Business errors and overcharging cost you money, increase company profits

Consumer

Carol Forsloff----More than a decade ago the television show 60 Minutes had a segment about errors that occur on transactions involving bill payments, buying groceries or purchasing goods of any kind.  And what they reported was one-third of these transactions involved errors, not in the customer's favor.  Ten years later, anecdotal and research evidence suggests those errors may have not diminished, but actually  increased; and the impact of that over millions of purchases can increase business profits while creating customer harm.

Over the past year a journalist has examined personal records, observing grocery receipts, utility bills, and other consumer activities.  On many, if not most, of these bills and transactions, there have been errors, not in the customer's favor.  These can be medical bill overcharges or utility bills.   The FTC has reported 1 in 5 Americans have errors on credit reports.   And the problems are not just American ones, as the Guardian reported how 28% of customers of energy companies had been overcharged on their energy bills.

Some of these errors have been small.  A fifteen cents error on a Chase account, overpricing of seven cents on a grocery item, and a $50 extra charge on a Comcast account relative to a house call made about constant dropped calls and service problems.

A more recent example shows how widespread these problems may be.  An order for a Casio keyboard from Amazon was delivered promptly, however one item that belonged with the kit, a software utility, was missing.  A chat with the service representative brought the response that an entirely new delivery would be made as a replacement, and that 30 days would be allowed to return the original item.  Reassurance from the representative emphasized the fact that the customer could call and schedule the pickup of the item, at no cost for the return.  In addition, the customer was promised a transcript of the chat conversation and complete instructions for the original item's return.

The following day the doorbell rang.  Less than a minute later, the customer opened the door; and no one was there.  Later it was learned the UPS driver had arrived to pick up the original package, despite assurances that the customer could call and make the arrangements.  The driver had not waited for a response to the doorbell, as the only sign of anyone having been there was a glimpse of the UPS truck pulling away.  A complaint to UPS brought the explanation that the information would be passed along to the driver and a return call would be made to the journalist customer for an estimate for pickup at a later time.

The UPS office failed to call.  The copy of the chat conversation was not sent.  Nor were there instructions for returning the original item.  Another call to Amazon resulted in obtaining those instructions but still not the copy of the chat conversation.  Instead an email arrived from Amazon that stated the original item was on its way back, despite the fact the driver never picked up the package.  What's more, UPS offices maintained they were to pick up two packages, not one.  A third call to Amazon brought a customer service representative who maintained he would follow up with the account, apologizing for the numerous errors already made.

The issue remains unresolved and simply attests to the ongoing problems that occur all over America.  And if time is money, those errors cost the company if the customer discovers them.  On the other hand, the number of errors is likely much larger than the number of customers who discover them, resulting in profit for the company.  The unwitting customer becomes the loser and multiplied many times over, the company wins again.

Vigilance is key to change, as each person must examine the results of every transaction in order for the problems to end while business groups need to encourage companies to emphasize care and caution when they work with customer needs.  But it is unlikely with the number of errors made by businesses of all kinds that the problems will end, as the numbers of transactions have increased with Internet purchase options, and the time it takes to check every receipt and transaction makes it difficult for the consumer to track the mistakes.

Hunger is a Powerful Force

Bob Ewing - Have you ever been hungry? Of course, you have, most of us have experienced temporary hunger for one reason or another. However, the hunger only lasted until you got home or to a place were a meal could be bought.

Take a minute to imagine that hunger feeling lasting for 24 hours with no relief in sight.

Go one step further, you go to bed hungry and wake up the next morning after a fitful night to the possibility of another day with nothing to eat. How long would you go on without sustenance before doing something, anything to satisfy that hunger?

Food is a driving force and we cannot live long without it. How we grow food, process it, sell, market and consume it will help define our society. We live in a consumer, capitalist system and food is treated like any other product. If you can afford it, you buy it, if you cannot you go hungry, or are forced to rely on the services such as food banks and other food programs, that are designed to help ease the pain of being hungry.

If we want to move away from the consumer, capitalist model we can begin to do so by changing the food system. A first step is simple enough, grow some of you own food and make a move towards independence. The more food you can grow, the freer you can become. This sounds great, but the reality is much more complex. Growing food requires a space to grow that food in, and whether the space be shared, such as a community garden, or your own yard, unless you own that land free and clear, you are still in a dependent position.

Over the next few weeks we will explore how through structures such as, time banking, community land trusts and urban agriculture, we can change from a consumer based society to a consumer-producer one.

As a side note, I just finished reading Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. I was inspired to do so over the weekend while in Fredericton. On a trip to the mall near our hotel, I asked why there were so many young people lined up and was told about the movie, The Hunger Games.

When we got home, I borrowed a copy of the book from a friend’s daughter (I am far from the demographic for this novel) and was impressed by the writing and the storyline. In short, the author understands what it means to control people and societies.