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We all know this industry very well from the annoying telemarketer calls to going out to your favorite shop or restaurant. Customer service in aspect as has been around for centuries. The funniest aspect though is when Harry Gordon Selfridge came up with the term ” The customer is always right”. Just for a little history, Mr. Selfridge was the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London in 1909.

This little phrase has been stuck in the minds and hearts of every human being since its words were first uttered.

I have worked for countless retailers since the age of 20. I mean hell some of the places I have worked are no longer in existence. I started always wanting to be helpful and try to solve every customer problem until till i realized that some humans are just assholes. ( yes you read that right).

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now do not misread. I said some humans not all because that is a fact of life. We have all experienced assholeness whether from ourselves or from other people and for various factors which I am only going to cover a few today.

One of the biggest asshole behaviors in the service industry is the ” unhappy customer”. This is the one that sighs when asked to do the simplest of things like move down a counter. Usually they are the ones who do not understand how coupons work( um they are spread across every item you buy and they do expire), why they aren’t getting the right credit back for a return or basically why you are not listening to them.

Let’s be clear. All anyone is the service industry does is listen. It is part of the job. We listen to the bitching and whining as well as the pleasant conversations ALL DAY.

I will give you an example. A customer came into the store and had to make a return. I was behind the counter working on something when this lady came into my view. The customer service manager was behind there and politely asked her to move down the counter to where the register is. The very first then she did was sigh. For those of you who have worked in the service industry long enough , you already have determined she will be a bitch. The customer service manager handles her return efficiently and we assumed she would be on her way until she pondered over her receipt. It seems she used a coupon and did not realize that the $10 she saved was off of every item she bought the previous day. Her return amount was $9.69. That is what she paid minus the .31 cents that was deducted due to the coupon. ( yes I am over explaining because some people just cannot get it).

She then comes back and starts to ask why she did not receive her full $10 back. The manager explained plus showed her on the receipt what she truly paid for each item and how the $10 coupon was deducted. Of course, she goes into selective hearing mode and still cannot understand what the manager is telling her. So please let me reiterate to those who do not understand how coupons work. If you buy an item and your coupon say save $10 off a $50 dollar purchase (pre-tax cause y’all don’t get that either), It means your happy ass will need to spend $50 in order to save $10, ( Do you get it, got it, GOOD)

After the manager explains for the 4th time, selective hearing mode is off and straight ” I am never shopping here again comes into play”. She explains she is never shopping there again all due to a coupon she clearly doesn’t understand and a lousy .31 cents.

This is just one situation but this is how the service industry has to deal with the BS of some customers. The worst service industry is anyone working with food because food allergies and some digestive issues that can occur is no laughing matter but this is where I have the most sympathy and the most admiration. I went to Outback Steakhouse with my new family out here in Omaha NE. ( Shout out to OUTBACK on 132nd and center..we love you guys) Copyright : Outback Steakhouse

We were seated behind a family that seemed to have waited too long for their drinks. It was a fairly busy Friday evening and so when they told the manager after asking how everything was , they explained about the drinks and then I overheard the wife ( I guess) complain about some aspects of the service and her food.

The manager then begins to over apologize and then states they will comp their meal. Now I know some will cry it is least they could do, actually it is not. See as customer, you have rights and let’e be honest , they could have told their waitress at anytime they were dissatisfied and for the service and food to be fixed but you customers always think going to a manger will solve everything. Sometimes it does but most times it doesn’t.

That comped meal is coming from that server’s take for the evening and a reprimand even though it was busy. I hate to say it but because we seems to want things to be as fast as lightning , we end being so disappointed if it just runs in real time. I felt so bad for the server because it was honestly bullshit. You sat there, ate all the damn food ( they left nothing) and then you complain. ( I call Bullshit people)

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The other reason why that statement about the customer being right is somewhat of a farce is Most if not all companies have a return policy. My suggestion to the customers who do not understand return policies, ask and get all info and read the back of your DAMN RECEIPTS. Reading is fundamental people.

To me service industry brethren, please know that is will always get better and you will not always have the asshole customer and may your day be brighter knowing you have a huge army of the service industry vets with you.

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