Introduction “The customer is always right” is a slogan popularized by the management to encourage their staff to take customer complaints seriously (Zikmund & Babin, 2006). The underlying assumption is that customers are always “rational and functional” in their encounters with employees (Harris & Reynolds, 2003). While honest customer feedback is vital in improving business services or products and growth, addressing unrealistic expectations and requests can affect employees’ morale, leading to high turnover rates (Ben-Zur & Yagil, 2005). Therefore, business owners should protect staff from deviant customers to improve employees’ satisfaction, increase confidence in their work and reduce turnover intention. Research shows that there are a variety of factors which affect employees’ turnover intentions. According to Harris and Reynolds (2003), such factors may include consumer aggression, job satisfaction, workload, distributive justice and management style. In-depth research reveals that some of the aforementioned factors have positive influence, whereas others have negative impact on employees’ turnover intentions (Harris & Reynolds, 2003). Research Question The research question for this study is as follows: does customer deviance influence turnover intentions in the service industry? Research Objective The objective of the study is to identify the effect of customer deviance on turnover intentions in the service industry. Background Research Research shows that unruly customers cause psychological and emotional stress to staff through verbal abuse, unreasonable requests, and disrespect for company’s policies (Harry & Reynolds, 2003). According to a study conducted by Zikmund and Babin (2006), some customers display verbal aggression that affects employees’ turnover intention. As employees play a mediating role between employers and customers, they may suffer from emotional exhaustion (Harris & Reynolds, 2003). When employees face aggression and pressure from their employers, they are likely to develop psychological stress. Harris and Reynolds (2003) point out that psychological stress in the workplace undermines staff morale and job satisfaction, which increases turnover. In this view, Zikmund and Babin (2006) emphasize that support from the management can help staff to deal with hostile clients. Ben-Zur and Yagil (2005) highlight that lack of organizational support and customers’ deviance can cause “burnout, emotional exhaustion, and low self-esteem” among the personnel. This eventually affects employees’ productivity and retention. Thus, customer deviance coupled with a lack of organizational support, can increase turnover. Research conducted by Zikmund and Babin (2006) also confirms that burnout among employees often occurs due to consumers’ deviance, which leads to undesirable outcomes such as diminished performance, customer dissatisfaction, low commitment to organizational goals and absenteeism. It is, therefore, beyond a reasonable doubt that burnout directly affects employees’ turnover intentions. It is shown that there are personality resources such as optimism and hardiness that keep employees from burning out due to customer aggression (Zikmund & Babin, 2006). N