Charles McMillan: January 2008 Archives
Because of my pro-business stance, I occasionally receive emails from readers who accuse me of being anti-consumer. I'd like to say once and for all, that I am not anti-consumer. I believe in excellent customer service, which means giving a consumer the best possible product at the best possible price.The problem is that we are living in an Age of Consumer Entitlement. Customers believe that they are entitled to a hug and a warm cup of cocoa every time they walk into a store. I used to believe in the platitude "the customer is always right", but that was before I met some of our customers. Over the years in various companies I've had some pretty rough interactions with consumers who believe that they are entitled to take advantage a company's generosity. Customers who want to weasel out of contracts, customers who demand replacements for products they just haven't taken care of and dimwit customers who change their minds after making a purchase.
These people make me sick. And now in the Age of Consumer Entitlement, these customers are no longer the exception–they are the norm. At some point it became okay for a customer to demand replacements for out of warrantee products. At some point it became okay to return a big screen TV a week after the Superbowl, and as companies we're just supposed to sit back and take it. God forbid we charge a restocking fee. Then they send the consumer terrorist groups after us and say that we're being irresponsible.
