All of the notes regarding the degraded quality and customer support / experience for products and services is true. But the additional factor is that so many of us are pushed to the brink now, in terms of affordability and costs of goods and services. If you're making good money and you order a sub-par product, it's definitely a frustration, but it's not the end of the world. But now, for so many, there is less margin for that kind of error.

That scammy product, pushed to us by an algorithm we can't control or escape, sold with lies and guarantees that will never be enforced, with deceptive ads generated by AI that becomes increasingly undistinguishable from the real thing, and flooded with positive reviews generated by bots, is money that won't go to essential things like food, rent, and transport, let alone healthcare, all of which is also increasingly unaffordable. The rage is understandable.

To add to this, I think that spending more money these days helps a lot less.

Higher prices these days mean more features, but not necessarily higher quality.

Everything is a subscription, can only be controlled by their app, and is mass-produced in a factory in China, brought here and then sold with a story plus a huge markup.

A less connected example:

You want to buy a new couch. Budget: $2k. You get:

    * bad construction, it'll creak
    * badly joined, so the pieces will come loose
    * barely springs under the cusions
    * non-removeable cushions
    * foam that collapses in 2 years

And then if you want a recliner, finding one with removeable cushions is nearly impossible. So far I found 1 brand that does it. ONE.

Yes, when the budget is tight and the washing machine you got just two years ago has a major breakage (just outside the warranty period), the cost of fixing it or getting a new one become pretty close. Couple that with the fact that the washer you replaced it with worked fine for 30 years before it broke and I think the anger is very rightly justified.