Business In Good Faith

Openly scamming consumers does not seem to be a public relations concern anymore - in fact it is commonly accepted by shoppers.

There are many ways. I have read of large retailers being fined for unethical promotions like bait and switch where you are attracted to a store by an advertisement for a bargain-priced product. Once at the store, you discover that the product is sold out or otherwise not available. But business carries on as normal. There is not a lot of negative publicity and little or no reaction by consumers. Shoppers did not hear about it and/or expect to be treated this way. This is where we have arrived.

The good old days is a misnomer because so much is so much better now than then. Some things aren't though such as our corporate-consumer relationship and marketing.

55 years ago I had just purchased my first car and I was ordering insurance for it. Over the phone. After supplying the details to the agent I asked how they considered the information adequate and truthful when not related to them in person. He replied that the transaction was conducted in good faith.

Fast forward 2008. Good faith? What's good faith?

It's trust of course, but what we have in our present day consumer world is deceptive wording, fine print clauses, disappointing products and services and costly surprises after the transactions. I don't long for the good old days but a corporate trend back towards good faith would be really nice.

Shopping tip: Buy where they will cheat you the least.


Grampa Ken ~ Author of 32 KEYS About Life and Blogger at Social-Fix

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