The UNESCO building in Paris is one of the city's most beautiful buildings. Last month I spent two days there at a conference sponsored by the UN. Upon arrival, I assumed that there would be a wireless connection available, or at least some form of Internet connectivity. I was wrong. I couldn't even get an outside line.

When we broke for lunch I took a cab to the nearest Hilton and happily discovered that I could buy a 2-hour SwissCom pass to log on to the hotel's wireless network. I fired up my laptop, hooked up to the Internet and sent over a presentation to a client. Within 5 minutes I was back in the conference. Three hours later my client called and asked me to send him some more material. I returned to the Hilton, turned on my laptop and... nothing. The wireless connection didn't work.

I approached the hotel's help desk and was informed that the 2-hour pass I purchased (for no less than 10 Euros), had already expired. "But I only used it for 5 minutes," I pleaded with the assistant. "I understand sir, but the pass is valid for two consecutive hours - not two hours of connectivity. Once you log on to the Internet, the clock starts ticking, irrespective of how long you stay connected. It's written on the other side of the card."

I couldn't bother reading the other side of the card. I was speechless. I felt duped. I also developed a deep hatred for SwissCom, a company I had never had any interaction with before that day. The only thing I could think of was how these types of practices are just the reason Telcos get such a bad rap from the public. Deep inside, I knew that one day SwissCom would pay a price for gouging its customers.

"You're naïve," said a colleague who heard my story later that day. "Companies like SwissCom will continue taking advantage of their customers because there are so many of them. They know, my friend, that a sucker just like you is born every minute."

Maybe he's right. But according to Frederick Reichheld, an expert on customer loyalty, chances are that companies such as SwissCom will eventually pay the price. "Persistent defection," argues Reichheld, "means that former customers—-people convinced the company offers inferior value-—will eventually outnumber the company's loyal advocates and dominate the collective voice of the marketplace. When that moment arrives, no amount of advertising, public relations, or ingenious marketing will prop up pricing, new-customer acquisitions, or the company's reputation."

If your company is taking advantage of its customers, if it treats them as though they are disposable, don't be surprised if you wake up one day to find that there simply aren't any suckers left.

--> Frederick Reichheld's website can be found here.