I worked as a retail store manager starting about 20 years ago and did it for four years. Even back in the '90s, every single employee (most making minimum wage or close to it) had to take training that explained what constituted discrimination and explaining not to do it.
Additionally, every single district manager I had who used “the customer is always right” as a guideline, not a rule, adding an “except when…” after it. It really meant, “most reasonable and even some unreasonable demands should be met, but you have to draw the line somewhere.”
We would accept merchandise returns that violated our stated return policy if we thought it was worth avoiding the ordeal and an unhappy customer, but we certainly wouldn’t accept demands that were ridiculous or broke the law. If a customer wasn’t happy and escalated to the district manager, the worst that ever happened for a manager action that was justifiable was a chewing out, but most of the time it was simply, “Look, you did the right thing but we’re making an exception to keep the customer happy this time.”
In other words, the claim by those bellyaching about the manager being put in a no-win situation is almost certainly bullshit. If a manager got fired for refusing to violate the law, then an unhappy racist customer would be the least of Lowe’s problems.
First, someone already explained how this could lead to a company needing to fire non-white delivery people if they got a reputation for complying to requests like this.
Second, it is illegal.
Third, believe it or not, some delivery drivers get a commission per job on top of their base pay.
Finally, bullshit that he was in deep shit no matter what.
Yes, but what do you say about a situation where a customer will get angry at you and call corporate just because they did not get what they want, but leave out the details that make them look bad?
This happens all the time in retail, it ends up just being your word against the customer. Every retail establishment is different, and you may have worked for more well run places. Not all places are very well run.
Furthermore, everyone saying that the manger had an easy decision is completely ignoring the evidence that this is not a necessarily easy decision as pointed out by Jackmanii. Why does that story and his post get ignored so easily? Why are the doctors who made the same decision as a retail manger given a pass?
If you happen to be someone taking customer complaints at the corporate office I’m pretty sure you’re used to customers giving “their” sides of the story. They’re really not interested in he-said she-said arguements. They’re just there working off a script reitterating company policies.
In reality the way these “complaints” are routed is any complaint about an employee is bounced back to the store manager to handle. Any complaint about a store manager is bounced back to a district manager. And so on.
They in turn will talk to that employee or manager, get their story, get the facts, get any employee witness’ stories, and then take care of it.
I’ve never seen in my 16 years of retail seen an employee get canned for something a customer “said” they did unless there was a witness to it or some other kind of evidence.
In other words the customers “word” carries very little weight.
So, where you worked, the customer was always wrong, more or less?
And you’re saying that this whole process is something that employees were completely unconcerned about going through?
You have worked different places than me, so you say you never have seen such a thing as someone being fired for a customer complaint, I have.
And we could go on all day about this, but really the main question forming in my mind is why when doctors do the same exact thing there is no outrage.
I really don’t see anything wrong with this. I have preferences about physicians, too. Female. In this order: (1) white female (2) black female (3) other female. In an emergency I wouldn’t be picky, though.
Also, there is a store I won’t go back to because I don’t like the looks of one of the salespeople, but I am too polite to say so in the store, i.e., ask for somebody else. So I just don’t go there.
Well, a delivery person, that’s not a personal relationship. A doctor is. I mean, I don’t care who drops off the package.
About physicians, let’s be clear, if I’m unconscious and they’re operating on me, I don’t care as long as they are super competent. If they’re giving me a pelvic and I’m conscious? Female.
Entering into someone’s home is pretty personal according to some people. And a person being old and elderly just adds to that.
You just posted that you prefer white doctors to black doctors, now you are just contradicting yourself by saying all you care about is competence and gender.
Judging someone by the color of their skin makes it racist in my book.
Oh, I’m guessing you have the idea, “Well a relationship with your physician is such personal thing, you need to have someone you’recomfortable with.”
I can say for certain that when I had major surgery and also when I was choosing a doctor race was not on my radar at all.
I’m sure you have some sort of twisted logic to explain how it is not racist - let’s just assume it will too complicated for a simple minded person such as myself to understand.
When I had emergency surgery at the US Army Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany, the doctor operating looked and sounded exactly like George Hamilton in Love at First Bite. Didn’t bother me a bit. I’m fairly certain race wouldn’t’ve played a big part either.
In 1966, my dad has his first “grown-up” job selling insurance in his hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He often tells the story of calling on a client at his home, and getting into a discussion of James Meredith, who had just been shot in Mississippi during his one-man March Against Fear. The client was incredulous: “Can you believe they shot that nigger with birdshot? Everybody knows, if you’re gonna shoot a nigger, you shoot him with buckshot.” *
Dad says that’s when he knew it was time to leave North Carolina. He very soon after moved to Cleveland, where my Mom was from.
Hey, I have a lot of weird qualifications for medical personnel. I can’t really explain them. I have a couple of friends who are doctors, and I’m sure they’re competent, but I wouldn’t voluntarily go to them. However, if I ended up in their ER, okay fine. My next-door neighbor is a dentist, and by all reports he’s a really excellent dentist, and I need a new dentist, but I’m not going to him because I would feel weird. If he were a used-car salesman and I was in the market for a used car I would absolutely go to him. Like I said, I can’t really explain this.
I’m not a racist. I don’t know what it is though. “Twisted logic” maybe.
Look it’s not the worst racist act in the world, but what you’re doing is on the bad side of the racism scale. If you’re uncomfortable you’re uncomfortable. Select whatever doctor you want. But be honest that what you’re describing is an example of racism.
A lot of people prefer the company of their own race in social situations. Heck I probably would if ask I knew was the prospective social partners’ races. This is racism but pretty innocuous in the long run in most cases. I’d understandable to feel some hesitation at extending yourself culturally like that.
But you’re talking about choosing professional services offered by highly trained people. Race should be completely irrelevant.
I can kind of understand from just a personal preference and comfort aspect someone might say they prefer a doctor of the same race/ethnicity as themselves. If you were choosing a primary care doctor that you would see semi-frequently over the years, it might be easier to bring up or ask embarrassing medical questions to a Doctor you assume has a similar cultural background (possibly mistakenly) to your own.
I wouldn’t call a black guy that had a preference for a black doctor or a Jewish or Indian man/woman seeking a doctor that was Jewish or Indian racist if it was just their personal preference and wanted someone they think they can relate with on some level if it makes them more comfortable. Now if only a doctor of some other race or ethnicity is available and they outright refuse to be seen by them that to me would be what makes it racist.
I’m a white guy and my primary care doctor is a white guy and on some psychological level it makes me more comfortable to talk to him about my bout of diarrhea than the female Asian doctor.
But when I had my jaw surgery I had no problem being operated on by a black doctor because I knew he had tons of experience and was one of the more skilled surgeons in the area.
