The Customer Is Not Always Right

Have you ever been to a party or gathering and overheard someone saying “Customer service isn’t what it used to be.” Those of us that work in retail or the hospitality industry know that this isn’t so. I believe and will in future articles continue to prove that customer service as we know it is dead: and it is the customers fault.

I work at a pretty large bookstore. One known for comfy chairs and allowing book browsers to read at their leisure. Most of the stores in this company have a café where people can enjoy a nice cup of coffee and read the newspaper or whatever. Throughout the day I come across coffee cups abandoned on bookshelves. Customers will camp out in the middle of the aisles with a stack of magazines from the newsstand elbow deep, then leave them there for us to pick up. I do not know what happens in a person’s mind when they use a public restroom but whatever it is, it is NOT GOOD.

At the cash register when long lines happen, yet a cashier is on break, because that is what the law states an employee must have, a break. We get antsy, panicked people that complain that we don’t have enough cashiers.

Here comes the fun part. Those of us experienced in this business know that we were trained to rather eat ground glass than to talk back to a customer. So the abuse goes on, unabated, until you either quit or get fired because you lashed out at a rude customer.

Good news folks, the kid gloves are off. Surprise consumers; it is our turn. It is our house and if you can’t play by house rules get out. Here’s why. There are more of you now. Remember that statistic etched in customer service lore. If a customer has a good time he’ll tell three people, if she has a bad time, she’ll tell ten. Here’s what happens, I guarantee it. People, you don’t get into the customer service business because you’re rude and don’t like people. We thrive on proper etiquette and hospitality. The conversation will go like this.

Woman, “I was at so and so and the service was just horrible.
Man, “Really, what happened?”
Woman, “I ordered a salad with extra bacon and no eggs, and I got eggs and no bacon.”
Man, “Waiters, they never get it right.”
Woman, “Yeah, so I asked to see the manager, can you believe, he didn’t believe my story, made me pay for the meal.”
Man, “That’s horrible.”

Here’s the truth. The woman ordered the salad, the waiter put in the correct order then tended to his other tables. This woman’s family of five hen-pecked the waiter for mayonnaise, then more ice for their water, then some straws, as if their minds had the capacity to only think minute to minute. No planning, just bring me, bring me, bring me. There is something in the restaurant business called ‘Orchestration’. Orchestration is a beautiful thing. The waiter orchestrates their station with a set of priorities and mulit-tasks several tables needs while consolidating their trips. Our family of five isn’t playing ball in our waiters plan, they are not showing proper etiquette. They have doomed themselves to failure. So. Back to our salad. There is the woman’s salad and another tables salad in the window and a food runner, a server in training, reads the ticket wrong and runs the wrong food. The woman hails the waiter by shoving her arm in the air and actually calling him to the table like a cab. The waiter apologizes and heads to the kitchen to inform the manager.

The manager heads to the table, apologizes for the mistake, and informs them that the salad will be out in less than six minutes. He also offers to pay for their sodas. The woman argues with the manager that his offer is not good enough. The new, perfect salad arrives in four minutes and the manager apologizes, takes off the sodas, and lets them finish their meal.

The family leaves a paltry five percent tip, and the manager consoles his waiter with a dish from the menu for his troubles.

Back to our woman’s complaint to the man. After saying that’s horrible, the man realizes that this woman and her family are kind of uncouth. Just last week her kid tried to push his kid off the church stairs. As a matter of fact, he wonders why he’s wasting his time in this meaningless conversation with this cretin. He realizes that the three times he had been to the restaurant in question he’s had a wonderful time and blows her complaint off.

The new word of mouth paradigm kids; Good time, tell four. Bad time tell ten but only three will believe or listen. We all have those friends that don’t necessarily know how to behave in public and they are the ones to blame partly for the decline in customer service.


There are more people out there than ever. If you do not behave properly we will continue to cultivate the people that do! The amount of money spent on appeasing people whom have been trained by the customer is God policies of the eighties and nineties is staggering and believe it or not it is much more cost efficient to amp up the service of your good customers and risk losing your bad ones. Two cases to back this up.

One: In Chicago, Charlie Trotters restaurant, a fine dining destination, will routinely fire their customers if they make too much of a stink about the fact that they don’t serve hard liquor or they don’t serve enough food for the price.

Two: Father’s Office in Santa Monica has a policy that NOTHING can be changed on the menu. You order the Office burger, you get the Office burger. No BS. No pandering to crazy people’s whims while undermining your ability to give the customer what they need.

For those of you out there that say, ‘well that’s just part of doing business with the public’ No. That is limited thinking. The public must be educated. Retail is not just retail. Hospitality does not mean ‘tread all over me’. There are ancient lessons to be learned when doing commerce that have been unlearned over the past two decades.

Ask yourself why the average twenty year-old is a selfish person whom doesn’t seem to value human relationships and basic ethics. Ask yourself why you seem surprised and even a little uncomfortable when a salesperson or waiter gives you a big genuine greeting. I’ve had customers tell me when informed that it was my birthday that I was lying to get a better tip. Sorry, your one time payment for services rendered is not worth me lying about when I was born.


We have been mis-managed and we will not take it any more. As of now the economy is hitting rock bottom. Retail sales are down almost across the board. Weaker management will continue to pander to the types of people who will steal product from one store only to return it to a different one for a refund without proof of purchase. Weak management will cave in to irate customers who use tactics like shaming them to get what they want, therefore undermining the cost effectiveness of the business.

Strong management puts its foot down and gives no quarter to the idiots of the world. A good manager recognizes that their employees are almost always right and will back them because nine times out of ten that customer complaint is really a reflection of how they treated the employee. So play nice out there kids. Let the new regime begin.