Others have replied and given you the legal and logistical reasons why non-employers will not tell you why you were rejected, but there's another one: it's not their job.
If I run a web development studio, it is not my job to assist in the personal development of people I've decided (for whatever reason) are not a good fit. Yes, logistically that's a pain in the ass if I send 1 offer letter and 12 explanations about various issues ranging from employment history to experience to skill set to education to interview skills to "I got the distinct impression you would rob us blind the first time you were in the office alone." But most importantly (for me as someone who assists but does not make final determination on new hires), my job is to find the best candidate for a given position and it's only a hindrance to spend time with those who are not.
I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Likewise, it is not the job of your prospective clients (the scenario in which you run a web shop) to give you feedback over why they chose a competitor over you. Perhaps you don't even know why. Wouldn't it be great though to have constructive feedback that would help you win future pitches?
Agree 100%, however when is the last time you saw a business owner say something about how much they wished the candidates who passed would just tell them why and explain what they could have done to get them, etc?
It seems like a fairly common complaint from rejected candidates that they want the company to continue investing in them after a decision has been made not to move forward. And in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion (e.g. not enough education, or no experience with something we want someone to have experience in) or a flat out request to give them another shot.
>in the rare instances when I've offered this advice or help after one or more requests, it has been invariably met with an attitude either that I am wrong/stupid for coming to such a conclusion... or a flat out request to give them another shot.
Yeah, I've hit this and it really is annoying to deal with. I have one candidate we rejected 4 or 5 years ago because his resume was questionable, and once a year he still emails me asking for a position (and I'm not a hiring manager!).
I have had it go the other way, too, though. I had a candidate who didn't meet some criteria. He asked why, and I told him. A year later he had done a bunch of work to improve himself and we hired him.
So it can work both ways. But I definitely agree that the more common case is for the candidate to rationalize away why the company is wrong.
And I think companies that got feedback from candidates would do the same thing: "He said we didn't offer a big enough salary, but our pay is exactly the median of other companies around here. He's just a prima donna!"
If I run a web development studio, it is not my job to assist in the personal development of people I've decided (for whatever reason) are not a good fit. Yes, logistically that's a pain in the ass if I send 1 offer letter and 12 explanations about various issues ranging from employment history to experience to skill set to education to interview skills to "I got the distinct impression you would rob us blind the first time you were in the office alone." But most importantly (for me as someone who assists but does not make final determination on new hires), my job is to find the best candidate for a given position and it's only a hindrance to spend time with those who are not.