Unedited
3/21/10
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Familiarity Breeds Contempt (FBC)

When a customer does business with a store for many years contemptuous behaviors between the buyer and seller may arise. If the buyer, for example is an electrical contractor, an unwelcomed relationship with the supplier may evolve in which the counter-people and management begin to act to the financial disadvantage of the contractor. This type of behavior is a product of too much familiarity. A contractor is constantly under pressure from their client-base to perform well and competently. Failure to act professionally and competently can drive a contractor out of business. On the other hand, a counter-person does not experience the same high level of professional expectation. The disparity of discipline and knowlege leads to what are called "countergames." Here, the contractor demands good service yet the supplier does not want to be held accountable for the bad service of its emotionally involved employees. Every time the supplier and customer engage in a buying session emotional tensions that arise from familiarity are reinforced and perpetuated in a way that resembles what could be called a form of class-struggle. In such cases the more competent party must put up with the incompetencies and prejudices’ of the other party. This situation is not exclusive to the buyer as counter-people many times are forced to deal with an uneducated and incompetent public. The point to be made is that such struggles go on until the buyer finds another supplier whose staff are willing to do their job in a professional manner.

FBC leads to a loss of business for both businesses. But, management is unwilling many times to step into the conflict because finding a good counter-person is difficult to do. Counter people knowing they are very valuable, thus, are free to play games with the buying public plausibly denying any cupability with clever and well-rehearsed excuses.

FBC evolves when the staff of a business become emotionally involved with the buying public, violating the foundational principle of business that says "do business in a business like way."

Criminal Games sometimes evolve from such social struggles. When a business relationship is defined by a game moral and ethical standards are pushed aside in favor of the game. This means that "anything goes" if a person does not get caught. The result is that an emotionally vested counter-person will intentionally pick the wrong parts to annoy a buyer he dislikes. If the annoyance inspires outrage this is used as an excuse to perpetrate further acts of abuse. What happens as the conflict intensifies is that the counter-person begins to creatively bill materials. Since the contractor orders many parts everyday it is difficult for him to check every item on an account for errors. The game starts out small to test the water and increase in size as the years go by. If the contractor catches an error it is plausibly excused by the counter-person. In hard core crime games it is the object of the criminal to work the "mark" over emotionally so that they make errors in judgment and leave them open for exploitation. The same occur in social struggles where one party of the conflict intentionally sets out to frustrate the other. Struggles in this way can be profitable.

While many businesses enjoy playing "counter games," few would describe themselves as criminal enterprises. Yet, crime is what they are involved in as management gives tacit approval to their existence. PYW games evolve in the midst of legitimate business operations. PYW here, means "Pay Your Way." Here a business establishes themselves as legitimate perveyors of some product or service punctuated occasionally by some nefarious activity. The business has established a trust with the community. But, that trust can be systematically exploited over time. A small business might work out an informal system for exploiting a customer while a large corporation might mathematically work out a system to mislead customers which creates carefully placed billing errors. When PYW exists within the context of a seemingly legitimate business counter people on their own make errors to the advantage of the business. If they have made enough errors that day to cover their salary they have satisfied the requirements of PYW. They are not told to make errors but when management is badgered by unhappy customers little is said to the counter person about the incident. Since no one is told to cheat the customer no crime can be said to be committed. And, the error could even be excused as the product of a conflict between the counter-person and the contractor. PWY systems crimes are plausibly deniable at every turn. So, a counter-person in exploiting the client is not only guarantees job security but they also have the satisfaction of abusing customers they really do not like.

• Professional Boundaries
• Counter Games