japan has the best customer service in the world. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t make such an unequivocal statement since I haven’t been to every country in the world. But somehow I don’t think the phrase “the customer is king” applies more anywhere else than Japan. Actually, in Japanese they say that the customer is God. Really. Japanese employees go out of their way to help you and make sure you get everything you need, and they are almost never rude. Any mistake or delay will get you a profuse apology, and they will do whatever they can to make it right! Once I spent over $100 on a new purse, only to find after using it for a couple of days that I didn’t like it because of the way the zipper scratched my hands when I reached into it. To my dismay though, I couldn’t find the receipt! I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to get my money back, but I really wasn’t happy with the purse and thought I might as well give it a try. So I went back to the store and explained my situation. The employee was so nice, and she said that although they didn’t normally give refunds without a receipt, they would make an exception for me– and I got all my money back just like that, no questions asked! I’m not sure I could have gotten away with that in America (and I certainly couldn’t get away with it in a place like France where, from what I understand, the concept of customer service is virtually non-existent).