Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/708096
W EEKLY EDITION JULY 27, 2016 Dealing with Customers You Don't Want to Serve …continued By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director This means – regardless of your personal feelings – you cannot deny service based on these protected circumstances. You can deny service for other reasons – but more on that in a minute. Why deny service? Some companies may wonder why anyone would ever turn a way a paying customer. Others may do so r egularly for a variety of reasons. To each his own, as the saying goes. You may recall, in fact, that the PSAI's Code of Excellence for the portable sanitation industry actually states, "We respectfully decline to provide service in circumstances where a customer may steadfastly insist on an arrangement that is not in conformity with standards, may pose a health or safety risk, or would tend to promote conditions in which the reputation of our company or industry w ould be negatively affected." As the situation in Kentucky shows, real life situations can make it challenging to determine when you should – or can – deny service. Some reasons for denying service are entirely legal and represent good business decisions . Others may make sense from a certain perspective, but won't hold up to closer scrutiny. Testing the right to refuse. Start by asking yourself two questions when faced with a customer or request you don't want to serve. • In my heart of hearts, is the r eason I don't want to serve this customer connected to anything that is protected by law? • Would I refuse to serve ANY customer that is asking for the same thing(s) in the same way -- and can I prove that is true? Regardless of your answer to the first qu estion , you must be able to answer "yes " to the second question. Even if you don't think you are denying service for a reason that is protected, all it takes is an unhappy potential customer who believes that was the case and your company will be in hot wa ter. If that happens, you will need to be able to justify your decision on the basis of some criterion that was not discriminatory . When it is okay to deny service. You can deny service on an equal basis – meaning that you wouldn't serve anybody who made a similar request in a broad, generic way. • Denial on the basis of service type. You can refuse to provide a certain type of service for all customers. For example, you can refuse to provide portable units for a same sex wedding (protected) or the weddin g of people of a religion you don't like (also protected) if you don't provide units for any type of wedding. You cannot refuse to serve only weddings with which you disagree. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 PAGE 2