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Do Companies Hate Their Customers? Or Do They Just Not Care?

Written by: Lynn Dorman, Ph.D., J.D.

Article Overview: Customer service seems to no longer exist. Why? Are consumers not liked? Or do businesses just not care anymore as long as they get your money!

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Do Companies Hate Their Customers? Or Do They Just Not Care?

In the past several months I have heard of more than a few tales of bad customer service from rather large corporations. A few of the issues:

A health insurance company refusing to do a procedure they had previously said was a quality of life issue and would be scheduled at the request of the consumer
A medical insurer not paying for something that was clearly spelled out as an insurable expense
A large outdoor company telling a customer that a resolution to the consequences of one of their poorly designed pieces of equipment would be handled within a week. It's been months with no communication
A house insurance company holding back on a last payment for work already done and the person in charge of that money no longer replying to emails, phone calls or any attempt to contact him. His superiors keep saying he'll get back to the consumer "this week." This sentence has been repeated for about 3 months
A large communication company making it difficult for business clients to officially terminate expired contracts. How do they do this? By not communicating of course! And sending bills for continued service

An anecdotal study seemed to find that persons over 65 were more upset by these poor business practices than persons under 35.

Why? Persons under 35 see this as a normal course of business and some of them said they would just be willing to pay the extra amounts, forego the insurance money or just drop the issue as a waste of their time.

The persons over 65 are different, I think, because they know there was a time when the idea of the customer being right was the mantra of most companies.

And the companies?

They probably DO count on most persons paying up and not arguing. After all, they have the deeper pockets for any confrontation that might involve an attorney or even an Attorney General.

And if they lose? They just pay a fine and add that to the "cost of doing business."

But where does that leave the consumer? At the mercy of the company or corporation? NO!

What can consumers do?

File a complaint with the company stating straightforwardly what the issue is and what they are requesting as a solution. [At the bottom of the letter it might help to say something like: filed: XYZ complaint]
Find out what state and/or federal regulatory agencies oversee that particular industry
Find out where and how to file a complaint with their state's Attorney General and the Attorney General of the state where the company has headquarters

And then be ready to file the complaints - using that file, or files, you have saved on your computer!

Caveat: I no longer practice law but I still know how to do consumer advocacy research.

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Article Tags: complaints, consumer advocacy, consumers, customer service

About the Author: Lynn Dorman, Ph.D., J.D.
RSS for Lynn's articles - Visit Lynn's website

I am a "scanner" who has advanced degrees in Psychology and the law [Ph.D.; J.D.], lived and worked in many places - and has developed many areas of expertise in business and in life.

Starting life as a New Yorker I moved away for graduate school but still think of someday returning "home." But I now live in a house that floats on the Columbia River and am loving Oregon - hence a fun dilemma.

I write about my life on Gray Wolf Productions and its related sites; grow older better and Parenting 201. I nudge, coach and consult as a way to help you help yourself - because only you have the answers to your issues. I offer advice and information and ask questions - you do the rest by making intelligent informed decisions.

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