But this cartoon does bring up an incredible discussion point: are private businessmen (or job creators like they righteously call themselves) taking too big a bite on their profit margins? What is a reasonable markup percentage on a good they purchase wholesale and sell retail? If you are a labor/retail hybrid, should you be doubling the price of the product and also tacking on an installation or service charge at a $100 an hour clip.

I have a buddy that put the furnace in my new house and we needed it serviced. They did some minor work and gave me and afterhours charge even though they showed up during working business hours. I wrote a letter, and he called me to talk about it. I told him that he no longer was trying to break into the competative market and that he was just as bad as the criminals running the other heating and air places around town. He did knock off the afterhours charge, but I was still not happy about it.

There is nothing wrong with being a business man charging and earning a fair buck; but the current American business model is to cut a fat hog in the ass. When I'm sodomized I usually appreciate a little vaseline; don't just give me the Ron Jeremy treatment with extreme prejudice.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

I have no problem with someone setting prices "as high as the market will bear." I have a problem with people setting prices higher than the market will bear, or engaging in other stupid practices that demonstrate serious inattention to their customer's real values.

I have a theory, but have collected no empirical evidence other than my personal impressions [which of course makes it worth only slightly more than Messr. Jeremy's toilet paper]:

The kind of business practice DakotaT describes here, more than "corps sitting on billions of cash" or "national debt" or any of the other usual suspects, is what explains the American economy's moribundity. We have too entirely many "businessmen" and "business models" out there that take this kind of approach (banks, cable, any phone company, any business that falls back on the small print and lawyer-written disclaimers with regularity, any goddamn government agency, any goddamn insurance company, etc.). And American consumers, not interested in being bent over, are saying "no, not today."

Because, again, it takes two to tango. No matter how much we might cry about "needing X, Y, and Z", we reveal that we don't need them unless they come with quality attention to us.

My belief is that the economy will stay in the toilet until more American businesses discover that real customer service takes more than some stupid autoresponding "tell us what you think of what you just bought" survey that your marketing department just uses to send more email spam, until more American businesses discover that real customer service means having real people answer the phone instead of using "push 1 for rape, push 2 for doggie style, push 3 to return to the main menu," until more American businesses discover that real customer service means one all inclusive price rather than a fake low price plus six add-ons that 99% of buyers always buy, until more American businesses discover that real customer service means recognizing that neither their American customers nor their non-American customers are morons.

Lazy, often. Unthinking, far too often. Illogical and ignorant, those, too.

But too stupid to realize that they can say no to being beaten (or having other things done) with a baseball bat? Not hardly.

Originally Posted by: Wade 

Hey Hey HEY!!!!!

As to your comments there is some truth in it. But ultimately there is a great deal of responsibility on the end consumer too.
You don't like what they have to sell? Don't buy it. If it is garbage and you buy it they will restock the shelves. In your dissertation you mentioned phone companies. I didn't like the charges I was getting for my local phone service. They still had a quasi monopoly in our area. I cancelled it and used my cell phone instead. If I don't like the cheap junk that WalMart tries to cram down my throat, I don't buy it. If a gasoline company tends to offer higher prices in our area (in all of their stations) I don't buy there. I had issues with the cable company's price and service- I went to satellite.

There are always options out there. If all the cable services and all the satellite companies are squeezing too hard I can do without all of it. Ultimately the responsibility for my purchases is ME.

As in the cartoon that started all of this, Susie knew she was getting stuck so she walked away.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

.

There are always options out there. If all the cable services and all the satellite companies are squeezing too hard I can do without all of it. Ultimately the responsibility for my purchases is ME.

Originally Posted by: wpr 

I call bull shit, cause once you go Dakota, you don't go back. [grin1]

Originally Posted by: DakotaT