Recently, Joe Newcomer witnessed a squabble between a customer and one of the customer service representatives, Tina. The customer, Maria, was attempting to return what she claimed was a defective belt sander. She claimed the sander caused a serious abrasion to her husband’s arm, resulting in a trip to the emergency room. There is no question that Tina was rude to Maria in her response. Not only did she curtly refuse to honor the return, claiming the return was beyond the 30-day “no questions asked” return policy, but she suggested that perhaps Maria’s husband hadn’t appropriately followed the directions. Specifically, she asked whether her husband could read English. Maria angrily responded that although she and her husband are Latino, they are U.S. citizens and fluent in English.
When Joe overheard this exchange, he walked up to the return counter and asked Tina to assist another customer. He then offered to assist Maria. Joe had a dilemma. Though he knew Maria had been wronged by Tina’s conduct and offensive comment, he had to agree with Tina that the sander probably was not defective and that the return policy could not be honored. Joe was unsure how he should handle this situation. In an ideal world, he hoped he could restore Maria’s goodwill while holding firm on the store’s policy by refusing the return.
Should Joe take a positional bargaining approach and hold fast on the store’s policy? Explain your rationale.