# What's the most irksome company you deal with regularly? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794 "2009-10-14T15:41:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/21 "2009-10-15T14:10:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You can define _irksome_ for yourself. Maybe the company sells a crappy product you are nonetheless obliged to use, or has stupid commercials, or a deceptive billing department. The only things that matter is that the company pisses you off regularly, and yet, for whatever reason, you still use their products. > > I’ll start with the obvious one: **Microsoft**. Zeus help me if I ever meet the head of the Office design team, because I’ll be in jail for felonious assault an hour later. I have had many meetings over the past few years with the Office design team\*. There is no real ‘head’ per se. Each product has their own ‘head’. So you have a ‘head’ of Power Point a ‘head’ of Word etc. They are actually very smart people that really try hard. They are very enthusiastic and have a great work ethic. They are also very flexible and always looking for new ways to improve. That being said they self-confess that their main weaknesses are the fact that each team works pretty much alone (they don’t usually work together) and that the engineers pretty much ran the groups (and worked on stuff THEY considered important and not Joe customer) until recently and that it is still hard to get them to listen/move forward with what non-software engineers consider important\*\*. \*I do not work for Microsoft. \*\* Microsoft appears to be delightfully more ‘democratic’ than most companies I’ve worked with. Managers seem to have to be more diplomatic and motivating than most. Joe workers seem to be able to have quite a bit more impact than you would think. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/22 "2009-10-15T14:14:03Z")
Verizon as an internet provider. The test of a service provider, IMO, is when things go poorly, and after a recent “upgrade” of my DSL service, which came with a new modem which was nonfunctional upon receipt, everything went to hell. Instead of having a few hours of downtime for the upgrade and 10x faster DSL afterward, I had five days of spotty service and **nine hours and 48 minutes** on the phone with four heavily accented south Asian tech support people, the first three of whom told me lies, and then finally with someone here in the U.S. who told me the truth and got the new modem sent out to me overnight, solving the problem entirely. It was a great big pile of fail. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/23 "2009-10-15T15:10:33Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > **Comcast**. I have an irrational hate for them. Every year they raise my rates and take a few channels away. Mind you, they are channels I probably won’t \*miss \*- but it pisses me off to pay \*more \*for _less_. I just call them Comcrap for short. I’m basic old-style cable and once they pull either the History or Discovery Channels I’m just going to go back to over-the-air. Everything else I ever watched they have either moved to digital, higher levels or dropped. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/24 "2009-10-15T15:39:35Z")
Apple Computer. Refuse to support their own products and refuse to give clear directions on how to set them up (including a complete lack of basic English skills). Show an utter contempt for anyone who asks any questions, as though if you don’t know, you’re an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/25 "2009-10-17T00:05:44Z")
T-Mobile Comcast - shut off my phone for one overlooked payment; the warning letter came 5 days after it was shut off. I still had a dial tone, so I had no idea no one could reach me for 2 days. Motorola Dell ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/26 "2009-10-17T08:33:14Z")
ICBC As in: Insurance Corporation of British Columbia As in: Socialized, monopolistic, mandatory auto insurance provided by the government. Me: My car was hit and run. ICBC: Oh it was, was it? Me: Uhhh… yes? ICBC: Prove it. Me: Waaah? F\*\*k you guys, I’m getting my insurance somew… oh wait, there is nowhere else. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Donovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@Donovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donovan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/27 "2009-10-17T14:17:24Z")
> [@picker](#): > > For two years it was TDS, who apparently believe trained monkeys are too expensive for their customer support and tech service centers. > > So I switched carriers to AT&T for my DSL. > > Now AT&T holds the title. > > WTF is wrong with telcos? AT&T by a long shot. I deal with them almost every day I work, and unless the problem on a data carrier circuit is a ‘hard down’, 80% of the techs I deal with are just unable to even see a problem, let alone fix it. I suspect AT&T is my most hated because the vast majority of the circuits I work with we get through AT&T; I have had numerous headaches with Verizon and various other carriers as well. I wrote a long response as to the ‘WTF question’ but deleted it when it got into the TL;DR zone. Suffice to say that data transport a lot cheaper and more complex than it was a decade ago, and you get what you pay for. For all of the people complaining about Time Warner, they are my FAVORITE to deal with, but that’s generally working with T3s and above and the service we get from them is expensive compared to other carriers. The whole ‘you get what you pay for’ applies in that case, as well, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/28 "2009-10-18T22:53:51Z")
Thankfully I don’t have to deal with internet support people much, but I have: 1. Been told by someone at D-Link that my wireless card was probably incompatible with iTunes because it was from Apple. The man had literally never heard of iTunes. 2. Been told that kb/s was Kilo-Byte per second. 3. Been lied to by an ATT salesman who said we could get amazing 25Mb/s. I repeated this face to face, and he said it was, as their was a project laying optic fiber in the neighborhood. It was 2.5Mb. 4. Been told that my G wifi card was incompatible with the N wifi gateway, despite the fact that I’d been using both pieces of gear for months. Rebooting my computer solved it, which had never been the problem before, which is why I didn’t think of it. It’s been about 50% helpful and 50% actually obstructive or harmful. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/29 "2009-10-18T22:56:08Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Apple Computer. Refuse to support their own products and refuse to give clear directions on how to set them up (including a complete lack of basic English skills). Show an utter contempt for anyone who asks any questions, as though if you don’t know, you’re an idiot. Wow. Is that Apple employees themselves? I have a buddy who works a phone bank for a contracted support provider. He sounds as American as anyone, and is a real tech type. They must have multiple call centers? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/30 "2009-10-19T02:44:28Z")
I’ve always found that I am better off assuming that technical support for anything will be bad, and learning how to fix most things myself. So I don’t really deal with any company regularly anymore. However, when I do have to deal with tech support, I tend to give them compliments for (not) doing what I (don’t) want them to do before they do it. Like: “It’s so nice to talk to someone who actually knows something about this, and isn’t just following a script.” or “It sounds like you really care, and will do everything you can to help me.” or “Thank you for not making me do something I already did before the call.” No, it doesn’t necessarily stop them from doing it, but it establishes a tone of me respecting them (which they don’t get a lot of) and my not being fooled by stupidity. When they are in a good mood and trust that you know what you are talking about, they seem more likely to transfer your call to someone who can actually fix the problem. As for bad companies, you guys have mentioned pretty much all of them I’ve ever had problems with, except AOL, when they try to charge you after you cancel. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794/31 "2009-10-19T05:40:43Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Verizon as an internet provider. The test of a service provider, IMO, is when things go poorly, and after a recent “upgrade” of my DSL service, which came with a new modem which was nonfunctional upon receipt, everything went to hell. Instead of having a few hours of downtime for the upgrade and 10x faster DSL afterward, I had five days of spotty service and **nine hours and 48 minutes** on the phone with four heavily accented south Asian tech support people, the first three of whom told me lies, and then finally with someone here in the U.S. who told me the truth and got the new modem sent out to me overnight, solving the problem entirely. It was a great big pile of fail. Four years ago I had Verizon provide my DSL, TV, and Landline Phone. After 8 months, I moved one mile away. Notified Verizon by phone three weeks ahead of time, for ease and simplicity etc etc. “Moving? No problem. Let us take care of blah blah blah …” The five-weeks long fiasco that ensued is far too long to relate, and would spike my blood pressure yet again besides. Suffice it to say their Tech Support AND Customer Service were the absolute worst I’ve ever dealt with. Staggering incompetence at every level. I must have dealt with a dozen different representatives, in person and on phone, and no two of them ever told me the same thing. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-irksome-company-you-deal-with-regularly/513794.md?page=1)