sprint for acting as a billing intermediary for a third-party telemarketing slam. i supposedly agreed to pay for an answering service on my landline when i already had a machine and built-in voicemail on my sprint plan. i said, verbatim, "no, no, a thousand times no," on the call with the telemarketer. when i attempted to contact the slammer for a refund, the sole form of recourse they offered me was an address - PO box, go figure - where i could send a money order for a copy of the tape in which i supposedly agreed to be billed for their "service". they also wanted a hefty "cancellation fee" to outright stop billing me, just days after the initial call took place. sprint stood by their "partner" every time i contacted them. my bank at the time (co-conspirator #3, wachovia) refused to pursue a fraud investigation, i suspect because of the small size of the charge in question. i responded by canceling my landline service and getting a burner cell. (i was a broke 18-year-old, and cell subscriptions required good credit or hefty deposits at the time.)

verizon (internet) for automatically shutting off my naked dsl at the end of every billing cycle, and taking between a week and twelve days to get it working again every single time. i was never credited for the time during which i was paying for a service i wasn't receiving, and the two divisions that were involved (internet and billing) pointed fingers back and forth at each other until i got sick of inquiring about it. for what it's worth, i (reluctantly) got a cell plan with verizon wireless much, MUCH later, and have never had a problem.

chick-fil-a for their financial contributions to the anti-lgbt lobby.

ihop for kicking me out for using an electronic cigarette about a week after my state's attorney general issued an opinion that the smoking ban didn't apply to them. ("any reason" also applies to me going across the street and eating at subway, fuckheads.)

chili's for cutting me off after two doubles over the course of about two hours, and for apparently thinking the check was the appropriate place to notify me that they were charging me $6.49 for a shot of old crow.

bank of america for refusing to reimburse several overdraft and underbalance fees on a fraudulent transaction that had already been reversed after a fraud investigation by paypal, and eventually sending my negative balance to a collection agency (in india, typically) when i refused to pay after contacting them on multiple occasions and being given the runaround by everyone i spoke to.

sam goody (now fye) for their corporate policy against stocking local music on consignment, which i encountered while trying to get an independent record label off the ground.