Said It Here

How do you deal with a rigid and untrustworthy service provider?

Bad service providers often impose strict cancellation policies while delivering subpar work, cutting corners, and acting unprofessionally. This leaves clients constantly chasing answers, feeling unable to trust the work being done, and trapped by burdensome rules that make it difficult to walk away.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Looking for a new dog walker
  2. 2
    Checking municipal water meters for continuous running
  3. 3
    Hiring an independent CPA to review returns before signing
  4. 4
    Sending certified letters demanding explanations and billing details
  5. 5
    Looking up firm reviews on Google to check for similar complaints
  6. 6
    switching to alternative local beverage companies or independent distributors for better service and margins
  7. 7
    canceling contracts and going a different direction
  8. 8
    checking with local peers regarding how individual distribution centers run before signing
  9. 9
    Being skeptical of prices that seem too good to be true
  10. 10
    Waiting for semi-annual parent-teacher conferences to get real information
  11. 11
    Guessing or wondering about program structures and requirements
  12. 12
    Picking another vendor
  13. 13
    Voicing experience to the account manager
  14. 14
    Calling a different company for a second opinion
  15. 15
    Inspecting the equipment and doing personal research to verify the work
  16. 16
    research restaurants carefully rather than assuming busy or expensive means good
  17. 17
    pre-book airport transfers
  18. 18
    agree a fixed taxi fare wherever possible

In their words

Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.

Our biggest disappointment was the general lack of hospitality and customer service.source ↗

Considering the enormous number of tourists and cruise passengers passing through Kotor, the infrastructure simply didn't appear able to cope.source ↗

Kotor Old Town in particular could be extremely expensive without the quality or service necessarily matching the price.source ↗

Paying €84 for that particular vehicle and a traffic-free journey left us feeling thoroughly ripped off and wasn't a great final memory of Montenegro.source ↗

Odd-Pea-3034 · r/travel · 119 upvotes

I said i was dissatisfied that a paid NBD on site service had taken a full week to resolve a straightforward problem.source ↗

Obvious-Water569 · r/sysadmin · 68 upvotes

My ac company would do checkups twice a year and shit always seemed to work worse after they left.source ↗

After he left, same day, my upstairs unit stopped working.source ↗

Interesting_Low_6908 · r/hvacadvice · 5 upvotes

The Montessori daycare she is at has stopped logging naps and bowel movements.source ↗

I have gotten one note on her behavior in 6 months.source ↗

When we get there, not a single word spoken to parents.source ↗

I am the type of person who basically wants the maximum amount of communication and information, so this is all crazy to me, ha.source ↗

Kevim_A · r/Parenting · 4 upvotes

They had already deposited the certified check I gave them but I noticed they also pulled the same amount as an ACH the following day (I had provided them ACH authorization for future transactions).source ↗

They then pulled ANOTHER ACH for the same amount the following week. It’s now been 8 weeks and they still have not refunded any of the money.source ↗

sixfootmoonquaker · r/restaurantowners · 4 upvotes

The trucks never showed up when they were supposed to. The rep promised us the world and then when we were set up we could only order a few items, none of which were in the catalog promised.source ↗

BigPileOfBennies · r/restaurantowners · 3 upvotes

Some MSPs look solid during the sales call, then the cracks show once tickets, escalations, or security issues start piling up. What red flag did you ignore early on that became a real problem later?source ↗

TechnologyMatch · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

It's not even the fumbling of the service that bothers me. These things happen. It's the gaslighting that's a totally new one on me.source ↗

Obvious-Water569 · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

Like what's the point of paying for it if they won't honor it?source ↗

speaksoftly_bigstick · r/sysadmin · 1 upvotes

Well, our new walker is very strict and treats it like a formal job where she requires a 2 weeks notice if we have to cancel a walk for any reason and she will give 2 weeks notice in advance for any time off.source ↗

She also has tried to go off rover in the first 2 weeks and we denied her request twice because we did not trust her yet.source ↗

We don’t tip our current walker because she does not show she goes the extra mile for anything. She also walks half the distance all our other walks would.source ↗

OutlandishnessOld331 · r/homeowners

Since then, the experience has been a nightmare! This year was poor communication, lack of professionalism, mistakes and confusion surrounding my taxes, and fees that are shockingly high after the returns were already prepared and submitted.source ↗

I went from having a CPA I had complete confidence in to feeling like I’m constantly chasing answers and questioning whether things are being handled correctly.source ↗

kkkkk1018 · r/smallbusiness

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised