How many of us have had it pounded into us that the customer is always right?  Well, after a couple of years in business for ourselves, we’ve determined that, although customer service is our number one goal, sometimes common courtesy escapes our customers. 

My husband was on his way home today when he received a phone call requesting a job be done this afternoon after 4 pm.  He turned around, headed back to the warehouse, picked up the glass, and headed to the person’s home to do the job.  He knocked on all three doors, waited for over 30 minutes, and called the customer several times.  Having spent over an hour just preparing for the job, he headed home with a windshield he doesn’t need, and $100 less than at lunchtime, as he paid for the glass up front.  He can return the glass on Monday, but we are less the money over the holiday weekend…a long weekend at that, with a bank holiday on Monday. 

I’m sure that this is a problem for big businesses, as well.  But the truth is, when you work for a big business, you’re paid regardless.  As a small business, we are affected by every cancelled job, every glass broken, every half tube of glue that goes bad, etc.  And wasted time is never beneficial! 

Over the last couple of years, we really have done our best to make our customers happy…100%.  And I know that we have succeeded probably 99% of the time, if not more.  We have had numerous calls from repeat customers, as well as many, many referral calls.  Most of our customers have been, at least, tolerable.  Most have been very friendly and helpful.  My husband has even become friends with some of the people he’s met on the job. 

What would have happened had the roles been reversed this afternoon?  What if my husband had simply not shown for his job?  My guess is that we would have seen one unhappy customer (or former customer). 

So…Is the customer really always right?  Yes…Sometimes!

Photo by borman818 via Flickr Creative Commons.