always right

At the grocery store where I used to work, there was a sign by the cash registers that had two rules on it.

Rule #1: The customer is always right.
Rule #2: When in doubt refer to Rule #1.

In practical terms it was a good idea to focus employees' attention on the customer. In a business where the workforce is making minimum wage and is probably not there because this is what they wanted to do with their lives since elementary school, any motivation to serve the customer seems like good motivation. I think, though, that this mentality is flawed.

If the customer is truly always right, then if there is a disagreement about the price of a product or whether the customer paid with a ten dollar bill or a twenty or anything else the thing to do is to take the customer at his or her word. No sane business person would do this because a small percentage of customers would rob him or her blind. Saying that the customer is always right isn't something that a business person does with the belief that it is correct, but rather because it is a quick and easy way of telling employees that they should shape up.

While I think that the idea that the customer is always right is almost correct and sends almost the right message to customers and employees, it is not good because it cannot ever be 100% correct. Rather than being a rule that employees can truly follow, then, it becomes a meaningless catch phrase. I cannot imagine that the quality of customer service is better where there is a policy of the customer always being right unless that policy holds water.

If a business is concerned about employees giving a customer a good experience, how about just hiring people who test high on conscientiousness and agreeableness? In my opinion, it is a much better way to get the desired result.