No matter how much money you have, everyone likes a good deal.
You could pay for your Forever 21 purchase with gold bars and diamonds and still find satisfaction in swimming through an ocean of last season’s clothes for a killer half-priced blouse.
But, there’s a difference between taking advantage of a great sale and just plain taking advantage.
We’ve all been in a situation similar to watching an unreasonable, I- have-nothing-better-to-do soccer mom tear her waitress apart for putting sliced cheese on the burger instead of shredded.
Within minutes, there’s a manager at the table, the burger is on the house, a free piece of cake has been offered (and eaten) and soccer mom is still walking out the door with a frown on her face.
I call it “leeching.”
For whatever reason, some customers just refuse to be satisfied.
They actually want to have a service encounter go south so they can take as much as physically possible from the situation.
The customer is always right? I don’t think so.
There’s nothing right about someone renting a perfectly nice hotel room, trashing it and then demanding a full refund because the room “doesn’t meet expectations.”
And there’s definitely nothing right about screaming at every visible employee about things they can’t control.
Bouncy Castle, Inc. can’t help if you scheduled your kid’s outdoor birthday party on the day of a hurricane. No amount of yelling will redirect the storm and stop the pink bouncy castle you rented from blowing away and taking your five year old and all her friends with it.
Working in the service industry is hard because having a good product is only the halfway mark to success.
The other 50 percent comes from serving it with a giant smile on your face, no matter how horrible the person buying it may be.
Basically, no company can benefit from purposely sabotaging a customer’s experience because without the customer, there is no company.
And I’ll let you in on a little business secret: as soon as a company realizes you won’t be satisfied no matter what they do, they’ll happily let you and your nasty attitude walk out the door.
Wasting time and resources on a customer who doesn’t want to be happy or do business with you again doesn’t make any economic sense.
Maybe this is something I understand as a marketing major, or maybe it’s just common sense.
Because of this, you’re far better off just being a pleasant person. Stop causing scenes and writing letters to corporate offices.
When your salad comes covered in dressing even though you ordered it on the side, calmly send the plate back and wait five more minutes for a new one.
The time and effort you spend being a jerk is nearly triple the time it would take to just be nice.
And the chances of you getting what you want and then some are much greater when you show your experience can at least be salvaged.
Mistakes happen and time is sometimes even more valuable than money. Don’t waste yours and everyone else’s by being a scumbag.
Spending your day ruining others’ is a tiresome way to live.
