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

[Jocelyn]

  I went up, asked for a refund for all the food except the chili cheese fries (not the drinks, as those were correct) and went to a different Wendy's. I'll never go to that location again. I'm also going to call corporate when I feel like I've calmed down sufficiently to not come across as an unreasonable witch.

I worked at a place where we often had a lull around dinnertime, so we'd send someone (usually me) to Wendy's. One night, I got back to work, and the order was terribly messed up. I called the local main office, and was routed to a lovely woman who was so sympathetic, and so apologetic, that I almost ended up feeling badly about complaining to her.  I had a vision of a grandmotherly lady shaking her head as she tsked-tsked about how unfortunate it was that our dinner had been spoiled by their carelessness. I don't remember if she offered us anything concrete in the way of compensation, but she was 100% spot-on, in talking with disgruntled customers.

[Twik]

  I went up, asked for a refund for all the food except the chili cheese fries (not the drinks, as those were correct) and went to a different Wendy's. I'll never go to that location again. I'm also going to call corporate when I feel like I've calmed down sufficiently to not come across as an unreasonable witch.

I worked at a place where we often had a lull around dinnertime, so we'd send someone (usually me) to Wendy's. One night, I got back to work, and the order was terribly messed up. I called the local main office, and was routed to a lovely woman who was so sympathetic, and so apologetic, that I almost ended up feeling badly about complaining to her.  I had a vision of a grandmotherly lady shaking her head as she tsked-tsked about how unfortunate it was that our dinner had been spoiled by their carelessness. I don't remember if she offered us anything concrete in the way of compensation, but she was 100% spot-on, in talking with disgruntled customers.

I think that's a great skill. Often complaining customers don't want stuff, they just want the company to recognize something was wrong, and say they're sorry about it.

[LilacGirl1983]

It takes a lot to not frequent a place. I generally have bad luck eating out so I have become accustomed to my order never being right. Usually the 2nd time they get it right so I just don't expect anything the first time..and I am not horrible complicated ie plain meat/cheese bun burger or well done steak no pink ect..TGIFridays took the cake..We will not ever go back there or any of their locations..

Visit one: Went in and ordered steak well done..no pink and fries with a drink..we wait and wait and wait..and after about 40 minutes we finally get our food..cut into the very tip of it and it was red..not just pink but red..let the waitress know and she sent it back..waited another 30 minutes and it came back out charbroiled..pitch black and hard as a rock..I was upset..it looked like the cook got mad at me and stuck it in the flames..complained again and left with the manager apologizing and gave us a free meal for next time

Visit 2: Glutton for punishment we went back and I ordered steak again same thing well done no pink..(I like steak what can I say) got it and shocking it was well done and tasted great..until I got to a hair imbedded in my steak..I picked up the hair and steak came up with it..and it wasn't mine...wrong color and length..Complained and showed the steak to the manager..offered another comp

Visit 3: Should have known better right? Well went back and ordered a burger..with fries and no ice in my drink..got my drink and ice same as every visit we have had..got my burger and it was cold after waiting for 40 minutes..got it remade and it came back lukewarm...complained again..offered a comped meal..said no thanks and left..


Visit 4: Well we went up to big cities and had a full day at very big mall..We were hungry and the closest place was TGIFridays..figuring our bad luck was local we went in...waited for about 30 minutes to get in because they were busy..ok no problem..we got seated..but where they seated us the table was in the crossroad of the aisle..someone nearly tripped over our daughter's chair..then actually ran into it bumping her..we moved her in further..then someone ran into my husbands chair...one waitress did come over and apologize and refill our empty drinks..our waitress was MIA a lot but finally showed and then we ordered our food..daughter had a cheeseburger kids meal..nothing special except no ice in her drink..mine was a cheeseburger with different cheese and sauce on the side (Specialty burger) we waited and waited..people seated after us got thier food...waited and waited..my daughter being 4 and 1/2 getting whiney because she was hungry..finally after 40 minutes we got our food..and it was cold..my daughters was fine..manager came over and we told him my food was cold and the wait was a long time and the other people who came after us got their food first..he grabbed my food AND my daughter's even tho we told him our daughters was fine..and we made to wait another 30 minutes..I  had a very hungry girl...then finally brought out our food and my order was wrong..we asked for the check and left..they let us know that it was comped and to please come back...after waiting for almost 2 hours and leaving hungry..we won't be back.

[JenJay]

PF Chang's

We went for lunch yesterday and arrived right at noon. We expected it to be somewhat busy but it wasn't too bad. We ordered pretty quickly, 2 appetizers and 2 entrees including soup, and waited. After about 20 minutes we got the first app, 5 minutes later the 2nd app came out. Another 15 minutes goes by and our soup comes out. Finally, 20 minutes later, an hour after we'd ordered, our entrees are served. My Kung Pao Chicken was about 3/4 of a cup of diced, breaded chicken and a couple tablespoons worth of peanuts. No veggies, almost no sauce, and so salty I couldn't eat it. DH had something like "Special Spicy Chicken" which looked ecactly like mine, minus the peanuts, and wasn't even a little spicy. I thought about complaining but figured it'd take another 20+ minutes for a manager to show up so DH bolted his food down, paid the bill ($45 for crap service and crap food!) and we split.

[Susiqzer]

If you're in Massachusetts try hearth 'n kettle instead of ihop.  Better food, they also do breakfast all day and the service has always been good.

Went there Saturday for brunch (Attlebor).  Had the down'easter.  Poached eggs with cheese sauce served over fish cakes with a side of bacon and hash browns.  Awesome!

http://www.hearthnkettle.com/locations-directions.php

See, that one is on my "never again" list. The last time I went there -- years ago now -- my food never came! The rest of the group ate happily, but I waited, and waited...

[Kaora]

I once printed a bundt cake recipe off a website.  The recipe was great, and the cake was delicious - except that it called for two cups of flounder.  I knew what she meant, of course, but I wonder how on earth she didn't notice before she posted it.

My mum alters recipes and posts them, after she's spent some significant time working on them.  A lot of her early net (circa 1992-1997) posts are also copycat recipes she modified to be better and a little healthier, especially to those on the diet (she used the handle Copycat on Usenet at one point, to my knowledge.)

She still misses ingredients, and Dragon, which she now uses to help her enter so many, also screws them up nicely for her.  I can sympathize with poor Flounder lady, in other words.

((I think the most memorable is Dragon missing milk for malt.  Close, but not comparable, in a recipe. ))

[Snooks]

The local coffee shop.  It's so busy being trendy that the service is awful.  Someone posted a review on Trip Advisor and the owner's response was basically "Oh well, you can't please everyone".  It's such a shame because it has the potential to expand people's horizons with their coffee (they roast their own beans and have some strange looking way of brewing) but it's almost as if if you have to ask for help/information about their coffees you're not cool enough to be there.

[dietcokeofevil]

Last Friday we went to a local restaurant that we have always enjoyed in the past.   Our waiter took our drink order and walked off before we could place our appetizer order.  When he finally came back we gave him our appetizer order and our meal order at the same time.  About 15 minutes later he came over and asked some clarification on our appetizer order since he couldn't read what he had wrote.  He told us that he had entered it in earlier, but knew they didn't need the answer until it was done so that's why he waited to ask us.  Seemed odd, but whatever.
5 minutes later he's back saying that he didn't know what happened, but somehow our meal was ready before our appetizer and asked if we wanted to cancel the appetizer.  So we did and he brings the food out. 

DD's kids meal was wrong - she had ordered mini-hamburgers and they gave her cheeseburgers.  It was several minutes before he came back to check and we could tell him that and ask for some condiments.  We were finished with our dinner before our daughters burgers finally came out.  It was just ridiculous and he just kept telling us how busy they were, although they didn't look any busier than a normal Friday night and the tables around us were seated after us and got their food before us.  He practically disappeared, so by the time we finally got our check we only left a 10% tip. 

The next day, DH stopped at Jimmy John's to get our sandwiches and the same server was working....luckily he wasn't the one making our sandwiches.

[guihong]

Cheddar's.  It's a chain, but don't know how widespread.  DH had to go there today for a work lunch.  The server forgot to put in the appetizer order, so it came out 3 minutes before the entrees.  Every entree had something wrong with it ( DH got cooked carrots instead of corn, for example).  His fish was good, but the service was so atrocious he'll never go back.

[Zen]

Dell computers.
I bought a brand new computer in early January. My previous computer's screen got accidentally smashed during an earthquake, and I use my computer for school, so it was very important to me to get a working computer as soon as possible. A week later, I open the package and plug the computer in, and it doesn't work. I'm not talking doesn't boot correctly, or doesn't have windows on it, I'm talking about it making a hideous beeping and grinding noise and then shutting itself off. To make a very long and irritating story shorter, six phone calls over two and a half weeks, probably 10 to 12 hours on the phone, and several outright lies about repairing my defective computer later (including the repair shop lying to Dell that they had talked to me, which believe me they hadn't), I gave up. For the final call, I told them that the options were to replace my computer or to give me a refund. They replaced it, three weeks after I got the defective computer.
I cannot imagine what they do to people who are able to turn their computers on before they stop working. I cannot imagine what they do to people who have software problems. All I know is that the simplest of problems, that of a obviously defective computer that had never turned on was such a hideous ordeal of customer service hell that I have vowed to never buy another Dell. And told my friends and family what their customer service is actually like, hoping that they won't either.

[Kaora]

Dell computers.
I bought a brand new computer in early January. My previous computer's screen got accidentally smashed during an earthquake, and I use my computer for school, so it was very important to me to get a working computer as soon as possible. A week later, I open the package and plug the computer in, and it doesn't work. I'm not talking doesn't boot correctly, or doesn't have windows on it, I'm talking about it making a hideous beeping and grinding noise and then shutting itself off. To make a very long and irritating story shorter, six phone calls over two and a half weeks, probably 10 to 12 hours on the phone, and several outright lies about repairing my defective computer later (including the repair shop lying to Dell that they had talked to me, which believe me they hadn't), I gave up. For the final call, I told them that the options were to replace my computer or to give me a refund. They replaced it, three weeks after I got the defective computer.
I cannot imagine what they do to people who are able to turn their computers on before they stop working. I cannot imagine what they do to people who have software problems. All I know is that the simplest of problems, that of a obviously defective computer that had never turned on was such a hideous ordeal of customer service hell that I have vowed to never buy another Dell. And told my friends and family what their customer service is actually like, hoping that they won't either.

The computer techie in me says YIKES!

I wouldn't be there for the actual event, but from experience, it sounds like the hard drive had literally crashed (it's plates that are held together, so its rare but doable.  I've seen cases where it's happened.)  Maybe it was during shipping, I don't know, but it sounds like that plus a failed POST test!  POST is where the computer self checks itself on boot (Power On Self Test)-- not something you see visibly nowadays, unless something goes horribly wrong!  You were right to call, that thing was done.

[ladyknight1]

Dell computers.
I bought a brand new computer in early January. My previous computer's screen got accidentally smashed during an earthquake, and I use my computer for school, so it was very important to me to get a working computer as soon as possible. A week later, I open the package and plug the computer in, and it doesn't work. I'm not talking doesn't boot correctly, or doesn't have windows on it, I'm talking about it making a hideous beeping and grinding noise and then shutting itself off. To make a very long and irritating story shorter, six phone calls over two and a half weeks, probably 10 to 12 hours on the phone, and several outright lies about repairing my defective computer later (including the repair shop lying to Dell that they had talked to me, which believe me they hadn't), I gave up. For the final call, I told them that the options were to replace my computer or to give me a refund. They replaced it, three weeks after I got the defective computer.
I cannot imagine what they do to people who are able to turn their computers on before they stop working. I cannot imagine what they do to people who have software problems. All I know is that the simplest of problems, that of a obviously defective computer that had never turned on was such a hideous ordeal of customer service hell that I have vowed to never buy another Dell. And told my friends and family what their customer service is actually like, hoping that they won't either.

We had a nightmare encounter with Dell two years ago. I purchased two 17" Studio laptops from them. Black for me, blue for DH. Mine arrived with the wrong hard drive, missing the second hard drive, broken speakers and dead pixels on the monitor. DH's bluetooth wasn't installed or did not work, and he had the wrong chipset and was missing a stick of memory.

Thus began the epic battle that resulted in them sending two more computers and two techs to make repairs. It took a month to get things resolved, and I spent hours of time on the phone with their India call center.

To top it all off, a week later they sent me someone else's television. It took me a week to get them to pick it up.

I will never buy anything from Dell again.

[Reika]

Dell computers.
I bought a brand new computer in early January. My previous computer's screen got accidentally smashed during an earthquake, and I use my computer for school, so it was very important to me to get a working computer as soon as possible. A week later, I open the package and plug the computer in, and it doesn't work. I'm not talking doesn't boot correctly, or doesn't have windows on it, I'm talking about it making a hideous beeping and grinding noise and then shutting itself off. To make a very long and irritating story shorter, six phone calls over two and a half weeks, probably 10 to 12 hours on the phone, and several outright lies about repairing my defective computer later (including the repair shop lying to Dell that they had talked to me, which believe me they hadn't), I gave up. For the final call, I told them that the options were to replace my computer or to give me a refund. They replaced it, three weeks after I got the defective computer.
I cannot imagine what they do to people who are able to turn their computers on before they stop working. I cannot imagine what they do to people who have software problems. All I know is that the simplest of problems, that of a obviously defective computer that had never turned on was such a hideous ordeal of customer service hell that I have vowed to never buy another Dell. And told my friends and family what their customer service is actually like, hoping that they won't either.

A friend of mine used to work for Dell in one of their tech support call centers. The horror stories he told me convinced me to never buy from that company. He genuinely tried to help his customers, but the company's rules made that difficult.

[kherbert05]

I had a Dell that was at the end of its warranty. I was given the run around until the warranty ran out. To top it off they said my accent was to strong - I have a mild Texas accent and Dell is a Texas company.

[VorFemme]

I had a Dell that was at the end of its warranty. I was given the run around until the warranty ran out. To top it off they said my accent was to strong - I have a mild Texas accent and Dell is a Texas company.

I bought a used Dell this summer - the graphics card died.  It also turned out to be under extended warranty for the *registered* owner.  The eBay seller got me the two pieces of information that I needed to transfer ownership and Dell picked up the laptop & replaced the graphics card (it did help that the test results were on file in their system from an on-line hardware diagnositics test for three different dates, showing declining performance and that the card died before the extended warranty period ended).

I did have to talk to a supervisor. 

I had already bought a second Dell laptop (this happened just before leaving on vacation) - now I have TWO working laptops (in a two story house, this may be a good idea).

I like Dell.  I do realize that not everyone has the same experience.

I used to live near a good Singer repairman (sewing machines) - I did learn that he did better on mechanical machines from when he was trained rather than the more recent machines with a computer chip.....but I miss him when my older mechanical machine needs maintenance.....I'm just not flying the machine with me to visit Ambroisa Hino in Georgia and leaving it if the repairs aren't done by the time my visit ends.  In fact, I'm not flying it anywhere - it's heavy!