Which companies are dead to you?

[prowla]

2 hours ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Status- My Streamline was a bitter disappointment. Sounded OK, but I've heard and owned better. Wasn't happy with the volume jump in the series/parallel switching. Fretboard delamination in several places at once.

Cracks appeared in the lacquer around the bridge monorail. Then the batteries leaked 9 months in... never happened before or since. It was cursed. 

Sold at a horrendous loss. Wouldn't buy another. 

 

Ashdown- Been cut up whilst driving on the highways and byways by Mr Gooday more than once. 

That's reason enough for me...

 

Hastings Insurance- My car was hit by another whilst parked. Only partial details were left,  not including the other party's insurance provider. 

I contacted Hastings (my insurer) to find out who the insurer might be so I could make a claim. Basically was told it was my problem and to go and do one. 

So I have.  You'll not see a single penny of my money again. 

 

KFC- I'd rather starve. 

 

TGI Friday's- Ditto.

My local KFC was pretty grim, I reckon they didn't get the fryers up to temperature, but then I had one a few months ago and it was really good. I had another since and it was OK.

I went to a TGI's last summer and the staff couldn't give a damn; there was some rubbish on the floor and they just kept walking around it or accidentally kicking it. Then one bloke came out from the kitchen, saw it and picked it up and pit it in the bin; I had a chat with him. The food was mediocre and arrived warm because the staff were too busy talking to bring it to my table. My son came over and wanted to go there last week and I said I don't think so.

[prowla]

Parking companies: I was out and looking for a place to eat and pulled into a Miller's Steak House, but the car park was plastered with signs warning of fines, saying register by phone and so-on, but that it could be validated by the restaurant. That sounded like a proper faff - did I have to register by phone and then get the restaurant to validate it or what? So I just turned the car around and left.

I'd been to another shopping precinct and its car park had a parking limit and I was worried if I ate there I might overstay, so i left too.

[itu]

Smith and Jones talked about Renault 5...

 

Electrorux delivered me a dishwasher that had electricity connected to the metal cover, and the ON/OFF switch had failed. I reclaimed the company, but they said I have to call a repairman!

NEVER EVER AGAIN!

 

Never. Ever.

 

Never. Ever.

 

Dyson's vacuums use all their electrical power to make an incredible amount of noise. No suction power at all. I managed to sell the top of the line unit to a colleague. She does not talk to me anymore.

 

Philips was said earlier, MTV, ikea, and Yahaya turntables (including cartridges) belong to the same trash. All is the same Chinese crab. I also hate this T9 predictive text system (actually: the chastity corrector).

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

19 minutes ago, itu said:

 

 

Dyson's vacuums use all their electrical power to make an incredible amount of noise. No suction power at all. I managed to sell the top of the line unit to a colleague. She does not talk to me anymore.

😂😂I'm really sorry , but I think this is the winning post in this thread 

 

[neepheid]

3 minutes ago, RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE said:

I'm really sorry , but I think this is the winning post in this thread 

 

I don't think so.  Mine works fine, ergo the post is bollox.

 

Also, judging by the spelling, I think @itu has had a few shandies...

[StingRayBoy42]

35 minutes ago, itu said:

 I managed to sell the top of the line unit to a colleague. She does not talk to me anymore.

Sounds like you're Dyson with death...

[Bassfinger]

IKEA, McDonalds in Wokverton, Scottish Power.

[StingRayBoy42]

I'm selling my Dyson, it's only gathering dust.

[mcnach]

Rickenbacker - because John Hall

 

Wetherspoons - because of Timmy, and because why would I do that to myself anyway?

 

Scottish Power - redefining 'useless' in incredibly imaginative ways

 

SSE - useless as above, but also a bit dumb... it worked out great when they refused my money despite my insistence, but it could have gone the other way just as easily... I got caught in a surreal situation where my supplier (SSE) thought I had ceased to be their customer and moved to Eon. To cut the story EXTREMELY SHORT, as it wasn't as simple as it sounds oh no!, Eon knew nothing about me and according to them they had never dealt with my address or myself, ever. The whole thing took a couple of months to come to some semblance of resolution: according to SSE I ceased to be their customer for a period of X weeks, I forget the number, but I returned. So the £161 or so from the gap due to the time they considered I wasn't their customer, was not theirs and they refunded me. I didn't owe them that money, they said, I wasn't their customer then, they insisted.

Meanwhile, Eon was sitting down listening, vaguely amused... and they just stood up and left, shaking their head. Thank you SSE for the £161, but you showed me that should I have a problem where I'm losing money, I'd be fooked, and for that reason, I'm out. 

 

Hewlett Packard - frustratingly quirky

 

I was going to say Apple as I've been very much anti-Mac since around 1990 for most of the reasons already mentioned... but I have an existential problem: they make a few things VERY very well, and (I feel dirty) I have been considering giving them my money recently. 

 

Cillit Bang - because of the annoying TV guy...

 

UKMail - the fact they're still 'functioning' amazes me. I could write a book with my dealings with that (spit) company. But it would be an extremely boring book that nobody in their right mind would buy  

 

 

 

 

 

[prowla]

Hewlett Packard - now there's a company that went from hero to zero. I used to work a lot with their kit and then the Carly Fiorino person took over and things got all wobbly. They then made the mistake of firing one of their execs for expensing a "good time" in Vegas, but unfortunately he was a pal of the Oracle boss man who said Oracle were no longer supporting HP so their customer base disappeared. They acquired one of the consultancy companies and made a stab at it, but I don't think people were buying. What was their offices in Bracknell has now been demolished and I think a warehouse or storage facility has been built in its place.

Oracle then went on to buy Sun Microsystems and killed that product, then they restructured their pricing (again) to fleece their customers, so the customers stepped away. I don't know if the Sun brand still exists.

Oh, and talking of database companies, Informix was one who got it completely wrong: they had a great product but then decided that they were going to tell all of their customers that they were doing fundamental changes which meant they had to completely re-think their strategy and architecture; well, the customers went elsewhere (ironically to Oracle!). IBM bought Informix at some point, but I think they just let it fade away into oblivion.

ICL - I did some work for them, but the place was just full of grey people straightening paperclips. When my contract was approaching the end I said I was going to move on and they said "but we need you to stay"; I pointed out that I had done about 3 days work in the 6 months I had been there, so I didn't think they really did need me. They were later taken over by Fujitsu. And no, I wasn't on the Post Office side of things - I was working on a system pulling call records from telephony networks.

[Paul S]

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.

[Shambo]

On 23/02/2024 at 12:48, jezzaboy said:

Kwik fit. Around 2005 my wife took our Ford Focus in for its mot. They said to her it needed £600 worth of work as the brake disc, drums on the back, pads  and shocks needed changed. Took it to a local garage that was recomended by a friend and it passed its mot easily. And the garage has looked after our cars ever since. The mechanic in my local place said that KF were notorious for trying to rip folk especially women off.

 

On 23/02/2024 at 13:28, JazzyJ said:

I found myself in the unfortunate situation of working for Kwik-Fit for a few months after they bought out a decent fast fit that I had been with for 13yrs. What we were told to do by management to rip folk off was shocking. I didn't hang around long. AVOID at all times.

 

That reminds me of possibly the worst service I ever got.

 

I booked a full service & MOT at my local Kwik-Fit. Three months in advance to coincide with a week off I'd booked to do some life laundry.

 

At 10am I parked my Fiesta out front and went in to reception to ask for said service & MOT and the chap behind the counter immediately proclaimed that "we don't do servicing here 'cause we don't have a servicing engineer".

OK I thought, that's a bit crap. You took my money and you had plenty of time to warn me. Perhaps they quit recently? I don't know, but I'll still needed an MOT regardless.

"Yeah, the thing is, the MOT tester hasn't turned up yet either. You can leave your car and see if they turn up in a bit. I'll give you a ring if they don't".

 

Reluctantly I agreed, left my keys and went to hop on a bus. Half an hour later on said bus, they called to tell me the MOT tester had rang in sick, so I should fetch my car.

I got on the next bus back and went back into reception. Chap behind the counter booked another MOT for 10am two days later.

 

I pulled up two days later and the whole building was still locked up. I approached the car out front and inside were two young lads in kwik-fit shirts smoking a joint and giggling.

"Yeah mate. The fella with the keys hasn't turned up again"

 

I drove home defeated and rang Kwik-Fit customer services to tell them my whole sorry story. Thing is, they immediately apologised profusely, booked me in for the service and MOT at another Kwik Fit on the other side of the city and gave me a partial refund. The other place did a great job and turned it round in two days (my car failed and needed two new rear suspension springs which they fitted free of charge).

 

That's when I learned that all Kwik-Fit's are not created equally. Some are good and some are beyond bad.

They don't make my sh*t list created from my own hubris, but they're on a different list of companies that I can't trust.

Edited February 25 by Shambo

[Newfoundfreedom]

On 23/02/2024 at 23:56, Norris said:

"Hello this is Currys customer services, how can I help?"

 

"You've been taking a direct debit from my account for years, as far back as I can see in my statements. I don't use that account for direct debits, and never, ever buy extended warranties"

 

"I'll get that stopped and refund it all back to you"

 

Obviously not the first time they had a conversation like that, but a nice surprise that they handed my money back without hassle. Actually some good customer service for a change but I still haven't bought anything from them since

 

Vodafone - Exactly the same reason.

 

For a long time in my life I never checked my back statements. When I finally did I saw a monthly £10 charge from Vodafone. I hadn't even had a Vodafone contract for over 3 years. When I disputed the charge with Vodafone they said I had signed up to an extended warranty. I knew this was a lie because it's something I never have, and would never do for any product. So I asked them to produce the contract as proof. A couple of weeks later I received a cheque for just under £500. 

 

It was a nice little savings scheme I didn't even know I was in. But it makes me wonder how many other people have been ripped off without realising it. 

[prowla]

13 minutes ago, Shambo said:

 

 

That reminds me of possibly the worst service I ever got.

 

I booked a full service & MOT at my local Kwik-Fit. Three months in advance to coincide with a week off I'd booked to do some life laundry.

 

At 10am I parked my Fiesta out front and went in to reception to ask for said service & MOT and the chap behind the counter immediately proclaimed that "we don't do servicing here 'cause we don't have a servicing engineer".

OK I thought, that's a bit crap. You took my money and you had plenty of time to warn me. Perhaps they quit recently? I don't know, but I'll still needed an MOT regardless.

"Yeah, the thing is, the MOT tester hasn't turned up yet either. You can leave your car and see if they turn up in a bit. I'll give you a ring if they don't".

 

Reluctantly I agreed, left my keys and went to hop on a bus. Half an hour later on said bus, they called to tell me the MOT tester had rang in sick, so I should fetch my car.

I got on the next bus back and went back into reception. Chap behind the counter booked another MOT for 10am two days later.

 

I pulled up two days later and the whole building was still locked up. I approached the car out front and inside were two young lads in kwik-fit shirts smoking a joint and giggling.

"Yeah mate. The fella with the keys hasn't turned up again"

 

I drove home defeated and rang Kwik-Fit customer services to tell them my whole sorry story. Thing is, they immediately apologised profusely, booked me in for the service and MOT at another Kwik Fit on the other side of the city and gave me a partial refund. The other place did a great job and turned it round in two days (my car failed and needed two new rear suspension springs which they fitted free of charge).

 

That's when I learned that all Kwik-Fit's are not created equally. Some are good and some are beyond bad.

They don't make my sh*t list created from my own hubris, but they're on a different list of companies that I can't trust.

I've had good and bad at Kwik-Fit.

I had the Bracknell one do my tracking; it took several hours and they didn't do a good job of it.

I've been to the Reading one and there is one bloke there who really knows what he's doing, but he's been promoted so you have to make sure you get him and his full attention; the 2nd time I went there it took 3 attempts before I made sure it was him and he really did it.

[JazzyJ]

Re Kwik Fit. It was 25yrs ago when I worked for them briefly. Vehicle servicing wasn't on the menu then, the 'technicians' earned bonus targeting the higher profit margin work. £1 per tracking, £2 per shock absorber etc, you get the idea. Problem was the decent guys left because they took pride in their work and mot testers, of which I were one, were pressured into failing things unnecessarily. Oh and our depot manager smoking weed alongside the young lads and the regional manager was ex DFS salesman. I departed to pastures new and never looked back. 

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, Paul S said:

Oh, while I am here - another 'Spoons veto. 

 

I hope you're talking about Wetherspoons, and not The Inevitable Teaspoons!

 

(we often get shortened to 'Spoons - it caught my eye)

[Paul S]

7 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

I hope you're talking about Wetherspoons, and not The Inevitable Teaspoons!

 

(we often get shortened to 'Spoons - it caught my eye)

 

That's bad luck!

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, Paul S said:

 

That's bad luck!

 

TBF it's usually "The 'Spoons", I don't think Wetherspoons is posh enough to have "The" in front of it

 

[lurksalot]

I can’t believe no-one has mentioned OVO yet , they were a total PITA to deal with. 
 

[Newfoundfreedom]

30 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

I can’t believe no-one has mentioned OVO yet , they were a total PITA to deal with. 
 

 

What's an OVO?

[Lfalex v1.1]

Energy Supplier.

 

And they ARE difficult to contact/ deal with.  They just don't want to know. 

[Marky L]

1 hour ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

 

Vodafone - Exactly the same reason.

 

For a long time in my life I never checked my back statements. When I finally did I saw a monthly £10 charge from Vodafone. I hadn't even had a Vodafone contract for over 3 years. When I disputed the charge with Vodafone they said I had signed up to an extended warranty. I knew this was a lie because it's something I never have, and would never do for any product. So I asked them to produce the contract as proof. A couple of weeks later I received a cheque for just under £500. 

 

It was a nice little savings scheme I didn't even know I was in. But it makes me wonder how many other people have been ripped off without realising it. 

 

Having worked at Vodafone UK HQ in Newbury a good few years back, I can fully believe that.

 

At that time there were a number of billing platforms with all sorts of weird and wonderful tariffs on them. These billing platforms were not compatible with each other. The Consumer and the Business departments didn't work together. There were a number of special tariffs for bulk buying resellers (virtual networks) like Tesco Mobile and the like. These pricings actually undercut the Business prices and caused endless issues.

 

Oh and of course Vodafone Global HQ was in the same complex in Newbury. Lots of infighting and of course corporate climbers throwing colleagues under the bus so they could crawl a bit further up the ladder.

 

I think the other main networks weren't much better.

[tegs07]

Just my tupence worth. Pretty much every large company is in a race to the bottom in terms of customer service. Whether they appear on these pages is probably more due to people falling foul of whatever workflow or process they use to extract cash and provide the most basic service they can get away with.

[BassFace1991]

On 23/02/2024 at 12:39, Aidan63 said:

Blackstar amplification

 

bought a Fly3 twin set up, use it as PC monitor speakers and for noodling on guitar a bit

 

power supply failed after getting increasingly noisy over time

 

odd voltage 6.5V, highish current, opposite polarity on the connector, so basically unique. Thing is plastic welded sealed unit, and they don't offer a repair service. £30 for a new one, no discount even though I registered as owner when I bought the pack new. Every thing should be repairable where possible. I had a to and fro exchange with customer service, no deal to be done, the script allowed no flexibility, so  told them I won't be buying anything they make again, they didn't bother to reply, they don't care. The power supply costs more than a single amp combo and they go for decent money on ebay, occasionally non UK market ones turn up listed on there so they are sought after, partly because you can buy the amp on its own without p/s and use it on batteries but also because the p/s fails, went down the rabbit hole online to find plenty of other examples of failure.

 

I bought a non genuine p/s half the price delivered from Holland, so far so good. It's a nice sounding speaker set/amp, just galling they don't use a common standard power supply like most pedal makers, but that would be too easy of course.

With you on blackstar. Did a "tour" last year and they supplied the amps. First night the bass amp just started buzzing as soon as I plugged into it. Ended up using my amp for the rest of the shows. A couple of nights later the guitar amp just died. I will never spend a penny on their shite.

 

On a different note a local music shop. (I'm not going to name). They were very good up to this point. I was a teenager at the time looking through CDs and I guess I must have lost track of time or something and must have been in there longer than they liked because suddenly the lady behind the counter comes up and snootily says "This isn't a bus stop". Being a shy teenager at the time I just left. If it happened now she would have got a mouthful. It shut down not long after that.

[JohnH89]

Another vote for Scottish power . Taking incompetence to another level . But favourite of all is an energy company called BES . Criminally dishonest . Failed to honour a contract that put me out of business. I won't go into details here . Customer service was like trying to reason with a seagull . May they all rot in hell .