I have stated in my two previous blogs that unless we change our attitudes and policies regarding Corporate Capitalism, it will destroy our country, our way of life, our freedoms, and our environment. Furthermore, we will undoubtedly take some of the rest of the world along with us. This is a serious accusation and one I do not take lightly. I have been a business educator in higher education and a management consultant to some of the top corporations in the world. My opinion is not based just on theory or observations. It is based on the in-depth work that I did with over 32 companies during the time I was actively consulting. There are many good people working in corporate America but as Dr. Deming once said “You put a good person in a bad system and the system will win every time. There are Five Myths of Capitalism that are largely responsible for the mistaken policies and laws that have allowed Corporate Capitalism to become a dangerous disease infecting our way of life and causing untold damage to our country.
In my previous blogs, I described the first two myths. In this blog, I will describe Myth #3 and how it contributes to the destruction of our country. Myth #3 is:
- People Run Corporations
It is natural to believe that because people, managers and employees run corporations that they will act as humans might act. It is supposed that corporations will be or at least should be humane, compassionate, and guided by responsibilities to its employees. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Nothing could be a bigger lie or myth. People DO NOT run corporations. I think I can illustrate the point I am trying to make with a few short stories from my own experiences with large corporations. I am sure that as you read my stories, you will think of many similar experiences you have had. That is what I want you to remember.
Best Buy Story:
Several years ago I bought a new desk top computer from Best Buy Corporation. I also purchased a two-year extended warranty. No sooner had I got the computer set up in my home office when problems started. The computer would shut down without warning, most of the time right smack in the middle of a paper or presentation that I was preparing. I was always very diligent at backing up my work, but I would still lose up to 15 minutes’ worth of work which was very annoying. This happened a number of times and I called their customer service and got to talk to the Geek Squad. This was originally a group of computer nerds who had their own company and Best Buy bought them up.
I got a service rep on the line after the usual wait and switching of phone lines. He had me run a series of diagnostics and wanted to know if I had a virus protector. I told him no, I had not yet installed one. He informed me that this was my problem. I had a virus and would need to install a virus protector. I jotted down the incident number for this report and the date I called Best Buy. I purchased a McAfee Virus software and installed it. I was hopeful. However, even after installing the new software, the same thing happened again and again. The computer screen would go blank and the computer would shut off. I called Best Buy tech support again. I gave them my former incident number, but they opened a new number and gave it to me. I talked to a tech rep. He took me through the SAME series of diagnostics as before but could not find any problems. Then he asked me if I had a virus protector. I told him “Yes, I had purchased and installed McAfee Anti-Virus software. He suggested I should switch to Norton Anti-Virus as he was sure that I had an undetected virus. I said thanks and hung up. I then went out and purchased a copy of Norton’s software. I installed the software and you probably have already guessed it. The computer had the same problem and kept logging off. I was fed up.
I disconnected the computer. Took my purchase receipt and took my incident numbers and notes and told Karen that I was taking the damn thing back to Best Buy. She cautioned me to “Be nice”. “You catch more flies with sugar than vinegar.” I promised I would. When I arrived at the store, with box and computer in tow, I was referred to the Customer Service manager. He wanted to know the problem and I gave him my history. He then asked me if I had called the tech group for support. I said I had. He requested proof. I showed him my notes and both incident numbers. He then said “Well, since you did not purchase this at our store, there is nothing I can do.” Bingo! I had him, I thought. I showed him my receipt of purchase at this very same store. “Well,” he said “We would need an extended warranty for a refund since it has been over six months since you purchased this computer. I pulled out my 2-year extended warranty and showed it to him.
At this point, he said he would have to go talk to the store manager.
Mr. Customer Service manager came back about fifteen minutes later. He looked me straight in the eye and said “how sorry he was” but it was “against policy” to take back merchandise. I had had enough with “being nice.” I told him I would never shop at Best Buy again and since I was a business education teacher at a local college, I would warn my students about shopping at Best Buy. He looked blank and said not a word as I left his store. It has now been over ten years. I have never entered Best Buy again. I would not buy a battery there if it were the last place on earth.
The Moral of This Story:
We are not human beings to the people that work in large corporations. We are dollar signs. They have no empathy for us. They switch off empathy when they join the corporation and aspire to climb the corporate ladder. They become automatons who obey policy, follow procedures, and screw the customer if it means saving a dime for the corporation. They will look you right in the face while screwing you and have no pity or compassion. Remember, “we are only following procedures.” By the way, this is about as true in large Government bureaucracies as in private for-profit corporations. Caveat: There are always decent people out there who are “exceptions”, I repeat “exceptions” to the rule. However, they are not the norm.
Delta Airlines Story:
A few years ago, my wife and I bought tickets to go to Rhode Island to visit my sister. We bought the tickets well in advance and looked forward to the visit. A week or so before our scheduled departure, my brother in law called me up. “John, I know Jeanine would never ask you to cancel your trip, but she has really not been feeling good. We had to take her to the clinic, and I think it would be best if you came some other time.” I told him “no problem”, we would cancel the trip and reschedule at a later date when she felt better.
I called the airlines up to see about a refund. I was told that “they were deeply sorry, but sickness was not a reason for a refund. I said “seriously, you mean if I get sick and cannot make a trip, I cannot get a refund.” The clerk replied, “If you were sick, it would not be a problem, but you were not sick, it was your sister.” I could have bit a steel spike in half, but I replied civilly. “Okay, but what about another booking at a later date?” “We can manage that he said. We will put a voucher in for you, but you will have to pay a restocking fee.” “How the fuck do you restock an e-ticket I asked?” “Its standard policy”, he replied. The restocking fees cost about a third of the ticket prices and I remember being out of pocket about $300 dollars. Three hundred dollars to restock an e-ticket?
The Moral of This Story:
Same as the moral for the Best Buy Story. You customer. Me corporate man. We make billions by screwing people like you. Sorry, its nothing personal, just business.
Travel Insurance Company Story:
Here we are in the middle of a Global Pandemic. Karen and I had planned a trip to Paris and Moscow. We purchased trip insurance to cover a number of costs over nine months ago. Our two flights there and two flights back have all been cancelled due to the pandemic. I am confident (Perhaps an unwarranted assumption on my part) that the airlines will either give me a voucher or refund. Thus, the trip insurance company has not had to shell out one penny yet. I decided to call the insurance company to see if I could get reimbursed for our Visas to Russia and Belarus that cost us a total of $1000 dollars. I had already called both embassies and was informed that I would have to reapply for new visas. The trip insurance agent informed me that Visas are not covered under “Miscellaneous Trip Cancellations” because as the agent said, “Does it say Visas?” A short time later they sent the following notice by email to all insurance recipients:
If your travel insurance contains Trip Cancellation or Trip Interruption coverage:
Unless you purchased Trip Cancellation for Any Reason coverage, our insurance does not cover fear of travel.
Many of our plans exclude losses due to “any issue or event that could have been reasonably foreseen or expected when you purchased the coverage.” The COVID-19 outbreak is considered a foreseeable event under any plans containing this exclusion purchased on or after January 29, 2020.
I want to make three quick points.
- Do you know anyone in their right mind who would not be afraid of traveling at this time?
- How in the name of anything you believe can the Covid-19 outbreak be considered a “foreseeable event” as early as January 29th?
- Have you ever seen the fine print and the number of pages on any insurance policy?
The Moral of This Story:
By now, you should know what the moral of this story is. But just in case. It is simply this. If a large corporation can find any way to screw you, give you the shaft or take your money and give you nothing in return, rest assured many if not most of them will.
Now, I want to return to my main point. Corporations have no heart. They have no feelings. They have no emotions. They are not sympathy machines or compassionate entities. The people who are hired by these large corporations soon learn that if push comes to shove, they had better side with the corporation rather than the customer.
Unless, we change the character of corporate law, what it takes for articles of incorporation to be issued and the entire governance structure designed to provide oversight for companies, the stories that I have told above and your own sad tales will continue to reflect the reality of how corporations deal with people.
Should it be this way? Are profits more important than people? I fear that we have developed a system where too many people would say yes to both questions.
“How people themselves perceive what they are doing is not a question that interests me. I mean, there are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, ‘That person I see is a savage monster’; instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do. If you ask the CEO of some major corporation what he does he will say, in all honesty, that he is slaving 20 hours a day to provide his customers with the best goods or services he can and creating the best possible working conditions for his employees. But then you take a look at what the corporation does, the effect of its legal structure, the vast inequalities in pay and conditions, and you see the reality is something far different.” ― Noam Chomsky
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