I understand that due to the giant corporation's need to make people want to dump their wallets and purses into the pockets of their CEO's and their presidents that they must take the letters they receive from consumers seriously. After all a letter from a customer means the customer was not happy, and an unhappy customer could mean loss of profit.... although I doubt it. It is my theory that unhappy customers shop more at the places they hate because they like to complain, but that is only based on how many frowns I see wander into my local retail giant/place of employment. I also have a theory as to why the unhappiest customer continues to shop at places they are most unhappy with. I back this theory up with substantial evidence. We will call this the "Bad Parenting" theory. Lets approach the unhappy customer as the spoiled child, and the giant retailer as the bad parent. The child is placed in an environment where they have access to everything they could dream of owning. They are told they are the most important person in the whole world, and not only that they are told they are NEVER wrong. They are constantly asked if they need anything or if they have found everything they are looking for. They are Rockstars and Royalty, and they are groomed as such by the bad parent. Let's review the parenting skills. Child asks for something, child gets, Child is unhappy with how they were treated and throws a tantrum, child gets more, child realized that they are rewarded by their behavior and writes a letter to their rich Grandparent who just wants to keep them seen and not heard (that would be the president of the company). Child gets even more rewards for their ridiculous behavior.
If you think about it people have been buying things for all of time, but in recent years the retailers have become less concerned with ethics and more concerned with the almighty dollar, that they will entertain any idea that could possibly make them more profitable. I won't get into the whole child labour issue, or the way employees are treated/paid in this blog. Instead I will focus on the Rockstar mentality of "the customer."
It reminds me of when you hear about certain celebrities having demands for their dressing room. For example let's say a celebrity wants their room to smell like fresh baked cookies because it helps them relax, and they wish to have their bottled water imported from France and m and m's arranged in the shape of their face laid out on their bed for when they arrive in the room. Unless that celebrity is "A" list they probably wouldn't have their demands met, but all customers are "A" list (unless they work for the company they are shopping at). So when they have demands, no matter how ridiculous they seem the retail giant is there at their beckon call.
Recently a customer went shopping at a giant retail chain and they felt they were treated terribly. They were called a four letter word by the lady who greeted them at the door. This customer was so upset by this that she felt inclined to write to the president of this retail chain. Let me tell you what this employee did, because it is so unbelievable that you will probably fall off your chair. She actually said to the customer, "Would you like a cart dear?" I highlighted the word dear because this was the offensive four letter word that drove the customer to such rage that she blew up at the employee at the store. She demanded to speak to the manager after about 15 minutes of degrading words toward the employee. After the manager apologized that the customer was offended, and it seemed they had calmed her down, that customer left the store apparently still feeling the injustice of her shopping experience and went to her computer and began to type. I honestly even with my vivid imagination can't even begin to imagine what she wrote. It probably went something like this: "Dear President, [it might be OK for her to use that word because she is the customer] Your employees should know how to address me as I am the customer and I am always right!" OK maybe not quite like that but close. Now if I was the president, and received a letter complaining because one of my employees was nice to someone, I'm pretty sure I would chuckle a little and realize "hey some people are crazy" and move on to the thousands of other emails I probably have complaining about ridiculous things. Then I would think, "wow it is nice that our employees are that friendly even if this customer doesn't like it." But just the opposite happened. The president forwarded the complaint back to the store, which means it requires action, the store addressed the complaint at a meeting that takes place where they announce new policies and sales reports to the employees. They informed the entire store: "due to a customer complaint, we ask that [employees] no longer address customers with the term "dear", or "hun", or "love" as it may offend certain customers." They mentioned that a letter was written. One customer was offended and a letter was written, 150 employees were reprimanded for being kind to customers and asked to no longer use affectionate terms when addressing customers. Every employee was made to feel stupid because they come to work for minimum pay and try to enjoy their job, they try to treat the very customers that look down on them as kindly as they can because these associates understand that is their job.
I feel like "the letter to the president" has gone too far. People will clearly write a letter for anything, and no complaint is taken lightly no matter how ridiculous it is. The employee that addressed the customer as dear felt hurt that her company did not back her up. That they did not explain to the customer that employees do not mean any disrespect when they use affectionate terms toward the customer, and that although they regret she was offended, that the mass majority of customers enjoy kind treatment and therefore our associates are permitted to continue to make every attempt to make our customers feel at home.
Not only was that employee hurt but there were many employees who felt like they had to change who they were to conform to one customer's complaint. Many people use affectionate terms in their everyday speech and it takes effort to not use them.
So if you are a customer and you are about to write a letter, remember that you are just one customer and unless it is a valid complaint and you truly were mistreated, and you feel that the treatment you received could honestly hurt more then just you, don't write the letter. LET IT GO! Sometimes it's better to just suck it up. Let's face it [in case the lady who wrote the " dear president" letter is reading] there are worse things to be called then dear wouldn't you think?
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