Some professions require having to put up with others’ a lot more than others. Anyone working in the service area knows exactly what this means. While I think customers certainly deserve good service and respect from people working in the service industry, this respect must at all times be mutual.
In other words, no, the customer is not always right.
The story below proves just that.
I found this story online and cannot confirm whether it is fictional or in fact real – but either way, I thought that the manager’s behavior was so great that I just felt compelled to share it. If you agree the manager handled the situation well, feel free to share the story, too!
“A couple of years ago, I worked at an office supplies store as a cashier. I was doing this to earn a little income while working on my bachelor’s degree, and plus I liked the job and the people I worked with.
The worst time for our store was during ‘back-to-school,’ a time when everyone one came in during the tax-free weekend to buy school supplies for their special snowflakes. It was crazy busy, so we had everyone working that day and manning the registers, including my managers. This one upper-class woman with bleached blonde hair carrying a designer purse came up to the register and threw her stuff down on the counter. She then proceeded to toss her coupons at me and told me to ‘run ’em.’ I smiled through gritted teeth and asked if she found everything okay. She proceeded to completely ignore me and text on her phone while her 7+ year old daughter stood quietly next to her.
I scanned the items and then scanned the coupons. My computer informed me that one of the coupons was expired, so I took a look at it and saw that it had expired a year ago! There’s no way I’d be able to override that. I politely informed her that I would be unable to apply that particular coupon to her purchase, as it was expired.
She huffed. ‘But why? It’s a coupon and you guys should take any coupons that the customer gives you.’
I repeated myself and told her that the items on the coupon didn’t even match the items in her purchase, and she was visibly agitated at this point.
‘Let me speak to your manager, I don’t have time for this crap.’
Ooookay. I motioned for my manager to come to my register from where he was standing close by, and while he was on his way, the lady leaned down to her daughter and said, in a sickeningly sweet voice:
‘See honey? This is why you go to college and get an education, so you don’t have to end up like her working as a cashier!’
What did she just say?? My face turned bright red and the tears starting forming in my eyes as I muttered to her that I was, in fact, going to college and that this was a part-time job. At that moment, my manager showed up behind me and asked the lady to repeat herself, which she stupidly did. She had a smug look on her face as she explained that she was the customer and the customer is ALWAYS right and that she just needed this coupon to be applied. I wanted to punch her in the face.
My manager stood there and looked at her for a few seconds, and then began taking all of her already bagged items out of their bags.
‘What the hell are you doing?!’ the witch screeched.
Slowly and calmly, my manager said, ‘Ma’am, I will not let you stand here and ridicule and abuse my employees. I am going to have to ask you to leave. We no longer wish to do business with you.’
She stared at us wide-eyed and red in the face, and then looked behind her to see a long line of customers all looking back at her. She sputtered. She cried. She threw a tantrum. Her young daughter behaved better than this grown woman! It was insane.
She took her purse and her cards, grabbed her daughter’s hand, and stormed out, while screaming, ‘I AM NEVER COMING BACK HERE AGAIN!!! I AM GOING TO CALL YOUR BOSS AND HAVE YOU ALL FIRED! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!?’
My manager chuckled, and then told me that I could go take a breather in the back because at that point I probably looked like I had seen a ghost.”
Share if you also think the manager did the right thing and deserves recognition!
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