Maybe I’ve had some sort of “Come to Jesus” moment, but this recession thing has really opened my eyes to companies with poor business ethics.

Whether it be carelessness, blissful ignorance or a seemingly infinite supply of tolerance, we consumers seem to take our hard knocks from shady companies in stride.  It’s almost like we expect to be screwed over since it is common knowledge that nearly transaction we make, someone on the other end is trying to make as much profit from that transaction as possible.

Yet, for some reason, we just keep letting them hit the Screw You Economics button since that has become the new American way.

We know it’s coming, so let’s get it over with as quick as possible so we can go back to our own place, shower up and wash the after-transaction smell away like a bad one night stand.

No More Business for Bad Business Ethics

Sure it sounds like a jaded rant, but if you have been screwed over by a company, don’t you feel a little angry?  Would you — should you — continue to do business with them?

After all, it’s your money they are trying to take away from you.

Let’s try a few examples:

1. You Recently Bought a Pontiac Because You Wanted to Buy American.  Nothing wrong with loving your country and wanting profits to stay on your native soil.  But now that GM has killed off Pontiac, the cost of replacement parts will shoot higher as supply dwindles.  If you keep it long enough, you might just be reliving an episode of The Dukes of Hazard by rummaging through junkyards for spare parts since they will become a rare commodity.  Are you now feeling like you’ve been duped?  Will other brands like Saturn follow suit?
2. You have Auto Insurance with AIG.  After the government bailout, were you worried about not being covered?  Were you ashamed to do business with poster child of the financial collapse?  Worse yet, if you got in an accident, what would someone think if they saw AIG on your insurance card just days after the bailout and bankruptcy was a legitimate possibility?  If I were the opposing driver, I would have probably been a little more worried.
3. You have a Mortgage with Countrywide (Bank of America).  If you were one of the many homeowners who bought a home with a mortgage from Countrywide, does it bother you that a substantial proportion of their loans have resulted in foreclosure?  Is it disheartening to know that the profits made from your mortgage could be going to the same business executives that helped cause the financial crisis of 2008?
4. You Use Time Warner High Speed Internet.  Everyone loves a high speed internet connection, but would you be willing to say goodbye when your local cable monopoly charges you for gigabytes of information just like a cellular company charges you for your minutes so you will buy cable TV to stop you from watching TV online for free?  Does it bother you that you’re doing business with an organization that lobbies state legislatures that a faster, cheaper and overall better municipal internet provider (Town of Wilson, NC) is a danger to their own monopoly and should be outlawed?

I suppose none of this really matters if you’re not the type to let a few dollars here and a few more dollars there get to you.  If you are, I occasionally envy you.

Then again, $15 here and $20 there adds up to $35 at the end of the month.  Annually that comes to $420 for your household to companies you may not think too highly of.

If you scale up the example to everyone on your street, that adds up to $42,000 (100 people x $420).   Scale it up again to everyone in your town.  Your city.  Your county.  Big numbers right?

Now do you see why it irks me?

So take a look at your budget, ask yourself who you’re doing business with.  Are you happy with their services and their business practices?  If not, maybe it’s time to do a little shopping around for an equivalent service elsewhere.

Try convincing your neighbor to do the same.

Photo by justinbaeder

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