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Comment by tyingq | Hacker News Reader

This particular case isn't a great example because the customer posted one rude comment in a forum. I'm ignoring the bad review, since that's not good reasoning to part ways. Basically this customer hadn't yet crossed a line that would irk me.

However, to me, there is a line. "The customer is always right" can't be literal.

I have no issue parting ways, with a full refund, for toxic customers that repeatedly use abusive language with my employees. Especially when it's not relative to the situation. These kind of customers do exist. It's not common, but do e-commerce long enough and you'll run into one.

There are also (not often) customers that engage in return fraud or other activity that is just obvious cause to avoid them in the future.

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I mean... yeah obviously, but your examples of toxic behavior and fraud are about as far from the case in question as possible, except insofar as they apply to the guy who bricked the door opener. I'm not suggesting that businesses tolerate abuse or fraud, but this is far from either.

Well, his opening remark on the forum ended in "wondering what kind of piece of shit I just purchased here.."

That appears to be before any contact with anyone at all.

That, alone, doesn't cross a line. But it is a clue that the interaction might quickly lead down a path where you choose to part ways.

I'd have been initially polite, helpful, try to fix the issue, etc. But there would be some line where I'd stop.

Impolite and "toxic customer"/"Thief" are worlds apart. If you can't deal with a broad selection of the average public, don't sell to them. It's really that simple, and the business world selects heavily against people who think that their product or their fiefdom is excepted form that rule.

I can see that viewpoint but there are successful businesses that draw the line in a different place than you do.

It's not about the lines that I draw or that anyone draws, it's about the fundamental power asymmetry in customer-business relationships. Obviously a bar or a B&B have to consider the whole pool of customers, but if you're in the business of selling someone an IoT garage door opener...

I admit that others view it differently. But I'm not apologetic about the idea that a business can choose how much rude behavior to tolerate. Especially if I'm willing to refund without return of the product.

Calling a thing a "piece of shit" and leaving a critical review isn't rude behaviour. This isn't tea time at Buckingham Palace.

Your call, I suppose it's subjective. But I personally consider it to be rude. Would it be an appropriate support response to suggest that maybe their phone is a piece of shit?

It's only rude if you believe that the customer has to respect the hard work and good intentions that went into the product, and make allowances if it doesn't "just work". They don't.

Similarly, I don't have to make allowances for people that can't manage basic civility. I wouldn't send back food with a "this is shit" comment at a restaurant. Even a fast food place. Because I'm interacting with a human being, and see no reason to be a jerk. As a side bonus, "sorry, this tastes bad, could I get something else?" has a higher likelihood of resolving the problem.

"fuck this product" is also not abuse. its not even personal.

people put the slightest emotions they get on a pedestal as a valid reason to do and justify anything.

No it's not abuse. But it is an opening line that might hint the possibility of a customer that's just never going to be happy. And my suggested recourse would be to refund them immediately once you recognize that's the case.

"An opening line that might hint the possibility..." I'm sorry, but at some point you're just expecting the worst possible outcome from a relatively banal situation. Your role in that context would be show an interest and defuse the situation, and only after that failed to have an effect should you start to be concerned that this is a toxic case.

If you approach everyone who so much as barks like they're a mad dog, you'll end up meeting a shocking number "mad dogs".

Okay. It's a rude opener. I'll admit to that biasing my view. Starting a conversation with "your product is shit" sets a certain tone.

You're likely to get better service from me if you're polite. I don't feel badly about that.

You'll never get anything from me except polite interactions in that arena, and at least in part for just that reason. The problem is that in any B2C you'll have a range of people, a Normal Distribution, and that includes a fair number of angry, entitled, rude, dicks. Plenty of them can be safely, and easily defused; and the truth is that a lot of people "come in hot" especially online.

I respect your position, I do, and I wish it were the standard, but realistically it puts you at a potential disadvantage.

I just got fired. It's raining and close to freezing. The weather caused the worst traffic jam in months. It's 8 PM when I finally arrive home so I'm hungry. And now this app, which is nothing more than a single button, refuses to start.

"Fuck this product."

Correct use of the sentence

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