Spanning two continents, focusing on three interpretations, and embodying multiple formats, Customer is the most ambitious release from Collections of Colonies of Bees.

Following the demise of Pele in 2004, Collections of Colonies of Bees and Pele co-founders Chris Rosenau and Jon Mueller brought aboard Jim Schoenecker and Jon Minor, who was also a member of Pele. The inclusion of other members marked a new stage in the Bees' project, resulting in a more stylistically broad, more comprehensive sound. Customer documents this direction.

Recording with the full band in the studio, Collections of Colonies of Bees developed different versions of the material for Customer through computer and electronic manipulation. Whereas previous Bees' releases had been available only in small print runs through various labels, the band decided to contact the Japanese label Some of Us and Polyvinyl Records to aid in the largest Bees' endeavor to date.

The CD version of Customer on Polyvinyl is a mixture of electronic and live tracks with a blue background cover featuring a large white "H."

The CD version of Customer on Some of Us is likewise a mixture of electronic and live tracks featuring the exact same track listing as the Polyvinyl CD yet as direct polar opposites (i.e. live tracks on the Polyvinyl CD are electronic on the Japan CD whereas electronic versions on the Polyvinyl CD are live on the Japan CD). The cover is the exact opposite of the Polyvinyl CD with a white background and large blue "H."

The now out-of-print Customer LP features all of the electronic versions of the songs found on the US and Japan Customer CD releases.