I'm a pretty laid-back guy, and this is a huge source of frustration for me. It seems like to get anything done when you're dealing with a big company, you have no choice but to be rude to the poor soul who is just trying to do his/her job.
For instance, I bought a laptop back in February, choosing this particular brand based largely on the fact that I would get a free $200 spare laptop battery in the deal. So I'm not too happy when the battery doesn't come. I call after two months, then three, then five. Get the run-around every time, without anyone even pretending to want to help me. "We don't have any in stock, you should get it in a few weeks." Except it never happens. I'm horribly polite to them anyway, because that's just the way I am. Eventually after more than seven months of waiting (six to eight weeks my ass), I decide to use the approach that I sadly find myself having to use more and more: be such a huge asshole that they can't possibly ignore you. So I call Toshiba up once more, whining about contacting the Better Business Bureau and how I buy tech for my company and I'll never buy their products again. I hate doing it, but it works. They say there's nothing they can do, of course, but in a matter of days the battery is on my doorstep. Problem solved, but I had to piss off three perfectly nice employees who probably hate their job in the first place and couldn't do anything but tell their superiors what a jerk I am.
Why can't companies just do what they promise, without me having to get all nasty first? It goes totally against my character and I hate doing it. But I find that more and more it's the only solution to getting what I need in consumer-to-business situations. Isn't there any better way?
