Customer loyalty only goes so far

They say there are only two things that are certain in life: taxes and late fees on your overdue bills. I don’t like the way my taxes are spent sometimes, but for the most part a person can see the rationale for paying them. Late fees are another story. If I was the kind of person who was habitually late paying my bills, or if I was a new customer or somebody hiding from the law, I might understand how a company would want to ding me if it didn’t get my check in the mail by the due date. But when I’ve been a customer of a company for more than 30 years, paying my bills regularly, not griping (too much) when the rates are raised, you’d think the company would cut me a little slack when, in a rare moment of procrastination, I fail to get my payment in on time. I got an overdue notice in the mail from the phone company. It was rather rude: “Pay your bill by the 11th of this month or we will send a couple of big guys over to yank your phone and kick you in the shins,” or words to that effect/ Kathy Hedberg , Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Are there any companies out there today worth being loyal to?