“Customer is always right” is a slogan which connotes that service staff give a high priority to customer satisfaction. However I am here to oppose that motion! Because customers can be dishonest, have unrealistic expectations and/or try to misuse service or product rendered to them that in every way voids the guarantee.
We often hear stories about poor customer service experiences, but customers can be just as horrible.
I remember one time a friend of mine Introduced me to someone who had just returned from America and was looking for where to get wedding souvenirs in large quantities. I was so grateful for the referral because at the time there was “no money on ground and mouth was dry like sand in the desert”.
I immediately contacted her and sent her pictures of the stuff I had available, she said she was unsatisfied with the products and hoped I had different things and not the usual umbrellas, cups, fans etc. I immediately suggested that I could get different stuff and send them to her but that they would be more expensive, she agreed and that same day I was at the market to source out what was different and in vogue. My supplier introduced this blender bottle thing that was absolutely amazing as well as a lava lamp with beautiful colors, she even suggested a mini tripod with which I immediately subscribed to the idea.
I was so excited to get back to my customer and inform her of the new stuff that I had available, I sent her pictures and I could tell by her messages she was as excited as I was.
Later that day she sent me a voice message saying how happy she was about the new products and how different they were and gave me the go ahead.
I proceeded to make the order, she proposed 300 of each item making a total of 900 items, I asked if the couple’s names will be laser printed or if I’d use stickers. She stated that she’d prefer it be laser printed. I sent her an invoice with which she made an installment deposit that was to be completed on getting the items. When the first 10 were made I sent her photos of them which she loved, I asked that she visit my shop to see them for herself But she said it wasn’t necessary that the pictures sent were enough for her.
Finally all 900 items were completed and sent to her, this is where the madness started. It was the next day, she called me and was complaining about how she didn’t like the items and how they were childish, she asked why I hadn’t used cups and fans instead like every other person. I was so confused; wasn’t this the same person who said cups and fans were too common, wasn’t this the same person whom I sent pictures to , the same person who commended the difference in items? I couldn’t believe my ears. I tried to calm her down and explain to her that these were her choices and that I had done exactly what she asked but I could hardly hear myself over the shouting and name calling. She hung the phone up on me and later sent me a message saying that she wasn’t going to pay a dime for the items, this was were my brain stopped working and the ninja in me awoke , I was ready to fight because I swear I wasn’t ready for someone to play on my intelligence just because they felt they could . I later contacted her to return the items since she didn’t like them but she refused, I had never seen anything like this. It was apparent the woman thought me a fool but was in for a surprise . Still trying to be civil I contacted her and informed her of my plans to take this to the police; she asked that I do my worst. I got her address from the logistics company that I work with and stormed her place with the police to get either my items or my money.
On getting there it was to no surprise that her gateman wouldn’t let me in until the police joined me, we got to the front of her door and the police took over , she eventually came out of the house only to render more insults on not only me but the police officers , while she stood there ranting I was just staring at her wondering how rude and manner less a person could be , at this point I had had enough and was determined to show her that she wasn’t the only one that was mad. I came to a stand in front of her and screamed, I could tell that even the policemen were astonished. I pointed at her and gave her the scariest warning ever, even I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth and was pretty sure everything I was saying was against the law but oh well I was determined to leave there with either my money or my items. After what seemed like an hour of silence from everyone she pulled out her phone from her pocket and in no time I got an alert and left her house.
Months later I stumbled on someone’s Instagram photos , in the photo she was holding the very same blender bottle I had sold to that woman and was talking about how she couldn’t wait to start her diet with the bottle and how the souvenirs at the wedding she attended happened to be the best she had ever gotten, I swiped the photo only see that very same woman in a family photo with the bride and groom, I clicked on her tag and was on her page , there she was in the caption bragging about how she gives her friends the best gifts and how the souvenirs she shared were the best ,I laughed in my heart and proceeded to like the photo and even left a heart emoji, shortly after I got a notification only to see that she had replied my comment. She replied “lol my werepreneur friend”. Wèrèpreneur (Crazy entrepreneur) I liked the sound of that.
