I'm looking for a single word or two words that would describe a bad company/firm or place of work. It could be bad working environment and/or place that produces bad results.
If possible the word should be non-archaic and not belong to a very concrete type of company (like horse-stall-keepers or radio-controlling that would not have place in the modern world as much ). It would be great if the word would be understandable by today's native English speaker (American or British) without looking into a dictionary ( something that was in common use no longer than 100 years ago hopefully! ).
Examples of use:
Why did you join XXX, you know it's a ______.
Don't mess this project up, or we'll be known as a _______ [company]!
XXX takes pride in what it produces, we're not some ________ [company]!
The word/phrase can incorporate the meaning that it's a company or to be used as an adjective.
EDIT:
I want a very strong, powerful word, that would mean the place is really a hell-hole of firms. While amateurish or incompetent has a flavor of being bad – not all amateur companies are bad. I also don't mind common sayings like in Russian it could be something like "шарашкина контора" that has a meaning of a firm being untrustworthy, not serious, shady etc. Or similar.
I would also like to avoid words that doesn't mean that the company is bad but rather illegal or simply incompetent. I want to find a word or a common phrase that would mean a bad organisation. A synonym for "bad company" if you will.
Best Answer
I've worked there; it's a hellhole; a real snake pit.