In every "don't do X" someone has to chime in with "Don't tell me what to do!".

He's not actually putting you in a headlock and saying "YOU BETTER NOT DO THIS, benatkin!". He wrote a blog post.

It's clearly advice, not an order.

Don't be so defensive.

Advice is something that often needs to be pushed away just like orders do.

Sure, call the advice bad if you want. But "please don't tell me what to do" is a rather strong misrepresentation.

I sometimes don't consider advice at all when the circumstances are wrong. It clouds my thinking.

I don't have much of an opinion on whether OP's advice is good or bad because I refuse to consider it, and instead only consider the complaint for what it's worth to me (not much, since I live in the mainland United States).

So if other companies are worse does that excuse another of doing wrong?

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.

I just want my laptop fixed. Once they fix it I would gladly remove everything. Sadly this is the only way to get their attention.

I was with you until I saw this comment. If everything you've stated is true, why not keep what you have up and just add an update to how Toshiba fixed your laptop?

You are right...I will

Or maybe they would provide better service.