Saturation of "The Customer is Always Right"

March 5, 2008

I never realized until living here in Honduras how the US culture is saturated with the theme of customer service. In the US, the customer is always right, even to the detriment of small businesses. Not so here in Honduras. I have been experiencing the other extreme which because of the culture I come from, I find very frustrating.

Yesterday I went to a store in the mall looking for curtains. I saw several options but was not sure how they would look in my room with the walls and other colors that I had around. I asked the sales person if I could purchase two different curtains and then return them. She said it was okay as long as I came back tomorrow to do the return. I double checked with the clerk and she said the same thing. I was a little surprised because I thought that must stores had a no return policy. What you buy is yours for good whether it works or not. Today I went back to the store with both of the curtains because neither really looked good, nor could I find any others in the store that looked like they would work. I had another purchase to make so I picked that out and then proceeded to the check out line. In line the attendant said the item I was buying was on sale so I still had about $8 to spend. I looked a little puzzled and asked "Can't you just give me the change?" The response -- no, there are no refunds for returns. You have to purchase something else of equal or higher cost. I asked whether I could come back another day and she just give me a certficate or something but no, I had to make me purchase at the time of the return. She kindly added that I could take as long as I wanted to look around. That was not the issue. There was nothing that I really needed other than curtains and I did not have time to browse the store for another 30 minutes. But I set off in search of something else. I came back with a fruit basket and strainer and still it was not enough so I went looking again.

What seemed to be hours later I walked out of the store with my purchases, all because of what I thought would be a simple return. It did not matter in the least to the attendant that everyone failed to tell me the second part of their return policy -- no refunds. No apologies, nothing. I am not sure that it would phase the Hondurans so much because that is just the way things are. But I come with certain expectations of customer service and so find myself frustrated at what appears to me an indifferent and sometimes harsh attitude. And yet these experiences have showed me that perhaps we in the US go too much to the other extreme. Maybe I should learn to buy only what I know I want and pay the consequences if it does not turn out as I wished. I think that neither culture has the perfect balance and we both have much to learn from each other. I need to be less demanding and perhaps they more understanding. I have learned a valuable lesson though -- never buy something here in Honduras unless I am sure it is what I want.