A large number of consumers are entitled. There was once a day when a dollar had more value than just money. Having a dollar meant you worked for it. Having a dollar opened doors. So many retailers would recognize that kind of value in how they interacted with their customers. Credos such as "the customer is king" were an outward sign of respect for that value.

As the notion of cost has changed, so has the value of a dollar.

A dollar isn't worth much on it's own, at least when compared to the past. Besides debt, inflation, and the devaluation of money, the value of a dollar is all bust extinct. It takes a lot of dollars to live for most people, and for others, they don't even need ten percent of one to survive when someone else will spend their dollars on their behalf. "Dollar" has sometimes become synonymous with "cheap," both as a product but also as a value. And the worst devaluation of all has come from what it takes to make one. A long time ago, it took a lot of sweat and hard work to make a dollar. Now, you can probably spend five minutes in a public place and find enough to make a dollar on the ground.

The biggest problem to retail is not the worth of a single dollar, it's the entitlement that the customer is still the king. Consumers see little value in a dollar, but still see their dollar has having value when society no longer places value in it. Consumers still believe that they're money is worth something. To some businesses, it might be. To big companies, they probably make more money flashing an advertisement to your eyes than they do off of your service.

I don't mean to sound entirely pessimistic here. I work for a big company, and I also own my own. I come from small business, and I have seen the balance between "customer is king" and reality. I work hard for my dollars. I just can't say the same for everyone - or everything - else.

So your questions was, is having a cell phone a right or a privilege. Technically, those two words mean the same thing. We have no right nor privilege to much more than basic human rights. Even having food can be considered a luxury in this world. A cell phone is one of the biggest luxuries I know. A right? A privilege? No.