Originally Posted by
PAL62V
Completely agree with this. Of course any company is going to design its contracts and legal guidelines with themselves in mind. That goes without saying. My point is that when a consumer is constantly faced with a culture of "you will have to really push hard, jump thru hoops, be assumed to be lying until; proven otherwise, and even then we will make it as hard as possible to be made to do the right (and legal) thing" that then leads to a compensation culture.
This has absolutely nothing to do with cheap Chinese imports forcing a race to the bottom. It has nothing to do with consumers wanting more for less. It has everything to do with companies dealing with issues methodically, quickly, efficiently and pleasantly. To paraphrase a comment earlier - the companies get the consumers they deserve.
I had this situation at a store in which I had spent $25,000+ per year since 2010. A minor mistake on the part of the cashier resulted in an extremely nasty conversation with the duty manager. I called the corporate office. They were appalled at the way I had been treated and instructed the store manager to call me and apologize, and offered me (I did not ask for it) a small gift as an apology. When the store manager called, in trying to justify the duty manager's actions, she used exactly the same offensive words in her apology that the duty manager had used to cause the issue.
Even if I had been in the wrong, for a few $$$ the duty manager could have kept a good customer happy. If the store manager had called and apologized without the "sorry...but" trying to justify the duty manager's actions, we would have been cool. It wasn't the original error - it was the arrogant, clueless behavior of two layers of management.
I have not set foot in the store since, I did not collect my "gift", and I am happily spending my $25,000+ elsewhere.