Crappy Companies and Indifferent Service

I've had three really crappy customer service experiences recently with some of Our Better Companies.

The first one was T-Mobile (which is a dreadful company) After a YEAR of bad reception, in which I paid my silly bill right on time, I called their Customer Service department, and was told my contract was up and that I could switch my service.

So I did.

Imagine my suprise when they sent me a bill for $225 for an "early termination fee". Once again I called T-Mobile, and was told that the contract "was legally binding" and that they essentially didn't care that they had lied to me. I asked to speak to a manager. They put me on hold for ten minutes before I hung up.

Then there's Marriott. I was down in Portland for the weekend a few weeks back, and had to stay an extra day because I was sick as a dog (with strep throat, no less) I called the front desk and told them what was going on, and they were gloriously indifferent to my plight. They grudgingly let me stay over an extra night, but moved me to a smoking room and charged me the same rate as they did for the much nicer room that I had been in. They didn't even offer to help me move my stuff, and made me come down to the desk to switch rooms! (I can only hope that I was able to give those unpleasent people strep as well)

In MY day, when I worked at Marriott (Minneapolis City Center), we were quite considerate of people in situations like that: We would have at least offered to give them a bowl of soup or something, and reduced the rate if we could swing it. But that Portland Marriott (the City Center) is a creepy hotel. Don't stay there unless you want to get strep throat.

Lastly, there was Dillards.

As you all know, my dad died in April. That, of course, is not Dillard's fault. But when my mom went in one of their stores to buy something, they told her that since Dad was dead, her card was no longer any good, and that she would have to reapply for credit.

Let me hasten to point out that there was no balance on the card (they always paid it off) and that they had had the card for at least ten years. Besides the fact that I found it pretty cold of them to handle it the way they did, it was weird how they knew he was dead. The funeral hadn't even happened yet. What sort of ghoulish people are they? Does Dillard's have a department that sits around and reads obitiuaries, looking for credit customers?

So I complained. Dillards told me that They aren't responsible for their credit card company and that I need to talk to them.

What sort of tacky companies are these?