Lots of work to do to rebuild trust

Written by Joe Pisani
Tuesday, 30 March 2010 09:24

A few years ago we needed repairs on our chimney, so I called a contractor to get an estimate, and when he got off the ladder, he said he could do the job for $500. The price was reasonable, the fellow was qualified, and he came well-recommended.

“Send me a contract so we can get started,” I said.

The man smiled, held out his hand and replied, “I don’t do contracts. My word is good.”

No contract? Was he crazy? Did he think I was crazy? I recalled the times I’d gotten burnt — even with a contract — so how could I trust a man I didn’t even know? My mind immediately started to catalog the many bad “learning experiences.”

There was the mover in Florida with his bait-and-switch tactics, who charged me thousands more than his estimate. It was either pay up or move into the trailer because they refused to take our furniture off.

Then, there was the landscaper who ran into unforeseen problems and ended up destroying plants and shrubs. (I won’t even list the questionable car repairs.) So how could I trust a man who said his word was his bond? Who believes that stuff anyway?

Nevertheless, I defied logic, ignored past experience and jumped into the great unknown and had the work done to perfection, not for a dollar more or a dollar less.

Sad to say, my dealings with humankind are clouded by mistrust, whether they involve contractors, clergy, lawyers, financial advisers, car salesmen, auto mechanics, and I shudder to admit this, friends.

Remember when you routinely heard, “Trust me”? They were words Jimmy Carter memorialized. Today many institutions that are the foundation of our country — from Congress to banking, law and the press — are viewed with suspicion and mistrust.

Every year, polls about trust show how bad things have gotten, and a new profession drops to the bottom of the list, depending on the latest scandal.

Congress is a perennial favorite for being untrustworthy, but recently bankers have sunk to new lows, joining the usual suspects like journalists and insurance salesmen.

A Harris Poll found confidence in Wall Street was at about 4%, down 13 percentage points, after the worst financial crisis in 80 years. Congress came in at 9%, law firms at 11%, major companies at 11% and the press at 12%.

The good guys were the military at 58%, small business at 48%, educational institutions at 40, the White House at 36 and medicine at 34. Hovering around the middle of the pack were organized religion at 28%, public schools at 25 and the judicial system at 19.

What does that say about us as a country?

We have a lot of work to do to restore confidence. You can’t rebuild trust through legislation, public service ads and promotional offers. It happens one honest act at a time. We need a power of example. A CEO? A political leader? A celebrity? How about my contractor?

Joe Pisani can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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