This is why I never try to find a parking space up close. I always park on the back end of the parking lot, away from the mess that takes place up front. Quick, easy, painless, and it’s nice to get a little excercise from that extra 50-60 yard walk. 
You’re right, on that note, it makes my job easier. No hassles whatsoever. I used that example however, to show how absurd the rule of “the customer is always right,” is, and what such a rule can lead to. My problem with it was exclusively with the ethics involved: such a return policy DOES reward lying, deceity, and hypocrasy. I know such things don’t bother some people these days, but those breaches of trust still offend me. That’s it.
pssst…B&N has a no prosecution policy when handling shoplifters. How’s that for the customer always being right.
I was the manager of a grocery store many years ago and I found that this isn’t always the case. I remember this one time. (No, not at band camp 
). This guy, a regular customer, came in and, as usual, bought a large amount of groceries. A couple of days later, he was back with his receipt and he wanted to talk to the meat department manager. He told the meat dept. manager that the meat he had bought was spoiled. The manager asked him where it was. The guy says that they ate it anyway.:rolleyes: The meat manager said he would not refund the money without the “bad” meat. So this guy goes off on a tirade, claiming that he would never shop there again and he would tell all of his friends (he had a lot of friends) not to shop there to, etc. etc. Then he tells the meat manager that he was going to report him to the consumer frauds devision of the BBB. The meat dept. manager looked him right in the eye and said straight to his face “Would you like their phone number?” 
The guy was so flustered at that comment that he turned around and walked out. The very next week, he was right back there filling up his cart again, happy as could be.
I think an argument could be made that every fraudulent return is a loss for the company. Those losses are real money that could’ve been paid to good, loyal employees (who don’t question this ridiculous policy and process returns of merchandise bought – or stolen – elsewhere without question) by means of higher salaries. In that respect, yes, she is out something.
I’d also argue that just as confrontational closed-door dressing down “meetings” take a toll on employees’ mental well-being, there’s an equal loss when they are forced to shut down their brains and abbrogate their common sense and connection to basic morality in order to preserve an excessive “customer is always right” policy. Good workers should not have to turn off their brains in order to do their jobs.
In my job at The Shack, the manager basically told us (he was a great manager) if it’s under $25, just do whatever the customer wants. His point being, don’t waste your valuable time arguing with a customer about why you won’t take a return on some $10 piece of junk. This was especially important around Christmas, he wanted us on the sales floor selling instead of behind the counter arguing. The $10 you saved with the argument could have been a $50 sale if you hadn’t wasted your time.
Since it’s a small store, chances are that someone isn’t going to come back 10 times returning junk, because we’ll notice and just tell him to go pound sand.
I just want to second black455’s library suggestion. I worked at the local library last year for about nine months, and it was great. If someone threatened to “never come here again,” it was no skin off our ass. They paid our salaries anyway, and if they weren’t there checking out books, that made things easier for us. We were never rude to patrons, but we also never took the attitude that “the patron is always right.” In fact, in Circulation, where I worked, it was more along the lines of “the patron is guilty until proven innocent.”
The only problem with working in circ at the library, though, is that people tend to recognize you when you’re not at work. Once, I went to one of my friend’s house. I’d never been there before, but I’d known that friend for over four years. His mom immediately asked if I still worked at the library. Thus, it is possible that patrons will complain to the supervisor about things that one does outside of work. Never happened to me, though :D.
That’s the circulation librarian motto!
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