Posted on 12/27/2012 8:46:58 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
LOL. I remember JC Penny Auto insurance. I remembered they had in their ads that if you get into an accident, you won’t be immediately hit with higher premiums. I wonder how cheap they were in paying claims though but it has been many years.
I know being a kid in the early 1980’s, being caught with merchandise from JC Penny, Ayr-Way or K-Mart was pretty insulting. BTW, here is my favorite to look at and laugh at. The 1977 JC Penny Catalog at URL http://rense.com/general79/jcpenny.htm . I would NOT touch any of the clothes from there especailly the leisure suits. The kid pretending to be David Soul, reminds me of a guy who was a senior and I was a freshman in college in the Spring of 1986. This guy wore the “fancy” polyester dress clothes along with his roommate. He had those same sunglasses and thought of himself as being cool. But he was a prick and a liberal too. At the end of the school year, he cornered me and let me have it for being a “threat” to society and how society does not tolerate questioning the status quo. i was known for being very pro-Reagan and also favored getting rid of the 55 mph speed limit and this prick and his roommate supported it. I know at the time, 55 mph was considered a “sacred cow”.
> JC Penney can just suck it, too. In 1986, I had their effing car insurance and had the misfortune of buying a a Nissan 300ZX Turbo; they promptly notified me they would not renew my policy.
Thank you.
My final purchase with them was 5 or 6 years ago. I purchased a clearance stove for $1500 that came with a $50 gift card. When the guys loaded it on the truck in front of the store, they dropped it. The glass top shattered, not to mention the huge dent. Both workers stated that it was mine due to it being a “clearance item” and went back into the store laughing, leaving me with the shattered stove on the ground.
I went back inside to get a manager. He apologized for the workers behavior, but refused me a refund as well. Their workers are not responsible for loading damage, even if it never made it on the truck. Finally, I left the store with the stove lying on its side on the ground outside of the doors after snapping photos with my cellphone. After I got home, I realized they hadn’t even given me my $50 gift card.
I called Corporate and got the run-around. Calls never returned. Emails never answered. In the end, I gave up on the $1500 rather than hiring a lawyer. I decided that my peace of mind was worth more than $1500. I have not darkened their doors since. I do use their site for pricing items that I purchase elsewhere. They can kiss my grits.
Best Buy cannot go out of business soon enough for me.
We have a Home Depot,but I never go there.
Now that’s funny right there.
“It’s ironic. Sears and JCP were the Amazon.com of their era. They built their retail empires with their catalogs, and made millions through the US Mail. Someone at both of those retailers sure as hell fell asleep sometime during the 1990s, and now the forces of free enterprises are going to drink their milkshake.”
Exactly what I was thinking (only I would have said “tragic”, rather than “ironic” — but, ironic works too).
Not me. I hate freaking Radio Shack. I wouldn’t shed a tear if they went out of business.
I went to a Radio Shack some years ago to buy some speaker wire and a few batteries and when checking out, and paying in cash BTW, the pimply faced creep behind the counter asked for my phone number. I told him I’m sorry but I didn’t want to and I wasn’t going to give that to him, that he didn’t need it to ring up my cash sale and that I didn’t want to go on their mailing list (the only reason they asked for it). Then he told me that the cash register wouldn’t complete the sale without a phone number even for a cash sale. So I told him,” Fine, then punch in your home phone number”. Then he said, “I can’t do that, that’s against company policy.” To which I said, “Then you can explain to the company why you just lost a sale” and I walked out.
The very last time I ever set foot in a Radio Shack it was to buy a replacement batter for my cordless phone. I had the make and model and knew exactly what battery I needed having already researched it. But when I tried to buy it, the old creepy guy working the counter actually said to me: “Sweety, are you really sure that’s what you want to buy? Shouldn’t you double check with your husband first?”
The irony was that I was the one in our household who was the electronics and computer guru; I built several computers from scratch, replaced hard drives, replaced power supplies, added memory upgrades, etc. I also installed light fixtures and ceiling fans in our home and wired our home entertainment system while my husband sat on the couch; the most technical thing he was capable of was using the TV remote control and even with that, he needed my help sometimes.
It’s never a good idea to insult your customers or assume they are stupid. And that’s what Radio Shack did to me and why they lost my business. I was fortunate that there was a very good and privately owned electronics store near where I lived at the time; Bayneville Electronics – an absolute geek heaven.
http://www.baynesvilleelectronics.com/index2.ivnu
That place is great. Whether you needed computer parts, a needle for an old turntable, or wanted to build a ham radio or satellite dish from scratch, they not only have all the parts, they also have the expertise and they never talk down to their customers.
Back in the '90s. I bought a 486 laptop from them for $1,500. I was a contract programmer and need the machine for my work. Ten days later the screen died and I brought it back. They said there was a one-week return policy but couldn't show me where it was. They would repair it and promised it in a week. Three weeks later it wasn't repaired, so I bought another. In the meantime, I had paid $300 towards the old laptop.
After another week I get a postcard saying the repaired laptop is ready. I told them to keep it as I had to buy another to keep my contract - and I wanted my $300 back. Nothing.
In another month I started getting dunned by a collection agency for $1,800 due to "interest and other charges". Long story short, I ended up with a ding on my credit, even though they still had the original machine.
Haven't been in their stores since then. I'll dance a jig when they die.
“If you can’t find a fuse at Radio Shack, what are they good for?”
Good question. Maybe they are a glimpse into the future healthcare system.
At the Sears store nearest to us and their store in the next nearest city, there is no furniture, no lamps, no draperies and no cosmetics. Appliance purchases are pushed for extended warranties and and delivery charges in a market where delivery is generally “free” if you spend enough money.
Before they went pro-gay and changed their sales strategy for merchandise, we bought a lot of clothing on sale and especially on clearance. We walk through Penneys now on our way to other stores in the mall. Haven't spent a penny there since they "changed."
Best Buy deserves to go under just for foisting Vista and Windows 8 on U.S. consumers by refusing to offer superior alternatives such as XP and Windows 7 respectively.
I used to love Service Merchandise. There was a similar showroom outfit, Labelle’s, that a had a store in Boulder. Both of those places had some really high-quality merchandise for very good prices. I still have stuff from both places, including a really nice Teak salad bowl set.
LOL! Except that Harbor Freight has better prices. I bought a floor jack from them once which was actually fairly decent.
>Best Buy deserves to go under just for foisting Vista and Windows 8 on U.S. consumers by refusing to offer superior alternatives such as XP and Windows 7 respectively.<
Yep. The local BB might have had one or 2 laptops running Win 7 the last time I checked. Windows 8 is not intuitive in the slightest.
I believe it is the reason Penney’s is down. They didn’t just market to gays, they featured ads with 2 dads or 2 mommies in pictures in a blatant in-your-face manner. That was not appreciated by their core customers.
>”I told them the rice was lower on the internet”<
Internet Rice has a funny flavor.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.