Time and again, those who work in customer service hear the ages-old mantra that the customer is always right.

But in our hectic society, customer entitlement and disrespectful behaviors occur daily and customer service workers, store workers and those who come in direct contact with people are the ones to take the worst hit.

This is what happened to one “home, garden, and building supply store” employee who recently shared their experience with a difficult customer on the Malicious Compliance subreddit.

“Are you gonna help me or not?!” the author suddenly heard a “raging harpy voice” coming from a “Wild Karen” customer. It was clear this was not going to end well.

A supply store worker shared how they handled a difficult customer by maliciously complying with her request

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“It seems to be more and more common for people to expect to be able to verbally abuse employees,” the author of this story told us

Bored Panda reached out to the author of this story to find out more about what happened. We asked the Redditor whether it was the first time that they had confronted such a difficult customer at work, and this is what they told us: “To the level of them almost physically harming me? Yes, that was a first. To the level of her attitude? No, sadly. I’ve dealt with people who were just as bad.” According to the author, it seems to be more and more common for people to expect to be able to verbally abuse employees.

If the author could go back in time to that situation, they would have walked away from her the moment the customer got hostile and not tried to stand their ground. “Knowing there was a manager nearby, I’d have let him handle her and let her get thrown out before it ever escalated.”

When dealing with a difficult customer, the author’s advice is to keep your tone professional, but give them back the same attitude they give you

For anyone who gets stuck in a similarly unpleasant situation with a difficult customer, the author’s advice is to give it back to them with a smile. “Keep your tone professional, but give them back the same attitude they give you. They treat you like an idiot? Do the same! ‘I’m not sure, ma’am, do you know?’”

The author added: “They want to be rude about you being too busy to instantly help them? ‘We’re currently hiring! We’d love the help making sure customers are helped quickly!’”

The entitlement mentality can be traced to the mantra “the customer is always right” popularized by the founder of Selfridge’s department store back in the 1900s

Image credits: Lisa Fotios (not the actual photo)

American consumer culture focuses a lot on making people feel special and people come to expect it. No wonder many customers feel like they have a right to act however they want towards others until they’re appeased. However, this attitude may, in turn, isolate the consumer and shape their view of the world, and the employees, as ‘me against them.’”

Entitlement mentality is also seen in the ages-old mantra “the customer is always right,” which shaped the relationship between buyer and seller in the early 1900s, the time when new department stores emerged.

“The idea behind this phrase is to instill a sense of quality customer support. It can also serve as a training mantra to push employees to make decisions that would benefit customers in hopes of building loyalty and trust,” Kumar Arora, a serial entrepreneur turned investor, explains for Forbes.

The author despises the ‘customer is always right’ mentality when used as an excuse for customers to mistreat the employees

The Redditor told us that they despise the mentality of “the customer is always right.” They explained: “The commonly assumed origin of the phrase, ‘the customer is always right in terms of taste,’ wasn’t a compliment. It was a way of saying let the customer buy ugly or gross things, its their money. And I can agree with that, let them buy what they want. But I despise the notion that it’s an excuse to act cruel to the person working where you’re making said purchase.”

The author was happy to answer a couple of questions in the comments

“Simply saying the customer is always right doesn’t make it so”

Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)

Today, however, the approach that the customer is always right is increasingly seen as outdated. Arora argues that one of the first reasons why that’s the case is very simple – there are wrong customers.

“Simply saying the customer is always right doesn’t make it so. Sometimes customers are wrong and employees need to know how to handle them accordingly. Taking ownership of a mistake that the business is not accountable for is a slippery slope.”

“Support your team first and then customers”

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Moreover, there are always going to be rude customers that your employees will have to come into direct contact with. “These customers are hard to manage, and despite your team’s best efforts, a positive outcome is not always possible,” Arora explained.

So if a business sides with these types of customers, they leave a negative impression on their employees. “If the customer is always right, employees have to take the abuse of customers with zero support from management. What happens next? Employees move on to opportunities that are not as filled with anxiety.” Any responsible business, argues Arora, should support its team first and only then, its customers.

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