There are no reputable businesses left in this country. Not one.

[Bake]

Every "business" (and I use that term loosely) is out for one thing -- to rip off the last dime from the working man or woman. There is not one single remaining fair, reputable business in this country. It's all about stealing your last dime.

America isn't going to hell. It's already there.

Bake

[Buzz Clik]

1. Not even the local place that sells cookies late at night to stoners?

[clarice]

2. a-hem...I own a VERY reputable company thank you. nt

[Bake]

4. Sadly, the burden is on you to prove it.

Your colleagues in the business world have poisoned the well.

Caveat emptor. Never more true than today in this f***ed up country.

I don't trust anyone any more.

Bake

[clarice]

5. I have no burden of proof. Are you having a bad day? It's Friday !!!!

[Sherman A1]

9. No it is not

There are many good people working at many ethical and good businesses in this country.

[Bake]

23. If they want my business they have to prove it

I don't owe anyone my business.

Bake

[CBGLuthier]

28. Something tells me that most companies would be better off without your business

Back when I had a computer store I once ran off a customer with a shitty attitude rather than put up with his whining. You just gave me a flashback.

[Bake]

31. If someone does their job

And gives me honest value for my dollar, I'm the most pleasant customer on the planet.

Unfortunately that is increasingly rare.

Bake

[snooper2]

34. Maybe it's time to just live off the land for ya?

This film will help you very much!

[dkf]

41. If all business is corrupt then is everyone with a job complicit?

Oh except for government workers of course.

You can't even go into business on your own because you too would be corrupt by your standards.

[KittyWampus]

46. So this boils down to you not having the guts/drive to start your own business.

[Agnosticsherbet]

3. There are a couple of small bussiness near my home, restaurants, that serve good food at good prices

give great service, where I go when I can afford it.

I know the owners, who are middle class people who, after all the business is done, make a middle class salary.

So I don't agree with your premise of "every."

[aristocles]

6. Gee, I wouldn't over-generalize if I were you. See below.

There are 27.2 MILLION business firms in the United States.

Do you mean to say that ALL of them are corrupt?

http://www.census.gov/econ/smallbus.html

[Sherman A1]

7. Sweeping Generalization

And one I believe does not add to the overall debate in my opinion.

[woo me with science]

8. There are certainly fewer and fewer,

Last edited Fri May 17, 2013, 01:14 PM - Edit history (1)

as fewer and fewer of the unscrupulous among us own more and more of everything, it becomes harder and harder for the good ones to compete and survive.

[marions ghost]

61. True

lots of good businesses went down with the economy.

[taught_me_patience]

10. I'm proud of the business I own

I pay my employees well and cut no corners in the quality of our product. We provide a great product with great service at (an expensive), but very fair price to our customers.

If you're working for a shady company, it might be time to look for another job.

[Bluzmann57]

11. Gee thanks

My wife and I are thinking about starting a business, but if we can't be reputable and not make any money, why bother?
Try not to generalize too much and boycott each and every business in the whole USA. And see how long you last.

[quinnox]

12. Oh, bullshit

[codemoguy]

13. someone put a roach in your donut at Dunkin' this morming?

Many businesses are run honestly...

wow

[Bake]

24. A roach in the donut would be typical

Nobody gives a rip about quality anymore. They just want your money.

Bake

[Poll_Blind]

14. There are almost 6 million small businesses alone in the US. Your comment is nonsensical.

I happen to live in a town with a lot of community-minded small businesses.

For real. People who walk the walk.

I don't know where you are, but where you are isn't everywhere.

PB

[fleur-de-lisa]

15. Does someone need a nap?

[Bake]

33. No, someone needs not to be ripped off.

Again.

Bake

[reformist2]

16. It appears the substitutes for traditional religion are less than compelling.

Just so there's no confusion, this is NOT one of those "everything was better in the olden days" kind of posts. It just seems to me that there are fewer people out there these days willing to live their lives in accordance with a strict moral and ethical code. Individuality and self-interest rule the day.

[Bake]

25. Mostly self-interest.

"I got mine, get yours."

Bake

[G_j]

17. that's like saying there are no decent people in this country

which is certainly not true. Greed is a choice.

[hrmjustin]

18. I am sure we can find one if we looked.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. What if someone started a business offering customers the experience of being ripped off?

Would they be able to provide customers with that experience?

And if they did, wouldn't that mean they didn't?

Which would mean they did.

Which would mean they didn't.

...

[kestrel91316]

20. I beg to differ.

[RevStPatrick]

21. Meh...

I know of lots of reputable businesses.
Companies that earn their dimes, not steal them.

[cali]

22. Nonsense. Are you correct in the main? Sure, but there are still ethical and reputable businesses

more than a handful, in fact.

Are you seriously going to tell me that the following businesses are only about ripping people off?

http://www.highmowingseeds.com/

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/

[Bake]

35. If I am correct in the main

As you say, then that is a sad commentary on our state of affairs, and I am correct in the main that America has already gone to hell.

Which it has. Thank you very much, greedsters, banksters, rip off artists. You got yours. See if that helps when the hordes are at your gates.

America, I repeat, has gone to hell and is beyond saving from its own greed.

Bake

[cali]

39. You made a sweeping shit generalization and you know it.

Look, I tend to agree that we've passed the point of no return, but there are literally hundreds of thousands of ethical businesses in this country who take pride in providing services and goods and not in ripping people off. You insult a fuck of a lot of good people with the stupid generalization. The corporcracy is a very bad thing, but not all businesses are part of it.

[Bake]

42. Given my experience

The honest ones have to prove it.

And that's pretty damn sad, don't you think? The corporate fraud steers have so polluted the water that you can't trust anyone anymore until they prove themselves trustworthy.

That's the damn sad commentary on the America that has gone to hell.

Bake

[Arugula Latte]

26. Here is one: Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods

http://www.classwarfareexists.com/owner-of-bobs-red-mill-natural-foods-gives-his-company-to-his-209-employees/

[AgingAmerican]

27. Horse pucky

n/t

[bayareamike]

29. So what ruined your day today??? nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

30. They forgot the cheese on your Egg McMuffin, huh?

Lighten up, Francis. There are good businesses all over the place.

[tridim]

32. COSTCO. nt

[FreeJoe]

36. Not even DU?

The OP's comments are just plain insulting and are either based on an amazingly amount of ignorance or are just plain trolling.

[Bake]

38. Trolling? My ass!

Drop a dime on the sidewalk and look out for the vultures!

If you're that gullible, I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona I'd like to talk to you about!

Bake

[MineralMan]

45. I did something like that once.

When I was in high school in the early 1960s, I epoxied a nice shiny 50-cent piece to the sidewalk in front of the local pool hall one Friday evening after everything was closed. Then, my friend and I went downtown on Saturday to hang out in said pool hall. We watched people trying to pick that half-dollar off the sidewalk. It was hilarious. On Sunday, the four-bit piece was gone. Someone had come back with a chisel and peeled it off the concrete.

Fifty cents wasn't chump change for high school kids back then. It would buy a couple of gallons of gas. But, the entertainment value was priceless.

Today, a dime on the sidewalk might lie there quite a while. I don't bother picking up dimes any more.

[FreeJoe]

48. So you are saying that DU is not reputable?

Bake, I don't know you or where you come from, but I find it hard to believe that you believe what you are saying. No businesses? Really?

I was an independent contract programmer for many years. My business had a good reputation. My clients liked what I did and liked having me work for them. I fail to see why anyone would consider my business to have been disreputable.

My wife has a photography business. We don't need the money, but she loves doing it. The only reason that she charges people at all is because she found that when she did it for free people didn't respect her time as much. I have a hard time imagining that someone would consider her business not reputable (well, except for her competitors).

I deal with wonderful businesses all the time - the guys that do our landscaping, the builder that built my last house, the farmers at the farmer's market, and on and on.

[Bake]

55. (A) DU isn't really a business, at least not like others we deal with on a daily basis.

As for the rest, is suggest you check your builders' invoices. If there's not a cofner cut or shaved, I will personally kiss your butt, gladly. And you will like it!

Bake

[FreeJoe]

64. Reputable Builder

I checked and approved every invoice. I paid the labor invoices weekly and the material invoices monthly. The builder got a 10% markup on each, as agreed to in our contract. It is possible that some of the invoices were fraudulent, but that would be out of character. In virtually every case where I disagreed with my builder (type and thickness of granite, amount of stone on facia, type of wood use for cabinets), my builder recommended a less costly alternative despite the fact it would lower his profits.

I picked my builder because of his reputation. The people that I knew that had built with him were very happy with him and recommended him. By definition, that makes him "reputable".

Probably the best proof I had in the value of his services was when I had to sell the house six months after moving in (as a result of my being transferred). The house sold for 15% more than what I paid for it, which in a relatively flat local housing market, was quite a nice increase.

Of course, he's just one example of a great many. I would venture to say that most of the businesses that I do business with are reputable. Otherwise I wouldn't continue doing business with them.

Businesses I've done business with today:
1) Lunch - local Greek restaurant that has wonderful food and does a lot for the community (primarily in backing local kids sports teams).

2) Redbox - rented a movie for $1.50. The provided exactly the service they promised, as they virtually always have. A great bargain.

3) My employer - They treated me excellently for the almost 10 years that I've worked for them. I'm happy to work for them and they are happy to have me work for them.

[dkf]

37. Costco?

[MineralMan]

40. Not so. Not at all.

You are just being Mr. Grumpypants today.

[Bake]

43. MM, you know I love ya

But in your heart you know I'm right.

Bake
Aka Grumpypants

[MineralMan]

47. No, I don't know you're right.

Your statement is way, way too broad, and everyone in this thread can name businesses that do not behave in that way. Some of us even run businesses that do not behave in that way.

As the Robin says, Cheer-up, Cheer-up, you grumpypants.

[Bake]

49. I wish I could.

I really do.

But I'm tired of getting crapped on, from the local fast foodery that can't get my order right, to the local dry cleaner who charges a premium price to fuck up my clothes, to the local bank who charges me out the wazoo for everything, to the local tailor who made my pants leg two inches too short and won't fix it ...

Getting the picture?

They all just want the MONEY. They don't give a DAMN about getting it right.

Bake

[randome]

44. Did Kai hit you on the head with his hatchet this morning?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[bike man]

50. My goodness, you must be quite weary from your nation-wide travels, getting this information

about every single business in the country.

[Bake]

51. I'm in a mid-sized city in the heartland

I'll take that as a reasonable statistical sample. If I were in NYC or LA I'd expect to get f...ed over. But not here. At least not until now.

I guess Louisville aspires to be New York. That's probably true of Des Moines too.

Bake

[bike man]

54. A mid-sized city in the heartland leads you to condemn ALL the businesses of ALL

sizes throughout the entire country?

"There are NO reputable businesses..." (emphasis on 'no' from your OP is mine) smacks of hyperbole.

[Bake]

56. Call it hyperbole if you want

But Louisville isn't that much different from DesMoines or St. Louis or any other mid-sized city.

So I ask you, when you pull out of the drive thru, do YOU check your order? I bet you right now they don't give you something you didn't order. They short you. Right?

Yep. I'm right.

Bake

[bike man]

59. Not ALL businesses have drive-through. If your bad experience is with drive-thru eateries, try

Last edited Fri May 17, 2013, 04:37 PM - Edit history (1)

what we do. When we go out to eat, we park the car, go inside, and someone brings us a menu and asks what we want to drink. We are never disappointed.

"I bet you right now they don't give you something you didn't order." Why would they give you something you didn't order? And if they didn't give you something you didn't order, how is it a shortage?

[Throd]

52. My business relies on repeat customers. Ripping them off would be a poor model.

[Bake]

53. But it will work in the short run

And that's all anybody cares about.

Bake

[Throd]

60. I like my clients. I wouldn't rip them off if I could.

Is taht a hand-made guitar in your avatar, or did an evil company make it?

[Mopar151]

57. Lighten up, Francis n/t

[zappaman]

58. I miss UNREC. n/t

[Sherman A1]

63. +1000

[JNelson6563]

62. You are correct to some degree.

I have no faith in larger companies, I fully expect them to do everything they can think of to increase profits.

On the other hand, I know there are many small businesses who are quite honest and they work hard to make the world a better place as well as to treat their customers well.

Check out this little chocolate company about a half an hour from where I live: http://www.grocersdaughter.com/ They are all about paying a fair price for the chocolate they buy. They work hard to save the environment and take very good care of their staff.

I work at a local company that is doing well. We use good stuff, make quality goods and the owners are very nice people. Pay is just ok but they offer great health insurance for an excellent price (they split the cost with employees). They recently opened a second store in my city and 100% of the profits from that store go to a charity that helps foster kids who age out of the system to transition into adult life. That company is: http://gtpie.com/

I am very sorry something happened to you to prompt your OP, sounds like you got a raw deal somewhere along the way. Please know there are businesses out here that care about more than profits. I am glad to work at one of them.

Come to Traverse City (MI) and I will show you lots of them. Bring your appetite, many of them involve wonderful food/drink!

Julie

[HiPointDem]

65. kr.

[nolabear]

66. Oh Bake, that is so not true.

I have a private practice and I work hard for people. I slide fees, I study constantly, I withstand and try to understand some pretty bad treatment. I take great pride when it helps and feel terrible when it doesn't. I know many business people who are craftspeople and love their work and the customers who buy them.

I'm sorry you've had bad experiences but I wonder if the good ones don't cause you any trouble so slip under the radar. Hope it gets better.

[bluedigger]

67. A nation of grifters in a race to the bottom, for sure.

It's the end game of an economic system based on the exploitation of infinite resources in a finite world. But there are still some honorable ones holding out.