Loose Cannon: Readers Flesh Out “Switch Day”

When muckraker Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle” in 1906, his intent was to shine light on the poor factory conditions meat processing workers endured.

Instead, what caught the nation’s attention was the filthy conditions under which meat was packaged. After public outcry resulted in the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act, but did little for the workers, Sinclair said, “I aimed at the public’s heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

In last week’s Loose Cannon, I proposed “Switch Day” – a day on which consumers, having determined which service providers were abusing them (bank, Internet service provider, dry cleaner, what have you), would set aside a day for hacking through the thicket of customer service and establishing a relationship with new providers.

While I did receive a number of excellent suggestions, what I did not foresee was the number of respondents who linked the idea, or the day, to politicians. One went as far as to write “I would propose that Switch Day coincide with Election Day! The rallying cry could be: "Clean House -- get rid of poor service and incumbents, too." (That may be redundant.)”

This wasn’t the only elaboration readers offered. Another wondered if consumers were approaching the boiling point reached by Network’s Howard “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” Beale. “I'd like to think so,” wrote this reader, “but consumers are such sheep, loaded with the intravenous apathy created by ‘do nothing (nothing constructive, that is) politicians.’”

Regarding customer service, one reader suggested that cable TV subscription funds could be redirected into a trip to the theater, or at very least a stack of good books, which could be brought home and enjoyed with a minimum of customer service agita.

Regarding the choice of dates for Switch Day, and what games and festivities might accompany it, the same reader – who clearly has a beef with television -- suggested “Let’s make it a Thursday and let’s have the American Idol give the Survivor a Real World, Extreme Makeover and treat the winner to a balloon toss using napalm and have Katie Couric do a doe-eyed tearful news story of the great event, after which we sit back and watch an ad for a blacked-out baseball game.”

A reader in a gentler frame of mind urged that Switch Day festivities include a literacy test in which consumers are urged to read all disclaimers before signing up. She’s got a point, but I’m not sure how effective this would be: I’ve yet to see a cable TV service contract spelling out that subscribers will probably get lost navigating an automated telephone customer service system before they give up in a huff.

Several readers advocated vigilante action. One sent in a link to a Web site (http://gethuman.com/) containing “cheats” (her word) for reaching a human operator -- although the fact that a mechanism to reach a live person should be considered a “cheat” indicates a sad state of affairs, indeed.

Another overarching theme was the idea that on any announced Switch Day both customer service reps and managers would take special pains to insulate themselves from customers. Maybe, maybe not. As one reader noted, “Switch Day would make the effort concentrated -- and, perhaps, even break through the insulation [that protects service providers from consumers].” And another took special glee at the image of CEOs of companies that provide bad service watching their sales go down the tubes that day.

The question remains: When? I love the idea of linking it to Election Day, but not on the day itself: People will be focused on the run-up to the big day, and then the results. With this in mind, I am hereby decreeing that Switch Day – actually, Switch Days – will occur on the three days following Election Day in November. Voters whose candidates lost will be feeling helpless and looking for a way to re-assert control. Those whose candidates won will feel newly empowered and emboldened.

Between now and then, evaluate service providers, make lists of which ones are wanting and will need to go, stock up on books (there’s gonna be a lot of waiting, both in lines and on hold) and offer further reactions. I can be reached at richard.levey@penton.com.

To respond to the opinions in this column, please contact richard.levey@penton.com