So, I think we've clearly established the importance of customer service. Which leads me to wonder, why are there so many businesses that don't get it?

Well, I can think of two types of businesses that can treat customers like chumps and get away with it. The first type is the kind with little competition. For example, if you want a video game console,you have a grand total of three choices, and odds are you won't even like one of them. And with exclusive content on each, the choice comes down to price and personal preference. So with all those factors, it takes something pretty drastic for these companies to start caring about their customers (such as the million or so defective xbox 360's that forced microsoft to extend their warranty and repair or replace all the broken systems) but other than that, they can get away with just about anything.

The other kind is the kind of business that relies on newcomers and the uninformed. If they only get the job done right 80% of the time, they'll get bad press among those in the know, but people who aren't doing detailed research can be easily suckered, and since they don't screw up all the time, they probably do have some repeat customers. Earlier this year I was talking with a woman who wanted to buy a kilt for her boyfriend, and so I gave her some advice about what vendors I recommend, and where to get more info, and I made sure to mention that she think twice before ordering from a site which has a very bad reputation. Her response was that she had been considering ordering from them.

Hell, I fell into that same trap when I ordered a gizmo from a site which didn't ship and doesn't have any real customer service at all.

Whether these businesses can last in the long run is questionable, but it does seem that there are plenty of them out there.