Notice she didnt’ say “Because you are my mother.” But rather “Because it’s mother day.” If she had said it any other day, Marla might not have been as patient.
“The customer is always right” does not mean the customer has the right to be an offensive jerk, or unreasonable. It means that if you’re a retailer, you carry what the public wants. If they want strawberry and you’re only carrying chocolate and vanilla, you’re not listening to your customer base. That’s all it was ever intended to mean. Corporations, however, essentially invented the more commonly understood meaning by caving into abusive customers and not supporting their employees. As a result, customers came to understand that they could be as abusive as they want or as offensive as they want and corporate would give them the sun, the moon, and the stars. This emboldened them until retail became the Hell so many workers have come to know and detest.
Marla is right. When I was a teenager my mother took my sister and me out to breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict and hated it because of the Hollandaise sauce. I had never had Hollandaise sauce before and didn’t know I’d hate it. I couldn’t send it back because there was nothing wrong with it and it wasn’t their fault I hated the sauce.
My mother and i went into the store where i worked at the time on my only day off that week. She told a customer I worked there.
She worked one summer in a drugstore in the early 1970s and claimed she understood customers.
Notice she didnt’ say “Because you are my mother.” But rather “Because it’s mother day.” If she had said it any other day, Marla might not have been as patient.
“The customer is always right” does not mean the customer has the right to be an offensive jerk, or unreasonable. It means that if you’re a retailer, you carry what the public wants. If they want strawberry and you’re only carrying chocolate and vanilla, you’re not listening to your customer base. That’s all it was ever intended to mean. Corporations, however, essentially invented the more commonly understood meaning by caving into abusive customers and not supporting their employees. As a result, customers came to understand that they could be as abusive as they want or as offensive as they want and corporate would give them the sun, the moon, and the stars. This emboldened them until retail became the Hell so many workers have come to know and detest.
Marla is right. When I was a teenager my mother took my sister and me out to breakfast. I ordered eggs benedict and hated it because of the Hollandaise sauce. I had never had Hollandaise sauce before and didn’t know I’d hate it. I couldn’t send it back because there was nothing wrong with it and it wasn’t their fault I hated the sauce.
I believe the full quote is “The customer is always right in matters of taste.” Puts a whole different meaning to it. Doesn’t it?