How could I possibly hate Wachovia more than Volkswagen, for which I have a long-running, well-document hatred? Because Wachovia charged us a $10 fee after a refund check from a company that overcharged us for a painting bounced. Only after strenuous complaint and repeated threats to immediately close our account, which has been open for more than a decade, and take it to across-Charlotte rival Bank of America (which in my experience is not much better and has no shortage of similarly dumb fees) did they make “a special exception to our policy” and remove the really, really stupidly ridiculous $10 fee.

It’s the very fact that the target of my rage was a fee of only $10 that rockets Wachovia past Volkswagen on my personal corporate hate list. All Volkswagen did was build me a particularly sour lemon of what for many other customers has been an outstanding car. Wachovia, on the other hand, is willing, for $10, to so antagonize long-standing customers that they threaten to take their business elsewhere.

I find it helpful in these situations to channel a coworker who I once heard make the following statement in a customer-service showdown with Home Depot: “I’m a very unreasonable man and I just need to be made happy.” On occasions such as this, and only on occasions such as this, I strive to be a very unreasonable man.

I’m with this guy: Wachovia sucks.