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.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Looking for a new dog walkerDid this help you?
- 2Checking municipal water meters for continuous runningDid this help you?
- 3Hiring an independent CPA to review returns before signingDid this help you?
- 4Sending certified letters demanding explanations and billing detailsDid this help you?
- 5Looking up firm reviews on Google to check for similar complaintsDid this help you?
- 6switching to alternative local beverage companies or independent distributors for better service and marginsDid this help you?
- 7canceling contracts and going a different directionDid this help you?
- 8checking with local peers regarding how individual distribution centers run before signingDid this help you?
- 9Being skeptical of prices that seem too good to be trueDid this help you?
- 10Waiting for semi-annual parent-teacher conferences to get real informationDid this help you?
- 11Guessing or wondering about program structures and requirementsDid this help you?
- 12Picking another vendorDid this help you?
- 13Voicing experience to the account managerDid this help you?
- 14Calling a different company for a second opinionDid this help you?
- 15Inspecting the equipment and doing personal research to verify the workDid this help you?
- 16research restaurants carefully rather than assuming busy or expensive means goodDid this help you?
- 17pre-book airport transfersDid this help you?
- 18agree a fixed taxi fare wherever possibleDid this help you?
- 19Asking hosts to send screenshots of speed test results before bookingDid this help you?
- 20Sticking with established major carriers like AT&TDid this help you?
- 21Calling the underlying vendor directly when outages or billing issues occurDid this help you?
- 22Warning others to avoid the vendor entirelyDid this help you?
- 23calling bank to prove payment on the spotDid this help you?
- 24chasing management repeatedly for follow-ups and compensationDid this help you?
- 25filing public negative reviewsDid this help you?
- 26Closing doors to affected roomsDid this help you?
- 27Vacuuming up stray pestsDid this help you?
- 28Keeping the HVAC system turned offDid this help you?
- 29Researching treatment safety and methods independently onlineDid this help you?
- 30addressing the issue directly with the vendor in writing to request an explanation or meaningful refundDid this help you?
- 31checking the contract, emails, and texts to see what was agreed upon and documentedDid this help you?
- 32escalating through the payment method or vendor platform usedDid this help you?
- 33Switching to competing laundry service providersDid this help you?
- 34Purchasing and maintaining laundry appliances in-houseDid this help you?
- 35Tenants hanging clothes to air dry when systems failDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, 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 ↗
“For Airbnb or Booking.com I’ve on occasion asked the hosts to send screenshots of speed test results. It’s a hassle for them and they could fake it, but worth a try.”source ↗
“I said i was dissatisfied that a paid NBD on site service had taken a full week to resolve a straightforward problem.”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 ↗
“I called the about an issue and they were like "why are you calling us call the telco" to which I said "the circuit it under your name we can't"”source ↗
“They were charging us $400 a month to "manage" a 50$ coax line from Spectrum [which has no contracts] when we cancelled MetTel got us for 48 months left on the contract. Scummy and slimy run fast away.”source ↗
“Imagine standing there with everything you own inside their truck while being told to pay money you already paid or you won’t get your things.”source ↗
“And this doesn’t even include the damage to multiple items during the move. Our dining table was DESTROYED among other damages.”source ↗
“Does anyone have experience with clients using MetTel? Large client is in talks to switching from ATT to MetTel. We are having issues with connectivity and the ability to have a fleet of phones on different carriers seems too good to be true.”source ↗
“Have a client that used them for MediaCom. There were several times that the Internet bill from Mediacom to Mettel was not paid. We would call Mediacom because the Internet was down and they would tell us to pay our bill.”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 ↗
“I'm pretty frustrated with this company as the treatment is very different from their inspection estimate, and it's very different from every other source I'm looking at”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 ↗
“This is an absolutely enshitified company that does not provide any support whatsoever.”source ↗
“The app that controls the machines is full of bugs and loses connection all the time.”source ↗
“I fought with them for a whole year to cancel our contract with them.”source ↗
“I've had some big issues, and some small issues.”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 ↗
“So our DJ seriously dropped the ball.”source ↗
“He could not figure out how to connect to the speakers so no one could hear our ceremony.”source ↗
“He used the wrong entrance song (which showed he did have the list just used at the wrong time)”source ↗
“There were few more minor details && our guests didn’t notice but Im still very upset over it.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why does customer service just recommend apps instead of helping?
- 8How to deal with enterprise vendors missing SLAs
- 2Getting bounced between support reps after a delayed delivery
- 18How to respond when a client says your rates are too high
- 29Vendor tech support takes months to respond to tickets
- 5How to follow up with a client who picked a cheaper vendor