"Are you a bad customer?" MSN

Yes, we have all felt taken advantage by a retailer one way or another, but how did you handle it? The old saying in business is "a disgruntled customer will tell at least 10 other people about thier complaint".

This may be true but how often have you met their friends and would you want them shopping with you? Sure, this assumption may not always be true, but as a manager in retail, I have to say I hated conceeding to the "squeeky wheel" and the nice customers always went by the rules and often should have had concessions made for them.

I can tell you so many stories about customers lying, trying to find the loop holes and believing such behavior is okay because they deserve an exception.

All I can tell you is read the fine print. I picked up a target paper today. I was so impressed with the entertainment cabinet shown, it was only $78! I warned my friend not to get so excited...It sounds too good to be true...and it was. The center component was $78, but the matching shelves...who even knows.

Believe me, I gave excellent service to my customers, I believe they are the people who kept me with my job, however, some of those customers ruined things for others. When I told a man that we maintained policies that were enforced across the board to ensure all of our customers could be confident in their purchases and all customers were treated fairly. He told me "life is not fair!" I told him, "I know that but at least I could make sure that was not the norm at my store."

Another customer asked me to reduce an item more than it was already drastically reduced. I checked the item to see if it could have been mismarked. It was not. When I explained to her our guidelines and the price, she said..."well, I didn't want to give you a sob story, but I guess I will have to. " She continued, " I just put all of my 3 children in private school and this desk is out of my price range."

So, because she has 3 children that she chose to put in private school, it was my companies' responsibility to sell her something at a loss? I politely asked her if she would like to look at another item that my still meet her needs, but more in her price range. She was not happy.


All we ask it the retail industry, respect the policies, be responsible for your actions and treat the staff as if they are human. Can I say that there are lessons for retailers to learn? Yes, treat the customers fairly, with understanding and remember they pay your bills. As a manager, learn to back your policies, your people and most of all don't sell out your staff just to avoid a complaint or conflict.

We have to be savy consumers, we have to read the fine print, we have to know our budgets and stick by them and finally treat others as you would be treated.