Megan Johns is the director of customer experience at Ridge, maker of the all-metal wallet with a lifetime warranty.
“The customer is always right” gets thrown around a lot, but in my mind, it’s not about right or wrong—it’s about understanding where that customer is coming from.
At Ridge, we’ve found approaching customer service from this point of view benefits both our customers and our service agents. Here’s how we do it.
What does “the customer is always right” mean?
The phrase “the customer is always right” is a simple way to remember to prioritize customer satisfaction. But I prefer “the customer should always feel seen and heard.”
Sometimes a customer will come in with requests or expectations that are beyond what we as a brand can offer. In those situations, the goal of our customer service experience is to make sure they feel heard, and then we can provide options that align with what we can offer.
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When is the customer right?
- When customer feedback improves product design
- When it makes business sense
- When they need to vent a little
In customer service, our goal isn’t to decide who is right and wrong but to do our best to ensure customers leave an interaction feeling positive about our brand. Here are some more tips and examples of when we tend to side with the customer:
When customer feedback improves product design
Our customers have invested a lot of time in finding our products and given us the vote of confidence to make that purchase, so if there’s something they perceive as a fault with the product, we should listen to them.
When we first introduced luggage at Ridge, we ran into an issue with how we shipped large items. If a customer purchased both the carry-on and the check-in bag at the same time, we nested those together when we sent them to the customer. Every once in a while, that resulted in a little bit of damage to one of the suitcases.
Our product team is super interested in customer feedback, so we collected that data and sent it to them. They ended up changing the design of the luggage to better accommodate that nesting and eliminate the issue.
In the meantime, customers could either choose to keep the luggage with the damage (usually just a little bit of rubbing around the corners) at a pretty steep discount, or they could send it back for a replacement at no charge.
We like to offer options. For something like luggage, they may have ordered it because they have a big trip coming up. They may not want to go through the exchange process and that discount might be enough to make them happy and leave them feeling like that luggage was a good investment.
When it makes business sense
Ridge is a very product-focused company. We really believe in our product and stand behind the way our products are made, so a lifetime warranty on our metal wallets makes sense for us.
With our wallet, we also have the option to send out replacement parts, so it can be very cost-effective for us to service warranties for our customers. And by showing that we stand behind our product, our customers come back to us again and again, because they know we’re going to take care of them.
But there are some things our lifetime warranty doesn’t cover. For example, we can’t guarantee that the outer plates on the wallet will always look the same as they did the day that you bought them. But sometimes customers will ask for a replacement if the outer plates on the wallet start to look scratched or if the color starts to fade.
For a long time, our policy was to decline these requests because they fell outside our warranty. But recently we decided to take a step back and start evaluating those claims on a case-by-case basis.
We look at the damage and ask: Is this what we would consider normal wear and tear? Or is this excessive based on the material or how long the customer has had their wallet? Does it look like it could potentially be a defect in the way that the wallet was made? Or was this person just really hard on their wallet?
As much as possible, we look to make exceptions for the customer. We’ll let them know: “Hey, this usually isn’t covered, but we want to make this right for you. We’re going to send you a replacement wallet as a one-time exception.” That way, we’re not going against our policy, but we’re making the more customer-friendly choice.
And we found that evaluating these situations on a case-by-case basis actually ends up taking the same amount of time as what we were doing before, it just reallocates where our agents are spending their time. Previously, we were spending that time on a lot of back-and-forth that left both the customers and the agents feeling frustrated.
When they need to vent a little
For the most part, when a customer sends us an email or calls us, they’ve already played up this conversation in their mind. They’ve been anxious about this moment, so we need to give them the opportunity to let it all out.
We ask our team members to be patient. Don’t interrupt, but do ask questions that show we’re trying to learn from the hiccups. Once they’ve gotten everything out that they needed to, then we can move into problem solving.
Problem solving is going to look different for every customer. It’ll depend on the cues they gave us throughout the conversation and where those pain points lie for each customer. From there, we can work on regaining control of the conversation, acknowledging things may have gone wrong, and then presenting options for making things right.
When isn’t the customer right?
No matter how hard you try, there will always be situations in which you cannot honor a customer’s request. These are two of the most common examples we see in ecommerce:
When a request is too far outside the return window
At Ridge, we have a 99-day return policy, which gives our customers plenty of time to try the product and decide whether or not it’s right for them.
Sometimes a customer will reach out six months after their purchase date asking for help with a return. We may offer an exchange for these folks but at that point, we do have to say no to their request for a refund.
When fraud is suspected
Every once in a while, someone will request a refund for an item they claim wasn’t received—but the package tracking app will show the order was delivered. I’m usually willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but if this happens repeatedly or we have proof of delivery, we won’t issue a refund.
In this case, the customer isn’t right because they’re not really a customer—they’re attempting what’s called friendly fraud.
Is the customer always right FAQ
Why is the customer sometimes wrong?
Customers can be wrong when they have unrealistic expectations or misunderstand a warranty or return policy. In these situations, it may be worthwhile to make a one-time exception for a loyal customer. Other customers might not be worth the effort, especially if it seems like they’re taking advantage of your policies.
How do you handle a disagreement with a customer?
If you disagree with a customer, first ensure the customer feels heard. Avoid interrupting their story; instead, ask questions that show you care about their experience. Acknowledge the problem, then offer a choice of solutions.
What are the disadvantages of following “the customer is always right”?
Following the “customer is always right” philosophy can become an issue when a customer disagrees with solutions put forth by a customer service agent. As a supervisor, siding with the customer over the service agent can undermine customer service teams’ authority.
