Big Business Suck!

Here are two more examples of bad customer service experiences with big telecom companies who don’t give a crap. One’s with AT&T, the other with Sprint.

Here’s hoping that Google can shake up the industry (and not just become one of them).

Sears’ bad customer service, shoddy products catching up with them.  3rd quarter profits plunge from $196 million last year to $2 million. [nytimes]

Not to pick on Sears, no, wait, we are picking on them just because there’s so much fodder to choose from, but Kmart (part of Sears after merger several years ago) can’t even get their credit card system right, never mind their customer service.  Melees occur as a result.  [link]

And speaking of fodder, here’s new Sears fodder from the Consumerist.

Best Buy with their bathroom tiles and Circuit City with their door nazis are pretty sucky. Walmart is also up there with their typical evil behavior and general ghettoness. But from all corners of the web, reports of Sears’ suckage abound. Shoddy products, rude technicians, bad customer service, missed service appointments, it’s just incompetence galore at Sears!

Sears hangs up on you because they forgot to mail the replacement part

How Sears ruined my life

Elliptical Wars: My On-going Struggle with Sears

Sears dishwasher troubles

Sears central air system troubles

A 78-year old woman has been saving 10 years for this Alaskan cruise, but misses it due to a missed airline connection. The airline does it part and refunds the missed flight connection, albeit to Princess, but Princess refuses to refund any part of the cruise price, including the airline refund that they received.

OK, it’s in writing and company policy is one thing, but have a heart! [link]

They say they’re just “unintentional mistakes”, but somehow, I don’t believe them. Do you? [link]

Legally, Walmart may be in the right. But geez. Just more proof that big business suck. [WSJ]

Wonder why? Could it be that their on-time arrival performance is abyssmal? [BizJournals.com]

A reader writes in:

“I have a rant about BofA. I had 2 checking accounts with BofA after combining finances after marriage. I closed one of them and suddenly I can’t access the BillPay service from their website anymore. I called their customer service and spent an hour being transferred from one person to the next, because I always ended up talking with someone in the “east coast” department who can’t help me; only the “California” department can help me. So they would transfer me to the “California” department, and I would just get another person in the east coast department. They would transfer me again and the call would either be disconnected or it would be the east coast department again. After being disconnected, I would call the supposed “California” direct number they gave me. But it was the east coast dept again, over and over, transfer after transfer.

I must have talked with over 7 people and been disconnected 5 times over the course of an hour. You know what? I give up. After evaluating my options, I noticed that my mostly dormant credit union account has recently added a bill pay service of their own so I’m going to use them instead now. And since my former MBNA credit card is now BofA, I’m also going to cancel that and use another credit card. It’s not like their service has been stellar over the years, so I’m done with BofA.”

This is just ridiculous [Consumerist]