ACT was shite, worse I don't actually think that SAGE invented it, I think that they bought it and somehow made it worse.
they had an even worse CRM product than that though, I remember having it at a company where I worked, it needed dedicated servers for databases and reporting, and a dedicated webserver (these weren't able to be on the same box). and required someone from Sage to come and give presentations on how to use the software (we were also going to be resellers) -but that software was worse than useless.
Odly enough I was discussing with a friend the other day about our mutual hate for all things sage related (except the and onion sausages). his big gripe was that you apparently can't export data in an easily readable format from Sage Line apps, so once many businesses decide to go with sage, they are then effectively locked into it forever. (or have to re-enter all their data).