More on Mercantile Club<\/p>\n
I would like to add my full agreement with the letter from Mr.
\nSia Ka-Mou entitled Desperate Mercantile Club (The Jakarta Post,
\nFeb. 15, 2002).<\/p>\n
I am also a Life Member of the Mercantile Club, Jakarta and
\nhave also raised strong objections to the arbitrary and
\nunreasonable policy of charging a minimum monthly fee to Life
\nMembers of the Club in particular. I fully subscribe to Mr. Sia's
\nview that, it is not the amount of the charge which is at issue
\nhere but the principle. Life members of this Club subscribed,
\nand invested considerable sums over and above the regular
\nmembership fees on the understanding that there would be no
\nmonthly fees.<\/p>\n
For this club to change the rules retroactively is, and again
\nI fully share the views of Mr. Sia, an egregious example of bad
\ncorporate governance.<\/p>\n
I also fully agree with Mr. Sia's opinion that the club
\nmanagement should, if the Club is not being used by its members,
\nanalyze the reasons why and make the necessary changes and
\nimprovements to the products and services offered to its members
\nbefore arbitrarily penalizing particularly Life Members of the
\nclub who have entered into a long-term bond of trust with the
\nclub in good faith. It should also be noted that this \" Club \"
\nis, in fact, not truly a club at all in the traditional sense of
\nthe term but a for-profit organization which, like any other
\nbusiness, must develop and survive on the basis of the quality of
\nthe services provided to its customers.<\/p>\n
Further, in my exchanges of correspondence with the club over
\nthis issue, which appear to have been almost identical with those
\nof Mr. Sia, I have experienced a degree of arrogance which made
\nme conclude that I wanted no further part of being involved. I
\ntherefore canceled my membership as a statement of protest,
\ndespite the loss of the original membership fee and with no
\nattempt on my part to ask the club for any refund or to assist in
\nselling this membership. I then received a letter from the club
\nmanager, Mr. Urs Wuthrich, confirming that my membership would be
\ncanceled with effect from March 1, 2002 and offering me \"
\nprofound appreciation for my support towards the development of
\nthe club\".<\/p>\n
In English, we call this sarcasm. In German, I am unsure of
\nthe term because I do not speak the language, but in \"bahasa
\nbusiness\", we call this arrogance, particularly in what is, I
\nalways understood, to be a service industry?<\/p>\n
PHILIP A. TOWNSEND<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-on-mercantile-club-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }