need to make it through the rest of their repetitive day.
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