Them and us: The 'adversarial consumer society'

My bank-bashing friend Martin Lewis says in the Sunday Times that we British consumers need to harden up a bit. We live in an “adversarial consumer society” in which big business will take us for everything it can unless we stand up for ourselves and fight back. The notion of “corporate responsibility put about by politicians is nonsense and works only to lull consumers into a false sense of security”, he adds.

I agree. With only a few exceptions, British consumers are a bit of a pushover. We are not assertive enough in demanding our rights and we do not kick back anything like hard or accurately enough when we find ourselves being ripped-off. American friends and colleagues are ...

constantly amazed at what we put up with when it comes to prices and service. Indeed the subject has become a matter of some debate on US blogs. There is a great piece here, for instance, giving nine reasons why Britain is so expensive. It includes all the regulars - high wages, 17.5% VAT, soaring property prices etc - but also this:

• "Weak consumerism. British consumers are used to being mistreated, lied to and cheated (think Basil Fawlty). What surprises many American visitors is how seldom locals make a fuss about bad service or poor quality goods. Consumer law and advocacy is weaker than in the US - fraud is widespread, enforcement can be patchy, and class actions are not allowed. Financial fraud is called 'mis-selling', as if it were just an accident!"

So why are we Brits so wet on the consumer front and, more to the point, what can we do to toughen up?

On the former, I think our history holds us back a bit. With power having trickled down from the Crown rather than up from the prairie, we lack the sort of "we the people" belief in ourselves that Americans have. I think, too, we remain a bit naive about capitalism. Lewis is right to see it in terms of them and us. Big business exists to make money for itself and its shareholders. Nothing wrong in that, but we are fooling ourselves if we ascribe to corporate Britain a streak of altruism or paternal responsibility. Big business does worry about its public image, of course. But that's a very different proposition to the notion that it worries about us.

What's to be done? How can we level the battle field to ensure we consumers get a better deal in Britain? I'm open to suggestions and to get things going, here are some ideas on a manifesto for change:

• Know your rights. We should be teaching consumer law in schools and spelling out to people that contracts are a two way thing. In the meantime, if that expensive meal for two you were looking forward to came in cold or over-done refuse to pay for it.
• Gang up on 'em. The internet has provided consumers with the ideal media through which to share information and organise against rip-off merchants. If you get stung, log on and tell anyone and everyone about it. And don't agree to confidentiality agreements in order to get your money back. Most have no legal force in any case.
• Press for charges. Too much premeditated fraud in Britain is put down to mis-selling or other euphemisms. Selling pensions with hidden charges, dressing up factory chicken as organic or issuing consumers with penalties that far exceed costs are crimes not misdemeanors. So when you come across them make a formal complain to the police.
• Encourage class actions. Bringing class actions in Britain has traditionally been difficult but as John Heaps and Simon Jackson argue in this excellent article, things are looking up. And don't be fooled into thinking all US legal culture is bad. As Heaps and Jackson point out, class actions give consumers collectively a stronger voice and so encourage corporate responsibility. They also provide access to justice for the poor.
• Demand regulators with teeth. Consumer regulators in Britain are a joke. The Serious Fraud Office loses virtually every case it brings and now faces the chop, while the Office of Fair Trading seems to expend as much effort avoiding actions as pursuing them. We need prosecutors like the former New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer - people who revel in (and are promoted for) banging-up corporate villains for as long as possible

Comments

[Frank Upton]

It would definitely help if Britsh people could add up and take away. Most of us are, frankly, a bit dense. We are not even clever enough to realise that when a shop sells '3 for the price of 2' it has already increased the price of one unit by 50%.

[M R Renfield]

I am a little concerned by terms like 'adversarial consumerism' and the evangelic approach of Martin Lewis.

I run a small business (not a corporate giant) that deals with customers from the UK, US and around the world. We strive to offer great value for money, interesting products and great customer service.

In recent years we have noted a decline in the politeness and manners of customers to the point where they make unreasonable and unjustified demands for the silliest of reasons. Generally speaking, customers from the USA have long been the rudest and most demanding, for example, expecting free delivery if we can not deliver to their USA address (from the UK) by the following day.

Of course, we do get some extremely polite customers and we do strive to help everyone, but sometimes it can become demoralising when customers are unreasonable from the outset.

Sure, I understand taking on the banks over unlawful charges, 'mis-selling' etc, but trying to bully small businesses into something for nothing is not to be encouraged. We can't give the stuff away at cost. I have to pay my mortgage each month, just like you.

[Niall John Davidson]

Sheep were made for shearing I'm afraid...Baaaaa...

[Tony Jones]

I agree with Mr Renfield.

We are a family run business, selling glasses over the Internet and the only reason we entered the market was because we felt we could give the customer a better service than he was being given.

Unlike most Internet companies we at nuglasses can be easily contacted by phone seven days a week not 9.30 until 5 but from 8 till 8. We believe that unless you give customers a very high level of service you won't retain them. And unless you retain them, and they buy from you again and again, you won't survive in the long term. The cost of having to convert new customers all the time leaves you with too high a cost base.

I also don't think that all large companies are there to "rip you" off. in fact this "rip off" phrase is beginning to become more than just an irritant. Just because a new business arrives in the market with a lower cost base than the existing business, the owners of the new business and media start saying that all the older business were "ripping people off." Rubbish they are simply using a less efficient business model. So lets stop this constant practice of calling all and sundry a "rip off" because in most cases they aren't.