I would like to take the words ‘the customer is always right ‘ and rub them in the face of the moron who coined the phrase in the first place.

Because the customer is not always right; sometimes right ? yes – deluded? occasionally yes; but never always right. The person who took these words and then placed them in the vocabulary of consumers obviously never owned a restaurant, a hotel, a shop or a business where one deals with the public.

He/she never manned the complaints/returns counter of a store; never had the brilliant idea of running accommodation in order to be their own boss and ‘enjoy working with people’; they never worked in a restaurant and served good food to people with poor taste…

No, but those of us who have to stand, smile (often through gritted teeth) and have that phrase quoted to us by overbearing and self-important know-alls have done all these things. I quite like another phrase because it is so apt: ” If it wasn’t for the guests I would get some work done around here ”. Because in many ways it is so true.

Take running a hotel for instance; the guests actually count for only a percentage of your duties – administration swallows up the rest of your time - and sanity - leaving just the remnants of your good humour and patience at the mercy of a few certain guests. And no, the good one’s sometimes do not make up for the bad one’s – a hurricane is far more destructive than a hot sunny day…

One hotel manager in the UK, Andy Hageman (pictured left), has been dubbed a real life Basil Fawlty after he took that annoying phrase and threw it in the bin – metaphorically of course. A guest complained about not being able to sleep through the night and on checking out the next day stated he would not be paying his bill. Mr Hageman, no sufferer of fools, told this man in no uncertain terms that he must pay his bill whereby the guest assaulted him.

For one thing this guest used a room and it’s facilities for the duration of his stay and he did not attempt to register his complaint when the ‘inconvenience’ was being experienced – if he had he could have been reallocated another room.

In this business there are a minority of people who will try any trick to get something for nothing, some have tried it on us certainly. Any guest we have had with a grievance, and you are bound to get a few from time to time, are offered a bottle of wine – we never waive the room charge. And to date this has worked quite well…with the exception of one rather obstreperous couple. Also, as a seasoned traveller myself, if I want to be treated with respect I make sure I behave in a way worthy of such. My money does not entitle me to be a complete a**h***.

And don’t give me that ‘ the customer can make or break you ‘ nonsense; it is more likely that extortionate taxes and dishonest employee’s that will cause a business to fail before any customers manage to do so.

But when it comes down to it you know the majority of your guests really are looking to enjoy themselves and your hospitality – and that’s what keeps us going

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