With a camcorder and a computer, consumers are uploading rip-off stories frauds and scams that affect them, to video based sites like You Tube. Currently there are at least ten major video sites that have emulated You Tube's success, with new ones coming on line every day.

Terry Guldin has alot to say about PayPal and he is not alone. Across the country consumers are filing lawsuits (some are now going to class action suits) against PayPal.

Their are so many anti PayPal sites on the internet that we spent well over 25 hours just researching some of them. The horror stories reach into the thousands. A quick Google search will yield hours of warnings for those who may have thought about dealing with Pay Pal.

Then there is the story about a disgruntled systems engineer from chandler Arizona who videotaped his frustration for all the world to see. Michael Whitford chose a sledge hammer to destroy his beloved apple laptop after receiving no satisfaction on the repair of his computer, even with the extended warranty he purchased from apple. The Apple Representative suggested that he use the $774.00 Apple wanted to repair the computer with what they characterized as a water damage spill, to purchase another brand of computer. Witford stands by his claim that there was never any spill or water damage to the computer.

Whitford posted his video on You Tube. His story was quickly picked up by the major media outlets as well as a number of smaller media and consumer news outlets. When a lightning rod story like this goes national in the broadcast and cable news media, millions of people see the story.

Instantly, the spotlight is turned directly on the offending company. The corporate public relations people rush to spin an answer that will make their company look like they are immediately correcting the problem and they try to minimize any bad publicity. Apple did the right thing. Within four days of the video posting, Apple apologized and offered up a new computer with a retail price of $1700.00 to whitford.

All of this drama could have been avoided in the first place by just taking care of business and of course, the loyal customers who buy Apple products.  Whitford bought an extended warranty on a computer that failed within six months of purchase.  The extended and costly warranty should have covered and resolved Whitford's problem.

Customer service Representatives for the most part, reflect the mindset of the company they work for. If they are trained to try and reject as many claims as possible, the analogy of penny wise and pound foolish applies. We live in a world of global instant communications. Today there is just no where to hide from angry customers.

Unfortunately, many companies treat customers like gold while they are trying to get their hands on their hard earned cash, and then forget them almost immediately once they have it. All the while they are continually looking for the next buck. Once the spotlight illuminates a bad company, consumers tend to have a very long memory for bad products and even worse bad treatment. Even if the company fixes the problem, the bad taste will remain with them, sometimes forever.