No. It just means that we need to decide for ourselves what to do with information we hear about a company. I can't avoid every company people have said negative things about to me in person, and I certainly can't avoid every company that I've read bad things about on the Internet.

The result is that I generally throw out anecdotes like yours, no matter where I hear them (including from immediate family members), and instead read reviews.

In fact I sometimes even throw out my own opinions in favor of something more objective. I was severely wronged by T-mobile, and a year later, signed back up with them, and it's been great.

There would be very few companies to buy things from if we stopped doing business with every company that has ever had a complaint against them.