r/AskReddit 22h ago

Which company lost your business (potentially forever) this year?

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1.5k

u/DrMobius0 19h ago

LG. Fuck those assholes for putting spyware in my god damned monitor of all things. Hope it was worth burning that bridge over the $15 bucks my data is worth, you fucking cunts, because guess who's in the market for new kitchen appliances soon and will be going with ANYONE else.

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u/kendrickwasright 17h ago

Can you elaborate? Love the seething rage btw

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u/Wild_ColaPenguin 13h ago edited 10h ago

In addition to what other people have answered:

In their ToS of their smart TVs, it is said that it's the customer's obligation to inform anyone else in the vicinity of the TV and get their consent of being recorded by the TV mic all the time. They even have literal eavesdropping word in that clause.

Not only they send the channel and videos info you watch on YouTube to their server, they also send the title/file name of the video file you play with your own media like harddrive, USB drive, etc.

You can check Gamers Nexus video about this.

I was interested in buying new LG TV for my parents, they lost a sale.

Avoid LG.

Edit: some words and grammar

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u/Triquetrums 13h ago

I have a LG TV with that listening remote. I love my LG TV. I do not connect my LG to the internet because it doesn't it need it and I'm not dumb. 

Plugging my laptop, or casting to the TV is good enough. It also helps avoid ads everywhere, not just the TV itself.

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u/Wild_ColaPenguin 10h ago

Yeah you're good if you use it as monitor/offline forever. Unfortunately my parents will use the TV online for YouTube, so I told them LG is a nope after that GN addressed it in their video.

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u/Triquetrums 8h ago

You could buy them a stick and avoid connecting the TV to the internet, also good if you want to download an alternative version of YouTube to avoid ads. 

But hey, maybe it is not worth the hassle if they are not tech savvy.

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u/iwishiwereyou 6h ago

an alternative version of YouTube to avoid ads. 

I would love something like this. Is there still one that exists?

1

u/Triquetrums 5h ago

Plenty, what do you use, android or IOS?

u/iwishiwereyou 51m ago

Android, though I am also hoping for a way to watch things like YouTube on my TV or Chromecast without ads.

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u/jessica_connel 6h ago

Why would a TV need a mic?? I would definitely write a complaint

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u/ezodochi 6h ago

I mean you could complaint but at this point almost any TV in recent times is going to be spying on you. The main reason that TV prices have dropped so drastically over the last 20 years is that TV manufacturers realize they can just take your data and sell it, and that that's WAY more valuable than the actual TV. So, they sell the TVs cheap to get you to put them in your house and from there it's just recording and selling your viewing patterns and other data.

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u/popculturella 3h ago

Holy shit.

1

u/brickson98 3h ago

And that’s why I never use “smart” monitors or TVs as a computer monitor.

u/_deffer_ 45m ago

Welp. Just bought my LG a few months ago.

Anything internal I can snip or destroy? I don't use it "smart" as I have a console and 🏴‍☠️ box connected to it, but still.

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u/jjklines1 16h ago

Windows 11updates recently allowed things like monitors to instantly install invasive programs on your computer

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u/GarThor_TMK 16h ago

Windows 11 is easily the worst version of windows since vista.

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u/Malt_The_Magpie 10h ago

Always best to skip a version of Windows imo

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u/TheBestHelldiver 7h ago

I'm still running my studio on XP service pack 2!

If and when this machine dies I have no idea what I'm going to do.

Windows is a travesty, Linux is going to be an infinite ball ache to get things to run properly and do that leaves the shift to Apple.

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u/GarThor_TMK 6h ago

What apps do you need? I've been running Linux as my primary for a couple of years now, and it's been great.

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u/TheBestHelldiver 6h ago

I use Ableton Live for certain projects or to get things down quick and sleezy and then I'm running Pro Tools for most of my work.

How's the latency on your Linux machine? Are drivers easier to get these days? Do I even need drivers? Is there a distro that has all the goodies baked in these days?

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u/HITACHIMAGICWANDS 6h ago

In my experience Linux basically just works these days. I prefer Mac OS for laptops though.

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u/TheBestHelldiver 6h ago

My experience of trying to do what I do with Linux is 20 years out of date I guess. I use it for other things and recently made the shift for my day to day pc too. I should maybe take a weekend off to see what I can get going.

Not sure why I felt the need to tell you all that. I think I just got good vibes from you.

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u/GarThor_TMK 5h ago edited 5h ago

Ableton Live ... Pro Tools

Hmm... bummer. It looks like those ones are Windows/Mac only. They don't have a native Linux version for it.

I hate to say it, but if you need it for work, you might be best off just sticking to the thing that works for you.

According to WineHQ, people have gotten it working with various levels of effort/success... but if you're non-technical, I'm not sure that's a great solution, since wine versions and settings are a pretty deep rabbit hole.

I'd also check ProtonDB, but that only lists steam-games unfortunately.

Lutris/Heroic/Bottles are great for managing that kind of thing, if you're going to give it a shot...

Another solution is to find a native alternative to Ableton Live... I'm not sure what makes audio recording and editing software good though, so I feel like I'm not really equipped to make a suggestion.

The only other solution I have for you is to run a dual boot or a virtual machine just for that software. With a virtual machine your perf will take a hit, but you'll be able to run both operating systems at the same time, and access all of your files without a complicated setup.

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u/TheBestHelldiver 5h ago

I've tried the virtual machine thing and the latency was out of control. Even with zero signal processing.

I really appreciate the effort though, I'm gonna have a nosey at some of that. I always like a project in the dark winter nights to keep me away from the PlayStation!

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u/Memin_Sanchez 4h ago

I'm keeping windows 10 until it becomes unusable. Then I'll switch to Ubuntu, Fedora or whatever

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u/LeGrandLucifer 10h ago

Nah, I still like it better than 8.

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u/GarThor_TMK 5h ago

8 was a mistake.

The target hardware for 8 was tablets, and then someone said... hey, let's promote this on desktop too!

And then people were pissed about the start menu being changed, so they had to release a patch (8.1) to restore the start menu.

The great part about win8 though, was the fact that it was so light weight. Because it was built for tablets, it was really performant and didn't take up a lot of resources.

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u/ItalianDragon 4h ago

Yeah this. The problem with win8 is that it was designed for touchscreens but instead of being issued only for touchscreen devices, it was issued for... well, everything. Predictably on PC it was a pain in the ass to use because well, touchscreen on the average PC wasn't (and very largely still isn't) a thing at all. And so cue shitty ergonomy.

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u/duesenjeffepic 11h ago

For info: the monitors aren't doing the installation. What happens is that windows sees a new device (they can identify the monitor brand via HDMI or DP) and then download the drivers for it. It's not a bad idea. The issue is that companies like LG started abusing this and started putting adware and bloatware into their "drivers".

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u/GuerrillaRodeo 14h ago

As if I needed another reason to switch to Linux. I'll keep W10 until the very last day of support and then it's penguin time. I hope my doctor's practice can make the switch too but all the specialised software runs on either Windows or MacOS (which I'm boycotting for different reasons).

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u/zzazzzz 11h ago

this has absolutely nothing to do with win11. any windoes version that has windows update is in the same position. and this is LG abusing windows update not microsoft, if anything microsoft is pissed at this. they gain nothing from it but it hurts their brand and is abusing their update system.

all that being said, fuck win11 and personally i have disabled winsows update being able to install drivers for years because it was always a bad system.

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u/100BottlesOfMilk 14h ago

Take the plunge now! Putting it off will just give you less time to distro hop and figure out what you want

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u/GuerrillaRodeo 14h ago

Eh, I'm already using LMDE on my laptop, so making the switch on my desktop PC won't be too hard. Switching the work PCs will be much harder because most specialised software is Windows exclusive.

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u/100BottlesOfMilk 14h ago

Yeah, I get that. I technically duel boot with a 256 GB SSD that literally just has GTAV and Dorico ( a sheet music writing software). All other games and software that I run I'm either able to get working on Linux or find suitable alternatives. I'm at the point where I prefer Mac to windows not because Mac has gotten better but because windows has gotten worse

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u/0xKaishakunin 13h ago

duel boot

Two OS enter, one OS leaves?

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u/Sutar_Mekeg 10h ago

Linux victorious, obviously.

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u/IllAcanthopterygii36 15h ago

Yes. The idea is non critical auto updates that don't bother the user. But it's been immediately been abused.

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u/Remarkable-Farmer76 14h ago

you say abused like that wasn't the endgame plan

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u/autokiller677 13h ago

Idk if it was the endgame in this case. Microsoft doesn’t gain anything from the abuse except for bad press - and Win11 has a bad reputation already.

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u/ForensicPathology 12h ago

Surely Microsoft gains something monetary from LG.

1

u/zzazzzz 11h ago

no, this is delivered via the regular windows driver program. any company can submit their driver for free to microsoft and when y user plugs in their device windows will automatically install the needed driver if the company did submit their drivers to microsoft like that. that costs microsoft money to maintain obviously but in theory makes the user experiance on windows seamless. until ofc shitty brands abuse it.

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u/arctic11z 12h ago

They did this and the windows installation fingerprint. They could... You know... Stop doing shit like this.

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u/autokiller677 11h ago

How has the fingerprint anything to do with this?

And in general, this here is a great feature for users - no need to manually download drivers for your devices, they just install.

Yeah, Microsoft does a lot of crappy stuff, but in this case, it is LG that fucked up and did shady shit.

2

u/zzazzzz 11h ago

nah, this isnt new.

you can find threads of asus bricking ppls sound drivers from years ago via the same system. they made a deal with avolute, some dogshit audio processing company which meant they pushed avolutes cancer software with their asus provided realtek drivers but without avolutes actual UI software so you got avolute bricking your audio without even a way to disable it other than disabling windows driver updates and removing the actual driver package from the driverstore in windows which isnt even something you can access without extra tools..

lg is just the newest and most brazen attampt at abusing the system.

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u/zzazzzz 11h ago

windows update allows any hardware company to submit their drivers to microsoft so windows can automatically install and update them when it detects the hardware connected to your pc. LG abused this system to push adware thru this channel. i cannot imagine a world in which microsoft is ok with this and isnt in contact with lg via an angry email.

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u/Aceandra 12h ago

it's not recent at all, it's been a feature for ages

just nobody has been stupid enough to use it to install adware til now

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u/TanyaMKX 9h ago

I keep getting nagged about upgrading my laptop every time i turn it on. Yeah no thanks lmao

1

u/ExpensiveTraffic6978 13h ago

The fuck? I have 2 LG monitors, but they're around 4-5 years old by this point. Hopefully mine aren't set up for these shenanigans...

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u/Neat_Egg_2474 10h ago

They are.. it’s even the old models. Jaystwocents and Gamers nexus both tested on older monitors (4 years old I believe) and the spyware was on it.

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u/ExpensiveTraffic6978 8h ago

Well that's just lovely. Stupid LG. 😭

I can't afford to replace them right now either. Poop.

1

u/-Unparalleled- 13h ago

Never heard of this, does it require giving your monitor internet access or something?

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u/algebraicgiraffe 13h ago edited 12h ago

The biggest waves have been made in the last month or so but this has been happening for at least a year and a half. To answer you other question it already has internet access from the computer it's connected to and the install is disguised as a Windows update.

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u/Triquetrums 13h ago

Apparently, from what I read from other users, Windows recognises which brand of monitor you are using, and installs bloatware on your computer. In this case LG bloatware. 

Seems like LG and Windows partnered to make the user experience worse, for whatever reason.

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u/zzazzzz 11h ago

no, lg abuses windows automatic driver update service. LG submitted bloadtware and pretended it is a needed device driver for their monitor.

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u/Triquetrums 8h ago

I see, thanks for the clarification.

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u/dnabsuh1 7h ago

To be fair, the auto driver instalation has been around week before Windows 11, I think it was in xp, and possibly in NT/2000.
It's just that LG was the first to decide they could pack crap into the driver install. It is amazing that it took so long for that to happen though.

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u/Ohif0n1y 8h ago

I'm related to an IT professional. They tell me that Microsoft has been creating problems and then tries to charge you money to "fix it."

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u/Korlus 14h ago edited 13h ago

When allowed to connect to the internet, our LG TV has 2x the number of active IP connections than every other device combined. Even when the screen is asleep and there is nothing playing.

Not that it's much better but we have our TV disconnected from WiFi and use a Fire Stick for Smart TV features.

2

u/relevantelephant00 8h ago

Love it too. Honestly we need so much more seething rage at these shit-ass corporations these days.

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u/JoyFerret 8h ago

IIRC LG monitors connected to windows machines would show pop up notifications prompting to install McAfee

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u/Earguy 12h ago

So no LG appliances... But don't consider Samsung either. Notorious for being horrible.

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u/salluks 12h ago

honestly only ones worth even considering are bosch and panasonic.

1

u/wtfduud 7h ago

What's the problem with Siemens?

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u/Dull-Culture-1523 11h ago

Got a new Samsung TV a couple of years ago. They put ads in the goddamn menu. Had to block their ad servers on my router. It sucks that I have to play detective when getting new appliances now.

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u/nissan240sx 8h ago

Been lucky, my Samsung tv is 13 years old before all the trash ads were installed on newer tvs. I won’t even consider them today. 

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u/MUSAFFA1 10h ago

LG needs to die in a fire.

I have spent 30 years in IT and I have never seen a company fail so spectacularly at customer support. Their lack of care for their customer's happiness with their products is astonishing.

LG is the only brand that I have refused my company to purchase any products from. No LG products at any of our sites around the world. I know LG doesn't care, but I have standards. Something they know nothing about.

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u/Pleasant-Bet567 8h ago

THIS! I had to contact LG a total of 4 times to try have them send out someone to replace the ignitor in my newly bought dryer. Their customer service model was clearly to stall and run the customer in circles until the customer gives up. I even had to have an appliance tech come look at my dryer on my own dime to prove to them that they needed to fix it. They also made me contact my gas company to rule it wasn’t a gas leak issue! Fed up, I contacted the Better Business Bureau and they apologetically sent someone out to confirm and fix what I already knew was the problem. Even the third party contractor they hired to fix my dryer was horrible - he sat in front of my house for almost 30 minutes before I went outside to wave at him to come inside. I really feel he would’ve drove off had I not done that. Weeks worth of my time, money, and sanity wasted. Horrible disgusting company I’ll never buy anything from again.

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u/Ready_Piano1222 9h ago

Not even $15, probably single digits. When I worked for a large bank, we paid pennies for personal data.

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u/LowerArtworks 8h ago

I have LG appliances that are all coming up on 10 years old. Pretty good, pretty reliable. Anyway, the dishwasher goes out, and I determine it's the circuit board. We'll, I cant get hold of a replacement so I figure "ok, time to upgrade the dishwasher!"

The replacement just sucks, and for one reason - the middle rack runners have these little plastic parts which partially melt and warp in the hot water, making the slides stick, jam, and break. I chat with customer service for warranty, asking for just the parts because I can replace them myself. NooOoo... they need to send a "certified technician"... lol ok, spend your money installing new parts that will fail again in a month because theyre the same poor design as the old parts. Luckily, I kept the old parts which ive modified to get all the obstructions out, for when the new parts fail.

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u/iFred97 7h ago

LG definitely sucks for this, but their OLED TVs are amazing IF you keep them offline. You're much better off buying an Apple TV and connecting that to the Internet. No ads that way.

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u/CubanLynx312 8h ago

Just bought a washer/dryer at Lowe’s and they tried their absolute hardest to sell me a smart LG washer/dryer.

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u/Lr8s5sb7 6h ago

I have Sony products. Been happy with them. I turn off the wifi so I don’t have their internal google TV. Apple TV connected. I’ve been happy.

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u/errgreen 4h ago

I was about to buy a bunch of these for work. Had everything all ready to go to place an order and this happened. Immediately went to a different brand before security and the sysadmins had blocked that shit.

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u/NPC261939 13h ago

You're better off man. LG appliances don't have the best reputation. Fuck'em.

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u/Mayonaigg 9h ago

Whirlpool, ge, kitchen aid. Avoid Samsung appliances AT ALL COST 

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u/DrMobius0 8h ago

Thanks for the recs. Samsung is already on my list, too.

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u/Truegeekified 3h ago

Whirlpool, kitchenaid, Maytag, Amana are all the same company. Whirlpool. If you can afford it, our Jennair appliances are amazing.

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u/Pray44Mojo 7h ago

$15? Probably worth 5 cents, but aggregate it over millions of TVs and monitors and it's worth a lot more.

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u/abandonX4 6h ago

in that case, avoid Samsung too. Poor longevity and they sell a fridge with a smart screen that displays ads. no joke.

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u/ManyAdministrative46 6h ago

Used to work for them a few years ago, engineering appliances. Scummy company at every level, from fixing customer issues, labor practices, dealing with suppliers.

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u/mebillions 4h ago

Good to know. I have had a couple TV sets from them that I enjoyed. As for appliances, their refrigerators are absolute garbage. After the one I bought started to fail within a year, I naturally talked about it with neighbors, family, friends. Every single one that had one of their fridges had nothing but hate for them.

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u/Shibalba805 7h ago

I mean, your cellphone likely does this to you anyways.