Right or Wrong

BY JACK DIONNE

A lumber sclesnctr quit his iob, rmd ioined the police lorce. A friend csled hirn how he liked his new iob, cmd he scdd, '"V[fell the pcy isr't much, the hours cre long, crnd I get cffiful tired,' but there is one big thing cbout being c cop thcrt crppecrls lo me; TIIE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG."

There's cr lot ol humcm ncture in thcrt story, Next to tipping, the silliest notion ever cdopted by intelligent people in this country is the slogcnr-"The customer is crlwcys right." The wcy I ve got it ligrured cr crook is never right. And every penny cnte picklrocket in the countrl'hcs iaken cdvcrntcge ol thcrt 'tustomer clwcrl's righf'business. II q cqstomer delibercrtely tckes crdvcmtcrge ol the courtesy of tr nerchcmt crnd inposes upon him in unlcir lcshion, he ouglrt to be told so. In lqct, I've known plenty who hcrve. And it clwcys did me good, whenever I hecrd of c ccse.

But there crre literclly millions ol people irr thiB countqr who buy goods in good fcrith, wecr or use them cr while, thea bump up Eotne silly clcrim crgcinst tbe guclity oI the purchcse, crnd tqke it bcrclc loowing thcrt the nerchcrnt must either lose their custom, or subiect to c polite blcckicrcking. It hcppens much less ia the retcril building mcrterial business thcm ia such liaes crs clothing. The lumber business is subiect to mcmy diseqaes, but polite highiqcking is not one oI the serious ones. II cr bocrd goes wrongr or c window frcrme bulges, or c pcnel crccks, thcrt lcrct specrks lor itsell. And it is not ecrsy to clcrirn shortcrges crnd get qway with thern in the retail building ncrtericl gcme.

There is cr better chqnce lor clciming shortcges in carlots of lurnber cnd other wood products. II the customer tcrkes it out ol the ccr cnd then scys the lull onount is not there, his clc"m is likely to be cllowed. But not much petty lcrceny is done thct wcry in these dcrys. Every now cmd then cr buyer appecrs on the building horizon who makes c: business of mcking smcll clqims on every shipme.nt, but they crre Iew and lcrr between" their lcrme soon sprecrds, cnrd they usuclly do not lcst long. Tcken ag cr whole the business oI distributing lumber crrd building mctericrls is cbout cs honest a garre cs ccn be lound in this business world.

In the old dcys I hcrve known scrwmill men who got rich by clwcys selling iust under the mcrket when it wcrs going up, cmd then withdrcnning entirely when it stcrted down. And I have larown retcrilers who mcde substcnticl lortunes lcrgely with the cid oI shcdy-though never illegcl-prcrctices. The lcct thct I never hecr of such ccrses todcy, proves to me that this is a more reputable cnd high-minded business thcrn it ever wrrs belore. Its ethics crre delinitely betier. The whole industry knows that cr squqre decl is the only decrl thct pcrys,'thct it pcys buyer crnd seller clike.

Ol course, humcrn nqture is still humcn ncttute, cnd lolks cre still lolks, cnd there will clwcrys be c certcrin percentcrge ol people in the world who would rcrther live by their wits thcrn oiherwise; but not mcmy ol them get into the lumber business, crnd none oI those who do, stcrlt in long.

But, in my book "The customer is clwcys right" cmd "The customer is crlwcrys wrong" cre both dizzy philosophies.