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Caroline Mayer at The Washington Post tells us a story about how she flew Northwest Airlines (NWACQ), but needed to change her return flight.  Not only did she have to pay the "standard" $100 rebooking fee, she also had to pay an additional $10 fee because she had originally booked the ticked through Expedia. 

What sense does that make?  Sounds like Northwest is making up all kinds of fees nowadays, eh? Trying to get out of bankruptcy?  I remember the days when there was no charge to change an airline ticket. However, since 9/11 hit, the travel industry and airport authorities want to create all these additional "fees" and blame it on "the rising price of fuel" or "safety". 

Caroline then goes on to explain how she's now become a "detractor", a word taken from the book The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld.  In other words, "fees create company critics (or detractors) who will eagerly tell friends, colleagues, anyone, about their bad experiences." 

Caroline quotes Reichheld: "Bad profits choke off a company's best opportunities for true growth, the kind of growth that is both profitable and sustainable. They blacken its reputation. The pursuit of bad profits alienates customers and demoralizes employees."

So, are you creating bad profits for your company?