The Customer Is Usually Wrong.

I want to personally find and subsequently punch in the throat whoever coined the phrase, "The customer is always right." This phrase has turned consumers into whiney, ungrateful, scamming pieces of shit.  It has also made the retail employee's job that much harder.  It is bad enough we have to sift through the misinformation (see my previous post, The Internet Does Not Make You Smart), but add to that their very skewed perception of business ethics and we have a war just to avoid giving everything away for free every time someone launches a complaint.

A few weeks ago, an angry customer came in wanted a refund on a VERY old and abused product. Said customer argued with my co-worker for awhile about how we should refund this because it shouldn't have broken so quickly.  By him dropping it.  In water.  How dare an electronic device not work after treating it with such care and proper use?! After the "lowly sales associate" (his words, not mine) was unable to refund his money, he demanded to talk to a manager.  That's cool, dude.  They are going to tell you the same story....

After he whined about the product's "failure to perform," our manager decided not to refund the customer's money.  It was a ridiculous request so I'm not quite sure why he was surprised..  Well, this guy was PISSED.  We actually thought his spout of random profanities was the end of his tantrum.  We were incorrect.  Instead, this guy pulls out his phone and dials 911.  NINE ONE ONE.  What the fuck, dude?   What has to go wrong in your brain to make you think this is the best use of the number that exists for life or death emergencies?!  Furthermore, what the fuck do you think the police can do about it?  Save for egregious lack of ethics, law enforcement can't really do much.  Enforcing store policy that is available to every customer on their receipt (thus binding them contractually to these terms) is hardly grounds for their involvement.

When the 911 dispatcher picked up, he started screaming at the top of his lungs into the phone, "Yes. Hi.  I am at *insert store I work for here* and they are refusing to refund my money for their piece of shit, defective product.  I need an officer out here immediately.  This is fucking bullshit!  I want my fucking refund.  No.  You send someone out here right fucking now.  I am the customer!  I am always right!"  Clearly they were not on the same page.

Needless to say, 911 dispatch hung up on him.  Moron.