Today’s post is the first of what I hope to be many submission on “Don’t Be This Customer” – customer stories told from the employee’s view. The following was sent in by Jim from Atlanta, Ga. Take a look and see if you agree on how he handled the situation:
I work at Target, and I always put my best effort forward when providing
customer service. In fact, it’s my favorite part of my job. Now, I work in
the electronics department, where Target gets about fifty percent of its
profit. So not only are the team members of that department responsible for
making more sales than the others, we have to answer more questions and take
more returns (not including the customer service desk, of course). This
brings me to one of my biggest pet peeves. As anyone with experience in
retail will tell you, it’s impossible to please everyone. And when I speak
to one of these displeased people, the comment I most often receive is, “But
I’m the customer!” This would be a valid complaint if not for one word:
“the.” No single person is ever *the* customer, he or she is *a* customer.
And there is a huge difference.
For example, one day, exactly one minute before my shift was to end, a
customer asks me if we have a certain DVD player in stock. Rather than
refer her to the team member taking over for the next shift, I decide to go
the extra mile and check for her. I informed her that we were out of that
model and apologized. She proceeded to shout at me about her frustration at
how poorly Target is supposedly run. She said that she bought the same
model DVD player previously, and that it was defective. She took it back
immediately, asking for a refund. Since she had thrown out the receipt, all
we could offer her was an exchange. The exchange was also defective. It
was a minor problem, so she kept it, rather than go through the hassle of
returning it again. An *entire year later*, the player completely broke
down and ruined one of her DVDs. Upon asking for a refund, she was told
that since the ninety day return period had ended, she could not return the
player. I politely asked what she would like us to do to help fix the
situation, and she yelled, “Y’all ought to do the right THING!” I inquired
what the “right thing” was, to which she screamed, “TAKE IT BACK! I’m THE
CUSTOMER for God’s sake!”
At this point, I was already about ten minutes late to clock out, so I told
her about our Guest Comment Cards and corporate hotline, since we at the
store level really have no control over Target’s policies. At the very
least, she was understanding about this. Still, I had already wasted
company time and money listening to a customer complain about a situation
that was entirely her fault. I have never heard of a company that would take
back a return a year after the purchase without a warrantee, and I’m sure
this particular customer hasn’t, ether. But she forgot one crucial thing:
she is *a* customer, not *the* customer.
Do you agree or disagree with how Jim handled the situation? What would you have done in the same situation? Tell me what you think!
If you’d like to read more from Jim about his real-life experiences or general musings, check out his blog at Jimboroni.com!
If you have a great customer service story to share, please send your submission to malvarez@thecustomerauthority.com.
