The Customer is NOT Always Right…

Before I go further into this rant, I will make one thing clear. I’ve never worked retail, and after this event, I don’t plan to work retail. (EDIT: Unfortunately, my planned career choice - pharmacy - happens to be under my definition, retail… I should rephrase the above, but I’m too lazy to do so.)

Today, I was going around the Bay Area to finish up some preparations for my High School Prom. After eating lunch, matching up my tuxedo vest and tie with my partner’s dress, and ordering the corsage and boutonniere, I decided to go to the local Borders to grab a coffee/mocha and just chat. My other friend has so frequently called me to the Starbucks at Barnes and Noble to the point that I just needed change. That, and I like the atmosphere at Borders more than that at B&N.

So after parking, we went indoors and browsed the books before I got a Chocolate Mocha. The gentleman who was taking my order and brewed my Mocha was very courteous and friendly that I couldn’t help but tip him. Unbeknownst to me, there was another man who was standing by the pick-up counter on his cell phone. Well, I did notice him, but paid no attention and assumed he was just waiting for his coffee. And because of this assumption, I “cut” him and went to the register to order my coffee. Not too long afterwards, another man stood in line behind me, ready to order his coffee. I went to the island behind me to pick up some napkins before actually picking up my mocha when I suddenly heard a man shouting/arguing. I turned around to see the man with the cellphone shouting at both the man who was previously behind me in line and the man behind the counter working the coffee shop. Apparently, I had cut in front of him, causing the employee to skip him entirely to serve me first. Said employee immediately apologized and gave his reason: he was on his cellphone and in the pick-up counter. The aggressor (who I will now call “taaja” for “Typical Arrogant American Jerk that makes me ashamed to be American) did not accept the apology and immediately argued that it didn’t matter that he was on his cell phone, he was here first and should have been served first. The mbmil (Man Behind Me In Line) jumped in because it was his turn in line and here he was being cut by someone unfairly attacking the employee. Not only was this obliterating the calm atmosphere of a bookstore/coffee shop, but IT WAS DELAYING MY COFFEE DAGNABIT! So I tried to break this fight up, without success as “It has nothing to do with you, so mind your own business!” EXCUSE ME? You just accused ME of cutting you in your imaginary line and you say it has nothing to do with ME?

Eventually, it turns out he didn’t even want coffee at all and was trying to pay for a book. There’s an actual register at the front for those not interested in coffee who want to purchase a book for a REASON.

By the end of it, I was extremely irritated at how this customer apparently thought the world revolved around him.

Let us analyze this:

Accusation #1: He cut me in line!: Correct me if I’m wrong, but was I not in the line in front of the register and was he not in the pick-up area? Which do you think would be likely to be the area where he should pay for his book if this register actually accepted the money for his book? His argument? “Do I see a sign that says this is the pick-up area? Please by all means show me, smartass.” For goodness sakes, does everything have to be written out? This must be one of those idiots that put aluminum foil into a microwave simply because it doesn’t say right on the door of the microwave “do not place metal objects in this microwave.” Common sense! USE IT! If you’re not in line, you aren’t in line! If you’re here first but are not ready to order something and there’s someone who is ready to order, is the person who is ready to order supposed to wait until taaja finally makes a move? If the world worked that way, no doubt everything would be very inefficient. The employee simply did what was general business format. Serve those in line and ready.

Accusation #2: It does not matter if I’m on the phone!: He’s on the phone, doesn’t appear ready, etc. How is the employee supposed to serve this guy, assuming he was there for the right reason? This guy isn’t ready, he can’t order. Obviously, he would serve the person ready and waiting for service FIRST.

Implication #1: The world revolves around me, slave: I hate this about customers. Because of the saying “The customer is always right,” that is exactly what some customers think. This mentally allows them to think the world revolves around them, allowing them the ability and freedom to be as rude, brash, arrogant, and demanding as they wish to be, completely ignoring the fact that the employee who is servicing this customer is also a human being worthy of respect and dignity. This employee is not attempting to ruin the customer’s day, but is trying to do his or her best to satisfy the needs of said customer. When a person does something for a friend, common manners and courtesy demand that the friend offers some way of thanking the person or showing appreciation for such an act. Employees - especially those in retail or working as waiters and waitresses - are very similar. If he does not act in the best interest of the customer, they may lose their job. By doing a good job, he are paid and are able to support himself or his family. Other people have lives and should not be dictated by an idiot who believes himself >= (Programming Lingo for “Greater than or Equal to”) God.

Quite honestly, this guy wasn’t there for the coffee but for a service that could otherwise have been offered elsewhere in the store without having to wait. His attitude was “I really don’t want to do business with you, I just want to get the hell out of here.” I personally believe that if you don’t want the business, you have the right to get out of the store and never come back. I’ve done that with several restaurants who demanded that I tip for service I did not find satisfactory. I fully understand that one may require that tip to live, but I can only reward someone so much for not doing his job (as it should be and not some hyped up service that I demand because I - though I don’t - think I am of higher status than the worker). Upon business dealings, both the seller and the buyer are on equal terms with a coincidence of wants (how’s that for a Macroeconomics term, Mr. Longo?): The seller has the good, the buyer has the money. Both desire what the other has. The seller cannot be above the buyer, and the buyer cannot be above the seller. In a world of “equality”, there sure isn’t a lot of it.

Leaving the store and not coming back is a much better alternative. Both part ways without so much as a headache.

Upon thinking of what to write, I also came across another writer who believes that the customer is not always right. Check his entry here.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 6th, 2007 at 22:06 and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.