I agree with your comments about short changing customers.

Promising only what you can deliver and then delivering fully on your promises is not only simple ethics, but is the only way to build a business which is viable over the long term. If you truly offer a viable product or service, you should have no difficutly in generating sales without promising anything you cannot deliver.

I feel that the majority of companies (although not all) can understand that poor practices toward customers are poor for business, particularly in industries which are dependent upon repeat business. Sad to say, in industries such as real estate or used car sales, highly fragmented industries where commissions from individual transactions are large and prospects of repeat business with particular individual customers are not high, businesses are likely to be tempted to promise significantly more than they can deliver.

Personally, my own greatest fear in terms of business ethics is not treatement of customers, although ethical treatment of customers is essential for business ethics. Customers can harm companies by withholding business. My greatest area of concern is conduct in areas such as labor rights or environmental damage in third-world countries, where injured parties in respect of such matters are considered to be of little importance to the company.

Cheers

Andrew