I read it as the customer wasn't happy with something, and having learned that 'the boss' was on holiday, decided to parachute in their own management to oversee things.
They learn that you will say no, every time. So they ask someone else, and someone else, until they get the answer that most resembles what they were after, then they lock into that as a commitment instead of a hypothetical conversation.
As a child you figured out which parent was more likely to say yes to treats, and under what circumstances (mood, which sibling asks, how they ask).
The thing is the customer gets rewarded for results, no matter how they get them. So if they stoop to juvenile tricks and get a promotion for it, they're just gonna keep doing that forever.