The "Customer is always right" quote... UNKNOWN???

by Tom
(Grapevine, Texas)

Why do you have UNKNOWN as the credit for the quote "The customer Is Always Right"?

The American-born businessman Harry Gordon Selfridge settled in London in 1906 and opened Selfridge & Co Ltd in Oxford Street in 1909, introducing American marketing and advertising techniques with striking success.

He is credited for the advertising quotation "the customer is always right" in both England and America.

Answer

Date: December 20th, 2007

Ehm, well... fumble, fumble... (slowly turning red).

Ah yes, Tom, thank you for setting the record straight... :-X

I learned this quote from one of those huge block that Stew Leonard stores have in front with their customer policy:

Rule #1: The customer is always right!

Rule #2: If the customer is wrong, re-read rule #1.

But someone said it wasn't Stew Leonard's quote, so I just kept it at UNKNOWN at this article:
The Customer Is Always Right, Right?

But after your little history lesson, I have corrected this omission.

Thank you for sharing!

At your service,

Erwin.

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The "Customer is always right" quote... UNKNOWN???

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Feb 13, 2009

The customer is always right
by: Anonymous

I believe the original statement was "The customer is never wrong".
Think about it, it makes a lot more sense...

Apr 09, 2011

caveat
by: Anonymous

I believe the actual quotation was "In matters of taste, the customer is always right". As such, if the customer believes that the red shoes are the prettiest of all, she is "right".
On the other hand, if the customer believes that because her shoes fell apart after 3 years of use that you should replace them for free, I don't think anyone would agree that she is "right".

Apr 29, 2011

Happy
by: Stew Leonard

Why is the customer always right?

Because ONLY HAPPY CUSTOMERS COME BACK!

In business, if you tell your customer they are wrong, you run the risk of losing that customer forever.

It costs a lot less to agree with them and do whatever it takes to win them back then you could ever save by trying to prove to them that they are wrong.

I agree with Caesar Ritz, who said back in the early nineteen hundreds, THE CUSTOMER IS NEVER WRONG.

May 25, 2011

George Boldt
by: Anonymous

Also check out George Boldt. I had read that he coined that phrase in the late 1800's. He is the one who made the Waldorf-Astoria the epitome of service. In fact, he was the first to introduce a new concept to hotels called 'room service".

May 25, 2011

How Can I Help You "
by: Anonymous

If you always ask the customer "How Can I Help You " and find out what the customer wants by Listening , and help them get it , You are both forever right !!You have two satisfied people!
M. Walter Levine

Jun 06, 2011

Just to be clear
by: Anonymous

My Dad always said " I may not always be right but I am never wrong!
This could also apply to the customer philosophy by replacing the "I" with "they".

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