# Is the customer always right? \[edited title\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267 "2012-09-30T01:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/41 "2012-10-03T13:08:55Z")
The customer is not always right. I’m always right. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/42 "2012-10-03T15:11:32Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the problem is people who don’t understand what “the customer is always right” actually means. It does _not_ mean that every Tom, Dick, and Asshole who walks in the door should get their asses kissed. It means that if you don’t offer products/service which customer **s** (in the general sense) will value, you won’t be in business for very long. > > Unfortunately (as the [notalwaysright.com](http://notalwaysright.com) site shows) too many jackasses think “the customer is always right” is license to be an asshole. Absolutely correct…“the customer” means your market base, not every individual. Years ago, a manufacturer I worked for decided they could increase their visibility by splashing their logo prominently on all their products. The sales force tried to slap this down, telling the marketing execs that their customers valued the product because of its discreet design aesthetics…this is a product that is visible in expensive homes. Marketing fought back, citing designer clothing labels. The sales force reminded marketing that their customers were not middle-income folks who liked to flash labels-- that they were Richie Rich rich and frowned on such ostentation. we claimed, in fact, that the customer would take one look at the product and say …I’m spending a lot of money for this stuff, pay for your own advertising. And sales was right. We never sold one piece of the product with the logo display. For about 6 months every order we wrote was for custom product…the customization being “no logo”. We could get people to pay extra to avoid the new feature, but we couldn’t sell the feature. and we drove their inside people crazy with making them quote “custom” orders all day long. The logo idea was abandoned. The rule of “the customer always being right” won out. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/43 "2012-10-03T15:30:51Z")
I agree-customer service goes out the window when the market wants the lowest possible price. But that cheap junk at WalMart has a hidden cost-the fact that it will break much earlier than it should…and you will be back buying a replacement. That is why the poor get screwed-they cannot afford to buy quality goods, and wind up buying the same crap over and over. In places like Rodeo Drive(Beverly Hills) there is LOTS of customer service-many shops have bars and will serve you a drink and a snack while you shop-they will even send you clothes over by courier. Of course, when you are paying \>$300 fora shirt, that level of service is feasible. ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/44 "2012-10-03T17:30:44Z")
My dad was a pretty successful salesman while I was growing up and he always said, “The customer is \*not \*always right; sometimes the customer is misinformed.” He firmly believed it was part of his job to correct misinformed customers and he was just fine with not making a sale to jerks who weren’t interested in being re-educated. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/45 "2012-10-04T01:00:57Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I agree-customer service goes out the window when the market wants the lowest possible price. But that cheap junk at WalMart has a hidden cost-the fact that it will break much earlier than it should..and you will be back buying a replacement. > That is why the poor get screwed-they cannot afford to buy quality goods, and wind up buying the same crap over and over. A prime example of the [Sam Vimes’ Theory of Economics.](http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/Sam_Vimes_Theory_of_Economic_Injustice) (It’s okay, **drewtwo99**. It’s not the first time I’ve been overlooked here. \) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/46 "2012-10-04T06:03:59Z")
My husband is amazed at the way my shoes last. I tell him that part of the reason is because I clean them when they’re dirty, and I try not to abuse them when I’m wearing them. But the biggest part of why my shoes last and last and last is because I buy Birkenstocks or similar, while he buys whatever’s cheapest at WalMart. I’m sure that Sam Vimes would approve. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/47 "2012-10-04T10:00:35Z")
I used to work in a hotel and I can confirm that, actually, customers are usually wrong. We’re just willing to pretend they are right to an extent because we are super super nice (and we want their money). They used to call down: “Hello, is this reception? I only have one towel!” Me: “May I ask if you have checked the shelf in the bathroom, there should be more there” Wrong Customer: “I checked, there aren’t any.” – This is not true. The customer is wrong. There are many extra towels on that shelf. – Me: “I’ll send someone up with some extra towels right away!” OK, so it’s not so bad to pretend they are right. But sometimes you just can’t. Like with this guy. Wrong, 6ft Customer w/ Italian Accent: “The bed is too small. I want a different bed.” Me: "I’m sorry Sir, we don’t have any other beds. All our beds are the same. W6CIA: “Well it is too small, and it is unacceptable. I demand you give me another bed. I have paid for your services so that I can sleep here and I can’t sleep in this small bed.” Me: "Sir, I apologise, but we can’t get you a different bed. Our beds are 2.20 meters long, they are the longest beds in the world. In no other country are hotel beds that long. There is really no way I can get you a longer bed. W6CIA: \* starts swearing at me \* Me: “Maybe you could lie diagonally in the double bed?” W6CIA: “OK” How wrong can a customer be? I guarantee you that was the longest bed he has ever been in, unless he built his own. And he wasn’t THAT tall, ffs. Same with crazy guy who thought housekeeping had stolen his bright yellow tie. They hadn’t. He was wrong. He didn’t like being wrong, so he shouted and swore at me. But he was still wrong. And asked to leave, because as someone upthread said: if you are wrong then clearly you are not a customer. ---
**Author:** ![Tad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tad)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/48 "2012-10-04T16:15:08Z")
The customer is almost never right and usually an entitled and whiny prick. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/49 "2012-10-04T18:30:30Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > This is it, if you ask me. It seems that whenever someone asks me to recommend a mechanic , a dentist, whatever, they come back and tell me “but he’s so expensive”. Yes, you can find less expensive places but quality and service cost money. Those cheaper mechanics probably don’t tell people " I can put a new engine in , but given the mileage your transmission could go next month and it’s really not worth putting that kind of money into this car." or “Your sensor is bad, but there’s a recall on it so take it to a dealer and they’ll replace it at no charge.” like mine did. Yep. I have a great mechanic/shop. Love them. Because they will do what your shop does: If I don’t need the repair, or I can find it on my own cheaper elsewhere, they’ll tell me. They have had my car, been unable to duplicate my problem and didn’t charge me for spending their entire day playing Nancy Drew under the hood. So I finally sold my 17-year-old Honda to a friend. We had to take it to the shop where I had to drop about $800 to get it running reliably and safely for her. The mechanics wanted to check out my new car (a Fiat), so we were standing around the parking lot talking smack, as you do with mechanics. My friend said she was happy to know there was a reliable mechanic she could bring the Honda to, “Because these guys probably won’t bend me over, ya know?” I said, “Oh, they’ll bend you over all right. They just won’t rip you off.” Hilarity ensued. 😃 My point was, they’re not cheap, but they’ll find what’s wrong with the car and won’t invent shit just to pad the bill. They won’t fix things that aren’t really broken or offer a “band-aid” fix that will have you back in the shop in a month. I told her later that my auto shop is like a really pricey escort: you’re gonna get fucked, but at least it’ll be a really great fuck and it’ll feel so good, it’ll be worth every penny. Related to the OP: In my experience, there are three industries in which the customer is assumed to always be a lying sack of untrustworthy shit until he or she proves him or herself otherwise: insurance (of all types), car rentals, and banking. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/50 "2012-10-04T18:44:49Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > Yep. I have a great mechanic/shop. Love them. Because they will do what your shop does: If I don’t need the repair, or I can find it on my own cheaper elsewhere, they’ll tell me. They have had my car, been unable to duplicate my problem and didn’t charge me for spending their entire day playing Nancy Drew under the hood. Reminds me of the mechanic that worked on my first car, a used one I bought for $300 in 1977. So I’m having problems with the car starting and I take it to a local mechanic.It feels like a battery problem. I go in to pick it up…expecting to have to buy a new battery. The mechanic tells me that all he had to do was clean up the battery terminals and he handed me an invoice for $1. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/51 "2012-10-05T12:45:01Z")
> [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](#): > > My dad was a pretty successful salesman while I was growing up and he always said, “The customer is \*not \*always right; sometimes the customer is misinformed.” He firmly believed it was part of his job to correct misinformed customers and he was just fine with not making a sale to jerks who weren’t interested in being re-educated. My grandfather had a very successful typewriter store that he inherited from his father-in-law. Part of the reason he was so successful is that he built the business on relationships. And part of the reason why his relationship strategy worked is because he took the time to explain to the customer which machine would be most suitable based on the customer’s needs, and he took the time to listen to find out what the customer needed. Consequently, the customer went away thrilled with his purchase, knowing that it was exactly what he needed. His customers were happy enough that they referred their friends and associates to him. And when the customer was wrong, he’d take the time to explain why. He explained to me that life’s too short to deal with bullies and jerks, and that his business was solid enough that he could afford to tell these people to take their business elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/52 "2012-10-05T13:06:41Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > do you give proper courtesy to your betters, the proprietors :dubious: … my _“betters”_? This a whoosh? I must show all the respect and consideration due to fellow human beings who invest their time, labor and capital in this exchange. Besides much of the time the proprietors of the business are not there; we must even more so be proper and courteous to employees who are not the decisionmakers. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/53 "2012-10-05T19:15:53Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I agree-customer service goes out the window when the market wants the lowest possible price. But that cheap junk at WalMart has a hidden cost-the fact that it will break much earlier than it should..and you will be back buying a replacement. > That is why the poor get screwed-they cannot afford to buy quality goods, and wind up buying the same crap over and over. Terry Pratchett covered this in one of the Discworld books. Vimes, the commander of the city watch, was musing on the idea that the rich are rich because they spend less money. He used boots as an illustration. A rich man buys a pair of $50 boots [medieval economy, so these are really expensive boots] and those boots last him 10 years. But a poor man can only afford $10 boots, and those $10 boots only last 6 months. So over the course of 10 years, the poor man spends $200 on boots, to the rich man’s $50. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/54 "2012-10-05T19:22:51Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > :dubious: … my _“betters”_? This a whoosh? > > I must show all the respect and consideration due to fellow human beings who invest their time, labor and capital in this exchange. Besides much of the time the proprietors of the business are not there; we must even more so be proper and courteous to employees who are not the decisionmakers. Yr Betterz = anyone whose space ur entering, like on the spaceships with a host colony potterizes someone n an embassary. Basic manners. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/55 "2012-10-05T20:36:21Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > I run a computer shop, we build and sell computers. > > You can get a computer alot cheaper than we sell them for, but. > > Our price includes delivered, setup, data transferred, hook up your peripherals, and generally get you going. (for home users). > > all our machines are rigged for remote when they leave and we will happily pop in and answer a few quick questions, take a look at the scary looking error message, reconnect the wireless printer that for some reason dropped offline, etc, no charge. Where are you, **drachillix**? I’m looking to buy a new computer and you sound like someone I’d like to do business with. ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/56 "2012-10-05T21:45:56Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Terry Pratchett covered this in one of the Discworld books. Vimes, the commander of the city watch, was musing on the idea that the rich are rich because they spend less money. He used boots as an illustration. A rich man buys a pair of $50 boots [medieval economy, so these are really expensive boots] and those boots last him 10 years. But a poor man can only afford $10 boots, and those $10 boots only last 6 months. So over the course of 10 years, the poor man spends $200 on boots, to the rich man’s $50. and (the important part) _Still Has Wet Feet!_ ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/57 "2012-10-05T22:48:35Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Whatever happened to the days when people were willing to pay more money for quality stuff and a living wage for a private shop owner? Yes. And I’m glad to see **drachillix** and others in the thread agree with us. The effect doesn’t apply just to small shop owners; for example, hasn’t the quality of airline service deteriorated due to the race to minimize prices? I think the modern tendency for price minimization may be another example of the _“hyperefficiency”_ which sounds good, but is actually a blight. Unfortunately, I don’t have a suggestion for restoring the older, better model. I don’t propose to outlaw typing “Cheapest way to buy this computer?” into a search engine. :rolleyes: Good profitability makes businesses more robust. And is it so bad if a business owner walks away with a little extra profit from his customers? He can now better afford to please his employees and customers. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/58 "2012-10-06T03:22:19Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Yr Betterz = anyone whose space ur entering, like on the spaceships with a host colony potterizes someone n an embassary. 😕 oooo-kaaaayyyy… anyone got a LolCatese-English dictionary? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/59 "2012-10-06T03:41:13Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yes. And I’m glad to see **drachillix** and others in the thread agree with us. The effect doesn’t apply just to small shop owners; for example, hasn’t the quality of airline service deteriorated due to the race to minimize prices? I think the modern tendency for price minimization may be another example of the _“hyperefficiency”_ which sounds good, but is actually a blight. Unfortunately, I don’t have a suggestion for restoring the older, better model. Your “older, better” model was a result of airlines having government-enforced monopolies on their routes. Of course it was more comfortable and had better service: only wealthy people could afford to fly. Your typical medium-haul round-trip coach airfare in 1960 would cost around $600 in 2012 dollars. You can now take the same trip for a third of that or less. Air travel may be shitty and uncomfortable these days, but due to route deregulation, any average person can afford cattle-class on JetBlue. So which would you rather have? An abusive monopoly that offers great service to a select few, or a somewhat freer market that allows most people to fly across the continent affordably? ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267/60 "2012-10-06T04:55:57Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > 😕 oooo-kaaaayyyy… anyone got a LolCatese-English dictionary? Just trying to get on the hot niece who was molested on the airplane, and at the same time communicate with the pugilistic person who possessed himself of the prospect of excerpting my post, pusillanimously, with a lack of perspicacity and perspicuity. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-customer-always-right-edited-title/636267.md?page=4)