Customer is not always the king

With growing consumerism, we’ve a saying that Customer is always the king and all companies will do whatever it takes to get business from these customers.

In reality, it is not always so. When demand is more than supply, service providers get to chose their pick and often get to chose the customers they wish to serve. Some examples:

1 Several resorts in India prefer foreign tourists to Indians. This is because foreign tourists often tip generously and spend well on additional services, while Indian tourists are often cost sensitive. They expect everything to be included in whatever they’ve paid and in general do not spend much unless necessary. Also the concern is huge that many Indians are notorious for stealing accessories from hotel rooms or damaging the property by plucking flowers etc.

2 Bangalore autos are notorious for not coming to wherever  you need to go. There was a tweet sometime back “I just asked a driver to take me wherever he is going, he still refused!” I do not know the exact logic used by drivers to decide if they wish to take the passengers to a particular place or not. Some reasons like destination being too far from auto drivers home might make some sense late night, but refusing to come to a nearby place in broad day light must have other reasons. Once I remember reading in Hai Banaglore that because of goonda problem, auto drivers hesitate to pass through certain areas.

3 Buses plying long distance do not entertain passengers who’d like to get down in first few stops, as it may mean opportunity cost of not getting to accommodate a passengers who might travel full distance

4 When it comes to self drive car rentals, India has a long way to go. Many agencies are just not keen on self drive rentals, because of multiple reasons- not much demand, risk of customers mishandling the vehicle which can increase its maintenance, risks involved in vehicles getting used for illegal activates and so on.

5 Certain timeshare company is criticized of buttering the prospects till they signup and subjecting them to all sorts of difficulties once they commit to the membership. Customer is the King as long as he/she parts with his/her money?

6 Getting a passport has been made extremely complicated now, ever since the process is outsourced to a private company by Govt of India. Despite paying the prescribed amount, passport applicants are subjected to all sorts of difficulties and delays.

As a customer, we’ll only be fooled if we expect to be treated like a king. We need to be on guard always and have backup plans. Do you agree?