At PUBLIC, we tend to have a strange affection for our fellow man behaving badly. Just when you think you have heard the the most absurd story about consumer behavior, an even crazier story tends to surface. Below is the most recent case of consumers behaving badly, and proof that the costumer is not always right!
Two top stories circulating national and international news today are reinforcing the idea that the American consumer is a complete ass that lacks any semblance of common decency or civility.
The first tells of the flight attendant who dramatically resigned after a passenger hurled verbal abuse at him after the passenger was told to wait until the plane reached the gate to retrieve his luggage from the overhead compartment.
The next shows footage of a fast-food drive-thru patron who becomes violently enraged after learning she could not order chicken nuggets at 6am because only breakfast was being served.
Sure, some people are legitimately crazy, cracked out, or drunk. Others though are complete and utter jerks who have taken the saying “the customer is always right” to mean “you have to give me whatever I want right now, while I am entitled to treat you like a piece of crap and have absurd tantrums if I so please”.
So who, or what, is to blame for this regression in social evolution? There are those who point the finger at parenting – if you allow them to act like brats, they will always be brats.
Or is it customer service commercials showing companies going to extreme lengths to meet the demands of the consumer? Now I’m all for great customer service and always appreciate when someone goes out of their way to help me out. But, I think more commercials should highlight patient and helpful staff, while also serving to admonish consumer bad behavior. The “look at the shit we put up with and keep on smiling”, commercial.
Sure, Burger King started going down this path with their Whopper removal freak out commercials, but that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
I think more companies should begin utilizing their CCTV security cameras and absurd stories from their managers and employees to reflect their excellent customer service during verbal and physical assault.
Like this video, where a lady trashes a McDonalds because she is unhappy with her burger:
Or what this Dell Service rep has to deal with:
The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.
Now let’s circle back to the story about the JetBlue attendant. I’m happy JetBlue gave the guy a 20 minute head start before calling the cops after he inflated the emergency slide to exit the plane. They know what their staff goes through everyday dealing with customers – it’s enough to make anyone snap.
-Amelia
Tags: American, consumer behavior, PR
