Which companies are dead to you?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

That reminds me I once ordered a tyre online for my son's car from blackcircles, but made the big mistake to book the fitting at Halfords. Even though we turned up at the appointed time and the tyre had already been delivered, we had to wait three hours for it to be fitted. Other times when I've chosen any other fitter via blackcircles I've been in & out in about twenty minutes.

[Buddster]

If Trump is reelected, America is dead to me. 

[asingardenof]

6 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

That reminds me I once ordered a tyre online for my son's car from blackcircles, but made the big mistake to book the fitting at Halfords. Even though we turned up at the appointed time and the tyre had already been delivered, we had to wait three hours for it to be fitted. Other times when I've chosen any other fitter via blackcircles I've been in & out in about twenty minutes.

That sort of issue could happen anywhere though. I recently booked my tyre fitting through Asda at Wilco Motosave, who are normally very good, but they forgot to book me a fitting slot, so I wasted three hours of my afternoon, and at the end of it my steering wheel isn't straight.

Edited March 4 by asingardenof
punctuation

[MiltyG565]

On 22/02/2024 at 22:47, lozkerr said:

I have a few:

 

*snip*

 

BT, for being the worst employer I've ever experienced. Not so much lions led by donkeys as experts gaslit by sociopaths. On my last day, I nuked my laptop and Blackberry for no other reason than pure spite.

When I started reading this thread, I immediately thought BT. I worked for them for 2 years, and it was a horrendous experience. The company, as a whole, has an extremely poor culture and terrible management. And as if them driving me crazy as an employee wasn’t bad enough, more recently they accused my brother of committing fraud against me, and stuck to this story for several months in the face of my remonstrations that their website was faulty. Only after getting my MP involved did they listen, and very shortly after launching an internal investigation did they realise that I was completely right, and they had actually compromised the security of my account, and I suspect probably all their customers accounts. They still continued to say my brother committed fraud against me. Shocking and awful organisation.

 

Also, Charles Hurst. They’re a major car dealership in Northern Ireland (specifically Belfast), and they are a large part of the Boucher Road complex, which is apparently the biggest car retail complex in Europe. I don’t know a single person who has a good story to tell about them, but personally, they’ve lied to me several times about what needed done on my car, they’ve overcharged me, and they’ve not done the work to an acceptable standard either. I haven’t gone back to them since the time I asked them to recharge my air-con and they said I needed £1,200 worth of work done - I said to leave it, and I decided to simply drive around in, at times, a very warm car for a year. One day, I took it to a little place in an industrial estate that mainly does radiators for commercial vehicles and I told them what Charles Hurst had told me, and that I didn’t believe them. They hooked a pressure gauge onto it, and asked me when I had it in Charles Hurst. “That was a year ago” says I. “Well, it’s held a vacuum for a year then, so it’s grand”. He turned the tap on the bottle of gas, and ice cold air flowed into the cabin almost immediately, and that was it. That was nearly 2 years ago now, and it’s still working perfectly. The fact that I know a good bit about cars served me well, but I can see a good few people getting caught out by unscrupulous dealerships.

 

Also, P&O. Not that I really make that many ferry crossings anyway, but they way they unceremoniously sacked all their staff, with zero warning, and then hired in underpaid foreign mariners to replace them all, was disgusting, and nothing but an insult to the maritime industry and all decent people. May they go out of business.

[SH73]

Microsoft 

[chriswareham]

16 minutes ago, SH73 said:

Microsoft 

 

Careful, if you say that three times while looking at your computer something bad happens.

[LowB_FTW]

4 minutes ago, chriswareham said:

 

Careful, if you say that three times while looking at your computer something bad happens.

It takes a whole lot less than that for something bad to happen at your computer if you're running Windows. 😂

 

Mark

[Kowad]

10 hours ago, SH73 said:

Microsoft 

Spent my last £1k on a top end Dell that was meant to see me through a masters and PhD in 2006-7. Timing was peak Vista, it crashed about once a day, and had the blue screen of death needing a full factory reset at least once a week!

 

Before I bought it, other students had recommended macs, and I was fully “nah! Look how much better the specs are on this dell!” But within 12 months I’d bought my first Mac and I still buy my own macs so I can continue to avoid my employer’s freely provided windows machines 👀

 

Windows trauma. I swear. 

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

7 hours ago, Kowad said:

Spent my last £1k on a top end Dell that was meant to see me through a masters and PhD in 2006-7. Timing was peak Vista, it crashed about once a day, and had the blue screen of death needing a full factory reset at least once a week!

 

Before I bought it, other students had recommended macs, and I was fully “nah! Look how much better the specs are on this dell!” But within 12 months I’d bought my first Mac and I still buy my own macs so I can continue to avoid my employer’s freely provided windows machines 👀

 

Windows trauma. I swear. 

Yes , windows are a pane 

[Minininjarob]

9 hours ago, Kowad said:

Spent my last £1k on a top end Dell that was meant to see me through a masters and PhD in 2006-7. Timing was peak Vista, it crashed about once a day, and had the blue screen of death needing a full factory reset at least once a week!

 

Before I bought it, other students had recommended macs, and I was fully “nah! Look how much better the specs are on this dell!” But within 12 months I’d bought my first Mac and I still buy my own macs so I can continue to avoid my employer’s freely provided windows machines 👀

 

Windows trauma. I swear. 

It was the Dell which was the problem not Microsoft!!

[chriswareham]

1 hour ago, Minininjarob said:

It was the Dell which was the problem not Microsoft!!

Never had a problem with Dell equipment, either servers or laptops. However, Vista was a complete fustercluck by MicroSoft. They released the minimum and recommended specs for the upcoming release of Vista, but the specs turned out to be completely inadequate to run it in a reasonably productive manner. There were lawsuits over that, as well as the claim that any machine made since 2005 would run it well.

[StingRayBoy42]

I had a laptop that wouldn't stop playing Someone like you.

I think it was A Dell.

[mr4stringz]

4 hours ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

Yes , windows are a pane 

UnderRayted comment.

[Mickyk]

On 25/02/2024 at 08:17, Paul S said:

I'll add my Scottish Power veto to the growing list.   Long story short, we bought a house which was demolished and all the services notified, final meter readings done etc.  4 months later we got a gas bill from them and despite numerous phone calls, live chat exchanges, photograph of disconnected meter sitting on a heap of rubble, plus a complaint, it took a letter to the CEO to stop the demands for payment.  And someone still called round to do a reading about a year on.  Could have done without the hassle.

 

Oh, while I am here - another 'Spoons veto.  Not because of the way they treated staff but because the food was absolute sh!te on the single occasion I ate in one.  Thought I'd play it safe with burger and chips but they still managed to ruin it.  Worst food I have ever eaten out, I'd hesitate before feeding it to foxes.

?Nowt to do with Brexit then.😁

[tauzero]

Davenports. Not only for brewing beer that should be illegal under the Geneva Convention on chemical weapons, but also if your website is a .co.uk website for a brewery based in the UK, giving one's date of birth for age verification should be dd/mm/yyyy not the bloody stupid Yank mm/dd/yyyy.

[12stringbassist]

Blackstar.
Utter garbage bass gear.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I didn't even know blackstar did any bass gear apart from the Amplug thingy

[Kowad]

On 25/02/2024 at 08:17, Paul S said:

I'll add my Scottish Power veto to the growing list.   Long story short, we bought a house which was demolished and all the services notified, final meter readings done etc.  4 months later we got a gas bill from them and despite numerous phone calls, live chat exchanges, photograph of disconnected meter sitting on a heap of rubble, plus a complaint, it took a letter to the CEO to stop the demands for payment.  And someone still called round to do a reading about a year on.  Could have done without the hassle.

Oh I’ll add to this. I was responsible for dual fuel at a house for one week.

 

I got start and end readings. You’d think it’s that simple right? Only they f***ed up the start and end dates and then closed the account with estimated readings. They were then (they said!) unable to change the dates on a closed account.
 

I worked out what I owed cost per unit, daily standing charge, VAT), I’m going to guess it took 3 months to sort out with perhaps 40 emails and a good few phone calls. And multiple - multiple! - photos of the meters.
 

They even denied that the meter in the photo was the meter they had the serial number for in the house at one point, I can only quote my response, “that is a you problem.”

Edited April 21 by Kowad

[Baloney Balderdash]

Everything Mike Suggerbarf and El Ron Muff touch.

 

Mircosoft and Gill Baits ought to be dead too, but can't be assed to go through the inconvenience of Linux. 

 

And can't live without Gööggels, but that ought to die as well.

 

Politics Inc. for most parts too. 

 

Most big corporate business is a parasitic scam really, and sadly that includes politicians for most parts as well.

 

Heck, the whole so called "Civilization" is a scam, as far as I am concerned.

 

No wonder Trump and his associated conspiracist got such a hold on people, though they are a scam too, just lucrating on the fact that people have been lied to for basically thousands of years.

 

 

Edited April 22 by Baloney Balderdash

[Jack]

Scan Computers.

Sold me a faulty power supply, no problem there things happen and there's no way a retailer is going to unbox and check everything they get in. However, when I tired to return it they claimed that I'd broken it and that I should have purchased their 'scansure' insurance that protects against installation damage. Wouldn't budge. In the end I got my money back from the credit card people rather than the shop. I am the 'computer guy' in my circle of friends and family, and I tell this story every time I can. I know I have funneled quite literally tens of thousands of pounds away from Scan and towards Overclockers, Palicomp Aria (rip) and the like. Not that it seems to have hurt them, but you shouldn't rip people off.

 

3.

I got a brand new (and at the time top of the line) Nokia N96 in about 2008 when I was at uni. It hardly ever worked, went back and forwards in for repair and I didn't have it for 5 of my first 7 months. No courtesy phone either, despite paying what was a top-tier price at the time. The final straw was when I was a designated first aider on an open day and one of the parents on one of our tours had a heart attack on campus. The tour guide called me, lots, my phone didn't react. Later on that night I got about 17 missed calls. This was outdoors, in the middle of Newcastle, and my phone was reporting full signal. I told 3 I was done and I was cancelling my contract. They said I couldn't. I said (over the course of weeks and many emails) that they were charging me for something they weren't providing. When this got nowhere I just cancelled my direct debit, which started the letters, bailiff threats, credit score threats, the works. Eventually someone called saying they were taking me to court, I gleefully accepted and asked them to please send times and dates. 4 months of no contact except regular letters (from 3, not any government body) that my court case was coming up. Three days before the supposed court date the head of UK operations called me, refunded me all my money and said I could keep the handset. Technically this one ended ok and 3 did the right thing in the end, but it took me about a year and a half of stress so I'm never going there again.

Edited April 22 by Jack

[Jack]

7 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

Mircosoft and Gill Baits ought to be dead too, but can't be assed to go through the inconvenience of Linux.

I have been Windows-free (aside from the occasional gaming pc) since 2007.

 

I boot up my gaming rig once a week or so to play and it's just horrible. There was a time when Linux was an inconvenience compared to Windows, I was there, but those days are long gone. Modern distros like Mint and Ubuntu are user friendly in ways that leave Windows in the dust. What Windows has going for it is momentum: one knows how to do something on Windows almost by muscle memory, so Linux seems harder. It's not.

[neepheid]

2 minutes ago, Jack said:

Scan Computers.

Sold me a faulty power supply, no problem there things happen and there's no way a retailer is going to unbox and check everything they get in. However, when I tired to return it they claimed that I'd broken it and that I should have purchased their 'scansure' insurance that protects against installation damage. Wouldn't budge. In the end I got my money back from the credit card people rather than the shop. I am the 'computer guy' in my circle of friends and family, and I tell this story every time I can. I know I have funneled quite literally tens of thousands of pounds away from Scan and towards Overclockers, Palicomp Aria (rip) and the like. Not that it seems to have hurt them, but you shouldn't rip people off.

 

This is what they don't understand - the reputational damage caused by accusing your customers of incompetence/dishonesty.  They won't care, because they're a big fish in a small pond and there's not a super amount of choice in these specialist markets.  Still sucks though.  I'm kinda out of the game right now, but I will take what you say into consideration when next I need computer bits and bobs.

[Jack]

4 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

This is what they don't understand - the reputational damage caused by accusing your customers of incompetence/dishonesty.  They won't care, because they're a big fish in a small pond and there's not a super amount of choice in these specialist markets.  Still sucks though.  I'm kinda out of the game right now, but I will take what you say into consideration when next I need computer bits and bobs.

Speak as you find. They are an award-winning, successful business with what must be millions of satisfied customers. Whomever dealt with me 15 or so years ago has probably moved on from the job.

 

Me and my brothers have a weekly gaming night on a Wednesday that started during the pandemic. Middle brother spent about £850 on a 4070ti super a few weeks ago. From Overclockers. Because, as a family, we know that Scan can be dishonest at times.

[tegs07]

14 minutes ago, Jack said:

I have been Windows-free (aside from the occasional gaming pc) since 2007.

 

I boot up my gaming rig once a week or so to play and it's just horrible. There was a time when Linux was an inconvenience compared to Windows, I was there, but those days are long gone. Modern distros like Mint and Ubuntu are user friendly in ways that leave Windows in the dust. What Windows has going for it is momentum: one knows how to do something on Windows almost by muscle memory, so Linux seems harder. It's not.

Microsoft has moved a long, long way from a PC operating system. I can’t explain just how much an E5 license brings to an organisation.

 

 

Microsoft has been phenomenal in reading the direction of travel in technology. 

Edited April 22 by tegs07

[Jack]

28 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Microsoft has moved a long, long way from a PC operating system...

I think you think that's a pro, when it's actually a con.

 

28 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

.. I can’t explain just how much an E5 license brings to an organisation.

 

 

Microsoft has been phenomenal in reading the direction of travel in technology.

I'm a digital learning consultant by trade. Whilst I'm not technically an IT professional I am IT-adjacent and I fully appreciate the benefits of integration and management for an organisation. Active directory, single sign on and centralised MFA are all very useful tools to name just 3 and I do appreciate that my job would be extremely different without Teams. I might actually have to go into the office. Like, in town. My work provides a Thinkpad, it's a great piece of hardware and the Windows stuff doesn't bother me because I don't have to manage it. But I did have to wait 4 days last week for someone to reinstall Adobe Creative Cloud because a mandatory Windows update had broken CC, which meant that I couldn't actually use any of the Adobe apps that were already installed and working fine on my PC. But, the apps rely on CC... This is an Adobe problem for sure but if I hadn't been forced to upgrade and if all of the updaters actually talked to each other then we wouldn't have had this problem. Like, I dunno. sudo apt-get upgrade?

 

However, firstly all of those management things are possible on Linux too. Hell, our Windows servers are all virtualised anyway, running on Linux machines for stability. And secondly, none of that matters for a home user. Home users want to turn a computer on, have it work, and do something. They don't need an AI assistant, adverts, integration with xbox, adverts, candy crush, adverts, a million free trials, adverts, forced updates, adverts, an army of widgets vying for attention, adverts, everything starting on startup, adverts, antivirus software, or adverts. And if they do, they can install them. The one thing that seems as though it would be really useful to low IT capital personal users is Office 365, particularly having files saved in the cloud. But nobody seems to understand how that works!

Edited April 22 by Jack