Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m fascinated, watching two very different patterns. The one, the airline industry, is a huge macro event. The other, eBay, is a micro event. But both trends seem to me to demonstrate what`s fundamentally wrong with today`s business managers.

With eBay, and actually, all over the Web, it seems, we`re encountering more and more pages (ads, sellers) that are taking advantage of the current fuel pricing to jack up their prices. "Due to the increases in postage rates (read: fuel), we`re gonna raise our postage a million-bazillion dollars." ........or words to that effect.

The airline companies have decided that "due to the price of fuel," we`re gonna now charge you for everything we possibly can charge, and justify it all by saying it makes the plane lighter. Oh....really?

When we first started flying, we paid a ticket price. If we had more than 1 bag to be checked, we paid for that extra weight. The airlines "assumed" there`d be the passenger weight, 1 bag, and some carry-on luggage. When people started taking advantage of the carryon speed, the companies put a template together. If your bag didn`t fit into the template, it had to be checked.

First of all; how come everyone wanted carryon bags? Because the time and delays, along with lost luggage problems were so cumbersome people did everything they could to avoid having to go to baggage claim. But that`s a different problem.

The key problem is that the price of the ticket should include ALL fuel costs, and taxes, fees, runway access, and so forth. I`m not *interested* in what all the company has to go through. All I want is to pay a price, get a ticket, and get somewhere.

What I`m seeing is that operations have become so overbearingly important to the brainstems running these companies, that it seems as if everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. "Customers? What customers? There`ll ALWAYS be customers, no matter how bad my services are or how high my prices may be."

Waddya think? Am I wrong? Should we start charging for every electron a visitor is using when they access our Web site? How about charging for the electricity it takes us when we have to process their order? That`s a fuel cost, right?

Or better yet; why not charge for the inconvenience of having to turn on the computer, check the orders, then go through all the aggravation of entering the money and sending off the item? Why not charge for each bank deposit slip, since that`s part of the rising costs of fuel---going to the bank?

From what I`m seeing, fewer and fewer people---that would be "customers" in ordinary language---are excited about flying ANYwhere! What with the insanity of modern-day paranoia at the gates, inane security concepts, and this added craziness of charging for whatever they can get away with, flying has become even more miserable an experience than taking a Grayhound bus!

I remember griping to my father, back when I took a job at VideoConcepts, a division of Radio Shack. I was selling electronics, and dealing with corporate processes. I told him that, as far as I could tell, the lowest of all lowly peasants in the company were the salespeople.

"You`re wrong," he said! "There`s someone a whole lot lower than you and the other salespeople!"

"Who?" I asked, running through the database of everyone involved with the company.

"The Customer!" Oh yah....I forgot.

Are you seeing this? Do you notice the number of sellers who are so lost in the delusion that customers "just happen, somehow," that they make the shopping experience about as pleasant as jamming a pencil in your eye?

Nice commentary CraigL. I`m not going to pretend I`m very educated on the airline business but I`ve tried to pay attention. I`m curious as to how this will all pan out. Will ALL the airlines jump in on the extra charges ? or have they already ?  Will carriers that DON`T charge extra for everything possible, realize they are getting more customers ?  In the past, whenever an airline raised it`s prices, it never lasted too long because most of their competitors wouldn`t raise theirs.


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If you want something you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN. No excuses. Take responsibility for your life. You have to push, push, push, and NEVER quit.

If you`re going to play the game, you have to know the rules.

As you say, reality will eventually be real. Something will happen, that`s for certain. I just wonder if after it all has happened, the analysis of "why" it all happened will have any bearing on the truth.