The Customer is King in the US.
This past December 1st, I published “7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Rent from Hertz” . I described a poor experience, and asserted that in the United States, the customer is king. Europeans living here claim that servers are more dedicated because they make their livings off their tips. However, I receive better service in the stores, or even on the telephone. So is the customer really king in the United States?
A week later I got a pleasant surprise. The customer service manager for Hertz France contacted me and apologized. I hadn’t lodged a complaint with Hertz, and had simply posted my poor experience on the social networks. Eventually search engine optimization also played a role; as of February 1, 2016, my blog post was in 7th place in the Google results for the keywords “Hertz France”. A few weeks later, I received a letter, along with a $100 voucher.
Julia Gaspar-Bates, CEO of an intercultural consulting firm, has been working for 25 years to connect cultures within an ever-changing world. In her experience, she has “…frequently heard the French say somewhat enviously that the “client is king” in the U.S.”. My experiences would also support that.
Is the Customer King in the United States?
On a Friday night before Christmas, my power steering failed in the middle of an intersection. Thirty minutes later, AAA towed me to Midas, where we normally take our family Honda for servicing. By 2:00pm the following day, the repair was completed and we picked up our vehicle. This would be inconceivable in Germany, where garages close at 3:00pm on Fridays. It would also be unthinkable in France, as the garages there are also closed on Saturdays. Furthermore, and here’s the kicker, Midas did not charge me for the repair! Nothing at all!
Why didn’t Midas bill me? The cost of the repair was originally quoted at $560. My husband, who went to pick up the car, went back to the counter twice to ensure there wasn’t a mistake. “No sir, there’s no mistake. That note is for us. We completely checked your vehicle over two months ago, and we should have anticipated this problem. We are very sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused you.” Isn’t that incredible? At Midas, the customer is king.
Another good example occurred at Target, an American department store. The Washington region had just been hit with an historical snowstorm. I ended up being stuck in my house, snowed in for five consecutive days. By stuck, I mean that the street was covered in 2.5 feet of snow, the car was blocked, and our only escape was to play in the back yard.
When the snowplows finally cleared the little streets, people rushed out to do their shopping. This past weekend, the lineups at check-outs were like a Saturday at IKEA. It is very unusual in the United States to wait more than 2-3 minutes to pay. At Target, an employee walked back and forth to apologize to customers. I was also given a $3 voucher, handed out to appease customers.
Verizon, a great example of when the customer is not king
Many large companies in the United States, like in Europe, consider customer service as a cost. To lower costs, some of them have relocated their call centers. Others first filter incoming calls through an automated message system that provides a certain number of selections. Others, like Verizon, offer a live chat service on their websites.
Here’s a little side note: Besides the fact that I am a living, breathing human being, robots don’t understand foreigners and their thick accents!
It is impossible to reach Verizon by phone. Believe me, I’ve tried everything. The number found on Google is reserved for mobile customers. The other numbers are never answered, or keep you on hold for 30 minutes before automatically disconnecting. However, Verizon does offer online chat. I tested it for you when I needed help setting up the “parental control”. It is supposed to control the times when the children are allowed to use the Internet. It was a waste of an hour, but very amusing. I am firmly convinced I was dealing with a machine that couldn’t understand me.
The customer is not king in American public services
My worst experiences have been with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). In order to be able to drive in the United States with my German license, I had to do some legwork. In France, I went to the Prefecture. In the United States, it’s the DMV.
I want to be clear. You have to spend two half days there in person to get your license. Not to take a test on the rules or a driving exam, but time just waiting to be served at the counter. The first time, you will stand in line for three hours to learn that you don’t have the right paperwork, like my social security card because it was a photocopy and not an original.
The second time, once again, I spent three more hours before speaking with an employee in a bad mood who treated me like I was good for nothing. Expect no help from their website, where any potential information is lost in thousands of pages. In short, the DMV is absolute Hell for its users. This trailer for Disney-Pixar’s next movie Zootopia, illustrates this hilariously!
The idea that the customer is king is a cultural one
Gaspar-Bates lived in France for many years. She also believes the service is better in the United States. However, she softens this opinion by suggesting:
“… a much deeper cultural exploration. In the United States, there is an unspoken philosophy that the client is always right and calls all the shots. Competition is tough and companies try to distinguish themselves by providing exceptional service as a means to generate customer loyalty. Business is very focused on the financial results, which gives customers the upper hand.
American friendliness may also be a contributing factor to providing good service. Additionally, American labor laws are such that employees can easily be fired or laid off if their performance does not meet company standards.“
The perception of service quality also depends on your expectations. The French, and those in Latin countries in general, place greater importance on relationships than efficiency. The same service will be perceived differently based on a person’s origins. Even neighboring European countries like France and Germany have profoundly different views about it.
Home Depot or Lowes are the equivalent of Mr. Bricolage in France, or Obi in Germany. For many foreigners who come to the Washington area, Home Depot is a destination of choice after the moving boxes arrive. Because of differences in measurement, fastening systems or even lightbulb sizes, customers often buy the wrong item. Returning an item, even if opened, is just a small procedure at Home Depot. There are four check-outs at the store entrance entirely dedicated to returns. The employees hardly ask the reason for the return and are quick to credit the funds back to the card used for the original purchase.
My husband is French and prefers direct relationships. He feels mistreated every time and describes the employees as “friendly as a prison door”, one of the rare times a French expression works very well in English. Yet a German colleague boasts about the system’s speed and efficiency!
So is the Customer King in the United States, or Not?
A customer will likely be treated better in the United States than in France. However, since American service is based on efficiency, it may not appeal to cultures focused on building personal relationships, or on quality, as Julia Gaspar-Bates:
“An example of this is with deadlines. While Americans may need to do whatever it takes to meet a deadline, in France this tends to be more of a suggestion rather than an absolute. The French are more concerned with the quality of a product or service than with the timeframe which may change over time due to unforeseen constraints”.
Clearly, an American will notice when things are taking too long, while the French appreciate a well-made product. One will be anxious and dissatisfied, the other will welcome the outcome. This is a source of conflict in all projects involving a multicultural team.
The customer is sometimes king in the United States…but not always.
