The Bad Customer
by Anonymous
"The customer is always right" is worst slogan ever. The truth is the customer is not always right. If a company messes up then fine it's their responsibily to fix it. However, is it the companies fault that the customer made the error and should they really have to fix it? What about the things completely out of their control?
A few examples; your cell phone isn't working. There are a number of reasons for this. First off it's wireless. There are never any guarentees about service for this factor alone. Maybe you haven't paid your bill in three months and it got suspended. Is this the companies fault?
My favorite is a natural disaster has happend. This is in no way the companies fault. However some customers feel that it is very importent to call and scream and the poor soul who answers the phone. Where's the logic in this?
Let's say you order supplies from a company and it arrives damaged. It's the company's responsibility to replace the item and no company would refuse to do so. Now let's say you receive a perfectly fine item, however, you did not read the instruction manual and was arrogant about proper care for this item. Do you think it should be replaced by the company 6 months later? A lot of people do. To them both scenarios are the same and the company should "make it better"
I think the most annoying situation of all are those who demand, not ask but demand in a belligerant manner for further discounts or free items because they think they "deserve" it. Really, why? The biggest reason given is because they spend "so much money". Now this only applies to certain indrustries. Here's why. You spend 39.99 every month on a service. Going back to the cell phone: should you get a free top of the line phone three month into your contract. The answer is no! Wireless companies are the only utility company who have to put up with this.
You don't ask your cable provider for a free t.v., or the gas company for a furnace.
Let's say you order supplies from a company every two weeks. You have done this for 6 years. Are you entitled to further discounts or free items? Here's the deal: you would never go grocery shopping and at the till ask for further discounts or free items. You have spent 6 years shopping there every two weeks. So what's the difference?
In conclusion, while I agree that some companies under train their employees and restrict access to some useful tools, 75% of the time, bad customer service starts with bad customers. Would you want to help somebody who screams and calls you names from the get go because they think it's going to get them what you want? I'm sure the answer is no. Not every customer is bad and believe it or not it is a joy to talk to these people. The problem is for every good customer there is 20 bad ones. So the next time you call customer care, think about 3 things:
who is really responsible, is it really worth the fight, and are you being reasonable with your request?
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