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

[iridaceae]

I thought 555-xxxx should work anywhere, since it is reserved for movies/tv shows (OT)

Not entirely. Only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are officially reserved as fictitious.  Wikipedia on the topic.

Cool! So if I call 555-4200 I'll really get The Equalizer!!

[amandaelizabeth]

On our last visit to the USA, had a mishap which needed industrial strenght glue.  So guess where we went and were asked for our phone number.  Which they refused to believe.  Kind man in the queue bought the glue for us and treated us to cup of coffee and a muffin.  Long story short, his nephew and girlfriend  came to see us last year and we had a meal together.  We are hoping to see more members iof the family in the future and we correspond and send cards.

So good things can come from the request for phone numbers.  Go Lowe's

[Amara]

I just saw this story about the amount of information you are giving out to marketers if you provide them with your name and your zip code: http://consumerist.com/2013/04/18/your-zip-code-and-your-name-thats-all-retailers-need-to-track-your-behavior/#more-10125969

Scary. It just confirms that cash and fake zip codes are the way to go when I can, though unfortunately I can't do anything about Amazon.

[Bottlecaps]

On our last visit to the USA, had a mishap which needed industrial strenght glue.  So guess where we went and were asked for our phone number.  Which they refused to believe.  Kind man in the queue bought the glue for us and treated us to cup of coffee and a muffin.  Long story short, his nephew and girlfriend  came to see us last year and we had a meal together.  We are hoping to see more members iof the family in the future and we correspond and send cards.

So good things can come from the request for phone numbers.  Go Lowe's

That's a lovely story. I can't believe they wouldn't accept your phone number though. I can understand that their system may not be equipped to accept international phone numbers, but in that case if I were the cashier, I would have said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Our system won't take international phone numbers, but no worries - I'll just put the store's phone number (or a fictitious one, or even my own if nothing else) in."

[Piratelvr1121]

The dollar store in the mall is one I avoid at all costs.  Which really isn't terribly hard cause I rarely see anything I like in the short amount of time I can hold my breath.

You see, this store REEKS!  You know that musty smell that some thrift stores tend to have? Multiply it by ten to the tenth power and for good measure, add in a titration of "what the ehell is that?"

[RingTailedLemur]

The dollar store in the mall is one I avoid at all costs.  Which really isn't terribly hard cause I rarely see anything I like in the short amount of time I can hold my breath.

You see, this store REEKS!  You know that musty smell that some thrift stores tend to have? Multiply it by ten to the tenth power and for good measure, add in a titration of "what the ehell is that?"

Yes, the local second hand/cash converters place smells strongly of feet.

[Bottlecaps]

The dollar store in the mall is one I avoid at all costs.  Which really isn't terribly hard cause I rarely see anything I like in the short amount of time I can hold my breath.

You see, this store REEKS!  You know that musty smell that some thrift stores tend to have? Multiply it by ten to the tenth power and for good measure, add in a titration of "what the ehell is that?"

Yes, the local second hand/cash converters place smells strongly of feet.

Bleck!  Are the shop owners in these stores aware of the fact that their stores stink?

[Piratelvr1121]

I doubt it.  If you're exposed to a stink long enough you unfortunately get very used to it.

[Bottlecaps]

I doubt it.  If you're exposed to a stink long enough you unfortunately get very used to it.

That's very true. I wonder if anyone's ever complained about it to them? You'd think after so many complaints they'd wise up and say, "Hey, these people might be right - this place may really reek."

[amandaelizabeth]

That's a lovely story. I can't believe they wouldn't accept your phone number though. I can understand that their system may not be equipped to accept international phone numbers, but in that case if I were the cashier, I would have said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Our system won't take international phone numbers, but no worries - I'll just put the store's phone number (or a fictitious one, or even my own if nothing else) in."
[/quote]

Well at the time (remember there is only 4 million of us and the sheep tend not to have phones), we only had 6 digit numbers, and with the area code being the 7th there was not digits to fill in.  If I had thought things through I would have told him to add a couple of noughts, but things were a bit fraught and I thought he was teasing and he wasn't.  He added that I should repeat the number again but in english this time, which really got me irate and I think the nice gentleman behind us was a little embarrassed by the whole thing.  He has a really nice family though, and we regret we will not be able to meet up with them in Hawaii next month.

[HorseFreak]

Last weekend I went to Nashville with my mom for a vacation. We decided to eat at this really neat fish camp themed restaurant near the Opryland hotel. Overall the food and decor were great, but one of the sights in particular nearly made me lose my appetite. It appears they were having some sort of issue with the pump of their catfish pond next to which my mom and I were seated since the tech squatted down less than 3' from our table and started dismantling the decorations to repair/inspect the pump with his BUTT CRACK showing! Right next to my seat, so close I could have reached out and touched it.

The thing that killed me was the place wasn't busy in the least (only a few tables were seated) and a staff member made some dumb comment about us now knowing where they hid the pond pump like it was a state secret. No apologies for the view which was irritating since that's most of what the restaurant's appeal is. The table would have been lovely if it weren't for the coin slot constantly in my peripheral vision.

I sent them a message on Facebook so we'll see if they even respond.

[Mental Magpie]

If they weren't busy why didn't you ask to move? Why didn't you say anything about it while it was happening?

[magician5]

less than 3 feet? Put your finger over your straw and withdraw it from your water glass, trapping a full strawfull of ice water in it. Let it go in the offending space. Look away before the reaction.

...sorry, couldn't resist.

[DottyG]

If they weren't busy why didn't you ask to move? Why didn't you say anything about it while it was happening?

I was wondering the same thing as MM when I read the story.

[Xandraea]

If they weren't busy why didn't you ask to move? Why didn't you say anything about it while it was happening?

I was wondering the same thing as MM when I read the story.

I wondered as well why you didn't ask to be seated elsewhere.  Also, many times people don't seem to realize how much they expose when squatting down, unless there's a huge temperature difference, as in outside on a freezing winter's day.  It could be the tech had no idea what view he was subjecting you to.