CUSTOMERS: Are they always right?
by Mike Puckett
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

More than a decade ago, I obtained my first job at a national hamburger joint. The one thing I distinctly remember is the training class I went through before I could start. The last thing the manager told me was "the customer is always right."

It's been years since I have actually dealt with customers in a restaurant or retail environment, but my experiences lately suggest this section has been deleted out of most corporate training manuals in the Greater Houston area.

Within the last three weeks, I have had bad experiences with two restaurants, a retail-clothing store and an electronics business. All of these places are nationally recognized, billion dollar corporations. I will go ahead and leave the names anonymous to protect the innocent - ME!

The restaurants were fast food, of course, the drive-thru type.

In both cases my order was lacking an item and both times, I had to actually drive back to the restaurant, go inside and demand to see a manager. After explaining my problem, the only answer I received was "How do I know you didn't just eat it?"

After raising my voice to a more understandable level, I explained that I would not lie or take the time to embarass myself to rob him of an item that cost less than a dollar.

The customer was definitely not right in either of these cases. Both situations ended with the exact same statement, "You should have checked your bag before you left the drive-thru window."

The electronics store problem involved a birthday present for my cousin that did not work. When I tried to exchange it, I was told there are no returns and no exceptions after a 30-day period.

The manager explained that the only thing I could do is send it back to the manufacturer, which would take four to six weeks.

Again, the customer was not always right, but the customer is getting smarter.

I have decided to buy the same item and, with my new receipt, take back the broken one.

The retail clothing store incident happened just a couple of days ago.

They, too, had a 30-day return policy, but at least they agreed to exchange my product for a gift card. The national chains had finally worn me down. I didn't argue I just tucked my tail between my legs and suffered my fate.

At one time, your word and your receipt where all you needed to get an order replaced when it wasn't right from the outset.

Those days are over; it's now us versus them. No more drive-through windows or national chains for me. I plan to do all my future shopping at local chains or "mom and pop" establishments. They are the only places that seem to realize the customer is still always right!

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