Golden Rule #1. The customer is always right.

But don’t forget Golden Rule #2.

They don’t have to be your customer.

My massage therapist was telling me about all the times she fired people (usually creeps, or just negative or won't stop talking) and I was eating it up, enjoying the audacity and lack of awareness of some people. I know there are creeps out there but I had no idea people drag their negativity in to a session and want to talk their way through it, being a downer on the poor lady. Then I realized later that's what she did to me but again, I was LOVING the stories and would pay double just for the relaxation combined with the hilarity. One guy was buck naked and 'up to there' as she described his state of 'readiness' and she had to get her baseball bat and chase him out. The police happened to be right outside and he had an arrest warrant for assault! JFC!! (I swear this is in a nice area- not some blighted strip mall).

Anonymous wrote:The police are not welcome at many businesses.

Until they are robbed or attacked, that is.

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering.

We have owned our business for over a decade and yea we have let customers know we are a not a good fit for them. In other words we have fired them.

The customer is not always right.

Have you ever fired a customer?

I am a therapist and have considered it. When I am working harder than the client and they have excuses and don't want to do the work, and just want to talk, I am at a point in my career where this does not work for me. I am increasingly careful of who I take on as a client; we must have a consultation call first; and must mesh--as in you want help, we can related, and I believe that I can help you. Otherwise, let's not waste each others time or your money (I am out of network).

Home remodeler here.

Very hard to fire clients as it is considered poor form to walk off a job so we do our best to grind it out.

And sometimes we are pleasantly surprised as things turn around toward the end of the job when they start to see their finished remodel.

I will echo the posters above though in that the cheap clients are usually demanding and not worth the effort.

Anonymous wrote:I just charge really high fees. If they don't want to pay, they let themselves go. And if they want to pay, at least i'm being paid a lot to deal with them

I’ve done this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The police are not welcome at many businesses.

What does that have to do with the question? Do you own a business that keeps police out?

Wut?

You think this doesn’t happen??!? OMG.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/evzj9z/can-businesses-refuse-to-serve-cops

Again how does this answer the OP’s question? Do you own a business. Do you own this Dunkin’ Donuts in this story from six years ago?

The question posted was do YOU own a business…

Yes. I am a service provider who works with children. There really is such a thing as “bad fit,” and it can occur even when clients are mostly kind and respectful. The trick in severing a relationship is to start communicating early if things aren’t going well. If I can refer a client to someone who’s a better fit for their needs, that also helps too. People will always remember how you made them feel, so I go out of my way to be pleasant and helpful, even as I’m ushering someone out the metaphorical door. That said, I’ve been very lucky not to work with anyone who was outright abusive or rage-y in the last 15 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The police are not welcome at many businesses.

What does that have to do with the question? Do you own a business that keeps police out?

Wut?

You think this doesn’t happen??!? OMG.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/evzj9z/can-businesses-refuse-to-serve-cops

Yep. I did the numbers. Some customers take a lot of handholding. They were taking 85% of my time but contributing maybe 20% of revenues. Meanwhile my best customers were taking 15% of my time and generating 80% of my revenues.
I slowly moved on from the high demand low margin customers.