American Consumers Way too Tolerant of Corporate Abuse

[Logophile]

Leaving people on hold for hours on end, not servicing under warranty products in a timely fashion, not even supporting warranties, and agents of these corporations rude, curt and behaving as if they are doing the consumer a big favor. This is the new America, and I think Americans are becoming far to passive. So many large corporations are now cashing in on Covid, making life even more miserable. Americans really need to take stock in my humble view, pull back from spending, and start using the small claims court to get their just due. It's not hard. What do you think?? Thanks!!

 

[MamboDervish]

Leaving people on hold for hours on end, not servicing under warranty products in a timely fashion, not even supporting warranties, and agents of these corporations rude, curt and behaving as if they are doing the consumer a big favor. This is the new America, and I think Americans are becoming far to passive. So many large corporations are now cashing in on Covid, making life even more miserable. Americans really need to take stock in my humble view, pull back from spending, and start using the small claims court to get their just due. It's not hard. What do you think?? Thanks!!

It's true that nobody likes being shat upon, and corporate bureaucracy is even more obnoxious and frustrating than government bureaucracy - but that said, some developments over the past two decades have leveled the playing field.
1) Businesses nowadays get YELP!-ed into submission. When people get bad service, they complain on the WWW - and those bad reviews carry some weight with policy decisions. This also makes it much easier to only deal with companies rated highly by their customers.
2) Since more and more consumer business is transacted on line - so much so that mall anchor stores are now routinely closing - the companies that ship products to customers make returns much easier than they've ever been in the past. In fact, there's a whole cottage industry built around buying and reselling returned out-of-box goods.

With all those options, I'd suspect that it must be slim pickens' at small claims court.

 

[Logophile]

It's true that nobody likes being shat upon, and corporate bureaucracy is even more obnoxious and frustrating than government bureaucracy - but that said, some developments over the past two decades have leveled the playing field.
1) Businesses nowadays get YELP!-ed into submission. When people get bad service, they complain on the WWW - and those bad reviews carry some weight with policy decisions. This also makes it much easier to only deal with companies rated highly by their customers.
2) Since more and more consumer business is transacted on line - so much so that mall anchor stores are now routinely closing - the companies that ship products to customers make returns much easier than they've ever been in the past. In fact, there's a whole cottage industry built around buying and reselling returned out-of-box goods.

With all those options, I'd suspect that it must be slim pickens' at small claims court.

My recent experience with Samsung is a classic example. The 8 month old washer is under warranty. Samsung can't figure out what's wrong with it so decided it's not up to them to fix it or replace it. The customer service is practically nonexistent. Their tech actually broke the faucet when he was here. On the phone, their voices are exceedingly high pitched, with such heavy accents and so distant that it literally gave me a headache in the hours that I've tried to deal with them, and that was just from the strain of being endlessly on hold and then trying to decipher what they were saying. I have no alternative but small claims. Home Depot denied any culpability but multiple phone calls has them at least considering an option so we'll see. Nevertheless, the treatment of Americans is appalling. Frankly, it is Amazon's customer service that has made it such a force to contend with. If I could've bought a washer from Amazon, I would have done it. Thanks!!

 

[Mycroft]

Leaving people on hold for hours on end, not servicing under warranty products in a timely fashion, not even supporting warranties, and agents of these corporations rude, curt and behaving as if they are doing the consumer a big favor. This is the new America, and I think Americans are becoming far to passive. So many large corporations are now cashing in on Covid, making life even more miserable. Americans really need to take stock in my humble view, pull back from spending, and start using the small claims court to get their just due. It's not hard. What do you think?? Thanks!!

I don't seem to have those problems. I think you should stop doing business with companies who do that to you.

 

[Logophile]

I don't seem to have those problems. I think you should stop doing business with companies who do that to you.

I welcome any recommendations. Assuredly, I will never buy anything labeled Samsung again. Thanks!!

 

[Mycroft]

I welcome any recommendations. Assuredly, I will never buy anything labeled Samsung again. Thanks!!

I suggest you get your recommendations online.