GuestsSuck!

Yep, I finally quit...

I'm getting more hours at the pharmacy I work at, so I've decided not
to go back to Target. I've been on leave for the past few months
during this past semester and it's felt great.

So my expertise in Target's policies may soon be outdated. Oh well.

Now that my semester is over (has been for a few weeks now) and I'm
less busy, I suppose we could roll out a new Compliment Week. I'm not
exactly sure when this week would be but it's been too long since the
last one.

Thoughts?

I was on lunch when this happened, but it's still pretty funny.

Some guy bought some sort of hair cut kit that came with an electric
razor. Apparently it didn't work. Instead of coming in to exchange it,
he goes to get a haircut wherever, then comes to return the razor and
says he wants to be reimbursed for the haircut he *had* to get because
the razor that Target sold him did not work.

Um, no.

or are there not as many letters coming through PFB at the moment?

I would love to see more compliment letters in the Top 25, I wonder
what could be coming up to change that? ;)

Stay tuned!

Include the word Target somewhere in your letter.

Yet again, we have some people complaining about "mean" commenters
here. Heck, you could even say I'm one of them (one of the "mean"
ones, that is).

So here are my thoughts on why people can be more harsh on the
internet than in everyday life:

First, there is always the anonymity of the internet but I don't think
that's the main cause here.

What I know for me is the big reason is that we can't "retaliate"
while we are working, and the customers know this. Some even expolit
it. So when we are here, we don't answer to anyone but ourselves. I
think that takes the breath out of some complainers because they are
(finally!) being told like it is. Then, when someone is "mean" to
them, their only course of action is to attack the opposing opinion.
They can't (easily) get anyone in trouble and some struggle with that.
Their "power" is gone.

I can say that if someone did something that really made me mad at
work, and then someone wrote in with a similar situation, I would go
off (and have gone off) on them.

I just don't see this ending until everyone treats everyone else with
respect. And being in retail and seeing how some people act, I can
safely say it will never end.

On the Today show, they did a story about Romney and his religion and
how it was affecting his presidential campaign. Well, if you don't
know already, Romney is a Mormon.

Well the Today show asked republicans if they would vote for a Mormon
for President. What scares the hell out of me is that 41% said no.
Simply because of what his religion he is, not taking ANY account of
what he has done or will do. That is sad.

Then Huckabee is playing the "I'm a Christian leader" card. So his
little gang is there to "support" him.

How shallow are people to only vote for someone based on their
religion? Apparently very.

And this is in NO way endorsing any of the republicans. I'm voting
democrat in the next presidential election, but I'm sure you could
have already guessed that.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22152482/

This is a story about a Christian "scientist" who was fired because he
wouldn't accept evolution, saying that the bible creates a true
account of how life started on Earth. Now he's sueing, of course.

The fact is that you cannot be a scientist if you believe what the
bible says about the creation of Earth. There is simply no way.
Scientists have to use the scientific method for ALL research and this
includes forming hypotheses and looking for evidence that either
supports or rejects that hypothesis.

Religion isn't science because you cannot test it. One is simply told
to just believe. That is not the way science works. Science is
everchanging, religion is not.

The case has already been thrown out once because the center he was
fired from focuses solely on evolutionary research. But he's trying
again, and I'm sure if he recruits other Christians with the idea that
Christianity is under attack (similar to this supposed War on
Christmas) it will be quite the story.

How I wish for an educated world...

So I was working at the pharmacy the other day, not the Target one
(whole other story!), and someone called looking for a specific
pharmacist. I told her that the one she was looking for wasn't
working, and she then asked if I was a pharmacist, and I told her,
"No, sorry, I'm just a student intern. Would you like to speak to
(other pharmacist working)?"

She says,
"Don't say you're 'just' a student intern, you're getting there!"

Made my day.

It is to know that there are understanding people out there.

After the recent troublesome episode on PFB, I'm hoping everything
returns to the way it was before the situation arose.

That being said, I have a new gameplan for myself.

I am going to try being more empathetic to letter writers, as this
will be a key tool in my future. I do know I need to work on this.
However, I can't promise I will always be this way as there are a lot
of unreasonable statements in letters. After seeing so many ridiculous
letters, some just start to wear on you. But, I will try my best to
see the other side of the situation, and explain my side as well.

He's old and confused. The world's passed him by and he's become
bitter and broken.

His opinions are irrelevant.

This really doesn't pertain to anyone, I'm just writing it to vent.

When a business has a per-situation policy, or a policy that is loose
enough to have most likely a manager apply the policy as they see fit,
there is unfairness. When a policy is bent for someone, that person
usually isn't grateful because the next time they are in the
situation, they will expect to get the exception again, and when they
don't, they complain. What most people don't know, is that when they
complain, they are shutting the door on themselves because the
business will get other similar complaints and scrap the whole
exception thing altogether.

Examples (at Target even, wow!):
The Salvation Army. Other groups wanted to solicit, but weren't
allowed, so they closed it for everyone.
The return policy. Exceptions were made. People exploited this.
Loopholes closed, and you can all see the results.
Gift registry. Used to have unlimited returns as long as it was on the
registry. People exploited this. Loopholes closed, and you can also
see the results.
Soon to be added? Coupons? If they get enough complaints, they will
restrict the coupons they will take.

Now, I'm not saying to not complain, as I believe things should be
applied fairly across the board. But people don't want to be treated
fairly. They want the business to view them as special and not like
others, and get upset when they aren't treated as such. You can't have
it both ways. You can't complain about getting exceptions one time and
not another AND complain about being treated fairly across the board.


Done!

Some people are quick to jump on someone else when they are being
"mean". People often complain that some of the commenters here are
just here to insult letter writers. I can say that from what I've seen
that I have not seen one person here who is only "mean" to letter
writers. Everyone has their moments, and some things just strike a
chord more forcefully with some than they do with others. If you think
they are being "mean", have you asked the person why they feel that
way? They may have a view you may have not considered.

I can say that I haven't been the nicest at times, and I'm pretty sure
that also goes for a vast majority of everyone here.

But everyone can't agree with the letter writer all of the time. It's
just not possible, especially when the letters are completely
ridiculous and/or unfounded in their claims.

With everything, people have different motives. It's the same thing
for PFB. Some are here to write legitimate letters, some are here to
scam, and some are here to make a joke out of this site.

That being said, what are you here for?

I'll start.
I am here to provide a voice for the employee on the other side of the
situation, one that most people would never see.
I'm also here to recognize compliments because I know what it feels
like to make a difference in someone's life. Hearing someone
appreciate the work you've done can mean the world to you.

Because this is the place to get it.

I notice "someone" is going out of their way to try to piss me off by
posting a comment to a certain company that trash-talks 2 departments
I work in. And it so happens that it comes from a recent post of mine
on my profile.

Could you possibly think someone is fishing for my response?

Keep trying! ;)

A few compliments have popped into the Top 25, mine included. Nowadays
it's nice to see something *ahem* reasonable to read.

Great job to all those reading and responding!

So the chat I had with my manager wasn't so bad. She just told me I
would be working photo lab one night and Guest Service one morning per
weekend. I asked about the pharmacy and she said that I could get over
there she just needed me to write a schedule of what I was working at
my other pharmacy so she could schedule around that.

So, it's not as bad as I thought it would be...
For some reason in the back of my head, I thought I was going to get
fired. I know it would never happen, but it got in there.

And they were also gonna give me every Saturday off. IN RETAIL! That's
nuts! I opened my big mouth and told them I could work every other one
opposite to the other pharmacy, but then she said she was going to
tell that to the Target pharmacy. So that's good. I feel kinda bad
because I have Target all screwy over my schedule, but whatever. ;)

And I actually had a fun day at work today, so that helped! I had to
do the closing announcements and I almost said SuperTarget instead of
regular ol' Target!
"...Thank you for shopping at Sssss... Target and have a nice
evening." haha! People were probably wondering what was wrong with me.
Oh well.

Thanks to all those who read and responded!

Here's an entire post in my blog dedicated to you!

Any other insults you'd like to sling or any other things that I say
that you want to blast me for? I'm all ears!

So ever since I moved to my new city and transferred to a different
Target store, I have always been under the impression that I would be
the next person to move over to the pharmacy in the store because
that's what they told me.

I've been at the store now for almost 2 months and have heard very
little about it. I've been asked if I'm still interested and I say
yes, and that's all I've heard. No one has said a word to me since,
not one word. So imagine my surprise when I see a new person training
over there. I haven't seen my manager for almost a month now and she's
the one that was going to get me over there. I know I don't have the
best availability to work over there much, but no one has said
anything to me about anything. I'm just mad because I'm being strung
along with my hopes of working at the Target pharmacy.

I'm going to talk to my manager the next time I see her and I want to
know why this happened. Why was I promised to be the next person over
there only to have a new person get hired without a word to me about
anything?

If it's not a good answer with a valid reason, I don't know how much
longer I can stay. It sucks to say that because I truly love working
there (most of the time). I'm just not OK with being a 22 year old
cashier/Guest Service person at a Target store when I have so much
potential to do so much more. I'm not saying there is anything wrong
with being a cashier/Guest Service as I could do it for the rest of my
life if it paid well. I just wanted to grow with the company and here
they go and hire a BRAND NEW person where I've been with the company
for almost 5 YEARS. I would need LESS training than the new person
because I know how the register and the store operates. I think the
new person is even in my class, so it's not like we're terribly
different.

This doesn't help the fact that the store I'm at now isn't "fun." It's
too boring. The people aren't fun. My old store was full of awesome
people that made it worth going to work. The only thing keeping me at
this store was eventually getting to work in the pharmacy. But now
that it's been pushed back, I don't know how much more I can take.

I don't mean to sound conceded, but I don't think my new store
appreciates me. I got a fuckin' "Excellent" on my last review, and the
store has to contact corporate for each one they give out, so they
don't give them out often. I was the store's "Spotlight on Training"
employee because I cashier-trained about 90% of the new employees for
last year's holiday season. Essentially ALL new employees have to be
cashier-trained regardless what department they worked in. I had been
training a group of 2-6 people every single week for a few months.
When I visit my old store, they say they miss me and want me to
transfer back during winter and summer break. My new store could care
less. The whole store is just blah and views it only as work. The
employees at my old store made work fun, here not so much.

I'm just at a crossroads right now, and I'll plan my next move after
talking with my manager. I'll let you know how it goes...

Any thoughts?

A little update for everyone about me and my school work.

So as everyone knows I'm in pharmacy program. Well, I'm about a month
and a half in so far, and things are going well. I was nervous coming
into it because it was new EVERYTHING for me: new school, new job, new
town, new friends, new living arrangements, and I was thrown right
into the middle of it. The university isn't too different from back
home, it feels the same, just without anyone I know in the classes. I
wasn't too concerned about my "new" job because it's just Target and
the system is the same, I was just worried about the people and how my
new store ran things. New friends because there are only 85 of us in
our "level" of the program and we are getting to know each other
better. Not to say I don't miss my old friends like crazy because I
do. With time, everyone will see how awesome I am. ;) My living
arrangements are new because I live by myself in an apartment. I kinda
like my alone time, but at times I get so bored.

About 3 weeks ago is when we really started to get into our school
work. It's not so much of homework as it is studying. We have at least
1 quiz and 1 exam a week, and so when you're done with one, you start
studying for the next one. I guess it keeps me out of trouble. ;) And
I'm doing quite well in school. On Friday we had an exam that I
totally blanked on so I ventured my best guess. Turns out I got an A
on it, so that made my weekend! I just keep pleasantly surprising
myself.

We have a once a week lab that is in a "concept" pharmacy. It's pretty
cool. It's basically a set-up pharmacy where we practice doing stuff.
So far we have only been doing dispensing and consultation. And each
week we have a quiz on the Top 200 drugs of the year. We have to know
the generic name, brand name, and the indication for 200 drugs. Yeah.
But, they make it nice for us by breaking it down to about 30 or so
each week so we don't crap ourselves any more than we already are. ;)


We had our White Coat Ceremony about 2 weeks ago. That's where we got
our...you guessed it, our white coats. Our families came for the
program, and we listened to a few speakers and recited the Oath of a
pharmacist to polish it off.

Things are going very quick! I can't believe it's already October!
Then it will be November, then December, then winter break! And pretty
soon (in the grand scheme of things, really in 4 years) I will
graduate. Sounds like a long ways away, but I'm just taking it day by
day, and it's going quick.

I can't think of anything else to add right now, so if you have any
questions, feel free to ask!

As Compliment Week comes to a close, I would just like to thank
everyone that helped out with Compliment Week whether it was writing
letters, commenting on letters, or even just reading them! It all
helped!

Now just because it's not Compliment Week anymore, doesn't mean we
have to stop acknowledging compliments. Keep writing, commenting, and
reading about great employees and businesses. Just look at the list of
links a few posts down, those were all of the compliments that were
written in just over a week!

So thanks again to all of those who made it a great success, and we
will see Compliment Week in another 6 months!

Scroll down to find links to compliment letters to comment on and feel
free to add more!

And I think it would work out best if we truly ignored the complaints
by not posting ANY comments on them, but only on compliments. Just a
suggestion.

Thanks again to everyone that is a part of Compliment Week even if
you're just reading the compliments because there are great businesses
and employees out there!

I got a new job! At a pharmacy too! It'll be a great experience for me
during my education. The manager said she was "very impressed" with
me. Yeah, I still got it. haha ;) I can't wait to start!

If you're looking for Compliment Week info, SCROLL DOWN! Thanks!

That way they can be found in the same place to make it easier to
comment on!

September 23-29!

We're gonna do this thing again after the great success of the first
one, and that I'm getting sick of all the complaints. :) Like usual,
we'll need everyone's help to pull this off.

So spread the word! That way we can get a LOT of people helping out!

If you want to post links to compliments here, that would be great!
They would also all be in the same place and easier for everyone to
find.

(We should continue to have Compliment Week twice a year!)

It's just getting to be too much. All this back and forth arguing is
just adding to my unneeded stress levels.

So I'm gonna take a week off from PFB. I'm just tired of people
bitching of mostly stupid things.

See you next Thursday!

Attempt Number 2:

I was walking on campus today, on my way to class, and up ahead I
notice the bible-pushers. Now for those of you who aren't familiar
with the bible-pushers, let me tell you a bit about them. It seems
like once a semester they are at very busy places on campus handing
out bibles or it seems like pushing bibles onto people. This pisses me
off firstly because I hate when people shove their religion down other
people's throats. But what pissed me off even more was what I
witnessed. In front of me a girl walked past them (there was someone
at each of the 4 corners of the busiest pedestrian intersection on
campus so you couldn't really avoid them, I tried) and the guy asked
her if she wanted a bible and she politely said, "No thanks." The guy
says, "Oh my," in a condescending tone. Um, excuse me? Are you really
offended when someone refuses to take your holy book? But doesn't the
book you are passing out say not to judge others and yet you do?

Another thing, why do I only see them on college campuses? I've been
to 2 different universities in 2 different cities and I've seen them
only on campus. Does the bible pushing not go over as well in other
populated areas, such as sporting events or malls? Or are they just
trying to capture what they assume to be nave minds to their religion?
Or do they view college campuses as a "hot spot" for sin and think
we're in the most need of "saving"?

Either way it pisses me off. If I wanted a damn bible, I know where to
look to get one. If I want to be a part of your religion, I know where
to go. Leave me the fuck alone when I'm in my everyday life. I can
understand if I went to a religious event to pass them out, but I am
at college to learn logic and not faith, thank you very much.

So as I am walking by, I don't have a chance to say a thing. He hands
me a bible and says, "Have a nice day!" Thanks, but you just killed a
sapling because I have no need for a bible. None. The thing just
creeps me out. Needless to say, I threw away my mini-bible. Looking
back I should've told him no thanks and kept walking but I feel I
might have started a scene. Just a few days ago, we had a local crazy
on campus preaching that Jesus will save us from hell. How nice of
him. The student paper wrote that there was someone arguing with the
"Jesus enthusiast" saying that their 1920s tactics on recruiting
people aren't working anymore and that the religions feel threatened
because they aren't getting the people they can change. Thankfully I'm
not alone.

The creepy thing about the bible I was given is that on the inside
cover, there was this verse that read something like, 'I am thankful
that God sent his son for the sins I have committed' or something like
that. Then it had a place to sign like it was a fucking contract or
something. Religion sounds like a cult to me, and really it is a
socially acceptable form of a cult. The thing I really hate is the
tearing down of self-esteem by calling normal everyday life functions
sins and then making them feel bad about it. And of course the only
way to build yourself back up is to accept god. Break 'em down and
rebuild them to do what you want, sounds like a cult to me!

Even worse is when people only see you as a title/stereotype/sin and
don't see there is another human being in front of them. And then to
judge someone on their "title" alone to speak for the whole person? If
you believe in the bible, it says to let god do the judging. So
really, you shouldn't care if someone doesn't believe in the bible, if
someone is homosexual, if someone wants to have an abortion, etc.
because god supposedly does all the judging. So quit being uptight
pricks about it. Let people live their lives. Would you want to be
judged simply because you are left-handed, look a certain way, act a
certain way, etc.? Would you have a problem with non-believers,
homosexuals, and abortion if they weren't in the bible? Or is it just
because you are a follower of what a book says?

I'm not here to change anyone's minds about their religion. If you
have made the decision that's best for you, then that's great. But
don't try to change others. Let them make up their own mind. I find it
HIGHLY offensive when someone tries to push their religion on me
because they obviously think I can't make decisions for myself. No one
but me knows what I've went through to get to my current stance on the
topic and it's downright disrespectful to come in and insist that I
can't make decisions for myself and should change beliefs. No.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, that I'm destined for a life
of bad things. Great, I've already overcome some horrible things and
I'm sure I can take them. Because I'm a non-believer doesn't mean I'm
a horrible person. I still have ethics like most other people. I know
what's right and wrong. If you assume otherwise, that's your problem.

I typed out this whole rant about something and I guess I got timed
out. So it's gone. I don't even feel like retyping it because I spent
a lot of time choosing my words carefully. I realize I should have
copied it just in case but still. My words as they were cannot be
truly replicated.

Now I'm even more angry...

People are already bitching about the Salvation Army and Christmas
advertising? Is this still an issue?

I don't care if I have to reply to every single person, I'm going to
report the truth.

I'm sick of being "that" person. It seems like all I do is defend
Target, but it's not quite like that. I'm more about defending the
principles behind the policies, and since I have experience in this,
that this is the way I can get my point across. Does that make sense?

I predict that Target complaints will increase dramatically in the
months to come as the new policies are in place effective today.

It only affects no-receipt returns and gift registries, so as long as
you have a valid receipt you are (still) golden! :)

Any questions? Feel free to ask!

I'm getting sick of hearing about how some consumers want compensation
simply because they were inconvenienced. It's not a valid excuse.

For example, let's say you bought a blender and when you got home to
use it, you found out it was defective. You don't demand compensation
for driving back to the store to exchange it for a new one. The store
didn't know it was defective when they sold it to you, so why should
they give you money?

My point is, life is full of inconveniences. You can't be compensated
for all (or most) of them. Are you going to ask for compensation when
road construction makes you take a different route? I would hope not.

Life isn't perfect. You're going to be inconvenienced all throughout
life. Why is it someone else's fault?

Ok, I'm all for doing some all out explaining on any part of my side
of the Target quarrel going down. Want me to specify, speculate, or
answer anything? Here's your chance.

This frustrates me because people are seeing one tiny part of the
company that they are swearing the whole company off for.

What people fail to mention/see is how incredibly easy it is to return
something with receipt. There's far more people impressed with how
quick and easy it is, than there are complaining about the no-receipt
ordeal.
What about the help to employees give to both guests and the
community? It's hard to be insulted by a guest saying we're awful when
I just made another guest's day. I don't know if any of you know how
hard it is to work at Guest Service. I don't wish it upon anyone. I do
it because I love helping people even if it does mean being treated
like absolute garbage. When I truly make someone's day, it makes up
for everything that's been said to me.

Again, I'm not here to change your opinion because even I think Target
needs some improvement in some areas. All I'm asking is for some
understanding when it comes to my viewpoint.

Why is it that whenever someone disagrees with you, instead of
attacking what you say, some attack you personally?

I don't mind when people attack me personally because it just goes to
show that they don't have a valid argument, and they have to resort to
name-calling. I just consider it a "victory" on my part.

It's just funny to see that some people resort to such immaturity.

So if you are going to argue with me, focus on the argument at hand.

Since it's been 10 years since the Flood of '97, I just wanted to
reiterate the thank you that is coming from both Grand Forks and East
Grand Forks for all of those who helped us in any way during the
flood.

Viewing all the old footage, and going through it myself, makes me
lucky to be part of such a great country. We got plenty of donations
and many people came from around the country to help us get back on
our feet.

It was the largest evacuation in the history of the United States at
the time, now surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. Some people lost
everything, but all were affected.

If you would like more information, I recommend Googling "Grand Forks
Flood of '97" and looking at the pictures of the blizzards leading to
the flood and the flood pictures. It's quite a sight.

Now for my story:
My family and I moved to Grand Forks in November '96. Pretty much
right before the winter got bad. We missed quite a few school days
because the blizzards were so bad. And here it has to be really bad
for them to call off school. But the blizzard that pushed us over the
edge was Blizzard Hannah. (Yes, we named our blizzards) It's the only
I remember most vividly. It sounds like such a clich but you couldn't
see your hand in front of your face. Most people lost power, us
included. Now I don't know if some of you can imagine losing power
when the high for the day is below zero. I just remember wearing
multiple layers of clothing and we even had to put a sweater on my
dog. After the blizzard everything was coated with ice.
I also remember sandbagging. They even called off school so that more
people would be available to help. We went down to one area and helped
to distribute sandbags. There were so many people there, but being a
6th grader and my brother a 3rd grader, there was only so much we
could do with throwing sandbags to each other. But we helped.
I don't remember where I was when the dikes broke, but I was with my
dad, not in Grand Forks. All I remember is my aunt and uncle went
there to help my mom move out some of the bigger more valuable stuff.
We lived in the bottom part of a duplex, so what they didn't take was
ruined. The one thing I do remember is they set our air hockey table
on top of our daybed, so the machine part of it was about one foot
from the ceiling. It got up that high. A lot of things were ruined.
Since we rented, we had to wait to go back home. We stayed with my
grandparents in Thief River Falls, MN. Since the dikes broke April 19,
1997, we were still in school. Grand Forks called off school for the
rest of the year for obvious reasons. So we were given the option of
finishing school at another school or just not going. My brother and I
chose not to go. We had just started at a new school (in Grand Forks)
5 months previous and so we didn't really feel like entering a
completely new school again.
After about a month or so, we were able to go back. The town was still
rebuilding. There was so much garbage on the berm (it's the Grand
Forks term for the land between the sidewalk and the street) and I
remember how gross some of our stuff looked.

The one great thing is that there were no casualties from the flood.
That's pretty impressive when the two cities have a combined total of
around 60,000 people.

Ten years later, we have grown. It's still a never-ending process, but
it's hard to tell that there was an event that caused so much damage.
What doesn't kill us only makes us stronger.

I'll end this with what Bill Clinton said about our spirit when he
visited a few days after the dikes broke. "Water cannot wash that
away. Fire cannot burn that away. A blizzard cannot freeze that away.
And if you don't give it away, it will bring you back better than
ever. And we'll be there with you every step of the way."

And for that, I thank you.

In the Horrible stay letter, I was told to go find a plot and stop
breathing. Anyone know of some good plots? Maybe some close to where
the companies toss the horrible letters so I can still get a good
laugh.

I was getting concerned because Target hadn't had any complaints for
over a month, but then they popped up! And they are doosies!

And...

I GOT IN!

Yep, I will be attending NDSU College of Pharmacy starting in the
fall. I'm so excited!

Now I have to move from good ol' Grand Forks down to Fargo where I
don't know anyone, but I'm still excited. The funnest part is that in
September, we have our "White Coat Ceremony" where we get our (you
guessed it!) white coats. Fun!

So yeah, I just thought I would update you all! Thanks for all your
well wishes!

P.S. This means I'll be leaving retail, at least as far as I know.
It'll be bittersweet.

So the SIOUX! are in the NCAA Frozen Four for the 3rd year in a row.
Too bad our last NCAA championship was in 2000. Will this year be any
different? I hope so! Our own Ryan Duncan is up for the Hobey Baker
award this year, and is the only one still playing this season.

And I have to rub it in to the Gophers, haha! I see the broom we left
in Minneapolis (for our sweep!) was transferred down to Denver! Maybe
next year Gophers, that is if you can beat us!

Funny joke: Did you hear about Frazee? (Gopher's goalie) After the
game he tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of a bus. Too bad
the bus went right between his legs!

Go Sioux!
April 5th, 7 central on whatever network decides to watch us win!

I found this at
http://positivesharing.com/2006/07/why-the-customer-is-always-right-re
sults-in-bad-customer-service/
and I believe it highlights MANY of the letters that are in the Top
25, imagine that. Anyways, if you disagree or have anything to add,
feel free to do so.

When the customer isn't right - for your business

One woman who frequently flew on Southwest, was constantly
disappointed with every aspect of the company's operation. In fact,
she became known as the "Pen Pal" because after every flight she wrote
in with a complaint.
She didn't like the fact that the company didn't assign seats; she
didn't like the absence of a first-class section; she didn't like not
having a meal in flight; she didn't like Southwest's boarding
procedure; she didn't like the flight attendants' sporty uniforms and
the casual atmosphere.
Her last letter, reciting a litany of complaints, momentarily stumped
Southwest's customer relations people. They bumped it up to Herb's
[Kelleher, CEO of Southwest] desk, with a note: 'This one's yours.'
In sixty seconds, Kelleher wrote back and said, 'Dear Mrs. Crabapple,
We will miss you. Love, Herb.'"
The phrase "The customer is always right" was originally coined by
Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge's department store in
London in 1909, and is typically used by businesses to:
Convince customers that they will get good service at this company
Convince employees to give customers good service
Fortunately more and more businesses are abandoning this maxim -
ironically because it leads to bad customer service.
Here are the top five reasons why "The customer is always right" is
wrong.

1: It makes employees unhappy
Gordon Bethune is a brash Texan (as is Herb Kelleher, coincidentally)
who is best known for turning Continental Airlines around "From Worst
to First," a story told in his book of the same title from 1998. He
wanted to make sure that both customers and employees liked the way
Continental treated them, so he made it very clear that the maxim "the
customer is always right" didn't hold sway at Continental.
In conflicts between employees and unruly customers he would
consistently side with his people. Here's how he puts it:
When we run into customers that we can't reel back in, our loyalty is
with our employees. They have to put up with this stuff every day.
Just because you buy a ticket does not give you the right to abuse our
employees . . .
We run more than 3 million people through our books every month. One
or two of those people are going to be unreasonable, demanding jerks.
When it's a choice between supporting your employees, who work with
you every day and make your product what it is, or some irate jerk who
demands a free ticket to Paris because you ran out of peanuts, whose
side are you going to be on?
You can't treat your employees like serfs. You have to value them . .
. If they think that you won't support them when a customer is out of
line, even the smallest problem can cause resentment.
So Bethune trusts his people over unreasonable customers. What I like
about this attitude is that it balances employees and customers, where
the "always right" maxim squarely favors the customer - which is not a
good idea, because, as Bethune says, it causes resentment among
employees.
Of course there are plenty of examples of bad employees giving lousy
customer service. But trying to solve this by declaring the customer
"always right" is counter-productive.

2: It gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage
Using the slogan "The customer is always right" abusive customers can
demand just about anything - they're right by definition, aren't they?
This makes the employees' job that much harder, when trying to rein
them in.
Also, it means that abusive people get better treatment and conditions
than nice people. That always seemed wrong to me, and it makes much
more sense to be nice to the nice customers to keep them coming back.

3: Some customers are bad for business
Most businesses think that "the more customers the better". But some
customers are quite simply bad for business.
Danish IT service provider ServiceGruppen proudly tell this story:
One of our service technicians arrived at a customer's site for a
maintenance task, and to his great shock was treated very rudely by
the customer.
When he'd finished the task and returned to the office, he told
management about his experience. They promptly cancelled the
customer's contract.
Just like Kelleher dismissed the irate lady who kept complaining (but
somehow also kept flying on Southwest), ServiceGruppen fired a bad
customer. Note that it was not even a matter of a financial
calculation - not a question of whether either company would make or
lose money on that customer in the long run. It was a simple matter of
respect and dignity and of treating their employees right.

4: It results in worse customer service
Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even
further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their
approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and
watch'em kick butt.
Rosenbluth argues that when you put the employees first, they put the
customers first. Put employees first, and they will be happy at work.
Employees who are happy at work give better customer service because:
They care more about other people, including customers
They have more energy
They are happy, meaning they are more fun to talk to and interact
with
They are more motivated
On the other hand, when the company and management consistently side
with customers instead of with employees, it sends a clear message
that:
Employees are not valued
That treating employees fairly is not important
That employees have no right to respect from customers
That employees have to put up with everything from customers
When this attitude prevails, employees stop caring about service. At
that point, real good service is almost impossible - the best
customers can hope for is fake good service. You know the kind I mean:
corteous on the surface only.

5: Some customers are just plain wrong
Herb Kelleher agrees, as this passage From Nuts! the excellent book
about Southwest Airlines shows:
Herb Kelleher [...] makes it clear that his employees come first even
if it means dismissing customers. But aren't customers always right?
"No, they are not," Kelleher snaps. "And I think that's one of the
biggest betrayals of employees a boss can possibly commit. The
customer is sometimes wrong. We don't carry those sorts of customers.
We write to them and say, 'Fly somebody else. Don't abuse our
people.'"
If you still think that the customer is always right, read this story
from Bethune's book "From Worst to First":
A Continental flight attendant once was offended by a passenger's
child wearing a hat with Nazi and KKK emblems on it. It was pretty
offensive stuff, so the attendant went to the kid's father and asked
him to put away the hat. "No," the guy said. "My kid can wear what he
wants, and I don't care who likes it."
The flight attendant went into the cockpit and got the first officer,
who explained to the passenger the FAA regulation that makes it a
crime to interfere with the duties of a crew member. The hat was
causing other passengers and the crew discomfort, and that interfered
with the flight attendant's duties. The guy better put away the hat.
He did, but he didn't like it. He wrote many nasty letters. We made
every effort to explain our policy and the federal air regulations,
but he wasn't hearing it. He even showed up in our executive suite to
discuss the matter with me. I let him sit out there. I didn't want to
see him and I didn't want to listen to him. He bought a ticket on our
airplane, and that means we'll take him where he wants to go. But if
he's going to be rude and offensive, he's welcome to fly another
airline.
The fact is that some customers are just plain wrong, that businesses
are better of without them, and that managers siding with unreasonable
customers over employees is a very bad idea, that results in worse
customer service.
So put your people first. And watch them put the customers first.

I despise being the cart attendant. I feel like it's the lowest rung
on the retail ladder, at least at my store. They are expected to do
carry-outs, clean up spills, and clean bathrooms all along with
bringing in carts. This job alone is bad enough, but then you add in
the customers. Enter in the worst part of the equation.

Now I've only done cart attending about 3 times out of my whole 4.5
years and I know enough to hate it. My main problems with cart
attending:

1) The carts are not garbage cans.
-I don't care if you have to walk back up the the front of the store
to throw away your garbage, that's what it is there for. I especially
hate dirty diapers. Do you realize that you JUST used your cart to
hold food and that your cart did roll fresh off the assembly line!?
And if you are going to leave a diaper in a cart, at least make an
attempt to close it. If I have to pick up a dirty diaper and it falls
open, you will have about 10 billion cart dings on your vehicle. That
darn wind.

2) Don't get in front of moving carts EVER.
-These things are not easy to stop once you get them moving. I don't
care if you're the fastest person on Earth, if you fall, you will have
about 500 wheels run over you. And if you are in your car, don't try
to outrun the carts. It won't work, it never does, and yet it's still
the cart attendants fault.

3) Put the carts in the corral. The way they are supposed to be.
-It's not that hard. It's not too far away. If you are going somewhere
else leave your cart with our store. If you can't carry it all, buy a
car. And when you do put the cart in the corral, put it in the correct
way. It's a pain in the ass to have to take time to take out
upside-down carts because someone thought it would be funny. It isn't.

One way to combat this is to use automatic locking carts past a
certain distance AND by using quarters to use the carts and to get
them back by returning them inside or to a corral.

I'm sure there are MANY more, so feel free to add your own.

I haven't much wrote about my personal life on here, but this is an
exception.

I'm applying to the Pharmacy College at NDSU, and have gotten past the
first round (I've at least made the 110 out of 145) and on Saturday
I'll be interviewing to actually attend. They are only going to pick
85 out of the remaining 110, but I still like to think that I'll be
accepted.

I seem to feel like I'm going against the current because after all
I'm not a NDSU student and have no real experience in a pharmacy. But
I do have my grades and similar work experience. (Guest Service does
have many things in common with working at a pharmacy, looking at the
basics)

So on Saturday we have to be there by 7:30 am, so I have to get up
extra early to drive from Grand Forks. The whole program will go until
12:30, and it will include a tour, "testing" (which I assume will be
ethical/pyschological), and a 15 minute interview where they ask
everyone the same 5 questions. I should know within a week if I'm in
or not.

So while I am excited, I'm also nervous. This is a life-changing
ordeal.

I'll keep you all updated...

As Compliment Week wraps up, I would just like to thank everyone that
got involved in any way; writing letters, commenting on letters, and
even just reading them all helped.

Just because Compliment Week is over however, doesn't mean that we
should stop writing compliments. It felt good to us seeing all the
great letters, but imagine how the business/employee felt when someone
went out of their way to recognize their great effort.

Again, thanks to everyone that participated!

Don't see a specific compliment in the Top 25? Post it here to show
everyone where they can help officially bump the letters into the Top
25.

We can also comb through the RSS feed, or even on the PFB homepage
select an industry and search for compliments.

Post everything here! Let's make this Compliment Week Central!

A big thank you to everyone helping with Compliment Week! Let's keep
this thing going!