I even ran across Inc Magazine’s article “You’ve Been Yelped” shortly after, which describes business owner’s struggles with this site in particular.

Everyone’s a critic. The cliché has long been a useful way to brush off a caustic remark or a biting comment. But now it’s true — and it’s driving entrepreneurs crazy.

Is it driving us crazy? No. Is it making us think before we react to a customer? Yes.

Now, Yelp does have some other issues, like kicking bad reviews to the bottom of certain user’s pages if they are advertisers. But that’s another issue.

The issue here is how do we, as business owners, treat customers and, better yet, deal with the fallout from negative (and very public) customer feedback? Back in the old days, my grandfather would not hesitate to show a customer the door if they were having a hard time “seeing eye to eye.” But the internet has empowered customers. If you don’t like the service, trash the waiter. If the food is subpar, throw the chef under the bus. And tell all your Facebook friends how that one brand of detergent makes your shirts smell like formaldehyde. So, times change and we always adapt to change around here. But how far do I have to go in dealing with an obnoxious, difficult or even offensive customer? Is the customer always right? Or do I take the chance that sometimes they’re just wrong and let the chips fall where they may? Food for thought I hope. Just please don’t give this “chef” a bad review

Saturday, I had one customer come in who was ready to fight and complain about a ring (which just needed to be polished). Couldn’t have been any nastier. My father started to wait on her, and he was gonna give her the boot. I stepped in and just kept my mouth shut and fixed the problem. Then another guy came in and wasted my time and asked for a better price with no intention of buying. I kicked him out of the store because I knew he was not serious. The next customers who came in were a nice young couple looking for wedding bands. They were young professionals like me and very pleasant, and I look forward to working with them.

So here’s the question. Do I need to be spoken to like that in MY STORE? My grandfather, of blessed memory, and my father would say no. Let’s take it to the other extreme. If a customer was looking around for more than five minutes without buying, my grandfather would give them the boot. (not in such a nice way). If you’re not buying, get out! God bless him. You can’t do that anymore, but the question is how far do you go for a nasty customer?

Here’s my take on it. If you’re a nice person and pleasant to deal with, I’ll do whatever I can to take care of you. I will bend over backwards to help. If you’re not, then shop elsewhere. I know in this day and age you need to appreciate every customer, but I prefer to be treated like I treat others. Amazon is a different model then a personal business like mine. They are the internet’s biggest retailer. Listen to Bezos here, “What’s dangerous is not to evolve.” Now that I can understand and I am proud to say that we are evolving every day down here at Samuelson’s. Really great stuff from possibly the biggest forward thinker on Earth…