Jobs, Ethics and the "Grey Area"

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August 24th, 2011 at 5:21:05 AM permalink

Tiltpoul

Member since: May 5, 2010
Threads: 28
Posts: 1147

Quote: odiousgambit
About "The customer is always right"...

It took me a long time to understand this saying and what it means. It always seemed so hypocritical when someone in management would say it and clearly not believe it. And to take it literally is quite absurd. Is the customer right when they want to take items and pay for them later, without setting up an approved account? Don't think that hasnt been tried.

Excellent point. It's more about how you handle certain situations. In the particular case I was talking about, we never told the customer that they were wrong; obviously, she was able to get around our policy, and we couldn't tell her she couldn't do that (we did after the fact though). If you treat the customer with respect, it makes decisions easier for them to swallow. Ironically, a complaint to corporate almost always gets it the customer's way, even in extreme examples where the customer may have STOLEN merchandise. Those decisions get raised eyebrows even from managers who completely play by the books.

The thread has wandered and focused a lot on my personal example, which wasn't the intention. Does anybody have any other examples where a policy they don't agree with has to be upheld?

[Profile updated... more to come]

August 24th, 2011 at 5:56:15 AM permalink
DJTeddyBear Member since: Nov 2, 2009 Threads: 105 Posts: 5727	Quote: odiousgambit About "The customer is always right"... The first step is to define "customer", and to decide if you want that person as a customer or not. Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood?

August 24th, 2011 at 6:35:21 AM permalink
Paigowdan Member since: Apr 28, 2010 Threads: 54 Posts: 2130	Quite often it is better off not. Quite often the "boss" thinks otherwise, being penny-wise and pound foolish. Gambling doesn't build character, it reveals..no character. But a lot of characters.

August 24th, 2011 at 6:35:47 AM permalink
Nareed Member since: Nov 11, 2009 Threads: 218 Posts: 7281	There's a very entertaining site called "Not Always Right" It's worth looking it up. This space is closed for remodeling

September 14th, 2011 at 4:23:25 PM permalink

Tiltpoul

Member since: May 5, 2010
Threads: 28
Posts: 1147

Quote: Tiltpoul
I talked about starting this thread a few days ago, but after seeing a new thread posted in which Dan will be sure to comment about how people should talk up, I decided to get this going now. I'm going to set up a quick introduction in this post, then follow it up with my personal situation.

Since many of us work in the service industry, most of us have jobs where we have to deal with clients or customers. As part of our jobs, we often times have policies set by management that we may not like or even agree with. However, as employees, we are required to adhere to those rules. Occasionally, we have to enforce the rules against others, be it customers or other employees. This can often cause a conflict as to how to address a situation, since we must support the business we work for, yet on the other side, we understand and maybe even agree with the customer/employee who is questioning the policy.

Example: In the Flashing Dealer thread, Paigowdan created quite a stir when talking about the ethics of "hole carding." At times, it was difficult to tell the line from CHEATING and using information to lower the house edge. While Dan lives by a much higher code of conduct than most gamblers, his casino-line stance on the issue upset a lot of people. Most dealers would absolutely take the approach Dan did WHILE WORKING, but may disagree entirely when on the customer side. Of course, on a forum like this, most dealers would agree with the player, understanding that point of view. But at work, they would have to tell the player they are wrong. See the conflict??

This thread is designed to discuss various jobs and where the conflicts come into play. I will have a very lengthy example from the retail industry in my next post. It's not intended to attack anybody (Dan, I only used your case as an example since it's what prompted me to start the thread), but rather bring up cases where as employees/managers/owners we are conflicted with what we would do if the shoe was on the other foot.

Okay, given the nature of how "Is Counting Cheating" has gone, I would like to revitalize this post. I hope we can get it off the ground, and I really don't want people to focus on my personal example. Rather, let's discuss how our jobs and what we deem ethical could potentially conflict with what we believe.

[Profile updated... more to come]

November 3rd, 2011 at 7:04:28 PM permalink

Scotty71

Member since: Mar 5, 2011
Threads: 16
Posts: 200

Quote: Tiltpoul
Okay, given the nature of how "Is Counting Cheating" has gone, I would like to revitalize this post. I hope we can get it off the ground, and I really don't want people to focus on my personal example. Rather, let's discuss how our jobs and what we deem ethical could potentially conflict with what we believe.

Its odd that no one wants to "overpay" for an item but would complain if a company laid people off. I sold ladies shoes in college and if people started that crap with me I told them by paying the higher price they were reserving their size and just because it went on sale was irrelevant if they pushed I give them a 10% adjustment but would mark the receipt and box " Final Sale non returnable"!

I think the customer needs ethics too but it is always the store that gets the bad wrap. Stores deal with overhead, labor costs, expensive inventory and shrinkage all of which gets built into the prices. I'll personally pay more to support a business that gives great service and treats employees well.

when man determined to destroy himself he picked the was of shall and finding only why smashed it into because." — E.E. Cummings

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