Dear Customers,

[Thumpalumpacus]

No doubt, but when a customer is rude and the manager takes the customers side in order to make the employee look like an ass, then the manager is an ass.  

First of all, whenever I had to deal with a customer issue, I took it to a sidebar. My personal policy was to never have that discussion with the associate in question present. For situations like these, as a manager, I had four key goals, in this order:

1) Shut up and listen. 95% of the time, I think, all the customer really wants is to be heard.

2) If it's an issue I can fix, I fix it. I don't degrade the employee by forcing him to backtrack publicly. If it's an issue I cannot fix, I apologize and commit to taking it up with my superiors to deliver what the customer wants if that is possible.

3) Even if it is the customer's fault, rather than turn it around on them and point out their flawed behavior, I work to correct unrealistic expectations.

4) Once all that is complete, I have a conversation with my associate to explain what they did, both right and wrong.

This obviously doesn't work all the time -- some people are bent on venting their unhappiness upon the hapless employees, others too demanding to be satisfied. But it's by-and-large proven to be very good at de-escalating any ill-will, retaining business, and at the same time working within guidelines laid down by those higher in my hierarchy. [Edited to add] Be it known -- there have been times I've told a customer, "I don't want your business. Please take it elswhere, and have a nice day." And I've also had to defend a couple of those times to my superiors. But I regard those times as failures.[/edit]

Customer service has gotten completely out of hand.  Customers need to be told NO.

Growing up, our parents tell us "no" all the time, and we grow up as better people because of it.  What happens when a child is constantly told "yes"?  He becomes spoiled, which is precisely what customer service is all about; ensuring that spoiled adults remained spoiled.

One thing I always told my employees was, "You've heard the old saying, 'the customer is always right'? Well, they aren't, you and I both know that. But our job is to have them leaving the store feeling right." There are many ways to say "no". I've only on a few occasions found "NO" to be the appropriate way.

As Pa Thump used to say, "tact is the ability to tell someone to go to Hell, and have them looking forward to the trip." It's something I always keep in mind when dealing with problem customers -- and yes, there's too goddamned many of them.