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

[Shalamar]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

[CakeBeret]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

LOL. You should have seen the look on my young, hip cousin's face when he realized that boring, frumpy, responsible ol' me loves rock concerts just as much as he does. Sometimes teenagers don't realize that adults are cool people too.

[mmswm]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

I had a similar experience when Grand Theft Auto IV came out.  Actually, it was that game that made me finally decide to upgrade to an Xbox 360, since it couldn't be played on an old Xbox.  I wanted Halo 3 as well, so when deciding whether to upgrade my playstation or the xbox, the xbox won out at that time.  The sales guy kept insisting that I couldn't possibly be interested in the games and they had to be for my husband/boyfriend.  Come to think of it, that was the last thing I bought at that store, as I was so put off by the attitude of the salesperson.

[Barensaunt]

In my case, I did, because the one girl was threatening to call security for theft if I didn't.  The rest of the haircut was... OK - shorter than I liked but the only real complaint was the bangs part, and I settled for paying ($8) without a tip (she tried to give me guff for that too)  and I was relying on the whole... getting in touch with the manager thing, thinking they'd give me a refund or something. That never materialized, of course.

But now you have just told an entire forum not to go to the Regis inside a Walmart.  Even though you didn't get your money back, you just saved us all from bad haircuts and cost them $$$ in bad publicity.

This won't keep me from going to one in an emergency. The poster had problems with people - the stylist and the salon manager. If she had notified Regis corporate and had not gotten satisfaction, I might be influenced. As it is, if I were in her area, I would want to know which branch not to go to.

I like my town's Regis. I go in nervious with no clue what I want, and I leave with my hair pretty and perfect. AND they listen to me when I say "There's no way I'm going to use any product regularly, so this needs to be nice even without." Other than one of them, once telling me that if I want long hair I need to be very careful when brushing and use a leave in conditioner to give it "weight" so it doesn;t blow around and get damaged, I've never gotten an upsell either.

I will never go back to our town's ProCuts though. I have been trying to grow my hair out for years and they not only cut it to my chin (no flattering) they put the dreaded layers back in so i had to go almost a year of trims before I was back to all of it chin length.

We used to travel a lot and often Walmart was the only place available for a cut/color/style without an appointment.   I was able to get in with a stylist while husband took care of other errands on our way through a town.  When the stylist was done, I wasn't thrilled with the style, but at least I had a much needed cut and color.  When were on the road totally out of that town, I realized my hair wasn't fully dry in the back.  Oh well!  When we arrived at our destination, before going out to dinner, I went to touch up the back of my hair and found there was still a lot of hair color product in the back of my hair, so I had to wash my hair.  When I began to style it, I realized the hair cut was so uneven and full of holes it was ridiculous.  I was very thankful that I had kept her from cutting what I call my bangs.  Since we were not going back through that town, I filed a complaint with Regis by e-mail then followed up by regular mail, including a copy of my receipt. I received no response at all!  The absolute last time I ever went to Regis because obviously they don't care if their customers are satisfied or not. 

[nuit93]

Back to the thread.

Years ago I went into an auto parts store to buy a spark plug socket wrench.  I had learned how to do my own tune-ups, and since I didn't have a lot of money during that era anything I could do for myself helped. 

I got up to the cash register, and the cashier, who appeared to be a 17-year-old guy, asked me, "Are you sure you know how to use that?"  I assured him I did, all the while thinking that it made a good weapon to smack someone with.  Not that I would have done it, but it wasn't his place to ask me if I knew what I was buying.  I don't think I ever went back to that store, as I was referred to a store where the personnel never treated me as though I was stupid just because I was a woman.

I still have that socket wrench, by the way.

I got that one buying motor oil for my car (older vehicle, so it leaked).  The guy at the checkout offered to do it for me.  When I told him "No thanks, I can do it", he said "you sure?  my girlfriend once put motor oil in the radiator by mistake."

I gave him a big smile and said, "well, my MOM taught me how to do this years ago, so I'm fine".

What kills me is the statement would be leagues better if he replaced "girlfriend" with "brother".

Well, to give him the benefit of the doubt...he actually knew somebody who had put motor oil in the radiator(!).  If you didn't know someone and wanted to be nice, and you realized that something like that could actually happen, it was nice of him to offer.  If the fella accepted your response in good humor, then I'd say he's in the clear.

Well, if not for the fact that it had happened to me before (different employee but similar situation) and the guy I was seeing at the time knew NOTHING about cars (and yet the auto shop employees never offered him extra assistance)...I was a bit punchy.

[Dazi]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

I had a similar experience when Grand Theft Auto IV came out.  Actually, it was that game that made me finally decide to upgrade to an Xbox 360, since it couldn't be played on an old Xbox.  I wanted Halo 3 as well, so when deciding whether to upgrade my playstation or the xbox, the xbox won out at that time.  The sales guy kept insisting that I couldn't possibly be interested in the games and they had to be for my husband/boyfriend.  Come to think of it, that was the last thing I bought at that store, as I was so put off by the attitude of the salesperson.

Same story, substitute a Wii and Toys R Us.  Though the guy in line behind me was just as confused as to why a well dressed (and by that I mean I had on slacks, blouse, blazer and heels vs. ratty torn out jeans and a T-shirt) 30 year old woman would be buying a Wii for herself.

[siamesecat2965]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

I had a similar experience when Grand Theft Auto IV came out.  Actually, it was that game that made me finally decide to upgrade to an Xbox 360, since it couldn't be played on an old Xbox.  I wanted Halo 3 as well, so when deciding whether to upgrade my playstation or the xbox, the xbox won out at that time.  The sales guy kept insisting that I couldn't possibly be interested in the games and they had to be for my husband/boyfriend.  Come to think of it, that was the last thing I bought at that store, as I was so put off by the attitude of the salesperson.

I had some similar when I switched from cable to FIOS. When I called to cancel my cable service, they tried to keep me, which was fine, but the funny part was I said one of the reasons was that FIOS offered a better channel selection, close to 15-20 more than what I had.  So he asked which ones, and I said well, the NFL Network.  I love football, and am a die hard NY Giants fan.  He then said, oh, we're getting that soon too, and then said "the men will love that"  Um excuse me? It was all I could do not to laugh in his face.  I have plenty of friends, female who love football, and plenty of male friends who could care less about it.

[LadyClaire]

That reminds me of when I decided to buy Eminem's latest CD.  The very young male clerk said politely "Your son is gonna love this!". I raised an eyebrow. "Your daughter ... ?". "Nope.   It's for me.". Blew his mind.

For the record, I was 45 at the time (and a woman, in case that part isn't clear).

My 57 year old mother loves Eminem. She also loves Nine Inch Nails.

[LadyClaire]

We used to travel a lot and often Walmart was the only place available for a cut/color/style without an appointment.   I was able to get in with a stylist while husband took care of other errands on our way through a town.  When the stylist was done, I wasn't thrilled with the style, but at least I had a much needed cut and color.  When were on the road totally out of that town, I realized my hair wasn't fully dry in the back.  Oh well!  When we arrived at our destination, before going out to dinner, I went to touch up the back of my hair and found there was still a lot of hair color product in the back of my hair, so I had to wash my hair.  When I began to style it, I realized the hair cut was so uneven and full of holes it was ridiculous.  I was very thankful that I had kept her from cutting what I call my bangs.  Since we were not going back through that town, I filed a complaint with Regis by e-mail then followed up by regular mail, including a copy of my receipt. I received no response at all!  The absolute last time I ever went to Regis because obviously they don't care if their customers are satisfied or not.

I once filed a complaint with Regis about a really awful experience I had. They sent me a gift card and a letter of apology. So I figured I'd give them another shot, went and got my haircut, tried to pay with the gift card, and was told it hadn't been activated and so I couldn't use it.

THAT was the last time I went back to Regis.

[Lady Snowdon]

I have two places I'm never shopping from again.

The first is a restaurant, Granite City Brewery.  We've been there three times to try it out, and every single time, something about our order has been wrong.  The first time, our appetizer arrived literally two minutes before our entrees did, and they had the wrong description of a dessert on their menu, so what we thought we ordered was VERY different from what we got (think "chocolate chip cookie with ice cream" vs "toffee almond cookie with ice cream").  The second time, our appetizer didn't arrive until the end of our meal.  The manager who brought it out gave us the choice of not paying for it or having them box it up so we could take it home.  We chose to take it home, and when we tried it the next day, it was undercooked!  This last time, I ordered waffle-fries with my chicken sandwich.  The waffle fries were not described as seasoned, or spicy, or anything like that.  Just waffle fries.  Well, they came out and were so seasoned and spicy that I couldn't eat them, and my DH could only eat a couple.  DH's macaroni and cheese seemed to consist of more sauce than either noodles or chicken.  Three strikes and you're out - we will not be going back there in the future!

Also, I'm never shopping at the Michael's near my house ever again.  I've had some problems with them in previous years; they once told me that a poster I was framing was going to be three weeks late because "we had a sale the week after you dropped it off, and we need to get those people their frames first".  The problem I had last night, just made me realize I never want to go there again!  I went in, looking for a couple things I wasn't sure they had (a bone folder, and some acetate sheets) and a few things I knew they did have (different size molds for soap).  After twenty minutes of searching, I found the soap molds and the bone folder, but couldn't find the acetate sheets.  So I started trying to find someone to help me.  I saw three different associates, but every time I started walking towards them to ask a question, they'd look up, see me, and then turn and walk away.  All three of them!  I finally put my stuff down and walked out.  A store like that obviously doesn't need my business!  There's a few independent framing stores around as well as at least one art store around - I'll be checking them out instead. 

[Shalamar]

When my husband and I got engaged, we ordered our wedding rings in January for a September wedding.  The jeweller teased us for being so early, but we liked getting details squared away in good time.   

We called in March, but they weren't ready.  Once again, we got attitude from the jeweller - "Don't WORRY!  You've got LOTS of time!"

They weren't ready in July, either.  "We got really busy with all the June weddings."

August.   Still not ready.  At this point we were getting very anxious, which is exactly what we'd wanted to avoid.

Finally, they were done a week before the wedding, and ... they'd screwed up my fiance's band, so they had to do a rush order to get it corrected.

We've never been back since.

[HorseFreak]

Also, I'm never shopping at the Michael's near my house ever again.  I've had some problems with them in previous years; they once told me that a poster I was framing was going to be three weeks late because "we had a sale the week after you dropped it off, and we need to get those people their frames first".  The problem I had last night, just made me realize I never want to go there again!  I went in, looking for a couple things I wasn't sure they had (a bone folder, and some acetate sheets) and a few things I knew they did have (different size molds for soap).  After twenty minutes of searching, I found the soap molds and the bone folder, but couldn't find the acetate sheets.  So I started trying to find someone to help me.  I saw three different associates, but every time I started walking towards them to ask a question, they'd look up, see me, and then turn and walk away.  All three of them!  I finally put my stuff down and walked out.  A store like that obviously doesn't need my business!  There's a few independent framing stores around as well as at least one art store around - I'll be checking them out instead. 

I worked at a Michael's in the frame shop as a teenager and I would never get anything done there. One guy told me a story of a textured oil painting (large globs of paint making the surface stand away from the canvas) that they "fixed" creatively. Apparently some of the larger paint globs got sheared off when the glass was slid into the frame over the painting and they just smoothed it over with framing putty in the right color! He was very proud of himself and I was horrified.

[Acadianna]

I worked at a Michael's in the frame shop as a teenager and I would never get anything done there. One guy told me a story of a textured oil painting (large globs of paint making the surface stand away from the canvas) that they "fixed" creatively. Apparently some of the larger paint globs got sheared off when the glass was slid into the frame over the painting and they just smoothed it over with framing putty in the right color! He was very proud of himself and I was horrified.

As I understand it, one should never put glass over an oil painting anyway.  Seems like the guy at Michaels should have known that, and advised the customer accordingly.

[VorFemme]

My MIL paints - we have several oil paintings that we love - she usually frames them to suit herself and her "vision" of the painting.  None of them have glass in there...except the one where the paint was applied on the glass with colored burlap (rough woven sacking fabric for those not immediately familar with fabric names) allowed to show through as the backing.  Glass over oil & canvas is supposed to be bad for the life of the painting........

Photographs are glassed to protect the photograph from UV & moisture....but not oil paintings, in my experience.

[HorseFreak]

I worked at a Michael's in the frame shop as a teenager and I would never get anything done there. One guy told me a story of a textured oil painting (large globs of paint making the surface stand away from the canvas) that they "fixed" creatively. Apparently some of the larger paint globs got sheared off when the glass was slid into the frame over the painting and they just smoothed it over with framing putty in the right color! He was very proud of himself and I was horrified.

As I understand it, one should never put glass over an oil painting anyway.  Seems like the guy at Michaels should have known that, and advised the customer accordingly.

Yeah, I honestly don't know why they put glass over it, though some customers wanted funny things.