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Which companies are dead to you?


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When my Tascam audio interface would no longer work after I updated the OS on my laptop, I vowed to never buy anything made by tascam again. I then bought an interface made by Native Instruments. After a few years this too was no longer supported after an OS update so NI was added to my sh1tlist.

 

Surely getting the development team to spend a few hours working on driver updates to ensure support for older products after discontinuation isn't going to cost these companies much, and the goodwill it would generate is worth a lot more to them than having people like me making a consious decision to never buy anything again with their name on.

 

Since then I've bought two focusrite interfaces and they've both worked without issue for a number of years and are still going strong after several OS updates. Similarly equipment by IK multimedia and Zoom have continued to work well beyond the date they were discontinued and are still in regular use.

 

Phillips made me redundant over 30 years ago and I've not bought anything sold by them since.

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Vauxhall - our Astra broke a cambelt and cost us a lot of money. It was 2000 miles over the 50,000 limit to change the belt (we were running two cars with differing service intervals and I got confused) so their initial response was that it was not their problem. However, the cause of the belt snapping was a sensor bolt that had unscrewed itself and fallen into the path of the belt - a known problem with a modification kit to prevent it (if caught in time).

After considerable argument Vauxhall agreed to pay half the cost, and I have not considered buying another Vauxhall since.

David

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Miffed with Alesis...

Got my Son a Second Hand Alesis Nitro Mesh eDrum Kit

 

After a few months of enthusiastic playing the Snare failed... Broken wire on the Piezo... Real fragile, brittle almost glass like wire and insulation.

Re-soldered several times until both wire failed...

 

Contacted Alesis about getting a replacement Piezo, or the Spec.

 

Nope... Can't help and recommend i replace the whole Snare 'Pad' at £57 + vat + £6 p&p...

 

Needless to say, at £75ish he has no snare at the mo...

 

EDIT: Alesis are sorting me a B Stock Unit at £35 all in... Happy-ish with that, hopefully comes with G'tee..

Edited by PaulThePlug
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All non-musical, but...
Nestle, Coke and McDonalds because I'm old enough to remember the 1980s.
Wetherspoons because the owner treated his worlers abysmally during the pandemic.
Amazon because of their shameful tax arrangments.

Once I've brought that lot to their knees, I'll make a start on Pepsico and Proctor & Gamble.

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Not musically related either but Tesco and Sainsburys. Two-tier pricing? Pay more if I don't sign up to Clubcard/Nectar?

No thanks. I'll buy my groceries somewhere else.

 

In fact, I won't sign up for anything with a reward app. Get your tenth coffee free? A free sausage roll? Nah, I'll pass.

 

Also Currys. About twenty years ago I went into a Dixons store to buy a laptop. They asked me at the counter for my name and address. When I declined they insisted I must provide my address, so I told them I'll just spend my money elsewhere... which changed their minds and they sold me the laptop, without extended warranty and me giving them my personal details. The next week I started receiving junk email, special offers and extended warranty offers, addressed to me, from Dixons/Currys/Carphone Warehouse group... they had to have taken my personal details from the debit card I used to buy the laptop and updated their marketing lists regardless.

So now, I won't ever buy from them again.

Edited by Shambo
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Not music related but...

 

 

I think the only company I'll never use again is a local Ford garage.

 

It's about 3 minutes walk from my house so it made sense when I first moved  here to take the car there for MOTs , services etc 

 

But they always found stuff that 'needed' doing. The tracking would be off or the tyres were worn or the air conditioning fluid needed changing.

 

The final time I went there I got a phone call saying I 'needed' over 1k worth of stuff doing or the car would be undrivable.

 

I declined, took the car back and took it to another local garage where they told me they were unable to find any of the issues the first garage had warned me about.

 

So now I take my car to that garage, and if anyone ever asks me if I know a good mechanic I 'll warn them about the local Ford garage that tried to rip me off.

Edited by Cato
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8 minutes ago, Cato said:

 

Not music related but...

 

 

I ed me about.

 

So now I take my car to that garage, and if anyone ever asks me if I know a good mechanic I 'll warn them about the local Ford garage that tried to rip me off.

We had this with Peugeot dealer, they claimed pads were worn out but it had only had an MOT a work or so earlier

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I have a few:

 

Brewdog, because of the owner's attitude. Which is a bit of a shame because the beer's decent.

 

Wetherspoons, because of Timbo's treatment of his staff during the pandemic and because of his support for the B-word.

 

BT, for being the worst employer I've ever experienced. Not so much lions led by donkeys as experts gaslit by sociopaths. On my last day, I nuked my laptop and Blackberry for no other reason than pure spite.

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Ford - I had several and they all had some issue which was impossible to resolve and the garages lied about having fixed them.

Vauxhall because one failed on me and the garage stonewalled me.

Tech21/SansAmp and Panda Future Impact - there was an incompatibiity between their kit and they both said both tough.

Brighton - the council pursued me over a parking fine despite acknowledging that I had a valid ticket; fortunately they messed up their procedures and had to accept failure, however their dishonesty was not to my liking so I steer clear of the place.

My local Tory MP - I wrote regarding a parking issue at a shopping centre and he replied saying not his problem. I also wrote to my local Tory counciller and he responded similarly; when he knocked on my door coming up to the local elections I told him I wasn't voting for him and why, he lost his seat. Plus I don't go to that shopping centre anymore.

Most soft drinks companies, because I disike the taste of artificial/substitute sweeteners, so there's no point in buying their products. As it stands, there's only Coke Original, Fever Tree, and some Romanian ones left for me to buy. On the plus side my meals out are usually cheaper, because I only have tap water to drink.

Edited by prowla
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1 hour ago, PaulThePlug said:

Miffed with Alesis...

Got my Son a Second Hand Alesis Nitro Mesh eDrum Kit

 

After a few months of enthusiastic playing the Snare failed... Broken wire on the Piezo... Real fragile, brittle almost glass like wire and insulation.

Re-soldered several times until both wire failed...

 

Contacted Alesis about getting a replacement Piezo, or the Spec.

 

Nope... Can't help and recommend i replace the whole Snare 'Pad' at £57 + vat + £6 p&p...

 

Needless to say, at £75ish he has no snare at the mo...

 

Try these, maybe..? B|

 

Amazon, UK ... Wired piezo pads...

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eBay. Someone clicked to buy a £1.5k motorbike from me but never actually turned up to buy it, no money exchanged, but ebay insisted I owe them their %. I never got to speak to anyone, just stuck in some Kafkaesque loop of bureaucracy 'computer says no'. In hindsight there are probably processes to deal with that, but I gave up trying then ignored them. They closed my account, sent threatening letters, I moved house, years later they sent bailiff letters to my parents. In the end I gave up and paid them the money they basically bullied and robbed from me. 

 

To my shame, I've actually used ebay a few times since. I try not to though, unless it feels I'm particularly shooting myself in the foot not to. 

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18 hours ago, ahpook said:

NASA. That rejection letter really stung.

 

I wouldn't go into space with them now even if they begged me.


Whilst I'm very sorry about how it stung, I hope you appreciate that I tried to word the letter such that it was clear you nearly made it, and that you'd surely be accepted the following year - - provided you worked a little on your spitefulness.
Apart from that bit, you were the perfect candidate, and we'd happily welcome you!

Kind regards,
BT

Edited by BassTractor
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A local shop 'Martins' years ago sold me a book that fell apart on a holiday to Dominican Republic (it was bloody hot and I thinks the glue couldn't handle it). On return I tried to get a refund to be told I must've dropped the book in the sea. I never went back to that shop no matter if there was something I really needed. The shop has since folded (not because of my lack of funding). 

Whenever I boycott a shop or online store because of bad service my wife comments 'are they the new Martins'!!! 

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30 minutes ago, BassTractor said:


Whilst I'm very sorry about how it stung, I hope you appreciate that I tried to word that letter such that it was clear you nearly made it, and that you'd surely be accepted the next year if you worked a little on your spitefulness.
Apart from that bit you were the perfect candidate, and we'd happily welcome you!

Kind regards,
BT

 

I might be OK - I'm speaking to another organisation who seem to prize spitefulness...random behaviour...that kind of thing.

 

Who ? Why, SpaceX of course.

 

;)

 

 

Edited by ahpook
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2 hours ago, Cato said:

 

Not music related but...

 

 

I think the only company I'll never use again is a local Ford garage.

 

It's about 3 minutes walk from my house so it made sense when I first moved  here to take the car there for MOTs , services etc 

 

But they always found stuff that 'needed' doing. The tracking would be off or the tyres were worn or the air conditioning fluid needed changing.

 

The final time I went there I got a phone call saying I 'needed' over 1k worth of stuff doing or the car would be undrivable.

 

I declined, took the car back and took it to another local garage where they told me they were unable to find any of the issues the first garage had warned me about.

 

So now I take my car to that garage, and if anyone ever asks me if I know a good mechanic I 'll warn them about the local Ford garage that tried to rip me off.

That is why they are called Stealers as opposed to Dealers,And i

n experience are one of the worst  players.

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1 hour ago, SumOne said:

eBay. Someone clicked to buy a £1.5k motorbike from me but never actually turned up to buy it, no money exchanged, but ebay insisted I owe them their %. I never got to speak to anyone, just stuck in some Kafkaesque loop of bureaucracy 'computer says no'. In hindsight there are probably processes to deal with that, but I gave up trying then ignored them. They closed my account, sent threatening letters, I moved house, years later they sent bailiff letters to my parents. In the end I gave up and paid them the money they basically bullied and robbed from me. 

 

To my shame, I've actually used ebay a few times since. I try not to though, unless it feels I'm particularly shooting myself in the foot not to. 

 

There's a simple non-paying bidder process. I've used it on a couple of occasions when selling a car which the "buyers" never turned up for.

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LD. I had a damaged antenna cable on an IEM belt pack. I wrote to them and asked if there was a replacement part, or if I had to send it to them for a factory repair. "No can do" came the response, with the suggestion that I pay £150 or so for a new pack. Ebay provided a replacement for £5 and it took less than 30 minutes to repair.

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Woolworths. 
 

i mean where is boy - who isnt supposed to eat sugar - supposed to get his pick n mix? They let me down badly there, and my grandson willnever have the pleasure of a bon bon or peanut shaped sweet, or those pineapple cubes that made your mouth hurt. Shame.

 

 

on a serious note, EDF Energy = avoid. Mucho love for Octopus though…..

 

 

can we include the Conservative party? May as well be a company…….. 

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