Please don't let a bad experience cloud your view of TAs in general. Many of us are extremely dedicated and have worked very hard to build businesses over a long period of time (even when the obstacles sometimes seemed insurmountable during the pandemic). Good TAs are very dedicated and bring a lot of value to the process, working tirelessly with their clients every step of the way. It's completely a personal decision whether or not folks choose to use a TA, but I can assure you that there are many many good ones who work hard to make a name for themselves and to provide for their families. I'm not saying this is what was happening here, but I've seen these types of threads quickly degenerate into TA bashing, and lumping all TAs together is just really unfair.