On Consumerism and Quality

I know I said my first new post would be about D&D 4.0, and this is evidently not that. There's a reason for this, though--this post is, in a way, a lead-in for my first D&D post. (Yeah, I said first. I've decided to split the D&D post into several, and each of them will deal with a separate aspect.) So...

I read this post on Slashdot a few weeks back. In brief, a family gets a cell phone bill for $19,370, because their son used the service 21 times to send some photos and e-mails from abroad. The family argues that since their bill normally is $250 to $300, it should be their cell phone company's responsibility to contact them when the charges suddenly grow multiple times larger than usual. You know, if for no other reason then because the cellular device might have been stolen. I believe many credit card companies do something similar. They also say that they were never told anything about (extra) international fees, which is interesting because the device is marketed using phrases like Stay connected whether you are traveling across town, the U.S., or the world (emphasis added).

Some people may say (and some people do say) that the family only had itself to blame, they should have known better, or they should have read the fine print, or the company is under no obligation to be a nanny for its customers. And they may be right. I personally tend to hope that people who say that will, at some point, find themselves in a similar situation. It would surprise me if their attitudes would not quickly do a 180--degree turn in that case, as is often the case with people who take joy in other people's misery. But I don't want to talk about them today. Nor do I want to talk about this particular family, who may or may not at this point have resolved the matter with the company in a way where they do not have to pay something that approximates one year of wages, for 21 e-mails. Neither is the point, and nor is the cell phone companies or unreasonable fees in general.

Instead, let me direct you to a particular post made in response to the topic mentioned above. Contract or not, this isn't a business game, it's a game of gotcha with customers. When I read that, I felt I knew exactly what that person was talking about. Not this specific case, although it of course very much applies to it, but in general. The rest of the post was just icing on the cake.

I had this conversation with a friend once, where I said that business has stopped being about providing the best service possible (if it ever was) and thereby ensuring customer satisfaction, and from a business perspective, eventually also customer loyalty. Instead, I argued, business has turned into a con game, where the salesman attempts to trick the customer into buying the lowest quality stuff the salesman can get away with, all while charging a premium price for it. All shops are used car shops nowadays, and all sales are final. My friend answered that the law prevents salesmen from ripping you off. We didn't talk more about it. Back then, I thought my friend really did not get it. It does not really matter what the law says, as long as the salesman doesn't pull out a gun and rob you, in which case you have more pressing problems. Even if you think you were conned, and even if you were conned, you also need to prove what happened, and probably additionally convince people that you were conned, and you need to be ready to endure a lot of trouble and spend a lot of time to do all this. There will never be any police ninjas dropping down to save you if you are ripped off. You're on your own.

So what is reasonable nowadays? Look around; everything is getting more expensive, and endurable quality is a thing of the past. Brand clothes come pre-worn, so that they won't last as long, and we pay extra for them. Consumer electronics aren't made to last, because they will be replaced in a year or two anyway. Software that previously would not have been thought fit for alpha status is pushed onto the supermarket shelves, and in some cases down the customers' throats whether they want it or not. Food is being genetically modified to be cheaper to manufacture but prices go up. The computer you bought yesterday will be outdated tomorrow. Every movie out of Hollywood is worse than the previous. And so on. There's money to be made, and if you manage to get someone to buy your crap today you can tell them to fuck off tomorrow. Now and for ever. Amen.

So what is reasonable nowadays? Is it really OK that Microsoft stops selling Windows XP in favor of Vista, when people seem not to want Vista at all? Is it OK that when I buy Spore, I can only install it three times total, before it turns into a coaster? Should I have really to read through maybe fifteen pages of EULA in order to start using the software I just bought? (And if I don't agree to the EULA, what then? Do you think they will think me an enlightened consumer if I take the software back to the store, or will they think I'm crazy?) If EULAs aren't really legally enforceable anyway, why does everything and their mom come with them, each more absurd than the previous? Do I have to be fluent in legalese in order to access the iTunes Music Store? If I want to prevent my new iPod's screen from getting scratches, is almost 10€ a fair price for the cheapest screen protector that I can find, although it really amounts to nothing more than a single 2.5" piece of overhead projector sheet with some Post-it note glue on one side, something that can't cost more than 0.10€ in itself (and far less to produce)? Can I really not open my PC's case and install some extra memory without voiding the warranty? If I buy an Mac Mini and want 2GB memory rather than 1GB, why does the RAM module cost twice as much as it should and require me to pay a 50€ installation fee, just because ol' Steve thinks it's a good idea to prevent me from installing it myself? When I buy a game, is it really OK that it is so buggy that just keeping it running is a chore (assuming it starts in the first place)? Do I have to check all the expiration dates on everything I buy, just in case the shopkeeper doesn't mind selling several months old crap? Should I really have to read all the fine print of the unlimited service plan I'm paying for, in order not to be hit with a $20K phone bill?

I dunno. I currently make more money than ever before, but at the same time I am more dissatisfied as a consumer than ever before. Is that really as it should be? Why does some people work so hard to prevent me from wanting to be their customer?