Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The "Complain and get Free Stuff" Contest is now over ! And the winner is .....

The "Complain and get Free Stuff" contest is now over ! Big thanks to everyone that entered ! Your tips and tricks definitely help other unsatisfied consumers to complain smarter and more effectively.

The winner of the 32GB iPod touch is --------------- Steve from Ontario who shares his story on "Take Months to fix my car".

 We will email the winner at the provided email address within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thanks again everyone =)

P.S. If you like the idea of the "Complain and get Free Stuff" contest, please let us know and spread the good words on iHateBadService.ca facebook group. The more people joining, the higher chance (and more affordable) for us to give out monthly prizes !!!

McGinty gov tells grocers to hide HST...

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: McGinty Liberals

I asked the manager why the HST is not appearing on the shelf price labels, he told me the McGinty gov told every grocer to hide the HST on everything that used to be PST or GST only. So those on a tight budget will get a shock and embarrassment at the register because they unknowingly have selected HST products. Bazhturds!


Sunday, September 26, 2010

Maple Leaf Gold Leaf Wins Contest

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Manufacturing
Annoyed By: Maple Leaf

I sent an email to maple leaf foods about their poorly handled Gold Leaf wins contest. There was a lot of confusion regarding this contest, both from the entrants and those running the contest. Through explaining to the folks at maple leaf that my wife and I were entering the contest form the same IP address, they realized, we were two different people, and happily reimbursed us our prizes.

Maple Leaf Coupon

Location: Ontario, Kingston
Industry: Manufacturing
Annoyed By: Maple Leaf

I just emailed Maple Leaf about a coupon they sent to me for a free package of recloseable bacon. I could not find it in any store around the New Westminster area and the coupon expired on me. It was valid for like 1.5 months when they sent it to me. So I asked them to replace it with another coupon. So they asked me t...o call them today and we went over some of the stores that I went too. They said they would mail me a new coupon:)

Lack of service at Best Buy was worth $100/hour

Location: British Columbia, Vancouver
Industry: Retail
Annoyed By: No one because no one helped me

I received very minimal help by the staff at a Best Buy location in British Columbia. So I sent a complaint as follows:
"Hello,
I went to the Best Buy location in ----, British Columbia at 8:45 in the evening. Please send the management this following message: Your team needs to be educated in customer service. I was at the mice and keyboard section when I asked a CSR playing with a Sony Ebook reader for help. He said that he'll get the CSR for that department. He never came back. As time past when I was waiting, 5 CSRs passed me without asking me for assistance. When I flagged another CSR over assistance, he had to page some other CSR. When the CSR for keyboards came by, I asked if he had a Bamboo pen and touch in stock. He said he'll check the inventory at the back. 15 minutes past without any feedback. I went to the entrance of the inventory looking for the CSR. I saw him chatting with stuff and laughing with them. After he left the inventory room, he looked and past me without saying anything. I had to catch up to him and ask him about the product. He said that he forgot about it and said there's nothing in stock. Again, please tell their manager about their lack of customer service. I can certainly get better service at a motorcycle bar."
Within 48 hours, I received an apology from the store manager and a $50 gift card as a sign of goodwill.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Take months to fix my car ......

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Automotive
Annoyed By: Car Dealership

I will keep my story short.

Took my leased car to dealership for repairment after an accident, total bill is about $10K. However I have to wait for 2 months since they do not have the headlight part, they ended up ordering it from Germany and ship it here.

Phone and wrote letter to headquarter to quantify my loss, and finally got 2 months of lease payment reimbused + 1 month of car rental + a free service package.

Sometime it is worth the time to voice out your complaints.


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Rogers needs to check they don't send out Recycled Products

Location: Ontario, Mississauga
Industry: Technology
Annoyed By: Samsung & Rogers

I was having problems with my Old Rogers Cell Phone, for some reason the phone would turn on then turn off immediately after. I called Rogers and the receptionist said that they could not help me with my problem. Not happy with this answer I took my problem to my local Rogers store, and I let the guy look at my phone, and he came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with the wiring... duh. So he took it and gave me the an Upgrade. So if you have a problem just be patient and polite about things.


It had better come with an apple tree

Location: British Columbia, Maple Ridge
Industry: Restaurant
Annoyed By: The restaurant

While at a restaurant in Austria, I ordered a glass of apple juice. It cost the equivalent of $4.


Beat Weddings in London are a NIGHTMARE!!!!!

Location: Ontario, London
Industry: Other
Annoyed By: Morgan/Owner of Beat Weddings

I just wanted to give all future brides and grooms a heads up in London, Ontario about this DJ company called "Beat Weddings".

We met them at the London Bridal Show in 2009, they seemed very professional and nice and knew what they where doing. I could not be so wrong!

A year went by until our wedding and just as it was coming close we had certain wants and needs and Morgan at Beat Weddings just made all these road blocks for us that we could not get a projector etc..meanwhile her Father who met us a year before said they will do whatever and anything they can to make our day "perfect"! HA!

Anyways, clearly we where having no luck with this Morgan so we had to rent our own equipment, fine!

The big day is finally here, August 14 2010. Morgan shows up and is missing quite a few songs I specifically asked for! I spent A LOT of time making a spread sheet etc. for what I wanted and it is was like she did not even look at it!

That is just the beginning people...she was afraid to talk and announce! and she had NO IDEA how to get a party started, no one was dancing or getting into it!
This is the kicker....my BRIDESMAID who has some experience and knowledge in Djing had to step in and do HER JOB! She had to announce and pick the music and run the show while Morgan is just standing there looking like a deer in head lights! (useless!!!)
If I did not have my bridesmaid step in and do that it would have been quite a boring dance floor that I can almost guarantee.

She also, told my bridesmaid that she has never done a wedding like this and can't MC!
There was nothing complicated about our wedding, Portuguese wedding, approx. 200 people. REALLY?

Anyways, that was $700 we will never get back and was a complete waste, I regret ever considering this company and I hope you all NEVER have to deal with this amount of stupidity as we did that day.


Monday, September 20, 2010

One free year of service from Bell

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: Bell

Had bad service from Bell. They kept Taking more than the proper fee from my chequing account. When I would call them they would say that we never renewed our contract. I nicely asked them how many times a yr I had to renew the contract. When they finally checked into this they came to find out that nobody was checking our contract at all. They just kept taking the money out as they wished. This was all resolved with a reimbusement of one free yr of service. Being nice and not getting angry sure helped me this time. thx


Bell - don't make promises you can't keep

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: Bell

I received a call from someone at Bell asking me to upgrade my home phone service. After negotiating for about a half an hour I agreed to home phone and internet for a reasonable price...a few weeks later I get my bill and to my surprise it was almost double. I called Bell back and complained and complained and complained. They said they fixed the problem with the bill and things should be ok. Well next months bill comes and same problem. Called them back and "really" complained. After about an hour I got a better deal, they fixed my bill and got a discount as well for that month. My motto is don't make promises you can't keep...unless you can fix them later after complaining!!!


ScreenHouses Unlimited - Damaged Material

Location: Ontario, Pefferlaw
Industry: Other
Annoyed By: ScreenHouses Unlimited

ScreenHouses Unlimited (Arkew Holdings Ltd.) Sells do it yourself kits in Canada and America for screen rooms, patio covers, screened enclosures, door canopy awnings, and storage sheds.
Complaint #1 – Damaged Material
ScreenHouses Unlimited promises "100% Satisfaction" and assures buyers: "If you are missing or have received a broken piece, simply call our toll-free line and we will courier you the part in as timely a fashion as possible." In 2010, I paid over $4600 for a kit. I received damaged material. I notified them. I sent photos. I brought to their attention Canada's Competition Act Paragraph 74.01(1)(c)(ii) (Deceptive Marketing Practices). They still refused to honor the warranty.
Complaint #2 – Inaccurate Assembly Instructions
ScreenHouses Unlimited advertises "complete" instructions come with the kits. Instead, I received 2 partial instructions dated 1997 / 2001. Their solution? Refer me to 4 more sets of instructions online dated 2004. My contractor has an engineering degree; yet the extra hours to make up for all the instructions' errors and omissions added up to $150. Errors included: unfinished diagrams; different parts identified by one part number; different part numbers for one part; and entire pages about parts not in the kit. So, to build a safe unit, you must compare all the instruction sets and keep delaying work to call and clarify discrepancies.
My Conclusion:
Bad materials + Bad instructions + Bad customer service = Bad business. When I said I was dissatisfied with the instructions and damaged materials, they tried to re-define "100% Satisfaction" as "limited" and didn't mean "satisfaction that is determined by the customer." In my opinion, 100% doesn't mean a limited part of 100%. Still, I offered to accept a partial refund in lieu of reshipping and as compensation for my excess costs. They refused. I don't know if you would say ScreenHouses Unlimited is a fraud, scam, or rip-off, but I do know that I'll NEVER do business with them again!


WORST CELL PHONE PROVIDER

Location: Ontario, Mississauga
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: BELL MOBILITY

Well 3 yrs ago me and my girlfriend decided we wanted to get some new phones, we went over to bell since we were in the mall already. We seen these 2 phones that we had ta have HTC P4000.We setup everything and it was all good from there.... soo i thought ...my phone then started to act up and connect to the internet by itself. I contact bell inform them of the situation and they tell me to bring the phone in for repairs.So i do , i get the phone back now for a few days and i receive a call phone call from client care stating that i have a balance right now of $3249.86 in data usage. I had spent countless hours on the phone with them stating of the situation of what was going on with my phone and that fact that i just sent it in for repairs for it connecting to the network after i would completely override the phone manually from it being able to connect. They stated that it wasnt there problem and that i was responsible for the balance at hand. At that point i specifically asked to speak with the highest authority available to express the complete and utter dislike in the service and response im getting from this company ..finally after another hour on HOLD ...i get a regional manager on the line explained the situation yet again and she explains that i will receive a FULL credit for the amount of the balance on $3249.86 and that they will have a new phone waiting for me at the closest Bell mobility to me. After all thatttt the following week my and my girlfriends phones are disconnected due to non payment for the balance of $3249.86 I contact them again and apparently they have no record of the call i made to discuss this and few months down the road i get a letter from a collection agency stating i am in collections for that amount. i still have not paid one penny 2 BELL ever since! And i will never ever go back with them they are CON-ARTIST'S !!!!!!


Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Phone Company Instore Customer Service


Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Telecom
Annoyed By: Sales "Reps"

After having my newly purchased phone from [phone company] for a few month I noticed it started having issues. Re: randomly hanging up, buttons not working, won't dial.
Went to rogers to complain and possibly get it fix or replaced. Sales rep was nice, took the phone, gave me a temp and sent me on my way.
A few days later I received a call that my phone was ready to be picked up. I happily arrived hoping to have my phone in working condition. To my surprise the sales rep told he didn't send my phone out to get fixed because it suffered from 'Water damage". I was more than obviously upset as they held my phone for a few days for nothing.. and even more upset because i would remember if I dropped my phone in the toilet or left it outside in the rain. I told him that that was impossible and you know what he did? He laughed at me.. LAUGHED? WHO THE HELL DOES THAT?!??!? My sister was with me at the time I knew she was ready to take off her earrings and attack. But I kept my cool, walked out and called [phone company] customer service who felt really bad for my experience and offered me a credit and discounted service. It didn't really help BUT I know NEVER to deal with [phone company] in store reps again.


Friday, September 10, 2010

Rosewater Supper Club

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Restaurant
Annoyed By: Rosewater Supper Club

My wife and I went out for a nice dinner to the Rosewater Supper Club. We had a reservation for 7:30PM and  we had arrived 15 minutes early. We were informed by the hostess that  the restaurant was at capacity and we would have to possibly wait a few minutes. After waiting 1 hour after our reservation, I approached the hostess again to find out what the status was. She said no one had left  yet from the early seating and we would still have to wait. I told her that was not acceptable and she would need to find us a table within 5
minutes or we would complain to the manager. Little did I know that the  manager was actually standing right there. The manager actually whispered to the hostess "then just tell them anything to get rid of  them". I told her I heard that and we stormed out of there. My wife called the Liberty Group the next day and they called back to say sorry and they offered us a $100 gift certificate off of our next dining  experience.


$50 gift card from East Side Marios

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Restaurant
Annoyed By: East Side Marios

We went to East Side Marios with the family once for dinner. Once we were seated, they were unable to set the table with a complete set of flatware, glassware and dishes. When I asked about this, I was told it's because they were busy and did not wash the utensils yet. When I told our server that we will need to get... this stuff prior to ordering, our server dismissed us and said it's ok, that we can order before it arrives. I questioned them on how that is possible, because what am I supposed to eat off of and with what. The server got lippy with me and I immediately asked to speak to the manager. Once the manager arrived, I explained what happened. His first action was to fire the server on the spot. His second was to apologize and had our table set within minutes. The following day, we received a phone call from the store manager and he wanted to send us a $50 gift card. It's a good thing we used it right away because that location not surprisingly closed a few months later.


xbox service

Location: Ontario, toronto
Industry: Other
Annoyed By: xbox representative

I cannot understand them talking at all. They have indian people talking and i only want a box so i can send my xbox cuz it red ring on me.


POPEYES Jerk

Location: Ontario, Waterloo
Industry: Health
Annoyed By: Drivethru attendant

I went to the drive-through for Popeyes hoping to get some chicken about a half hour before close. I placed my order and was informed by the man at the other end that they only had 1 piece of chicken, biscuits and salad remaining. I asked him if he realized that there was still 30 minutes left before close and he told me he did. I said forget it and drove off.

Having worked in fast food when i was younger and having put up with people who came into the store with mere minutes left this experience really irked me. I complained via a form on the Popeyes website. About a week later I got an apology call from the manager and was offered a free meal.


Hairy Situation

Location: Alberta, Hinton
Industry: Tourism
Annoyed By: Days Inn Hinton

My husband and I left early from Alberta to head home back to BC. We ended up arriving into Hinton and after hitting up 3 hotels before hand, came across the Days Inn. We booked their last room (non-smoking) and for a reduced rate ($10 off). Needless to say, when my husband showered, there was hair in the bathtub. To top it off, the room was either a smoking room, they lied about it, or someone had smoked in there. Too bad that reduced rate didn't happen as well!


Disney the Death of Customer Service and The Rise of Policy

Location: Other, Colorado
Industry: Tourism
Annoyed By: Disney Cruise Lines, Disney World

My wife and I through American Express booked a vacation for a Disney Cruise. Our vacation included 5 days at the Caribbean Hotel Resort and 5 days on the Cruise. We booked this in December 2009. During the summer of 2010 a few months prior to the vacation we realized that at the Hotel we would like to purchase the meal plan. We checked the criteria and it said we had to be at a Disney Resort and needed to be longer then a two day stay. I told my wife to give the AX agent a call and have him book it. The AX agent returned me with this.
"If a cruise passenger wants to add on the dinning option to the hotel portion of the cruise, it can not be added on. Since the pre hotel nights are part of a cruise and booked through the Disney Cruise Lines and since they operate separate from the Walt Disney World Resort Vacations, they can add on the transfers, air, park ticket to the booking but the one thing that they cannot add on is the Dinning Packages. The Dinning Packages are exclusive to the Walt Disney World Resort Vacations only. "

Upon readings I was confused and I thought there had to be something done, I fit the criteria and I was paying just as much if not more then the people booking through the Walt Disney World Resort Vacations. They wouldn't just scam the Cruise Liners people out of this option completely.

Immediately I called my agent and was put on a three way conversation with Disney Cruise LInes. I explained to her that I don't take a lot of family vacations and I would like to purchase the dinning plan while I am at the resort for 5 days. After a couple of no's I was transferred to the supervisor.

Finally someone that can make sense of this, the supervisor (Raja) said, "Sorry this policy was enacted in 2010 and there is nothing we can do for you. " I then commented on the fact that in 2009 you were able to purchase these packages. She repeated the same thing and added that they were two separate entities.
 
I then explained to her that at one point in my life I worked in the hospitality industry and that there was always something that can be done. She repeated the same thing again and told me that she would have to hang up because she didn't understand why I didn't understand that Disney Cruise Lines is a separate entity and had nothing to do with the Resorts .
I was starting to get a perturbed at this point and asked if the Cruise Lines were truly an entity of Disney, specifically asking her if Disney cuts her checks. She returned, "I am unable to divulge that information."
 
"So you are telling me that you guys are not Disney or you are telling me that your organizations are unable to communicate between each other and you have no ability to talk to the resorts and straighten this out."
She again reiterated the same thing and that she did not understand why I could not understand.
Again perturbed, "But you admit I fit the criteria."
"Yes, you fit the criteria."
 
I asked her why then , "Why the cruise lines are able to sell land packages if they cannot sell the entire package. Doesn't that not elude to false advertising."
"She said your agent should have told you this and if I have problems with the booking I should be talking to him."

I told her that that is the reason I am calling to straighten this out. And that this information was not brought forth at the time of the booking in 2009. My agent would not have known. "
She said that I could cancel my reservation and book through Disney resort, I explained to her that I am average Joe that takes a vacation once a great while and I am going to the magical kingdom where I am not feeling very magical at because nothing magical is happening. I also told her that I did not have time to rebook everything over.
She said, "Sorry I felt that way. And that I would need to handle this through my reservationist."
I explained to her that this would be completely different if I was trying to scam something but all I was trying to do was pay for a meal package.
 
She repeated the policy again.
 
I asked so there is nothing at all you can do and you're our not affiliated with Disney.
Her reply was the same reiterating the policy.
 
Blown by the lack of customer service, by the price I was paying for the trip and by the entire policy itself, I explained to her that this was the worst customer service I had every had and hung up.

My conclusion was that there was over 15,000 dollars invested in this vacation and that Disney does not care about customer service. They feel that they can scam their way into making more money by enacting policy that do not allow Cruise Line people the same options as the Resort people even though they fit the criteria completely.

Recently I have cleaned my son's closet out of all Disney related stuff and I have turned the TiVo off of all Disney related shows. I have no interest in this policy making money grubbing cooperation at this point.