The World of Grandpa Don

Deceptive Practices

I lost it! ... If the caller ID comes up "Out of Area, Unknown, or Private, I usually let it go to the answering machine. This time it said "Missouri Call" and sometimes when Anthony or Dominick call from their cell phones that is what comes up. So I answered. The caller was from AT&T and immediately went into his sales pitch which I impolitely interrupted by stating that I had told them on previous calls never to call me again. He asked why I would do that. That is when I lost it!

"Because .. Oh! ... never mind." was my response and I hung up. I was tired explaining that in the first place I have a bare bones calling plan and their lowest priced plan, packed with all these great features and all these 'free' calls was not cheaper than what I was paying. I would not pay for things I didn't need. I did not want to explain to him that people that I know had switched phone companies only to find that services they had with the original company were not working the same, if at all, with the new company. They switched back. I did not want to explain to him that if I had line problems, they would have to call my original company and ask them to fix the problem for a customer that they had just taken from them. 'Yaa ... sure, we'll get right on it." Duh! 

And I did not want to tell him that I knew that after they had gained enough 'market share' the rates would go up. Besides, I don't need to explain my personal preferences to him or anyone else when "I DON'T WANT TO" is sufficient.

But there is something else wrong here. It is all about doing whatever is necessary to gain "market share". Corporations borrow all the money they can get their hands on in order to under price their product to take market share from the competition. They provide a product as cheaply as they can, sacrificing quality and service, in order to get a foot in the door. All this is done with the hope that the competition will go out of business before they do. They assume that they can exist on their borrowed money until the competition folds or they have enough control of the market that the prices can be raised enough to start making a profit.

They are deceiving the public who are buying their product. What is worse, they are deceiving themselves and their shareholders.

And, do you know what? We help them by playing their game. We greedily jump from one phone company to the next when the one we have is working well and has been for many years. If there are new problems, they may well be due to the pressures put on them by the new competition. We put a new credit card in our pocket and switch our debt in order to get a lower (introductory) interest rate. We run to the grocery store that cut the price of milk and pay more for the bread and butter.

What happened to offering a quality product and giving good service priced to cover costs and a reasonable profit.? There was a time when business was expanded by providing an improved product or one which was not available from anyone else. It was once unthinkable to price a product below the point of profitability. Being in business was not a game in which the goal was to survive long enough to eliminate the competition, corner the market and then milk the public for all they could pay. 
Airlines are failing, loosing millions every day. They blame everything from terrorists to viruses. But they were in trouble before 9/11. They were loosing money and lowering prices. They were not so much deceiving the public, but themselves. There is no way a business can survive unless they cover their costs and have some to spare.

And when we switch our credit card balance to a new lender, who is being deceived? There is only one way to beat this game. When a credit card hustler got through to me recently and told me he was going to save me hundreds a year, by switching my balance, I asked how that works when my balance is zero. End of conversation! I do not buy more than I can pay for at the end of the month. There was a time that it didn't work any other way. (It must be my Bohemian upbringing.)

Let's stop all this deception. We can start by living within our means, purchasing products which will serve our needs and, yes, our wants. We can be loyal to good products and providers, sending a message to those who would play the "market share game". In other words, lets try to get back to good, old fashioned VALUES, as it applies to products, services and, most importantly, our lives.