With so many options for nearly every product on the market, people have exactly zero patience whatsoever when a brand disrespects their time or money.
We hear a lot about brand loyalty. Be it through good customer service, solid products that always deliver, or admirable ethics, some companies manage to find their ideal population of consumers and match their values time and time again.
It's good for people and it's good for business: people feel good about what they buy, and companies keep earning revenue through all those purchases.
But the very opposite occurs as well. Brand disloyalty--or perhaps better called "brand hatred," given how outraged people can be--occurs when a company defies customer ethics or belittles them in some way.
Obviously, that's bad for business. And not just because that one person won't make anymore purchases. But because people appear to enjoy spreading the word about their vendetta against a corporation.
mememachine92 asked, "Redditors, what is your 'Never again' brand?"
Don't Mess With People's Cats
"Meow Mix. Stupid stuff had my cat throwing up red dye EVERYWHERE. I called customer support because I was concerned for my cat, and the lady hung up on me."
"Called again, got a manager, food was refunded and vet bills paid by them."
"F*** Meow Mix."
-- sugarhuney
Buying Advertisements
"Samsung for putting ads in the menu of my TV that I paid for" -- romeo_papa_mike
"I have a Galaxy Note 10+, I paid $1,400 for it and now it's got ads on it. When you open the native weather app there's a massive ad on top."
"Not like a tiny banner at the bottom, nope it's massive f**king ad in your face. For a phone you paid for."
"This is my 4th Galaxy phone and I promised myself I'm never ever buying another Galaxy phone." -- DekeKneePulls
Sometimes It's All About Quality
"La Choy Soy Sauce. How do you f*** up soy sauce? They give that sh** away for free at every Asian restaurant in America."
"I thought soy sauce was soy sauce... like table salt- the brand doesn't matter. It matters."
Fast Fashion
"Kohl's. I can't stand stores that always seem to have like a 40% off sale where their merchandise still seems overpriced."
"I bought a pair of jeans there that literally disintegrated in the washing machine."
Lifelong Opposition
"Walmart. They treat their employees like crap and donate to politicians I despise. My boycott has lasted so long it's a mancott." -- terrierhead
"I so wished I lived in a place where Walmart wasn't the only option!"
"Though I do feel like my local Walmart isn't as 'people of walmarty' as most people complain about." -- smiletorismile
Poor Taste
"Urban Outfitters. My wife and I went to Kent State University where the infamous event of 4 protestors of the Vietnam war were shot and killed by the National Guard."
"So about 4 years ago, Urban Outfitters put out a 'vintage KSU shirt' which was a shirt with KSU's logo and fake blood stains on it. I'm all for a good joke but this was just poor taste, not funny, nor did the shirt look 'cool' in any way."
"I never had any of their clothes but we did have some of their other stuff as decorations in the house. My wife was about to buy something else there for the house and we were both like 'wait, no, f*** them.'"
-- BondraP
Customer Review: Extreme Pain
"Garnier face/skin products Apparently I'm really allergic to something that only they specifically seem to use in their products."
"I can use anything from the drugstore- except Garnier. Instant chemical burns. It doesn't seem to matter 'what' product it is either. It all melts my skin in a very ugly way."
Publicly Ashamed
"Wells Fargo. F*** you Wells Fargo." -- ClarksCatCarl
"I remember seeing a billboard for Wells Fargo like 2016 or 17, saying 'We're recommitting to you,' and I remember thinking that's not a very good slogan. Like what, did they formerly commit to their customers and suddenly stop, LOL?"
"Then I heard about this massive scandal where they got caught screwing over their own customers, and it made a lot more sense. How badly do you have to screw up where even your advertisements are saying 'We promise we won't fuck you anymore?'" -- Black-Thirteen
Dime a Dozen
"Morphe makeup, such awful quality, got it as a gift and felt bad for the person who spent their money to buy it for me" -- sparklingYoongi
"Agreed, the eye shadow was tragic. I'm heading back to established name brand make up. Too much crappy makeup being pushed out by the make up influencer market and it isn't stacking up."
"No matter how much they push all their buzz words about how their products are better, they aren't." -- CybReader
Cheap in All Regards
"Frontier airlines. I don't care what the name of the cute animal on the side of the plane is."
"I'm not gonna overpay to sit on your bent metal cafeteria tray for 5 hours next to an addict while getting cussed out by your flight attendant."
Fat Cats
"Bank of America. Almost lost out on buying my home due to the incompetence of their mortgage department." -- jllauser
"Their mortgage department also had a major hand in collapsing the world economy in 2008." -- TrineonX
"It's not incompetence, it's profiteering. We had always paid our mortgage in person at our local bank. 2 days before it was due, on the 1st of the month."
"BOA bought 'em - nope, now you have to mail it in. AND we're going to sit on it for two weeks so that you get a late charge each month." -- seeteethree
Anti-Marketing
"Ashley Home Furniture. The furniture is cheap quality and cost way more money than it should."
"The customer service is complete sh** to. One of my moms friends sat in a chair outside the store to tell people not to be stuff from there."
"The company is that bad"
Convenient for Who?
"Ticketmaster should be much higher up. I know pretty much all concerts and plays are canceled due to COVID-19 but seriously f*** those guys" -- vicemagnet
"That dang service/convenience fee just because you bought online and have them sent to your email." -- I_Got_A_Big_Ol_Taz
"They have a serious monopoly. I remember in the 90s everyone protested them and stuff and then they just went back to doing the same exorbitant knock up sh**" -- runaway766
Some Boozey Sauce
"Postmates. They refused to give me my order because I didn't have ID, because the order contained alcohol. Fair enough, right?"
"Except the 'alcohol' was cocktail sauce. As in ketchup with horseradish in it."
"As in NOT F***ING ALCOHOL."
-- yttrium39
A Fabulous Scam
"Fabletics."
"They put a super sneaky agreement when checking out which automatically enrolls you to their 'VIP' programme where you pay $60 a month for NOTHING as far as I see it."
"I didn't realise that I had set up this agreement until a few months later, at which point I had paid Fabletics about $300 which I couldn't get back."
Noooooo Not the Puppies
"Hartz brand anything for pets. Flea medicine almost killed my cat and made him sick for 8+ months straight."
"Found out there's an entire victim's organization because Hartz brand stuff has killed so many peoples pets. Especially dogs. Don't do it. Just.... just buy the more expensive stuff and do your research first."
They Had One Job
"Durex. I now have twins." -- MeMakeWords
"Fo sure. I was born, too." -- callmebeets
"Durex suck pretty bad. Had to take plan B a couple times before we decided to just be done with that brand. Funny enough it was the Trojan brand that did us in. Currently 8 months pregnant due to a broken Trojan condom 😒" -- jebzz12
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In a time where money talks more than anything else, the consumer's dollar holds a lot of power.
Withholding that dollar from unethical brands makes a big statement, not just about the brand, but about the buyer. What capitalistic nonsense do they refuse to engage in?
And also, if they continue spending their money there, such as Chik-Fil-A, what kind of atrocities are they committed to engaging in?
u/AngryTrooper09 asked:
People of Reddit, what unethical brands to you refuse to buy from?
Here were some of those answers.
US Healthcare Is A Joke
If I could ditch the over priced insulin, I would in a heart beat but you know, I'd like to live.
Here in Canada, the vial is $40 CAN. In the US, the same vial by the same company is $550 CAN.
So freaking unethical overpricing life sustaining medication.
Stealing Intellectual Property
Sinful Colors nail polish. 10+ years back my sister told me about how they took her friends nail art pictures and used them for marketing purposes. She asked them to either give her credit or take them down and they refused.
Petty Jealousy
Backcountry.com and it's affiliated websites. They hired a bunch of lawyers to sue small businesses using the name 'backcountry' anywhere in it's name or tag line. Many of the companies were much older than backcountry.com. They have since sent out a 'sorry we were caught' letter, but there's too many other outdoor companies that are run ethically, I can't justify buying from backcountry.
She Just Cares About Your Money
Random one, but Kylie Jenner.
She exploited young fans by saying she didnt have fillers and looks like she has big lips from wearing lipstick and liner. Then sold Kylie lip kits to take advantage of self conscious girls wanting bigger lips, and seriously thinking that she hadn't used filler.
She stole designs from smaller brands and used them for her own clothing, pretending her company made the designs.
Then her skincare is awful. Overpriced stuff that barely works, and the scrub will cause serious damage to your skin.
Another which some have commented on. She isn't paying her workers in Bangladesh. She is taking advantage of desperate people in order to save money...when she is close to being a billionaire.
Overall she just exploits her fans for money. Nothing she does is actually as good as it is made out to be.
Whoopsies
Lenovo.
It seems every year they are either putting malicious code or conveniently overlooked security backdoors into their hardware. And when called out on it, their response is "Was that wrong? Should we not have done that?"
Rurality Speaks Volumes
Walmart. I work for a small transport company so Ive seen how they bully small companies with fines for like, everything if you don't do things their way. Plus they also have a lot of internal stories about terrible employee treatment
Bentonville Arkansas has a bunch of little communities around it. Walmart decided one day to "test out" some small grocery stores in these communities, smaller than neighborhood markets. Ran them at a loss, forcing all the grocers shut down. Then went "We're not making money at these" shut down the grocery stores, forcing people to come back into the main town.
Last time I was in the region, I saw they were putting up walmart gas stations as well as the ones at each of the stores. All conveniently 5-10 cents cheaper than non Walmart gas stations.
I get "don't shop there" but when people are trying to save money, they're obviously going to go to the cheaper place. And no one can compete with the company that runs things at a loss until all the competition is gone.
Fast Fashion, Fast Pass
I don't buy from fast fashion brands. H&M, Zara , etc. They aren't unethical, but they are terrible for the environment. One of the most wasteful industries. I love fashion, don't get me wrong. I tend to lean towards a more vintage vibe anyway and thrift shop a lot. But when it comes to sneakers I'll spend a little more on some better brand. Over a wasteful brand.
No Free Market
If you read this thread you will realize that nearly everything you buy comes with serious ethical issues. It is nearly impossible to avoid consuming things that cause harm. What we need more than you individually boycotting a company you just discovered has unethical practices is for you to join a political movement to hold the wealthy and the powerful accountable and to regulate business practices. There are simply too many people who are either oblivious or refuse to be inconvenienced that render little boycotts here and they're ultimately ineffective. The market does NOT regulate itself effectively. This is a myth and a lie.
Running Through The Excuses
Honestly, Mcdonalds.
After running that poor old lady through the mud for literally serving coffee that was dangerously hot and then refusing to pay her bills over their coffee being so hot that it gave her third degree burns and nearly killed her after putting her in shock.... All she wanted was her medical bills paid for. She only sued because they kept refusing, despite the courts saying that 190 degree coffee was too dangerous to serve in the end.
They were in the wrong, and painted her lawsuit as frivolous and that she was the idiot. Coffee is hot, but it shouldn't be served at 190 degrees.... Plus the way they treat the franchisees and employees. Food ain't good enough for me to want to give them any money.
They Ruined Star Wars
EA Games.
It used to be that you either bought a game OR had micro transactions in a free game. EA changed this so you had to BUY the game and then pay for micro transactions to unlock the good part of the game.
Google "most down voted reddit post" and it's EA customer service trying to justify their decision to put micro transactions into Battlefront.
If I see a game with EA on the cover I absolutely 100% will not buy it.
Not The Chocolate!
Nestlé and its brands, Mars, Hershey, and Folgers. More generally I don't buy any chocolate, coffee, or clothing that uses exploitative labor, as far as is in my power. Lots of child slave labor in those industries.
More Chocolate Stealing?
Hostess. They "borrowed" from their employees pensions, and then filed bankruptcy. Only to come back, debt free and start making Twinkees again. Also, all big business who took money from the payroll protection program intended for small businesses.
The Biggest News Story Of 2017
United Airlines. They violently dragged away a medical professional who needed to go back to work just for more room for some employees. After the incident, the ceo sent an email to employees saying he was 'belligerent' and 'distruptive'. They also killed a puppy by putting it in the overhead compartment where there's no ventilation.
Let's Normalize Necessity, Not Money
Bottled water.
Unnecessary plastic pollution? ✔️
Less regulated than tap water? ✔️
Stealing water resources from developing countries? ✔️
Capitalizing on what should be a basic human right? ✔️
Not-So-Funimation
Most anime studios. They pay their employees low wages and work them to the bone, paying by the page completed rather than the hour. Made me rethink my stance as an anime fan. The only ones with any sort of ethics are Kyoto Animation, paying their workers a livable wage. They'll be the only ones I'll buy from until things change.
The Food Is Poison!
Chipotle and Panera. Hate their marketing campaigns, both claim to be "healthy" and "clean" but truly aren't. And those words are akin to "natural" when discussing food and nutrition - too broad a description and utterly meaningless. So many better Mexican food joints and local sandwich places I'd much rather support.
Capitalism means that brands compete for consumers. One negative experience at a brand by one human can lose that brand hundreds of customers. If it gets bad enough, that brand could even go out of business.
Brands can also be political, especially in 2019. Nike standing with Colin Kaepernick both gained and lost it a substantial amount of customers. Choosing a brand makes a statement.
What statement will you make?
u/jngdavid asked:
Which brand has lost you as a customer ?
Here were some of those stories.
Bye Bye Bank
Bank of America. Their ATM was down so I had to go in and deposit my check. Paid all of my bills and had pretty much no money (this was during college), and they hit me with a $10 service fee which overdrew my account, and then they charged me a $35 overdraft fee. So, $45 I didn't have because their machine was down. The person I talked to on the phone was a complete dick and I decided to get rid of my account right then and there. He then gave me an attitude about canceling. Eff that guy and eff Bank of America.
A Problem They Created
Movistar. Once they downgraded my phone "on accident" and later were unable to undo the downgrade because "they can't replace a phone by another model" and kept me waiting for two months until I said "screw it" and bought another phone.
Money Out The Wazoo
Ticketmaster ... .00034 seconds after tickets go on sale, SOLD OUT for all but cosmically afar seats but their subsidiary Stubhub has them for 400% more but you need to pay an oxygen fee, electricity fee, left turning fee, reach around fee before the fee to disclose fees ... at least 50 shows that I've declined to go when I see that loathsome logo... never ever EVER going to pay them a dime .. probably a fee for that too...
The Fabric Attacks
Victoria's Secret. In my 20's everything I owned was from VS. Over time I realized the quality was declining and the prices were absurd. I would have reactions to whatever they treated the fabric with and that was the last straw. I stopped buying from them.
I'm Doing Your Job
Netgear. Buy one of their top end routers and when you need to update firmware, their automatic process corrupts on download ridiculously often, thus completely bricking it. Rather than fix it or offer to replace or anything, they just say "oh you should have done it manually because that happens a lot"
Wtf kind of response is that? Ridiculous
Left On Read
Progressive
A lawnmower hit my parked car during work last year and it was terrible dealing with Progressive. The claims agent I got stopped communicating with me after a certain point and I ended up having to hound the lawnmowing company's owner to pay for my car's repairs.
Spiteful Timing
Wells Fargo. Our first mortgage was thru them. After a couple years I get a call on the second of the month telling me my mortgage was due. I told them I had until the 15th. They told me that was a grace period and their investors preferred I pay on the first. I told them I would make sure I never paid it before the 15th ever again and their investors could eat a bag of dicks. We paid the mortgage at 4:30 in the afternoon on the 15th (or closest prior weekday) for the next 5 years at the local branch which was a half mile from the house. Good times!
Sprint Far Away
Sprint. Recovering from surgery, sedated in a hospital, over 8 years ago, I had a pre-smart phone and no data plan. Accidentally pushed some sort of 'internet' button that literally brought up Sprint's home page. When the $450 bill arrived they refused to budge. I was within the 45 day 'cancel for full refund' stage. This was a 2 year contract for my family of six. I returned the phones and cancelled the agreement but they refused to waive the internet charge. After talking on the phone with an escalation call center for over 4 hours I agreed to pay but vowed they would never see another penny from me.
One of a very small number of companies with a lifetime blacklist. I've paid my replacement carrier nearly $20,000 in the meantime. If Sprint ever merges with my carrier (they've tried a few times now), I will leave. If I go to a prepaid network, I will research to make sure whatever I use is not a rented Sprint network. Not one penny.
And I tell this story to anyone that will listen.
Find Another Sucker!
Adobe. I never liked their subscription model and then when administering licenses, the keys themselves end up being corrupted and then you have to go through a tedious process to have them all corrected again. Sub models on popular software always suck.
Transforming Furniture
Wayfair.
I was looking for a sectional and found one at a good price. The product page was a sectional, when I added it to my basket it was a sectional, when I paid for it my invoice said sectional, my confirmation email said it was a sectional... When I went to track the package, it magically turned into an Ottoman...
I called them and they said that they have to hold onto my money until the product was sent back to them. I understand that policy, however they were the ones that messed up. They requested that I take a day off of work to accept the package, so there's more money gone. They also didn't honor the sectional price as the sale was over when I found out about the issue...
This is the only time I ordered anything from them.
Post Office Shenanigans
Dell.
Several years ago my computer died and I sent the laptop in to get the motherboard repaired. The process of getting the box back and forth, took several weeks, and when the computer was returned the wifi antenna was broken.
Thr amount of phones calls I made trying to get boxes, and dealing with the same person was so frustrating. I even spent a full day waiting at a friends for a box they said was delivered, and never came. Ugh!
I was trying to keep it out of a landfill, but my parents were kind enough to get me a desktop since the repair took so long. I still have the laptop but it had been only a year old.
My previous laptop lasted nealy ten years with no problems, it was a Lenovo.
Life On The Screen
Netflix. I'm sick of getting invested in their shows just to have them cancel them around the season two mark with no resolution.
Big Brother
Amazon.
After reading about the way they treat their warehouse employees, we cancelled our Prime account. No regrets. Cancelled Audible, too. As much as possible, we avoid anything associated with Amazon.
There's plenty of additional information that's come out since that confirms it was the right decision.
Alexa? You have to be out of your @#$%ing mind to let that in your house.
Not My Fault
Bank of America. I had a mortgage with them, paid with autopay as long as I had the mortgage.
About 8 years later, they started applying my check to some guy named Bob in the midwest. No explanation. No mail. No email. Got a surprise one day when they tried to foreclose on me from out of the blue.
I went there with all of my canceled checks, and they wouldn't fix it until I talked to one of the Vice Presidents of the company.
BoA sucks.
A Return For Nobody
TurboTax. Please don't use TurboTax. They tried to charge me $150 for a tax refund that I got for free through another site. For anyone in the US, you can get the same refund for free, I used freetaxusa.com. Don't use TurboTax they're a scam.
Loss Of Values
McDonalds, totally.
I'm a bit ahem older than most Redditors, so I remember vividly how great McDonalds used to be as a family dining experience back in the 70s. They had a simple, tasty menu that appealed to both kids and adults and the restaurant experience itself was dynamic and well-themed. I even worked at one in high school in the 80s, and I consider that experience the solid foundation of my professional work ethic as an adult.
Now McDonalds is just another low-quality corporate "everything-to-everyone/nothing-to-nobody" chain with a massive menu of themeless mediocrity. For the cost of their food, I could easily go to any local family-owned restaurant and get a much better version as a sit-down experience.