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.
- 1Looking for a new dog walker
- 2Checking municipal water meters for continuous running
- 3Hiring an independent CPA to review returns before signing
- 4Sending certified letters demanding explanations and billing details
- 5Looking up firm reviews on Google to check for similar complaints
- 6switching to alternative local beverage companies or independent distributors for better service and margins
- 7canceling contracts and going a different direction
- 8checking with local peers regarding how individual distribution centers run before signing
- 9Being skeptical of prices that seem too good to be true
- 10Waiting for semi-annual parent-teacher conferences to get real information
- 11Guessing or wondering about program structures and requirements
- 12Picking another vendor
- 13Voicing experience to the account manager
- 14Calling a different company for a second opinion
- 15Inspecting the equipment and doing personal research to verify the work
- 16research restaurants carefully rather than assuming busy or expensive means good
- 17pre-book airport transfers
- 18agree 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 ↗
“I said i was dissatisfied that a paid NBD on site service had taken a full week to resolve a straightforward problem.”source ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
“Like what's the point of paying for it if they won't honor it?”source ↗
“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 ↗
“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 ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2Getting bounced between support reps after a delayed delivery
- 5How to respond when a client says your rates are too high
- 21Vendor tech support takes months to respond to tickets
- 5How to follow up with a client who picked a cheaper vendor
- 16How to handle clients who demand refunds and bully you
- 6How to tell a client their bookkeeper is incompetent