Why are companies pushing us away?

Something I have really noticed over the past few years is that major companies and retailers are choosing profits over customers. It is hard to imagine a company nowadays offering a great deal on something just to be a nice and try to get customers. Companies and retailers have been trying to pull customers from other companies, but now it seems we are getting pushed from one to another, as if we are not wanted.

My first example is Netflix. They recently were faced with a dilemma. Their business model wasn’t working. They had been offering customers both streaming and DVD’s in the mail for a small monthly rate of $10. However, just recently, they decided to scrap that and separate the two, offering them only as separate deals and no longer packaging them in a deal. You can still have both, but you pay $6 a month more. Netflix knew their $10 a month plan for both services wasn’t making them a ton of money, but instead of keeping it to keep customers happy, they took it away from us. They chose themselves over us, the customers.

My second example is Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Bank of America has decided to implement a $5 monthly debit card fee for any one of their customers who uses a debit card. Their reasoning is that they have been capped on how much they are allowed to charge retailers when a customer swipes their debit card. Many have made their displeasure heard. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo, my bank, is only testing out the fee in various markets and locations. I have not been charged with that fee yet, but if I do start getting charged monthly, I will find a way to go without my debit card or find another bank.

My advice to companies, banks, and retailers out there: Stay OUT of the spotlight. Do not do anything drastic. I know, the economy is hard on us all, but the retailers and companies that will profit the most are the ones that just try to tough it out and not do anything stupid like Netflix or Bank of America. We consumers are smarter than they think. We will NOT hesitate to switch banks, grocery stores, electronic stores, you name it, in order to save the most money. It’s the unfortunate truth that companies nowadays care less about customers than ever. Well guess what? We customers care even less about how companies do. If Netflix, Bank of America, or whoever goes under, we really don’t care (unless we work for them). Another one will come along.

My advice to us, the customers, is just to be smart, and if a company changes a policy or the price of something, do not hesitate to switch companies or products. If a company makes you upset, don’t be afraid to protest or boycott them. I boycotted Starbucks for almost three years because their CEO sold the Sonics. Share with your friends and family your displeasure with a company, share it on Consumerist, let people know so that the companies feel a dent when they lose a lot of customers.

Hopefully, in the somewhat near future, the economy will get better. When it does, I expect companies to come crying back to us and begging for our forgiveness. But they must know we won’t be hurrying back to them so fast.