Treat customers fairly

In the past, businesses were worried about their reputation. If they received a bad report in the newspapers about how badly they treated their customers, they would have taken immediate steps to rectify the bad image.

In recent times, businesses are not concerned about their reputation, for the following reasons:

a) Bad treatment of customers is quite common among their competitors as well

b) If some customers go away, they can use marketing to reach out to new customers (who may not be aware about their reputation)

c) The newspapers are less active in highlighting bad service, as they depend on the advertising revenue of these businesses.

What can consumers do? They should judge a business according to its record of treating customers well. If the business is too focused on making more profit, then they are likely to neglect their customers.

Tan Kin Lian