Your corporate sh*tlist

Which companies really annoy you? Which companies do you secretly (or openly) hope will go bankrupt and perish from the Earth? I'll start.

1) United Airlines

• Just the fact that it is an American airline makes it pretty terrible in most regards.
  
• Making O'Hare it's home base makes it even worse.
  
• Out of 100+ trips with my large carry-on, I've been stopped only be United for it being too large. Even though it comfortably fits in all overhead compartments, even in United planes.

2) Apple

• The dumbing down of products to cater to the annoying people of the world (soccer moms, hipsters, and girls who like pretty things) irks me.
  
• Their atrocious support for the iPhone and exorbitant repair fees (and it will break) are infuriating
  
• Their intense closed-source mindset with the App Store and other iPhone functionality. Having to "hack" a product because it does not offer simple, intuitive functionality such as multitasking is also quite annoying, especially since doing this voids the warranty on a product that is guaranteed to break at some point.
  
• Fanboys.

Vent away.

American Airlines. Most frustratingly inept company in the history of human civilization. That they're still in business today baffles and frightens me.

United is pretty terrible, too, so I'll give you that. Most of my horrible experiences are with American, but that's also because I fly most frequently on American. Not by choice, but because I have an AA miles reward on my credit card.

red mango and pinkberry...

wtf i don't need any more tweens on my block coming in from long island pretending they ******** regularly with decent looking men which their mothers wouldn't approve of and exist only amongst their own tales.

Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard

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American Airlines. Most frustratingly inept company in the history of human civilization. That they're still in business today baffles and frightens me.

United is pretty terrible, too, so I'll give you that. Most of my horrible experiences are with American, but that's also because I fly most frequently on American. Not by choice, but because I have an AA miles reward on my credit card.

I agree American is dreadful as well. In my experience (and correct me if I am wrong because you have flown them more) - their rewards program is one of the best. I just did 50K roundtrip to Japan in the middle of cherry blossom season on 6 days notice from JFK. On top of that, oneWorld is probably the best alliance.

But as an airline, disregarding awards, they suck.

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

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I agree American is dreadful as well. In my experience (and correct me if I am wrong because you have flown them more) - their rewards program is one of the best. I just did 50K roundtrip to Japan in the middle of cherry blossom season on 6 days notice from JFK. On top of that, oneWorld is probably the best alliance. But as an airline, disregarding awards, they suck.
Yeah, their rewards program is supposedly the best, though I'll be honest: it's not great. On the plus side, very few "blackout dates" on redeeming miles. On the downside, you pay a fee to redeem your own miles, which is marsupialed. Also, your miles don't get very much bang for the buck. Of course, the biggest downside to redeeming AA miles is that you have to fly AA. Totally sympathize with your hated of O'Hare, by the way. That place is essentially my vision of hell. Satan himself couldn't have designed a better airport. I love how an airport the size of a freaking city somehow manages to be crowded to the point of standing-room-only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It's unbelievable. Also fun: last-minute gate changes, when you suddenly realize that the changed gate is a leisurely 2-mile run down a terminal corridor. And the walk from the domestic arrivals gates to the baggage claim is, oh, about 15 miles. At least you get some serious exercise in that place.

Rogers - they just send a couple of letters and next thing you know your bandwith allocation has dropped from unlimited to 60 gigs to 2 gigs a month. I blame Canada though, for creating an environment that lacks competition

Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard

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Yeah, their rewards program is supposedly the best, though I'll be honest: it's not great. On the plus side, very few "blackout dates" on redeeming miles. On the downside, you pay a fee to redeem your own miles, which is marsupialed. Also, your miles don't get very much bang for the buck.

Of course, the biggest downside to redeeming AA miles is that you have to fly AA.

By the way, what did you mean pay a fee to redeem miles? I remember paying a fee but it was because I booked it last minute, within some "last-minute time frame." Yes it was bullshit, but I understood the charge as it is common practice in the nickle-and-dime playbook.

Also, what did you mean by not getting bang for the buck? I mean 50K roundtrip to Japan...it is pretty much unbeatable.

Lastly, you can use your AA miles to fly on other oneWorld airlines, like I did on Japan Airlines for one leg.

I don't mean to be disagreeable but I want to hear your views on this.

Originally Posted by juvefan

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Rogers - they just send a couple of letters and next thing you know your bandwith allocation has dropped from unlimited to 60 gigs to 2 gigs a month. I blame Canada though, for creating an environment that lacks competition

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ omg 100x over.

I actually paid $200 to get out of my cellphone contract because they're such a horrible company.

In the same vein

The Beer Store - Ontario's only (other than the LCBO) beer retailer. Owned by Inbev, Sapporo, and Anheuser-Busch. 3 non-Canadian companies, controlling the way Ontarioans get beer. Crushing the Ontario microbrewing scene with their "back room" policy (all beer is stored in back room, and an attendant picks it up for you) not allowing the brewers to advertise with their boxes, and forcing microbreweries to pay an exorbitant ($50,000, even if you only wanted to sell your beer in one store) fee PER PRODUCT (microbreweries often have 5-10 different beers, a quarter to half a million cash just to SELL your product in their store? Gimme a break.) And of course, all the profits LEAVE Canada. What a horrible institution.

Originally Posted by Arrogant Bastard

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Yeah, their rewards program is supposedly the best, though I'll be honest: it's not great. On the plus side, very few "blackout dates" on redeeming miles. On the downside, you pay a fee to redeem your own miles, which is marsupialed. Also, your miles don't get very much bang for the buck.

Of course, the biggest downside to redeeming AA miles is that you have to fly AA.

Totally sympathize with your hated of O'Hare, by the way. That place is essentially my vision of hell. Satan himself couldn't have designed a better airport. I love how an airport the size of a freaking city somehow manages to be crowded to the point of standing-room-only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It's unbelievable. Also fun: last-minute gate changes, when you suddenly realize that the changed gate is a leisurely 2-mile run down a terminal corridor. And the walk from the domestic arrivals gates to the baggage claim is, oh, about 15 miles. At least you get some serious exercise in that place.

Thank you for sharing my hatred of O'Hare. Thank God I haven't gone through there in a long time. I have always thought of O'Hare as one of the top 5 most depressing places in my life. If I ever have to take a connecting flight through that hell hole, I will bring two bottles of anti-depressants in my carry-on.

Originally Posted by MetroStyles

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By the way, what did you mean pay a fee to redeem miles? I remember paying a fee but it was because I booked it last minute, within some "last-minute time frame." Yes it was bullshit, but I understood the charge as it is common practice in the nickle-and-dime playbook.

Also, what did you mean by not getting bang for the buck? I mean 50K roundtrip to Japan...it is pretty much unbeatable.

Lastly, you can use your AA miles to fly on other oneWorld airlines, like I did on Japan Airlines for one leg.

I don't mean to be disagreeable but I want to hear your views on this.

I haven't tried the OneWorld thing, so maybe that makes the whole thing worthwhile. I'll take your word on it, and will try to check it out next time I'm flying internationally.

For domestic flights, I pay a fee every time I redeem miles, regardless of the timing. The size of the fee tends to vary with the timing, but I usually get charged a not-inconsequential fee each time I book a ticket using miles.

As for bang for the buck, maybe the equation differs substantially for international flights or something. A ticket from Chicago to LA cost me 25K miles, which seems a little steep to me. (The actual, physical distance is ~2,000 miles).

Originally Posted by Listi

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ omg 100x over.

I actually paid $200 to get out of my cellphone contract because they're such a horrible company.

In the same vein

The Beer Store - Ontario's only (other than the LCBO) beer retailer. Owned by Inbev, Sapporo, and Anheuser-Busch. 3 non-Canadian companies, controlling the way Ontarioans get beer. Crushing the Ontario microbrewing scene with their "back room" policy (all beer is stored in back room, and an attendant picks it up for you) not allowing the brewers to advertise with their boxes, and forcing microbreweries to pay an exorbitant ($50,000, even if you only wanted to sell your beer in one store) fee PER PRODUCT (microbreweries often have 5-10 different beers, a quarter to half a million cash just to SELL your product in their store? Gimme a break.) And of course, all the profits LEAVE Canada. What a horrible institution.

i never thought of it that way. i have probably gone to the beer store a total of less than 5 times. love to browse around the isles of the lcbo and decide what i am in the mood for.

5) Ticketmaster/Live Nation

• You charge me 25% of the ticket price
• Gobbled up or ran over all independant brokers and venues
• Live Nation has exclusive contracts will all major facilities, so you're paying no mattter what
• You charge for the "Convenience" to print at home
• Worst part - there is NOTHING you can do about it. Unless you buy from a band directly (very few offer this) or on the second hand market, you have to use them.

Sprint

Sears

Styleforum

Originally Posted by Davidko19

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5) Ticketmaster

• You charge me 25% of the ticket price
  
• Gobbled up or ran over all independant brokers and venues
  
• You charge for the "Convenience" to print at home
  
• Worst part - there is NOTHING you can do about it. Unless you buy from a band directly (very few offer this) or on the second hand market, you have to use them.

Excellent call on Ticketmaster. I haven't used them for so long I forgot how much I hated them. You can still buy directly from the venue in most cases, no?

Originally Posted by zillka

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red mango and pinkberry...

wtf i don't need any more tweens on my block coming in from long island pretending they ******** regularly with decent looking men which their mothers wouldn't approve of and exist only amongst their own tales.

really? i like red mango. i really disliked froyo until i had some. apparently they use real yogurt unlike pinkberry.