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If you know me you will know I am a jovial person. When ever I am at a shop for an item the first thing, I try to do is to play with the one selling the stuff. Before playing with you I notice the age gap between us before I even make a move. In Africa, some elders don't like to be played with so those people are out of bounds. There are some people who will make sure they smile at you the moment you enter their shop.
Don't get me wrong, the fact that someone is selling something doesn't mean he/she should always wear a wide smile; you never know, that person in question might be dealing with an issue which has taken his focus away from what he is doing and, in that case, you should read the room.
The term "the customer is always right" was formulated to mean different things. To some people it means you should always go out of your way to satisfy that customer to make him or her coming back for more. In some cases, it might also mean you should try your possible best not to charge the customer in such a way when he goes to a different place, he can notice the price gap.
To me it means no matter what the customer says you should take it and always try your possible best to calm him or her down. Well obviously, I don't side with any of these ideologies. Some customers are naturally trouble causes and the fact that you are selling stuff doesn't mean you should take all type of shit that comes from people.
My story goes like this,
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Just recently my phone fell down pretty hard. I broke the back glass and I was okay with using it like that. The phone was working perfectly and nothing had happened to the screen. I was cool with using it but one day one of my friends told me I need to change the back glass or the broken glass might end up destroying something in my phone.
So as usual I had to send it to the repairer. I asked him to fix the problem and for 4 days I didn't like the feedback I was getting from him so on the fifth day I went there myself. When I went to him, we got talking and I asked him to fix it for me. He asked one of his workers to go buy the back glass. When she went, she claimed the colour and the fit I wanted was not there so she came back.
I didn't want the phone to spend another day in the repairers shop so I asked that they fix it like that for me. I told the repairer to fix it so when I get the original colour I want later I will bring it for them to change it. Here comes the funny part, the repairer told me to go and come back the next day because the lady might be tired and all that bla bla. I didn’t understand cause all she does is to sit there with her Co worker and run errands for him. If my phone has spent that long with you, I need to take it because I need it. To add to it the place wasn't that far.
So, since he didn't want her to go, I asked him to direct me there so that I go myself. I looked for the place until I found it. It took me almost an hour to locate the place. Originally it should've taken me less than 20 minutes to go and get back. As if it wasn't enough, I got a cold treatment from the lady who was in the other shop.
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When I went there, I asked for the back glass and they gave me the colours available. My phone is a golden colour but since they didn't have gold I opted for the white. I noticed she was not the smiling type as she was not smiling. When she gave it to me, she didn't even say anything, I had to ask her how much it will cost and she said 50 cedis which is equivalent to 3.37 dollars. Obviously I had to ask her for a reduction. In her defense as I was trying to bargain with her she was serving a different customer so she might not have paid attention when I was talking.
But I can remember correctly that I told her the 50 was too much and she said how much do I want to pay. I told her 40 and I heard her agree. So, I didn't have balance, I had 50 and I gave it to her little brother expecting to receive my balance. This woman stood up and asked me if I expected them to fix the back glass for me😂. It sounded funny and stupid at the same time. Why would I expect you to fix it for me when you can't and you are obviously not the repairer. She sounded so annoying and rude.
I said I was expecting balance since she said she agreed to the reduction. She frowned her face and told me she never said anything like that. I didn't say anything to her. Am not one to argue with vendors about price and all that. All I had to do was leave the shop. This might sound petty but I mean you should have been there to see the expression on her face and the way she said it with such an annoying tone.
It's always best when you can smile even if it's for a short while to please a customer so that her can come back all the time. Some people pay a lot of importance to how you treat them and it should be a priority especially to people who are jovial. This doesn't mean you should also condone disrespect because you want to sell.
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