I also hate landline telcos, rebate companies, and cable providers. I hate them so much that I'd give my left spleen to make them play Seven Minutes In Heaven with Charo. ...yet I keep paying them....

This is not so surprising considering that Consumerist is devoted (or a lot of it is) to customers getting revenge, and so I suppose it attracts vengeful people like myself. PUNISH AWAY.

I don't see it as revenge at all in most cases. The majority of the time it seems to be about getting a customer through the transaction in a manner that leaves them feeling as though they got what they were promised when they began it.

I would love to see the Consumerist do (or find) a good review of all those pay as you go with little plastic cards cellphones, like Trac Phone or I think Virgin has one.
That would be brilliant.

You know, hate is sometimes too mild a word.

"Fucking despise" and "wouldn't mind if someone went on a murder spree in their call centers and corporate offices" are closer.

I think a missing option is "So I can just switch to a provider who is honest, doesn't raise fees mid contract, has customer support that isn't stoned when I call in and doesn't have a large amount of billing errors that always are in favor of the cell phone company."

Deep down, I think we all know that this doesn't exist, but we are all a wee bit optimistic and that is why we think the grass is greener on the other side...

I have Verizon Wireless. I do not have a problem with Verizon Wireless. I have never had a problem with Verizon Wireless.

However, my problems with Verizon DSL have been so numerous, so drawn out, and so hair-rippingly frustrating, that I am leaving VW to pursue another provider just to avoid giving Verizon any more of my money.

I initially picked the cheaper network option, and then as I researched actually changing my plan, I realized the $100+ bill I get every month from Cingular is actually the cheapest (for two phones on the lowest amount of minutes available). That hurts. Now I just want to punish them. :D

I think the cellphone folks are actually getting wise to how frustrated many of their customers are. I called Sprint yesterday to get them to cancel -- and refund -- the $15/month I had been unwittingly paying for a PCS Vision Package, & that was so painless (as it should've been, but still) that I decided to try & get them to refund the $36 I was charged to activate my new phone. The rep on the phone did that cheerfully as well, & the entire call was as hassle-free as it could've possibly been.

Granted, that's what one should expect from their cellphone provider, but it was nevertheless a nice departure from some of the nightmarish Sprint CSS experiences I've had in the past. I actually just called them again today to take care of an issue my boyfriend had been fighting them with, and that was handled smoothly as well. Maybe they're actually learning?

I also want to mention that both of the Sprint reps I've talked to recently did have accents suggesting they were in an overseas call center -- which I only point out as a counterpoint to all the complaints that get directed at the sub-continental customer service workforce.