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Think Tank

And the people in the Anti Consumer think tanks would call us what we really are: Anti Business.

Somewhere along the way the business world changed and they now sees us as hostiles in a war zone. They see us not as consumers to sell a quality product too, but someone who they can suck as much money as possible out of while providing as little service, or low quality product, as possible to.

But as the Anti-Consumer people say, you can always switch. To that I say; switch to who if all are offering similar products and are all trying to pick my pocket with the lowest service and lowest quality product.

Very true. Competition is good, if there is real competition. The problem starts that most places have cherry picking, so businesses end up being a monopoly. We all know what happens there.

As to those people who say we're anti business, my retort is EARN my money and not expect it. There use to be a day where companies kept their loyal customers and tried to acquire new ones. For these people, companies offered perks and reasons to stay. Now of days, instead of giving people a reason, they simply look for avenues to force membership. Such examples include using the legislator to stem the competition, locking people into contracts with very fine print, charging exuberant cancellation fees, etc. Hence, gone are the days where the business was pro consumer. Welcome to the days where businesses are all about providing the least amount for the most money.

Actually, you are partially right, but far from base. Granted, both the business and consumer want the most for their money / investment. However, you fail to see that business no longer cares about the customer, or earning his or her dollars. First, the business world no longer has technical support that speaks English. Hence, the consumer buys the product but rarely can get help on it. Next, business inflates the product well above cost, when there is no competition. Yet, the customer gets little in return such as improved service. Once again, this competition killing can be due to buying legislation or preventing the rival from stepping in. We all know that healthy competition are good for all. It motivates innovation and promotes implementation. IE. It makes the company come up with bigger and better products to keep their customers. Last, business while allowed to make a profit, is not allowed to price fix. A good example of how competition makes the world go round is in my area. We had one ISP and another moved in. My isp jacked the cost up ten dollars a month before ISP #2 entered. Within two months, their prices dropped and matched the competitions. So while your assessment of business is semi accurate, it is far from being totally.

Of course the company earns the customer's dollar; they certainly don't break in and steal it in the dead of night. Once again, the company tries to sell their product for the most money possible (either lots of units for a little money or a few units for a lot of money) while keeping their expenses low. From your example, clearly off-shoring of tech support isn't THAT big of a problem, because consumers are still buying lots of computers and electronics.

The thing is, companies have wised up over the years -- they've found that warm fuzzy treatment doesn't really matter, and customer loyalty isn't all it's cracked up to be. Take mobile phone carriers for example -- why should Sprint put up with crap from a few hundred disgruntled customers who are always calling to complain, using scarce customer service resources, and ending up costing Sprint more money than they bring in? They say "screw that, we don't want you as a customer, go hassle someone else."

Why should AT&T bend over backward to keep you happy as a customer? They're smart enough to recognize that every cell provider out there is going to have a percentage (10-20% maybe?) of customers that leave every year, so why worry about an individual customer? Sure, AT&T loses 15% of their customers, but so do Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Those Sprint, TMO, and VZ customers all have to go somewhere for service, and a proportional number will end up at AT&T when it's all said and done.

As a customer, you are entitled to precisely two things: the right to receive or use the goods or service you've purchased, and the right to take your business elsewhere if and when you aren't satisfied.

If you want to change how businesses operate, by all means start your own company with dozens of excess English speaking customer service reps on call all the time, waiting to give free bonuses to any customer who calls with a problem. This will result in great customer service experiences, but probably won't do much for your company's longevity.