In the Old Days, You’d Check with the Better Business Bureau October 3, 2002February 22, 2017 Gary Diehl: ‘I’ve noticed several recent messages regarding AOL’s infamous tricks to keep subscribers. Thought I would pass on a trick I use to find out if I want to deal with a company in the first place. Go to Google and in quotes type ‘<Name of Company> Sucks.’ I find this an excellent indicator of how angry the company has managed to make its customers. For example: ‘GE Sucks’ only gets you about 48 hits, ‘GM Sucks’ gets you roughly 136, but ‘AOL Sucks’ brings in 7,960 hits. Coincidence? I think not. Also notice how many of the hits are actual sites people have built just to vent their rage. This is also fun to try with political candidates.’ ☞ For the record, Bush scores 6,390 votes by this standard versus just 296 for Gore and 523 for Clinton (using last names only). AOL, meanwhile, in the few short days since Gary sent this, has acquired 500 new detractors. (I am not one of them.)