People Explain How A Business Permanently Lost Them As A Customer
Reddit user OpposedToBears asked: 'How did a business permanently lose you as a customer?'
We've all experienced poor customer service, even at some of our favorite places.
Though we might think certain places are completely reliable, every now and again we might find our food taking an unexpectedly long time, or be treated less than cordially by a new employee.
In most cases, these unfortunate situations were something of a fluke and won't stop us from going back in the future.
Of course, there are more extreme cases, which see the end of our ever using or frequenting certain businesses ever again.
Redditor OpposedToBears was curious to hear cases of businesses permanently losing customers through their practices, leading them to ask:
"How did a business permanently lose you as a customer?"
Bank Robbery... Done By The Bank!
"I had been a Wells Fargo account holder for 13 years."
"I started with a joint account with my parents as a teenager and later opened my own accounts and closed the joint account."
"My brother also had a joint account with my parents that he later closed when he opened his own account."
"He didn't really use his account with them and it was sitting empty."
"Fast forward to me being in law school and broke as a joke and my brothers account overdrawn because of some fees they were hitting it with."
"Wells Fargo decided to pull money from my almost empty account to cover my brother's overdrawn account."
"The only link between my account and his that we both, at some point in our lives, had joint accounts with my parents even though they were both now closed."
"Wells Fargo was wholly uninterested in listening to any sort of reason and repeatedly stated that this was their 'policy' despite the absurdity."
"My brother reimbursed me but I closed my account and have refused to do business with Wells Fargo on any level since."- kikithemonkey
Their Service Is Ironically Anything But "Direct"...
"Directv."
"They let you buy any movie or channel package online or with a remote, but if you want to cancel something you have to call into their 1-800 number."
"After sitting on hold forever and then having to sit through a bunch of offers on other channels and packages I just cut the cord."- ClassicPatsGamesYT
Tv Guide Satellite GIF by Eternal FamilyGiphyCorrupt Car Salesmen Is a Cliché. That Just Won't Die...
"AutoTrader Online."
"Bought a car out of state and they never transported it."
"They also never handled the paperwork."
"Seller and I had to do it all ourselves."
"Weeks of phone calls with AutoTrader ending in, 'We promise', 'doing that now', 'just shipped', 'you should hear from them within X hours'."
"2 months.. nothing."
"Never again Autotrader."
"I don't believe your lies."
"Thank goodness seller was a decent human."- hyteck9
The Customer Is Always Right...
"I ordered carryout from a French restaurant in Pittsburgh early in the pandemic."
"The order was around $120."
"I gave them my PayPal debit card number."
"When I got to the restaurant, I added a bottle of water, which changed the amount I owed to, say, $127."
"So they processed the two orders, for a total of $247, which I did not realize until sometime the next week."
"It took over a month to get my first $120 returned to me."
"The owner of the shop could not have been any nastier, saying it was my fault."
"Never have I ever gone back there."- EnlargedBit371
Shocked Night Out GIF by Pudgy PenguinsGiphyMakes You Wonder How They Ever Turned A Profit...
"SiriusXM called me to get me to renew my subscription."
"Here's how the convo went:"
"Me: I haven't used it in so long I didn't even know I had a subscription."
"You can go ahead and cancel it."
"SiriusXM rep: OK, your credit card on file is expired, so for you to cancel your subscription we need your updated credit card info so we can charge you for the last month of service and the cancellation fee."
"Me: Wait, so you want me to give you my credit card info so you can charge me to cancel your service, which I just told you I'm not using?"
"SiriusXM rep: Yes, that's right."
"Me: And if I don't give you my credit card info you have no way to charge me?"
"SiriusXM rep: Yes, that's right."
"Me: LMAO no. Goodbye."- OuterRimExplorer
People Expecting To Get What They Pay For Shouldn't Come As A Surprise...
"Vivid Seats."
"I purchased a floor ticket for a concert and was sent a mezzanine (2nd floor) ticket and unfortunately didn't notice til I got to the concert."
"Obviously floor tickets were WAY more expensive than the ticket I received."
"Vividseats refused to refund me because 'the seller fulfilled my order' ."
"Apparently doesn't matter if you don't get what you pay for."
"I filed a charge back with my credit card and just found out this morning that I won."
"I won't ever be using them again, customer service was horrible."- evelocityf
Desolation Row Concert GIF by My Chemical RomanceGiphySome Might Call This Karma...
"Twenty-seven years ago there was a little Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village in New York City."
"We had a friend who was on tour with an entertainment act, and whenever he would pass through New York, we would all get together with him for dinner."
"He was coming through the city late one night."
"We couldn't start dinner with him until 10:00 PM."
"This was not good for my wife and me as she was in her first trimester and waiting that late for dinner was not good for her stomach."
"My wife and I had an early dinner in the city, saw a movie, and then met our friends at this Italian restaurant."
"We decided that since we were not hungry, we would buy all the appetizers for the whole table."
"There were about 12 of us."
"We also said we would not be ordering an entree."
"We were told that this was unacceptable and I asked to see the owner."
"The owner came over and informed us it was the policy of the restaurant that we must order an entree regardless of how many appetizers we purchased."
"I protested pointing out that I had ordered over $100 in appetizers and I could get 2 entrees for $15 each."
"This idiot would not budge."
"So I canceled the appetizer order and purchased 2 lasagnas instead."
"I then requested that the entrees be packaged for takeout as neither my wife nor I were hungry in the least."
"I was once again informed that the entree MUST be presented at the table before being boxed to take out."
"Neither we nor any of our friends ever set foot in there again."
"I had a client in the village four months later and I walked past that restaurant."
"It was boarded up."
"Good riddance."- Sprocketholer
Lisa Ling Thank You GIF by MaxGiphyYou Can See Right Through Them...
"Glass door."
"They're f*cked."
"Make you leave a review to read reviews."
"On top of that they delete reviews posted by employees."
"I just want to know if the company I'm applying for is a hellhole."
"That's it."- heavenstarcraft
When Communication Is Your Business, You'd Better Communicate...
"AT&T."
"I had the weirdest situation."
"We had to transfer our landline to their new service but still AT&T to AT&T."
"It took over 21 days to get it working and I called them every single day (no joke)."
"They would say the same stuff 'we'll reset the system'."
"I decided to cancel it then said well you need to pay for the cancelation fee."
"I'm like, but you guys lagged so long that it made me cancel."
"Did not budge at all and said well you missed the deadline."
"Cancelled - AT&T internet ,phone, cable."
"Cancelled - AT&T business internet/phone."
"Cancelled - AT&T Mobile."
"I understand I'm just a number and won't bring down their business but you ain't getting another dime."- shocktopper1
Internet Web GIF by Sam OmoGiphyNo matter our profession, we've all had an "off" day at least once in our lives, so it's always a good idea to give people the benefit of the doubt.
But when people don't treat others with respect or compassion, or frankly don't do their job, don't expect any kindness or understanding in return.
There are just some hills we plant our feet on and pledge to hold out until death.
We have to put our money and influence where our mouths are.
And sometimes boycotting is the way to go.
If a certain clothing line uses child labor... and you care... as you should... you buy a different line.
I'm looking at you Kathy Lee!
You get the idea.
Let's hear what hills everyone is on.
RedditorSteelTookSteroidswanted to discuss all the things people will not support, no matter what. They asked:
"What's something you're boycotting till the day you die?"
I will not give my patronage to Chick-Fil-A. How you spend your support in LGBTQIA+ issues is important to me.
A Never Clicker
​Ads on Ads on AdsGiphy"Clicking on the ads that are at the top of my Google search. I will scroll all the way down to click on the exact same link."
LurkeyMcLurkersen
I have no tolerance...
"Cable TV, I’m not going to pay $120 a month for something and still have it be 1/3 commercials, I spend half as much and have everything I need whenever I want it with no ads."
CoolGuyZone069
"Cable TV is so INFURIATING. I dog sit for my grandparents and their internet can be god awful and I'm stuck watching their cable tv... I want to claw my eyes out everytime. It's legit mostly commercials. I have no tolerance for it anymore."
Frizzycatt
'taking what you can get'
"My wife hasn’t been in a Walmart in 20 years. I admire her commitment and they are starting to feel the pressure."
njdevil956
"Same. 'No ethical consumption' etc aside, Walmart is contemptuous of its customers as well as its workers. It's stunning how few people they have running the stores now, and that hurts customers AND workers, as well as the level of actual service. What's the point of having department counters when they're all empty?"
"The quality is nonexistent, getting groceries is an excersise in 'taking what you can get' because they intentionally limit their selection to maximize return on bulk orders (hence, half an aisle of mac and cheese for instance), and the 'here's a pallet, grab it or whatever' method of leaving half-opened shipments of groceries in the aisle has turned the whole place into an uninviting supply depot. Only way I walk back into WalMart is if the zombies rise."
Mr_Shakes
but never again...
"Grubhub, for making me suffer through that cringy ad."
draiman
"For me, Postmates. They didn’t bring what we ordered. Then I called them, they said they can’t rectify it. Then after a long back and forth whoever was there spoke to their manager, and said fine, they’ll do it this once, but never again. So guess who is never again getting my business. I can’t just pay for a service and not receive it, obviously."
rstgrpr
Gross
Kylie Jenner Selfie GIF by ADWEEKGiphy"Forbes for calling Kylie Jenner a 'self-made' billionaire."
mr-nobody_458623
I am so over the any name with a K at this point. And all because of that family.
Not Them!
the loud house trash GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"Nestle bottled water. (Also, yes Nestle anything, but they own so much it's hard to avoid, f**k their water program in particular)."
SomethingWithLegs
A slightly more legal pyramid scheme...
"MLM companies. I've had to cut old friends out of my life due to this."
Individual_Lemon_139
"I'm a small business owner and sell at a lot of markets - literally every market is chock full of scentsy/Mary kay/paparazzi/etc. I don't support MLMs as a rule but I also have to befriend the Mary Kay lady and the pampered chef lady because they're the head of the local small business coalition. MLMs aren't small businesses though IMO."
ktheway
In Video
"Microtransactions in video games. Not even once!!"
Napp2dope
"Same. At first it was for principle. I shouldn’t pay a bunch of extra money to get to play the game when I already paid for it. Then it became out of a slight fear. Met a few ppl once that said they spent 6-10k a year on those transactions for a free mobile game. They said so casually to that I realized how much of an addiction it can become."
Jac1596
Stay Away
"Heroin."
ChandlerBingChilling
"Right on! Too many friends and classmates I grew up with are gone now because of that sh*t. Just lost another one 2 days ago, man. Breaks my f**king heart."
"They had kids and everything, and now they're without fathers, mothers, or both. It hits even harder when you thought they were getting on the other side of it and you were rooting for them. It's crazy to look back and remember them as kids, and just like that, they're not here anymore. We're all only in our 30s. This isn't ok."
Abject_Presentation8
Back off Ron...
crazy tom cruise GIFGiphy"Scientologists."
CDNGooner1
"Yes! I worked for a place that forced me to take L. Ron Hubbard courses! I had to take a whole course on how to control people in a workplace!"
Sammie2Dope
Damn Ed
"Uncle Ed’s oil shop. They damaged my car when I was 17 and then tried to tell me I was lying to them and my story changed. It never changed and the ended up sending it to a mechanic to fix their mistake. I’ve never used them since. I’ve also told countless people this so who knows how many potential customers they’ve lost."
Robadamous
Sorry Mark...
"Facebook."
Tanyaschmidt
"I’m on my 6th year of boycotting Facebook. Looking forward to the day I’ve boycotted longer than I was on it."
zeldasusername
"I'm on year 4. Lord give me strength. Own two businesses and thankfully my employees take care of fb messages. Damn I hate FB. It's full of nothing but happy stories about shitty/toxic relationships and ads and garbage."
dmMatrix
Never Again
"I had one pair of Nike shoes and the back part of the inside by where my heel/ankle is got worn open which happens to most of my shoes but there was this sharp bit of plastic in it that would literally cut my foot and make it bleed. I now will not buy them ever again because of that, sucks because I already was picky with sneakers and now I avoid a while brand."
iimuffinsaur
Over It
the mask time GIFGiphy"Award shows, they're all boring and most of the time are rigged."
Hour-Wheel-2219
When in NC
"This one gas station, when I first moved to NC I would buy beer every few days (I was 21 and lived with fellow young connoisseurs of cheap beer) and they had no problem then this new guy denied me for out of state ID, and he was rude AF about it, told me to put the beer back and told him to do it himself, it's his job. Walked next door and bought my beer. Looking back it's petty but seriously there was no need to be rude."
Psyco_diver
TWO DOORS DOWN
"Old age nursing homes. They left my 89 year old granddad with Parkinsons sitting in a shit filled diaper... for seven hours straight. He yelled out for help and pressed his emergency life buttons twenty times in total. They was no reason the staff wouldn't have heard him, as a large group of them were sitting on their phones just TWO DOORS down from his room at the time. The smell was so bad we had to leave his bedroom windows open for a week, and most of the poop was crusted by that point."
Affectionate-Feed538
Send it Back
"Wayfair. I ordered a poker table from them and after three months all that happened was that it went from one of their warehouses to another of their warehouses. When I canceled the order, they charged me a $250 fee to send it back to the original warehouse."
ostentia
Ticked Off...
Hungry Lets Eat GIF by TikTokGiphy"Tiktok. It’s not like I’ll completely ignore my friends that show me funny ones, but I refuse to download the app and get sucked into it like so many people have."
brutesquad98
Vandal
"We’re renting in an HOA and they sent us a fine because our nine-year-old was 'vandalizing property by throwing large chunks of ice at cars and houses.' There was video. He had thrown a snowball at his friend 20 feet away from property. His friend threw a snowball in the general direction of the parking lot."
"His second 'offense' was 'damaging traffic cones.' Someone kicked one over near the bus stop. I ripped the HOA a new a**hole and our landlord threatened to sue if they ever pull that bulls**t again."
hannahmel
Does Scientology even exist anymore?
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Why is money more important than human life? So many of these big companies and corporations seem to relish in taking advantage of us, the little people.
It isn't new you know? They destroy resources, deplete opportunities and suck up all the financial gain.
So what if kids drink poisoned water? Who cares if people are getting cancer from what you put in the air? And never mind what the staff is being paid.
As long as you stay a Fortune 500 powerhouse.
It's vile and we need to take them down.
Redditornikenotnikeywanted to discuss the corporations that need to be taken down a peg or two, by asking:
What are some stereotypically "evil" companies?
All of the companies I worked for in hospitality were blood suckers. They used and abused every employee they could while fleecing patrons. But hey... money, money, money.
No Cocoa
jean claude van damme chocolate GIFGiphy"Nestle, forget those guys." ~ ZWally6
"They've done some pretty bad things: https://www.zmescience.com/science/nestle-company-pollution-children/." ~ quantumronin2
An Empire
"Dupont." ~ UpperIce5314
"This company has been restoring the façade of the building I live in in downtown Los Angeles, and the solvent they were using was so potent, I had to relocate myself from my apartment. I complained to the building manager. Of course I look up online who makes the solvent and it's Dupont. FML." ~ futurespacecadet
Sucking Life
"Purdue pharma, literally drug dealers who caused the opioid crisis. Also the banana companies, who overthrew central American governments, installed dictatorships and kept the people poor while sucking all the profit from the land in their countries. (Chiquita, dole and del Monte)." ~ philip_andrew
Billions!
"Shell." ~ thatfreemanguy
"Aren't they the ones that figured out carbon emissions would cause catastrophic climate change in, like, the 70s and buried it? They will probably be responsible for billions of deaths in the end. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, they all put up rookie numbers compared to hiding and playing down climate change for decades." ~ OkChildhood2261
Take over
Google It John Oliver GIF by Last Week Tonight with John OliverGiphy"Google is getting there, so far as becoming a monopoly goes." ~ TheSanityInspector
"They removed the "don't be evil" clause from their mandate: https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-dont-be-evil-from-1826153393". ~ the_honest_liar
Shady Shady
"Sandoz - my brother worked there - he reported some shady crap and got blackballed from the industry.Three/four years later - this happens... https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/02/novartis-subsidiary-sandoz-to-pay-195-million-over-antitrust-allegations.html" ~ EveningIll8042
Monopoly
"As someone in the process right now: CollegeBoard. There is no good that comes out of a monopoly over education and people seeking a good university." ~pop1fizz
"Your problem is that you've bought the marketing that nonprofit is synonymous with good. It is not. It's only a form of corporate structuring that imposes certain limits and gives other benefits, just like any form of corporate structuring." ~ ManlyMisfit
"debt-capitalism"
"Blackrock." ~ No_Lynx_8737
"Blackrock is currently buying up as many homes as they can as part of their great reset where everything is rented to you. Part of a "debt-capitalism" plan. They really ARE evil." ~ PolskiHeart
"So in the UK, some of the big cities will have purpose built student accommodation blocks. Rooms will generally have their own bathrooms but then will have a shared kitchen."
"The nicer rooms will pretty much be a one bed apartment so the whole thing looks more like a hotel than it does student accommodation. There are several companies that run these but the biggest one which owned their own buildings was bought up by BlackRock. Most of the London buildings were like 20+ floor tower blocks in sought after locations near universities and transport links so you can imagine each one was worth quite a lot." ~ TofuBoy22
Where to Begin?
Tell Me More To Do List GIF by Disney ChannelGiphy"Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Kellogg's, P&G, Mondelez, Unilever, Mars, General Mills… Basically all big companies that have a carppy human rights record and give you the illusion of choice." ~ Rerrereddd
That is quite a list. We are in troubling times, but we always have been. Until money is no longer an obsession, we'll make no progress.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
People Explain Which Products Everyone Would Boycott If They Knew How They Were Really Made
There's a saying that nobody would ever want to see how politics or sausage are made. The product is palatable and welcomed, but the creation process is down right ugly.
A recent Reddit thread expands that principle to well beyond those two items. In fact, read through enough of these and you'll be left wondering what is something you'd be willing to witness as its made.
Redditors far and wide, all carrying specialties and insider knowledge--usually from a current or previous job-- spill the beans on the ugliest manufactured items.
These explanations are so ugly that you may think twice before purchasing the thing in the future.
tmckey150 asked,
"What is a product that if people found out how it was made they'd stop buying it?"
Paying for the Name
"Most low to mid tier vodkas. I work at an industrial distillery where we make millions of gallons of very high purity ethanol from corn."
"We have customers in the beverage market that literally just dilute our product to 80 proof or so, run it through a filter, and bottle it to sell."
"Those customers sell their products from anywhere from $8-$50+ for a liter. And you know what the main difference is? The more expensive vodka's bottle is 'fancier.'"
"It's almost all brand perception with these corn based vodkas."
-- AndJuan247
Signed by Someone
"Certain signed art work."
"Used to work at an art printing company that we did signature editions of certain pieces. Guess who did the signing me and some coworkers, we were all design and art majors so they just had us learn all the artists signatures, we even had machines that could mimic the signatures too, I wish I had a picture of the devices they were pretty cool."
"It was in the fine print that we were doing it and was approved by the artists but I guarantee most people would never buy the prints if they knew the signatures were forged. So always read the fine print when buying items, especially 'special' editions of stuff."
-- Dr_Edge_ATX
A Very Broad Definition of "Fresh"
"Fresh juices are not so fresh apparently. A friend whose family owns mango orchard told me these companies buy the leftover stock that doesn't sell directly and leave the rest to strong artificial flavouring for uniform taste." -- Curious_pari
"Explains why is always has that partially fermented tang to it" -- Ignorhymus
Sheepskin
"In high school, the girls in my class were horrified to find out what their Uggs were made of. They had no idea." -- unfaathomable
"Oh god I knew this girl who was like 'oh no you don't kill the sheep to make uggs!' And I was like 'no you are thinking of wool this is literally sheep SKIN you have to kill it'" -- barmitzvahmoney
Secrets Behind the Orange Tape
"Not really a product but if people knew how much and often people cut corners in construction, I think housing prices would go wayyyy down. I don't think I was ever on a job where a problem came up, and people were like, 'Okay, let's start over and do this right.'"
"Or, especially in bigger construction companies, how much time the employees waste to run the clock."
Unfortunately, A Timeless Example
"I'd imagine if people walked through the sweat shops that produce most of their clothing, they would consider spending a bit more for products made in a more humane way." -- TheSexyMicrowave
"We need more laws. Laws imposing responsibility on sellers (more so large scale sellers) to ensure their suppliers comply with certain humanitarian laws. Basic levels of income, exploitation free etc."
"I rarely advocate government intervention but it is too easy to just lie about your products and get away with it. We need laws, auditors and fines." -- Cryovat321
A Complicated Response to a Grave Problem
"After I found out the story behind the palm plantations for production of palm oil I made it my personal mission to completely throw it our of my life (and that sh** is in almost everything you eat)." -- Junduk
"and in so many cosmetic products and in shampoo and in cleaning detergent. one really wonders why the f*** they put that in there to begin with" -- mastapetz
"The WWF actually does not recommend boycotting Palm Oil at all, as substitutes are way less efficient, and require far more land to yield the same volume as Palm Oil would."
"I think the best thing to aim to do is push sustainable palm oil through governing bodied such as the RSPO." -- Acid_Monster
Tough to Boycott, Though
"The human brain is incredibly good at forgetting and ignoring information that might inconvenience it." -- 0100001101110111
"I'm gonna pretend like I didn't see this..." -- Epibicurious
"That's horrible. Never buying a brain again" -- Cheap-Power
Value Added Products
"I've work in 2 different meat departments in 2 separate grocery stores. The meat in the case that has had work done, (marinated or like put into kabobs) are usually the old meat we didn't sell that is about to go bad."
"That marinade is hiding how shi**y the meat looks."
-- Mroder1
When the Product is So Caustic You Don't Have to Worry
"Monster energy drinks. I have been to their bottling warehouse (I was in college with some guys who became chemists for them while I was working on my doctorate). Some defect in one of the machines caused a bunch of cans to leak. The wood pallets underneath disintegrated like wet paper."
"Further, the maintenance crew was on a cleaning rotation. They told me that the Monster tanks do not get cleaned unless there is so much buildup that it changes the taste. This is because it is so caustic that bacteria and mold don't survive."
Incarcerated Labor
"Garlic. The garlic industry is a hell of a lot darker than most people would think. I don't remember everything, but apparently a lot of Chinese companies that sell to restaurants overseas use prison labor."
"These inmates have to peel the garlic completely by hand, no tools whatsoever. There were a few inmates missing fingernails. If I recall correctly, one man said that he had a friend who had to resort to using his teeth because he didn't have any nails left."
"They work unimaginably grueling shifts, in which they have to meet a quota for the day or face consequences. They get paid very little, if anything at all. They all seemed so miserable."
-- foxglove37
Road Ready
"RVs. They aren't insulated fully. Nothing is sealed correctly. All the electronics that are "fancy and new" are outdated and inefficient. The manufacturers use the cheapest materials possible AND all RVs are built in 8 hours."
"A vacation home. On wheels. In 8 hours!?"
-- Leftydude777
Factory Model Haircuts
"Not a product, but a service.... I'm a hair stylist that's worked at Great Clips. They want us to do haircuts in under 16 minutes. If you're closer to 12, you become one of the 'elite.' "
"If you get a bad haircut from GC, yes, sometimes the stylist just isn't skilled. Most times, it's because we're rushed and bitched at for taking longer than 16 minutes."
"Eh, Nobody'll Notice"
"Coffee and cockroaches are linked in several ways....." -- demonardvark
"For those who don't know:"
" 'This happens with coffee because the large piles of coffee beans get infested with cockroaches and, according to Emlen, it is impossible to remove them completely. So they are simply ground up with the coffee beans.' " -- PaleNewt0
Rock and a Hard Place for Consumers
"Vegetables aren't necessarily 'made' so this might not count but If people saw the exploitation of people that went into getting their fruits and vegetables it'd be a different story. Many minorities work their asses off for little to no pay, through rain or shine."
"If they saw the hands and feet of the workers that provide them with the food, they'd be pretty shocked. 'How hard could it be all you do is pick fruit and vegetables all day' yeah right."
"Also the annoying 'oh my god you should be vegan it's completely cruelty free' people should shut up because the food your provided with by grocery stores isn't cruelty free either."
All for Our Vanity
"Mirrors. It involves sending miners into deep arctic caves to retrieve the element Mirrorium. It's a crystal in it's natural state and apparently you could make a 10' x 10' mirror out of just a 'pen tip' sized amount."
"I'm obviously making this up because I don't know how mirrors are made and they scare me."
Natural Flavors
"A lot of perfumes are made out of musk glands that come from deer. They are killed in order to get it and it's not pleasant."
"Also some vanilla flavoring uses a liquid that comes out from the base of a beavers tail. It's not a pleasant experience for them either"
-- DudeGuyVR
The good thing about the 21st Century? Options.
There are options everywhere. For food, there are options to the point that if you don't want to go somewhere, you're under no obligation.
But also in this capitalist 21st century, our business is valuable. And if we share the reasons why we don't eat at certain places, we may persuade a ton of people away from that place too.
u/Turquoisecat789 asked:
What restaurant do you refuse to eat at and why?
Here were some of the answers.
Lesson Well LEarned
Chili's. I went a few years ago with my mom and made the horrible decision to get a side of chili lime rice. I ate maybe three bites because it didn't taste good. Those three bites didn't seem to get along well with my body AT ALL. Unfortunately, Chili's was the first stop before hitting the store to do our weekly grocery shopping. At the store, I had to make a run for the bathroom twice. After we finally checked out, my mom made a suggestion that maybe I should make another stop there before we drove home since it would take at least 20 minutes. I declined even though my stomach was turning, thinking I could make it home (and would rather use that toilet than a public one). BIG MISTAKE.
About five minutes into the drive home, I realized that I needed to get to a toilet or I would ruin my mom's car forever. After telling her this, she tells me there's nowhere to stop yet since we were in a residential area. I ask if we can stop at a family friend's house which is close by, and she agrees. She tells me to give them a call so they can unlock the door and save me a few seconds. I explain to her that if I move to grab my phone from my pocket, her car interior would be ruined. The five minute drive there feels like forever and I'm clenching my butt for dear life.
We finally get there and I bolt up the porch stairs to knock on their door. No answer. At this point, I'm desperate. I knock again and finally hear someone coming. Right as the door opens, my muscles give out. The friends stare as me as I spew liquid excrement all over their porch. I'm just standing there still making a mess everywhere and the husband grabs a hose to start spraying me and his porch down.
A few minutes later, my mom emerges from the car, crying laughing, with a roll of paper towels in hand like that's going to help now. Eventually, I'm able to make it to the friends bathroom (which I somehow managed to clog after pooping on their porch) and wash up. They ended up giving me some clothes to change into and I was able to get home and shower the poop off. Unfortunately, you can't shower off embarrassment and shame. So, I will never step foot in a Chili's again because I don't fancy pooping on a family friend's porch again.
Germy Germy Germy
Any self serve buffet. Kids are nasty and not all parents watch their kids. Saw a kid lick a serving spoon and put it back. Glad I caught it but imagine how often it isn't caught.
When Seafood Attacks
Seven or eight years ago, I was at a big medical trade show in Anaheim, CA and after a day of hanging out in the vendor booth, I decided to have dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp. About 4 or 5 hours after eating there, I came down with the nastiest case of food poisoning I have ever experienced. Alone in a hotel room after hours of throwing up, I called an ambulance, which I couldn't afford but was desperate for help. The doctor at the hospital thought shellfish fit the profile. For some reason can still eat shrimp, but never again at Bubba Gump.
Two Against Chili's
My Dad placed a family boycott on Chili's because they had terrible service once and refused our never used gift cards
About 15 or so years later my dad was forced into going to Chili's while on a business trip and put an end to the boycott. Then he spilled ketchup on his pants and announced the boycott was back on.
In my 22 years I think I've been to Chili's 3 times, and there is one down the road from me.
Litmus Test
Golden Coral. We've got a family joke where if someone recommends a restaurant we wait until later in the conversation and ask if they like Golden Coral. If they say yes we never try the place they recommended
A Front
There is a local Mediterranean all-you-can-eat place that I have never eaten at, and refuse to try, but not for the reason you probably think. It was in a weirdly dingy, broken-down building that never has anybody parked out front and has almost never had anybody in it. This place is surrounded on all sides by significantly nicer restaurants and businesses, which just makes it stand out even more.
Here's the real kicker for why I don't go in: this place is near where I work so I have literally seen it every day. In the seven years I've known of its existence, almost every restaurant around it has folded and gone out of business at least once before coming back as something else. Yet this place has somehow survived despite having no obvious signs of doing business; I believe it's a money laundering front. My suspicions have doubled since last year when the building they were in got a suddenly an upgrade and renovated the building to be much nicer than every building around it; again, this is at a place where I think I have maybe seen a dozen people parked outside of, ever.
C'mon, Denny's!!!
Not any in particular, but there was one case worthy of bringing up. Was on the road from the airport to our lodgings in Jacksonville area. Wife wanted to eat, so we saw a Denny's and stopped. I went into the bathroom to freshen up. While doing my business, I noticed the 2 stalls were occupied. No big deal, I finish up just as the one guy leaves. In the mirror I see him. With a cook's apron on. Didn't stop to wash his hands. I got out and immediately got my wife to leave with me.
Revenge
My dad refuses to eat at Papa Murphy's because when I was in high school I applied there, had an interview, and was told I was hired and that they would contact me with starting info, then never contacted me.
Upsetting Non-Conformity
Applebee's. My grandparents used to force our whole family to go there at ever family get together. It's just over priced tv dinners. Half the menu isn't even edible, a quesadilla burger makes no sense, you can't even hold it!
Capitalist Jerks
Tim Hortons. Every single time I went it was a letdown. The food quality has been declining for years and their coffee tastes like it's been pumped right out of the sewers.
Also, they treat their employees like absolute bunk and their franchise owners have been known to throw childish tantrums over the slightest wage increases.