March 22 Thanks, But I'll Pass

For me, last week brought one annoyance after another, ending with the day I had to deal with customer service. I had two problems, so I had to deal with two different companies, a process that took four hours altogether. It was everything we expect these days from customer service. One guy was surly and accused me of doing stuff I didn’t do. Another person couldn’t get anything straight.
They grudgingly agreed to let me return the nearly-new gadget that wasn’t working, but the return process was complicated and involved warnings that if I didn’t do it EXACTLY right, they would refuse to repair it. Next, I had to order some catalog items. After the order was complete, the clerk tried to sell me stuff I didn’t want. When I declined, she argued with me.
When I finally finished, I realized that for these companies, I was the enemy.
This wasn’t always the case. At one time, successful businesses considered their customers to be assets. Their goal was to provide what customers wanted and needed. They knew that keeping customers was important if they were to stay in business. The understanding was, “we provide what you want and need, we make you happy, and you’ll tell your friends and come back next time.” Customer service was the basis for everything they did.
The change seemed to happen in the 1980’s, about the time Gordon Gekko announced in the movie Wall Street that “greed is good”. Now the goal is to make as much money as possible. The customers are just an obstacle, stubbornly holding back money from the business, so they must force us to give it up. Corporations have made us into enemies by deciding that their interests are not the same as our interests.
Many procedures are clearly planned to be so complicated, such a hassle, that we will give up and quit trying. I have seen health insurers do this – they deny coverage for legitimate conditions, then make the appeals process complicated so people give up rather than pursue the appeal. We feel the hostility when we deal with these companies. It definitely does not contribute to having peace.
This experience, and my resulting lack of peace, set me thinking about what I could do to not be an enemy. I think I have come up with a solution.
I decided I will send these two companies a letter or email and tell them I’m not going to do business with them any more because they treat their customers like enemies.
Then I wondered what would happen if we all did that. I’ll have to admit that the idea makes me smile.