Japanese Company Takes Direct Stand Against Difficult Customers: "Customers Are Not Gods" Ad Sparks Buzz

Bus Company Runs Ad Addressing Customer Abuse
Sympathy and Empathy Public Opinion Rapidly Spreads

"We believe it is important to provide safe transportation for users while also protecting our employees. Customers are not gods. We will respond calmly to unreasonable claims and, in some cases, refuse boarding."

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

In Japan, as "customer gapjil"?where customers excessively complain or make unreasonable demands?has emerged as a social issue, a bus company that published a newspaper advertisement countering this has become a hot topic.

On the 5th, Asahi Shimbun reported an interview with the president of the bus company "Daiichi Kanko Bus" in Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture. Last month, a local Akita newspaper ran an ad titled "Isn't that complaint excessive?" The advertisement, targeting troublesome customers rather than promoting the company, quickly sparked a reaction.

According to Asahi, in recent years, unreasonable complaints have surged at the company. Coincidentally, this coincides with the time when the newly coined term "Kasuhara," referring to customer gapjil, began to be recognized as a social problem in Japan. Kasuhara is a compound word combining the Japanese English pronunciation of "customer" (kasutama) and "harassment."

Repeated demands such as "The bus driver gave me a dirty look," "The bus left earlier than the schedule, so call a taxi at your expense," and "Fire the driver immediately" are commonplace. There have even been cases where fare evaders threatened staff when the company went to collect fares at the address provided. The president emphasized, "When we checked the black box based on customer complaints, there were more cases where the facts were not true."

Print advertisement of Daiichi Sightseeing Bus. Published under the title "Isn't that complaint excessive?" (Photo by atunorix on Twitter)

Ultimately, the president decided to place an advertisement in the local newspaper. Noshiro City, where the company is located, is a small town with a population of about 6,000, and the company has a total of 22 employees, including drivers and counselors. It is impossible to endure customer gapjil with such a small staff.

The advertisement stated, "In recent years, there have been customers who make unreasonable claims or excessive demands over trivial matters. While we sometimes apologize when the fault is ours, many customers attack us unilaterally even after we explain with black box evidence that we are not at fault. We serve as transportation for children commuting to school, elderly people visiting hospitals, and shopping areas. We will continue to fulfill our mission, but we hope you understand our perspective as well."

A local resident took a photo of this advertisement and posted it on social networking services (SNS), rapidly sparking a reaction throughout Japanese society. This is partly because investigations have shown that customer gapjil has intensified in the transportation industry in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a 2021 survey by the All Japan Transportation and Logistics Industry Workers' Union Council, 46.6% of 20,000 transportation workers reported experiencing harassment from customers during the COVID-19 period.

As harassment toward essential workers has provoked anger, the advertisement quickly received over 120,000 "likes." Messages of sympathy and support have also been sent through the president and the company. The president told Asahi Shimbun, "I was prepared for possible controversy, but I realized this concern was not ours alone. I hope society becomes one that acknowledges each other's differences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.