1892 Simple Pleasures.

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People are very entitled anymore and seems to have this belief that every business should acquiesce to their every whim. I used to get people who regularly tried to con managers out of stuff on the grounds that they would stop shopping with us. Honestly, the money lost is well worth the hassle also lost. Additionally, people who say shit like that never stick to their guns and you see them back in the store a week later. I however held grudges with tenacity & often brought up these statements in the later encounters. The most honest response I ever got was “I just wanted to see if you guys would give it to me for free.” I was like “Fair enough.” If you’re willing to admit to your nefarious motives then I can respect your hustle.

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This never worked. It was “no, the manager that actually gave into my shit last time” and then I’d be screamed at by them, then screamed at by my upper manager the next day after the complaint came in. Lower management sucks.

Psst, Register

As in, you put in a u in the word in the first panel. Just to clarify.

“This crown gives me a feeling of power, Power! Forgive me a cruel chuckle”

Hee hee hee!

Hey Disney! Robin Hood’s a [fox],…..ain’t he?
:)

Unofficial word at Disney Studio was that, not only are “Robin Hood” and “Zootopia” the same world (a few hundred years apart), but Nick is a direct descendant of Robin!

I work in a bar. I work as a bartender and a bouncer, so I work the door. Our rule is if someone asks for a manager “you” are the manager. My favorite thing to do is to tell someone no, when it is appropriate, and when they ask for a manager I step away and then turn around and say HI My name is… I am the manager how can I help you.

the customer is always right, but you get to decide who is still a customer

In my business, the customer HAS a right to be frustrated or dissatisfied, but the customer isn’t always RIGHT when it comes to my process.

“The customer is never “Wrong”. He may be misinformed, mistaken, recalcitrant, ignorant, aberrant, petulant, or of questionable competency, but he is never “wrong”.

My dad used to work the loading dock for a retailer here in Australia. Legally (due to health and safety concerns) his job stops at the warehouse doors. Of course he would help the elderly, and other people on a case by case basis (particularly if they bought like a washing machine or TV or whatever). Of course, most people help out, but you do get some with bad backs or hernias or whatever, and you can’t help but wonder how many of them are legit, and how many are just faking it (especially when they look like they just left the gym).

One day, dad was on his own at one stage (his coworker went to lunch or something), and a lady rocks up to pick up a surround sound system. Closes the door, gets the set, prepares the paperwork for despatching. The speakers were… not heavy, but awkward. So he asked for some help to hold one end to get it into the back of her vehicle. Her response? “I won’t do that, I’m just a girl!”. He thought it was the most refreshingly honest thing any customer has ever said, and even thanked her for it.

i’m all anxious now that Carol and Thomas are gonna get walked in on, it’s been working to a point of them getting a little lax at the work place….

As far as the “customer is always right” motto –

The reality from what I have witnessed in my lifetime is that the swing towards overly satisfying the customer to keep their business was due to a misinterpretation of the situation. Most customers are frustrated or dissatisfied with something, and it’s usually amplified by something going on in their regular lives. About 5% of the complainers were actually grifters.

The retail world – which is always in direct competition with each other – thought the fix was to give into the customer’s every whim. Of course, that would make customers feel better, since they now they feel like they are entitled to the thing they want without argument.

What was needed was actual EMPATHY and CONSIDERATION of the customer. Customers need to feel empowered that they are making a good choice and not being punished for it. Giving them free stuff is only a temporary solution – eventually, the client is going to stop showing up because the service never improves and the store doesn’t seem to care about them.

Granted, I work in the Financial sector (ACI) and I am the upper management for the Global Service Desk. We fix people’s machines and their access and all that stuff. I don’t hear many complaints from clients (which are other employees) or my own team. I have adhered to the belief that Our Service is Our Reputation. That is, if we do our jobs and show the client empathy for their frustrating situation, regardless if they are wrong or right, they should be satisfied in the outcome.

They have the right to be upset and frustrated, but we have the right to stick to our process to get the best desired outcome.

I agree with everything here. “The customer is always right” Is supposed to be a general attitude towards customer service, not “Give the customer everything they want” I’m also in IT on the service desk, and have been doing this kind of thing for a long time. And when I worked external/end user support, I’d say about 90% of the time, empathy and understanding went further than just giving in to the customer.

The original meaning of ‘The customer is always right’ was that if you give clients enough choice they’ll know what they want, not that they should be treated as royalty. It morphed into the current version by big corporate entities that don’t give a damn about their employees.

I’ve had an issue with a restaurant near where I live. Big chain one, you probably know it. Anyways, they added a 3% charge to all bills, with like, a TINY smaller than my hand sign hidden in the front, and ON THE RECEIPT. Not the menu, the RECEIPT (which is the point it’s too late to NOT pay). I had complained before about this (or rather, my parents had complained to me), and I hadn’t gone back since, but I had completely forgotten about it until this last time. I mentioned it to the hostess on the way out and she offered to get her manager to take it off of my bill, but honestly, I didn’t see that as FIXING the problem, and I mean, it WAS a good meal and good service. Ended up getting the contact info for corporate and sent them a nastygram. (Nothing threatening or rude, just letting them know that this is SUPER uncool, and downright shady and they would not be getting my business anymore) The moral of the story being, the workers have NO say in policy, and the managers only have some. They don’t make the rules, so treat them nicely because they’re trying their best and it’s easier for all involved if you’re not hostile to the people handling your complaints (or at least the people who don’t have the power to change anything)

Oh the customers have a right to be frustrated or upset if something has genuinely gone wrong, they do not however have any right to treat the employees like shit over it.

I agree, as long as the employee is genuinely attempting to be helpful. The minute they start being obstructive (i.e. refusing to get a manager, especially when there is an explicit company policy that manager requests need to be granted) the gloves come off…

In my case, that is why I always tell my people to hand the caller over to a supervisor or manager. This is when the “no bull-s**t” starts, and we get serious.

I’ve always wanted to be a small business owner, for the exact reason specified in the last panel. It just would be so damned satisfying.

I’m no longer in retail, thank all the gods that are or ever were, but I’ve always felt that “I’m never shopping here again” Should be a binding contract that carries substantial penalties for breach, including compensation to the business for lost productivity and employee’s time and compensation to the employees for having to deal with your crap

I like the fact people talk to you like they own you, I had to ignore customers more than once because of this, and when my manager asked me why I did that I just replied “They were acting like assholes”.
I had a really good manager

The most honest response I ever got was “I just wanted to see if you guys would give it to me for free.” I was like “Fair enough.” If you’re willing to admit to your nefarious motives then I can respect your hustle.

I would’ve followed up with that by saying, “But we’re still not giving it to you for free.”

‘The customer is always right’… okay, but customers buy things. If they’re trying to get stuff for free, they are no longer a customer, they are a thief. Thieves get things for free. It doesn’t matter if this one does so by talking to you.

‘The customer is always right’ used to mean that if you give clients enough choice they’ll know what they want, not that they should be treated as royalty.

It was also wrong when it was about giving customers a lot of choices. Research has found that when customers are given too many choices they get frustrated and end up not buying anything when they would’ve if they only had like 3 options to choose from.

Customers can be idiotic… Used to be a manager at a place where the uniform shirts actually said “manager” on the front. Difficult customer gets ticked that I was not cater ing to their whim and was upholding policy. Demands to speak to my manager. Just looked down at my the “manager” that was embroidered on my shirt… In bright yellow O might add, then looked at another customer that was there and asked “Does it not say manager on my shirt?”

I’ve also done the “I am the manager” thing as well. It really is quite fun to do lol

Many years ago, i was in A Major Electronics Store (then – doesn’t exist any more) and i stood AT THE FRONT COUNTER wanting to enquire about a gadget on display in the counter.

I was ignored. I don’t know why. People who walked up to the counter after i did were waited on immediately.

After a few minutes, i decided to see how long it would take to get a response – ANY response.

Finally a guy in a red blazer that said “Manager” asked me if he could help me.

“No,” sez i, “fifteen minutes ago when i walked in here and was ignored, perhaps.”

“Well,’ quoth he “perhaps I could offer you a discount to make up for that?”

“No. You couldn’t offer a big enough discount to make up for at least three store employees looking straight at me and not even saying ‘Be with you in a minute’.”

“Well – could you at least point out who you feel ignored you?”

“YOU did – at least twice.”

And then he said the thing that caused me to never return to that store:

“I’m the manager. I have sales counselors for that.”

At which point, not trusting myself to remain even marginally civil, i just turned and walked out.

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