I’ve frequently railed against large companies abusing their customers in this forum. There are rants on United Airlines, Allianz Travel Insurance, Honeywell, etc. that detail the specific incidents so you can read them as you like.

Yesterday, as I was fighting my bank for the 47th time on stupidity they’ve inflicted upon me as their customer, it occurred to me what has gone wrong with these institutions: they are simply too large to care. The loss of any single customer is inconsequential to their business so the relationship of customer to vendor has become twisted. They believe you (their customer) exist to serve their interests and the interests of their shareholders. This is 180 degrees incorrect in that customers are the lifeblood of any business and these monster companies are about to re-learn that lesson as more of their customers get fed up with this situation and seek alternatives.

This is what I want to share with all of you too-big-to-fail motherfuckers out there: You Work for Me Dammit. It’s not the other way around. I’m done working through your systems to do your work that you should rightfully be doing for me as a customer. What’s my alternative? Anything or nothing is better than what you offer. Big is not best. Big is not beautiful. Big sucks.

So, in addition to firing United Airlines after 20+ years of loyal patronage this year, I’m about to fire Wells Fargo after 23 years of banking relationship. We have had our personal and multiple business accounts with them over the years and that’s now over. We will be headed to a local bank or credit union with our business. The pain of switching is much less than the pain of staying and PAYING for the right to be an abused customer.

A word of advice for other large companies that want my business? Remember that you work for me and do your damn job. Don’t just do it, do it well. Or, I’ll fire you too. And I’ll enjoy it. That’s something Mitt and I have in common it would appear. 😉

I hope this becomes a trend, customers firing large companies who screw them. If you have fired a company or want to do so, please leave a comment with the particulars, I’m interested to hear your story.