'You want to put how much concrete in your Civic?': Customer insists on loading 1000 lbs. of concrete into the back of their small car despite employee's warnings

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
May 22, 2024 7:00 PM EDT

"The customer is always right" is an attitude that is purveyed throughout customer service... People will love to remind you at this point that one full attribution of the original quote is also reported as being "The customer is always right in matters of taste" meaning that or that customer service representatives should seek "to satisfy the customer regardless of whether the customer is right or wrong." Both lend to the idea that the customer is not necessarily right about all things, just about their own preferences. From there, apparent sources of the idea refer to the customer as being a "king" or a "god" or as in some other level of elevated status supporting the more commonly supported version that fails to clarify under what situations the customer is always right. While all these ideas differ somewhat, they all seem to agree with the fact that you should let customers select what they want, how they want it, even when what they want doesn't make sense.

So—well, if what your customer wants is their small car loaded up with a ridiculous amount of weight in the form of an inordinate number of bags of concrete mix, the rules of the trade dictate that you must let them do so… Even if it's against your better judgement.

Advertisement
  • 01
    CIVIC BRO "You want to put how much concrete in your Civic?"
    via Brian
  • 02
    You want to put how much concrete in your Civic? Many years ago I worked in a locally run store that sold a bit of everything. I was the low paid teenager that carried heavy things to people's vehicles. While working one day I get called over the radio that a customer needed 12 bags of concrete (80lbs each). I was expecting to see a pickup
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 03
    truck or something similar backed up to our loading area. Instead I saw a small Honda Civic there waiting for me. Thinking it was a mistake, I asked the driver to relocate momentarily as I had someone coming to pick up multiple bags of concrete. Imagine my surprise when they told me they were the customer I was waiting for.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 04
    I asked the customer how much they wanted to take in each trip, as I believed the nearly 1000lb of concrete might be too much for such a small vehicle to handle safely. The customer became aggravated and insisted that they were taking it all at once. I quickly ran this past the store owner to make sure I wouldn't be held liable
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 05
    for any damages. I ran back, apologized to the customer, and began loading the bags. As I loaded everything up the customer made several quips about how "the customer is always right" and that I was too young and naive to understand that vehicles are engineered with a margin of safety.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 06
    It quickly became apparent that there was no play left in the suspension, but at this point I just stopped questioning things. I couldn't fit all of the bags in the trunk, so the customer cleared their back seat and I loaded that up as well. Upon leaving the loading area you could clearly hear things rubbing. As the car went to exit the parking lot it passed over the elevation change between the lot and the road, there was a loud pop of something breaking, followed by scraping.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 07
    I could see that the driver was irate in the car. After a moment they got out, looked around and under their car. The guy sheepishly asked for my cell phone, because his had died and he needed to make a few phone calls. A short time later a tow truck came to remove the car, and the guy waited in our lot for nearly an hour until his wife could come pick him up.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 08
    PN_Guin At least he didn't try to blame you. Waygzh I've had 5 200+ lb dudes in my 2019 Civic Sport Hatch with bags in the back. Why was the suspension boned by less than 1000 lbs of concrete?
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 09
    • 65Kodiaj 17 hr. ago I had something like this, except the reverse in a sense. I hauled for a large chain hardware store the rhymes with Dome Hepot... ;) I drove a tractor trailer as a contractor and delivered materials, brick and block, shingles, lumber, all that
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 10
    stuff for them. But, they had another contractor who drove a small box truck who delivered the fragile and or smaller stuff for them. They wanted me to deliver some custom made complete door assemblies to a house about 2 hours away. These doors were already hung on fancy wood frames with the fancy
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 11
    grooved trim. I refused. Told them it needed to go on the box truck. My flatbed was meant for heavy loads and the ride would be way too rough and probably damage or destroy the doors. They insisted, I still refused. The called the company who I worked for and talked to
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 12
    them. My company called, I explained the situation, they said is there anything that could change my mind. I told them a copied, and video using my phone with them signing a waiver would do it. So that's what happened. I took the doors down, exactly what I said. would happen, happened. Nothing happened after, everything seemed good.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 13
    About a year later the company I worked for tried to screw me on some pay, so I put in my 30 day notice. Once the got the notice I guess they realized I was serious so they tried to fix things to get me to stay, but I was done.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 14
    With about 3 days before my last day they sent me a notice. The notice said I owed the store over 20k for those doors that I destroyed about a year ago. I laughed, told them, remember the waiver they signed and I sent you a copy of? They said we don't know anything about that and we don't have a waiver. You owe us that money. I said I'll call you right back.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 15
    Went and got all my saved paperwork, found the original copy of the waiver, faxed it to them, and once I got the confirmation I called them back. When the guy answered I told him to check the fax machine. He came back and said what is this. I said it's the waiver
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 16
    that the store manager signed and printed his name along with the deliver number, date, address and a description of everything that was delivered and you'll see on the last paragraph where it says the driver delivery person, with my name written, is not responsible for any damage that happens to these
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 17
    doors during the delivery. He has informed us that they need to be delivered by the box truck. Using his truck will most likely lead to damage but we understand and wish him to deliver the merchandise anyways. Never heard another word after that lol.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 18
    OpenScore 18 hr. ago Your judgement was concrete, too bad his ego couldn't handle the weight.
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 19
    rocketplex 17 hr. ago . edited 17 hr. ago I lived this post from the other side. Needed a few bags of stones from the place down the road and cheaped out on delivery. Went down in my Civic and loaded 'er up. Yeah, the price of those new shocks were certainly a shock
    via u/pathofuncertainty
  • 20
    Remote Presentation6. 14 hr. ago Smart teenager, getting the owners blessing before fulfilling the customers wish.
    via u/pathofuncertainty

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

customer support customer service workplace discussion workplace-stories jobs job malicious compliance retail work customers karen-customers customer entitled customers workplace workplace malicious compliance employment in the workplace
Scroll Down For The Next Article