Trending
I was traveling recently and the airline lost my suitcase. It's a long and uninteresting story of how this came to be, but the suitcase ended up in a FedEx graveyard down south somewhere. I can picture it now, sitting in a long row of other misfit suitcases, next to trunks and packages, waiting patiently for someone to discover it.
We called FedEx every other day, and an airline employee called often too. It sat there in a warehouse for an entire month. In fact, it took weeks to discover whether the suitcase was even really there.
I had just about written it off when it appeared at my door one day. I was pleasantly surprised, because like a lot of consumers, I was ready to accept that a lot of things these days don't work out in my favor.
And then a few weeks later, I was awaiting a package at my daughter's house down south and got an email saying it had been delivered. There was even a picture attached to the email showing me the package had been set upon a doorstep--only the door wasn't ours. When I called the rug company to complain, they wanted me to pay $35 to have the FedEx driver go retrieve it and bring it to the right door. When I asked to speak to a manager, the gentleman at rugs.com hung up on me. It took two more weeks for the company to resend the rugs.
In the past month, I've also been helping someone look for a used car, and if you think that was a difficult task before Covid, you should see it now. Astronomical prices for a mere jalopy, huge dealer fees, and salesmen anxious to add on warranties and stolen car insurance. One guy I was dealing with in another state was an outright liar. I left his office feeling like I wanted to take a shower when I got home.
And I've been on hold a lot in my daily dealings, listening to serious hours of bad, tinty music. How hard is it to have pleasant recorded music? It's not, but the truth is they don't want you to wait on hold at all. In fact, many businesses hide their customer service phone numbers so only those who persevere can find it. And if and when you do find it, you're punished for your ingenuity by waiting sometimes hours with the worst music you will hear in your lifetime. They're sending you a message, aren't they?
In fact, the whole marketplace has sent America a long breakup letter these last few years and we're all reading it together. You're not special anymore, it says. You will pay our prices, you will wait on hold, you will not be treated with respect or dignity, and if we are nice, it's because we don't want to hear your complaints about pricing. Oh, and it's all COVID's fault too.
While booking a hotel room recently, I had a rogue website hijack my reservation, present me with a website that looked exactly like a Holiday Inn website, charge me double for the room because of some kind of "foreign fee," and didn't offer me a confirmation page but rather went ahead and charged my card. The business, called GetARoom.com, and owned by Priceline, is breaking the law in more ways than one. There is a class action lawsuit against them and thousands of complaints on the Better Business Bureau website, and yet this business is still allowed to operate. It took me hours to argue with their foreign customer service reps, write a complaint to the BBB, before they agreed to refund the stolen money.
The difference between me and someone who didn't get their money back is diligence. Pure diligence. I refuse to be taken advanatage of and will drive to their headquarters in another state if I have to. I think customer service reps know when they've got a customer on the line whose not going to play by their broken rules, so it's important to hold your ground.
I believe this new way of dealing with customers is trickling down from the very top of American enterprise. There's a wild west feel to our country these days where anything goes. Parting you with your money is the name of the game in what feels like an unprecedented money grab. I understand inflation, but $10 for a pint of cream? Really?
Let the buyer beware, they say. But I say hold these companies accountable. A client sent my husband an assorted half-dozen pints of Jenny's ice cream for Christmas. When we opened the box, there was a pint of ice cream missing.
Maybe I just have bad karma? I don't think so. These kinds of bad experiences are happening all over the country. You are entitled to fair and lawful treatment from the companies you do business with. That is your right as a consumer. Demand it.