"I'm never shopping THERE again!" Share your story!

[CG]

Mom used to get bruises that would last YEARS. As in, bruises that were 7 years old.  A (obviously male) doctor told her it was "typical female bruising."  Yeah, he got knocked off the list.

Did she ever find out what caused it? just curious, I have a bruise that I've had for eight months now.

No, but it has resolved itself.

[ginlyn32]

As soon as I find another dentist in my insurance network, I am firing my old dentist.

September 1st, I had to take two of my kids in for their cleanings (tried to get appts over summer break and they were full up). We sat there in the waiting room for over an hour past our appointment time. No reason, no excuse, no offers to reschedule.

My kids ended up missing a day of school because by the time we got out of there, it was lunchtime and then by the time we got home it was 2:00 pm.

I really didn't want to reschedule because the kids already had missed school that day and I drove 30 miles to get to the dentist's office.

ginlyn

[Cubbie]

About twenty years ago, Wal-Mart was building it's first store in our area.  At the time, my dad was in the habit of taking his few employees out to breakfast once a month.  On that day, they were seated at the table next to the construction supervisor and the general manager for the new store.  The laughter and speech from the next table was loud and it was impossible not to hear the conversation.  The problem?  The two men were discussing their multiple thousands of dollars bet,...could the construction manager bankrupt more small local construction companies during the building process or would the general manager run out more independent businesses within six months.  To this day, I have NEVER set foot inside one of their stores.

[heartmug]

MLB online.   

I ordered my son a very expensive jacket for our local team.  Ordered it so it came 3 weeks before Christmas.  It came, but it was a football t-shirt for another state's team.  I called the number, it was a warehouse number, and they connected me with a home shopping network.  I gave the lady the info, she apologized and explained they both used the same warehouse for sports stuff.  She told me to keep the shirt and thanked me so they could re-send their customer's order.  I called MLB and they saw the mix up but said they would have to wait until customer in other state sent it back to them!!!  They never did and it took 2 months and my credit card company's involvement to get me the refund.

I gave the football t-shirt to a co-worker whose niece was going to school in that state.  She was thrilled.

[Marisol]

Apple   Bees.  

I have had many bad experiences in this chain restaurant.  I also know dozens of people who have had their own bad experiences.  And the food is not even that good.  It is mediocre at best.

just two of the problems encountered:

-Never served.  We left after an hour wait.  Our drink orders were taken, there was only a few other tables, at least five different people came over to check on us and ask us what our order was and said it was on our way.  But nothing materialized.  Not even the drinks.  Finally we decided to leave.  

-Someone in our party left something in the bathroom during dinner.  She went to get it and it was gone.  She reported the loss to the hostess and waiter and they said they would not look for it, nor would they take her name in case it was found because "if it isn't there we JUST DON'T have it".  They also forgot parts of our meal.

[2littlemonkeys]

I can't think of any retail experiences but I do have a couple of doctors who will never see my face again.  Fortunately, the visits were one offs and they weren't long term doctors.

1) I used one of those cream hair removers and didn't do the patch test (shame on me, I know.)  I'd never had an issue before but this time, I had a nasty reaction and very itchy legs.  I didn't have a regular doctor at the time, so I made an appointment with one in our plan.

I signed in and sat in the waiting room.  About 10 minutes later, the nurse called me back and took the general info (height, weight, etc.).  Then I cooled my heels in the exam room for an hour and half.  I was on my lunch break and was getting more and more anxious, as my boss wasn't exactly flexible about stuff like this.  I flagged down a nurse and she said the doctor would be right in.  FINALLY the doctor came in, examined me, yelled at me for itching my legs and gave me a prescription.  The whole visit took less than 5 minutes.  She also wanted to do a follow up a week later.  I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and figured she must have been on some sort of emergency call.  The second visit was exactly like the first.  Sat around in the exam room forEVER before she finally came in, looked at my legs, scolded me for having itching scars and walked out.   She just totally rubbed me the wrong way and I decided to not add her as my GP.

2) I have eczema and it shows up in strange places.  For the past several years, it's been on my eye lid.  One night, I put on my eye mask to go to sleep.  The next morning, my eye was so swollen, I couldn't even see out of it.  And the skin was really itchy and red.  I figured the eye mask must have irritated it and it got all puffy but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a contagious infection.  I was still looking for a regular doctor and called another doctor in my plan.  I tried to explain my theory on what was causing it but she decided it was DH that did this to me, he was obviously abusive.  I some how managed to convince her nothing could be farther from the truth.  Then she asked me if I'd struck my head at all recently.  I (stupidly) told her that about a week  earlier, I'd bonked my head (not my eye) on our kitchen cabinet.  Oh, well then that was OBVIOUSLY the cause of this.  She did give me some anti-inflammatory medicine and it did go down by the next day. But I just felt so dismissed by her.  She wouldn't even consider the idea that my eczema might have had a bad flare up (I mentioned the eye mask and chronic eczema and everything.).  And sure enough, it happened again a few weeks later (when I had NOT bumped my head on anything).  I figured out it was right after I washed my eye mask and it was the soap.  I stopped using soap when I washed it and never had another problem.

My sister had a horrid experience with a bridal shop that was so horrid I vowed to buy off the rack when it was my turn.  They basically wooed her until they had her deposit then treated her like something they found on the bottom of her shoe.

Magiccat and Monkey mama, what horrid stories!  

[Namárië]

I will not go to GameStop anymore. The last time I went there, I brought up a game that I wanted to purchase (new), and the woman grabbed a really cruddy-looking used disk. I reiterated that I wanted new. She grabbed another used disk, and showed me that it was much nicer. I explained the moral reasons I wanted a new one, and her and the other sales associate mocked me. I wish I had just left, but I ended up letting myself be bullied into buying the used game. The time before that, I was completely ignored, while male customers were helped. Hmmph.

I will never use WalMart Site-to-Store shipping. It was a complete nightmare getting the second half of a chaise I ordered. The chaise itself is lovely, but it was such a distressing process to actually get both halves of it in my possession that I wish I had never ordered it. I did get a partial refund, but it was still not worth it.

I refused to go back to a therapist I was seeing when I was a minor because she was recounting everything I said to her (with some offensive and horrible embellishments) to my mother. My mom was cool with it, since my therapist had just lied and told her I was s3xually abused by my uncle, her brother. (I was not!)

[EddiesMom]

I work with a breed specific dog adoption group.  Each year, we have a reunion.  A major part of this reunion is a fundraising auction/raffle.  I'm in charge of the auction/raffle, and spend a good deal of time soliciting donations.  

There is a (insert number between two and four here) Dog Bakery in nearby Big City.  In the past, they've been very generous with our group.  In turn, I bought a lot of treats and toys there.  Early last month, I stopped in to make a purchase and ask for a donation.  I introduced myself to the owner, showed her the four bags of treats I was buying and told her they were being purchased as donations to our group's upcoming event, and would she care to make a donation of her own?  I gave her a personalized copy of the fundraising letter I wrote---and it's a very good letter.  She asked if I needed an immediate decision, and I replied no, my contact information was on the letter, and thanked her for considering our group.  

I have not been able to get back to BigCity to follow up, so I asked our group president if she minded stopping in to see if a decision had been made.  Mind you, the event is coming up quickly.  Owner was not in the shop.  Employee had never heard of our group--which is odd because they give our members a discount on purchases.  Employee called owner who told president that it was too close to the event to consider a donation, that she wasn't familiar with our group, and that this was the first time anyone had approached her about this!  She denied ever speaking with me or receiving the hand-delivered fundraising letter.  

If she had chosen not to donate, all she had to do was say no.  Instead, she was rude and unkind.  

AS much as my dogs like some of this bakery's treats, we're making a permanent switch to Cloud Star.  

[SiotehCat]

I will not set foot in a particular large chain bookstore.

The three of us,Sio,Partner and Son(then would frequent this bookstore at least once a week, but usually twice and would always buy books AND drinks. We would sit in their cafe reading our books and drinking our refreshments until we were ready to leave.

This particular night, we go in same as usual and immediately split up. I head to the cafe to purchase our drinks, Son heads to whatever section to pick his book, and Partner goes to his section to pick his book. Our drinks barely come out, when Son is being escorted to the cafe by an employee. Before she even reaches the cafe, she shouts to me "Is this your son?" I say "Yeah, did he do something wrong?". I knew he hadn't because he has never been that kind of kid. She says "No, but we do not allow kids without their parents." I said Ok. We took our drinks and left.

We have since become loyal patrons of Other Chain Bookstore. We will not shop anywhere my son is not treated like the paying customer that he is.

[guihong]

Popular lingerie store named for a Queen of England:  Several years ago, I walked into one of their stores looking for a bridal shower gift for a close friend.  The clerk looked at my not-so-endowed body and remarked that there was a sale on miracle bras.  I didn't buy the gift there, and haven't been back since.

This one is probably moot, because I think the chain involved is gone.  It was Fazio's, a grocery store.  My mother was having circulatory problems and could not walk well, so I was helping her shop (I don't think I had my license yet, which is why she was there).  If I remember, there was some issue and the clerk told my mother she had to go to the office to resolve it.  The office was at the top of a huge flight of steps.  They would not let me go up there and talk to the person, my mother had to go.  Somehow she got up to the top of the steps, only to find that the cashier could have taken care of whatever it was herself.  We never set foot inside another Fazio's.

gui

[BuffaloFang]

It has been 5 years since I've spent a penny at Walmart, despite the fact that there is one within 3 miles of my house, and the nearest Target is about twice as far away.  it was a series of incidents that brought me to my breaking point.

First, I tried to buy fabric.  I looked around in vain for an attendant to cut my fabric.  Nobody came.  I finally hunted someone down in the store, who said he'd page someone to the fabric counter.  10 minutes pass, nothing.  So I go up front and ask for help, go back to the counter, wait another 5 minutes.  Nobody.  Finally, I picked up the phone at the fabric counter, called the front desk, and asked someone to be sent to the fabric counter.  Nobody.  After about 45 minutes of waiting I just picked up the scissors and cut my fabric myself, brought it to the cashier, and let them to deal with getting pricing.  Then they found someone.

Second, at one point I bought a few plates on clearance to use for my friend's shower.  I ended up not using them, and didn't want them cluttering up my house.  So I went to return them.  The woman at customer service range them up, then said, really snarkily "ONE dollar?  You're returning these for ONE dollar??  Why are you wasting my time?"  I don't know why I didn't demand a manager, but instead explained my reasons.  She ended the transaction with a sarcastic,  "Don't spend it all in on place."

Third and final, I gave them a manufacturers coupon for a product (for ONE dollar, again!).  The cashier rang everything through really quickly, and right as he was about to hit total I asked, "Did you get my coupon?"  He had a look on his face that just told me he didn't.  Instead of owning up to the mistake, he then LIED to me, and said they only took Krogers or Walgreens coupons.    Uh, no, obviously not.  I argued with him, and then he sent me to customer service to wait in line for $1.  At least the woman didn't give me snark this time.  So I finally called the manager on my way out of the store.  They hung up on me.

So I sent an angry email detailing why I was never shopping there again, how I hated them, etc.  I admit I was a bit over the top.  They had a manager call me, and I apologized for how scathing my email was, said I probably over reacted.  His response?  "Yeah you did.  Next time, just call a manager."

Yeah...there will be no more next times.

[Elfmama]

Another Best Buy story here.

When they first opened in our area, about 15 years ago, I went in looking for a CD for an Xmas gift.  Found it and went up to pay.  At the time, we did not have a debit card (as we were told, incorrectly, that we would have to pay a $2 ATM fee every time we used it) and we used the credit card only for large purchases.  The CD was around $10, and I pulled out my checkbook to pay for it.  The cashier pitched a hissy fit -- "You're trying to pay with a check?!?!"  You'd have thought I had handed her a bagful of zlotys.   She tried to pressure me into using cash.  I didn't have it.  She tried to pressure me into using the credit card.  When that didn't work, she tried to pressure me into just leaving the store without my purchase.  I dug in my heels, and the line that was forming behind me was getting ugly -- and the remarks were being aimed at the cashier, not me.  Finally she called over the supervisor, who reluctantly OK'ed my nasty check and allowed me to buy their precious merchandise, but not before informing me in a snotty voice that I'd better not even think about returning my purchase for cash; store credit only and that only after two weeks for my check to clear.

I haven't been back.

[Carnation]

My niece has celiac disease. Before it was diagnosed, she was on the heavy side, even though she was just a kid.

One day, her mother took her to the dentist.  The receptionist blurted out "Why is that kid so fat?"

SIL went ballistic.   She went right into the examination room where the doctor was seeing a patient.  She gave it to him (even though it wasn't his fault) both barrels and ended up with "You just lost FIVE patients!"

As for me, never go to a certain (independently owned place) local restaurant with a member of a certain ethnic group and expect to be waited on.

[Peggy Gus]

MLB online.   

I ordered my son a very expensive jacket for our local team.  Ordered it so it came 3 weeks before Christmas.  It came, but it was a football t-shirt for another state's team.  I called the number, it was a warehouse number, and they connected me with a home shopping network.  I gave the lady the info, she apologized and explained they both used the same warehouse for sports stuff.  She told me to keep the shirt and thanked me so they could re-send their customer's order.  I called MLB and they saw the mix up but said they would have to wait until customer in other state sent it back to them!!!  They never did and it took 2 months and my credit card company's involvement to get me the refund.

I gave the football t-shirt to a co-worker whose niece was going to school in that state.  She was thrilled.

Same thing happened to me with the Finishline. I ordered a sweatshirt online and I when I looked at the tracking info I saw it was not delivering to me. I called and they said yes it was a mix-up and they would fix it. Order arrived and I see where they taped a label with my name over another label, inside was a totally different item. They also told me that I would have to wait for other person to return item, because it was the only one they had. I never received it.

I wanted to buy a golf club so I went to D-I-C-K-S Sporting goods, the guy in the pro shop didn't pay any attention to me at all. I finally had to seek him out. They allow you to hit a club in their indoor driving range, so I asked if I could hit the club. He asked if I had ever played golf, and I said yes. He said "really, because you have a man's club", I replied "I know, I have the woman's version and I want to try this one". He got all huffy and rolled his eyes and said "whatever". I asked him what the problem was, he replied that he was sick of people coming in and buying things not intended for them. I told him I was sick of spending money at stores that allow their employees to treat people like crap. I did complain to the manager and he gave me a gift certificate. I ended up going to another location and buying it there, I believe the employees who work in the ProShop get commission and he lost out because it was a $400 golf club.

[Squeaks]

Another Best Buy story here.

When they first opened in our area, about 15 years ago, I went in looking for a CD for an Xmas gift.  Found it and went up to pay.  At the time, we did not have a debit card (as we were told, incorrectly, that we would have to pay a $2 ATM fee every time we used it) and we used the credit card only for large purchases.  The CD was around $10, and I pulled out my checkbook to pay for it.  The cashier pitched a hissy fit -- "You're trying to pay with a check?!?!"  You'd have thought I had handed her a bagful of zlotys.   She tried to pressure me into using cash.  I didn't have it.  She tried to pressure me into using the credit card.  When that didn't work, she tried to pressure me into just leaving the store without my purchase.  I dug in my heels, and the line that was forming behind me was getting ugly -- and the remarks were being aimed at the cashier, not me.  Finally she called over the supervisor, who reluctantly OK'ed my nasty check and allowed me to buy their precious merchandise, but not before informing me in a snotty voice that I'd better not even think about returning my purchase for cash; store credit only and that only after two weeks for my check to clear.

I haven't been back.

This one makes me scratch my head the most. . .  why not just have a no checks policy? 

Very very strange.