this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2023
581 points (98.8% liked)
shitposting
1633 readers
599 users here now
Rules •1. No Doxxing •2. No TikTok reposts •3. No Harassing •4. Post Gore at your own discretion, Depends if its funny or just gore to be an edgelord.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Bingo.
Some of the worst managers (and coworkers, and customers) are people who take this literally and without criticism. The phrase is a handy way to express that customer service is important, and the customer should be given the benefit of the doubt whenever possible.
That’s fine. However, it does not mean that a person turns into an infallible god upon becoming the customer of a business. The only people I’ve ever seen take it 100% seriously are customers who know they’re wrong, and managers who are too lazy to do their jobs.
I never verified, but some years ago I heard someone expand on that as meaning something like "That which makes customers willing to buy is the right thing to do". It makes sense. If a moron will buy gold plated lead, a capitalistic perspective says sell gold-plated lead. Ethically a bit fucked? Sure. But interesting nonetheless
Yeah, you're on the right track, the full quote is "the customer is always right in matters of taste". But like a lot of sayings (blood is thicker than water being another example), the original intent has been lost and now it means something else colloquially.
It's interesting how often that happens. Phrases get simplified and as the nuance is lost, the meaning more or less gets reversed.