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

[HushHush]

I had a tapping sound in the engine of my 1993 rodeo in 2001.  I had a local repair place check it out but wanted a second opinion from the dealership since I was new to the area and a woman.  I pulled into the dealership and asked what was wrong with my car and was told I'd need a new engine and it would fix the problem.

I sputtered and said I'd like an option that DOESN'T cost $3000 and they confirmed the first diagnostic from the local guy.  I went back to local guy who then gave me a discount on labor because they had to pull out the engine to get to the timing chain.


I won't go back to BigO tires anymore for anything even though tire rotation and repairs are free.  Last time I spent 3 hours in the waiting room for my repair only to be told that it couldn't be repaired and I'd have to buy a new tire and wouldn't you know, the only one they had in stock was over $100.

I won't go to Fry's unless I absolutely have to.  I was looking to buy a laptop a few years ago and wanted to look at one in their ad.  I show up and after 20 minutes, a salesman finally asks if I need help.  I ask to look at the one in the ad that was on the floor and he said they were out of it but they had this other computer in stock.  I said I didn't want other computer because it didn't have enough processing power or memory.  He then looked me in the eye and said "its practically the same.  How do you know its different?"  I said back "I can add.  The processor and memory on this laptop is half what it is on the other one."

Another Fry's moment.  Dh wanted a new camcorder so we went there to look around.  A very nice older gentleman salesman had been helping us but went on lunch before we made a decision.  Dh didn't want to wait another hour for him to come back so we asked another salesman if it'd be possible to check us out but make sure the first salesman got the commission.  Oh no, not possible and it was only $1.80 commission anyway and that was why the second salesman didn't recommend that camcorder to customers.  Didn't matter that it was the one that fit our needs and budget the best.  We did buy it but took it back a few days later.

[Rosey]

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.

Oh, Applebees. Two visits, two lousy experiences, two thousand miles apart:

There is something wrong with that place.  My bad experiences have also been states apart and I constantly run into people who tell me they will go anywhere but Applebees if I ask where they want to go for dinner.  It seems to be a universal problem with them.  I really can't think of a single good experience I have ever had at Applebees (although I guess there was one okay visit).

That's why I always refer to the place as FruitFly. 

[Cellardoor14]

The local school/educational supply shop, because the two times I went in there and asked about products, the sales staff acted like I had insulted their mother.

And I will not shop at Wal-Mart unless paying cash, as I know personally far too many folks who had issues with fraud and theft (at different stores) with checks, debit, and credit cards.

Zizi Pizza because they charged me extra for wine with dinner and then argued very rudely and LOUDLY with me about it. I told them I hope that £2.50 was worth at it meant I (or the ten other people in my party) would eat at their establishment again.  And none of us have.  

[Marisol]

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.

......
......
......
......What IS "typical female bruising"?

I thought that the doctor was suggesting that the lady's husband was beating her.
But maybe something else was meant, I'm not sure?

That was what I was gonna say. My grandmother used to tell people that any bride who didn;t have bruises had married another woman.

I'm so glad i'm far from that woman.

Oh that is just awful!!

I thought maybe "typical female bruising" referred to bruising related to anemia.  Many women get slightly anemic during their cycle, and anemics tend to bruise easy and to have longer lasting bruises.

[SiotehCat]

Zizi Pizza because they charged me extra for wine with dinner and then argued very rudely and LOUDLY with me about it. I told them I hope that £2.50 was worth at it meant I (or the ten other people in my party) would eat at their establishment again.  And none of us have.  

I dont understand this. Did you order wine with dinner?

[2littlemonkeys]

I had a car repair issue once.

Back in the stone age, my parents had bought me a 10 year old car to use for college.  After I graduated, they said I could take it to New Town with me to use for a summer job.  (My plan was to buy myself a new car once I had a good job established in the Fall and my parents would take possession of the old car.)  Toward the end of the summer, the car started to shake when I got on the expressway and hit around 55-60 mph.  I told my dad about it and he told me to take it in for an estimate.  So I took it into a local shop to see what was what.

They got it up on the lift and came back to me with Grave Faces.  My car was in terrible shape.  The axle was about to break and they could not, in good consciousness, allow me to drive away in this car until it was repaired.  Here is their estimate.  It was almost $2000, much more than the car was even worth.  I told the repairman that it wasn't technically my car and I had to ask my dad to make that decision.  There was also the  minor detail that I didn't have $200, much less $2000.  They were refusing to take my car off the lift until I happened to mention the money issue.  Then they couldn't get it down fast enough.  My dad said he'd come pick it up and take it to his guy.  Turned out, the axle was just fine.  The problem was with one of the wheels (I want to say the lug nuts were coming loose) and hardly cost anything to fix.  If the repair guy hadn't been greedy, I could have paid for THAT repair.

I also refuse to go to Jiffy Lube.  Every single time I've gone in there with a man, they refuse to talk to me.  And the final straw was when I went in for just an oil change, they decided to change the air filter without asking me first, which normally would not be a big deal except they thought they were going to charge me an extra $30 for the trouble.  I knew I could change it myself for much less than that (and have done it many times.)

The oil changer came in after the fact to tell me it needed to be changed.  I refused, saying I'd take care of it personally.  "But I've already changed it!"  I told him he could unchange it, I'd be happy to wait.  He grumbled but I guess he didn't feel like doing it again, so he decided to not charge me for it.  But I was annoyed that they tried to do that in the first place.  I guess they don't realize girls can do basic maintenance just as well as boys.

[Marisol]

I do, however, boycott Booster Juice. This is due to the anti-forestry propaganda that they post in their stores, basically stating that paper is bad, forestry is bad and unsustainable, and that's why they use styrofoam. Look, use styrofoam, I don't care. It's cheaper, you have a bottom line, I get that. But don't slag my industry to justify its use - that is not cool. Just use the styrofoam.

Guess what happens when you stop siviculture?  The area gets developed!  Now, you tell me what is better.  Continuing forestry practices and having a renewable resource which provides at least some wildlife habitat, or paving over an area and creating malls, homes, roadways etc?  

I do not advocate cutting old growth forests and certain other natural systems, but if an area is in the practice of siviculture, by all means please continue.  The other options usually involve selling the land for development.

[ginlyn32]

Comcast Cable Company (currently known as Xfinity in some areas):

We were Comcast customers up until last August. We had a tight month with back to school expenses so our bill didn't get paid. Service was disconnected. Next pay period, DH tells me to go ahead and get it paid. I call up and pay it via the Auto Attendant. Computer says service would be restored withing 2-48 hours. 48hrs later, no service.

So I call back and speak to a CSR. CSR tells me "Oh, since your service was shut off, we now have to have someone come out to reconnect you"

I said Okay, lets set up an appointment. CSR was reluctant to even set up an appointment so I ask to speak with a supervisor and inquired as to why they seemed to not want my business. Especially in a time period where the economy was bad and people cutting corners with non-nessecities such as Cable. She set me up for an appointment the next day and assured me that I did not need to be home and that I would not be charged a fee.

Next day, you guessed it, no Cable. So I call...again and speak to another CSR. I was told that this time my ticket had been canceled and that if I wanted service I would have to start a new account. I asked why wasn't I told that in the first place (at this point about a week ago). I ask to speak with another supervisor and was told the same thing and "Oh, by the way, you WILL be charged $150 for starting a new account". I was so angry that I told them that not only was I going to their competitor, DirecTV, but I was going to tell EVERYONE I knew about their horrible service.

I called DirecTV immediately after that and was installed 2 days later.

I packed up the Cable Box, cords and remote that day as well and returned it the next day to their office. I requested a receipt and asked if I had any outstanding charges and was told no. I kept the receipt.

About a week later I get a bill from Comcast saying I owed them like $300 for a cable box. So I call and threaten them with the Attorney General and told them that I had a receipt. Never got another bill or call from them again.

On the topic of car repairs:

We received a Recall Notice for our old (now dead) Ford Tempo so I took it in for the FREE repair. They said that I needed a new tie rod RIGHT NOW or my tire would fall off. I had a gut feeling about that so I said no. I didn't have any money for that kind of repair. I asked them how much that would cost and was told about $300-500. I said no. The guy tried to make me feel like I was a bad mother for forcing my children to ride in such an unsafe vehicle. I told him I did. not. have. the. money.

I drove to my parents house and had my dad look at the tires to see if anything needed fixed. He said he didn't think so but took it to a local mechanic and he said it was fine.

ginlyn

[Mediancat]

I have another one: I won't go to a local Hallmark store because one day I went in there to do some Christmas card shopping (so I expected some busyness) and stood in line after making my selections for a good half hour, and yes, I checked my watch and know the time to be accurate.

Would have been annoying but understandable if there had been one person there. There were three, two of whom were doing something at the back of the store. When I asked, politely, why they hadn't come to help with the line, the clerk said, haughtily, "They're doing something IMPORTANT," as though that should have been obvious to any fool. I made my purchase, went back to the back and looked.

They were opening packages of packs of holiday cards, not defusing an unexploded bomb. I pointed this out to the clerk as I left, and she just sniffed and turned away.

Haven't been back.

Rob

[Cellardoor14]

Zizi Pizza because they charged me extra for wine with dinner and then argued very rudely and LOUDLY with me about it. I told them I hope that £2.50 was worth at it meant I (or the ten other people in my party) would eat at their establishment again.  And none of us have.  

I dont understand this. Did you order wine with dinner?

I did.  However when the bottle came out-already opened, I noticed it was a different type than what I order. (Think a shiraz to a merlot) I tried some to make sure, and then called the waitress over. She agreed it was the wrong wine, and took the bottle away.  I kept what little I had in my glass- It was enough for maybe one/two more sips of alcohol. I got the correct bottle, and thought nothing more.

When the bill came, I was charged for the other wine, which was £2.50 more.  I disputed this with the waitress, who first said she couldn't change a bill after it had been printed out.    We got the manager over, and she refused to take the wine off as the bottle had been opened and I had drunk some.  The fact that the wine come to the table opened (which shouldn't be normal procedure anyway), and that I had at most three sips of alcohol was apparently unimportant. She also claimed that I had originally asked for the more expensive bottle, even though the rest of the party disagreed with that point.  It's well known I don't like that kind of red wine.

We ended up going round and round in circles, and when it got to the point that the manager was actually yelling- no really- I just gave in. It was a lot of drama for £2.50.... and I hope it was worth it.  

[mariejkt]

1.  Mechanics 3 different shops told me I did not know what was wrong with my car (the rack and pinion steering was out) and ignored me and just talked to my dad I was 19 or 20 at the time.  At last one shop talked to me and not my dad.  Then when they fixed it they asked how was I able to drive it was the 2nd worst one they had ever seen, I had to stand at times to turn my car.

2.  I still have to go my area's only hospital but when I was about 20 (with my 1 1/2 year old) and my cousin was 17, her  1 1/2 year old daughter was extremely sick after falling (background she was a preemie with a shunt in her brain as her body does not drain the brain fluid) she threw up at a grocery store and her eyes rolled back so of course we took her to the emergency room thinking her shunt got bent and told them so.  Well short story  they kept turning us away like we were dumb young moms.  Her doctor even kept telling us to go back we did. And I called my mom crying saying they won't take her in and she is very sick and they think we are dumb young moms.  Well my mom and my son's dad came in and yelled at them they finally took the little girl still thinking we were wrong well my Son's doctor came in and said her shunt is bent and she needed to be life flighted to a major hospital 3 hours away and it turned out her shunt was bent and had to be replacedd. She is now a healthy teenager.  And that hospital still at times treats me like an idiot depending on the emergency room doctor.

[mariejkt]

3.  My DH and I went to buy a car well while he test drove one, I had to listen to the salesmen making rude comments about women on the street. Well that was not the worst of it.  One of the brakes on the car was not working so we said we will think about it but we will not buy it until the brakes are fixed and we did NOT put any money down.  So the next day they called and said the car is fixed well I told them that we decided not to buy it (it had other issues) well they yelled at me saying that they fixed it for us and we need to buy it I said we did not put money down and that they fixed it for the next customer and hung up.  Funny things is a couple weeks later that car went from the expensive section of the car lot to the cheap section.

I have many more but those stand out the most.

[Ms_Shell]

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.

Oh, Applebees. Two visits, two lousy experiences, two thousand miles apart:

There is something wrong with that place.  My bad experiences have also been states apart and I constantly run into people who tell me they will go anywhere but Applebees if I ask where they want to go for dinner.  It seems to be a universal problem with them.  I really can't think of a single good experience I have ever had at Applebees (although I guess there was one okay visit).

That's why I always refer to the place as FruitFly. 

Mark me as another one who will never darken Applebee's doorstep again.  DH and I refer to it as "Applebug's".  Why? One afternoon, DH, my mom and I stopped into Applebee's to have a quick lunch.  I ordered a chicken Caesar salad.  Everything was going swimmingly until I noticed a lettuce leaf trying to walk off the edge of my plate.  I lifted the leaf and found a small, gray bug (not a roach, thank deity), but still not something you'd want to see in your lunch.  I immediately called the waitress and a manager over and showed them the fauna in my salad.  They said, "Oh, sorry about that," and then both of them walked away without another word.

"Livid" doesn't even begin to cover it.  Thankfully I kept my temper, but the waitress didn't get a tip, and we haven't been back since.

[Elfmama]

BIL ordered a drink that no one knew how to make (Old-fashioned) but then never bothered to tell him, they just ignored the fact that he ordered anything and then when we asked we were told that the bartender didn't know how to make it.

I believe that there are 'recipe books' for bartenders for just that reason.  And it seems inconceivable that a restaurant bar should not have one.  How hard is it to look in the book and find that you need to mix this, that, and the other?  And if the problem is that the bar doesn't have one of the ingredients, why would it be any better to lie and say "We don't know how to make this?"

The PP who will not go back to her dentist reminded me of my childhood dentist, a man I wouldn't go back to even if he were the only dentist in the country.  (Although since this was 45 years ago, he's probably long since retired.)  At the end of each visit, he'd take the drill and start a hole in a different tooth than the one he'd been working on.  That way, on the next visit, he could show the xrays to my mother and point out the "new" cavity that needed filling.  I never told my mother, because he said if I did, he'd work on me without Novacaine the next time.  Such teeth as I have left are only thin shells around enormous fillings.

[PitBullMom]

It's been eight years since the last time I was in a Walmart/Sam's Club and if I never go back again it'll be too soon.  A series of poorly handled customer service experiences made me realize that while other places may be a bit more money to shop at, at least I'm not being treated like a 2nd class citizen.  I'm willing to pay extra to be treated with respect and have a pleasant shopping experience.  My time is worth it.

I was in college when I made this decision and my friends were so impressed that I could stick to my principles despite Walmart being the absolute cheapest place to shop at in our town.  I just told them that it was worth it to me to not have to deal with rude, unfriendly staff.