The Customer is Always Right (Not!)

One of the most insidious beliefs that permeates our society is that the customer is always right. And this has ended up breeding a bunch of arrogant customers who believe they can get what they want as long as they shout and scream until someone says ‘Uncle!’

I’ve had quite a few friends working in the service industry, specifically pubs and bars. I remember an incident, back in the mid-90’s at my local of the time, Hurley’s Irish Pub. It is was nice summer day and the terrace was open for business. My friend Kate was working the terrace.

I was at my table, writing when I noticed her stalking in with a foul look on her face. Behind her was an obnoxious American. He was insisting that there had to be a house Scotch. He had been to many pubs before and they all had to have a house Scotch. In a tight voice, Kate informed him Hurley’s did not have a house Scotch.

It is important to know that the owner, Bill Hurley, rightfully prides himself of having one of the best single malt Scotch selections in the downtown area. He had 20-30 single malts, over 5 blends and various Irish whiskeys. And there was no Scotch specifically designated as a house scotch. (At that time.)

Kate told the customer that she could make a suggestion of an appropriate Scotch he might like. He interrupted her, again reiterating his absurd belief. Kate tried to explain to him what Bill was doing but the American would have nothing to do with it. He knew there had to be a house Scotch and wanted it.

I wanted to go up and either punch the guy or give him a piece of my mind. This piece of shit had no right to 1) treat Kate that way, 2) assume he knew everything about the world, and 3) not listen to an experienced server.

That, to me, encapsulated the fallacy of the concept the customer is always right. And from then on, I noticed it more and more. The goal is wear down the people serving them until they get what they want, even if their demands are unreasonable.

And I am getting that now. I currently sell cell phones for one of the big providers in Canada. People call me to get information and purchase cell phones.

Now, many of these callers are fine. But over the past eight months, I cannot believe some of the calls I got and how arrogant and rude these people can be. And I will present a few case studies. Sort of the top four I’ve seen so far.

I want what he has
The most popular is someone calls to get a promotion that a friend got. If that is a current promotion, great. But I have received calls on expired promotions.

One example: A gentleman called in at the end of October about a promotion his friend had gotten. The minute I heard it, I knew this was a promotion that had been offered over a month earlier and had expired. And only for people in Quebec and Ottawa.

I tried to explain this to the gentleman and he got irate. His friend got it so he should be able to get it. But, sir, that promotion is expired. And to make matters worse, this guy lived in Toronto which never had that promotion. He tried to badger me into giving him that promotion, which I couldn’t. In the end, he hung up on me.

What do you mean it is expired?
It makes no difference which wireless provider you work for, they all have time-limited promotions. And this is what we tell people when they call us to get information. The promotions can come to an end at any time. And they do. Yet when they call back after the end of the promotion, they still expect to be able to get it.

Agreed, the promotions change at a moment’s notice. One day I might be offering 6 months unlimited talk time and the next day I come in to find it is only 3. Which changes back to 6 by the afternoon. This can be hard for a customer that needs to think about it. But that is not my point.

One example: Just after Christmas, a woman called about a phone we had on special. I went through the features and offered her a plan. She was interested but needed to think about it. Fine. But I warned her that the price of the phone was going up. And the price plans may change.

She called back a couple of weeks later. And yes, the price of the phone had gone up. She got all snippy about it, complaining it was not fair. I reminded her that I had warned her. But that did not count. Her decision had been based on the original price of the phone.

In this case, I always use a grocery store as an example. I asked the woman if tomatoes are on sale this week and you go next week and they are not on sale, can you get them for the sale price? Of course not, she replied. It is the same with our promotions.

But she did not see it that way. It got to the point where she wanted to speak to my manager about this. I explained the policy about the manager calling back. Her response was that she would have to just go to another carrier. I told her that was her right and she hung up.

Give me more
There are callers who, when they have heard all the promotions then start to haggle for more. Which is fine, to a point. But once I have said there is no more, after the third time, there is no more.

That is when the threats come out. I’ll sign up only if you give me this. I can’t. Then I will go elsewhere. Fine. Alright, what about you give me this. I can’t. Well, then I won’t sign up. Fine. Okay, what about this? I can’t. I’m not interested.

I am constrained by what I can offer. I cannot give everything and the kitchen sink. I have had people who want to have for their full term unlimited incoming and outgoing calls instead of the standard 3 or 6 months we give. Huh? My company is not a charity, it is a business.

One example: One late Saturday evening, I got a gentleman. I went through all the details, and offered a specific phone he was interested in. Three times I told him the cost was for a three year plan.

Now once I am done with an order, a verifier comes on to go over things like the terms and conditions and review the order details. This is done for the security of the client because the purchase is done over the phone. When the verifier got to the length of the plan, the gentleman said he wanted a two year not a three year. The verifier explained that would change the order and increase the cost of the phone. He would have nothing to do with it. He wanted a two year term with the three year price. If he could not get it, he was going to cancel the order. Which happened.

Lies, lies and more lies
We have people who call and lie. They can get this phone at a dealer for this price or the price plan they were offered gave them extra goodies. What makes this frustrating is I know they are lying but cannot call them on it.

When it comes to the hardware, the dealers have their own promotions which we cannot match. But there are times, people will call and I know not a single dealer is offering that deal for the specific phone.

When it comes to the plans, the dealers cannot add anything on. They cannot add on Canadian long distance minutes or free call display. Yet the caller will not back down. So what I normally do is tell them to get the deal from the dealer. Which normally ends the call quickly.

One example: One of the most recurring lies is a customer will call up and tell me that agent (say Ralph) offered them a free phone. I know Ralph and know he would never have done this, even by mistake. But we do have deals where you can get a second phone free.

So I will mention this. Yet the customer insists, no it was one phone and he was offered it at $0.00. He wants this deal and wants it now.

What I generally do is in this situation is say that Ralph is available so I can transfer him to Ralph and he can do the order. Usually, at this point, they hang up because they know they will not get what they want.

Recap
Every single company out there is out to make money and in the end screw their customers. I know that. But at the same time there are many people who want to screw the company and get everything for free. Welcome to capitalism gone wild.

People should be able to get the best deals they can. But when they descend to lying and belligerence, there is something wrong. And the arrogance that comes out when they cannot get what they want is stunning.

They could care less that the person behind the counter or the person on the other end of the phone is a human being. They are just an object, a means to a goal. And when they can’t get it, they take it out on the low end of the totem pole. They show a utter lack of respect which has become endemic of our society.

There are times the customer is right but all too often they are not. And increasing the volume is not going to make them more right.