I am between the proverbial rock and a hard place in many areas of my life, friends.....

No, life isn't going bad, but I am sitting here wondering at the ethics of my employer.  Not when it comes to his employees-although I do question that, but with his customers.

My friends, in all the years that I have worked in customer service-waiting tables in restaurants and running the counter at dry cleaners, I have NEVER in any of those places EVER heard my bosses or the owners treat their customers with anything less than respect, especially when they had comments or questons or even complaints concerning the quality of the product they recieve!

Today, I had a customer come in with the same complaints...easy enough to just credit his account and shut up about it....we HAD promised the gentleman this after all, and the man asked if the boss would please contact him, and he left his card with me, but the owner said that the guy was "an a$$&^*" and he wasn't going to credit the man's account., or call the man...not even to give him the courtesy he deserved of answering his questions. 

So, I went lower to the manager and made a comment about it, and she and the other woman who works there proceeded to go through and credit the man what he deserved, and to make sure that the stains that he complained about were handled in a different manner so that they wouldn't happen again...when the manager called him, they  must have figured his credit wrong, and he came in again to speak to me about it (he knew it wasn't me, becuase he asked my name earlier and I told him, the manager gave him her name), all the while, I was hoping that the owner would come in early like he always does, because I was secretly HOPING that the owner would have to be forced to confront the man...guess what-he did, and I was glad because I thought that the customer was being treated unfairly because my boss didn't want to deal with him....he had no other choice.

The way my boss spoke to that customer (who is a sales rep by the way, and interacts with businesses AND customers) was atrocious!  I felt so horrible, and the customer saw that on my face!!!  Absolutely NO respect, and talking to the man like he was a liar!!  After all that I had done to set the situation up so that there would be a sociable and pleasant, even amiable way for the two to discuss the situation...I sympathized with the customer, talked to him like the intelligent (and did I mention cute??!!) man that he is...I showed him that we are willing to find a solution, only to have the OWNER talk to the man like he was some evil creature out to take him down.  I personally was upset, and embarrassed because I felt like he was discrediting everything that I was trying to do for the man...and for him-which is keep a customer, keep him happy, and make it so that that man will go out and tell others of the postive outcome of the whole thing. 

There is a rule in any and every business:  Give a customer great service, and they will come back, and reccommend you to 1 other person.....give a customer bad service and they will not only NOT come back, but they will TELL AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE, and you will loose even that!!!

This isn't the first time that the owner of this company has done this to a customer...he lost another last week because he tried to accuse a customer of 5 years and  brings in$50-$100 every week that she was pulling a fast one on him...she mentioned telling "everyone who would listen to her" not to bring their dry cleaning to us....my friends, I have no doubt that there will be many she tells that to, even strangers....

And from what I have seen lately, he treats his employees the same way.  I have been the brunt of his rudeness and false sarcasm plenty of times...he has gone behind me AFTER I have told him something...he has treated other employees with blatant disrespect, and comments about replacing them.

Now, I only stay because I need a job, and the insurance because I need to go to a dentist, but this goes against my morals and ethics to treat anyone who comes into my presence as a customer....how can the employee treat them so well, only to have the owner rude and disrespectful....I can't stand to see and hear him doing this, it burns me up inside....every human should be treated as such, and when they have issues or problems with you or the product you deal with, it's YOUR responsibility to at least acknowledge it and do what you can to correct the problem...am I wrong?

I know I should leave this alone, and it isn't my concern...but if this continues to happen, and he looses business....he has to shut down, and if he shuts down, I am out of a job, and I have to start all over again....I won't call him out on this, but  how can I live with this, in all consciousness?  It burns me up to watch humans being treated this way-customers, employees, manager or no.....I am beside myself.  I want to find another job, but  I know it's going to be hard.

I thought about waiting until the man left the building and sending him to the old place that I worker...I know they will treat him with courtesy, kindness and respect....I didn't, because that would be morally wrong too...even if I told him to tell the old boss that I sent him (they'd get a crack out of that one for sure).  It still wouldn't be right.

I want to say something to the boss, but how can I? Other employees said that it won't matter, he won't listen to anyone...so I guess he may eventually run his own business into the ground.

The other place where I feel trapped right now is something that I feel that I must work out on my own...no one else can now or ever help me....I may not be on here to do more than check messages, comments and things for a while.  I need to go within myself on some things, and being on this site or in other places might prejudice my decisions.  I do love all of you, and I cherish you...and I know that you would help me if you could, but this is my battle to fight within myself.  I will be on my Yahoo and MSN and AOL checking emails, and I will stop by  to see how everyone is doing, but for the moment, I am not sure how long I will be away from Covenspace....

Everyone have a great day, and know that you are loved!!