I used OpenOffice for a while (frustrating), and LibreOffice afterwards (a significant improvement). When I finally caved and just got word I never looked back. Even with all it's improvements LibreOffice just wasn't worth the trouble; the world runs on Word and there always little issues with compatibility even if you don't change the file type. It's the worst if someone wants to borrow my laptop for a presentation and it won't display properly in LibreOffice. Even though it's perfectly adequate for basic word processing if compatibility isn't a concern, it still just doesn't feel or look as good as Word in an almost inexplicable way. What can you do to words on a page in a specific font and size that makes them look better or worse? LibreOffice reminds me that Word is actually a pretty damn slick and polished program once it's put next to an alternative.
I had to switch to Word for the exact same reason. Every time I needed to submit a paper/memo/presentation, I had to transfer it to Word first. My university actually has a deal with Microsoft so I just got Suite 2013 for free, otherwise I would have toughed it out.