Bad Service

I'm pretty sure this would be considered more of a WTF than bad_service (although I think it could be argued that it's a little of both). Back in May, I woke up with a pulsing, pounding, throbbing pain in my jaw: my wisdom teeth had decided it was time to bust out and say howdy to the world. Great. I don't have a regular dentist due to the fact that I have no dental insurance, so first thing in the morning, I cracked open the phone book and started trying to track down a dentist who would take an emergency.

Cut to me twenty  minutes later: frustrated, nearly in tears with pain. No openings anywhere. I finally call Dr. R and lo and behold, there's a spot. I rush over as soon as I can, looking forward to the numbing bliss of Novocaine. The office is the first red flag--it's up a stairway (no elevators for the disabled, which is surprising nowadays). I go in and there's absolutely no one there. Ghost town. I fill out my info and wait a few minutes before they call me back.

I go in, sit down in the chair, and the first thing the dentist--let me repeat this: the DENTIST--asks me is how much I weigh. Okay. I know I'm overweight, and I realize that my weight is something that he might need in order to calibrate any kind of medicine/painkiller/whatever, so I tell him. He then takes the opportunity to tell me that I'm killing myself with my weight.

Okay...what the hell? I came in there to have a tooth pulled, not to be lectured about a problem I'm already dealing with. I just nod and try to be polite, waiting for him to pull that throbbing SOB tooth of mine so I can go home.

Finally, he begins the exam. And it went exactly like this: "Open your mouth please." Two second examination with the mirror thingie. "I can't do anything for you. You're going to have to have oral surgery."

Again...what the hell? He takes an X-ray of my teeth (which later turned out to be foggy and not in the least bit helpful to the oral surgeon) and I go back into the exam room. More discussion of my weight, more "you're killing yourself." I had to bite my tongue to keep from exclaiming, "Oh my God! I did not realize! When I woke up this morning I was a size zero! How did this happen!?!"

I ended up paying $185 dollars for a five minute dentist visit, one set of crappy X-rays, and a lecture about my weight from someone who doesn't even know me. And the kicker is, the surgeon he referred me to couldn't fit me in until July 1...so June was a month of much pain and suffering. Woot.

This is concerning a Subway in Shediac, N.B. Canada.

We were on our way home from a vacation last Sunday and still had quite a bit of driving to do. We had stopped in Shediac to get a break from driving and went to the beach, so we were extra hungry from swimming. Starving, we head to Subway. This was around dinner time, about 6PM.

There are four people behind the counter and three other customers: a lone woman, and a french speaking couple (this is relevant). My partner and our friend got in line and I went to the washroom. I asked him to order for me because I figured I may not be out in time. Cut to a few minutes later and the single lady is still in the same spot in line, has not gotten past her bread and meat. I stand and we wait. One of the employees is opening and closing the bread oven, one is at the cash waiting to serve the next person, one is standing with gloves on doing nothing but saying they are out of XYZ and the sandwich artist is doing everything but making this woman's sandwich. I also noted they barely had any bread. A couple loaves of honey oat and a few white.

This goes on for several minutes until they finally get to the french speaking couple. Bread man switches places with the girl previously making the sandwiches and after some time of staring at the bread oven she goes out back. The couple are having difficulty ordering. They are searching for words in English as the gentleman addressed them in English, but can't quite find them so they order in French. This is a francophone town, mind you. He understands them it seems, but does not address them in French, nor asks any of the other employees to do so (I am familiar enough with the area to know that it is highly unlikely that none of the staff present spoke French).

A 5th employee appears and tries to serve me. All the while the guy serving the French couple keeps repeating himself, because the couple are having a hard time understanding. I move past the couple because I was just getting a veggie. She completes my sandwich and disappears into the backroom.

I was getting a meal deal and wanted cookies, but they had none. They also did not have the usual variety of chips. I am paying and notice the man serving the french couple is standing holding a sandwich and staring at the toaster. There appears to be nothing in the toaster. After a few moments the employee standing with gloves on tells him they need more XYZ and he puts the sandwich down and goes to grab whatever it was she said they needed.

I exit the store and sit in the car with our other friend. We chatted and I finished my sandwich. I suspect about 20 minutes has gone by since I got in the car. He gets tired of waiting and goes for a stroll. My partner and his friend eventually come out of the store. Apparently the woman standing with gloves on continued to stand with gloves on barking orders at the lady who served me. Bread guy served my partner and friend in slo-mo while the other two were nowhere to be seen.


TLDR Inefficient Subway is inefficient. Lack of bread, cookies, and chips during suppertime in busy tourist town. French couple not served in French in a French town. Almost an hour to make 6 subs for 3 groups of people.

My mom just told me this story earlier today and I thought it was hilarious.

Two years ago, my brother bought a $2000, 42" TV at a Best Buy in New Hampshire (where he was living.) He also purchased a 4 year warranty plan for $400. Recently, his TV just stopped working so he took it to a Best Buy here in Massachusetts and stated that he'd like to exchange it. He went through five different associates before he wound up talking with the store manager, who refused to exchange the TV because the TV had "depreciated in value" and he wanted to tack on a $900 bill to my brother's name for the exchange. They wanted to give him a TV which was not similar at all to the one he was exchanging, and he said that he wouldn't accept it. The store manager said that he was not going to budge and that if my brother wanted to pursue this, he could go to several other Best Buys in surrounding cities until he found one with a manager who would honor his exchange.

At this point, my brother sat his ass on the customer service desk and told the manager, "You might as well buy me dinner because I'm not leaving until I get a new TV." (This entire situation ended up taking two hours.) Then my brother asked the store manager who his district manager was. He said "I don't have to tell you that. Go somewhere else and find another manager to do this for you, like I said. I'm not doing this." My brother then said "Well, if you don't want to tell me then I'll just ask ______ (insert name of person, who was store manager of this Best Buy before the guy currently running it took over.) Or, I could ask _____ (enter another associate's name who worked for that Best Buy.)" My brother is a fairly popular person, as he was store manager of a very successful Wal-Mart in MA before he moved to NH, and now manages Staples (which is near the Best Buy he stopped in at.) Immediately after the store manager realizes my brother CAN find out the district manager and report the way he's acting and dealing with the situation, he agrees to exchange the television for a 46" flat screen, and also offers to mail a $50 gift card to my brother's address.

I still say my brother should contact the district manager. I've never heard of place who would refuse to guarantee a warranty, especially when it was only 2 years into the X year plan. I envy my brother for not backing down and not being a belligerent asshole about it, too. I wish I had the balls to act that way if I ever got dicked over, but I'm too easy a push over. I'd be more comfortable writing a letter than actually confronting a manager and challenging them.

EDIT: Talked to my brother. They tried to repair the TV two weeks prior but they couldn't do anything about it. Since he had the 4 year warranty and they couldn't fix the TV, he was eligible to get an exchange for one, however they wanted him to either pay $900 for the difference in the new TV, because they said the TV had depreciated in value.