I've always thought that the larger the company, the less important the individual client

[stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

I've always thought that the larger the company, the less important the individual client.

Last evening, a client asked me to supervise a remote connection with one of their software providers - a large company - at 9:30. It was urgent, so I completely rearranged my schedule for today (canceling two business trips) and made myself available.

The company confirmed the appointment.
This morning, no one showed up. My client tried to open a support ticket and send reminders, but got nothing. No feedback. No response. Nothing. My client is partially at a standstill, and I'm stuck (I've done other things, but the trips still need to be made). The provider is unreachable.

Then again, they provide software that no one else does - and due to strict regulations, there are no other solutions. They know it, and they do whatever they want.

#TerribleBusiness

[jcamos@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@stefano ah, the vendor lock-in.... we all love it!

What's funny is that companies still believe that open source solutions are not made for professional use.... sad, but still (unfortunately) a very true believe

[invictvs@indieweb.social]

@stefano Open source is the solution

[stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@Invictvs It is

[lfa@hostux.social]

@stefano I'm sorry for you and your customer because I know how sad, frustrated and angry one feels. I had one of this experiences yesterday regarding the energy company.

[stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@lfa thank you. Yes, exactly. They pay a huge annual fee and they're treated like that. And they're a good company, so they definitely deserve more attention.

[fast_code_r_us@floss.social]

@stefano @lfa I think of this situation as the "raw capitalism" showing through the façade. When a company gets to a certain size, the "too big to fail" idea starts to take root in the executives and they no longer feel the need to treat everyone as if they're an important and cherished client.

[lfa@hostux.social]

@fast_code_r_us @stefano
Yes, and the worst thing is to see how the politicians of any side and colour have been legislating in favour of these companies for decades, eliminating smaller companies day after day.

[stefano@mastodon.bsd.cafe]

@lfa @fast_code_r_us sadly true

[fast_code_r_us@floss.social]

@stefano @lfa I have similar stories to tell from working at Microsoft, Google and other large faceless organizations. This is one reason that I liked working at small startups in Silicon Valley - they were burning money, exploiting engineers and peddling snake oil, but at least you got to have a personal connection between boss and workers because the org is nearly flat. Going in to these situations with "eyes wide open" helps prevent feeling mistreated.