Hot take: that 'always say yes' advice got me in huge trouble

My manager Janet at the Dallas call center told me to never tell a customer no, just figure out a way to make it work. I took her advice and promised a refund on a 3-year-old laptop that was clearly dropped in a puddle. Now corporate is reviewing my calls and I might get written up. Has anyone else had a boss push that 'customer is always right' stuff too far?

3 comments

3 Comments

james_kim12d ago

You say that "always say yes" got you in trouble, but the real problem is you didn't use common sense. Your boss told you to find a way to make it work, not to promise refunds on broken 3-year-old laptops that someone dropped in water. That's just bad judgment on your part. The customer is not always right, but management expects you to know when to bend the rules and when to hold the line. Sounds like you need to learn the difference between being helpful and being a pushover.

skyler_smith8512d ago

One of my friends worked at a cell phone store and a customer came in screaming that his cracked screen was a defect. My buddy just gave him a free replacement on the spot without checking the policy. Manager found out later and it was a whole thing. @james_kim is totally right, you gotta know when to actually say no or at least check first.

williamhill12d ago

That "know when to hold the line" part hit me hard because I'm the absolute worst at it. One time I was working retail and a lady came in with a shirt that had a hole in it she swore was there when she bought it, but it was clearly a cigarette burn. I just gave her a full refund and a new shirt because I hated confrontation. My manager pulled me aside later and was like "dude, you just cost us 40 bucks because you can't say no to a smoking grandma." So yeah, I'm basically the human version of a pushover, and I need to learn that some hills are worth dying on even if the customer is yelling at you.