Companies that have screwed you

I'm in with the Bank of America haters. Had an MBNA line of credit that BOA assumed when they bought out MBNA. Couldn't take dealing with the BOA customer service reps anymore. So, I just borrowed against my 401k and got the hell away from them. Never will do business with them again.

 

I'm just hanging onto my BoA card until the summer (don't want a credit card cancellation shortly before applying for a mortgage on my credit report). They tried screwing me over... moved up my due date to a week earlier than it was with MBNA. So I mail out the payment as usual thinking its on-time. Following month I get hit with a late fee because the payment was a day late. I called, raised hell that they changed the due date on me and I shouldn't be charged a late fee. Because I had a solid on-time payment history they waived the late fee and changed the due date back to what it was.

 

Wachovia sucks ass, too. I'm thinking about leaving but it's just so damn cumbersome. At least I know not to go to Bank of America.

 

Corestates was good, but when they were bought out by First Union I got hit with some bullshit service charges and left them. Then Wachovia bought out First Union and I haven't considered going back. It's also what caused the names of the facilities in Philly to change so often (from the Corestates Center to the FUC - First Union Center to the Wachovia Center)

 

Nationwide Insurance. After faithfully paying them on time for 12 years without a ticket or accident, they turn cocksucker on me because Mrs. Petty had two no-fault accidents in one year. They didn't have to pay a single dime in either instance since Mrs. Petty was run into each time, yet they decided to shove it up my ass nonetheless.

 

Fresh Direct (a grocery delivery service)
Citibank -- repeatedly had finance charges despite never running a credit card balance

 

I used to let these companies walk all over me, but no more. In the past two years I've beat down Dell, the local phone company, and US Airways, getting Dell to fix the damn computer I bought for free and come to my house to do it, getting the phone company to install DSL service along about a three-mile stretch of road that I live on that they had spent two years saying was impossible, and after going through a nightmarish vacation return on US Airways the day they merged their computer system with Air West, getting a $1400 return flight refund plus $1200 in vouchers - essentially a full credit for the original cost of our three round trips.

You CAN NOT give into these guys - ever. They depend on that. You have to be relentless, research them like you're a stalker and act like a reporter on a story. Virtually every sizeable company has some regulatory or legal issue pending either before congress or a state regulatory commission. Take note of this and mention that in your letters - they do not want trouble at this level. The time their lawyers have to take to deal with this stiff is costly, usually far more than the cost to them to get rid of you. You have to file complaints with governmental agencies, your congressman and senators and local state politicians as well as company CEOs, CFOs, Board Chairmen, Customer Service VP's, etc. Take notes every step of the way as soon as you sense a possible problem, get the name of everyone you speak to, the time, and who you wrote and when. Let them know you are a journalist and that you have taken meticulous notes. Contact local consumer protections groups, local televised media and sizeable newspapers - almost every issue like this has a local angle and there is usually a reporter covering that beat. Don't threaten, just tell them what you are going to do. Stay away from legal threats as this can cause them to stop any dialogue, but on every letter you write or e-mail you send, have a long list of "cc:'s."

I thank Dell for teaching me the way. It took me nearly 18 hours on the phone, forty pages of e-mail and inumerable letters, but I won. After that the phone company was easier and US Airways easier still as I got more comfortable and wise about fighting back. Getting US Airways to do the right thing only took me two hours to write up the experience and another two to accumulate a list of people, agencies etc. to send it to.

 

My Blockbuster boycott has entered its seventh year...

 

I recently rented a blockbuster movie, didn't return it on time and was all set to do it ... until my wife came home and said it wasn't there anymore. Then I checked the next nearest store and it was gone, too.
Guess I'll keep the movie. Not sure what else to do.
Unfortunately for me, it wasn't something memorable or significant. I'm stuck with Nacho Libre.

 

nice story. seriously. but some of us have lives and are too busy to spend this kind of time on shit like this, especially when we're getting shafted by a different corporation once every couple of months.

that said, can anyone say good things about a big corporation - not as in you had one or two good experiences, but like you and your friends and/or family have repeatedly patronized them and never had any problems? probably not.

 

The blockbuster near me did the same thing. I left for a trip one weekend, came back two days later, and the entire space was gutted... I'm talking EVERYTHING gone. Big empty room. It was like they packed up in the middle of the night. No advance notice that they were going out of business or anything. I wish I'd have rented something first...

 

I guess I will throw in on Best Buy.

My wife was looking for a laptop and was unhappy with the way the kid (inevitably) treated her when she went in to look.

We scratched them off the list without much regret and bought direct from the manufacturer.