Giving umbrage
Funny how umbrage is always taken, but rarely given.
"I can't believe the item they sent me was navy blue! I ordered light blue! I will never, ever buy from them again and I will tell all my friends."
Like little kids begging mom for a treat after a skinned knee, the newly empowered consumer feels compelled to share every slight, no matter how small or how imagined.
The thing is, consumers are complaining to the wrong companies about the wrong things.
Organizations that shut out consumers, politicians that don't listen, companies that are willfully isolated–these folks aren't the ones that get yelled at. So we yell at the few companies that are actually trying and actually listening, rewarding their goodwill with a good public flogging.
It's the long-term ripoffs, the business models built on misleading people and the subtle but serious health and financial threats we ought to be whining about instead.
But, apparently, it's more fun to concentrate on the trivial and give it a good loud vent.