Monopoly leaves no options
Campus Times
October 9, 1998
There is one word that bonds together the food and phone service at
the University of La Verne -- monopoly.
Monopoly is the exclusive control of a commodity or service in a given
market, or control that makes possible the fixing of prices and the virtual
elimination of free competition.
At ULV, a school of higher education, located in the United States of
America, home of the free, students are given no options as to who or what
serves their needs.
Being forced to purchase a $1,100 per semester meal card on campus (the
cheapest available) is completely unfair. Automatically, Aramark is raking
in a minimum of $440,000 (400 students living on-campus, paying $1,100 per
semester) in one semester. Regardless of customer satisfaction, the school
makes bank.
Another corrupt deal is Campus Link. Complaint after complaint is heard
from students about our on-campus phone company. I personally dealt with
the company on a daily basis from the end of August through the middle of
September.
Because I became an expert in the area of customer service, I can say
that Campus Link (besides one representative, Miranda, who attempted to
help me out) is rude and unhelpful. The only way my problem was solved was
after more than 20 phone calls, a demand to speak with the manager and finally
a conversation with the president of the company, which still took a few
weeks.
The point is, if I go out to a business and employees treat me rudely,
I do not go there to give them my business. If those same people are rude
to other customers, eventually they will pay in their loss of profit.
At La Verne, students do not have that option. There is no say in who
they give their "business" to and complaints tend to be futile.
We are pushed to voice our concerns, but little if no action is taken. Students
are told to take their problems to representatives in the Office of Housing
and Residential Life or University deans. The end result is never satisfying
because we know these companies will win and we will still be forced to
deal with them. If these companies the University is sponsoring met customer
needs, there would be no reason to force students to give them business.
What is the purpose in forcing residents to purchase a meal card? Are
we not adults of sound, mind and body able to make decisions on what to
eat? I sure hope so. I have gotten this far in life, able to dress myself,
brush my teeth, speak, read, write and choose a college, but now my ability
to make decisions on what to eat is taken away?
It is expensive to attend ULV and an extra $1,100 sucked out of me does
not help money matters, especially when I, as do most students, still eat
out. Some off-campus students complain that the mandatory meal card is what
is holding them back from being able to experience on-campus life. The cost
to live on-campus is only $1,300 (double in the Oaks) but having to purchase
a meal card almost doubles that price.
It is understood that Campus Link deals with many students a day, all
with frustrations of their own, but that does not give them the right to
be rude and non-communicative.
If I had my choice right now (which I do not), I would be using a different
phone company and passing the word along to other students. No complaints
of Davenport would be necessary either because I would have the option to
not eat there.
I, as an American, do not like being told that this is the land of opportunity
and freedom, and then have to march into the dining hall knowing that this
is where my parents' money or my loan is going, whether I like it or not.
Aramark and Campus Link should not receive automatic business or revenue
from the ULV students. Like any other business, customer service and quality
should be the reason these companies gain a profit from us. Give students
options like the real world has to offer. Stop telling us how much effort
these services put into ULV and let us decide on our own.
Jennifer Parsons, a junior journalism major, is editor in chief of
the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at parsonsj@ulv.edu.
