Do suppliers listen?

Isn't journalism great, throw in a provocative article or statement and watch a war of the words break out.
Do suppliers listen?
 Listen has many meanings, it could mean they will sit with retailers in the know write an action plan to improve product quality / service and then put this action plan into force. It may mean every now and then the supplier gets its sales team to ring you up to ask if there is anything they can do to help you or to ask what they can do for you to get you to buy more products from them and then there is a just paying lip service by pretending to listen to make themselves look and feel good.
I have had experiences in all of the above in fact on Wednesday this week I was at Omega plc in Doncaster with 19 other retailers and senior Directors, department managers, buyers, reps and customer service managers from the Omega team, I say team because that is how we felt as if we are part of the team, I have been to three other Omega retailer forums and each time when our opinions have been voiced we have been listened to, obviously not every wish or gripe can be actioned upon as we have to be objective and understand as Omega do that in the end it's all about money, they want to make money and they in turn want us to make money which is what makes businesses successful.
I  think that if I am fair to the suppliers then in turn they will be fair back, this sometimes though is not always the case. I have recently stopped buying kitchens from one particular supplier because no matter how many times that I and other retailers have asked them to do things that would help not only us sell more kitchens but provide them with an improved product offering. I know this to be fact because having spoken to certain people within that company they have told me that they are sick of going back and telling their bosses the same thing and nothing gets done or listened to, only that they want more accounts open. We see this all the time when drivers of said companies turn up with virtually nothing on their vans or their run has been doubled or even tripled up so as to fill a van up. There are other suppliers who change things at will and don't even tell you, this causes major headaches, so not only are they not listening they are speaking either.
There was an article in KBB review online update a couple of weeks ago about the worth of distributors, distributors are suppliers only with more products, the article in the main was right but not all distributors should be tarnished with the same brush, I have had great service from Waterline, again it is how I am with them that determines how they are with me. Some suppliers are even dictatorial thinking that they are God and we should do as they say and dance to the tune that they are playing. I don't dance not even a dad dance, I will professionally and politely tell them how it is,
give them so long and then if they continue to stay the way they are I will then not use them anymore.
If we are all to get on which is a must for survival then it is very important for suppliers to listen to us because at the end of the day if we are not selling their products to the end user then only they will suffer because there are other suppliers out there who will listen and will offer products and services that suit us better. In turn though we must give the suppliers a chance and work with them to manage customer expectations.
Russell