“The customer is always right” actually means that if you lose all your customers your business will fail. This does not mean that you, the individual customer, is always right. In my experience, the people who always say, “Isn’t the customer always right around here?” are the customers nobody wants.
A question for the OP? Have you ever worked customer service?
I’m not asking to be snarky: I genuinely believe that a lot of problems with customer service could be solved by walking a mile in their shoes. You learn that the person you’re pissed off with is often just as pissed off as you.
I used to be pissed off with cold callers until I worked in a telemarketing agency for six months; not only did I gain empathy for the poor saps earning minimum wage plus commission, I learnt that if you tell them that you’re renting, you’ll be taken off the list as it’s a waste of time calling you 
Since working at a video game store over Christmas, I can relate to the fact that while you’re annoyed at being asked if you need help, there are dozens of people who do. I lost count of the number of people who, when asked if they needed assistance, instinctively said, “No, I’m fine, thanks,” before going, “Actually, I’m looking for…”
Everybody should have to work in either a call centre or a supermarket for a period of time in their youth.
They do constantly try to find new ways to stick it to you. Heck, if you had a zillion customers, just an extra dime from each would buy you a private island. They’ve got huge incentive to stick on added fees wherever they can get by with it.
I’m not sure that’s exactly customer service though, the phone answerer on the other end of the line is not a decision-maker in the company.
I have worked with the public before and yes, they can be nightmares. But it doesn’t excuse any type of rude behavior to customers. It is the employee’s job to deal politely with the public even when it’s not easy. I’d have been fired immediately for getting smart with a customer, regardless of what the customer said first.
Behavior that is rewarded, is repeated.
I am a second level support person. I take requests (demands) for supervisors from lower level people. When they call me, I make sure I know exactly WHY the person is demanding a supervisor. The ones I hate are “I don’t know, s/he refused to speak to me”. They can go either way, but it is harder to mentally prep for them. If I get the “S/he just screamed and swore at me” call, I tell the lower level person that according to procedure, they are allowed to hang up on those people, but I will take the call. I also advise them to introduce me by saying that I will be taking the call, NOT that “and he will help you from here”, because that is an implied promise that I will help, when I may not.
Part of the issue with those calls is that, like any other call center business, we have a pretty good flow of new people, and a significant percentage of those calls are legitimate “that person was rude/a moron/clueless and I need someone who knows what they’re doing.” When I get those calls and the person takes a more positive attitude with me, then things can generally be dealt with. The only catch is that there are a small but significant number of people who will be straight out rude and obnoxious, knowing that it flusters people and gets them handed over to a supervisor, but then when I am unable to meet their conditions (fantasies) or refuse to give into their demands, they start getting rude and demanding MY supervisor, thinking that this will get them further and further up the chain. Unfortunately for them, I’m the last call. You demand my boss, I say NO. You refuse to deal with me, I tell you that you can call back and speak to another supervisor, who will tell you the same thing. (And then I will put notes in your file that say “I decided this, and as per (procedure number), this is the corporate answer to their request/demand”, which makes it a lot less likely that anyone else is going to give you a different answer.)
The whole reason throwing a temper tantrum in a store works is Audience. You’re causing a public disturbance and also presenting a possible physical threat. It would take 10-15 minutes to get the Police there, and in that time, nasty things could happen. So the prevailing philosophy becomes “If I give you what you want, will you go away?” Then again, if they have Security (and I worked armed security in a cellphone store before this job), then they’re more likely to have you escorted out, or call the police and depend on Security to prevent or deal with physical confrontation until the police arrive.
The same thing doesn’t work over the phone if the CSR is bright enough to realize that they shouldn’t be intimidated and cannot be harmed by someone throwing a fit over the phone.
My bank treats me fine, because I’ve got enough money with them so that it is in their benefit to treat me fine. I’m fine with my credit card company also, because I’ve chosen cards which pay me to use them, and I never, ever run a balance.
There are tiers of service. My father’s trust, which I administer has a small bit of money with a financial services plan, and he’s just a number. I call a random 800 number to get anything done, or use the web. I have quite a bit more money for my private account at the same firm, and we get our own contact and excellent service.
Airlines suck for the average flier, but if you have enough miles they suddenly become very helpful.
I love Southwest also. They never served food, so you never got the case of them yanking something away while raising the price. They are also one of the few American airlines who make not being assholes part of their business strategy. They improved the boarding process when it became a problem. Notice how no other airline in the US even pretends that flying is enjoyable. All the ads I see are pretty much targeted to those passengers who can afford a couch or even a room in first class.
Good for you, Chimera , I wish more companies had this policy. I’ve had people do this and tell me outright, if your boss says no I’ll get his boss and so on until someone “solves my problem” (gives away the farm). I am the boss and thou shalt have no boss before (or after) me. No, you may not speak to the CEO. He pays me to conclude a fair outcome equitable to both you and the company, and doesn’t have time to take calls from people who couldn’t care less if their demands aren’t equitable to the company. Some of these people just need to be told the shocking news than neither the supreme court nor Jesus will be granting cert to hear their appeal.
Which AT&T? I’ve never dealt with AT&T wireless, but when I switched my DSL from the old AT&T Worldnet to the new SW Bell AT&T, along with taking out a phone line, they were outstanding. It was a very complicated procedure, but I knew that and they didn’t screw any of it up. It turns out they keep track of how long you have been a customer, and longstanding customers get perks (like a guy telling me I got a gift card which I had seen nothing about.) I went into the procedure telling them I knew it was complicated, and when they said that they didn’t have their databases synched so I’d have to call someone else, I didn’t have a fit.
IME, there are three industries in which the customer is never right. There may be more, but these are the three that always spring to mind. In these industries, the onus is usually on the customer to prove they are not trying to rip off the company, as opposed to the other way around.
- Banking
- Insurance (of all kinds, prop/casualty, homeowners, medical)
- Car rentals
And so far my award for Worst Customer Service EVAR goes to: Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Douchebags, the lot of 'em.
I suppose the trick is distinguishing between customers who are wrong and who are going to cost you if you satisfy them and customers who are either right or who need guidance, who can become very loyal if treated well, and who will cost you if they leave.
DishNetwork sent me a load of broken hardware, but they made up for it by their excellent and respectful customer support. I’ll never switch to Cable or DirecTV because their support is so good.
It is clear as day in our procedures. They even have a “Sir or Ma’am” block of text to read or paraphrase. The great mystery to me is why so many of my co-workers are completely ignorant of it until I point it out, and how I had to show it to my boss and explain how it worked to him (because he was trying to tell me different).
And yeah, I wish more companies trusted and empowered their employees like that. Maybe they wouldn’t have to have 10,000 different levels and departments to transfer people around to until they got frustrated and hung up, or “accidentally disconnected” along the way.
Likewise with the abuse thing. A while back in a pit thread, a lot of people tried to tell me that either I was wrong (or lying), or that it was just plain wrong of a policy, or they would never deal with my company, or that their company had no such policy AND such a policy was wrong; when I stated that my company was very clear to us that we did not have to put up with abusive customers and could hang up on them after warning them about their behavior.
NO ONE should have to put up with people threatening, abusing or swearing at them as part of their job. (OK, maybe Police and Security (as I was before) to some degree because the alternative is to kick their asses for it.)
I had a friend who was a CSR at Sotuhwest for a couple of years. She said their secret was to be generous at first, but draw a line the airline wouldn’t cross. The airplane had trash on it when you boarded? Terrible, below standards, we’re very sorry and here’s a voucher for a free drink.
On the other hand, your flight was delayed, you had to cancel your business meeting and lost your hotel reservation? Sorry, the next flight is sold out and we will not ask another passenger to give up their seat for you and we will NOT refund your ticket.
Who or what really is at fault for this problem, real or imagined? Could be the company in question, the associated customer or some outside influence beyond either’s control. Whatever, it’s usually pretty obvious. How the people negotiating the issue handle it OTOH, determines the resulting state of “customer satisfaction.”