On the heels of Business Insider's "Most Hated Companies" list, I am increasingly annoyed at companies that can't seem to fix core problems. Rather, they put their customer service staff on the front line to appease people through Twitter and other channels.

A look at DirectTV's recent tweets, for example, reveals a company in distress: "DM us," "Have you called," "I'm sorry," "We need to escalate." Too many apologies for one day of work. Social media will do just so much to resolve systemic company issues, as this customer says:

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess DirectTV's approach? Compare DirectTV's tweets to similar companies'.
• What is your best experience with a company response to a complaint? When have you complained to a company and had good results?