What Ever Happened to the Customer is Always Right?

EZINE_Header

Inside The Edge

About
My
Four Cents

PenniesPalm_Handsmall

Jamie O’Neill’s “My Four Cents” articles offer a great change of pace from the typical literature you may find on a management consultant or leadership development web site. Most of the time, self-improvement is about assessing and amending your personal skills; however, every once in a while it is necessary to take a step back from it all and consider broader topics like your personal values and goals. “My Four Cents” forces you to do exactly that.

With her down-to-earth and practical perspectives, Jamie offers a view of the world that everyone can derive some value from. The articles in this section allow you to remove yourself from day to day trails and focus on what you consider to be truly important in your life. So take the time to read a few; we think they will really help… but hey, that’s just our four cents.

I was born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswick and like a lot of people my age, back then most families shopped at the local Co-op Grocery store (remember when membership had its privileges?). As a child I was fascinated by the large bold lettering that was plastered against the wall of the Record Street Co-op store my parents shopped. The lettering read:

Rule #1 – The customer is always right

Rule #2 – If the customer is ever wrong, please re-read Rule #1

At the time I thought the rules were funny, but fast forward 25 years, those rules instilled in me the importance of customer service and respect for the people that help pay my bills. Case in point, you’ll never believe what happened to me.

A few weeks ago I stopped into my local gas station, as I do every Monday morning on my way home from my early morning work-out. Not wanting to take my wallet to the gym, I simply stuffed $40 in my pants pocket before leaving the house so that I could get gas on my way home. This day was especially cold and while I was pumping I accidently pumped $40.04 (for those of you that hate math, I was now officially 4 cents short).

Keep in mind, I have been buying gas from the same person at the same gas station for 4 years - this woman knows who I am. When I went in to explain that I only had $40 with me, the women behind the counter looked at me like I was robbing the store. Her exact words were “Can you imagine if we let every one of our customers take an extra $0.04 in gas each time they visited this store? We’d be out of business.”

I was shocked, embarrassed, and for once in my life, speechless. Where does she get off speaking to me like that? Does she not remember that I visit her store every Monday morning. I am a valued customer with choices and the last time I looked, that wasn’t the only gas station on the block.

Needless to say, I went home and got the 4 cents, went back to the gas service attendant and slammed the money down on the counter. She will never have the pleasure of seeing my smiling face every Monday mornings. She blew it, and for what, 4 cents. The sad thing though is that the company will be the one paying for her mistake.

Like I said, this was a few weeks ago. My anger has subsided a little. Companies live and die on their reputation and the service they provide to their customers. We do not live in a world that accepts poor customer service. So the next time you have the opportunity, treat others how you like to be treated – ah yes, the Golden Rule. And remember, how you act not only reflects on you as a human being, but the company that you work for – but that’s just my 4 cents!