Bad Car service

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Automotive mv

I got a bad car service in Canadian Tire store located CenterPoint Mail, April 26 2008. I take oil changing service in this store for my Subaru Forest 1999. First, the advisor rejected my request for oid type, he told me using 5W30 olny, if 10W30 needed, I have to pay extra fee. Second, the technician has very bad skill. After his engine oil changing, 40 percent parts in the hood got oil. The engine got very dirty condition. The cap of a oil bottle lost in the engine as well. It took me a couple hours to clear my car.

sell sell sell - aritzia

Location: Ontario, Vaughan
Industry: Retail
Company: aritiza.com

The following was a "comment" i placed in the aritiza.com site; stating my in store experience:

I've always found Aritizia with one of the best customer services in the retail industry. However, I don't always feel that things are to the customer's benefit. I experienced the following last roughly a week ago; I wanted to get a top where the store was not able to find my size though the computer said the store had the stock. Therefore, I was asked to leave my number and they would call me once they find it or get ait transferred for me from another store. I waited the entire day, and I did not receive any call and the next day I went back to the store hoping they had found it. However, when I went there, the same lady who served me said that they have probably sold it and I should have called so they could put it on hold, when I was expecting them to call me back.
Now, I had to first purchase the top and wait for it to get transferred, which I don't really mind, ONLY because I was told it only going to take between four to five days. It's not been a week, and I call the store and learned that the time frame would actually take between five to ten days! I feel that I was lured to purchase the product at my inconvenience, since I've always believed a transfer of merchandise is supposed to make it more convenient for the customer. If I knew it would take such a long time, I would have just went to the other location and purchased it.
I liked the store associates/manager's service and attitude, but I did not like the feeling that I was being "tricked" because they were so conscious of their sales of the store (location). I made a purchase of $500, but regardless of that I believe all customers deserve honesty from a store....

Made the story shorter already..but yeah... did not like that feeling.

a bad store experience, with good customer service

McDonald's @ Kings Place Mall Sucks!

Location: New Brunswick, Fredericton
Industry: Restaurant
Company: McDonald's

I used to go there on a regular basis... being the only McDonald's in downtown Fredericton, there was no alternative to find my Big Mac / Quarter Pounder fix. I used to have an unhealthy addiction to these burgers, and I would always order bacon just to ensure an imminent heart attack.

@ this McDonald's, the customer service is terrible. The staff are painfully slow, almost meticulously and methodically slothful: not as though it were deliberate, but more like "Damn! I can't rush some with Downe Syndrome" slow. Sometimes I would wait at the counter for up to three minutes (that's 10% of my lunch time) while the staff moseyed and joked, or swept or wiped at greasy spots here and there. Don't let them fool you. They do not have a mental dysfunction, they are just poor employees.

When the chance occurs where they decide they have completed enough of their duties to squeeze my order into their busy routine, they get it wrong. Where is the bacon? Where are my double patties? I'm 99.9% certain I ordered two burgers (remember, the exact same order I gave you yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that, ad infinitum), why is there only one? Here on the receipt, where it says 1 Big Mac (mit Bakon!) and 1 Quarter Pounder (altso mit Bakon!). What does dbl mean?

Once I'd managed to get them to initiate any adjustments or additions to my order, I'd have to wait even longer. The average visit to this junk hole would last me between 8 - 15 minutes.

I also feel compelled to point out that the hygiene of the staff there was questionable. It was the wiping of noses and coughing around the food that ultimately forced me never to return, not to mention some employees just seemed... gross.

I work in a customer service role. I do a good job, and when I don't I hustle to fix what I did poorly and make every possible effort to salvage the customer experience / personal integrity.

Thanks to this McDonald's, though, I have beaten my burger addiction, and have never visited another Golden Arches since. Sometimes on warm nights of introspection and ponderance, I like to imagine that these people I have dismissed as pathetic excuses for a labour force were really altruistic angels: feigning incompetence that they may save my life... thank you, gnarly toothed, mole faced, freaks!

BBC Radio One Phone Prank

How many Bell Canada Customer service reps does it take to get it right?

Location: Ontario, N/A
Industry: Telecom
Company: Bell Canada

I called in Dec to have my credit card billing information updated because my credit card had expired so they needed the new expiration date on file to continue with automatic bill payments.

Two months later I realized that I wasn't seeing my phone bill on my credit card statement. So I called again, wrestled with their horrendous voice mail system until finally I got through to a live person. This customer service rep took my new credit card information and assured me that they would have my account updated and the outstanding balance billed to the card.

Three weeks later I get a phone call from Bell Canada asking me to pay an overdue balance... that was supposed to have been addressed in my phone call to them three weeks ago...which was to resolve their mistake from December!

I give up.

Alleycatz owner doesn't deserve your business

Location: Ontario, Toronto
Industry: Restaurant

Visited Alleycatz on March 1, 2008 to celebrate a friend's marriage. Reservations were made for 7:30 but a group of us arrived late...around 8:30. Our entire group was 22 people, in total, 6 of us arrived late. They didn't hold the 6 seats for the late-comers, (understandably...they gave away the table) however, (and luckily) there was still an empty table in the dining area when we arrived. BTW, this place is located near Yonge & Eglinton in Toronto.

Upon arrival we ("the late ones") were accosted at the door by a slimy-looking middle-aged man and his henchman. He rudely told us that we had to pay a $10 cover charge (did I mention it was 8:30?). We happened to be ahead of a group of other strangers who tried to bypass us. He screamed at them to step back while he kept snapping his fingers at us for $10 each.

We explained we were with the "wedding group." He asked if we intended to order dinner. We said, "yes." He said, "too late, dinner is almost over and kitchen will be closed. Pay me $10 each." Reluctantly, we paid him the $10 cover each.

We sat down at the open table in the dining area and subsequently watched the rude man leave his post the front door allowing new customers to walk in without having to pay the $10 cover (we counted 8 before the fumes coming out of our heads started to obstruct our view).

A waitress came to our table to ask if we wanted to order. We told her that we were advised that dinner service was over and also had to pay $10 cover at the door. She advised that we could still order dinner if we wanted and that their policy was to charge $10 cover after 9pm. We complained, again, about having to pay cover especially since we arrived before 9pm (at 8:30), and about the man at the door who spoke to us extremely rudely. She sympathized with us and told us that she's tried numerous times to reason with the man but it "doesn't do any good." When we probed more about the man, she advised that he is the owner of Alleycatz.

We told her we wanted to speak with the owner and she said she would let him know. She later returned to our table stating that he was "tied up" and would come out when he had time. We were still angry about the situation and although we ordered a few drinks, we refused to order food until we spoke with him.

Still waiting for the owner to come to our table, the hostess (a blonde woman) came to us and asked if we had ordered or had been served. We told her we had not ordered any food and that we were dissatisfied with the fact that we were forced to pay $10 cover and also told that dinner service was over. The hostess advised that their policy was to charge cover after 8:30 and tried to convince us that everyone is charged if they arrive after 8:30.

The hostess also told us that we had to order food in order to continue sitting in the dining area, if we weren't ordering food, she would have to ask us to move to the standing room around the bar.

Our waitress returned shortly after our exchange with the hostess and asked what she said to us. The waitress apologized for how "they" were treating us and gave us some more time to think about what we wanted to order. I'm not sure if this was a intricate charade between the owner, hostess and waitress…but I prefer to think that our waitress was being sincere. But…in the end…who really knows *shrug*

At this point we realized that we weren't going to win this battle. The owner doesn't care about customer service and the staff is feeding us lines about the time at which cover charge comes into effect. If it weren't for our friends, who were celebrating their marriage, we would have left. But, at this point, we really had no choice. We ordered a few appetizer dishes and an entrée: spring rolls, grilled calamari, artichoke & cheese dip, and steak & frites. The food was average; nothing amazing.

The owner never came to our table to address our concern. An act of an coward, if you ask me. Thinking back, he probably sent the hostess do his dirty work.

On Saturday nights, the place features a live band and around 10:30 or so the band came on to do their first set. The dinner service was ending and the bar crowd was filing into the space. I'll have to admit, the live music was great. Set a great atmosphere and, frankly, it's always great to hear a good, live band. The place got busy...more and more crowded…to the point of being extremely uncomfortable.

The latter part of the evening was better for us. We didn't focus too much on the treatment we received at the door and the night did end on a good note for us. But looking back, I have to say that overall the service was horrible. Never been treated so rudely at the door of an establishment. The owner obviously has no respect for his patrons and has no understanding of "customer service." If it wasn't because we were there to celebrate our friends' marriage we would have walked out. Food was average; overpriced for the quality. Owner and hostess were rude, unwelcoming and pretentious.

The policy about charging $10 cover is fair, but when it's communicated inconsistently and in a rude tone…it just leaves you feeling ripped off. Our group ended up spending upwards of $1000 at Alleycatz that night…something that I don't feel the establishment deserved based on how it treats its customers.

I'll acknowledge the live band was awesome...but kind of wished someone would've called the fire marshall because the place was packed with so many people it would've been way beyond what any fire code would allow.

On principle, I would not want to visit this establishment again in the future and would discourage others to do the same. The shame is that the same owner also owns the pool hall/restaurant across the alley and the 2 places basically have the Yonge/Eglinton area cornered. Hmm….anyone thinking about opening a bar/lounge in this area? If you are considering it and you're committed to top-notch customer service; let me know---I'd love to give you my business.

Chrysler - Bad Manufacturing, Unreliable & Poor Quality Vehicles

Location: Ontario, Waterloo
Industry: Automotive
Company: Chrysler
Annoyed by: Poor Quality, Bad Manufacturing and inability to make things right mv

So we signed a lease contract with Chrysler that legally binds us to pay Chrysler the terms set our in agreements. Therefore i believe taht Chrysler should provide us, the customer with a reliable, quality vehicle in accordance with that same contract.

I have a Fully Loaded 2005 Grand Cherokee Ltd 5.7 HEMI.

This vehicle over the last 18 months alone has been into the shop 12 times. The vehicle is regularly serviced (in accordance with my agreement with Chrysler) but due to the manufacturing of the vehicle and the parts suppliers I have had (not an fully inclusive list, but you get the jist) the Starter Motor replaced twice, the battery, the Crank Shaft Sensor Sensor Replaced, The P/S Pump & Pulley Replaced - each of these have been replaced under warranty as expected but these are things that should not have gone wrong on a vehicle of this age and as such the car had to be placed on a FLATBED TOW TRUCK each time and returned to the dealer. This last breakdown occurred last week in the middle of nowehere, in -10 celsius and with a 10wk old baby.

This car has also had to have new 'LIFETIME' guaranteed brakes replaced THREE times at the front and TWICE at the back due to faulty parts.

We should not have to pay $900 per month for an unreliable vehicle and I will be doing eveyrthing in my power by going through CAMVAP and yourselves to ensure that these kind of problems are brought to the attention of Chrysler so that they never need happen again.

With the social networking tools that are available to us today (such as Facebook) and www.ihatebadservice.ca) we should be able to provide pressure on companies like Chrysler so that they start to live up to their side of their very own contracts and agreements.

Definitely the FIRST and LAST time we ever visit a Bad Boy store

Location: Ontario, Barrie
Industry: Retail


On December 8th, 2007, my husband and I purchased a leather couch, loveseat and chair set from the Bad Boy store located at 42 Caplan Ave in Barrie, Ontario. We were thrilled to find...what we thought was a good quality set....at a reasonable price and very excited to have the set delivered.

On December 11th, 2007, our set came. The delivery men brought the set in, and left without unwrapping it and inspecting the set. While a little annoyed by this, I didn't think anything of it. When the delivery men left, I began unwrapping the set and immediately saw a large gash on the couch (in the material at the bottom) and a gash in the leather on the loveseat! I was a little shocked, especially when these were coming directly from the warehouse and were brand new! We didn't continue to unwrap the items knowing they were damaged pieces.

I called the Barrie Bad Boy store that day and they offered me no assistance and advised me that I had to call the warehouse on Fenmar Drive. I called the warehouse and spoke to a person by the name of Diwanti who wanted me to allow a technician to come to my home to repair the set. Can you imagine my shock when Diwanti said this? This was a brand new set and someone wanted me to allow it to be repaired? I refused repair, advising Diwanti that I had paid for a new, undamaged set and I expected a new, undamaged set to be delivered. Diwanti finally agreed and advised that someone would come to exchange the couch and chair on December 13th.

On December 13th, 2007, two men came to deliver a new couch and chair. The men unwrapped the two pieces of furniture and immediately noticed the couch had a slit in leather. The loveseat appeared to be fine from 5ft away but close inspection showed tiny holes in the leather and another cut at the top of the cushion. We were once again advised by the delivery men to call the warehouse.

At this point, I was at my wit's end. Two separate deliveries, and both times we were given damaged pieces of furniture!

I called warehouse that day, (December 13th) and again spoke to Diwanti, who once again encouraged us to have the damaged unit repaired by technician. I again refused and was not impressed at all that this was happening all over again. Diwanti advised another delivery would be made on December 18th.

On 18th, the same truck dropped off yet another couch, the third couch to be delivered and took the damaged couch. They unwrapped the couch before leaving and advised that if there were any further issues to call the warehouse. After a quick inspection by my husband and myself, we saw another slit in the leather and on the underside of couch. Another slit in the leather of the third couch that had been delivered to our home! You would have thought that after the first two, someone in the warehouse would have first checked the couch before sending it to our house. At this point, we had had enough. We called the Barrie store and left a message for the manager Gerry. He called us back on the following day, December 19th. He said we needed to call warehouse and get a 're-select'. He advised us to use the damaged set over the Christmas holidays and for us to come back into the Barrie store on December 28th to get a new set. He said he would give us a deal on a new set for the major inconvenience we had just endured. The manager advised us that he had a certain set in mind that he said might be more suitable for our family.

We went into the store on December 28th to see this new set that he had chosen and were stunned to see that it us was of considerably inferior quality than the set we had purchased. It was even less money that the one we had purchased. We refused the set he offered and wanted a better leather set - something comparable to the set we purchased. He advised that a new set we had chosen would cost us another $1300.00 on top of what we had already paid.

Where was the promised deal there? We advised Bad Boy that we wanted our money back and for them to come and take the old set away. And once again we were told to, yes, you guessed it, 'Call the warehouse'.

After three defective couches my husband and I wanted our money back so we could shop somewhere else.

How could a company as large and reputable as Bad Boy offer such poor quality furniture and worse, poor customer service! We have had three damaged couches and loveseats delivered to our home, and have had nothing but hassles and broken promises from both the store and from the warehouse.

At the beginning of January, my husband and I wrote and couriered a letter to the CEO of the company Blayne Lastman. We did not hear from him and we were then directed to speak with Omar, the Customer Service Manager at their warehouse. He refused to give us a refund, and said he would personally inspect another replacement couch and loveseat himself and deliver it on Tuesday, January the 22nd and once it arrived to our satisfaction he would compensate us for the major inconveniences. We waited all day for the delivery and then the drivers called me from outside our home and said they didn't want to drive in our driveway in case they got the big truck stuck in the snow. Okay...once again I was a bit upset about the whole thing but these things happen and they were to make another delivery on Thursday, January the 24th. On the 24th the delivery men dropped off the "new" set and they inspected the bottom of the couch themselves prior to bringing it into the house. The driver informed me that this set was also damaged. Not knowing what to do I asked them to bring both pieces inside the house. I explained the situation and the delivery men said it had not been inspected at all. I wrote on the invoice that the items arrived in damaged condition and the drivers definitely witnessed the damage. At that point I jumped on the phone to Omar and was very upset. The driver told me that I should call CEO Blayne Lastman at the Kennedy location to discuss this matter further if I wanted someone to really help me. Mr. Lastman was at that location but failed to take our calls. Soon after the Customer Service Manager called us and told us that the delivery men are not allowed to say anything to the customers about inspections. He then asked me to send him photos of the damaged goods.

As per the Customer Service Manager's request I emailed the photos to the company. I also decided to tape our phone conversations because it was being implied that my husband and I were to blame for this nightmare. Omar responded to the photos with: "I looked at the product, I have been doing this for many years. We ship alot of this product. The one in your living room...I think it sucked. The other three I think there were no issues with them. I think you looked too deep. The picture that you sent me...I have never seen those kind of pictures come from customers. You are never going to get a perfect product. I work in a factory. If you go into the factory and say I want this specification you will get a perfect product. When you get a mass produced product, when they make thousands and thousands of them it is not going to be perfect, okay?".

We then told him again that the couch and love seat had holes, puncture marks and the seams were ripping. He once again said: "You expect more than you purchased". I have several photos that clearly show the damage, and I would be more than happy to share them with anyone who is thinking of purchasing from this company. When I asked if he would buy a new car with dents and scratches on it he clearly said "no". Why are we, the consumer expected to accept leather furniture that is clearly defective? This is not a case of "customer expectations". It is clearly a case of a company that will not stand by their customers or the products they sell.

We have demanded a refund and they want to charge us with a 25% restocking fee on something that was defective from the beginning. They are going to charge us over $400 to take a damaged couch back to their warehouse!! This is absolutely ridiculous!! My husband even offered to have a couch set shipped up to the Bad Boy Barrie location so they could open up a set with witnesses and see what condition it is in. The Customer Service Manager refused and said that we would not find a perfect item. I think that statement speaks volumes.

We think that this matter should have been resolved by Bad Boy but after a month of the run around and the accusations, it is clear that this company will not take responsibility for their products. It is pretty pathetic that we have to post things on the internet in hopes of getting some vindication for being so poorly treated as a consumer. It sickens me to know that this company recently won an award for Toronto Retailer of the year. I heard rumors of their items being re-furbished and of low quality and had I investigated those claims prior to walking through the doors, I definitely would have never purchased from this store.

We have done our part, and we expected Bad Boy to do theirs. To stand by their products and more importantly, their customers. This will definitely be the FIRST and LAST time we ever visit a Bad Boy store. However, it definitely won't be the last time I speak out against this company, as I have filed a claim with the Government of Ontario's Consumer Protection Agency.

Terrible service and rip offs!

Location: Manitoba, Winnipeg
Industry: Transportation
Company: Telus

I've been a customer with Telus for over 6 yrs now. Just last November I decided to buy a Blackberry because it is essential for the industry I work in. Approx three days ago I discovered my charger wasn't working. I took the phone in to a Telus Service Center at Portage Place in Winnipeg. I was told the charger portal on the phone was damaged, they'd have to send the phone in for repairs. I was then called, approx an hour later and told that they in fact DID NOT send the phones to be repaired, but because there was "physical damage" on the phone, they'd take my phone and give me a REFURBISHED phone in return at the cost of $125!!!

When I asked the manager of the store who's policy this was, he told me RIM. When I called RIM, they told me it was in fact a TELUS policy. When I called the manager back to confront him for LYING to me, I found out that not only did I have to PAY $125 for a REFURBISHED phone, when my Blackberry was only a few months old, but when I got my "new phone", my warranty went from 1 year to 90 days! What a money grab! I will NEVER sign a contract with Telus again, I'm not even able to get my PDA repaired... What a scam.

The Future Is Friendly?? NOT WITH TELUS!

Computers has had to be wipe 5 times and still doesn't work!

Location: Ontario, Hamilton
Industry: Technology
Company: Dell

I purchased a Dell computer on February 2, 2006, with a warranty ending in 2010. The computer I purchase is a Dimension 3100 Series. I have had to wipe this computer 5 times due to is not working. Have called their tech support more than I care to remember. One person had me on the floor for over 10 to 15 hours pulling out parts and still couldn't fix the problem. Another person from customer care supervisor told me last week he was going to send me a new system, and found out he lied.

No matter how many times you have tech support helping you trying to fix this computer it doesn't work. I have contacted the Dell in the USA, and have had no satisfaction.

No matter what the tech do, the computer still doesn't work. They will not replace this computer and I have lost work over this computer and they expect to be paid for a computer that doesn't work.