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

[siamesecat2965]

I'm single and I have a membership to Costco. I go pretty frequently. I don't buy a huge amount of food since i don't have space for it, but I will buy tp, paper towels, bottled water, and some cleaning stuff. I have bought a giant piece of salmon and cut it up and frozen it. and in my kick to be healthy, I bought a big bowl of fruit salad for 12.99. I defintiely get my money's worth out of my membership, and the one by me also has gas. I just paid 3.29 on sat. for regular.

[alkira6]

I figured out that between DH and I, just the savings on gas paid for our membership in 3 months (we drive a LOT to get to/from work). The savings on dogfood, TP, paper towel, cheese, and meat are great too.

[LadyClaire]

I have a Sam's membership and it saves us a ton of money. My sister also has one, and she buys baby food, formula, and diapers there and saves a lot doing so.

[ladyknight1]

Cat litter, detergent, oxi-clean, movies, books, electronics, etc are all available and usually for better prices than elsewhere. I bought the case for my iPad at Sam's that was $50 there and $89 everywhere else. About 8 years ago, I bought a returned television for $50, had it repaired under warranty and it works like a charm still.

We alternate meat purchases every week or two. Chicken breasts $2/lb, in a 5 lb pack, pork loin $2/lb in a 6-7 lb package, skirt steak <$5/lb, 90% lean ground beef $2.50/lb, all of which we portion and freeze what we don't use right away. Butter is 4lbs for $8 (lasts us 3-4 months). At my local store, it is $3-4 per lb. We go through three dozen eggs a week, with DS and DH eating eggs every day and I use them in cooking and boiled on salads. Cereal is much better priced than from the grocery store for the same brand. Also, snack items like Nutrigrain bars, granola bars, breakfast pastries, etc. We could not eat as well as we do without our memberships.

[nuit93]

Maybe the conversations about warehouse stores should move to their own thread?

[mmswm]

Back to the topic...

A particular Denny's in my city is on my "do not go" list.  My son and I stopped on the way home from a doctor's appointment.  Money is tight (I wanted to keep the total plus tip in the ten dollar range), so we ordered one item each off the $2 menu and got water to drink.  The waitress huffed at me and said "is that it?" in a really huffy tone and tried to up sell a number of items. I said no and she walked away with a sigh and a huff.  Now, I do get that waitresses work really hard, and a small check means a small tip.  She has no way of knowing that I have a $1 per person minimum as a personal tipping guideline (so even if we just went in for coffee, I'd still tip $2), and would have probably left at least $3 and possibly more if the service was really good. After she huffed away, I sat there for a minute, then decided that I really didn't want to stay.  I got her attention and told her I'd changed my mind and left, then went to IHOP, where the server was amazing, even though we split a $6 appetizer and drank water.  She got a $4 tip for her effort and great attitude.  If she felt any disappointment that our check was a really low dollar amount, I surely didn't know it, and her attention to detail deserved a tip more in line with a typical two person lunch, so that's what I gave her. 

[Jocelyn]

This is a hypothetical situation for me, since the store is in Australia and I'm in the US, but:
http://now.msn.com/just-looking-fee-charged-by-australian-store

The store is going to charge a $5 'just looking' fee which is deducted from your purchase at checkout.  They say they're tired of people coming in just to comparison shop and not buying anything.  If the picture with the article is the actual store, they are a gluten-free food shop.

Do they station someone at the front door and sell tickets or something?  I can't imagine this is going to do them any good at all; the ill-will generated will drive away any customers they might have.

Showrooming is becoming a big problem. Companies like Best Buy are really hurting because people will go look at merchandise in the store, then go online and find the products cheaper elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if many stores started to move to a model like this one. I don't know that it's the best approach, but I don't blame them for trying.

Best Buy announced this week their policy to defeat showrooming: they will match online prices.
That sounds like a policy that will get them customers. I know that if I went into BB to shop, and I wanted to do more comparison shopping, or even just to think about whether I wanted the product now that I've seen it, and they told me that would be a $5 charge for looking, I'd never go back. A store that thinks everyone is going to purchase is deluded. Suppose I went in intending to purchase, but then once I saw the product, I decided it wouldn't meet my needs after all?

[rachellenore]

A little late for a reply, but:

@snowdragon on Jo-Ann Fabrics,

My aunt's boyfriend used to be a manager there. He was told that he wasn't "mean enough" to the employees under him and that he had to choose between getting fired or demoted. He went for the demotion.

I wasn't there to witness any of it, but, it does seem to follow the trend that you experienced.

[jayhawk]

A little late for a reply, but:

@snowdragon on Jo-Ann Fabrics,

My aunt's boyfriend used to be a manager there. He was told that he wasn't "mean enough" to the employees under him and that he had to choose between getting fired or demoted. He went for the demotion.

I wasn't there to witness any of it, but, it does seem to follow the trend that you experienced.

I don't think it's a good idea to be mean to employees who use sharp scissors and rotary cutters in their jobs.

[RoseRose]

This is a hypothetical situation for me, since the store is in Australia and I'm in the US, but:
http://now.msn.com/just-looking-fee-charged-by-australian-store

The store is going to charge a $5 'just looking' fee which is deducted from your purchase at checkout.  They say they're tired of people coming in just to comparison shop and not buying anything.  If the picture with the article is the actual store, they are a gluten-free food shop.

Do they station someone at the front door and sell tickets or something?  I can't imagine this is going to do them any good at all; the ill-will generated will drive away any customers they might have.

Showrooming is becoming a big problem. Companies like Best Buy are really hurting because people will go look at merchandise in the store, then go online and find the products cheaper elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if many stores started to move to a model like this one. I don't know that it's the best approach, but I don't blame them for trying.

Best Buy announced this week their policy to defeat showrooming: they will match online prices.
That sounds like a policy that will get them customers. I know that if I went into BB to shop, and I wanted to do more comparison shopping, or even just to think about whether I wanted the product now that I've seen it, and they told me that would be a $5 charge for looking, I'd never go back. A store that thinks everyone is going to purchase is deluded. Suppose I went in intending to purchase, but then once I saw the product, I decided it wouldn't meet my needs after all?

Actually, best buy is nearly on my "never shop" list.  Right now, I'll still get some things there, but I won't get their extended agreements, I know too many people who've been burned by them.  A few more negative stories, and I won't go, because I don't want to go to a company that treats so many of its customers poorly.

[jedikaiti]

This is a hypothetical situation for me, since the store is in Australia and I'm in the US, but:
http://now.msn.com/just-looking-fee-charged-by-australian-store

The store is going to charge a $5 'just looking' fee which is deducted from your purchase at checkout.  They say they're tired of people coming in just to comparison shop and not buying anything.  If the picture with the article is the actual store, they are a gluten-free food shop.

Do they station someone at the front door and sell tickets or something?  I can't imagine this is going to do them any good at all; the ill-will generated will drive away any customers they might have.

Showrooming is becoming a big problem. Companies like Best Buy are really hurting because people will go look at merchandise in the store, then go online and find the products cheaper elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if many stores started to move to a model like this one. I don't know that it's the best approach, but I don't blame them for trying.

Best Buy announced this week their policy to defeat showrooming: they will match online prices.
That sounds like a policy that will get them customers. I know that if I went into BB to shop, and I wanted to do more comparison shopping, or even just to think about whether I wanted the product now that I've seen it, and they told me that would be a $5 charge for looking, I'd never go back. A store that thinks everyone is going to purchase is deluded. Suppose I went in intending to purchase, but then once I saw the product, I decided it wouldn't meet my needs after all?

Actually, best buy is nearly on my "never shop" list.  Right now, I'll still get some things there, but I won't get their extended agreements, I know too many people who've been burned by them.  A few more negative stories, and I won't go, because I don't want to go to a company that treats so many of its customers poorly.

And that is why I will not a) make major purchases, like acctual computers, from them. Or let Geek Squad near my computers. For other things, like games, DVDs, sure! I might even deal with their mobile audio people, as they were really awesome when we bought a new car stereo for DF's mom (even though there was no installation $ in it for them), but I am still not letting them touch my computer.

[BabyMama]

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

[VorFemme]

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Used phone from eBay with the same provider's - take it in and have your phone number transferred to it.

Due to a number of phone-killing accidents*, I went back to an older phone from a previous contract a while back (did not want to extend the contract - went back to a four year old flip phone from the same company- since we don't have the data package or other extras on the contract).  Another time, we got a used phone and set it up to replace a damaged phone (again, to avoid paying a lot more for a NEW phone or setting up a new two year contract).  Sometimes you just plan on leaving a company as soon as the contract is DONE.....sometimes you just don't want to pay to end the contract or get a new phone before the contract ends (either can be expensive).

*Coca Cola is very bad for phones to take a bath in - glass tipped over at car wash and the cup holder turned into a Jacuzzi of sorts for the phone in the other cup holder....... that phone died a slow death.  Dropped phone on cement driveway when my cell phone carry case turned upside down, that phone did a Humpty Dumpty "and all the kings' men couldn't put it back together again".  Third phone (we started with four lines, so we had started with one spare new phone when we dropped line four and that was Humpty Dumpty) fell into the toilet carry case and all.......but didn't get flushed (it might have been better off flushing it than trying to clean it).  I did not destroy all three - somebody else had one of the three accidents in three months.......

But I was the one who ended up getting the four year old flip phone out of the old tech stash and got it set up to replace the Coca Cola swimming phone..........VorGuy or VorSon had gotten the last new spare phone from that same service provider.  When it died - we went with a new service provider.....and all new phones......VorGuy had the smallest carry case he could find for his, it fell off his belt in a parking lot, and the phone got driven over......good carry case - I did learn how to replace the monitor screen and he still has it.....but I'm starting to think that the insurance might be worth it........"spare" phones can get expensive.

[Moray]

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Huh. That actually sounds like they were pretty reasonable. They tried to offer options for a request that was outside of your contractual terms. I'm sorry they weren't able to accommodate you.

[Mental Magpie]

Went in to my cell phone provider (Best Buy Mobile) today to upgrade my phone. My current phone is pretty obsolete and can't really even handle basic app updates anymore. (Every "fun" app has been uninstalled because there's no memory left--I took a photo yesterday and a "camera RAM crash" window came up.) I've been counting down the days and was psyched to get a new phone, especially since I'll be out of town this weekend so a reliable phone would be good to have. Unfortunately I was counting down to the wrong day--for some reason I thought "payday", rather than the actual day--which is Monday, April 1. So one business day early.

The BBM guy said he would try to see if he could get me a phone today. He called the Sprint store. No luck, the computer couldn't do anything.

I went to the Sprint store to see if they could help me. The guy wanted to, but the computer wouldn't let him give me a phone early.

I called customer service, and after being put on hold so the CSR could speak with her supervisor, I was told that I could pay $50 to buy out my contract (remember, one business day early!) or pay the full ~$700 for the phone. They "used to" be able to upgrade people early, but for some reason she didn't explain to me, they "don't do that anymore." I expressed that I was upset, I just wanted a new phone and to give them my money (I would be signing a new 2-year contract as well) and she basically shrugged. Then she asked if she could do anything else for me. I said no, I'll probably be calling on Monday to cancel. "OK. Have a nice rest of your day."

They just lost two customers over $50. Our contract isn't up until June so I'll have to keep this crappy phone for another 2 1/2 months, which irritates me even more, but I'm just so (I know, kind of unreasonably) mad about this.

Huh. That actually sounds like they were pretty reasonable. They tried to offer options for a request that was outside of your contractual terms. I'm sorry they weren't able to accommodate you.

I agree with Moray.  I'm sorry it wasn't what you wanted, but I don't think you should drop them for following their own policy.