Policy Wars: Citizen versus Corporation

Image details. "Business man offering hand shake" by Johnny Magnusson, via http://www.freestockphotos.biz/

 I've had some  battles in recent years with businesses who seem to think that being an incorporated entity gives them authority over an American citizen. One of the most infuriating cases involved dealing with an insurance company who decided that they would calculate the value of my vehicle and the cost of repairs with no input from me. During a phone conversation with one of their employees, I told them I didn't accept their terms. The employee laughed and said, "You have no choice."

A trip to small claims court proved that I _did_ have a choice.

It bugs me that we seem to have entered a time where customer compliance is of more concern to the typical American business than customer service. Their position is always that they have a "policy" they have to follow, and that I must follow their policy no matter what.

I understand that the need for establishing policies. I've documented some business policies, and I know why the policies were needed and why they were constructed in a particular way. A good policy records practices that work to keep business activities running smoothly. I get that.

I also understand that a company that might be dealing with millions of customers simply can't negotiate a separate agreement for each customer, or they'd never get anything done. If I have 14 days to return an item, and I need to have the receipt, I don't feel mistreated. The company needs a policy like that to efficiently manage their transactions. I get that.

But I'm getting a little tired of dealing with companies who want all the advantages on their side and who excuse that misbehavior by saying that they have a policy. I'm getting tired of companies who act more and more like a government entity than a business one.

This kind of power grab by business goes beyond dealings with individual customers. When Mayflower, Arkansas suffered an oil spill from a broken pipe in 2013, the owner of the pipe, ExxonMobil, instituted what was described in one report as a kind of "martial law". Even though it wasn't their property, the company took control of it.
"Arkansas town in lockdown after oil spill nightmare"

It's time we started reminding American business that the rights of citizens outweigh corporate policy. So I started working on my own policy. If an American corporation can have a policy governing business relations, surely an American citizen can have such a policy, too, and surely the citizen's policy should take precedence over a corporate policy. After all, corporations are chartered to serve us. We're not here to serve them.

Here are a few statements from a rough draft of my policy. What does your policy include?
______________________________
My Policy
Section 2 - Business Relationships

By agreeing to sell me a service or policy, you agree to abide by my terms and conditions. If there's a conflict between your terms and mine, my terms take precedence. btw, my terms might change without notice. That's annoying, huh?

I don't necessarily agree to your terms and conditions. I just clicked that so that the software I paid for will work.

It does no good for your business to send me an email with a big scary notice at the bottom forbidding me from sharing the contents with other people. Unless we have a non-disclosure agreement in effect or there's a risk to national security, all corporate or business communications appearing in my inbox are subject to public disclosure.

You dinged my account or card for a purchase within seconds. You will handle refunds with the same speed. Stop pretending that such transactions take the same amount of time as they did in previous centuries.

I will respect the value of your informational property, such as copyrighted and trademarked material. Respect the value of my informational property, such as email addresses and phone numbers.
______________________________