Fuelling The Customer’s Entitlement

We are running a promotion where if a customer spends £50 or more, they get a coupon allowing them 5p off per litre of fuel. We don’t have a petrol station, so customers have to travel to a store in the nearby town which does have one. A separate petrol station, owned by a completely different company, is just down the road. A customer comes storming over to the customer service desk.

Me: “How can I hel—”

Customer: “I just filled up my car and they won’t accept my coupon!”

Me: “Who won’t?”

Customer: “Down the road! I want a refund on the money I saved!”

She hands me the coupon and her credit card receipt. Today is the last day it is valid.

Me: “I’m sorry, madam, but they won’t accept it because they are [Different Company] and we are [Our Company]. You can only use it in our petrol stations.”

Customer: “The cashier told me I could use it at the petrol station down the road!”

I look at her coupon. It says the cashier number who issued it. I quickly check on the computer and find it is an experienced colleague who I know would not say something like that.

Me: “I’m sorry, madam, but there’s nothing I can do. If you had forgotten to use it at one of our stations I could refund the difference, but since you went to another company I can’t do that. Plus, this receipt just says how much you spent. It doesn’t say how many litres you used, so I wouldn’t know how much the discount was.”

Customer: “Disgusting! You will hear from me!”

She stormed out. Later, she called the store and complained to a manager, who not only gave her £10 goodwill but told me off for not “giving her what she wanted.”