S/O I'm Never Shopping There - What Businesses Will Forever Have Your Patronage?

[violinp]

Everyone obviously has the stores and brands they'll never patronize again, but what are the ones that have, time and again, proven themselves worth their salt?

For our family, the local grocery store (part of a chain) has always been good, if not completely amazing. All their produce is good, and they have all kinds of stuff available.

Alltel (and later Verizon) has also been a great phone company. Their phones have been extremely reliable from the first time we all got cell phones 10 years ago, and if something goes wrong, they try everything to make it right.

Toshiba makes extremely reliable laptops - my sister's had hers for more than 2 years and has nothing but praise for them.

[Adelaide]

Chick-Fil-A. I have NEVER had a bad experience there. I don't go all the time as it's not particularly healthy, but the food's always been great. 

[camlan]

Nordstrom's has incredible customer service. Never had a bad experience there.

Same for Hot Topic, although I almost never need to purchase anything there.

LL Bean has good quality merchandise and great customer service. Good on returns. And if anything ever breaks/rips/falls apart, they are very good about fixing or replacing it.

And there's a Macaroni Grill we went to with my nephew who has several food allergies. They went way far out of their way to get him something that he liked that he could also eat. He would have settled for a bowl of plain pasta, but the manager insisted on making him something special.

[Outdoor Girl]

Lee Valley Tools.

They are expensive and I don't buy a lot from them but I've been really happy with the service I've received in the past.  I picked up an order from their brick and mortar store in another city and discovered quite some time later that not everything was correct.  Not only did they ship out the items I should have received, I got to keep the ones that were not what I'd ordered.

My only complaint is that they don't have a brick and mortar store in my city.  I keep asking, though!

[siamesecat2965]

I second Nordstrom, whether you're just looking or out to buy a new wardrobe, you get the same level of service.  And they know when to back off and let you be, if that's how you like to shop.

Vera Bradley, whether their CS, signature stores or outlets. Everyone is nice, friendly, and will go the extra mile to help you with whatever you need.

Various Hampton Inns.  My mom prefers them whe we travel since have shown themselves to be the best accessible rooms.  On our trip last year, while it was HC accessible, it wasn't quite.  So my mom, not to criticize, but more to let them know hey, this really doesn't work for someone in a wheelchair, wrote a letter, and the manger called her, and asked for her input on several things she had mentioned, i.e. the shower bench being at the opposite end of the tub from the hand-held shower head, and so on.  And all the ones we've ever stayed in have been clean, neat, and if you need something, they're willing to do what they can to help you get it.

[lowspark]

Chuy's.
For those of you not familiar with Chuy's, it's a chain of TexMex restaurants in Texas (and some other states -- they started in Austin and expanded from there).

I have always gotten excellent service and their food is wonderful and their prices are very reasonable. Never a bad experience or even close.

It's pronounced chew-ee's, by the way. We recently had my son's rehearsal dinner there and one of the out of town guests told me she had no idea how to pronounce it. If there's one near you and you've never been, try it. Be sure to ask for the creamy jalepeno if they don't automatically bring it with the chips. And I highly recommend the Elvis Green Chile Fried Chicken.

I love Chuy's!

[DottyG]

Chick-Fil-A. I have NEVER had a bad experience there. I don't go all the time as it's not particularly healthy, but the food's always been great.

Oh, I soooo agree with this one!  I love CFA.  I love their philosophy, I love that they're closed on Sundays and I love their food (had it last night AND the night before!)  And, if you haven't tried their lemonade yet, you absolutely must.  It's so good that I bought a gallon of it last night (they sell it by the gallons, too).

I also love Central Market.  Whole Foods is good, but CM beats it hands down in every way.

[Nika]

I love Trader Joe's so. much. I actually look forward to doing my shopping there (whereas usually grocery shopping fills me with slight dread).

I don't know if they are sneaking happy pills into their employees food or what, but everyone just seems so darn happy there. Once my fiance and I were staring at the prepared foods case trying to decide on something simple for dinner, and an employee saw us and rushed over to recommend the chicken salad. But he didn't stop at just recommending it; he actually opened a tub of it and a loaf of bread and made us mini-chicken salad sandwiches on the spot.  (Yes, we ended up buying a tub of it, too.)

[lowspark]

I've only been to Trader Joe's a few times when I was visiting New York. But they are finally going to open THREE stores here in Houston within the foreseeable future. Yippeeee! I cannot wait!

[doodlemor]

I really love Wegman's. [grocery chain]

The produce and meat are incredibly fresh, there is a gourmet bakery and a food court in my store, and many brands are carried.  The prices of the things I like are comparable to Walmart, and the customer service is supreme.

The only downside - I haven't found Alex Baldwin in there, yet.

[Redneck Gravy]

I agree with Chick Fil A.

Also, unbelieveably is Southwest Airlines.  I know they take a lot of hits in the media but my worst experience with them wasn't that bad.  Everytime I try another airline it is catastrophically bad.  I have flown SWA since the beginning and will always go with them unless I have to try someone else.

I have been with Sprint for over 10 years and my worst experience was solved by getting a supervisor on the phone, problem resolved.

[afbluebelle]

Publix - Free cookie for the kid! But seriously, they consistently have the best fresh food I've seen in a chain grocery store

Hot Topic - Great customer service and never yell at me for loitering

Doris's Italian Deli - If you ever find yourself in Coral Springs, FL; you must go there. Their bakery is to die for, their food is amazing, and they do catering!

Sephora - Even when they mess up an order, their customer service was good enough I didn't care =)

Wal-Mart - I kinda owe it to them, since getting kicked out of the store was my main activity from the ages of 14-17. Yes, we would drive 40 miles to go to WM as a group, just for the sole purpose of shenanaginning around until we got booted from the store. Cart jousting with fun noodles was always a classic.

[Bibliophile]

Publix - they're priced less than Kroger on wine and they carry Bustelo and Pilon Cuban coffee.

I will politely disagree with CFA as I don't agree with their philosophy, since that point was brought up...

My car dealership's service department - they're honest about what's actually wrong with the car & they will fix little things at no charge.

Amazon - because their prices are so darn good and online shopping is addictive.

[hobish]

Chick-Fil-A. I have NEVER had a bad experience there. I don't go all the time as it's not particularly healthy, but the food's always been great.

Oh, I soooo agree with this one!  I love CFA.  I love their philosophy, I love that they're closed on Sundays and I love their food (had it last night AND the night before!)  And, if you haven't tried their lemonade yet, you absolutely must.  It's so good that I bought a gallon of it last night (they sell it by the gallons, too).

I also love Central Market.  Whole Foods is good, but CM beats it hands down in every way.

...and the Chik Fil A iced tea, too.

ThinkGeek has great customer service, excellent delivery times, and i have never been dissapointed in the quality of any of the many things i have bought from them.

Omni Hotels ... oh, man. I love them. Gish and i visited Bedford Springs a few years ago just because it was an Omni Hotel. No matter where, i have never ever been dissapointed in anything they have to offer. The one in DC is my favorite, but i also really love DC, so that doesn't hurt a bit.

Gamestop. I know other people have said they've had bad experiences there, or thought they weren't treated well because they are female. I do not find that to be the case at all. I looove Gamestop. There are several in my area and i've gotten nothing but great service from any of them, even in a jam packed store at Christmas time.

[afbluebelle]

Hobish reminded me of another one... ThinkGeek! I can't believe I forgot that place, I'm gonna get some bunny slippers for Easter =)