Customer Is Always Right
I used to work for a particularly large company doing tech support. One day the guy working next to me was dealing with a particularly rude business customer. The business customers were usually treated like kings, but this guy was having a particularly hard time even getting a word in.
Eventually he put up his hand to motion to the supervisor come talk to the customer. Right then, the owner of the company happened to be walking by with another one of the execs. I’ve met the guy a few times at the company social events, and he is a really down-to-earth, employee-friendly boss. He asked what the issue was with his customer and after it was explained, he took the headset and picked up the line.
After listening for about 4-5 minutes, he said very flatly, “That’s never going to happen, especially not when you have an attitude like a 13-year-old girl”. Then he said, “I don’t have a manager. I own this company and I don’t have to listen to this from a jerk like you and neither do my employees. I’m terminating your account with us”.
He hung up and I watched him disable this guy’s account and add a note to the file. “Customer is a jerk. Do not reinstate account – Boss”. Then he just handed back the headset and carried on about his day.