Over the course of 2002 I have had both the pleasure and displeasure of dealing with companies, which I need to conduct my day-to-day life. This article is a best/worst list of those services and I hope it helps to guide you towards a more hassle-free day.

I would like to start out with my “best” list. These services have proven to be a staple in my everyday operations and have lent much support to my efforts. Here are the best of 2002 according to me:

1. Cafepress.com – This is my new #1. I discovered this web site on a tip from an associate while looking for a way to have promo gear and spend as little money as possible. Cafepress.com offers a plethora of gear from T-shirts to Caps to Mugs to almost any other printable item for sale with your company emblem, or band art, with no cash up front! It takes a few minutes to set up your store and upload your graphics and … BAM! You got gear!

There is very little setup involved and no credit card is required. No overhead, no stock and no effort. Cafepress.com allows anyone to set up an online store with products you design and sell right from your own storefront. They take care of billing and shipping. You also get a preview of what the products will look like with your custom graphics applied. They also support several graphic file types like PSD, GIF, JPG and TIF. Their support is prompt if you should have an issue and the FAQ answers most questions you may have offhand.

As far as pricing … the gear is reasonable but the shipping is a little high for one item. I recommend picking the best items and really working out the graphics. You may upload full color. Product quality is top-notch.

2. MI2N and Music Dish – The Music Industry News Network has been a huge factor in the success of Garage Radio. MI2N allows you to post your music industry news to be read by a circulation of over 26,000 regular readers. The site is owned and operated by two brothers, the de Fontenays, who really support the indie music movement and is one of several sites run by them designed to promote artists and music.

For no cost at all, you can add news on several subjects like Radio news, web events and band news. The editor picks his favorite press releases and they get distributed in one of the many i2n newsletters. The site is easy to navigate and is also very useful for research and getting your own updates on the music biz.

Music Dish is a great magazine. I have several articles that have been published here alongside many other great writers. The Music Dish e-Journal provides awesome articles and tips from and for the music industry. They also have a service called Content Express, which provides artist and industry news content for your web site. I really have to hand it to the de Fontenays, they are really on top of the game!

4. AT&T – I have had issues with my local calling services for over 2 years. This has proven to be a stopper for several activities as you can imagine. I left my last service (which seemed to be a great deal and will be featured in my “worst” list) for AT&T and was instantly put to ease by their promptness and excellent customer service.

5. Payless Shoes – I know, this isn’t quite music or Internet related, but I have to give props to these guys. I received a counterfeit $50 bill as change from one of their stores. As a father of 3 and a Payless customer of over 15 years, I was miffed to say the least. I reported the incident to the US Secret Service and was informed that recipients of these bills almost never get their money back.

I called the national Customer Service number and explained my problem, at which point I was told that they would contact me within 4 business days. On the fourth business day I was called by the manager of the store, who asked me to come in and sign a receipt for my fifty bucks.

Now for my 5 worst of 2002. This list breaks my heart because I hate to see anyone get the shaft. These companies certainly deserve a reaming and will get their just desert in this piece:

1. MCI’s The Neighborhood – This appears to be a good deal. For $49.99 per month you get your local calling service, all the options you had had and unlimited long distance. The service should kick in around 21 days from signing up.

I waited for the service to kick in for 3 months and got nothing. I called a few times and was informed that I had never signed up for the account or we were waiting on it to start. When I finally got the service I found that I had no voice mail or long distance. I repeatedly called to rectify this problem and was finally (2 months later) informed that I owed money to 10-10-220, an MCI entity. I had never used the service and spoke to several representatives from call center rep to manager and was told several different stories.

I finally received a bill for over $400 for 3 ½ months of service and found that MCI had changed my service without my permission several times. I am still in arbitration with this company.

2. OneFusion – This is a service that threatened to halt the Garage Radio stream by cutting it off without notice. They boast fat storage capabilities and fatter bandwidth for a very competitive price. Unfortunately their usage terms don’t include processes and CPU usage (or didn’t at the time). In the middle of the biggest growth spurt experienced by GR the stream was cut off without notice and access to the space we had on the server was blocked. We emailed them and emailed them and got no response until 2 days after we chose a new service. We also published a newsletter solely dedicated to these guys.

3. Taco Bell – One of my favorite places to eat. Unfortunately, the one down the street from my house has never gotten my order straight. When I am in the drive-thru I feel obligated to let the next 36 cars get to the window ASAP. I check my order and go. You can’t really tell by the wrapping what is actually there, so I count, check items and go. Every time I get home I end up returning because the mistakes are so bad that I feel it is my duty!

After many confrontations with the store manager and calls to customer service, I still have the problem. It’s been 2 years and people ask why I still go … It’s my favorite fast food and they’re usually pretty quick. This particular store is just the armpit!

4. I really don’t have any more bad experiences to report … anyone with crappy customer service or sub-level product support look out; I’ll be looking for material next year!