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 Family
Giphy
Corrupt 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 Penguins
Giphy
Makes 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 Romance
Giphy
Some 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 Max
Giphy
You 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 Omo
Giphy
No 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.
Redditor AstroAwesome12345 wanted to discuss what is missing from one of the world's greatest menus.
They asked:
"You are the CEO of McDonalds. What outrageous food item do you place on the menu?"
Bring back the ten cent hamburger Tuesday. That was one of my favorite specials ever.
Pie GIFHey Dog
"The McDog. A McDonald's hotdog. Only available for 1 hour, on February 29th." ~ TGOTR
"Burger King has a hot dog... They once seriously f**ked up my order and gave me one instead of whatever the hell I actually ordered. I live in Chicago... if I wanted a freaking hot dog, I would have gone across the street to Portillos. The freaking thing was even drowning in ketchup. What the hell." ~ absentmindedjwc
Bag It
"Not completely outrageous, but a big bag full of fresh fries for $10. Include a bowl separated into 4 sections for sauces." ~ baconpoutine89
"In the early 90s (maybe late 80s) when McDonalds still did the 'super size' sizes, you could order a cup of fries and it’d be a supersize cup full of fries. It was great." ~ AshlarKorith
Spice it Up
"Mcdouble Quesadilla." ~ BuckeyeBikeNHike
"I used to literally make these when I worked there. A couple of breakfast burrito tortillas, some shredded cheese from the salad mix, and a few pickle slices to taste; throw on the 10:1 side of the grill for about 30 seconds with the clam down." ~ Karunamon_LoL
"When I worked the overnight shift there a very long time ago, we actually made these all the time. They were honestly good af. If they offered it with the quarter pounder meat, I'd order one." ~ mtrkar
Cheers...
Dog Alcohol GIFGiphy"Dry Martini." ~ Massive_bagholder
"McTini." ~ WoolaTheCalot
"Taco Bell cantina is a thing. McDonalds dive Bar sounds legit." ~ Worthyness
A McDonald's bar. What's the happy hour? I'll think about it.
Big Red
Happy Ha Ha GIF by Arrow VideoGiphy"A tomato. That's it. Just a whole tomato." ~ WildForestBlood
McMystery...
"The Mc pizza." ~ Whys-tdk122
"Have you heard the investigative journalism program (or ijp) called Whatever Happened to Pizza At McDonalds where Brian Thompson asks the question 'Whatever happened to the pizza at McDonald’s?'” ~ Z_Murray33
"Yes it is a very good ijp indeed. It seems to still have a limited popularity despite Mr. Thompson's attempts to educate the public. Sadly, if you look in the comments above you will it incorrectly referred to as 'Mcpizza' In addition, another individual is claiming that the novelty McDonald's in Orlando, Fl serves pizza, when we of course know that it is not original recipe and should be considered noncanon." ~ LobotsBalls
McMystery
"Dude what were those things called from like 10 years ago? The snack things that were like… crispy chicken in a wrap with honey mustard, and different variations of that kind of thing. I would absolutely bring THAT back. Were they called snack wraps?" ~ iakonu_hale
"This is the only answer I wanted! I scream every day for snack wraps, grilled or fried. I lived by those things." ~ SpecificAmy
Come on Ron...
"I think about THE BREAKFAST BAGEL a lot. I don't buy their bull about a covid-impacted reduced menu. Sure for the first few months, I got it, but this? This is bullcrap. THE BREAKFAST BAGEL is the only BREAKFAST item I like. It might actually be my favorite thing from McDonalds full stop. It's not right that I've not tasted the sweet caress of that greasy little witch for almost 2 years. Pull your freaking crap together, Ronald." ~ RockMeDoctorZaius
Be Big
big mac vintage GIF by Soul TrainGiphy"Big Mac Fries. Fries loaded with everything you put on a Big Mac." ~ phattoes
Now I could get onboard with those fries and the bagel. Yum.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
But there are also reasons why a discerning patron refuses to give their money to specific companies, regardless of whether or not they desire the product.
Curious to explore this notion, Redditor Snoo_72206 asked:
"What’s a company you refuse to support and why?"
Insurance companies failed to deliver assurance to these Redditors.
Ghosted
"Progressive. A few years back, an idiot crashed into my parked car with a lawnmower while I was at work."
"The owner of the lawnmowing company decided to play games and not pay for the damage."
"My Progressive agent ghosted me and his supervisor never returned my calls."
"I eventually got the money but Progressive didn't do a damn thing."
– The_Height_of_Folly
Unlike A Good Neighbor
"State Farm. Before we met, my wife was in a car accident that permanently damaged her neck, forcing her to drop out of college and abandon her dream to play violin professionally, and requiring her to get an injection in her neck twice a year for the rest of her life."
"She's been in a 4-year legal battle with State Farm as shes entitled over $100k since she was no way at fault for it."
"But they will not budge and keep demanding ridiculous things from her. Next month she's actually scheduled to fly back to the state where the accident happened so she can undergo a 10-hour psychological analysis (when she asked her attorney why they're asking for that, she pretty much said 'because they can')."
"State Farm also recently requested she shoot a video of her attempting to play the violin and then talking to me about how it make her feel that she can't play it painlessly anymore. In a recent deposition, they actually asked her if she had intentions to get medical treatment were they to award her with the money back when it happened."
"They've become such a pain but we've made the decision to fight it out as long as we can, because giving up is what they want us to do, and we want to prove to insurance companies that they can't screw over their clients like this."
"So yeah. Screw State Farm (and honestly most insurance companies)."
– Ben-Stanley
A Major Trauma
"Dude. State Farm is the worst. My sister was in an accident when she was 16 that left her with permanent brain damage, dashing her chances of the future career she dreamed of."
"It was a 10 year battle on settlement. The hoops they made us jump through… the disgusting tactics they used. They hired people to stalk me and my other siblings and report on our behaviour to build a profile on how much she was likely to succeed had the accident not happened to bring down the settlement."
"They belittled and publicly humiliated a 16 year old girl who was in a traumatic accident where her friends were killed."
"As a pre teen seeing all this, it actually completely changed me and opened my eyes to how evil people can be. Insurance companies are disgusting."
– MalBredy
Unreasonable Payout
"I know three people with State Farm homeowners insurance who tried to make claims and got laughably microscopic payouts."
"And then they keep their policies! What the fuck are you paying them serious adult premiums for, when they see the damage to your home and reimburse you with five bucks and a gumball?"
– driffson
A major social media platform and a popular ticketing service got the stank eye.
The Parent Organization
"Meta. What if I don't want to share my private info with you?"
– skycatminepokie
Chaotic Life
"my job required me to be on social media every single day, constantly be interacting with clients posts, constantly be creating content with the intent of trying to gt clients to share the content."
"i really do believe social media is a cancer on society."
"I know that reddit is also social media, but the anonymity makes it much less toxic and consuming for me."
– garlicdjango
Unhealthy Addiction
"I was addicted to Facebook for the longest time and it wasn't until I finally deleted it (not suspended, full deletion) that I realized what a profound effect it was having on my mental health. I'm not even exaggerating. I am so much happier without it."
"The friends I talked to all the time still talk to me through other mediums, and the ones that don't, just don't. And that's fine. I'm not even judging them for it. I'm in a much better place."
– starchystar
No More Live Events
"Ticketmaster - too many fees. Just don't go to live concerts anymore."
– username987654321a
"Ticketmaster:"
"Ticket price: $40"
"Service fee: $20"
"Paperless fee: $5"
"Fee fee: $3.15"
"Because we can fee: $2.00"
"You wanna go fee: $12.00"
"Print-from-home fee: $6.50"
"No physical copy fee: $16"
"No refund policy agreement fee: $8.00"
"Total: $112.65 F'k you very much."
"Sucker."
– Soulphite
Redditors thought these companies left a bad taste.
America's Favorite Food & Beverage Company?
"Nestle, is there anything ethical about them?"
– Aggressive-Ice-1009
The Partnership
"FYI Starbucks and Nestle are best buds now and have signed a multi multi million dollar partnership."
– poopybuttfacehead
Corporate Evil
"Nestlé. They are the very model of corporate evil. Raiding water tables in drought stricken areas, using child slavery to get their chocolate, and much more!! 🤡"
– Thintieguy
Local Business Killer
"Starbucks. It’s just too easy to support a local coffee shop if I’m in a situation where I can’t make my own coffee at home."
– PaticusGnome
Some retail companies were admonished by the following Redditors.
Bad Fashion
"Jaded London, ASOS, Primark, PrettyLittleThing & any other fast fashion brands that I can’t remember off the top of my head."
– brownguyinthecorner
The Reason
"It does go further than that for me, but my opinion does stem from their exploitation of child labour."
– brownguyinthecorner
Not Target
"Walmart"
"I used to work there and refuse to go there ever again. I put in my two weeks July 2020 and I haven’t gone there since. I refuse to step foot in any Walmart ever."
– funeralxfog95
Employee Confession
"Former Walmart employee here too that refuses to shop there. Union busting, encouraging people to work off the clock, threatening you if you get caught up doing work and accrue OT, humiliating public team cheers, inadequate training for dangerous equipment, constant busy work, terrible pay and benefits... not to mention that the only reason I ended up working there is they destroyed their local competitors in the town... f'k Walmart."
– BobGenghisKahn
Discomforting Atmosphere
"I started off hating Walmart as a kid because of the fluorescent lighting and overall depressed feeling that would overcome me anytime I would step foot inside one, and my hate has only grown stronger over the years."
– ChillNyeTheStonerGuy
They say America runs on Dunkin'.
That slogan alone made me give it a hard pass. The audacity. Everyone knows Starbucks is supreme.
I know, I know, the mega java chain is on every street corner in all major metropolitan cities and many customers may think they're overrated.
But say what you will. Their quality cup of joe is so much better than the mud Dunkin' Donuts passes off as coffee.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.