Customers' Blues

Being a customer used to be a supremacy; where you are always treated with full dignity and respect and also honor.
"Customer is always right" used to be the normal tagline for everyone in the service line and they are always trained to serve or treat the customers with a smile.
But gone were those days as now, we are the ones who need to look at their bad mood and faces when we are the ones paying them for things we want to buy...SIGHS!~

I had a view of this twice today; not such a big deal but I just felt compelled to blog about it as I find the whole thing rather incredulous...haha...

Incident 1:
I was in the market shopping for fruits and as usual, I usually browse from stall to stall to find the nicest ones (norm for every single person). I stopped by each stall for short viewing of their fruits on sale.
There was this stall which display their fruits inside and there was this short aisle between this stall and the next stall (don't really know how to describe it here:p )
I went in to take a look and the lady boss started handing out the plastic bags and verbally promoting her fruits (that's how they do it here; in KL, the fruits sellers hand out baskets, in Penang, they hand out plastic bags).
I shook my head and walked out of the aisle and I overheard her saying/uttering a sentence in Hokkien,
"A neh suui pun kua bo ar?" (means "So nice also you can't see it ar?")
I was a little taken aback that they had the cheek to say such things behind our back and in such a loud voice. I was told that they probably thought we didn't understand Hokkien.
I still think that she was rather unethical (and to think I used to buy fruits from her) - customer has the right and privilege to browse and look to their hearts' content before deciding or finalizing their purchase. They are the one holding the notes and they have the buying power and last say...as sellers, you do not say anything but rather, you are at their mercy and the only way to convince them is through your own selling skills.
You do not criticize them or belittle them for not giving into your promotions.
Well, not such a big deal...don't really care much about it anyway.
One thing's for sure, I am definitely not patronizing that stall anymore; even if there's no fruits on the entire island:p

Incident 2:
I was shopping at Giant and trying to get my daily necessities. I grabbed a promotion pack of this brand X I have been using all the while and browsed through the shelves to see other products by the similar brand. Then all of a sudden, this lady who was a promoter of brand T came over and approached me; informing me of her product's promotions which are lower in price compared to X.
I shook my head and declined her offer lightly and continued to look at the other product choices.
She came back with her brand's promotion pack and showed me that they give free stuffs as well; more with lesser value and told me it was much cheaper and more value worth.
I still declined because I am much more comfortable with brand X and also I do not want any arising allergy problems or discomfort.
Guess what, the lady stood there and tried to ask me what am I looking for, continuously persuading me that her product is way much better and cheaper despite my continuous declines.
Finally, I just walked away and paid for my stuffs.
The best part was; this promoter for brand X was there stacking up the new packets and appear unperturbed by the episode.
But I was definitely defiant and more adamant that I will not succumb to that promotion because I have already picked my selection. Just because the previous customer changed her selection doesn't mean I will do the same.
She has no right to harass me like that; and also, in sales, they should be more ethical when it comes to selling their products. Customers are looking at other brands and they should not approach or persuade them to buy theirs. They can promote; provided that the customers are already in their sections and viewing their products. Otherwise, it's just plain unethical when you pull customers from other sections just to sell your products.

Sighhhhs.....whatever has happened to the time when customers are the ones with authority and all the rights in the world?:p