Episode Details

What do you do when a company refuses to listen, ignores your emails, or makes you feel too small to fight back?

Today’s guest is Adam Glezer, an Australian consumer advocate and founder of Consumer Champion.

Adam’s work focuses on helping everyday people stand up for themselves when dealing with large corporations and institutions. His approach is built around persistence, communication, keeping your temperament under control, and understanding that large companies aren’t necessarily as untouchable as they may appear.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why Adam became passionate about fighting for the “little person”
• How being bullied at school and later being mistreated in business affected his outlook
• How his experience with a cancelled Flight Centre booking during COVID led him to start taking consumer advocacy seriously
• How he brought thousands of people together around similar consumer experiences
• Why Adam believes large corporations often follow predictable customer-service playbooks
• How scripted call-centre interactions can make consumers feel powerless
• Why he encourages people to talk to customer-service representatives as human beings
• How staying calm can change the direction of a difficult conversation
• Why getting angry at the person answering the phone can work against you
• How Adam tries to build rapport with customer-service representatives
• Why he believes persistence is essential when dealing with companies
• Why consumers shouldn’t automatically assume that a large corporation has all the power
• How public exposure, social media, and mainstream media can create accountability
• Adam’s “David versus Goliath” perspective on consumer disputes
• Why he compares large corporations that mistreat consumers to bullies
• How he tries to “flip the narrative” when dealing with a company
• Why companies may have more to lose than individual consumers realize
• The role that legislation and perceived loopholes can play in consumer disputes
• Why Adam believes some problems arise from systems while others come from individuals who deliberately take advantage of people
• Why he thinks consumers need to develop self-advocacy skills
• The difference between having someone solve your problem and learning how to solve similar problems yourself
• Why being mistreated by a company can affect a person’s sense of self-worth
• Why self-advocacy is a broader life skill, not just a consumer skill
• Why people shouldn’t be intimidated simply because a company mentions lawyers
• Adam’s approach to threats involving lawyers and defamation
• Why he believes evidence and persistence matter
• How AI could help consumers research laws while still leaving the human communication problem unsolved
• Why Adam believes the ability to communicate with other people remains one of the most important skills
• Why persistence can be the difference between giving up and eventually getting a result

Adam’s message is ultimately about agency.

When you feel like the “little person” facing a massive institution, his advice is not to automatically assume you’ve lost.

Stay calm. Keep asking questions. Be persistent. And don’t assume they’re unbeatable.

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🌐 Connect With Adam

Consumer Champion

Consumer Champion⁠

Adam explicitly gives his website as:

www.consumerchampion.com.au

He says the website is being redone at the time of the interview.

Adam invites listeners who have consumer issues to contact him through his work. He says he has worked wit