Have you ever verbally retorted "I'm never shopping here again!!"

[Headset Hellion]

Not exactly, but I had a customer on the phone who was irate about being charged interest on her credit card. I listened to her rant and rave about how terrible this bank is and we're all manner of crooks and this can't be legal for 10 minutes. It was like trying to talk to a toddler during a temper tantrum when they're tired and hungry. So when she said that she would close her accounts and take all of her money to another bank, I replied, "I can take care of that for you right now, ma'am."

Just trying to be helpful.

[WishfulSpirit]

Not exactly, but I have written letters to management when I got dramatically bad service I've said something along the lines of "I enjoy shopping at X store because it's convenient to my home, but the level of service is causing me to consider going elsewhere" or something to that effect.

[Kittish]

When I worked in retail, my usual response to "I'm never shopping here again!" was a cheerful "See you next week!" Usually got me a bit of a glare but no one ever came back with "No, you won't!" And sure enough, a few days later, look who's back. What I wanted to say so many times (and who here has not?) was "Really? Hey, can I get that in writing real quick before you go?"

[Ben_Who]

That's the thing. I don't SAY "I'm never shopping here again," I just don't shop there again. There's no reason to put some powerless store clerk on the spot over corporate merchandise or policy, and incompetent staff members are usually replaced.

There's an electronics store, two chain restaurants, and a cinema that I won't be visiting again; the level of service I got wasn't anywhere near what I needed, and some of the staff members were openly abusive. (The waitress who argued with me over whether or not the food I was eating had gone off won her restaurant no points.)

It seems like the only time people say "I'm never shopping here again" is when they DON'T mean it. It's a desperate attempt to get something out of a negotiation that failed. If you can't get what you want, put on a show. See how many feelings you can hurt on the way out the door. You might not have gotten $100 worth of pizza comped, but still showed them!

They might as well just stand in the middle of the sales floor and shout "Pay attention to meeee!" It's just as meaningless and accomplishes the same thing.

[earl colby pottinger]

This

That's the thing. I don't SAY "I'm never shopping here again," I just don't shop there again. There's no reason to put some powerless store clerk on the spot over corporate merchandise or policy, and incompetent staff members are usually replaced.

I find very few stores/companies are so bad that you don't want to do business with them again. If a place is that bad to it's customers I just never go back, and I noticed that by the next year that at-least 70%+ of the really bad businesses no longer exist.

Declaring you are never shopping there again does nothing, it in fact does less than nothing if one does go back because then the business sees the repeat customer and has no reason to change even if there is something wrong.

Not going back and not putting money into their accounts is what a customer must do to affect real change.

[EricKei]

I always wanted to respond with "OK! See You Next Tuesday," but I never really had the chance when I was in a position where that wouldn't have gotten me fired >_<

[Kiwi]

I've said it to myself (and I've meant it - looking at you quiznos).

I have never used it as a threat towards a retail worker on the floor.

[greek_jester]

It seems like the only time people say "I'm never shopping here again" is when they DON'T mean it. It's a desperate attempt to get something out of a negotiation that failed. If you can't get what you want, put on a show. See how many feelings you can hurt on the way out the door. You might not have gotten $100 worth of pizza comped, but still showed them!

My mother said a variation on this the other day, and meant it 100%.

We'd ordered some party food online from Frozenplace. The card details were entered, Frozenplace test-pinged my mum's account a few days before the delivery was due (they draw payment on the day in case anything isn't available so that they only charge for what they deliver) and the delivery date was arranged.

Come 14 minutes past midnight on the day of delivery, we got an e-mail saying the delivery was being cancelled. My mum rang up the helpline to find out why, and they said it was because the attempt to take the payment failed. Cue mum panicking in case her account had been hacked and drained, since the balance should have been higher than when the account was pinged as her pension should have gone in.

Mum called the bank and asked what was going on. The bank confirmed that not only was the balance as expected in mum's account, the ping had definitely happened ok when scheduled, but no attempts had been made to draw money from the account in the past 24 hours.

Mum called back Frozenplace to explain what the bank had said and asked to rearrange delivery for another day. The rep, and their supervisor, and the supervisor above that, all swore up down and sideways that the attempt had been made on the account (mum confirmed that the details hadn't somehow been changed; they hadn't) and that mum would have to come up with another bank account (which she didn't have, pensioner here!) to draw from as the first attempt failed.

After a lot of arguing backwards and forwards mum insisted that they close the account as she would never attempt to shop online with them again. I ended up having to burn 20 miles of fuel traipsing around the 3 nearest stores to find everything we needed that would have come in that 1 order direct to the door.

[MadMike]

I only ever said it once, and I meant it.

I used to have long distance service through a certain company whose logo looks like the Death Star. I don't know if it's still this way, but when I set up my phone service, your regular phone company, who you got your bill from, would provide your local service, as well as long distance service within a certain area. For anything outside of that area, you had to pick a company for your long distance service.

At some point, the bill from my long distance provide split off from my regular phone bill, and they only started to only send that one quarterly. Imagine my shock when, at the end of the quarter, I found out I had been switched over to a calling plan that cost me more money. It would have probably made sense for someone who makes a lot of long distance calls, but not for someone like me, who very rarely does.

I got in touch with them, and told them that I had not consented to the change, or even been notified of it. We went back and forth a few times, but in the end, they told me that they would not be removing the charge. So I told them I'd pay the bill, but to ensure that this did not happen again, I was switching long distance providers, which I did.

A few months ago, I got something in the mail from the Death Star trying to get me to come back as a company, along with a check that if I cashed it, I would be switching back to them. I threw it straight in the trash. While the check was pretty close to the bill I should never have gotten, it was the principle of the thing. They had their chance to make it right, and the chose not to. Too little, too late.

[Ghel]

I've had customers (at the bank) say things like, "If you can't match this rate, I'm moving my money!" or "If you don't waive this fee [which was my own fault], then I'm closing my account!" I usually answer with some variation of "I'm sorry you feel that way," or "Do what you think is best." Particularly when they're demanding instead of asking nicely. I'd love to be able to tell them that the bank doesn't need their money (we have move than enough to cover our loans). But that wouldn't be appropriate.

Then there's the customer who closed her account and then got pissed off that we wouldn't cash checks or do cash advances for her any more. Sorry, you're not a customer* any more. We don't do those things for non-customers.

*In bank parlance, a "customer" is someone who has an account with the bank. Everyone else is a "consumer." Not that this makes any sense.

[ladyjaneinmd]

Never said it, just did it. However, this reminds me of a story that you folks would appreciate.

A long, long time ago, right after the long distance companies broke up, and there were about a million and half of them, I was looking for a job, and meanwhile I visited the local county fair, where I signed up for cheap long distance with one of the Big Three Long Distance companies.
A week later, I got a job with one of the smaller long distance companies, and accordingly, changed over to them (employee discount, y'know).
A week after that, I got a call from the Big Company, and a very puzzled sales guy, who said, "We noticed that you switched away from our company only a week after signing up. Did we do something wrong?" I said, "No, but the other company gave me a job!". I could actually hear him flipping through the book of 'their excuses and how we can counter them', and he finally said, "Well, I can't do that!", and we laughed together, and hung up.

[Jay 2K Winger]

A week after that, I got a call from the Big Company, and a very puzzled sales guy, who said, "We noticed that you switched away from our company only a week after signing up. Did we do something wrong?" I said, "No, but the other company gave me a job!". I could actually hear him flipping through the book of 'their excuses and how we can counter them', and he finally said, "Well, I can't do that!", and we laughed together, and hung up.

Heh. My Dad used to work for Three Letter Telcom That Eventually Became Red Checkmark (corporate law side, IIRC), but that didn't stop Death Star Telcom from calling us up and trying to tempt us to their long distance service.

Mom loved stringing the salesmen along for as long as she could, and then the salesmen would ask her why she was so reluctant to switch. And Mom would go, "Well, my husband works for Three Letter Telcom..." and they'd very quickly apologize for wasting her time and hang up.

[Racket_Man]

I've had customers (at the bank) say things like, "If you can't match this rate, I'm moving my money!" or "If you don't waive this fee [which was my own fault], then I'm closing my account!" I usually answer with some variation of "I'm sorry you feel that way," or "Do what you think is best." Particularly when they're demanding instead of asking nicely. I'd love to be able to tell them that the bank doesn't need their money (we have move than enough to cover our loans). But that wouldn't be appropriate.

Then there's the customer who closed her account and then got pissed off that we wouldn't cash checks or do cash advances for her any more. Sorry, you're not a customer* any more. We don't do those things for non-customers.

*In bank parlance, a "customer" is someone who has an account with the bank. Everyone else is a "consumer." Not that this makes any sense.

The problem with the business I am in (pizza) is that EVEN non-customers can get free shit based on corporate and franchise policy. ALL they have to do is make a simple complaint and my company will fall all over itself to hand the "customer" as much free stuff as they want no real questions asked NO hesitation.

Anyone see the problem?????

[Seshat]

"banjo stuck in the throat"

Made me laugh.


My reaction when I get 'I never want to shop/get service here again' has graduated. I used to take it out on the retail-end staff, then I stopped doing that and asked for retail-end managers. Then I stopped doing business with place-X.

Now I'm actually trying to effect* change. I find the company's website, their 'contact us' information, and - when I can find a useful email address or postal address - I inform the head office of the policy/policies which I find offensive.

Yes, sometimes I get goodies out of that. Usually stuff I have no use for (hey local charity shop, you want this?); but at least the decision-makers get feedback.



* effect is usually the noun, affect usually the verb. However, one 'effects change'. 'bring about' is 'effect'. Grammar is confuzzling.
Affect also has a noun sense in psychology jargon, but if you're not in the mental health field, you'll almost never see that.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Well, close... once, a customer threw a massive tantrum cuz I refused to accept his six weeks expired money off coupon. He ended his tirade with "I'M NEVER COMING BACK! YOU JUST LOST A CUSTOMER!" and stormed out the door.

Five minutes later, he came back... cuz he'd forgotten his car keys. Well, normally when a customer leaves their keys behind, we go outside to give them to the customer. In this case, however, I decided not to, cuz I thought it would be funny to see him come back right after he'd said he wouldn't. He walked in and meekly asked for his car keys in a polite whisper; would have been great if I had been able to say, "No, sorry. You said you weren't coming back". XD