I find that the 3 Laws of Robotics is helpful here.
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Applied to customer service...
A customer service technician may not injure a customer or, through inaction, allow a customer to come to harm.
A customer service technician must obey orders given him/her by customers except where such orders would conflict with the First Law or management.
A customer service technician must protect his/her job as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Put another way, the customer service technician needs to look-out for the customer's best interests although management always rules. Even if this costs you your job because the guilt you will feel fucking over a customer lives with you much later.
I spent 4 years in customer service and I say, HELL NO! While I agree that the employee should be polite and pleasant, we should be able to stick up for ourselves in certain cases. This "customer is always right" mentality and policy has only lead to toxic behavior from customers who abuse this, because they expect you to just stay quiet and take it. I eventually said, "fuck it", and it cost me my job, but it was worth it. Assholes need to be put in their place. The U. S. and maybe Japan are really the only countries I know that have this. Everywhere else I've been in the world, being nice isn't a pre-requist for a customer service job, especially if the customer is the aggressor.
I've seen really obnoxious behavior on the customers side, the cashier was almost in tears. Then the professional defense started trickling down the wait line for the cashier. I was proud of everyone. The customer is not always right. When they are unnecessary jerks they should and need to be called out. Some people behave in ways they've been allowed to get away with.
The customer can't always be right. Sometimes they can be unreasonable, to say the least. But it is a good customer service attitude to have, but only to an extent.
I'm mostly influenced in Japan so I say, "yes", but sometimes the customer is "right" that I want to blow up their house.
It is like gentleman should always pay for dates but a lady-like woman doesn't ask at Outback Steakhouse what the most expensive top-shelf tequila is and order the entire bottle. It's a two-way thing.
So it's incomplete to say the customer is always right if the customer is often an asshole. We need "the customer is never an asshole".
I'd say it's a good way to think as long as you don't take it too literally. At least give them the benefit of the doubt.
I don't think it's like that in other places, but here in the US most companies have to kiss the customer's ass to keep customers and stay in business. But that may be slowly changing since we have been losing competition in the name of globalization. Competition is the key, but we are slowly losing it.
No and that goes for all industries. My experience the customer is rarely ever right. And more often than not the customer is borderline brain damaged.
That old adage makes me think of a guy in a movie who, after entering a fast food joint a trifle late to get something from the breakfast menu, pulled a machine gun and demanded it.
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