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Hell, yeah. In this day and age, everyone is a
consumer. The only way not to be a consumer is to be hermit. But
even a hermit uses a cell phone these days to get inspirational
messages. Just reading this article makes you a subscriber to The
Manila Times or to an Internet service provider for its electronic
version.
To bring the point closer to home
and more hurting to the pocket, when you wake up to turn off the
aircon or the fan, you are certainly a Meralco customer. When
commuting, you are a consumer of oil and all its derivative
products. Again, let us not talk about the widespread domino effect
of high oil prices. Landline or mobile phone, the consumption
continues at work or at play. The cycle goes on until you switch the
light off at bedtime.
The message is clear: to you the
consumer, there are costs that can be shaved or expenses that can be
avoided. Otherwise, you have no choice. You have to use appliances
or the life way as we know it cannot be enjoyed.
In case of a monopoly when there
is only a supplier, the consumer is literally at the mercy of the
company. No problem if company officials are enlightened and have
the welfare of the public at heart. If personal and corporate
interests are prioritized, it becomes an abuse of the most vicious
kind simply because there is business to a competitor. He has to
bear and grin through it.
Can he complain to customer
service? For sure he can file a complaint and he put on hold or told
to wait or his papers passed around. He is frustrated by the delay
and the inaction. In many instances, logic does not prevail but the
standard answer, “It is company policy.”
In the case of cartels, the
simplest form is when several companies supplying the same product
or service get together to fix prices or to restrict supply all in
the name of more profits. Even if on the surface the consumer can
shop around for the best deal in the market, it is not actually so
since all the providers feel and act the same way.
What is evil about these schemes
is that the individual consumer spends more time, money and effort
to pursue a just and valid claim. Say, half a day for a missing
one-peso load or a dropped call. The other evil is that the data is
mostly not in his hands. Rather, he has to rely on his provider
which of course has full control and discretion over the records.
The country has too many laws?
Not on this score. We do not have in place a simple, working
completion law that busts misbehaving monopolies and cartels and
protect the man on the street working hard for his next paycheck.
That is why the fearless Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is working though
the Senate Committee on Trade and Industry to push for an anti-trust
law and to penalize violators. Big business needs to act responsibly
and be held accountable for unfair trade practices.
Surely there are instances of
natural monopolies or business which need to merge for efficiency
and economies of scale. The challenge is to make sure they do not
lose sight of their corporate mission and vision.
If you are a consumer, you have
no choice but to act. You are a consumer, you must act.
Mabinihall@gmail.com.
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