Customer Is Always Right in Matters of Taste: Origin & Meaning

Few phrases in business spark as much debate as “the customer is always right.” You’ve probably seen the extended version — “in matters of taste” — shared on social media or repeated in training sessions as though it were carved in stone. The problem is that longer version almost certainly wasn’t what the original retailers said, and fact-checkers have turned up no paper trail to support it. This article traces where the slogan actually came from, what the “in matters of taste” addition really means, and how to handle the whole debate in an interview.

Phrase originator: Harry Gordon Selfridge (disputed) ·
Common misquote: “in matters of taste” added later ·
Snopes ruling: Unsubstantiated addition ·
Customer loyalty 3 R’s: Retention, Reward, Referral

Five key facts about the slogan tell the story at a glance: who gets credit, what the evidence shows, and how the phrase evolved.

Who said The customer is always right in matters of taste?

Who was Harry Selfridge?

• Harry Gordon Selfridge was an American retail magnate who founded Selfridges department store in London in 1909 (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• He is widely credited with popularizing the slogan “the customer is always right” in the early 1900s, though the precise wording he used remains unclear (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• Before Selfridge, other merchants such as Marshall Field and John Wanamaker had already promoted a similar customer-first ethos (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).

Did Harry Selfridge actually say the full phrase?

• According to reporting from Snopes (fact-checking website), the history of the slogan is “murky,” with multiple possible originators rather than a single verified source.
• The earliest known printed reference to the phrase appears in a September 1905 Boston Globe article about Marshall Field, which states that Field broadly adhered to “the theory that ‘the customer is always right'” (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• Some historians believe Field more likely said something along the lines of “Assume the customer is right until it is plain beyond all question that he is not” (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).

The implication: the exact wording Selfridge or Field used may never be pinned down, but the shorter version was in circulation by 1905.

What does Snopes say about the origin?

• Snopes, the fact-checking organization, investigated the claim that the original phrase ended with “in matters of taste” and found no supporting evidence (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• The Wikipedia article on the slogan notes that in the 21st century, social media users and TikTok videos have circulated the expanded version as though it were historical fact (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• A separate industry source, Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication), attributes the full version to Selfridge without providing direct evidence, illustrating how the expanded wording has been accepted in some business circles.

What is the full quote for The customer is always right?

Is “in matters of taste” part of the original quote?

• Pipedrive (business sales platform) states plainly that the longer version “the customer is always right, in matters of taste” is unproven and lacks historical documentation.
• Wikipedia confirms that Snopes could not verify the expanded wording, and no known primary source from the early 1900s includes the qualifier (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• Despite this, the expanded version continues to appear in training materials, social media posts, and even some business publications that present it as the authentic original (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).

What is the correct ending of the saying?

• The historically supported version ends simply: “The customer is always right” — no qualifier attached (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• French hotelier César Ritz promoted a parallel slogan, “Le client n’a jamais tort” (“the customer is never wrong”), first recorded in 1908 (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• The Ritz version conveys a similar sentiment without the absolute declaration that the customer is factually correct in every disagreement.

The pattern is clear: two early-20th-century retail giants — Field and Selfridge — and one hotelier, Ritz, all pushed customer deference, but none of them added the “matters of taste” escape hatch.

How to answer the question “Is the customer always right?”

What do interviewers expect?

• Interviewers who ask this question are typically looking for a nuanced understanding of customer service, not a simple yes or no (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• The strongest responses acknowledge the customer’s perspective while respecting company policies and employee well-being (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).
• Many modern businesses explicitly reject the absolute phrasing, opting instead for guidelines like “the customer comes first” or “assume good intent” (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).

How to balance customer service and boundaries?

• The key is to validate the customer’s feelings without conceding on objective facts or policy violations (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).
• Using the spirit of the slogan — prioritize satisfaction, listen actively, and aim for a fair resolution — is more effective than treating it as a literal rule (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• A useful framework: separate “matters of taste” (subjective preferences) from “matters of policy” (return windows, pricing, safety rules) and handle each accordingly.

The trade-off: businesses that treat the phrase as an absolute risk eroding employee morale, while those that discard it entirely may lose the customer-centric focus that made the slogan useful in the first place.

What does “the customer is always right in matters of taste” mean?

What are “matters of taste”?

• “Matters of taste” refers to subjective preferences — color choices, stylistic opinions, menu selections, aesthetic judgments — where there is no objectively correct answer (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).
• Under this interpretation, the customer is always right about what they personally prefer, but not about factual claims, pricing disputes, or policy issues (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• This narrower reading protects staff from having to concede on objective matters while still honoring the customer’s personal perspective.

How does this interpretation differ from the absolute version?

• The absolute version — “the customer is always right” with no qualifier — implies the customer is correct in all disputes, even when they are factually wrong or unreasonable (Wikipedia (community encyclopedia)).
• The “in matters of taste” interpretation narrows the scope dramatically: the customer’s subjective opinion is final, but their factual claims or demands are not automatically correct (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).
• Marina Dock Age argues that the qualifier is “important because it limits the scope of the slogan,” turning it from a blanket rule into a practical guideline for aesthetic or experiential decisions (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).

What are the 3 R’s of customer loyalty?

What are the three R’s?

• The 3 R’s of customer loyalty commonly refer to Retention, Reward, and Referral, forming a framework for building long-term customer relationships.
• Retention focuses on keeping existing customers through consistent service quality, personalized experiences, and responsive support.
• Reward involves loyalty programs, discounts, exclusive access, or other incentives that make repeat business feel valued.
• Referral turns satisfied customers into advocates who bring in new business through word-of-mouth or formal referral programs.

How do they relate to the “customer is always right” philosophy?

• The “customer is always right” slogan, in its original unqualified form, aligns with Retention by prioritizing customer satisfaction over internal convenience (Pipedrive (business sales platform)).
• However, the 3 R’s framework assumes a balanced relationship: the business provides value, and the customer reciprocates with loyalty — neither party is “always right” by default (Marina Dock Age (marina industry publication)).
• Modern loyalty programs succeed when they combine genuine customer focus (the spirit of the slogan) with clear boundaries on what the business can and cannot offer (the lesson of the “in matters of taste” debate).

Why this matters: the old slogan is most useful not as a rule but as a reminder to listen. The 3 R’s give businesses a concrete structure for acting on that reminder without surrendering all authority.

The slogan that started as a practical retail motto in the early 1900s has become a cultural flashpoint. The missing “in matters of taste” qualifier — unverified but widely repeated — reveals something important: people want the slogan to be more reasonable than it actually was. The original version gave staff no out. The modern version, invented by internet lore, is the one that makes sense. For any business leader or hiring manager, the choice is clear: embrace the spirit of customer focus without the absolute rule, or risk the same backlash that the literal slogan has earned over the past century.

While many believe the phrase was originally longer, you can read the full story of the customer is always right to learn about its true origins and how the shorter version came to dominate modern customer service.

Frequently asked questions