Anyone else getting disappointed by businesses lately? [Archive]

Bazooka Joe

Jul 5th, 2009, 11:07 AM

Maybe it's just me, maybe my expectations have changed, or maybe it's just bad luck. For whatever reason, it seems like I've been let down by all kinds of companies over the last couple of months. Is this due to the recession? People worried about losing their jobs? It seems like the quality of work, merchandise and customer service has completely gone downhill and I'm wondering if anyone else is thinking the same thing?

Companies I've had issues with in the last few months (many of which I've been happy with for years):

Subaru Canada
Telus mobility
Eastlink (cable company)
Local garage
Mom & pop local trinket/kitsch store
CBSA (nothing new here really)
Various online vendors (emailing a vendor about a product they sell and never receiving an answer)
Two different cottage rental companies

And those are just off the top of my head. Anyone else?

RatherBePerfin'

Jul 5th, 2009, 08:24 PM

Yep, bang on with exactly how I feel. I am building a garage at home and have had a lot of shopping to do directly related to the build, never been so frustrated in my life. Some of my experiences in the past 3 months:

-Concrete contractor that took my info and said he would give me a quote the next day, never returned.
-Electrical contractor that was to supply a quote has failed to do so in over a month.
-One lumber yard was 4 days late with their quote.
-Another lumber yard's employee in charge of quoting building supplies was not in when I stopped by, left the info with another person with the promise it would end up in the right hands. Called back a week later after no quote was received.....apparently the piece of paper didn't get passed along.
-Spent 45 minutes browsing Canadian Tire while waiting to be called to customer service when a key holder was availible to get me the ladder I wanted out of their fenced storage. I was told it would be 5-10 minutes. I realized how long I was there and walked out.
-Same Canadian Tire, stood at the store's rear service desk behind another customer that was being helped. Just wanted to know if they had stock of an item on sale and where I could find it. When the employee was finished with the other customer, she turned around and walked away.....went back to organizing a shelf or something. Looked at me twice and never budged. Once again I walked out without buying anything.
-Another lumber yard had siding on sale at a very good price. None in stock, no clue when it would be in, no idea what colors and how much they would get, not willing to take a list of my needs or either special order it or call me when they have stock. Basically not interested in my business.
-Spent 50 minutes in Burger King to get a fricken burger and fries. Should have just left when I noticed how slow the line was moving (20 minute wait with about 8 customers in front of me), but decided to stay put because it was rush hour and I was already on the outskirts and heading out of town....didn't want to waste time going elsewhere. Worst decision ever! After my order I waited 18 minutes before telling somebody to look into why I still have no food. I noticed that my bag was sitting in front of a burger, and employees looked at the burger twice and walked away. Turns out they didn't put cheese on it....it was passed back to the cooking area. 10 minutes later I had my meal. A cold burger and cold, soggy fries. Should have just thrown that garbage against their window. But I was hungry as all hell, that is the reason I went for fast food in the first place, a 50 minute wait did not help that. And the day was getting late considering the 3 hour drive I still had to make.

Businesses are really not doing themselves any favours in this recession. I have heard of places that have laid off most of their employees and now cannot meet product demand because they don't have enough staff. I am not sure how that makes any sense at all.

Even noticed the same thing at work, guys being lazy, not taking pride in their work. Finally had to talk to my boss and get the issue dealt with. When business is slow, that is the time that people need to be on top of their game. Making sure customer needs are met and quality work is done should be everyone's number 1 goal.