Aggravating Companies

[imoldernu]

This is just a curiosity question.

What 2 or 3 Companies do you find particularly difficult or aggravating in your dealings with them? Wondering if there is any commonality of feeling among the members here.
There are dozens, if not hundreds of websites that simply list rants from customers about a particular company... for inefficiency, poor accessibility to service, rudeness, or often, incompetence. That is a matter of individuals letting off steam, and probably doesn't have a place here, but overall negative experiences can and do reflect our dealings.

Just from the nature of the goods and services that we all must employ, certain types of businesses will have more exposure than others. Communications, on-line services, and healthcare for instance. Government is another category that could be explored in a different thread.

So, do you accept most aggravations as a matter of necessity, or have some been so egregious that you would want to warn others?

 

[Walt34]

I don't bother to rant about companies that are a pain to deal with. I just quietly spend my money elsewhere.

 

[braumeister]

I don't bother to rant about companies that are a pain to deal with. I just quietly spend my money elsewhere.

Exactly.
When my father got hassled in dealing with a company or merchant, he would never get upset, he just said "I'm going to put them out of business."

It may have taken five, ten, or maybe twenty years, but eventually they folded, and he would just sit back with a satisfied smile and say "See? I told you."

 

[Bestwifeever]

This is just a curiosity question.

What 2 or 3 Companies do you find particularly difficult or aggravating in your dealings with them? ....

You go first.

 

[MichaelB]

I don't bother to rant about companies that are a pain to deal with. I just quietly spend my money elsewhere.

+2

If I have a dispute about a specific product or service I will give them the opportunity to resolve it and make good. If they don't I just go elsewhere.

 

[Midpack]

I don't bother to rant about companies that are a pain to deal with. I just quietly spend my money elsewhere.

If I have a dispute about a specific product or service I will give them the opportunity to resolve it and make good. If they don't I just go elsewhere.

+3. Life is too short to spend time on a company who doesn't want my business...I forget them and move on, no hard feelings (why bother?).

 

[imoldernu]

You go first.

Folks here are too nice to complain... and that's good.

My first and worst, is Comcast... the sole provider for a 50 mile radius. Methinks I'm not alone, as they have ranked near or at the top of customer dissatisfaction list for many years. My ceasing to do business with them may take a little while to put them out of business.
http://www.theacsi.org/

BTW... is there a government definition for the term "Monopoly"?

Just sayin'

 

[target2019]

Have to go with Comcast as the worst company I've dealt with in the last decade. If I went through the thick stack of service records, it would probably average out to two outages per year. It takes day for a service call to execute.

The bill goes up, we call and eventually find someone who will put through a temporary reduction. The infrastructure is poorly maintained. We have many above ground connections that have broken or missing housings. Service degrades when weather is poor. Service disappears, and support never seems to know where the problem lies.

We don't have a choice in our community. Although Verizon was supposed to install FIOS, they backed out, and now are partnering with Verizon to market each others services. Oh boy.

I could turn off TV service, and then see my internet bill go higher. I could turn off Internet and see my wireless bill go higher.

Where I can, I do ditch the business or provider.

 

[W2R]

Cox Cable has been great, so far, for the past 12+ years.

I dread the rare times when I need to deal with the phone company, though. I am SO close to dropping my landline, that one more hassle and I'm done with them for good.

When I had credit cards and a mortgage, I hated dealing with those companies, too. Endless voicemail labyrinths.

 

[Dimsumkid]

Standard Bank & Trust - nasty bank in Chicago. They handed flyers out for a kids savings acct offer tied to the Chicago Park district renovation: Open a savings acct with $100, get $75 bonus after 6 months. For this kind of return for my child, I thought it was a great deal, but the bank made me open a checking acct, not savings. After 6 months passed, I asked why I didn't get the bonus, they claimed I didn't make the 3 transactions/mo and they told me I should commit more business to them, i.e, move more money to them,open up a CD, transfer my mortgage, etc. I said none of these terms were on the original offer and they replied that I was making all this up. I offered to do the 3 transactions and the branch mgr looked at my account as with an aggressive assault to suspend my account and invalid my bonus. When I asked to speak to his mgr, I was told she wasn't interested and stood behind the branch mgr. I had to file an investigation with the FDIC and it was deemed a he said/he said claim since I no longer had the original flyer (the bank took it when I applied for the offer). The branch mgr replied back to the FDIC that I had made up this offer and ridiculous claims directly about me. When the FDIC told me I needed more proof because our versions of the story were so dramatically different, I paid a visit to the original Chicago Park district location, amazingly, they still had the offer sheet posted on the bulletin board down the hall! I faxed this to the FDIC and they immediately sided with me and mentioned this bank was pretty much covering up this situation and this situation warranted increased bank audits. Since they made me open up a checking acct for the purpose of a minor, they violated some bank regulation too. The FDIC also copied me on the mgr's response and he never apologized for his actions, instead, he blamed it on the Chicago Park District for coming up with this offer without his knowledge!

 

[M Paquette]

1) Comcast. Ecch! Bad service, downright fraudulent aggressive door-to-door salesmen verbally promising things that can't be delivered (technically, subcontractors paid for selling new or reconnected service). Mystery outages. Fees and surcharges.

2) Bank of America. "We're big, so we don't have to!". Fees, bank charges, and general annoying behavior. The last straw was trying to do a simple transfer and cash a check, at a teller window. Something on the tellers computer display flagged me, and I was told I'd have to see a bank officer, who was waved over. The officer took me to her desk, and... Tried to sell me on the bank's financial services, specifically annuities! I closed the account and moved to a small regional bank.

(Closing the last BofA account was an event chock full of hilarity. After the account was emptied out and closed by the branch officer, at the next monthly cycle a penny or two of interest was credited to the account. The branch officer claimed this reopened it. Naturally, with a balance of $0.02, the account didn't meet the criteria for free checking, so a $10 fee was charged. This triggered their automatic overdraft protection, opening a $300 line of credit to which $9.98 was charged. I spotted this online, where I also had a credit card that kept the online banking access live. Print the page, head back to the branch, and engage in debate with the branch manager. The account was really closed this time, charges reversed, and I went home with two shiny pennies for my trouble. Joy!)

Do Not Want!

 

[urn2bfree]

American airlines

 

[H2ODude]

Well, I'll join the cable company bashers. Time Warner. But wait! Got solicited by ATT Uverse so signed up for them. After the third lie was revealed as they started to install, I kicked them out. So now it's TW with these mysterious unannounced increases. Sigh.

 

[ERD50]

Folks here are too nice to complain... and that's good.

Actually, it's not good (IMO). How can things improve if no one complains?

My first and worst, is Comcast... the sole provider for a 50 mile radius. Methinks I'm not alone, ...

As you say, a 'monopoly' (or limited market), makes a big difference. It's pretty hard for a company to stay in business abusing their customers if there is another company trying to get their business.

There sure seems to be a trend of dissatisfaction in limited markets - cable, cell phone carriers, etc.

You don't often hear people get too excited claiming their grocery store is ripping them off. People usually have choices, and it shows.

-ERD50

 

[Alan]

This thread seems to dovetail well with this one

Curmudgeons - Nature or Nurture?

 

[obgyn65]

I hate Coopers & Lybrand, PwC predecessor. Long story.

 

[Badger]

Merrill Lynch and Bank of America. Ptttttttttttttttth!

Cheers!

 

[foxfirev5]

I agree with others that it's not worth the effort to get too upset. However DW and I don't let bad companies off the hook. Through polite persistance we're usually made whole when a dispute occurs.

 

[travelover]

My answer to Comcast is the antenna mounted to my roof.

 

[Buckeye]

The biggest ripoff out there is Ticketmaster. Many, many events we do not attend because of their outrageous fees. Did I say many?

Our cable company is Brighthouse and (never thought I would say this) they are a 4 out of 5 although we just got a minor price increase for no good reason other than they can.

 

[ERD50]

The biggest ripoff out there is Ticketmaster. Many, many events we do not attend because of their outrageous fees. Did I say many?
...

+1

I just don't understand this in this day. I've gone to order tickets for something, and then you get linked to the Ticketmaster site, and they want some ridiculous 'convenience fee' like $8 per ticket (not per order). They even charge if you want to print your own tickets rather than have them snail-mailed.

Why don't these places have their own ticket sales? Why give up $8/ticket to some middle man? With the internet capability these days, it can't be that hard to set up a ticket 'store'. Plenty of small mom an' pop places do their own sales, why not a concert venue, or museum?


-ERD50

 

[Keim]

When I clicked on this I thought it would be how to aggravate companies. Paying in pennies, marking junk mail Return to Sender, filling postage paid envelopes with junk, etc. I was hoping for some novel ideas. Too bad! That would've been a fun thread!!

 

[LOL!]

It is interesting to me how few companies one really has to interact with if they don't have cable, don't use the phone, don't have a mortgage, don't have lots of credit cards, don't drive, and don't fly anywhere.

 

[MichaelB]

It is interesting to me how few companies one really has to interact with if they don't have cable, don't use the phone, don't have a mortgage, don't have lots of credit cards, don't drive, and don't fly anywhere.

Take away all that and not much is left. Undertakers and cemetaries perhaps, but their customers don't complain much.

 

[Sue J]

HERTZ!

We rented a car in Denver for a week. Before returning the car we filled the fuel tank 1 mile from the Hertz lot and the check-in agent noted on the receipt that the tank was full. A month later Hertz charged us $62 for 6.8 gallons of gas @ $9/gallon. They said that the next time they rented the car out that the tank was not full.

I called (long time on hold) and was told to email a scan of my gas receipt along with the rental receipt number, which I did that day.

Called back 2 weeks later and another 2 weeks and was always told to allow more time yada, yada, yada.

After 2 months, many emails and more calls, I decided to dispute the charge with my credit card company. While that was in the works, I called Hertz one more time and they gave me a different email address and I got an immediate response and a letter indicating that I'd be credited for the error.

Finally got the credit 2 months after my first call.

It left me with the opinion that Hertz is underhanded and/or careless and lacking in customer service.

I'll go anywhere else if I ever rent a car again.