To think that the customer isn't always right, and our staff are important too?

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For some context, I work for a company with an excellent reputation and am lucky to have a fantastic, hard working and effective team.

AIBU to think that sometimes customers really are being unreasonable, or are factually incorrect, and that our staff should be supported and their actions not apologised for if they've done everything we'd ask of them and more?

NC for professional reasons!

Anybody who thinks the customer is always right has never worked in customer service. The customer is often wrong and / or being a cunt.

YANBU - and as a manager (different sector), keeping staff happy is always a top priority of mine - they will be serving the next 1000 customers (not just this one) and no one likes to be undermined in front of the customer. Back up the member of staff (unless there's a very good reason not to) and if need be have a quiet word later about how it could have been handled better. If the staff have been following policy / law / reasonableness, reiterate the position to the customer, several times if necessary and don't give in - it just teaches the customer to be a twat next time.

Nothing worse than a gutless manager who won't back up their staff when a customer is wrong or being an arse.

Yanbu
I was SCREAMED at by a client for not following protocol and indeed... the law once.

The customer is always the customer, but the customer isn't always right.

Any manager who lives by the 'customer is always right' saying shouldn't be in customer service.

I work for a company that very much has the ethos the customer is always right, give them what they want. It's infuriating and brings moral right down for all the 'ground floor staff'.

Both parties are in the deal together. The customer has to be the best customer-provider.

Some customers are utter dicks.

Yep, sometimes customers are wrong and your team needs support when that happens.

Having a team/company policy on how to deal with different kinds of tricky customers should help staff feel more confident when they come across these scenarios maybe?

Jesus no. As someone who runs training programmes for customer facing staff, the customer is not always right. Not by a long shot. In fact some of them should be restricted to internet buying/online services to save themselves from the day someone in a service role finally snaps and staples something to their face.

Never has a phrase been so woefully misused - the customer is always right was talking about buying habits only. They want apples? Give 'em apples.

It was never intended so Stuart could dance his special ignorant dance for the Tesco checkout person.

(Yanbu)

Customers are very often wrong!

And a good company stands by its staff in those cases. But too often managers are too scared to do that so they make their staff look stupid by doing/saying whatever it takes to make the customer go away.

I never mind dealing with complaints that are actually justified, I will apologise and do what it takes to fix it and compensate the customer appropriately. I absolutely hate dealing with complaints where nothing has gone even slightly wrong, the customer has caused their own problem and thinks shrieking at me will make me more inclined to help them

In my teenage days I was once working the basket till in a supermarket on a busy Saturday. Served a customer only for him to suddenly start yelling at me about how rude I was etc. I immediately got hauled off the shopfloor for a reprimand, with no attempt made to find out the facts/my side.

Anyway, when I came out, there were 3 or 4 other customers who had been queuing behind this man. They had specifically waited to tell my supervisor that I had done nothing wrong and had been perfectly polite and friendly, and that man was a grade A twat who just went off on one.

Unfortunately so was my supervisor and I didn't get a single word of apology for the unwarranted bollocking. So not only are customers bastards, so can your own manager be.