The Customer Isn't Always Right

Who Is Always Right?  

        A customer walks into the Verizon Wireless store with a wet phone and tells customer service that her phone accidently fell in the toilet. She wants her phone replaced and needs it today as her business relies on it. The customer service representative tells her there is nothing he can do, as she does not have insurance on her phone and the warranty does not cover water damage. She can purchase another phone and offers to give her a discount of the phone. The customer yells that this is unacceptable and demands a new phone.  She thinks she is entitled to a new phone because of the amount of money she spends on a yearly basis with Verizon and does not think she should have to pay for a new phone.  The old adage of “Is the customer always right” comes into play.  Is she right? Is she entitled to a new phone just because she is the customer and Verizon does not want to lose her to the competition? The customer is not always right just because they think they are. Allowing customers to believe they are always right sets the standard for how business should be conducted; therefore, businesses need to find a balance between making the customer happy and not being taken advantage of.

        According to Joe Fontana “ The customer is always right is considered by many to be the golden rule of business. Some think the term originated by Chicago department store legend Marshall Field, his employee Harry Gordon Selfridge, or French Hotelier Cesar Ritz who said, the customer is never wrong.”(Fontana 9) They advocated that customer complaints should be treated seriously so that they should not feel cheated or deceived. There are still some businesses out there that hold true and steadfast by this “Golden Rule” of customer service: still other businesses have progressed to a more forward thinking attitude when it comes to dealing with customer complaints and issues.  

        One of the more successful companies of the 21st century is Amazon.com. The website founder and CEO Jeff Bezos attributes the success of his company over the past twelve years to the unique customer experience provided to its customers. Amazon.com stands behind the fact they are willing to correct mistakes, even those that are not its fault. For example, Amazon replaced, for free, a PlayStation controller that was supposed to be shipped to a customer’s house, but never arrived. Amazon’s customer service department is rated excellent and not because mistakes aren’t made, but because they strive to correct mistakes with no questions asked. Bezos said “We’re not competitor obsessed. We start with what the customer needs and we work backward. Focusing on the customer makes a company more resilient.” (LeClaire 2)

        On the contrary, Verizon Wireless has a huge customer base and, although they strive for customer satisfaction, they stand behind policy and will rarely deviate from this policy. They refuse to let customers take advantage of them. Just as in the example of the women with the soaking wet phone, the cause of broken phone was an accident, but she was offered and declined insurance on her phone. This insurance option is offered for just such instances when the warranty is not applicable, such as water damage.  Was she entitled to a free phone? Verizon doesn’t think so, but still tries by offering to help offset the cost of a new phone with a discounted price on a new phone.         

        There has to be a balance between the two sides of “customer is always right” dilemma. Although both companies cited in the examples take different approaches with customer service, both companies are also very successful. Is there really a right answer to the question of customer service? Businesses seek to answer this question everyday. Pacifying an angry customer does not have to mean choose sides over an employee either. In fact, siding with customers who a most definitely wrong can hurt customer service over the long run. This can result in unhappy employees who stop caring about customer service. Dierschow explains, “The customer’s decisions are to be respected. Each person is an independent entity, with individual needs and desires.” (Dierschow 17)        

Kiisel points out, “Customers are not always right for a few reasons. These reasons can include: irrational expectations, not being sure of what it is they really want, and most likely the day to day life of the customer plays a big impact on how the customers emotions play out in the store.” (Kiisel 1)

Irrational expectations can stem from the way products are presented in media ads. Kiisel also states, “ In fairness, sometimes we allow, and even facilitate unrealistic expectations with our customers.” (Kiisel 3) Customers think that a product will perform a miracle and that is not always the case. Some customers hear what they want to hear and have set unrealistic expectations in their head before ever arriving at the store to purchase it. When these unrealistic expectations are not met there can be a conflict. Each instance should be handled individually and with the understanding that the customer really believes their point of view.         

Sometimes customers don’t really know what they want, but it is the job of a successful company to find out what is it that they really do want. Everyone has inherent basic needs and when a successful business can appeal to those needs the customer’s ability to say no starts to go away. These inherent needs can include safety, security, and value. A business can fulfill that need and provide a memorable and personal experience to the customer without sacrificing profit or employee morale. “We need to uncover what our customers really want because they often can’t think out of their current paradigm to consider something new or revolutionary.” (Kiisel 2)

How a customer feels before they even enter the store to purchase the product can play a part in how customers perceive the service they receive. For example, recently an older woman comes through the drive thru at a local pizza place. She doesn’t say much and has a horribly mean look on her face the entire time the order is being placed.  The order takes a little longer to get ready then the employee previously stated and the customer is getting visibly irritated. When the order finally arrives to the waiting customer in the drive-thru window, the customer is silent but irritated. Without being prompted the customer service representative offers an apology and the customers money back.  The customer’s expression immediately changes and the woman begins to cry. She explains her mother just passed away and she was distraught over what to do about dinner. She continued to say that the kindness of the store manager had helped brighten an otherwise bad day and she left with a smile. Most sales people and businesses forget to take into account that customers have a life outside of their store and that this particular person may have just gotten a raise or this person over here has just gotten fired. It is important to build a rapport with customers and take the time to understand the underlying cause of the customer complaint.