Robert Sachs

When the banks and financial institutions were failing, the bleat from Wall Street and the cry on Capitol Hill was that these institutions were "too big to fail;" that if they collapsed, the earth would fall out of orbit and we would all be eating worms.

And then, the US taxpayers bails them out and they take a large portion of that money and pat each other on the backs with big bonuses - bonuses that our new Secretary of State, Tim Geitner, knew about all along. But, in the excitement of the boy who was not in a balloon, we forgot about his.

The fact is that these companies are not so much too big to fail, they are TOO BIG TO CARE. They want what they want. They will appeal to our fear, our panic. And then they will carry on with raking in the money for their own ends - not ours.

I just experienced that with my own bank; CHASE. After not being given some vital information for our on line shopping cart connected to our website, no linkage was properly made and all of our transaction were going through another merchant service provider. Still, Chase charged me for a connection that had not been properly created.

And, even after I pointed this out, even after they learned that this was the result of them not providing me with information, they will not refund my money. And I know why.

They don't have to because I have no real recourse. In essence, they are too big for me to really impact them in any way. And, they do this every day, with increased interest rates and finance charges. If they were ethical, if they were moral, if they CARED, supporting their customers and encouraging loyalty through satisfaction would be more of a priority.

But, alas, where the rubber meets the road. we learn of what their true intent and character is as a corporation.

So, I consider my options. Is there such a thing as a financial corporation with soul?