Food for Thought

I continue to read comments on various forums pertaining to the state of the AGRR industry and how independents are advised to quit their whining and “coexist” with the third-party administrators. Yes, it is proclaimed that independents should work around the TPAs. To that, I say “nonsense.” Independents are being forced out of business through no fault of their own, while doing most things right. Businesses should be allowed to compete fairly and thereby succeed or fail on their merits, nothing more and nothing less.

Yes, independents should focus on branding their businesses and providing a service that is second to none, but I fail to see where they should not be allowed to voice their opinions. I would not call that whining. We are talking about blatant unfair trade practices, consumers being denied their “right to choose,” and perhaps consumers being defrauded because they are purchasing a product, an indemnification policy, in which the seller is not delivering what the consumer has paid for. Just the other day, I heard that an insurance company is withholding payments, because the shop owner would not have his customer call the TPA, who happens to be in direct competition. I applaud him.

In an effort to brand, I expect that each and every “legitimate” shop owner is advertising his/her business through a variety of outlets, and spending a considerable amount of their operating budgets in doing so. Having said that, let me pose a fair question to you. How many customers are you losing to TPAs, who are directing your potential business elsewhere? Is it one, five, ten, or twenty? Not a single one of us has a clue—do we? And we should accept that?

And one other point—the customer service rep says that they have one of your customers on the other end of the line and they won’t send over the referral until you accept the price. Huh? They aren’t referring a thing. A referral would be if the customer on the other end of the line didn’t have a shop in mind, and they were referring them to that shop.

So we should stop voicing our frustrations because a handful of people have labeled it whining? I don’t think so.

And another important point for consideration is this. Those who label this process whining do so behind a screen name, so we really do not know what side of the industry they are coming from or their real intent. When I challenge them to come forward and tell the audience their stake in the industry, they fade away. Therefore, I can only conclude that they are not on the side of the independents at all. I stand by my principle that if a shop loses one, just one customer, to these practices, they should not be tolerated. To that, I say keep up the whining. Turn up the volume and bring down the house.