Consumers are mad as hell and aren't gonna take it anymore

0:01Sierra Juarez:NPR.

0:06Sierra Juarez:If you were to pick one word that succinctly captures the zeitgeist of American consumers right now, it might be rage. Last year, in a survey of American consumers, two-thirds of those who experienced a problem with the product or service said they felt rage about it. Who amongst us, Waylon? Who amongst? I'm just saying. By the way, that survey was done by a company called Customer Care Measurement and Consulting. Scott Bretzman is the CEO there. We're about a quarter century old, and our primary competency is helping companies listen to the voice of the customer and take action on the feedback that they get.

0:43Sierra Juarez:I see. And where would you put yourself on the consumer rage scale?

0:53Sierra Juarez:I'm laughing because, first of all, I've never been asked that question before in 25 years. If you talk to any of my children or people in my family, I guess they would probably say that I'm embarrassingly a rageful kind of consumer. Scott says his current beef is with a tuxedo rental company over a mistaken charge. That particular dispute has been going on for over a month right now. And each answer I get is more confusing than the last one I got. It's the kind of situation that makes Scott, a normally mild-mannered number nerd, want to hulk out. Yeah, he's ripping off that rental tuxedo like...

1:36And maybe a lot of us feel this way. In fact, a new survey out this week from the University of Michigan says consumer complaints have reached record highs. This is The Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong.

1:50Sierra Juarez:And I'm Adrian Ma. Today on the show, what's eating the American consumer and what can we do about it?

2:01Sierra Juarez:This message comes from Capella University. You know that feeling when there's a spark building inside you, that you were meant for more? That's your own drive pushing you towards what's next. Capella University gets that. With their FlexPath learning format, you can set the pace and earn your degree without putting life on pause. You've built experience and know what you're capable of. Now, this is your time to turn that momentum into more. The only real question is, what can't you do? Learn more at capella.edu. This message comes from Dell Technologies. Interruptions happen at work, but with the Dell Pro laptop powered by Intel Core Ultra with V Pro, built with optimized battery and built-in intelligence, your tech won't slow you down.

2:49Sierra Juarez:Dell.com slash Dell-Pro. Built for you. This message comes from NPR sponsor Charles Schwab with its original podcast on investing. Each week, you'll get thoughtful, in-depth analysis of both the stock and the bond markets. Listen today and subscribe at schwab.com slash oninvesting or wherever you get your podcasts. Why should we care about consumer rage? Well, besides raising our collective blood pressure, consumer spending is the engine of our economy. It's two-thirds of GDP. If consumers get disappointed enough with what they're consuming, they can say, I'm just going to stop buying. This is Forrest Morgason, Research Director Emeritus for the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index.

3:37Sierra Juarez:It's a survey that's been tracking consumer happiness and disappointment for over three decades. We measure across about 45 different consumer industries the satisfaction of consumers who have actually purchased and consumed goods and services over the last X number of years. So they'll ask people, how satisfied are you with your streaming service, the car you bought, or the beer you drink? Their most recent report came out this week, and the headline, Forrest says, is that customer satisfaction has not only continued a two-year slide, but also customer complaints have reached record highs. These are customers that are actually contacting the companies with which they do business and saying, hey, you know, I've got a problem with the product or service you sold me.

4:23Sierra Juarez:And there's some effort involved in that, right? So to see those at record highs is troubling. Consumer anger is bubbling right now. Is the problem the company's or the customer? And that's a great question. It can be a blend of both. Forrest says consumers today are definitely better informed than they used to be. For every new product, there are probably a thousand YouTubers and TikTokers dissecting everything they love or hate about it. And this has probably raised consumer expectations over time. In the consumer rage study we mentioned earlier, 77 % of people said they experienced a problem with a product or service in the past year.

4:59I want to talk to the other 23 percent and find out where they're shopping.

5:02Sierra Juarez:For the rest of us, you know, 77 percent is more than double the rate of consumers who reported problems in a similar survey 50 years ago. Scott Bretzman, the guy behind that study, and remember the guy who's really mad at the tuxedo rental place, says this doesn't necessarily mean consumers are more rage prone or that products are generally worse than previous generations. Rather, it's a reflection of how our consumption habits have changed. Take technology. Technologies, of course, are a big part of consumer problems, often not because the technology doesn't work, because people don't know how to use it and they can't get help using it.

5:40Sierra Juarez:Yeah. Unlike in past decades, so many of our products today, from smartphones to cat feeders, they come with microchips and laser sensors and mind-reading capability. And when they break, they often can't be fixed with a wad of duct tape. Well, there goes my only DIY solution to any problem. Another way consumption has changed is that our spending has increasingly shifted from goods to services, many of which didn't exist that long ago. Think everything from DoorDash to on-demand dog walking. Services are much more slippery, much more subjective, much easier to experience a problem with for a variety of reasons, whether it's the quality of the service or the attitude of the person delivering it.

6:23Sierra Juarez:There's so many things that can go wrong with a service and a product. Now, these macro factors are not necessarily the company's fault, but that doesn't let them off the hook either. Forrest Morgensen of Michigan says companies in recent years have contributed to consumer unrest by leaning into what he calls a profit-taking mindset. And you can actually see this in the numbers. Corporations' share of the economic pie has been growing. So get this, before the pandemic, corporate profits made up about 13 percent of what economists call the national income. Today, the number is closer to 17 percent, a record high.

6:58Sierra Juarez:If your number one focus is on squeezing as much profit as you can out of your company, you're not going to be as focused on the things that you need to do to make customers happy. For companies, that might translate into hitting consumers with sneaky fees, making them navigate a customer service gauntlet, or just giving them less for more. Skimflation, our old villain. And all this is happening at a time when some major industries from airlines to entertainment have consolidated, leaving consumers with fewer choices. Given all that, you could see why a lot of customers these days feel just a little cranky.

7:35Sierra Juarez:So what might be done about all this? Heather Timmons, who writes for The Guardian newspaper, has some thoughts. I am The Guardian's consumer rage correspondent. Consumer rage correspondent. Why? We made that up. I'm the consumer rights correspondent. I think we can say that. She says the U.S. government could play more of a role in regulating big business. But she says during President Trump's second term, hundreds of people at agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were laid off. Now, Heather says the Federal Trade Commission is still doing some good work, going after things like Facebook scams and problems at StubHub and Instacart.

8:16But that agency itself, you know, is not big enough to battle against companies and lobbyists and trade groups, etc., that are on the other side.

8:25Sierra Juarez:Heather says some state and local governments are trying to pass new consumer protections, though. New York City, for instance, recently proposed a broad ban on so-called junk fees. It also issued a new click-to-cancel rule, which is supposed to make it easier for people to stop their subscriptions. We're seeing the same thing happen in California. When you get those two big economies together, New York and California, and they start passing rules, companies just have to listen because of the actual size of them and the amount of consumers that they cover. One more thing Heather says she'd like to see is the media paying more attention to the problems of everyday consumers.

9:00For me, one of the things that seems to be missing is that type of journalism that I feel like I grew up with and maybe you grew up with, which was just like, are you getting ripped off? We're here to help. Channel 5 is on your side. And it being part of the regular fabric of the journalism industry just disappeared when we lost all the local newspapers.

9:20Sierra Juarez:She says there are some nonprofits like Consumer Reports and ProPublica that are doing good work in this area, and even some citizen journalists on social media. You know, there's a guy running around Georgia that started weighing meat in his Walmarts. And as it turns out, like almost everything is a tiny bit underweight when you add that up. Like, it's fascinating. This guy's got a beef with beef. But for Heather, it still doesn't feel like enough, which is why she decided to make consumer rights or consumer rage her beat. And so much of the big, big business covers that we see right now really is for investors.

9:54But it's not at all focused on how is this company treating its customers? It's sort of time for us to bring that back.

10:04Sierra Juarez:Speaking of bringing that back, we did an episode a couple weeks ago about petty economic grievances. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. And keep those gripes coming. If you have any rageful consumer tales of woe, let us know. Email us at indicator at npr.org. This episode was produced by Vito Emanuel and engineered by Sina Lafredo. is fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Kaking Cannon is our editor, and The Indicator is a production of NPR.

10:39Sierra Juarez:This message comes from Rosetta Stone, offering an alternative approach to language learning. Moving past rote memorization, the app guides users to intuitively think in a second language using images and contextual audio, mimicking how people acquire speech as children. The platform also includes advanced speech recognition technology that compares a learner's pronunciation directly with native speakers to refine accent precision. Learn more about their new Rosetta Stone Sapphire app at rosettastone.com. This message comes from NPR sponsor Charles Schwab with its original podcast on investing.

11:14Sierra Juarez:It's hosted by Lizanne Saunders, Schwab's chief investment strategist, and Colin Martin, head of fixed income research and strategy for the Schwab Center for Financial research. Each week, Lizanne, Colin, and their guests analyze economic developments and bring context to conversations around stocks, fixed income, the economy, and more. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash oninvesting or wherever you get your podcasts.