These days, what the consumer mostly gets is neglect. Firestone sells apparently defective tires but refuses to acknowledge responsibility. United Airlines cancels flights without notice. When weather grounds a flight, the airline holds you hostage on the runway with soft drinks and packets of peanuts to sustain you. Then, to make amends, it announces that it plans to cut down on the number of regular flights.
Consumers feel as if they have no power.
The power to move industry is on Wall Street, whose analysts can diminish a company's value overnight, and in Washington, where regulators can change the size and profitability of a company without batting an eye. In the shadow of these behemoths, the consumer is reduced to a tiny figure crying in the wilderness. More often than not, his protests go unheard. I maintain there isn't a single real person working in consumer relations. There is only a voice in voice mail.