"An openly hostile relationship" -- how consumers are treated by major corporations

[lostnfound]

I am old as dirt, so I remember the days..
Once upon a time, rich people made their money off the poor and the middle classes, and so, for the first few decades of my life, corporate interactions felt like being courted by a polite but persistent suitor. They sent you freebies in the mail. Banks gave gifts like a toaster for opening an account. College kids could show up at a happy hour and dine on free hors d'oeuvres equating to a robust meal: ham-and-cream cheese rollups, buffalo wings, stuffed potato skins, deviled eggs, fruit, shrimp, etc. Dissatisfied customers could complain, get an human apology, a refund, and perhaps something more. It isn’t just that actual humans would talk to you; empowered humans would talk to you, trained with the prevailing idea that ‘customer is king’ or ‘the customer is always right’.

Not everyone had insurance — auto or medical — but if you did pay those premiums, they paid the bills. Those insurers had to protect their reputation. Companies catered to the average American because the average American had money.

Now, real good service is only for high-brow customers, while ordinary people get lip service or are treated as an annoyance. Usually one feels that one is in an openly hostile relationship with:
Insurance: claim denials, especially medical, generated by AI, and extremely complicated and intrusive rules. My gosh, they are the middle man, and they are EQUALLY HATED by both sides, octors and patients. (My recent example? I just got an annual checkup with an in-network doctor; the bloodwork was sent to a major nationwide lab but the claim was rejected because the lab is ‘not in the network’. I wonder how many layers of subcontracting am expected to monitor. Haha — what if the doctor sends it to a lab who sends it to another lab who charges for an outside delivery service that is ‘not in network’. Give it time and there will be day-of-week pricing and you will only be permitted to use Tuesday/Wednesday processing.)
Telecom: New customers get better deals, with introductory rates, while existing customers pay the most. Try to cancel or downgrade service, and you are on hold for a long time, answering a plethora of questions. This is so common it has a formal name “cancellation friction” and an informal name “roach motel” (you can check in but you can never check out).
Airlines: Strategy? Put upcharges on window or aisle or exit row seats, and make the back half of the plane as uncomfortable as possible to punish those who can’t pay more. Surveillance pricing means the algorithms know your history and use it against you. Refresh your search a few times and the price might go up, and the system knows you paid $500 last time so it won’t offer you the $300 fare offered to John Doe. Pay extra for a bag, sometimes even in the overhead bin.
Data companies Through ‘monetization’, customers are fodder, or manipulated as lab rats, or treated as organ donors to be harvested without permission. Harvest personal stories, photos, and opinions for resale. If they don’t like it, divert some of your cashflow into buying politicians, and write legislation that suits you.

Corporate lobbyists used to lie about tobacco or auto safety etc. to prevent regulation. Now, they don’t need to hide. One or two of these examples would be a mild annoyance. But in America, consumer harassment is constant.

Does it feel like a war zone as a consumer? Or just a hostile relationship? Does anyone ever feel like ‘customer is king’ anymore? If so, share your story.

[UpInArms]

1. I am currently in a hate relationship

with a hotel … trying to work through a bad contract (negotiated prior to me) with a corporate group who, I believe, is actively acting in bad faith, so that I cannot fulfill the contract.

[Susan Calvin]

2. Thank you for putting into words

The way I've felt for at least a couple of decades.

[yardwork]

9. Reading the OP I found myself thinking the same.

I'm not sure when it happened but buying anything now is an ordeal. It's almost never a pleasant experience. Customer service seems to be designed to deliberately fend off customers.

And insurance, especially health insurance? Nightmare.

The rest of the world thinks we're crazy to put up with this.

[The Madcap]

21. We are...

I just wish it were easier to refuse to buy anything at all.

If they are going to starve us, we should do the same to them...

[Cirsium]

3. Almost every day

Almost every day there is a new ridiculous hassle that would have been rare or unthinkable just a few decades ago.

[llmart]

36. True

I feel like I spend too much time fighting just to get what in the past would have been a given. Has anyone else thought about how most everything you buy has only a one year warranty? Of course most new things can make it through the first year. After that you're on your own. I bought a new desktop computer a year ago and after only 2 months it quit. Yes it was still under warranty but what a hassle and time suck sending it in. Was told it needed a new motherboard. What sort of a crappy product is that? So now it quit this week and it’s only two months out of warranty so to fix it is on my dime.

[Cirsium]

53. I have a lot to say about this

I would say more but I don't have any time. I'm bogged down right now fighting with the insurance company, the car dealership, the phone company, the utility company, and the streaming services.

[sakabatou]

4. No one should be surprised by this as major corps only care about money, not people

[lostnfound]

51. Local companies versus major corporations -- a pleasant experience

My old house needed a repair to the main breaker panel, which is ancient.
The power company checked it out and said it was a problem with some type of contact internal to the panel. They said “this one is really old, and hard to find parts — so i suggest you find someone who is old school, because they’ll have parts, and some of the companies are going to tell you you need to replace the whole breaker panel”.

So i looked for ‘old school’, recognized a local company still in business 35 years after my dad was using them. Two people came out the next morning, brought the part, shut the power off including climbing on the roof, fixed it, turned it back on, and charged me a reasonable fee of around $400. I wrote them a check so that they didn’t have to pay credit card fees.

One guy was an old fellow with 40+ years of experience; while the one who climbed on the roof and did the closeup had just a couple of years, a tattooed young woman with an edgy disposition and punk/grunge style. They got along quite smoothly and were professional. Very good experience.

‘Old school’ can mean a lot of things, but the contrast to what the big-deal corporate companies would have done could not have been more clear.

[erronis]

5. A large part of the blame is monopolization and deregulation - goals the (r)epugs have had for years

And now they've gotten most of the way there.

They no longer need to worry about competition or government reining them in.

[dflprincess]

7. Remember when we told how good deregulation would be for consumers?

I miss the days when the only way banks & airlines could compete was with service.

[llmart]

37. Started with Reagan

[misanthrope]

54. That was always a transparent lie

The regulations would have never been implemented if they weren't needed.

[Bluetus]

6. What do we call "lip service" in 2026

"ordinary people get lip service "

What do we call "lip service" when the "lips" are actually AI bots?

I mean, today's companies don't even give us the courtesy of telling us we are screwed to our faces.

Do AI agents get the same satisfaction that a human gets when denying a medical claim?

[mtngirl47]

8. Cancellation friction--I didn't know there was a word for it!

I've had three horrible experiences with big corps in the last 45 days.

Spectrum offered me a great deal to bring fiber into my valley. They told me that they would do a construction survey and advise me of the installation date. They sent the agreement--it had a free cancellation policy, so I said yes. They proceeded to cancel my current phone/internet service--they called my current provider and cancelled my service--and when I called my current provider, they said that only Spectrum could reinstate my contract. What the hell!? I have to give them my pin number and blood to just pay my bill and yet Frontier let Spectrum cancel my contracted service. You can't make this shit up.

Right after the war started and the fuel prices went up, my garbage service (for my business) implemented a $50 fuel "surcharge."
It is in the contract that they can do that. So, the next month comes and they raise it by $150 more dollars per month. Really? I called around and found a small local company that would do it for less than half of my monthly fee. Well the contract with Republic doesn't end until 7/27, and the cancellation clause said that I had to pay a 6 month cancellation fee. I did the math. I was mad that they didn't even send me an email about the price increase, and so I started trying to cancel. It took daily calls and 10 different contacts and 45 days to get the container removed from my property. Ironically it was their collection department that finally forced through the cancellation. Now, let's see how long they send me collection notices.

The other situation is so stupid. Went to my orthopedist (old...not 47!) and they made me pay the full amount instead of billing Medicare first. New policy with their billing department. I said I had met my deductible. They didn't care. So then I got my Medicare statement and they paid the doctor. So I called the doctor, they said to call their billing department. People with foreign accents told me they would keep my money because I have an appointment in 6 months and that money can be applied to the next appointment. So you think you can keep $280 of mine for 6 months. Hell no. I had to cancel my doctor appointment and call the billing department back and do a "formal" request for my refund. I keep meticulous records....I won't let them forget about my money. I'm changing doctors....he also put a new charge on his bill: "Medical Office Rent." FFS.

[erronis]

14. Wow! Each one of those are horrible. It's almost as if they really don't want our business.

It's almost as if they don't need customers any more.

And if people can't earn enough to afford their products? Are the MBAs that stupid?

[durablend]

22. That's somewhat typical

he also put a new charge on his bill: "Medical Office Rent." FFS.

Mine bills the insurance for "clinic service", they pay $0.00 of it.

[llmart]

39. That sounds exactly like my week has been!

I am a very patient person but I swear that this week, if I had been a person who was barely hanging in there I would be ready to jump. Most of my calls started out with AI and I was hung up on three times when I had been waiting on hold for 15 minutes.

[vanlassie]

57. Are you sure that Medicare pmt situation

was legal? I know it’s just more hassle. But still.

[RainCaster]

10. Health Insurance Companies are the worst!

I would like to see them disappear. No other country has a system like ours, and that is for a reason, it don't work.

[Sanity Claws]

11. Good way of saying what I have been feeling

The corporations treat their employees as disposable and this attitude now permeates their relationship with customers.

[multigraincracker]

12. Defend, delay, defer and deny.

Rinse and repeat. Fist thing and only thing MBAs learn.
I had an argument with a home insurance company. Told me why it’d be so expensive to insure the house I was moving out. It’d sit vacant forever, might not sell and wasn’t worth what I said it was. Told her houses in that area averaged 32 days on the market. I was asking way under the quoted market price. Said I’ve been in sales for 50 years and had a Realtor license years ago. I had an inspection done and be glad to show it to her. Sales depend on price, condition and location.
Then I told her she was trained to defend, defer, delay and deny.
I paid one month of insurance and had an offer the next day and close a month later.

[Dr. T]

13. Bartenders at my regular bar treat me like a king,

but only because I leave big tips. It fits with lostnfound's original post. I pay a fee to be treated like that.

But the freebies are long gone. Every fourth drink used to be on the house and those happy hour hors d'oeuvres were magnificent. Any bars not offering those things went out of business.

[mountain grammy]

15. Currently fighting my new "corporate"

Management company. Charged me a late fee that was erroneously charged and then charged me a late fee on that while I was disputing it and now another late fee on that one.
I told them it’s elder abuse!

[Bumbles]

16. Back in the day . . .

. . . for Christmas my mother gave me a Cuisinart a couple of years after they were first introduced. She questioned my sanity for wanting one - she asked, I answered, and later got her one. The center post jammed while slicing pepperoni. I called the company and spoke to a customer service representative. She gave me instructions for shipping it to them so they could repair it. It was sent back to me, not only repaired, but with a new lid, the old one having been gouged. It is now forty-nine years old and still going strong.

Prior to that, I had a wool Pendleton coat that I wore throughout college and into my early marriage years. The lining had begun to shred. I called Pendleton, spoke to a customer service person, and sent the coat to them for relining, at no cost to me.

Those were the days. Lostnfound, aren't we fortunate to have those days to remember?

[ColoringFool]

17. Stockholders Rule. Every Last Penny, I Mean, Nickel Must Be.....

Squeezed out of you and me.

[IronLionZion]

18. We just need to give them more tax cuts, so they can trickle it down all over us.

They are such job creators, especially with AI.

[patphil]

19. I used to have Verizon as my family mobile phone provider, but switched to T-Mobile several years ago.

At the time I was saving over $50. a month by making the switch. Gradually the cost rose to the point where I'm paying a lot more than I was with Verizon. But, their ads tell me it's so cheap to use T-Mobile.
I'd like to switch again, but my family likes the service, so I'm stuck with them for the time being.
The cost of cable TV has also gone up a tremendous amount. I get my internet and TV from Optimum; don't really have a choice, and it's over $300. a month. And that's with a fairly basic plan.
So, cellphone, internet, and TV costs me over $550. a month when you put it all together.

To say that sucks is to put it mildly.

[gulliver]

20. Excellent OP!

The institutions have us consumers cornered.

A lot of it is cynicism, laziness, bad upbringing, and bad education at root, imo.

That means a work force with a fully understandably, bad attitude, working for inept, bloated, non-mission-focused administrators. The administrators do everything they can to turn the work over to automation, especially any work they themselves have to do (above and beyond sit in meetings).

Web sites and phone banks are now expertly designed jails. They sell to you, can get information from and about you, can force you to wait forever, force you to commit to costs and obligations.

"Would you like motor oil or puddle mud on that BLT?"

"Mayo please."

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that. You can say motor oil or puddle mud. To return to the main menu say or press 4."

"Agent... agent... agent!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Did you know you can access most of our services online. I can text you a link. Just say 'text' and I'll do that."

... That sort of thing should simply be illegal. If a company wastes your time, they should be forced to credit your bank account on a per minute basis.

[lostnfound]

33. Endless advertising wastes our time, too

All the time we waste deleting spam and interrupted by sales phone calls? People are getting paid to waste our time like that. And ultimately the cost of those interruptions gets added to the price of what we buy.

[live love laugh]

23. My friend canceled Verizon for an Xfinity deal and it was a nightmare.

She wanted to keep the same number and
Verizon seemed to stand in the way of letting that happen. She spent days on the phone sitting in Xfinity and Verizon locations being sent from one company to the other being told that Xfinity was waiting for the number to be released. She gave up and went back to Verizon.

[Pinback]

29. Telecom companies are required to let you port your number

as a general rule. If they’re giving you the runaround, you should let them know that you can file a complaint with the FCC, and they can be fined. Even now, they’re federally required to let you keep your number.

You need to go to the new provider first to set up an account and tell them you want to keep your number. Don’t cancel with your old (current) carrier first, or you could risk being without service for a period and also losing your number.

For more information:

• How To Switch Phone Carriers: 9 Easy Steps (tips from consumer finance expert Clark Howard’s team) - https://clark.com/technology/switch-cell-phone-need-to-know/


• Porting: Keeping Your Phone Number When You Change Providers (FCC) - https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/porting-keeping-your-phone-number-when-you-change-providers


• Enabling legislation (Telecommunications Act of 1996) -
  https://workinggroup.numberportability.com/sites/workinggroup/files/2022-09/fcc96286_WzUY2cg.pdf

[live love laugh]

31. Thanks very good info.

[Initech]

43. I switched my car insurance from AAA to Acrisure.

That was a nightmare. The stupid insurance company commercials that we see 15.000.000.000 times a day make it seem like it's so easy to switch to them but the actual hoops you have to jump through are insane.

[Uncle Joe]

24. I think that's because the American People are treated as customers or consumers, not clients,

and there are major differences between the two.

The closest macro client relationship that citizens can possibly have is with their representative government, not with any business entity or corporation.

A customer or consumer buys or uses a product, usually for short term use or gain while a well represented client's long term interests are taken into account as well. There is a fiduciary responsibility when dealing with clients.

If your interests are only for the short term, global warming climate change simply doesn't register, although that reality will become increasingly difficult to ignore.

This is why one of first strategies of the GOP was to come between the people and their elective government, starting with Reagan's put down joke "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" this coming from the President of the United States all for the sake of corporations and the people with serious money.

Since that day, the American People have ever been considered as customers or consumers, by the corporate media in the vast majority of their coverage. Corporations and extremely wealthy people were the actual clients either via ownership or major commercial purchasing. The American People were largely just somebody to sell something to whether it be a product, candidate or WAY OF THINKING. Meanwhile the corporate media both increasingly conglomerated into ever fewer hands, but also changed from actually gathering critical information and distributing it to the American People to giving their top down controlled opinion via punditry as to what reality was.

A half century of those dynamics gave us *rump and the only way he can possibly consider the American People is as customers to be sold any product except the truth.

Thanks for the thread lostnfound

[Celerity]

25. American late stage, tech-powered hypercapitalism is the biggest wealth extraction and transfer scheme in human history.

[OldBaldy1701E]

26. The 'customer' was never 'king'. They just made it seem that way.

And, yes, nowadays, they don't even try to hide it behind good presentation.

But, we still make them rich, so...

[Puppyjive]

27. Veterans don't count

I bought a Chevy Equinox last year, about this time. We felt like our timing was great because they lure you in with Memorial Day sales. I'm also a disabled veteran and so we thought we would get a discount for that. Nope Neither. I complained to high heaven after they quoted us the price with no discounts. They said disabled vets do not qualify. So I have been pretty down on GM since that experience. I asked them about the Memorial Day savings. They had to go back and take some off You gotta watch these guys. Shame on GM for not looking out for veterans. We paid cash for the car and they were pissed off.

[HappyLarge]

28. There's a whole term for this:

Enshittification.

[B.See]

30. It's that way because REPUBLICANS mostly have made it that way, by

so-called 'tort reforms' that made it more difficult for the average consumer to sue, and a decades long Republican attack upon consumers' rights, and specifically, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren's brainchild that, prior to Donald Trump's SABOTAGE of it, helped millions of American consumers.

Just another example of how TSFk and his filthy rich conies have made us 'great again.'

[llmart]

40. I got an email about a class action lawsuit

I think it was a year ago and it was against Blue Cross. I filled out the form but couldn't even remember when I worked for a company where I had their insurance. Yesterday I received an email saying that I would be getting my check of $18.56! What a farce.

[debsy]

32. And if you want to read about it in-depth...

You have to buy a book or subscription!

[MoonlightHillFarm]

34. Costco and Chewy have fantastic customer relations, in my experience.

[lostnfound]

38. Costco rules! I buy from them as often as possible

and encourage others to do the same.
No personal experience with Chewy.

[Wifes husband]

41. I have been very happy with Costco

Their salmon and hamburger is the best, and the gasoline is tier one at discount prices or below

[Crowman2009]

45. I frequently go to Costco for my whole bean coffee needs.

They have these big bags of gourmet coffee roasted in Charleston that I buy frequently. Luckily I will have plenty prior to election day.

[slightlv]

35. I totally agree with everything you say... it's what I've been saying now for years,

especially the last five or so years. BUT... there are exemptions. You asked, I'll tell (gryn)

I was with Farmer's Insurance since I was 18 and out on my own. My family was with them even before I was born. Talk about what should have been an excellent relationship! But when push came to shove after trump's first tariffs on Canadian wood and steel, the price for our house insurance went through the roof. I simply couldn't afford it any longer, nor could I find anyone at the company who even pretended to empathize. So, I went insurance shopping.

I'd always heard bad things about State Farm, and had stayed away from them because of it. But my sister recommended an office here in town that she'd been with since she'd gotten married, decades ago. She said they were friendly and responsive, and she'd never had any issues with them where claims were concerned. She'd been involved in a few wrecks and I knew she'd had house problems, so I trusted her word and made a call.

This office is 100% female. They came in lower in the house insurance for me, tho admittedly not by much. BUT they outright explained the issues and pointed exactly who to blame. I've called them so much I feel like I've made a pest of myself, but they are always friendly and helpful. They've helped me adjust pay schedules to try to match when my check comes in, and have worked with me when the money just wasn't all there. They've never made me feel like a pest, or an old woman who can't handle a lot of the new phone tech (which I am), and I have nothing but good to say about them.

Would it be the same if there were men running the office? Is it because it's female owned and operated? I don't know. But I do know I truly appreciate how this office has helped me and treated me. It's an exquisitely rare thing in today's customer service arena, and I let them know how grateful I am.

That's it. That's the only one I've got on the "Plus" side of customer service. Now, if you want to hear me yell about bad customer service, give me an hour or so to tell you about my dealings with AT&T!!!

[Initech]

42. On my American flight home yesterday, they took out the backseat entertainment.

And instead... we got some really shitty onboard wifi and - wait for it - backseat credit card offers. They even had the flight attendants go through the aisles with the damn credit card bullshit. We don't want your stupid credit card - we want to be treated like humans instead of walking dollar signs.

[lostnfound]

49. OMG that is an EXCELLENT slogan. "Treat us like humans not like walking dollar signs"!!!

Seriously that sums it up so well.

There were always hucksters and aggressive sales people in American society, but it is just so intense and disrespectful now.

Not like ‘get your papers! Read all about it!’ ‘Fresh hot popcorn!’ More like a toxic gas that finds it way in through every unsealed window, every vent in your house and your car, delivered into your home.

[Initech]

50. Exactly!

And what's truly insane is that the credit card bullshit is EVERYWHERE. I must get at least 20 credit card offers in my inbox during the day.

My favorite thing was once you login to the American Airlines onboard Wifi, it takes you to a screen to sign up for a credit card offer. It says in big letters "ENJOY THIS ONBOARD OFFER!!!". Nobody enjoys signing up for credit cards, dipshits. Yeah you're $6,000 in debt but you get 80,000 points, which barely qualifies you for one leg of a round trip. Fucking nuts.

[Aussie105]

44. Me: Yeah, but I want to pay you money!

Had some very hostile conversations over the phone and in person over the years.

1. Offering to pay over the phone some outstanding debts for my daughter for electricity, rent-to-buy domestic appliances.

2. In person paying parking fines for my son who happened to be driving a car registered in my name.

Do some places hire abusive and surly females just to deal with people who are perceived to be difficult customers?
Seems like it!

Personally, I hate the upsells and lock in contracts, the buy now and pay monthly systems, the offer to do the monthly bill paying by auto debit.
I avoid them as much as possible.
Sadly, some can't be avoided.

Love the looks on the faces of car salespeople when you buy new and tell them - after negotiation dealings - you will pay cash.
Missing out on kickback from finance companies? Sorry/not sorry!

[mdbl]

46. Now that we have a corrupt system of justice, it will only get worse

The days of respect and equality (or the hope for it) are over.

[hatrack]

47. Fuck Republic Services with the red-hot cock of Satan!

Last edited Sun May 24, 2026, 10:38 PM - Edit history (1)

They were our trash service, near a fairly small city, but about a mile beyond city limits, so no municipal provider. Over the past 3 to 4 years, prices just went up and up and up - from around $75 to $80 per quarterly billing to more than $160. And it wasn't like we were a major industrial account - just a single home, and we might actually fill our one trash cart once a year for our once-weekly pickup (limited to one cart, of course).l

Finally, enough. Called to cancel in late December, and got another bill in January. So, what was that about? To find out, I'd have to hear repeatedly that my call was very important to them, and they were looking forward to providing excellent customer service.

About an hour later, I reached a human being, who informed me that the $65-odd "bonus dollars" on my January bill was the "Cart Retrieval Fee". That is, walking down the driveway and wheeling the cart back to the truck was a $65 drain on company resources. And I'm still getting voicemails and bills for a service I canceled at the end of last year.

The only consolation has been going online and learning just how much Republic is despised by their past and current local customers.

[Joinfortmill]

48. True. Excellent post. It's a jungle out there.

[NBachers]

52. On the other hand- Here's a wall filled with compliments from customers of my independent hardware store, posted on Yelp

and Google or submitted directly to the company.

I don't own the store; I just work there, but we go way out of our way to make sure our customers are well taken care of. We have Ace and other vendors, so we carry a wide range of supplies and building materials tailored for our region. We're going up against the big boys, but I hear over and over from customers that they'd rather do business with us. I've been called the best DIY resource in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Small business values your business.

[unblock]

55. Our economy has shifted to a wealth extraction mode.

Corporate attitudes are no longer provide useful goods and services first and get reasonably compensated second.

The goal now is to maximize profit by any means necessary.

This includes corrupting laws; milking the legal, regulatory, tax, and bankruptcy systems; making service *worse* wherever it saves money (warranty claims, refunds, cancelations, returns, etc.)

Note that the system we have as no longer "capitalism" in a true sense because there's insufficient or ineffective competition in many industries. What we have at best is "economic anarchy" where those in a position to do so get whatever they can get and there's really not much anyone can do about it.

Arguably, it's even worse with the government actively helping the upward wealth extraction.

[lostnfound]

56. Rumpelstiltskin! (You've named the problem quite clearly / accurately.)

I like to think if we can just find the right words to describe the situation, then it will lose some of its power. Like the old fairy tale.
Seriously your comments are spot on, in my opinion.