by Kellemora » 08 Jun 2013, 10:58
The Simple Truth Is:
Where there is competition, prices remain low.
When competition is removed, prices skyrocket.
With so many companies performing the same services. One might ask, how can competition be removed, so prices can skyrocket.
Let's use the garbage trucks as an example:
Wilson, Shindler and BFG all serviced our area. Wilson was the most courteous and also charged the lowest price.
This means that most of the folks in our area used Wilson. Several used Shindler, and very few used BFG.
This meant BFG had to charge more, because there were not as many people on their route, so their collection costs were higher.
OK, BFG complains to the city that Wilson is stealing all of their customers.
The city decides to turn the garbage companies into Monopolies, so they can all raise their rates as high as BFG charges.
How do they do this?
Simple, the city Licenses the garbage company to pick up only in certain zones in their city.
Wilson is given one area, Shindler another area, and BFG get the largest area, due to their tie-in's to poly-TICK-ians establishing the pick-up zones.
Wilson, who previously handled 3/4ths of the area, was cut to less than 1/3rd.
Shindler, who had almost all of the remaining forth, was upped to 1/3rd, slightly more than Wilson received.
BFG now had a full 1/3rd plus a little extra that was taken away from Wilson.
By cutting out Wilson's previous customers, their costs rose considerably, less volume, less customers, higher cost. Logical.
Shindler didn't care much one way or the other, but upped their prices to equal BFG's prices. As did Wilson!
BFG was a very lousy company, which is why very few people used them.
However, after getting the city involved, all of us who used Wilson for years, were now forced to use BFG.
BFG's costs to operate their business went down considerably, because of the higher volume. However, their prices were increased at the time the city turned them into a Monopoly.
A few communities, stuck with using the lousy BFG, got together and decided to retaliate.
We sold a section of our common ground to the strip mall near the entrance to the subdivision.
For the sole purpose of placing Commercial Dumpsters on that strip of land.
They were placed in such a way that the folks who lived in the subdivision could pull into the parking lot between them, and toss their sack of trash into them without getting out of the car.
Of over 250 homes in our subdivision, all but 25 cancelled our trash pick-up from BFG.
And I think of the other subdivision of like 200 homes, all but 50 over there cancelled their service.
BFG went screaming to the city, that several subdivisions have cancelled their trash service, and it's the law they have to have trash disposal service. Well, actually, there was not a law saying they had to have trash pick-up at their home.
So this went around and around and around for over two years. And as other subdivisions learned what we had done, they followed in suit and did the same thing.
The whole idea was to get BFG out of there, and bring Wilson back.
The city had no right to control which business they allowed to work on what streets.
However, the city had already established the Licensed Zones and were stuck with them for the duration of the contract.
This is when the city decided to add the cost of trash pick-up to our Real Estate taxes. So we were paying for it, whether we used it or not. And they established an entire department to handle it.
On the bright side, the city established Rules that each of the garbage companies must follow to maintain their license.
These rules didn't affect Wilson or Shindler, because they always were courteous and proper, didn't spill trash they didn't pick up. But BFG, if they missed their truck when emptying a can, whatever fell on the ground they just left there. They also left your trash cans in the street, never putting them back on the curb where they got them from. Things like that.
Having to do things properly, slowed down how fast they ran the route. They tried to get even with the city, by placing the empty cans in the center of peoples driveways. That way they would have to stop their car in the street to move the cans.
Another outcry from the people to the city, and a new rule was added. BFG had to put the trash cans back in the same location they picked them up from. But as ornery as they were, now they tossed the lids into the yards and never replaced them on the cans. In other words, BFG was always a problem from day one. And now we were forced to use them by the city.
On the bright side, when the contracts finally expired. Wilson and Shindler each got 1/2 of the pick-up zones, and BFG was tossed out on their ear. They tried to sue the city, however, the judges were also tired of their antics at their own homes.
They each had lists covering tens of thousands of complaints about BFG breaking every rule in the books.
The subdivision I lived in finally got Wilson back as our garbage company. But they were no longer the same Wilson we knew. They had changed too. Being on a contract meant they didn't need to please the customers, simply do their job. The worked for the City, not for the customers, and we couldn't cancel them. So, they no longer cared much either.
And that is basically what happens with any service the city decides to control. It costs more and the service quality goes way down.