Customer Appreciation 101

Two years ago, you spent over $500 per month at a locally owned grocery store. One day you came into the grocery store at lunch to buy an apple. The cashier recognized you and addressed you by first name with a cheery smile and said not to worry about paying for the apple. This trend continued about once a month for the next two years. Your spending per month eventually increased to $650 and you never shopped the competitor even though you heard things from the community that there were better prices across the street.

Eventually, the cashier's attitude and business sense were recognized by one of her customers and she was offered a better paying job with better benefits. Although she was reluctant to leave her job because of the many nice people she met, she could not turn down the man's offer.

The day after the cashier left, she was replaced by a gentleman who recently moved into the area and was looking for a job. You arrived at the grocery store expecting to see the old cashier and get your free apple--business as usual. You noticed the usual cashier was out and hoped she warned the new cashier about her regulars. As you leave the grocery store with your apple, you hear a strong voice shout, "sir, you'll need to pay for that apple." You explain that you're a good customer and that you come in at lunchtime every month for about two years and the old cashier never charged you and the owner was present on several occasions when this occurred. Because of this, you never shopped across the street and you were aware that your spending habits had increased because of the good relationship that you had with the business. "Sir, I have been asked by the owner himself to make sure everyone pays for ALL items that leave the store, no matter how trivial or small they may seem," replies the cashier. You retort, "I understand you are just doing your job. I will pay for this apple and any other apple I get." The cashier replies: "I also have some bills for you. We have calculated that an apple per month for the past year comes to $24.66. We understand that you are a good customer and want to repay you by not charging you for the first year that this occurred."

Eyes wide open to who and what you are dealing with, your mind sharpens and hardens in response to the sucker-punch that was just delivered to your wallet. You give the cashier the money for the apple that you bought today and refuse to pay for the previous apples. You know that the owner is taking this approach with all of his customers, preying on the fact that most of his customers in this small town will be upset but will feel obligated to pay for the apples even though they were not originally asked to. Being from a diverse background, you recognize the game when you see it and know that there's no way they could sue you for the apples that were given to you by the old cashier.

Although you are a man of your word and default to your moral compass and common sense rather than a lawyers and courtrooms, the owner is obviously playing the game on a different level that you completely understand and are good at playing but are committed to avoiding because of moral and ethical convictions. Only for defense has been your motto. You refuse to involve yourself in this cycle of greed so you walk across the street for the first time in two years and realize that you should have been shopping there for a long time.

You tell your friends about the situation and why you refused to pay for the apples you were given. Two years later, the grocery store that you used to love going to closes down due to hard economic times and a sharp decline in sales. The cashier and you become friends and he gets a management position at the new grocery store. The immoral grocery store owner retires and relies on his aging rental properties. You send the owner an anonymous delivery of two dozen apples and a note, "How do you like them apples?" The owner does not eat the apples for fear that one of his angry tenants that he's overcharging has poisoned them. The apples are thrown into the landfill where they eventually rot. A flock of birds eat the rotten apples and get salmonella poisoning. Ironically, while the owner is out checking his mail in his robe and bedroom slippers, the birds fly overhead and relieve themselves. "Shit!" Exclaims the man. You look up above your newspaper from your porch at the man covered in bird feces and say, "You got that right!"