Ethics of business?

Question

Business invest time to attract customers, but some customers are simply not worth having. So some business think that they should fire the customers they lose money on.

-Is it acceptable to fire customers who cost you money on an ethics point of view?
-Is it acceptable for the company to focus efforts on profitable customers or should they all be treated equally?
-What is the downside for financial institutions of finding which customers are profitable and discourage those that are not profitable?
-In what industries would it make sense for government regulation that ensures all customers receieve some basic level of service?

Answer 1

-Is it acceptable to fire customers who cost you money on an ethics point of view?
Yes. A business is not a charity. If a customer didn't pay on a previous purchase, resulting in your having to write it off as a bad debt, would you sell to him again or would you blacklist him?

-Is it acceptable for the company to focus efforts on profitable customers or should they all be treated equally?
Generally yes, but it also depends on the business. If you were a GP and a poor man gets injured outside your clinic, would you refuse to treat him just cos he can't pay you? No.

-What is the downside for financial institutions of finding which customers are profitable and discourage those that are not profitable?
Not much of a downside actually. The customer just goes to the one next door who will accept him, that's all, but then it can then spend more time grooming the profitable ones.

-In what industries would it make sense for government regulation that ensures all customers receive some basic level of service?
Schools and hospitals come to mind.