pflowers

Just interested in everyone's opinion on this, do you think the customer should always be right?

I own an outdoor activity centre and don't mind saying that together with the staff we work bloody hard to be the best at what we do and give everyone the best possible experience whilst keeping a careful eye on safety.

Don't get me wrong, considering how many people we deal with we get very few issues and if we have messed up we do everything we can to put it right and keep the customer happy. However there are some people that just can't be pleased and are downright unreasonable.

And here lies the problem, as I said above I take a lot of pride in what we do and therefore take it personally when people can't be reasoned with. Im afraid if someone insults me or my business or staff for no reason I end up losing it and it turns into a full on slanging match, I just won't sit there, take it and give hem a free apple pie like McDonald's do!

Any tips on how to deal with situations without backing down but at the same time not blowing my top would be appreciated!

My wife calls me Basil Fawlty!

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

http://www.nwpgmd.nhs.uk/dentistry/c...0People%20.pdf

Lots of our mob go on courses like the above, loads of training orgaisations run them.........still makes little difference IMHO

Shaun

scoobeenut

Some people can never be reasoned with no matter how much you try and it is pointless trying. Best thing to do in these circumstances is to remain professional and not loose your rag even if you want to.

pslewis

Very few issues = you are doing 99% perfect ...... let the 1% roll ....... don't worry about it.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like you need some training in conflict management. In answer to your question, the customer ISNT always right, but they ARE ALWAYS the customer.

There are only so many customers to go around, so try not to upset too many of them or you'll end up with none.

Also worth remembering, for every one customer you upset, they will tell upto 11 people, who will tell upto another 3 people. Before you know it, your ONE upset customer turns into alot.

If you cant deal with criticism, I'd suggest finding someone who can and get them to deal with complaints. Either that or learn to control your anger and/or get some training.

fitzscoob

As tempting as it is to lose your temper you above all should be keeping your cool. The buck stops with you, you're responsible for your staff and customers, they need to know that you can deal with all problems in a professional way. We all have customers who are a pain in the ***, it's the price of being in charge.

cster

I think the trick here is to recognise and avoid.
Trust the force Luke!

pflowers

Thanks for all the pointers, much appreciated, and right!

pslewis, you are absolutely right, we get very few complaints and the reason for that is because if we have messed up we put it right, no questions asked.

Looks like I just need to accept that the odd idiot is inevitable and not to take it personally.

john banks

It is just dealing with the general public. Just enjoy the 99% that are great to deal with, if you find that figure much lower you might be the problem, but it doesn't sound like it.

Turbohot

No.

Quite.

yep, this is exactly where the problem lies.

Yeah. Just take a few deep breaths, let them make themselves look like twohats as long as they want, and then stick them outside. Tell them that they are banned from your shop and they should never bother coming back. Take no ****, but do it in a way that you don't dirty your clothes- much. You might still get slagged off for banning an abusive 'victim', but imagine what that customer's friends would say to him/her- "Banned from an outdoor activity shop? What a plonka! Haha! " You see, There are better ways to take revenge.

Another bright idea is that you start acting dead nice to them when they give you some verbal. You even give them a cold glass of water for their custom. Then, you give them a freebee as a peace offering. That freebee is a duff compass; guiding them to the North when they wanna go South on their hiking venture. When they get lost, you can have a belly full of laugh.

Customer or not, some people are just unreasonable, pflower. Take no sh!te. Customer isn't always right.

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Quite possibly, the worst customer service advice I have ever read lol.

Turbohot

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

This^

I honestly think that some people go out with the intention of moaning and complaining, even wishing to attempt to upset or anger another person. The best thing to do is try your very best to remain calm and not rise to the bait as hard as it may be. I'll be honest, I haven't mastered that 100% yet.

The customer most certainly isn't always right, even if they like to think they are. All you can do is avoid an argument, but if they are being abusive, ask them to leave. I totally understand that customers can get frustrated, but there is no excuse to be abusive to staff (unless of course the member of staff has been that way first).

Saxo Boy

The customer is not always right. The trick is finding the cheapest and most efficient way to get them to leave thinking they are and that you agreed with them

Boro

iTrader: (1)

The main reason problems occur is because we don't ask the customer WHY they think they are right. They assume we know why they are upset, we think we know why they are upset.

Surprising how different the two can be until you actually ask them WHY.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Not always the case.

A couple of weeks ago, I was helping a woman chose some blinds. At first, she said she had written down the sizes in feet and inches, so I got a tape measure so we could convert the sizes into metric. This may seem straight forward, and at first it was, but trying to explain that in a general shop that blinds only come in set sizes and she would need to cut them down was completely lost on her. Then the next thing was her next size was just in inches, again fine, use the measure. By this point, I'd been with her for a good 10/15 minutes helping her and answering all of her questions as she did come across a bit lost. Then the last measurement made no sense, she said it was a small window but written down she had 12/6, I can't recall the drop size she had, so I simply said I wasn't sure how she had measured it as it had two figures, but if it was just 12 inches the smallest we stocked was 24. At this point she turned into a crazy woman shouting at me because I wasn't helping her and that she didn't like my attitude. All I said is I wasn't sure what the measurement was and I didn't want to send her away with the wrong thing, to which she replied that she didn't know either and that is why she was asking me.

I'm sorry, but how the hell can I know what size her window is? I can understand if I wasn't being helpful, but I'd spent a fair amount of time with her, until a point where I couldn't help any more, and I was polite in explaining this. It ended in her telling me to go away and she would work it out herself?????????????

This type of customer is not uncommon.

Turbohot

I wonder if she was after 12 inches by 6 inches blind, she must be wanting the blind for her cat flap. If she meant 12 ft by 6 ft, she must be wanting it for the church window. In either case, it sounds as if she was frustrated over the fact that you just didn't get her. I'm not saying that its your fault, but there is an answer to Boro's WHY here.

I mean, if someone starts to speak in Chinese with me, I won't understand them either; WHY or no WHY.

scoobeenut

Some people will become difficult and unreasonable to cover up there own ignorance.

This can go one of two ways, they either require even more time and patience to sort out the problem or they dig their heals in and refuse to accept any reasoning. The trick is understanding when they are beyond help and then sending them to your competitor.

The Pink Ninja

iTrader: (23)

In a word....No, They are always the customer and that's as far as it goes, I worked in retail/sales/management for 10 years and the attitude of some customers was disgusting and it was only getting worse, That was 4/5 years back now and I no longer have to deal with the public

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Well done for getting out.

I honestly don't think some people know what it can be like. Whether that is because it's a sector they don't work in, due to exactly what they do if they class themselves as working within customer services, where they are based etc.

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

No, she just didn't know how she had measured the window. She said it was small, so I went with it most likely being 12 inches, as I explained to her if it was 12ft 6 it would be huge, and even displayed that by saying it would be twice the size of the widest blind we sell. As I say, she had 12/6 written for the width, she had the drop written separately (I just can't recall the measurement for that) so I am still yet to know what 12/6 meant. She didn't know what the measurements meant that she had written down, and she was getting frustrated simple as that. It wasn't a case of me not getting her as such, as like I said earlier, she admitted she didn't know what measurement she had used.

Ideally, I would have liked to fully help her, as I had spent a fair amount of time with her already, I didn't want that to be wasted, plus if I look at it from a purely company point of view, I want money in the till. Like many retailers, every sale counts especially at the moment, so the last thing I want is to lose a sale.

scoobeenut

So if the customer didn't know what she wanted, you could have sold her anything and she wouldn't have known any better. When she came back later because it didn't fit you just say those were the measurements you gave me. Job done

Lisawrx

iTrader: (1)

Very true, I could've done this and on reflection, perhaps that would've been better. I had to make a call, based on how she had behaved up until this point and I thought I was doing the right thing by saying I wasn't sure of her measurements.

Based on the way she reacted to that (and what actually happened the following day), I was fairly sure, if I had just sold her anything and she needed to return it, she would've only complained that I had sold her the wrong thing even though she'd given me the sizes. Whatever I did, she wouldn't have been happy, and she was potentially going to complain. No matter what scenario it was, it would be my word against mine, and naturally, I would be in the wrong.

legb4rsk

Is the customer always right?


Yes,if it's me.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Losing your cool is so not cool, i used to get all the "screamers" when i worked for vodafone.

My approach was firm but fair, ask them how they would like the situation to be resolved, always has a way of putting them on the back foot and calms the screaming down by making them think of something other than shouting and complaining, be understanding and empathise whilst also letting them know your the man that can solve the problem, not the cause of the problem.

Always be polite and if they are rude let them know in no uncertian terms that you will not tollorate abuse and are not there to be abused but to resolve the issue, be direct.

You need to adopt a i'm the man that can attiude, but don't **** with me, it's all about sick ology, i get a kick out of being the one in control when some idiot was losing it, quite amusing, then at the end when it's all happy campers you get to walk away knowing you were the bigger man and you left a happy customer behind, much nicer than getting a headache and being p1ssed off for the rest of the day.

TelBoy

I could never work with the public. I'd kill everybody.

Leslie

Seems logical to me to listen to the complaint,if the customer is right than put it all to rights,and if he isn't just explain politely to him why!

Les

Luan Pra bang

Some people are just arseholes, I once had a guy call me a **** because the chef made a mistake and gave him Douphinoise instead of mash with his meal, we ended up outside with his mum having to stand between us to stop him getting a beating.

Turbohot

Well, the aftermath of the latter isn't always so pleasant. Not all customers are reasonable enough to eat a humble pie and admit their fault without causing a scene. That's where the seller loses his/her temper, you know. Customer mentality is that parting with money is the biggest favour to the seller. Even when the customer is at fault, he/she doesn't p!ss off without a fight, in a hope to yield something out of the seller.Or, at least to ruin seller's reputation in public. I think its blackmail.

Saying that, there are some terrible sellers/service providers as well, and an awkward (ok, assertive) customer is just right for that sort.

pflowers

agree 100%