Well...I'm done with your company now

[tippy2k2]

I am a very loyal customer. If your company does right by me, I will do everything I can to shop at your store versus others and will defend your company when others have bad experiences with my own positive ones. BUT...

It takes a lot but when a company irks me, I completely 180. I will not shop at your company and if anyone says anything about your company, I will be sure to chime in with my own shitty experiences and why I refuse to go to that store.

I have three companies on my shit list with a brand new one joining today (hence the inspiration for the thread); Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart, and now newly minted Best Buy.

Wells Fargo I worked as a temp for and temps are not treated very well. I have always believed that how employees are treated is a reflection on how your customers would be treated and based on my work experience, I would not want to be a customer. Wal-Mart had me stuck in a "In-Store pickup" line for forty five minutes so that I could pickup my online order. No one gave a care in the store and when I complained on their Facebook, I didn't so much as get a "we're sorry" (that experience alone wouldn't have been enough to make The List but I went to Target out of spite afterwards and realized their prices were very comparable but their employees don't look like they dream of putting a gun in their mouth every moment they're at work). Now Best Buy just had a killer Xbox One/Samsung TV bundle that started in the ad on Sunday...and ran out on Sunday (or wasn't stocked at all depending on which store). That combined with the attitude of "We're sorry our deal was so awesome that you can't get it so just check out ad for more products you might want" rubbed me the wrong way and they have now been penciled into The Shit List.


Everyone has companies that have been placed on your shit list. For fun, I would like to know yours. Does it take a lot to join your Shit List? Once placed on said list, can a company get itself off of yours?

So complain with me Escapists! What stores are on your Shit List and what did they do to get on it?

 

[Cowabungaa]

It takes gross incompetence for a company to make me stop being a customer. For instance, we had a local computer store, well basically one dude, with whom I did most of my dealings when I got my first computer, later my first laptop, some upgrades, etc. He had good prices, was very close by, very grassroots, he was one of the village's to-go-guys for ICT related stuff.

But as I got older I did my own research more and more and at one point, when I had to upgrade my CPU, I ended up needing a PSU upgrade as well as my current one couldn't pull enough to power the CPU. So I did a crapton of research to what kind of PSU I had to buy, in the end I found one and I wanted to order it through that guy. He told me he couldn't get that model, but what he did end up doing was offer me a 600W (which was way too much) white brand (which is all kinds of awful) PSU that didn't even deliver me the amperage I needed on the 12V rails. So not only did he try to sell me something absolutely useless, it was also something that could easily brick my computer.

After realizing the sheer stupidity of what he just offered me and thinking back to what he actually did for me before, as back then I was still a silly teen pretty ignorant of ICT, I stopped doing business with him. What an amateur.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't tend to blacklist companies. If I did, the first one would be Nestlé. Look into the movie "Tigers" to find out why.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Just two. Unfortunately the size of most companies makes it impossible to provide the service they ought to, something I'm learning more and more working for an internet provider.

Comcast was one of the companies listed during a period in our training when we were talking about the difference in company service bundles, and I had to laugh when Comcast was brought up, even if their prices are good. My reasoning was because during a time when I had that service for both phone and internet, I lost it without warning. It turned out someone else in my neighbourhood had a delinquent account with them and they had refused to pay up, so they had sent someone out to cut their underground cable... and they accidentally cut mine and left. Despite the fact that they live two houses down the street from me. It took over two weeks to get this fixed back up again, and when I requested compensation they acted offended, like it was MY fault that the cable had been cut. That was the final straw, good prices or no. It wasn't even that stable to begin with, and anyone who does online gaming can agree that stability is seriously important.

The second is far more petty- an ice cream parlour which my mother was looking to get a job at after being laid off from a similarly dysfunctional company. Upon being hired, she was informed they would contact her within the week with her arranged schedule. A week later with no response, she calls back. They had forgotten about her completely and hired someone else for the position, and because that person's schedule is already done, they can't take a second person. This wasn't a seasonal thing either like when I worked at Dairy Queen- it happened in summer. So as much as we like ice cream, we'll always go elsewhere now.

 

[Fox12]

Having worked retail, I'm pretty forgiving. Customers are just the shittiest creatures.

I walked into a WalMart once. Saw a man with nothing but a speedo. Promptly left.

otherwise, the employees just have to be rude.

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

Everyone has companies that have been placed on your shit list. For fun, I would like to know yours. Does it take a lot to join your Shit List? Once placed on said list, can a company get itself off of yours?

HP can suck my hairy ass. Between shitty corporate laptops and their nigh undecypherable user boards, they've capped my "will not buy from you if anyone else on the planet offers the same product" list. We used to complain that Mercury Interactive had shitty customer support, then they got bought by HP ... at least we could *find* the boards, now they're stacked behind a pay wall. Fuckers.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Normally no, but I actually do have a case where I refuse to go to a certain convenience store. Of course, that doesn't sound like much. But the place was decently priced, decently stocked, and was a 5 minute walk from my apartment. The younger workers there were always ok with me buying something, and asking for specific change for laundry money. I mean, I paid for stuff, I handed $5, just needed loonies and quarters specifically. But, the grumpy old man owner there had the biggest issue with that.

I always ask if I can get specific change, even when I know I can, just to not be rude and throwing it on them mid transaction. I asked him first, he said "No, we're not a bank" and I said "Even if I am a paying customer, and hand you a large enough bill, I can't get some specific types of coins?" His response? "Go downtown and go to one of the banks! We NEED that change!" I gave him a look, walked out saying "Whatever ya say, gramps."

Yes, that last bit was petty. But don't bullshit me, old man. Don't act like those 4 quarters and 2 loonies are the only things keeping your damn store alive. I am the paying customer here. I have been loyal to you for 9 months after moving here. YOU are the one who should be accounting for customers who need that change for their own purposes as well. YOU are the business with all the money coming in, and out. Call me entitled all you want, but I would have been ok with a "Sorry, I can't do that for you." Instead I got some grumpy toned, piece of shit attitude from the owner of the store. Was the first time I ever made a negative review for a business. And it's the only review on their page. The one rating you see Googling them. Fuck you guys.

Edited: I certainly wasn't in the right to respond that way. I know that. But when the owner of the store, regardless of what I asked for, gets the basic fundamentals of custom service wrong... Then that's why I refuse to go to your store. A simple "Sorry, the others shouldn't be doing that. I can't do that for you" would have left me with understanding. Getting a grumpy old fuck responding to me with a poor tone is NOT how you handle a customer question/request. And that is why I decided to not go back

 

[tippy2k2]

Comcast was one of the companies listed during a period in our training when we were talking about the difference in company service bundles, and I had to laugh when Comcast was brought up, even if their prices are good. My reasoning was because during a time when I had that service for both phone and internet, I lost it without warning. It turned out someone else in my neighbourhood had a delinquent account with them and they had refused to pay up, so they had sent someone out to cut their underground cable... and they accidentally cut mine and left. Despite the fact that they live two houses down the street from me. It took over two weeks to get this fixed back up again, and when I requested compensation they acted offended, like it was MY fault that the cable had been cut. That was the final straw, good prices or no. It wasn't even that stable to begin with, and anyone who does online gaming can agree that stability is seriously important.

I don't know what it is about me and Comcast but for some reason, I hear nothing but horror stories from...well...everyone about Comcast and I have never had any issues with them. When I moved, it took them a day to transfer over the line (something that has a ETA of a week to do) and that's the closest thing to a bad interaction I've had with them.

I don't know why Comcast likes me and no one else

 

[JustAnotherAardvark]

I don't know why Comcast likes me and no one else

Easy way to deal with Comcast:
1) Assume they're all idiots (they aren't, but they have an excess of corporate bozzons)
2) Find a friend who understands networking (assuming you don't); have him detail the problem before you talk to their customer service; insist on talking to their next tier engineer
3) ?
4) Profit

 

[Ultress]

The only thing that can really rile me up enough to stop going to a place is blatant trans/homophobia. I can write off most other things as maybe they're having a bad day but that I tend to have little tolerance for. Even the it's usually that location as opposed to the whole company.

 

[Elfgore]

Alienware.... or Dell. Charging insane prices for lackluster PCs. After I almost bought a laptop from them for about 1200 USD that didn't even have a CD drive and then found one that was about twice as good for the same price that came with something as basic as a CD drive. I said fuck off. I despise spending more money on something just for a brand. *cough*Apple*cough*

 

[CrystalShadow]

I seriously mistrust HP after the disastrous weird problems my mother's laptop developed.
(yet knowing full well how bad the last one was, she bought another HP laptop)
Still, I have a HP printer, it's just their laptops I don't trust

I try to avoid seagate hard drives for similar reasons. (outright failure of hard drives? No thanks). But that seems increasingly diffucult, because the list of companies that makes hard drives gets smaller and smaller.

Then there's paypal. Paypal completely screwed me over after I moved to the point I don't really want anything to do with them anymore.
As I quickly found out though, trying to avoid paypal while buying stuff online is getting increasingly difficult.
So I caved on that as well, begrudgingly.
Isn't it fun when a company that has totally pissed you off has such a stranglehold you pretty much can't avoid them? ~sigh~

 

[snekadid]

@tippy
Best buys on my list too. They sell video games, they put out ads for video games, but you're not allowed to buy the video games. Buying videogames from them is a guessing game, you click the game, put it in the cart and then have to check the cart to see if theyre willing to sell it to you. If your lucky, the game you want is a game theyre WILLING TO MAIL TO YOU FROM THEIR ONLINE STORE! Thats less than 70% from my experience. They advertise and list things on their site theyre not willing to sell and then get snippy when you point out that their service is archaic and broken considering as a company that sells goods, theyre not willing to sell goods.

 

[KyuubiNoKitsune-Hime]

MGM Mirage... They will never ever have my business. If you don't know they're a large company that runs hotel casinos all over, from Vegas to Reno and I think to Atlantic City... Long story short, they let a subcontractor at Circus Circus Reno treat me in a way completely against company policy, when I filed a complaint and tried to transfer, they let the subcontractor fire me... The GM and many other department managers knew my situation, wanted me in their department, but MGM Mirage HR refused to hear my side... So that company can go suffocate on it's own colon, because their heads are up their hind ends.

 

[Dalisclock]

Comcast was one of the companies listed during a period in our training when we were talking about the difference in company service bundles, and I had to laugh when Comcast was brought up, even if their prices are good. My reasoning was because during a time when I had that service for both phone and internet, I lost it without warning. It turned out someone else in my neighbourhood had a delinquent account with them and they had refused to pay up, so they had sent someone out to cut their underground cable... and they accidentally cut mine and left. Despite the fact that they live two houses down the street from me. It took over two weeks to get this fixed back up again, and when I requested compensation they acted offended, like it was MY fault that the cable had been cut. That was the final straw, good prices or no. It wasn't even that stable to begin with, and anyone who does online gaming can agree that stability is seriously important.

I'm sure you already know this but Comcast treats their customers and employees like shit, including the infamous example of the guy who called up to quit the service and the employee kept him on the phone for hours trying to get him to change his mind. Which unfortunately was prompted by the fact Comcast wants everyone to SELL the service, and the employees get punished or fired if costumers leave.

I didn't like them before because of their insistence on bundling everything(I just want Internet, Damnit!) and hearing about that shit just made it worse.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I used to have loyalty and a sort of family like regard to companies when I didn't see shit from their end.
Then I worked in product development for a while and things were much clearer. What you call loyalty means sucker on their end, as long as they have you buying shit by name they know to stick that name on any shit an sell it. Thus I have no loyalty to a particular company, because in 80% of cases the name on the label is not who made that stuff and in 19% of cases they only did light assembly. Also have no particular resentment because this is business and emotions get you just as screwed into or out of a deal.

But I do avoid some companies just for the sake of simplicity and avoiding the odds of getting fucked. I guess the most relevant ones would be EA and Ubisoft, granted there are times when they aren't awful but those are really dumb odds to bet on.

 

[Parasondox]

Currys PC World.

Ever since those two branding merged (thanks Dixons), shit hits the fan. PC World was fine because they had staff who knew what they were doing. Now the majority of staff are just target driven and don't really listen to the customers. Their "Knowhow" system is horse shit!!

So they got my laptop for me and process my order. The first story was at the time I didn't know much about PCs.

Seller: Here we are. For an extra £30 we can set up the laptop for you, if you like?
Me: No thank you. I can set it up myself.
Seller: How can you set it up yourself when your Laptop has no CD drive.
Me: Can't I download the software and put in the code?
Seller: No. Only the CD. I will also install any apps into the laptop because no laptop comes with them pre-installed.

He basically lied and not knowing what I know now back then, I said sure.

Me: How long will this take?
Seller: Cause it's this particular brand and so much to install. 6 hours.
Me: 6 hours!! I can do that at home for way less of the time it takes.
Seller: But as I said before, you have no CD drive. How can you install it?
Me: Okay, you guys are the experts. I'll get it later.

6-7 hours later.

Me: I'm here for my laptop.

They went to the back to check.

A new sales assistant: Sorry, but your laptop is still downloading the applications.
Me: I was told 6 hours by your colleague.
SA: Sorry sir, let me check how long it will take.

Goes to the back and comes back out a few minutes later. Along with the "technician"

SA: It will be about another 30 mins.
Me: Can't I just take it home now and complete it myself?
Technician: That isn't possible sir because if we stop the installation now, it would take about 30 minute to restart the laptop.

Long story short. I waited for it to finish. 8 hours in total I waited, good thing I went in the morning, too the laptop home and WOW were there problems. Certain software applications failed to load, laptop froze too many times, Norton weren't even installed correctly as they only put in the 30 day trial and not the one I paid for. So I did factory setting and reinstalled everything myself along with the code for Norton and guess what, it took an hour and the faults were gone.

It was a fucking mess!! Knowhow my arse. They need to know how to train their staff better and that wasn't the last experience with them either.

After the recent one, if you want to hear it, I just gave up on them.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Currys PC World.

I mean... of all the ones in the thread so far, this one seems like reason to demand a refund. Because you shelled out 30 quid for what was actually pretty shitty service and bordering on fraud. I'm guessing you didn't take it back in to show how it wasn't working and demand the money back, but yikes. I think they can now go on my shit-list.

 

[Metalmacher]

Blacklisting means not buying anything from that store, ever again right? Well, I've got nothing like that. I've got a Redlight list, that is to say, companies who make me wary buying from them because of past exchanges, but if the product they're selling is a good deal I'll still probably buy it, after a thorough investigation. Being any other way seems, to me, to be completely irrational.

 

[KenAri]

Anything that has to ship overseas, because I refuse to use the HMRC overseas thing, here in the UK. They add a BS charge on things that you've already paid shipping on, and then add VAT to that charge. And then the postal service literally won't bring you the item anyway; they sneak up quietly to your door and put a 'Nobody was home' note in your letter box. And then when you go to collect the item you've paid for twice, they add another made-up charge for 'Storage' because it failed to be delivered. A charge which they then add extra VAT on to.


Oh, and Fuckonami.

Edit:

Then there's paypal. Paypal completely screwed me over after I moved to the point I don't really want anything to do with them anymore.
As I quickly found out though, trying to avoid paypal while buying stuff online is getting increasingly difficult.
So I caved on that as well, begrudgingly.
Isn't it fun when a company that has totally pissed you off has such a stranglehold you pretty much can't avoid them? ~sigh~

Could I ask what happened with Paypal? I've always had a pretty positive perception of them. Only positive experiences, at any rate.