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When Customer Dissatisfaction Is a Tech Business Model

Posted by Soulskill on from the friendly-until-they-have-your-money dept.

jammag writes: A new trend has emerged where tech companies have realized that abusing users pays big. Examples include the highly publicized Comcast harassing service call, Facebook "experiments," Twitter timeline tinkering, rude Korean telecoms — tech is an area where the term "customer service" has an Orwellian slant. Isn't it time customer starting fleeing abusive tech outfits?

5 of 257 comments (clear)

  1. Fleeing abusive companies? by robinsonne · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where are customers supposed to flee to? Many of these companies are de facto monopolies in many areas or at the very least in lock-step with their "competitors." There aren't very many choices for tech companies unless you want to do without, which is unpalatable for many.

    1. Re:Fleeing abusive companies? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nononono, they don't have voting rights. They get to choose who you may vote for, and you then get to choose between their candidates.

      IIRC it's called "separation of power" or something like that.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  2. Re:Free market by therealkevinkretz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    bought-and-paid-for politicians using the law to favor their friends isn't "the free market"

  3. Re:Where would we flee to? by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I work for a big corp, and we don't treat our customers like crap.

    I think what you're looking at is companies like Comcast who have government guaranteed monopoly in the areas they serve. Smaller outfits or community broadband outfits are either forbidden from competing or are forced to pay exorbitant easement fees. Not by the federal government, but by the local governments. For companies in Comcast's position, there's no need to be concerned how you treat the customer, mainly because the local governments tell them not to worry about it.

  4. Re:Free market by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I find it funny how people who defend capitalism in this day and age like to say that what we have is "crony capitalism" and if we'd just give real capitalism a try for once it would be super awesome.

    What does that sound like?

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel