I’ve never worked in the service industry. Frankly, it scares me because I hear all the stories about demanding customers. But I’m also a college student with dozens of friends who do work in retail, in coffee shops, and in restaurants. So on their behalf, I’m begging you not to be that customer. You know the sort: the impatient, entitled customer who forgets they’re speaking to another human being. And I swear, manners fly right out the door come the holiday season. Don’t believe me? Listen to this:
Snider Plaza’s Starbucks was hardly empty. The Christmas tree was due to be lit later in the center of the shops, and everyone wants a holiday drink
“Is that my drink?” the 50-something balding man asked the barista at the bar.
Two people ordered ahead of the man with the perfectly fitted suit, and another four still stood in line.
“Um… did you order the tall latte with two espresso shots?” The barista asked in return.
“No. I ordered the large coffee with three espresso shots, double cupped.”
“Did you mobile order?”
“No! I just ordered right there!”
The customer was getting impatient. He ordered a full minute ago, and then went to the bathroom. He expected it to be finished in the 60 seconds he was gone.
“I’m sorry, sir. There was a customer who ordered ahead of you, I need to make that drink.”
This answer was not what the customer wanted. But the customer is always right, isn’t he?
“You can’t just make my drink? The cup is right there.”
“Yes, I see it sir,” the barista replied calmly. “But there is still a drink ahead of yours.”
“This is ridiculous, it’s right there!”
And without another word, the customer stormed out of the store. It didn’t matter that he didn’t receive his drink, he was not going to take that “poor” customer service! But everyone else in the store knew it wasn’t poor customer service, it was a rude, entitled customer. And the encounter was dismissed because “the customer is always right,” and always excused because the holiday season is a “stressful time.”
I am so tired of excuses being made for customers. I don’t want to hear “they were in a hurry.” I don’t want to hear “it was cold out and the customer was unhappy.” I don’t want to hear “well, you know, that’s just people.” There is no acceptable excuse to mistreat another human being. I don’t care if you make $9 an hour or $90 an hour. Treat others as what they are: human beings.