Companies I Refuse to Do Business With (And past experiences with them)

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.

Hard to NOT be a Believer with These Mariners

The 2018 Seattle Mariners sit at 54-31, their best record at this point in the season in 15 years.  I made a post before the season started saying this team didn't inspire much optimism, but halfway into the season, they have proven me quite wrong.  They inspire TONS of optimism.  These guys never quit and never believe they have lost until the game is final.  The Mariners fans who have stuck through all the losing seasons, all the just barely missing the playoffs, keep expecting this team to go on a major slide and fall from playoff contention.  But this team is proving in every game they won't let a single game go without giving it their all, which leads me to believe they'll treat their entire season the same way. 

These Mariners are also fun to watch.  Marco Gonzalez and Wade LeBlanc were never the splashiest of acquisitions, and they won't light up radar guns.  But they're incredibly entertaining in social media and are clearly competitive, seeing their reactions to inning-ending strikeouts.  Mitch Haniger is becoming one of the most likable guys in the bigs, and Ben Gamel is that type of gamer every team needs, diving for catches in the outfield and diving home to score a go-ahead run.  Edwin Diaz has become the best closer in baseball.  Jean Segura may end up missing the All-Star game, despite being near the top of the league in hitting and playing great D.  Dee Gordon is an absolute spark plug and is filling in extremely well at 2nd base.  Kyle Seager isn't having his best year offensively, but defensively is SHINING, and if he can avoid errors the rest of the way should win the gold glove. 

The funny thing about this run this team is going on is how the usual leaders of the team aren't really the reason for the success.  Robinson Cano is in the middle of serving an 80 game suspension for taking a banned substance.  Kyle Seager, as mentioned earlier, is having a slightly down year offensively.  Felix Hernandez is having a wildly inconsistent season.  Despite all this, these Mariners manage to persevere.  They find ways to win. 

I find myself comparing this team to the 1995 team that made the playoffs.  I do this a lot whenever the Mariners have some modicum of success, but this team I firmly believe it.  First off, they could  bring back the 1995 rallying cry of "Refuse to Lose" because of how this team has come back in games.  But look at these similarities:

A tall lefty that has dominated, notching numerous 10+ strikeout games: Check.  (Johnson--Paxton)
Losing the sweet-swinging lefty hitting team leader for multiple months but persevering in his absence: Check.  (Griffey--Cano)
One of the fastest players in the league, recently acquired: Check. (Coleman--Gordon)
OR... you could say a 2nd baseman acquired in the offseason who provides a spark at the top of the lineup (Cora--Gordon)
Having gone through a long playoff drought into the late teens: Check.  (19 years--17 years)
A veteran right handed starter who has thrown a no-hitter in his career.: Check. (Bosio--Hernandez)
A power hitting right fielder who has become a cult icon in Seattle: Check. (Buhner--Haniger)

I could go on, but I'd probably be stretching it, and besides, do you need any more proof?  This team won't win multiple games in a row by 5+ runs, but they know how to win close and win period.  They know how to play as a team and every guy knows his job/role. 

Of course, this team could "Mariner" it and fall out of the 2nd Wild Card spot, despite having an 8 game lead over the next team at the moment.  But this team has brought even the biggest of doubters around, myself included.  I think they've shown me that they won't let themselves get plagued by injuries or inconsistency.  They won't let themselves have a losing streak that sets them back a ways.  They simply refuse to lose.