As you go through life, you're bound to do business with many companies. And unfortunately, not every single one will give you great service. I'm going to talk about a few companies I've bought things from or done business with, but now I refuse to anymore because of a bad experience I had. Of course, a recent one is what inspired me to do this post.
Best Buy
I've been in a Best Buy since my bad experience, but I haven't bought much since. Maybe something like a CD that was on sale. But I mostly try to avoid the place.
I had gotten a PC game from my parents for either my birthday or Christmas (they're close together, so it's hard to distinguish sometimes). That PC game was Star Wars: The Old Republic. I tried to load it on my PC, and it technically worked, but it was so slow and there was just no way I could enjoy it. Therefore, I went to Best Buy with my dad to try to return it.
Now here's where it gets interesting. They would not let us return it (because it was "open"), not even for store credit. I know we were in the right, as their return policy stated so long as it was within the time period, which it was. They explained how we very easily could have made a copy of it or something, and my dad just exploded. I had never seen him yell at strangers like that before. I think the part where they borderline accused us of trying to scam them was what made my dad mad. In the end, my dad said he wouldn't do business with them anymore, although I think he's been back to a Best Buy since then (although not as much, like me).
I ended up selling the game online for a bit of a loss and shipping it away. It was better than holding onto it for no reason, because I was never going to play it.
Car Toys
The unfortunate thing with Car Toys is that there's not really any other business around the area that does what they do. They install car stereos, speakers, alarm systems, any car accessories. I originally had a pretty decent experience with them when they installed the car alarm on my car.
However, in recent years, their service has greatly lacked. I can't remember what exactly happened with my sister's car, but she had her stereo taken out of her old car (because her car was basically totaled), and they I think ended up damaging a part of the speakers and claiming they didn't do anything to damage them.
But more recently, I bought the stereo and speaker system from my dad, who then said I could take it to Car Toys to get it installed. They were pretty darn unprofessional about it. It's hard to remember exactly what they did wrong, but they first said they'd be able to install a type of speaker called tweakers, but then afterward they said they couldn't.
I do remember that my stereo was having major trouble connecting to the speakers and kept displaying an error message and I wouldn't be able to listen to music. I had to go back and get them to fix it. I think I ended up approaching them four separate times to get them to fix something.
Fortunately, they finally got it to work. I have a cable that's sticking out inside my glove box that wasn't before, which is oddly a USB plug-in. I just know that every time either me or my dad has gone to Car Toys for service recently, it's been a huge headache. HUGE.
The Bradford Exchange
This was the most recent one. I saw a Mickey Mouse limited edition coin in a catalog I wanted to get my grandma for Christmas, but on the catalog's website they were sold out. So I looked online for another place to purchase it and found The Bradford Exchange.
I purchased it for about 40 bucks and got it in the mail a few weeks later. Over a month after that, I received a giant display case and another coin in the mail from them. I went to check my bank statement and saw two charges of 25 bucks on there. Apparently, I had enrolled in a subscription with them, even though at no point in the checkout process did they say I was doing that.
I then got shipped a third coin just a week ago or so, and another charge on my card appeared. I have emailed them many, many times. The time I was trying to return this third coin, I was told a barcode that came with it would work as a return label. It did not. I had to ask three or four times for them to send me a return label until they did.
They also say on their website that the return and refund won't be processed until close to a month after they receive it. For an item I purchased for Christmas, I won't be able to receive a refund until April at best. And right now, I'm constantly checking the status of the shipment back to them, and the first display case hasn't been updated in over a week.
I left them a 2/5 star review on ConsumerAffairs.com, only to see everyone else has rated them a ONE star. They may have high quality gifts, but they suck at business.
Honda of Kirkland
I have to point out the location because I doubt every Honda dealership is like this. I purchased my Civic from them years ago. I've taken it in to them twice for a service since then. The first time, they supposedly found something like a hole or that my fan belt needed to be replaced; I can't remember. But I ended up paying much more than I thought.
The next time I took it there because I had no other choice. My girlfriend borrowed my car from my work's parking lot (which is across the street from this Honda), and when she got back the steering started acting up. I asked my parents for advice, and my dad took it to the closest repair place, which was this Honda dealership. I don't remember exactly what they said was wrong with it, but my parents suggested taking it elsewhere for a second opinion. I had it towed to a Midas, and they gave me a different answer and told me it would cost much less. So I ended up having Midas fix it and not Honda.
In other words, I think this dealership does whatever they can to earn more money, at least in their service department. I refuse to go there, even when they mail me coupons for services like oil changes.
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