Can't is the New Won't

It's London Fashion Week this week. This means that next week we'll be told that green is the new black. Or grey. Or some other colour of the rainbow. 


Trends change, and so it is true in business. Increasingly, I'm finding that businesses are using "can't" as the new "won't". 


As someone who finds the word "can't" hard to compute at the best of times, and prefers to use the English language with a little more precision than the general populace, I have to say I don't like this new trend very much at all. 


My husband was told last week that one of his suppliers "can't" send out product samples. Can't? Or won't? Surely they have samples of the products they manufacture? They've just chosen not to respond to any sample requests. 


I've had experience of a hotel restaurant that "can't" serve up a bacon roll. However they "can" serve up the bacon and roll separately, they are just not allowed to put them together. Bonkers. 


This week I came across a hotel that "can't" sell me a room at the same rate as it appears on the internet. How come? Why not? 


In recent months I've also come across a company that "can't" put through the order for processing until the money has been received - but whose credit control processes rely on waiting weeks for other companies to respond to a laborious, and somewhat old fashioned, trade reference process causing unnecessary delays and irritation to both us and our client. Can't? Really? Won't is more like. 


In so many of these situations the companies "can" but instead of being up front about their strange and unhelpful internal policy decisions, they are hiding, cowering, behind the word "can't". 


"Can't" is less assertive than "won't" - it may fill the recipient of the message with a sense of despair and irritation, but it's unlikely to incur the wrath that a more assertive "won't" would. "Can't" implies that the decision is someone else's responsibility altogether. 


However if businesses are not able to explain, justify and stand firmly behind their own policies by owning them, then why do they even bother employing people to answer the phone or manage their customer services? 


So fight back. The next time you're told you "can't", tell them that they can and they are just choosing not to and ask why. 


My husband did just that. After kicking up a fuss, he was put through to the owner of the company who quickly backed down and agreed to send out the samples. 


I did just that. After challenging the "can't" - surely you mean "won't"? -  I was happily offered the internet rate saving me a cool £35 per night. Good little customer service person. 


Can't? We just won't stand for it.