If you look at Big Business as a consumer you will find some startling changes in common sense business ethics. Banks are defending themselves from class action lawsuits due to unethical practices in charging absurd fees for everything from withdrawing your money to closing your accounts. Banks are percieved as being highly ethical due to the fudiciary nature of the business, yet here they are being sued for precisely the opposite. Cell phone service providers, cable providers and a host of other huge national brand companies have slowly changed the face of business by hiding behind huge complex contracts that the consumer signs in order to obtain a simple service. In the contracts are fees that are never discussed and are simply hidden in the legalese of the contract. If a price is quoted as $40/month the end user is usually surprised to find in the bill an additional $20 to $40 in additional fees. Over the past 20 years this creep of hidden fees has become accepted by most of the end users as the price of doing business. Only because of the lack of competition due to mergers and buyouts have these companies been able to retain their customers. There has been a remarkable lack of backlash agianst these companies and their neferious ways of doing business until only recently. Companies have increased their return on investment (ROI) because of trickery rather than true business growth. While applying fee's is an acceptable way to increase revenue for a company the manner in which they do so is circumspect to say the least. A fee that is never discussed or clearly written is hardly good business. If you own or plan to own a business, do the right thing and gain customer loyalty and trust by making additional charges clear and open in all discussions and contracts. If you are hiding behind large contracts to hide fees and charges as a way of doing business you may be legally in the right, but you will also be doing your customers wrong. In fact, as the banks can current attest, you may not even be legally in the right and end up in litigation for years that could possibly end your business. |
