Ahhh.

So, I guess the answer is to have strict policies but make sure that your staff know about them, know why they are there and communicate them to customers in a proper way.

For bonus points – make sure that your rules can be bent from time to time by the customer-facing staff with the customer understanding what the risks are (late refund of deposit.)

Also, make sure that your policies make sense. If they are just there because of laziness or technical constraints then sort them out.

On this point, I know of one new phone company that has products, policies and procedures which are all so confusing that their own staff don't know how they work. Promises are made and broken and customers are so confused. Its difficult to give worse service than Telkom but they have managed to do so. Being friendly is not the same as being helpful.

And in your rental experience – being unfriendly and unhelpful is even worse.