Sitting on the beach in Scotland I was reading the newspaper when an article caused coffee to spurt out from my nose. 7-months after closing and taking ownership of his new Bovis Home, Rennie Bottali was fighting the builder to create a liveable home for him and his family.

Rennie reached a point of frustration large enough to create a website listing his beefs with Bovis www.whybovishomes.co.uk. The site became an overnight Internet hit logging more than 100,000 visitors in a very short period. They proved beyond a doubt the axiom that when you receive good service you tell three people and when you receive bad you tell dozens.

A UK daily page three story coupled with an internal spokesperson who was clearly not the brightest bulb in the Bovis chandelier was actually quoted as saying: “we are aware of his website and are reviewing and monitoring its content in light of any defamation issues.” Say what?

So, if I have this right, a major home builder makes a not-so-veiled threat firing a shot across the bow of an already aggrieved consumer of now having that corporation sue him? Wow, Rennie, you just won the lottery mate.

Fortunately someone at Bovis realized (albeit too late) that they needed, in this depressed housing market, to let cooler heads prevail. They opened their coffers, raised the white flag and gave the Bottali’s what they wanted, a whole house. They did after all pay £700,000 pounds for it. The cost to Bovis’ reputation though was immeasurable. By mid-day on the 31st, the article’s publication date, the website was taken down leaving only a blank slate page saying that a settlement had been reached between them and Bovis Homes.

Rennie took on a corporate giant and they blinked. Why did it have to go that far. It seems, sadly, the only way a British consumer can get satisfaction is to keep fighting against all odds. This fight might still be ongoing were it not for unfortunate direct quotes. So must one catch somebody in an egregious and over-the-top way to get satisfaction in today’s market?

It does not look good for the consumer. Power rests with those with the money.

37-years ago, I began my first job working after-school in a family owned market. 89-year old founder Angelo Tedeschi was wheeled by pushchair through each store talking with customers and employees (most of whom he knew by name). He asked about everyone’s family and checked the condition of the store with his name on the front door. He’d long since “retired,” couldn’t sit around and so he and his sons started again.

The early 1970’s was a time of perfect square, paper sacks and 20 smartly-dressed cashiers and white shirt and tie “bag boys” all under the watchful eye of manager Bill Gear. Mr. Gear’s office was the size of a broom closet. He’d never sit in it because his real office was the store floor where meetings and job interviews took place, on the fly, during his constant inspection walks which he interrupted many times to greet customers. His was a living message learned early; the customer is the most important thing in my day.

Mr. Gear instructed every new bag boy in the art and science of paper sack packing. We watched as he built a perfect square sack every time. “Build a solid base in the bottom with a balance of cartons, boxes and bottles, then fill in the open spaces areas these so the sack remains upright, rigid and supported by the load inside. Pack it too heavily and elderly customers cannot lift and carry them… too lightly, then the order is not balanced and you waste bags. Always place frozen items in a separate plastic bag (who knew about global warming). This keeps the sack dry. And always, ALWAYS ask the customer if they have a preference.” His mantra became ours.

Can you imagine this happening today? The scanner lady sometimes remembers to ask her rote line, “do you need help with packing your order, sir?” My reply rarely varies, “would it make a difference if I answered in the affirmative?” As she tries to vainly figure out if I said yeah, but no, but yeah, but no, but maybe… her answer rarely varies, “no, not really.”

Where did it all go so wrong?

Details mattered to Mr. Gear and to each of us, from how we were dressed to how we addressed the customer (“Thank you Mrs. Jones,” if possible) to how we carried their bags on our shiny carts and loaded them into the car so they would not fall over or spill out. Competition for these positions was fierce and we were evaluated regularly.

It meant something to work at Angelo’s.

Contrast that with the pleading voice heard every Sunday morning at 10:15 am over the PA at your local Tesco, “will all of the 10:00 am cashiers pleeeeaaassee come to the front immediately,” as each queue is now six-deep and most employees live by American comedian George Carlin’s mantra, “you may get there on time, but screw the company those first 20-minutes belong to you!” We then watch the “front-end manager” run around, looking worried, important and busy, palms extended upwards in the classic, “what do you want me to do about it” shrug as he has no answer to the question, “how long does the queue need to be before opening all of the tills.”

If screaming would help, I would. I simply want service people in this or any country to behave as if customer service was an important condition of their employment and, indeed, their job depended upon its quality. Instead I stupidly stand there contributing to the £80,000 quid a minute they make because there are no closer options. Is it too much to expect my custom to matter? Apparently, yes.

Today standards have sunk to where mediocre is considered excellent. Smile and shrug are the norm and getting angry at service failures (particularly in an NHS facility) has you targeted for prosecution as abusive. Emboldened, they now stand in a stare-down with you, one hand on the phone desperately wanting an excuse to call security whilst you are cowed silently back into your seat because your child who has a temperature of 104 and you have waited 90-minutes because of their error. So not only have we no voice, face an uncaring group of service personnel, but we also run the risk of an ASBO!

Businesses take advantage of this nation’s desire to not make a fuss. For decades they’ve grown cockier trampling over consumers’ rights. Just try to find a live human being to complain to inside any company with the authority to actually fix something or accept accountability.

At least Rennie took one for our side.