I've no great lover of FR, but they state very clearly what their rules are and enforce them consistently.
We all have our own opinions about these rules, but the matter of fact is that a contract is formed with them embeded into the terms and conditions and the whole process is transparent.
If you don't like the approach, then you are perfectly entitled to vote with your feet (or mouse clicks.)
Easyjet once cancelled a flight on the day of operation, leaving my family and I at Palma, to sort out our own arrangements; they were quite entitled to do that too, it was in the terms and we received those before booking the flights.
At the end of the day, anyone entering freely into a contract should have made themselves aware of the rules before doing so - Caveat Emptor.
As a fairly regular FR user (based on convenience, not cost), I can't say that I really enjoy the experience, but also acknowledge they have always followed their t&cs to the letter. Also, not often mentioned here, the cabin crew are invariably friendly, if not always quite as polished as on the flag carriers.
It's my choice as to whether I travel with them and for the moment it suits me to do so. It's yoiur choice to use whoever you wish.
As a business consultant, I know that the price of flexibility is a heavy overhead for a business (far more expensive than might be imagined), so I would suggest that this is why it is lacking in a volume/discount model such as FR where running the sausage factory with the lowest cost base is obviously important.
So no whinging from me, just an acknowledgment that you get what you pay for and my last return ticket to Brussels was around GBP35 inc taxes, for peak time flights.
So once again, before I get flamed, I don't carry a torch for FR, but their approach in ID is straightforward and transparent and I cannot see any justification for attacking them for enforcing it consistently.