the customer is not always right. - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 04:17 PM

i work at a grocery store and my managers always say, the customer is always right and employees must do EVERYTHING they can to please the customer no matter how rude, inconsiderate, nasty, and disrespectful they are. this pisses me off to no end.

first of all, i can see where the managers are coming from, wanting to keep their customers at our store instead of having a bad experience and wanting to go to the other store nearby that is of a different company. but i don't think it's fair that my managers have no respect for any of us (me or the other employees) and they let the rudest customers treat us like **** and if a customer complains (even if the problem arose because they were being rude for no reason and someone said something to them), they tell us that our job is on the line if we get too many complaints.

for instance, i was bagging groceries and my friend nayara was cashier. this nasty bitch came through the line and she had brought her own bags (it's a $0.05 discount for every bag you bring or recycle). she didn't tell me she brought her own bags until after i started bagging her groceries in plastic bags and then she said "UM HELLO i brought my own bags" and i said "ok, let me re-do it", in a perfectly nice tone. i had no reason to be rude. so i transferred her groceries into her bags and then she proceeded to complain because they were too heavy. but never did she TELL me to make the bags as light as i could, otherwise i would have happily done as she asked. so then she started attacking me personally and telling me i shouldn't even be working because i don't know how to do my job. i wasn't going to take this attitude so i told the woman "i will do as you ask, but i don't appreciate you being so disrespectful." the woman complained and the manager threatened to fire me.

i don't think it's right for managers of a store to have no respect for their employees and take the customer's side even if they are the one being rude. i don't care WHO someone is, i expect to be treated respectfully and if that means losing my job, so be it. other people at my job have had the same experience as me and we all agree that we will do anything for the customer as long as they treat us with a little bit of respect.

opinions?

Fleet · 08-05-2008, 04:36 PM

Yeah, I've seen customers like that in front of me in lines.

I've seen them get upset because they have a coupon which expired or doesn't apply to what they bought. And they will stand there and argue over .50 cents! Just pay the extra .50 cents!

And I don't care how the items are bagged. I just pick them up the way they are bagged.

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 04:42 PM

i think the problem with the "the customer is always right" idea is that it makes employees feel like they have no right to respect and that they are just there to be treated badly and abused by customers.

.:BF:. · 08-05-2008, 04:43 PM

Well, the reason managers take the side of the customer is because all they care about is money. It's just like everything else in this world.

Sad.

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:BF:.

Well, the reason managers take the side of the customer is because all they care about is money. It's just like everything else in this world.

Sad.

exactly. and i have a very difficult time respecting my boss at work when he has no respect for me.

have you noticed the customers who complain most are usually the ones with the worst attitude to start ?

MonarC · 08-05-2008, 04:58 PM

Being a cashier is a hard job cause of all the bullish that people try to pull. I know how hard that can be. I was an assistant manager/cashier in retail for a couple years and it is a challenge to deal with all the rude cheap people that get mad over a few cents. You just want to say "here take your damn nickle and get the hell outa here!!"

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 05:01 PM

one time this woman complained about someone throwing up in the sink in the woman's bathroom at my work so they came to nayara and asked her to clean it up and asked "why hasn't someone cleaned it up already? what is wrong with you people?" and nayara said, "what do you want us to do, hire someone to catch the vomit before it hits the sink?" and then walked away. (and then got reprimanded by the boss).

.:BF:. · 08-05-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vernacular decay

exactly. and i have a very difficult time respecting my boss at work when he has no respect for me.

have you noticed the customers who complain most are usually the ones with the worst attitude to start ?

Supprisingly, most of my family's bad experiences are with cashiers, but I've heard some pretty crazy customers before. Most of the crazy customers are at gas stations in my area.

I understand what your're saying though.

dawsongirl · 08-05-2008, 05:45 PM

People like that need to be locked in their basements and never allowed to mingle with society; they just can't handle it.

The customer is always right is BS. If I were a manager, I wouldn't want a bitch like that shopping in my store anyway. Does your store have a high employee turnover rate? How can they expect to keep people when they get **** on no matter what they do? No one should have to take abuse from a rude customer. I have a right as a customer to get service, but you also have the right to deny me service if I'm being beligerant. This respect thing...yeah, it goes BOTH ways.

Shocking, I know.

Was the woman old? There are too many old ladies who think the world owes them everything.

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

People like that need to be locked in their basements and never allowed to mingle with society; they just can't handle it.

The customer is always right is BS. If I were a manager, I wouldn't want a bitch like that shopping in my store anyway. Does your store have a high employee turnover rate? How can they expect to keep people when they get **** on no matter what they do? No one should have to take abuse from a rude customer. I have a right as a customer to get service, but you also have the right to deny me service if I'm being beligerant. This respect thing...yeah, it goes BOTH ways.

Shocking, I know.

Was the woman old? There are too many old ladies who think the world owes them everything.

All of the other employees at my work feel the same way; that our boss cares about the money alone. He'll treat us like serfs from the days of the European feudal system (a gross exaggeration but you get the point) as long as he gets the money from his precious, can-do-no-wrong customers.

She was around 70 I'd say. When I made her bags too heavy (because she never specified how I was supposed to do it and I thought she might want as few bags as possible), she said "Do you really want me to carry these up 4 flights of stairs and hurt my back?" and I felt like saying "If you don't quit being a bitch, then yes." but I did not.

The people who demand the most respect and special treatment are always the rudest ones. The boss gets mad when customers aren't happy but most of the ones who run right to the front desk to complain probably were not happy BEFORE coming in the store and will be unhappy after leaving, showing that they're most likely a nasty person.

dawsongirl · 08-05-2008, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vernacular decay

All of the other employees at my work feel the same way; that our boss cares about the money alone. He'll treat us like serfs from the days of the European feudal system (a gross exaggeration but you get the point) as long as he gets the money from his precious, can-do-no-wrong customers.

She was around 70 I'd say. When I made her bags too heavy (because she never specified how I was supposed to do it and I thought she might want as few bags as possible), she said "Do you really want me to carry these up 4 flights of stairs and hurt my back?" and I felt like saying "If you don't quit being a bitch, then yes." but I did not.

The people who demand the most respect and special treatment are always the rudest ones.

Like you're suppose to know where she lives?

so elektrikkxx · 08-05-2008, 06:06 PM

Seriously.

catlover79 · 08-05-2008, 06:09 PM

Having worked as a cashier for almost 6 1/2 years and phone sales for another 1 1/2, I know exactly what you mean. Thankfully, now I'm an administrative assistant, so I don't have to deal with the customers at all anymore. Hang in there!

catlover79 · 08-05-2008, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:BF:.

Well, the reason managers take the side of the customer is because all they care about is money. It's just like everything else in this world.

Sad.

Not all the managers I worked with were like that, but sadly they are in the minority.

Karen64 · 08-05-2008, 07:33 PM

Evan as a nurse working in a nursing home, I have to deal with very rude family members all the time. There are times I'm in the middle of little emergencies (they can clearly see me hurrying down the hall with an oxygen machine or helping a suddenly unsteady elderly person walk), but sometimes people's family members are standing by the nurses desk, angrilly glaring at me with their arms crossed...
When I can get to them, they chew me out for things like "why is there no paper towels in the public bathroom", or "how come the pharmacy raised their prices on mom's pills?"
Doesn't happen very often, thank goodness! Thankfully, our bosses are very supportive of us where we work!

08-05-2008, 04:17 PM	#1
so elektrikkxx Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 554	the customer is not always right. i work at a grocery store and my managers always say, the customer is always right and employees must do EVERYTHING they can to please the customer no matter how rude, inconsiderate, nasty, and disrespectful they are. this pisses me off to no end. first of all, i can see where the managers are coming from, wanting to keep their customers at our store instead of having a bad experience and wanting to go to the other store nearby that is of a different company. but i don't think it's fair that my managers have no respect for any of us (me or the other employees) and they let the rudest customers treat us like **** and if a customer complains (even if the problem arose because they were being rude for no reason and someone said something to them), they tell us that our job is on the line if we get too many complaints. for instance, i was bagging groceries and my friend nayara was cashier. this nasty bitch came through the line and she had brought her own bags (it's a $0.05 discount for every bag you bring or recycle). she didn't tell me she brought her own bags until after i started bagging her groceries in plastic bags and then she said "UM HELLO i brought my own bags" and i said "ok, let me re-do it", in a perfectly nice tone. i had no reason to be rude. so i transferred her groceries into her bags and then she proceeded to complain because they were too heavy. but never did she TELL me to make the bags as light as i could, otherwise i would have happily done as she asked. so then she started attacking me personally and telling me i shouldn't even be working because i don't know how to do my job. i wasn't going to take this attitude so i told the woman "i will do as you ask, but i don't appreciate you being so disrespectful." the woman complained and the manager threatened to fire me. i don't think it's right for managers of a store to have no respect for their employees and take the customer's side even if they are the one being rude. i don't care WHO someone is, i expect to be treated respectfully and if that means losing my job, so be it. other people at my job have had the same experience as me and we all agree that we will do anything for the customer as long as they treat us with a little bit of respect. opinions?

08-05-2008, 04:36 PM	#2
Fleet Mansions, limousines & H-ween Forum Star Join Date: Jan 06, 2002 Location: Northridge/Porter Ranch, California Posts: 15,625	Yeah, I've seen customers like that in front of me in lines. I've seen them get upset because they have a coupon which expired or doesn't apply to what they bought. And they will stand there and argue over .50 cents! Just pay the extra .50 cents! And I don't care how the items are bagged. I just pick them up the way they are bagged.
	__________________ 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Seventy-Five Limousine.

08-05-2008, 06:09 PM	#13
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,392	Having worked as a cashier for almost 6 1/2 years and phone sales for another 1 1/2, I know exactly what you mean. Thankfully, now I'm an administrative assistant, so I don't have to deal with the customers at all anymore. Hang in there!
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

08-05-2008, 07:33 PM	#15
Karen64 Comedy Fan Senior Member Join Date: Mar 24, 2001 Location: Kansas Posts: 1,412	Evan as a nurse working in a nursing home, I have to deal with very rude family members all the time. There are times I'm in the middle of little emergencies (they can clearly see me hurrying down the hall with an oxygen machine or helping a suddenly unsteady elderly person walk), but sometimes people's family members are standing by the nurses desk, angrilly glaring at me with their arms crossed... When I can get to them, they chew me out for things like "why is there no paper towels in the public bathroom", or "how come the pharmacy raised their prices on mom's pills?" Doesn't happen very often, thank goodness! Thankfully, our bosses are very supportive of us where we work!
	__________________ Freddie, there will never be another you....

08-05-2008, 04:42 PM	#3
so elektrikkxx Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 554	i think the problem with the "the customer is always right" idea is that it makes employees feel like they have no right to respect and that they are just there to be treated badly and abused by customers.

08-05-2008, 04:43 PM	#4
.:BF:. Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 21, 2002 Location: Detroit, Michigan Posts: 4,736	Well, the reason managers take the side of the customer is because all they care about is money. It's just like everything else in this world. Sad.

08-05-2008, 04:58 PM	#6
MonarC The truth will set you free Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 05, 2002 Location: 3rd Stone From The Sun Posts: 9,525	Being a cashier is a hard job cause of all the bullish that people try to pull. I know how hard that can be. I was an assistant manager/cashier in retail for a couple years and it is a challenge to deal with all the rude cheap people that get mad over a few cents. You just want to say "here take your damn nickle and get the hell outa here!!"

08-05-2008, 05:01 PM	#7
so elektrikkxx Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 554	one time this woman complained about someone throwing up in the sink in the woman's bathroom at my work so they came to nayara and asked her to clean it up and asked "why hasn't someone cleaned it up already? what is wrong with you people?" and nayara said, "what do you want us to do, hire someone to catch the vomit before it hits the sink?" and then walked away. (and then got reprimanded by the boss).

08-05-2008, 05:45 PM	#9
dawsongirl Member Forum Icon Join Date: Jan 04, 2001 Posts: 53,140	People like that need to be locked in their basements and never allowed to mingle with society; they just can't handle it. The customer is always right is BS. If I were a manager, I wouldn't want a bitch like that shopping in my store anyway. Does your store have a high employee turnover rate? How can they expect to keep people when they get **** on no matter what they do? No one should have to take abuse from a rude customer. I have a right as a customer to get service, but you also have the right to deny me service if I'm being beligerant. This respect thing...yeah, it goes BOTH ways. Shocking, I know. Was the woman old? There are too many old ladies who think the world owes them everything.

08-05-2008, 06:06 PM	#12
so elektrikkxx Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 01, 2008 Posts: 554	Seriously.