Consumer Viewpoint the Video Is Only 3 Days Late but A Lot Is at Stake!

There is a quirky consumer behavior that never gets reported in conventional publications such as The Harvard Business Review, says Dr. Gary S. Goodman, sales, service & success coach, and best-selling author of 12 books and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. According to this popular keynote speaker and radio and TV commentator, customers go out of their way to penalize businesses that penalize them.

I like to think when it comes to consumer behavior; I?m everyman. If I feel some emotion, it?s probably universal. But I could be wrong. For instance, among the video rentals stacked on the TV, I just noticed earlier tonight that there was one that I did not return on time. Thinking it was a one-week privilege I had purchased, it needlessly languished on top of my tube for three extra evenings. Adding insult to injury, I rented it on cheapie night, when there?s a two-for-one deal in effect, but my extra three days are billable, I suppose at the full pop price of $3.75 per.

That?s $11.25 down the drain, for nothing.

I made a special, 8 mile roundtrip to the store in my gas guzzling SUV to avoid yet another night?s penalty, and without comment I deposited the DVD in the slot inside the store.

I?m interested in seeing:

(1) If I?ll get busted and be charged.

(2) If so, how will they handle it?

(3) And how will I respond?

I think I can predict my response. I?ll bite the bullet, and pay the fee because I have no plausible tale to tell that can exculpate me from responsibility.

And get this: If I am forced to pay, I?ll probably stay away from that video store for at least two weeks to ?emotionally? recoup my losses.

I have a secondary store at which I can rent, even farther away, and I?ll probably patronize that place, instead.

So, technically, I might spend just as much on videos during my two-week absence from the place at which I''ll be charged for tardiness, but somehow, I just can?t reward them for penalizing me.

It is technically within their rights to do so; after all, they could have rented this video to someone else while I had it negligently hidden in my home. Still, I don?t want to give them any more profits than I have to, because I feel I?m paying for ?air,? for a benefit that was merely technical, and not real.

Here?s what I want to ask you: Do you think my attitude is bizarre, or would you feel the same way, if you were in my shoes?

I know it seems like a heck of a lot of thinking to do, and psychological complexity to negotiate over a late video, but I suspect that this is exactly what we do as consumers, and you just won?t find this behavior reported in the Harvard Business Review!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone? and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, ?The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,? published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC''s Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at [phone] or at: [e-mail]