Doing Business with Donald Trump

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[–]BobOki 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

I disagree completely, work with large companies in my own work for decades, and have plenty of friends that do as well, some in construction, and they all say the same and I get to hear them complain about it too.

Companies do not give two shits about their reputation, SMBs do. Large companies do not need word of mouth, they do not need public support, they do not need to care AT ALL if they look like shit, they are a big company and have money and that is all that matters in business. You think Disney gives a shit if they lay off 3000 people and give their bosses millions bonuses? You think Comast cares in the least if they do not honor contracts, like repaying 10 billion to guarantee gigabit speeds within 10 years.... 20 years later they finally got around to it. You think John Deer gave two fucks when they forced their customers to not be able to fix their own equipment? No sir, large companies do not give ANY care about how they look, and this is NORMAL behavior. I get it is hard to believe just how insane and corrupt regular business is when real money is involved, but I PROMISE you that is how it is. Shit man, go look up HCA and what they did to their nurses and doctors to save some $$, and again tell me how much big busiz CARES about how they look, and guess what, HCA stock is sky rocketing.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I've worked with large companies too, and I can tell you that most (but not all) are absolutely scrupulous about doing exactly what the contract requires by the letter of the law, and not one iota more. If the contract gives them the right to take a pound of flesh, they'll take that pound of flesh, and then pay you exactly what they are contracted to pay, on the dot when it is due according to their accounting department's schedule (30 days after the month following the month you submit the invoice is common here), which will be written into the contract.

Its not so much that large corporations are moral, but that they are big, impersonal machines that don't give a shit one way or another about you, neither good nor bad. Once the contract is signed they can run according to a script without having to think about you at all beyond what the contract says. They don't have to stop and think "Can I screw this guy over or will it backfire?" because the level of screwage is already baked into the contract.

Like John Deer. They don't have to decide on a customer-by-customer basis whether to let you fix the equipment you've bought, because that decision (no) is already baked into the bill of sale, or even earlier.

They'll bend you over and screw you to within an inch of your life if that's what the contract says, but its not personal. Whereas I think with Trump it's always personal, he's always looking for the scam. And I think aggressively corrupt companies like Comcast and the late and un-lamented Enron are the same. But they're the exception, not the rule.

You think Disney gives a shit if they lay off 3000 people and give their bosses millions bonuses?

Of course they don't give a shit. But that's not breaking a contract. That's doing what their contracts allow them to do. Same with what HCA did.

[–]BobOki 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, exactly what I was saying. They write their contracts in a way that the contractor takes on all the upfront costs and risks, then they stall on payment for as long as they can. It's a pretty sad state.

[–]weavilsatemyface 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Another thought... from your examples, you're probably American. I think American business culture probably has a larger percentage of psychopaths willing to not just creatively interpret the contract in their favour, but outright break it, than most other western countries. It might be, I dunno I'm just going to pluck some numbers from thin air, 10% in most of the western world and 20 or 30% in the USA.

If big corporations always acted like Trump's corporation, nobody could trust that any of them would live up to their side of whatever deals they had. Nobody would be willing to do business with anyone else, and it would all collapse into a great big heap.

Corporations that outright cheat can only thrive so long as they're (1) selective in who they cheat and (2) rare (or at least uncommon). If they were the majority, no corp would trust any other corp and nobody could do business at all.

[–]BobOki 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Ahh yes, I did not even consider you were not American, and that is my mistake. Apologies. Yeah, other countries have real rules to protect people....America is more like a FUCK YOU NORMAL PERSON kind of place that is more of a Corptocracy and less of a Constitutional Republic.

[–]TaseAFeminist4Jesus 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

"SMB" extends up to businesses with hundreds of millions in sales. I don't think that's the term you're looking for, even if your overall point has merit. (I don't necessarily think it does, but that's another issue.)

[–]BobOki 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Obviously the more $$ the less they care.