... Don, are:

>> You are free to participate or not, based on your likes and dislikes.

>> You have to accept the world of business for what it is, not as something that you can change if you complain enough <g>.

I agree with the first; and choose not to participate in reserve price auctions unless the seller is willing to reveal to me the reserve price. Too many chips and not enough money for me to waste my time doing otherwise, JB's cogent arguements notwithstanding.

Your second point is not only wrong, it is dangerously wrong. A whole litany of worker safety and consumer protection laws have been passed as a result of complaints about the way "business as usual" was being conducted. Perhaps more importantly, businesses themselves WILL react to consumer complaints IF:

There is a reasonable basis for the complaint.
Enough people complain.
There is an economically viable alternative.

I for one refuse to accept the premise that I simply have to accept, without complaint, the way business is done. If nothing else, I register my complaints by taking my money elsewhere. And believe me, businesses will respond if enough people do that -- or they will go out of business.

BTW, we've seen complaints WORK a couple of times recently right here on the ChipBoard -- remember The Lodge? And just last week The Redwood Lodge?

----- jim o\-S
(a disciple of the Stewart Alsop "Let's Raise More Hell" school of consumerism)