Win the fight, lose the customer

The greatest line I ever heard relating to customer service, and the one I think I'll choose to take over 'the customer is always right', was when an old boss I had in hospitality was fielding an aggressive objection from a customer over one of our best waitresses.

Clearly expecting my boss to fold and berate his staff she was shocked into silence by my boss turning to her and saying:

"Ma'am, please don't ask me to choose between my staff and my customers, because you just wont win."

Needless to say, every single one of his staff was massively dedicated to him and did our utmost to reflect it in our work.

Working in technical support my colleagues and I all knew who were good customers, and who were bad customers. Our manager knew too. He would back us up with raises and options. Making unhappy customers happy is not an easy job (especially given our bug list at the time).

Years later, I still remember one who called almost once a week with a new issue he had dug up. Admitting he was right and promising to fix the bugs did not make him happy, or make him go away. We all had a theory that he was calling so often because he was lonely and wanted someone to talk with.

Taking a longer view, I think being a nasty customer is it's own punishment. These people are miserable or sad, and lording over a service or hospitality worker gives them only a pyrrhic victory. The server or tech support moves on with their life. But the asshole is still an asshole.