Supermarket Workers Reveal 40 Things They Absolutely Hate That Customers Do

Back in the 1950s and '60s, the vibe at supermarkets was totally different. According to author Blake Morgan, “brands treated customers like they didn’t have brain cells and used loud and obnoxious voices and obviously exaggerated print.”

It all changed with Ogilvy, the father of advertising who said that you gotta treat customers like you treat your family members. Because, essentially, they’re potential clients.

Then, the now-famous phrase “the customer is always right” was pioneered by successful retailers named Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker, and Marshall Field. This approach stuck with us for many years to come, and it’s still in use today. But critics claim it doesn’t work in the current times.

In the times of consumerism, customers are no longer the perfect beings worthy of praise. According to the author Alexander Kjerulf, sticking to the “customer is always right” mantra has multiple adverse effects.

It makes employees unhappy, it gives abrasive customers an unfair advantage, it results in worse customer service, and it ignores the fact that some customers are just plain wrong.

Even if being customer-centric is part of the customer experience, that doesn’t mean brands and companies have to follow it blindly. They should rather seek a smart balance in making both customers and their workers equally happy.