The customer is always "Right"!

I am in Mumbai this week staying in Novotel Juhu Beach hotel. It is strategically located at famous Juhu facing the Arabian sea. I was lucky as I was allowed to use their Premier Lounge for FREE drinks and finger food during happy hours from 6pm to 8pm. Last night while I was at the lounge to collect a room card at 8.30pm, an Indian and a Mat Salleh lady walked into the lounge. The checked into the Premier floor and they wanted to use the lounge. The staff at the lounge told them they can use the lounge however, happy hour is over. There are still plenty of finger foods which they could indulge in, but the ladies customer wanted more. They want the staff to fix them alcoholic drink. The staff refused because happy hour was over and she was not allowed to do it.

The soft spoken lady then started telling her problems from the flight delay, to bad traffic, to late car pickup. In the end she wanted to point out it wasn't her fault and the hotel should take this into consideration. She then became very demanding and wanted the staff to allow them to drink. The staff then commented "It was not my fault that you faced all these problems"! At that point, I was very sure, the staff made a very wrong comment eventhough she felt insulted by the customer. After all she is in service industry and the customer is always right. She can deny all the way, but she should not express her dis-contenment and emotion to the customer, I reckon! Anyway, the 2 ladies walked away and headed to the ground floor bar where they have to PAY for a drink!!