"The customer is always right..." - What a crock of shite.

The old saying goes that the customer is always right. I had that pointed out to me in Wickes several times, and worryingly the customer felt that that comment alone was enough for me to have to back down.

On my first day at Wickes I was told by the person training me that customers are not always right, but they are king (or queen when appropriate). That's a far better saying that makes far more sense.

What gets to me about the customer being right theory is that it's simply not logical.

It usually applies when the customer is querying a policy or perhaps some technical knowledge.

"I'd like a refund on this please. It's faulty." says the customer.

"I'm afraid we need to send that away for repair, as you do not have proof of purcahse." replies the member of staff.

(I'll delete the conversation that follows and cut to the all important line)

"Young man, have you not heard of the saying 'The customer's always right? Refund please.'"

Honest to God, it happens.

So where does the lack of logic apply? The fact that the employee has been doing their job for x amount of time and is payed to do and know that job on a daily basis. On the other hand you have a customer who believes they know it all - far more than the professionals. Yet (unless their living is also behind a till/customer service desk etc) spend little time dealing with such matters in comparison.

Rant over.

And strut...

Was walking to work from the train station this morning and 'Krack', off of the Nite Versions album by Soulwax (they sure are zany spellers!) played on my MP3 player. Its such a confident song I couldn't help but want to strut to it as I walked the streets thinking that "I was the man!".. Hell, I'm a little concerned that some strut might well have leaked out in my walk.

If you are lacking in confidence then give it a listen - for around 4 minutes every doubt you have about yourself will be gone. The price for this amazing ability? The eternal memory of your strut when you're not feeling nearly as confident.

BBC - The Wrong Man

I realise this is old news now but it's only now I've seen the actual intereview.

Quick overview: Guy turns up for an interview at the BBC, only to be mistaken for a different chap. As a result he is taken onto the set of News 24 where he is interviewed live on air regarding a tech story. As far as the chap was concerned this was his job interview.

Here is a link to the footage:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi?redirect=st.stm&news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=4774179

The initial look on his face when he is asked a question is priceless. Well worth watching.

Assignation of George W Bush

Digital channel More4 (or Mo-Fo as its known in 'the hood') will be screening a drama/documentry which includes a mock assignation of George W Bush. Based on the BBC article below, it sounds like an interesting show:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5302598.stm

What ammuses me from that article though is the following quote:

John Beyer of UK TV pressure group MediaWatch said the film was "irresponsible".

He said it could even trigger a real assassination attempt and told the Daily Mirror: "There's a lot of feeling against President Bush and this may well put ideas into people's heads."

If you truly feel strongly enough to want to kill someone you dislike - even in America, it shouldn't really require inspiration from a TV show for you to think of such a general, obvious plan. It's not like American history alone doesn't provide enough history of how to deal with a president you dislike.