President Obama's compensation czar Kenneth R. Feinberg has been quietly meeting with several corporate welfare recipients to develop plans for paying their top employees. These corporate giants; American International Group, Citigroup, Bank of America, General Motors, Chrysler, Chrysler Financial and GMAC, have all been been saved by large government bailouts. Still, it is anticipated that these corporate giants will lobby to stay as close to their normal business paradigm as possible. Feinberg has the unenviable task of reigning in excesses while ensuring the companies remain competitive so that they can pay the taxpayers back.
One thing I would really like Feinberg to take into consideration is whether these companies are reciprocating the mercy and largesse of the taxpayers who are also their customers. My experiences and those of several people I know lead me to the conclusion that the answer is no, if anything these companies have become more aggressive in nickel and diming their customers to death, showing no empathy for the customer who bailed them out. It is an issue that has gone under the radar because most people don't want to reveal their personal financial affairs. But I'm going to boldly step forward and share a personal example.
A few months ago I miscalculated my account and became overdrawn. It triggered a domino of outrageous overdraft fees. Paying an extra $35 for a $2 purchase made me sick to my stomach. It shouldn't have been that bad, but the bank cleverly paid my biggest charge first so that several small charges each incurred a fee. (Note: all of these charges came in on the same day.) I went into the bank to plead my case for a few waivers. My major argument was that there had been enough funds in the account to pay all the small items so if the bank had paid those first then I would actually have had only one overdraft fee. I was very polite and humble and what did I get in return? A lecture. Yes, the bank representative looked over my expenditures and suggested I could manage my money better by cutting back on dining out. The dining out she was referring to were a couple of trips to McDonald's and Pizza Hut. To say I was insulted is putting it mildly. Its not like we were going to fancy restaurants or say throwing a party in Vegas. Honestly, if my bank (one of the bailout babies) wants to highlight these minor treats for the kids as extravagant spending then they should learn to live more frugally too. Cutting out office birthday and holiday parties might hurt employee morale but hey at least you'll be saving money. (Note the sarcasm, I would never support punishing the worker bees.) My bank basically took a handout from me as a taxpayer then turned around and chastised me as their customer. How arrogant and unappreciative! Did I get the waiver? Yes, with the caveat that I will not be eligible for any other fee waiver for one year. The policy doesn't bother me, its the treatment. If this is how corporate welfare recipients express gratitude to the American public then they need an attitude adjustment. Feinberg can help achieve that by making customer satisfaction a key component to keeping the big bucks flowing.
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