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The right to reject customers...

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  1. #1

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    The right to reject customers...

    Found a couple of interesting stories

    - Salesforce a major "SAAS" (software as a service - or for the non-techs "cloud" provider) has turned on some of its clients who sell "military style firearms". Their customers who sell such guns include Camping World who spends around $1M with them a year on services and would have to spend a ton more to migrate away from their platform.

    As the Washington Post first reported, the company’s acceptable-use policy now bars companies from using its technology in the sale of many types of firearms, including semiautomatic, automatic, and 3D-printed guns—as well as many firearm accessories.
    https://gizmodo.com/salesforce-bars-...-se-1835122495

    - Patagonia. whose fleece vests seem to be popular with finance types in places where its a little bit cooler than Hong Kong, has said they will be applying ethical standards on who can buy their gear and put their corporate logo on it. It is reported that it will not cost financial companies anything other than their egos to migrate from Patagonia some other random bro-ware.

    Patagonia won’t be supplying any new corporate clients with co-branded products if it feels they aren’t ethically aligned with it, and much of the finance industry evidently doesn’t meet that standard.
    https://qz.com/work/1586523/patagoni...-fleece-vests/

    Subtle differences between the two cases. The first being scary and the second amusing.
    Last edited by shri; 03-06-2019 at 10:32 AM.

  2. #2

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    It's interesting though.

    Kind of related, I was listening to the BBC World Service this morning on "people saving the planet" - this was about preventing plastic pollution. As I listened to the various "hacks" to save plastic, I felt rather sad. Mainly because the individuals in the UK saving a bag or a piece of clingfilm are doing sweet FA to save the planet - the issue as we know living here in HK is much more developing countries with no waste disposal systems moving to plastic. One person living in Katmandu was describing her local dairy, where milk arrives in a bit vat and customers bring their own jugs and fill up. CAN YOU IMAGING what the EU health and safety directorate would make of that? No wonder I get sick every time we visit Katmandu! That example of "good" is going to change to plastic just as soon as Nepal develops enough to be able to afford it..... but probably before they develop enough for their waste management system to keep up.

    Basically, it's going to be up to companies to change their entire business processes if we want to solve plastic waste. And the first step in that evolution is to realise that actually while Governments have a role, and customers have a role, companies are probably at the front line and have a role.

    So while we may smile at companies starting to incorporate ethics into their business processes, actually, it's a good sign.


  3. #3

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    it's a good sign.
    Until your ethics end up being out of alignment with a mission critical service provider. Specially in places like HK where there is very little to protect consumers.
    mrgoodkat and Mrs. Jones like this.

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    What seems to be happening is the Governments, who were supposed to be about doing civic good without monetary influence, are now in the hands of the donors while companies, who were always supposed to be 100% about profit and zero about civil good are moving in the other direction...... Strange times indeed.

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  5. #5

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    I wonder how many also thought it was not ok for that bakery refuse to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple?
    I thought it was perfectly ok in that case to reject a contract before hand and Patagonia's case (since they've said they're going to apply the new standards to new customers) but not Salesforce, as they're retroactively changing terms and conditions.

    I'm sure in most of our industries and day to day dealings we go "this is just not the right customer for me" and reject a customer.

  6. #6

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    It is a minefield you are correct. But then to say that a company must accept customers that they find loathesome is also troubling. What about FB banning alt-right posters?
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    As customers we can do this, too. You won't see me shopping at Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-a (shitty things anyway), or Tim's Kitchen.

    I think on the whole this can be a good thing. I'm kind of tired of this old capitalist, profit-driven model, as if at the end of the day it all doesn't exist for our own, human, lives. This idea that we can trash the planet and carry on business as usual just will not work at some point very soon when our own livelihood is suffering, and it's in our own personal interest to change our companies and way of business.

    Governments... living in Hong Kong has woken me up to the sober reality that no matter how much you idealistically expect it to play its own role in representing the interest of our societal needs, it just won't happen...


  8. #8

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    It is not a question of small or large businesses.

    With Salesforce, they're retroactively changing terms and conditions and declaring customers undesirable.

    In the wedding cake case, unless I've read it incorrectly, the business said - sorry, no can do, before they accepted the customers' money. The couple had driven out of their way to target this bakery and did not suffer any financial loss.

    You cannot walk into a buddhist restaurant here in HK and ask for a steak. The buddhist restaurant also does not care if you're muslim, jew or a banker, but reserves the right to not serve you a f'ing steak.

    I know you're feeling a bit trollish... so lets just say, you win.

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  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by hullexile:
    It is a minefield you are correct. But then to say that a company must accept customers that they find loathesome is also troubling. What about FB banning alt-right posters?
    I think companies can choose their customers based on any criteria they like so long as those criteria are not innate.

    No one is born with a need to buy M16.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by East_coast:
    I think companies can choose their customers based on any criteria they like so long as those criteria are not innate.

    No one is born with a need to buy M16.
    I could argue being alt-right is an innate mental issue . Is religion considered innate?

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