What Are Your Top 3 Most Hated Companies? *Due to First Hand Interactions

TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 10:46
Last edited 01/09/2023 - 08:05

Vent space for one and all

What are your top 3 most hated companies due to personal experiences with them?

Everyone knows of some companies with unhelpful employees or bad policies, here is your opportunity to share them with the ozb community :)

I will add a poll of every company commented to see who the most disliked company is !

Feel free to share why you dislike them so much as well as the company itself

A reminder that most people working these roles are just working within the work guidelines/resources - try to be decent with them where possible (Credit: Jimothy Wongingtons )

Edit: Samsung has lost its crown as number 1 :(

Edit 2: removed two options with 0 votes and added Ticketek and Foxtel

Edit 3: removed five options with only 1 vote to make room for larger companies (Australia post, Linkt, Citibank, Jetstar, GoPro)
)

Edit 4: removed 3 options with 1 vote to make room for new companies

Edit 5: * Note Terrywhite Chemist is excluded as it carries the best name ever in its business name.

Poll Options expired

  • 281
    Harvey Norman
  • 167
    ARAMEX/FASTWAY COURIERS
  • 99
    Telstra
  • 90
    Samsung
  • 78
    Optus
  • 76
    Coles Insurance/ Coles Financial services
  • 74
    Qantas
  • 55
    Apple
  • 39
    Kogan
  • 35
    Australia Post
  • 28
    TPG
  • 24
    CentreLink/Australia post
  • 18
    IKEA
  • 14
    Ebay
  • 14
    Big 4 Banks (ANZ/Westpac/CommBank/NAB) *Note Citibank is owned by NAB
  • 13
    Weak ACCC/Toothless ombudsman
  • 13
    Big 4 consulting firms (PwC/Deloitte/KPMG/EY)
  • 12
    Ticketek
  • 11
    Jetstar
  • 11
    Chemists (Amcal/Chesmit warehouse/Priceline)
  • 10
    Paypal
  • 7
    CPL (Computers and Parts Land)
  • 7
    Ali Express/Temu/Wish
  • 6
    Amazon
  • 5
    Macdonalds
  • 5
    American Airlines
  • 3
    Foxtel
  • 3
    Allianz
  • 3
    Mobile carrier resellers (Kogan/Tangerine/Catch connect/Belong/Flip/Felix/Adli)
  • 1
    Google
General Discussion

Comments

  • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 10:49
    +2

    I will start us off, for me it would be Samsung, Kogan and …. TBD.

    For Samsung I had a horrible experience with a faulty Galaxy phone that they refused to fix.

    For Kogan I was charged an auto sim fee for a couple of months even when I made sure to click the "no auto subscribe".

    • ram4ram on 26/08/2023 - 17:42
      +2

      What happened with your Galaxy phone?

      Mine is the Samsung Galaxy S10, which I still use as my daily. No issues, haven't had to deal with warranty (and of course, it has no warranty anymore either). Eying the Galaxy S24, but really have zero issues with my current phone.

    • Pyrock on 27/08/2023 - 07:10
      +3

      Personally had really good experiences with Samsung warranty.
      Had a s10+ that was getting hot while charging. They replaced mobo and battery for free.
      I then had a monitor that was having weird lines across the screen for a few minutes before going away at start up. They organised a local panel replacememt/repair for free.
      Both instances close to end of warranty.

      • olderuser on 27/08/2023 - 15:12

        How long ago?

        My parents in law have both had some drama dealing with Samsung in the last month or two.

        • Pyrock on 31/08/2023 - 16:41

          1 - 2 years ago now?
          phone purchased through samsung directly. dont know if that makes a difference

    • tasty-falafel on 27/08/2023 - 17:35
      -1

      +1 to Samsung as well.

      Had a 7 month old Galaxy S20+ charging port fail and Samsung refused to fix it under warranty as they said it was water damaged and the indicator inside said so. I explained how I had NEVER submerged it in water. They completely refused and said if the indicator is showing water damage it has to be true.

      • wheresmymoney on 27/08/2023 - 22:59
        -2

        Sounded like you had a water damaged phone. No company would honour the warranty

      • BargainBaz on 28/08/2023 - 19:17
        +2

        Well known issue with their phones. Happened to two of mine without being anywhere close to water over their entire life.
        Samsung was willing to replace under warranty (however I got the phones checked in their store).

  • Alexander420 on 25/08/2023 - 10:58
    +29

    Harvey Norman

    Nuf said, need not explanation

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:12
      +1

      Added, and This is one I always hear about but never hear the details personally

      • Alexander420 on 25/08/2023 - 11:21
        +33

        Gerry Harvey Tax

        The reason we all get charge gst for item under $1000

        https://amp.smh.com.au/money/tax/the-300m-gst-grab-hardly-an…

        • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 15:10

          Hmm good to know !

        • barcer on 26/08/2023 - 08:24
          +6

          I'm no fan of Gerry, but I've yet to see a rational explanation for why imports should be free of GST and therefore able to undercut local merchants.

          • SBOB on 26/08/2023 - 09:35
            +19

            @barcer:

            why imports should be free of GST

            When the gst enforcement, management and processing costs exceed the value of the GST? (Which is why the previous threshold $ was in place)

            • jackspratt on 27/08/2023 - 01:04
              +1

              @SBOB: My understanding is that GST is collected at source ie by the seller, so minimal cost to the ATO/Border Force.

              Do you have a different understanding?

            • AustriaBargain on 30/08/2023 - 01:15

              @SBOB: Wouldn’t most international spending be on ebay and amazon and such who enforce GST themselves?

          • smartazz104 on 28/08/2023 - 11:46
            +1

            @barcer: Name 10 items people are importing that Gerry sells.

      • payless69 on 25/08/2023 - 20:14
        +9

        There is a perpetual joke when you get approached with Gerry and Adolf and you have only 2 bullets left:
        Waste both on Gerry and deal with the other at a later stage!

        • zestorer on 27/08/2023 - 13:26
          +5

          Waste?

        • iguana on 27/08/2023 - 19:52
          +2

          That joke doesn't make sense.

        • skidexa on 27/08/2023 - 22:02
          +4

          You just made this up…

      • OZKap on 26/08/2023 - 12:04
        +2

        In addition to what others have said, I hate the constant upselling from the salespeople. I went in for a laptop on special a while back, I was very clear I just wanted the laptop, but before the sales rep would get a new box out the back room he tried to sell multiple different mouse, a mouse mat, and laptop bag.

        • yokel on 28/08/2023 - 07:30
          +4

          That and not paying back job keeper in full.

  • MrMcHairyHead on 25/08/2023 - 11:02
    +20

    Apple recently tried to charge me 2,300$ to fix a MacBook Pro keyboard with one broken key.

    Telstra are always awful to deal with.

    CentreLink are not a company but they're my honorary #3

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:14

      Was it the solid gold version ?

      • MrMcHairyHead on 25/08/2023 - 11:16
        +3

        Haha. It was a standard 2019 base model which I could replace with another one in good condition for half the price of the repair.

        • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:54

          Damn thats a bit steep!

        • dcep on 25/08/2023 - 16:39

          half the price of the repair.

          Dang, that's still $1,150 for what is the average price of non-Apple laptop deals posted on Ozb.

        • markathome on 26/08/2023 - 23:35
          +1

          I hope they relented on that pretty fast. Those models have a known issue. Shame Apple, shame.

          • MrMcHairyHead on 27/08/2023 - 07:40
            +2

            @markathome: They said it was going to be free under the keyboard replacement program, then after keeping it for two weeks th eysaid they changed their mind and it was 2,300$ and they refused to tell me why.

            • yokel on 28/08/2023 - 07:31

              @MrMcHairyHead: Thanks for sharing. Just going to be cheaper to buy a windows machine for half the price.

              • MrMcHairyHead on 28/08/2023 - 11:35

                @yokel: Yep I'm just going to switch to Linux, I think now that Unity Editor is on Linux it can do everything I need.

                I'm looking out for a decent Linux laptop with a nice trackpad, decent build quality, and 120hz screen for a good price.

            • Randolph Duke on 28/08/2023 - 16:47

              @MrMcHairyHead: Seems odd, I’ve always found Apple to be excellent when it’s comes to issues, even out of warranty.

        • ConyBony227 on 28/08/2023 - 13:27

          @MrMcHairyHead Shouldn't this be covered under Australian Consumer Law? As expected lifetime of a $2,300 laptop would be >4 years

  • iforgotmysocks on 25/08/2023 - 11:08
    +37

    I don’t hate anyone I just hope everyone is having a nice time

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:14
      +8

      A mighty positive message from a man without socks !

      • rumblytangara on 25/08/2023 - 12:05
        +3

        Birkenstock wearer identified.

        • tallkid123 on 25/08/2023 - 15:57
          +2

          Don't judge. I wear mine with socks sometimes.

      • iforgotmysocks on 26/08/2023 - 10:34
        +3

        Thank you Terry, cold feet should not hold us back from being kind to one another.

        • chartparker on 28/08/2023 - 12:19
          +1

          Cold feet, warm heart

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 25/08/2023 - 11:59
      +1

      everyone is having a nice time

      cs agent getting an ear bashing for following work rules: *sigh* majoring in ancient history - wtf was i thinking…

      • Sinnerator on 27/08/2023 - 08:32
        -2

        JUST FOLLOWING MEIN ORDERS !!!

        If you work for 'criminals' what does that make you?

  • Stingo on 25/08/2023 - 11:11
    +13

    Not a fan of Optus due to their incompetence (even though it often works in my favour), lack of product knowledge and ever changing rules. Generally, any company with off-shore call centres but some are worse than others.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 25/08/2023 - 11:27
    +7

    Just a quick reminder that most people working these roles are just working within the work guidelines/resources - try to be decent with them where possible. We were stiffed our centrelink childcare subsidy for the better part of the year, we got there in the end but we spent literally tens of hours on hold and it was clear the whole system was under funded with poor efficiency systems in place.

    Can we add amazon customer support to the list - it used to be awesome to deal with, but i had a relatively high value package stolen lately when the courier left it on top of the fence , on a main street after hours. First CS agent said okay, i can refund you..but the chat disconnected before i could agree. The second agent said they would re-read what was spoken about and said oh, no, no option for refund, i can re-supply…which i said fine..then disconnected - the 3rd agent said oh no, you need to wait 24 hours and ensure you have searched the premises then they could investigate.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2023 - 11:42
      +3

      I'm the one who goes 'shopping' for CS agents on chat by disconnecting when they start to annoy me.

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:52

      Good thing to note, adjusted description.

  • Brian McGee on 25/08/2023 - 11:29

    Half Price Blinds (ABC Blinds). I pruchased a folding arm awning that snapped on first installation. Their response to this catastrophic failure and request for refund? They offered to send a new arm and for me to fit it. Never deal with half quality blinds ever.
    Optus for not advising if I was or wasn't involved in the data hack.

  • Shadowsfury on 25/08/2023 - 11:50
    +2

    CPL (Computers and Parts Land) - MSY/Centrecom type store but their service is just absolutely woeful - both when purchasing and when needing to have done warranty problems fixed.

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:53

      Added. whats the story ?

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 25/08/2023 - 11:57
      +2

      service is just absolutely woeful

      worse than msy? OG msy literally made a name for themsevles for having cheapest price but worst (non-existant?) service lol

      • Clear on 25/08/2023 - 14:26
        +2

        No one can say MSY had bad service if they didn't experience fast Eddie at Fluidtek.

      • GregRust on 27/08/2023 - 06:29
        +1

        I was always aware of the MSY reputation, but I shopped at the Cannington (WA) store a few times and they were always pretty good in my experience.

        • Jimothy Wongingtons on 27/08/2023 - 07:52

          Last time I went to msy was circa 2010 and the slacks creek one was always crap. Umart was also bad too, but slightly better

        • skillet on 29/08/2023 - 09:33

          MSY is now under Umart so there might be some changes.

    • RotundPolarBear on 26/08/2023 - 12:53

      Had the same experience with their warranty service on a monitor. Would never buy from them again and would even rather pay more elsewhere.

  • Bman17 on 25/08/2023 - 11:50
    +3

    Should allow at least 2 votes.

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:52
      +3

      100% this, I tried to mess around with the poll options but couldn't find a spot to allow this !

      Edit: apparently no function to have multiple votes, only changing votes (which is already on)

    • GrimCheaper on 26/08/2023 - 23:47
      +3

      If you gave me 2 votes, then I’d just vote for Aramex twice. You have to give them credit to mess up that consistently. Never had a single delivery go right.

  • Bman17 on 25/08/2023 - 11:54
    +2

    Samsung for bad products especially white goods and worst customer service, Kogan for aggressive marketing ie. it automatically subscribes sure for their newsletter/promos every time you buy any products.

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 11:56
      +1

      Agreeeeeed, I never had a problem with samsung for approx 10 years, the second I had a product that need repair it was hell

    • markathome on 26/08/2023 - 23:37

      Oh yeah I forgot how powerfully bad Samsung customer service is. With decent customer service they might actually have a world-class company.

  • Protractor on 25/08/2023 - 11:58
    +3

    Telstra,TPG,ebay,Australia Post

    All by way of either bullying by policy (and monopoly or pseudo monopoly situation, ripping consumers off) or enabling of systems that allow piss poor outcomes.
    Bonus black marks for companies using offshore support at any level. More bonus black points for any hacking event that was either denied or delayed reporting.

    I'd like to add the so called toothless ombudsman models and weak ACCC to multiple other industries who get away with cartel behaviour.

    Come on, everyone hates Harvey don't they?

    *Also hate is one thing, annoying is another.

    • TerryJustTerry on 25/08/2023 - 12:06

      Added x5

    • Stingo on 25/08/2023 - 13:23
      +1

      Actually, the TIO is quite good. Sometimes the threat of involving them works wonders.

      • Protractor on 25/08/2023 - 13:37

        That's your experience.
        iinet gamed them, in mine.

        • Stingo on 25/08/2023 - 17:38

          Your complaint would have cost iiNet anyway. Depending on what level it escalated to, quite a bit.

          • Protractor on 25/08/2023 - 17:49
            -1

            @Stingo: a complaint? I wish

            The TIO was hopeless on all. The same issue dozens of times. Never fixed. And that outcome was OK by the TIO.
            It's not about a few compensatory sheckles here and there, it's about fixing stuff that are structurally bent to impinge on paying customers. The TIO is an industry lackey on that front. They hide behind 'we can't make them'. Useful as the Do Not Call Register

            How much would it have cost iinet? Really?

            • barcer on 26/08/2023 - 08:28
              -1

              @Protractor: Sounds awfully like you have no idea what you're doing, or maybe your complaints were completely invalid.

              I've dealt with the TIO numerous times, both personally and on behalf of others. 100% win rate for consumers.

              • Protractor on 26/08/2023 - 09:52
                +1

                @barcer: Great, Happy for you. Even I had proper outcomes early in the piece.Over time not so much.
                But it sounds awfully like you have no idea what you are talking about re my experience.
                A win is when the problem is acknowledged and fixed. When it affects thousands of others and the company deny it, or refuse to fix it and the TIO solution is to change providers, it's a fail.I'm talking basic systems & service provisions that other players have as standard and functional.
                Every complaint and issue was impactful & valid
                Read some reviews. Forums, headlines. Educate yourself.

                • Stingo on 26/08/2023 - 13:58
                  -1

                  @Protractor:

                  When it affects thousands of others and the company deny it, or refuse to fix it and the TIO solution is to change providers, it's a fail.

                  The TIO is working as designed. If it got thousands of complaints on an issue it would report those to ACMA and/or the ACCC. Those bodies do take action though not on as many issues as we'd like or in an aggressive manner as we'd like preferring industry cooperation. Blame them or the government for underfunding them.

                  • Protractor on 26/08/2023 - 15:28
                    +1

                    @Stingo: Went to ACMA and ACCC.
                    Despite admitting sub std service and systems, 'change providers'. If watchdogs can't drag a company up to comply with industry stds they are a waste of taxes.
                    Thus it always was and will be. But saying the TIO is anything beyond a deflective fluffer for ISPs is wishful thinking.Because, most ppl have changed ISPs and guess what. ISP has not changed anything.
                    Rinse and repeat.

                    • Stingo on 26/08/2023 - 22:40
                      -1

                      @Protractor: It's not the TIO's fault that it isn't all powerful. The fact that there are limits to what it can do is what allows it to exist at all and I can tell you that many of the providers aren't very happy that the way the TIO charges for complaints makes them resolve invalid claims. Your beef is with ACMA, ACCC and government. Unfortunately, neither of them will act on individual customer complaints. If your issue is with some large provider, the issue is either not affecting enough people to register with the ACMA and/or ACCC or is not in breach of any legislation, regulation or industry codes.

                      Take the money and change providers. That's what a reasonable person would do.

                      • Protractor on 27/08/2023 - 09:38
                        +1

                        @Stingo: I'm more than reasonable. But,equally, when an org is deceptive and dysfunctional it should come with repercussions. The fact that the industry is self governed and the TIO forms a part of the host parasite mocel, makes it a white elephant. The ACCC and ACMA are equally soft on things within their power to seek reform from.
                        Thanks for the history lesson. Now I'll go back to knowing what happened to me, and many others, and is still going on, and calling it out whenever I can, if that's ok?

                        • Stingo on 28/08/2023 - 14:23

                          @Protractor: You're calling out the wrong organisations. While there is probably room for improvement with any organisation the TIO, ACCC and ACMA all have their power limited by legislation and funding. You can rightly blame both Labor and the Coalition for that. Is it corruption or pragmatism? How much more in taxes do you want to pay for the watchdogs to more rigorously defend the interest of consumers rather than work cooperatively with the industries they regulate.

              • bondy28 on 27/08/2023 - 10:22

                @barcer: Same

              • mhz on 28/08/2023 - 09:20

                @barcer: So because you have had success and others haven't their complaints are completely invalid?

                • Protractor on 28/08/2023 - 15:11

                  @mhz: Always get suspicious of ppl defend lemons like TIO and their upstream counterparts, against other ppls experience. . Vested interest comes to mind.
                  TIO is a part of self (read non) regulation.That's enough for me to hear, deflect any real accountability, suffer no real penalty.
                  You see TIO type annual reports bragging about success, but among that small number is a whole lot of ppl who don't bother or bail out. Mission accomplished

      • mhz on 28/08/2023 - 09:17
        +2

        I had dealings with the TIO recently with an issue with Telstra.
        Telstra were contacted by the TIO and told not to bill me or suspend services until the issue was resolved.
        Telstra then went and suspended my services and the TIO's response to this was "Yeah probably best just to pay them so you can have your services restored"
        Seriously TIO?

        • Protractor on 28/08/2023 - 15:11
          +1

          That's typical in my experience. Both Telstra and TIO.

  • Godric on 25/08/2023 - 12:05
    +5

    Optus, horrendously bad

  • outlander on 25/08/2023 - 12:13
    +7

    The Good Guys

    Bought something for $500, was supposed to get a credit for $70 on a set date. They didn't send it then but like 3 weeks later, and it only was valid for a week so it expired before I could use it. Tried to contact them but it's impossible. Emails not responded to, phone tree where no matter what option you choose it cuts out.

    I'm just glad it was only $70, because I have no confidence in them whatsoever if I bought something bigger and it went wrong.

    • Kegsta on 28/08/2023 - 00:42
      +1

      I managed to claim $100 of store credit when I purchased a dishwasher or something. Ordered two items delivered with the credit and one of them vanished into the ether.

    • CatGrandma on 28/08/2023 - 13:22
      +1

      I bought a fridge through them and it took months to get it delivered. They gave no proactive updates so I had to spend a bunch of time chasing things up with customer support. I kept getting told they'd have the fridge soon and would contact me to arrange delivery. When I finally got fed up and tried to cancel they suddenly had the fridge. I got $20 of store credit with a 30-day expiry as compensation. Customer service staff were all nice, but I shouldn't have had to continuously chase things up.

    • taradavey on 29/08/2023 - 08:05
      +1

      The 'storecash' seems good, but I had the exact same experience where the storecash didn't turn up - i was on chat with them for hours getting it sorted.
      I wonder if they don't actually send it unless you can get onto them and query that it's not there…

    • RoosterBooster on 31/08/2023 - 13:43
      +1

      I purchased some printer ink for my mum on TGG online ($140). It was 12 months past the expiry date on the packaging and the packaging was very damaged. The ink didn’t work and I contacted TGG for refund. After being asked a heap of questions which I responded to, I didn’t hear back.

      Mum and I both tried contacting TGG, including our closest store via various methods. Only one in every dozen emails were responded to. Eventually they asked us to send the ink back for a refund. It was leaking everywhere. We didn’t receive the refund and continued to chase it up. 8 months on, the refund eventually appeared in my account (although no word from TGG to say it had been processed/resolved). The lack of communication was extremely poor.

  • mboy on 25/08/2023 - 12:18

    • Samsung. Two instances of awful post-sales support in the last couple of years for two different products, both within warranty, both clearly manufacturing issues. One was eventually repaired (after jumping through way too many hoops) and I gave up on the other. Product quality has clearly gone sharply downhill since Samsung's heyday. I avoid their products now.

    • Optus. Three consecutive months of double charges despite notifying them each time and them explicitly stating each time that it was fixed and wouldn't happen again. After the third month, I made a big stink and under the circumstances they agreed to let me cancel within contract. Not going back. Also, the data leak.

    • BP. The BP rewards program is a piece of shit. They cheated me out of a bunch of points during a promotion, admitted fault and made me do a runaround to resolve the problem and when I did, they said they were unable to credit me any of the points I was cheated out of. Absolute joke of a company. Lesson learnt, won't give them my money again.

  • rambutann on 25/08/2023 - 12:19
    +20

    ARAMEX / FASTWAY COURIERS

    • bleach1st on 27/08/2023 - 11:50

      Agreed. This company is something I steer clear of at all costs.

      btw OP Aramex and Fastway Couriers are the same company - Amarex bought out Fastway. They're listed as separate entities, but overall they're in 2nd place currently!

      "Founded in New Zealand in 1983, and operating in Australia since 1993, Aramex (formerly Fastway) Couriers today serves customers in Ireland and South Africa, and ships packages internationally as part of the Aramex network."
      https://www.transdirect.com.au/courier/aramex/

    • cashless on 27/08/2023 - 15:56

      No surprise that Aramex are polling 2nd, their previous name Fastway is doing well too.
      Which to my mind makes them winners in the poll. Why?
      If you are an OzBargain member, your hate for Harvey Norman is already assumed.

      Nothing can beat that sinking feeling that comes when you have just purchased the latest great deal posted here, only to find that “your delivery will be fulfilled by Aramex”.
      That means you have approximately 50% chance of receiving it. The chances are it will get lost, misdelivered, broken, returned to sender or stolen.
      Every time I see Aramex as the chosen delivery partner I always make a point of writing to the seller telling them if they don’t change, I’ll never buy anything from them again.

    • FuRyZ on 29/08/2023 - 23:46

      I was going to vote Telstra and then I saw Aramex in the list. I would vote twice for them if I could. I absolutely dread it when I get a notification that a package is on the way with them.

  • holdenmg on 25/08/2023 - 13:12
    +8

    Please add Qantas to the list.

  • Lord Fart Bucket on 25/08/2023 - 13:22
    +1

    Coles Insurance, DHL, Mitsubishi.

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