Results 1 to 25 of 25

Thread: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

  1. #1
    Featured Member Hatshepsut's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    USA, in a notoriously stripper-unfriendly city
    Posts
    1,780
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I'm not pro-big corporations, but I've had it with these little mom and pop places who do a half-ass job and whine that they're being put out of business.

    I get my eyebrows threaded, and I used to go to this little Indian beauty salon. However, I have totally boycotted them because they suck. First of all, their hours are erratic. Even though they have a listing of business hours on the door, it's a hit or miss whether they're open during the posted hours. Sometimes, they'll be closed with no explanation, and it's not a holiday. Every year, they go back to India for a couple months at a time. I don't have a problem with their vacations, but would it fucking kill them to post a sign on their door saying, "We will be gone from _______ to _________," both in advance and during their vacation/random days off? Yeah, I could call ahead, but they either don't answer or it has a busy signal, and there's no answering machine.

    Here's the real kicker: they recently jacked up their prices due to sagging business.

    NO

    FUCKING

    SHIT

    YOU'RE

    LOSING

    BUSINESS

    YOU IRRESPONSIBLE, LAZY FUCKS!

    They may have a pretty steady clientèle, as they're one of the few salons in the Indian area of town, but people are going to go elsewhere if they're unreliable.

    I'm not a spoiled brat customer or anything. I don't believe that the customer is always right by any means, and I think that restaurants should have bouncer moms who scold bratty customers and hit them with wooden spoons. However, fuck if I'm going to pay extra for their absolute lack of business skills and only be able to get my brows done 50% of the time when I'm in the area. I now go to a place down the street from them that is about 85% as good as the old place at doing brows, but at least they're reliable and act like they're running a business rather than a moneymaking hobby.

    Other pet peeves
    -Shitty customer service, like the forced-servitude son who blatantly ignores me to talk on his cell, or the daughter who rolls her eyes at me when I ask to please help me find something.
    -If it's a restaurant, they skimp on ingredients, especially with meat.

  2. #2
    Featured Member short skirts's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    1,010
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I feel your pain but I can't rag on all Mom-and-Pop businesses. I work in one that my family owns and let me say I NEVER close early! We are open on every day that law will allow us. I sometimes want to go home early like tonight when my foot is hurting SOOOOOOO bad AND my man is waiting in my bed ! I stayed! Why? Because the customers are there! There to support the business. Always be there for the paying customers, no matter what.

    Yeah, I totally feel you.

    What I would do is to not support their business or complain.

  3. #3
    God/dess
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    The Diner State
    Posts
    5,085
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    This drives me insane. I love to shop at my local sewing/costuming store instead of heading to the Joanns, but she's never open. Never leaves a sign or message on the voicemail when she's gone for a week. And from what I hear, sends most of her intarweb orders weeks late. How can we support them if they aren't there?

    On the other hand, the local healthy food store is always open when they say and is run by really nice, knowledgeable people who never run off with out putting a note on the door. I want to bring other small business owners there and show them how it's done.

  4. #4
    God/dess Lysondra's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Another Country
    Posts
    18,664
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 148 Times in 100 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    There's an Indian restaurant I went to SIX times before I finally caught it open. Once time i even looked up the opening times and it had closed AN HOUR BEFORE! I -finally- fucking got there (at 3pm just to be sure) and they had the SHITTIEST curry. It tasted like water and I ordered extra spicy VINDALOO!

    And then I fucking laughed like hell when they started having a 'going out of business' sale... and were still not open for it.


    Look like a woman
    Think like a man
    Act like a lady
    Work like a dog

    - My Great Grandmother Bessie's Recipe for Success

  5. #5
    God/dess PaigeDWinter's Avatar
    Joined
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cocoa Beach, FL
    Posts
    10,220
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 52 Times in 37 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    As much as I love local business, I agree that some of them make it so hard to love. LOL. I will NEVER give up on the lil shops, just the ones that operate like drunken monkeys.
    Number of times Rickrolled on stage: 6
    *******************************

    Marasmus ... "Ladies don't fart. They butt-laugh."
    Marasmus says, "Oh no, that wasn't gas, it was merely a rectal chuckle."

    Marek says, "A friend of mine got punched in the face by a dominatrix stripper about two weeks ago and I thought of you."

  6. #6
    God/dess Mr Hyde's Avatar
    Joined
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Tampa
    Posts
    4,035
    Thanks
    278
    Thanked 586 Times in 346 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I think you have a complaint with a specific M&P place, not the idea as a whole. This place sounds like it sucks, but overall most M&P places are good.

  7. #7
    God/dess RoseWhite's Avatar
    Joined
    Mar 2006
    Location
    On a babymoon.
    Posts
    3,145
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 18 Times in 13 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Hyde View Post
    I think you have a complaint with a specific M&P place, not the idea as a whole. This place sounds like it sucks, but overall most M&P places are good.
    Agreed! For every poor independent business, I can think of ten that are run well; beautifullly and with integrity.

    It's human nature for the bad experiences to stand out in our minds, of course. I remember having the impact of word-of-mouth explained to me from a customer service standpoint, though I don't recall the exact numbers: For good experiences, the average customer might tell 1 or 2 people. For bad experiences, the average customer tells dozens of people.

    So I can understand why this store stands out in your mind, Hatshepsut. I don't know WHAT those poeple are thinking! And it reminds me of Yekhefah's recent nightmare experience with a car wash, staffed by apathetic and rude people who couldn't care less if she took her business elsewhere or not.

    But the good ones are out there, so many of them, and many are struggling, and they both need and deserve our business.
    "Before I conceived you, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of life." -- Maureen Hawkins

    "I just can't get over how much babies cry. I really had no idea what I was getting into. To tell you the truth, I thought it would be more like getting a cat." -- Anne Lamott

  8. #8
    God/dess Andygirl's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2006
    Location
    The VIP room
    Posts
    3,621
    Thanks
    47
    Thanked 187 Times in 58 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by lilithmorrigan View Post
    There's an Indian restaurant I went to SIX times before I finally caught it open. Once time i even looked up the opening times and it had closed AN HOUR BEFORE! I -finally- fucking got there (at 3pm just to be sure) and they had the SHITTIEST curry. It tasted like water and I ordered extra spicy VINDALOO!

    And then I fucking laughed like hell when they started having a 'going out of business' sale... and were still not open for it.
    Maybe it was a front for an illegal business and they were laundering money through it........a la Nancy's bakery in Weeds.
    Check out my new eBay auctions.......

  9. #9
    God/dess Mastridonicus's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Paradigm City
    Posts
    6,784
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I say the same thing about the girl playing megatouch who complains about not being able to make her house fees.
    People are not ruled by their memories.

  10. #10
    Featured Member Hatshepsut's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    USA, in a notoriously stripper-unfriendly city
    Posts
    1,780
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Yeah, I still love mom and pop shops, like the little grocery stores in Indiatown and Chinatown run by wonderful old grandmas who don't speak English, but you can always understand what they're complimenting all over you. I love little hole-in-the-wall ethnic restaurants that serve HUGE plates of food for under $10, and the grandma hostess always tells you in broken English, "You too skinny! Eat more! I feed you good!" I love the funky little thrift stores in the Montrose area of Houston where you can find a Banana Republic dress new with tags for 1/5th of the original price. I tell all my friends about all these places, and support them with my heart.

    There are bad apples, and it's easier for mom and pop shops to be bad apples because of their freedom. Yeah, Mast has a good analogy there. Yeah, i know that these shitty places are the minority, but I'm still seeing enough shoddy ones to see a pattern.

  11. #11
    Member
    Joined
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    67
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    The bad apples should be allowed to go away and die - particularly the ones who view their customers as just someone trying to rip them off I cant stand how everytime I walk in to some of these places, I feel as though there are 20 sets of eyes watching me like a hawk just because Im an american and the infedel. Fuck those places Ive boycotted those little foreigner terrorist-funding holes a long time ago - I now only go into local merchant shops run by known community folk.

    If they are crap, they will fade soon enough - what is unfortunate are the ones that are forced to close due to franchising conglomeration. OK did we need to have 100 video stores littered all over town, maybe not, but some of them were clean, updated and did a fairly nice job keeping up with demand - until BB came around - within a year, all those little shops closed up.

    I still go to mini market green grocers for fresh produce as opposed to getting it from the supermarket. I try to hit up as many local merchants as I can as opposed to going to big business. Why? because they are run by people in the community for the most part and if they are good people, they deserve the business - why do I need to give it some conglomerate in Colorado and pay for his 1000 acre ranch? The local guy knows if there is a problem with his merchandise, he knows I know where to find him and therefore make sure he has good product, otherwise 1 or people can close down his business within weeks with bad word of mouth. They have inspiration to provide quality product and reasonable accessibility.

    Try closing down a Walmart or a Target because you had a problem with a product of theirs. it practically takes a town ordinance citing some sort of health code violation to accomplish that to one of those.

    You have a problem with a particular m&p? find another establishment

  12. #12
    Banned gingerlee's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Where the cool kids hang out.
    Posts
    4,103
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mastridonicus View Post
    I say the same thing about the girl playing megatouch who complains about not being able to make her house fees.
    Were you in West Palm Beach last night? I was very happy to be playing the megatouch thank you very much!

  13. #13
    Moderator Optimist's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2004
    Location
    House of Aion
    Posts
    8,074
    Thanks
    7,881
    Thanked 5,705 Times in 2,127 Posts
    My Mood
    In Love

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    ^^^^LMAO!
    “What a caterpillar calls the end of the world we call a butterfly.” - ECKHART TOLLE

  14. #14
    God/dess greenidlady1's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2005
    Location
    North Carolina
    Posts
    4,183
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 14 Times in 12 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I know when a place is a monopoly anywhere regardless of whether it's a corporation or a little "mom and pop" joint a lot of times service will get slack because they feel as though they can get away with it. However, not all small family owned businesses or franchises are ran in a shitty manner. For example, we have a local hardware store which has been apart of the town I live in for almost 80 years. It is family owned and the knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. If I want to have keys made or fix something they spend much more time with you and give more personal service, whereas when I go to Wal-Mart and need help, either I can't find anyone or I get someone that barely knows they exist themselves much less where I might locate a certain item.

  15. #15
    God/dess Andygirl's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2006
    Location
    The VIP room
    Posts
    3,621
    Thanks
    47
    Thanked 187 Times in 58 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by 200singles View Post
    The bad apples should be allowed to go away and die - particularly the ones who view their customers as just someone trying to rip them off I cant stand how everytime I walk in to some of these places, I feel as though there are 20 sets of eyes watching me like a hawk just because Im an american and the infedel. Fuck those places Ive boycotted those little foreigner terrorist-funding holes a long time ago - I now only go into local merchant shops run by known community folk.
    I can't imagine why they would view you as an asshole, oops, I mean "infidel." Damn those little foreigners! Damn them all to hell! I think we should send them to Gitmo on principal. They are brown and speak with accent, therefore they must be terrorists. Hell, forget the trial, lets just hang them all when they arrive to our fair land.

    Give us your tired, your poor, your wretched.............oh wait, fuck that, we hate foreigners!




    Check out my new eBay auctions.......

  16. #16
    Featured Member Hatshepsut's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    USA, in a notoriously stripper-unfriendly city
    Posts
    1,780
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    ^I too have been subject to that prejudice. I'm a petite, dark-haired girl, so I don't get it nearly as much as my 6'4" Aryan boyfriend. I once was shopping at one those Chinatown shops that sell decorations like wall hangings, and I was GLARED at by the elderly man running the shop. He started bitching in broken English when I picked up a jade sculpture to examine it. I shocked the hell out of him by speaking Chinese, after which he was much nicer. However, I refused to ever go back there because of the way he treated me and assumed that I was going to vandalize his store or something. My white friends have faced similar situations. This shit will lose them business, with no pity from me.

    People need to realize that foreigners aren't innocent of prejudice either. Yes, this kind of racism does exist. The problem is they and people like you give them slack for their intolerance, even though everyone would be squawking about intolerance if the situation reversed.
    Last edited by Hatshepsut; 07-26-2007 at 03:29 PM.

  17. #17
    God/dess Casual Observer's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Boston MA
    Posts
    5,670
    Thanks
    35
    Thanked 144 Times in 74 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    ^ Hat, you must have missed the memo; only white people are racist. Get with the PC program, already.



    For the record, my regular Chinese laundry and Indian take-out places are great. They're just as reliable as any good native-run business, which is good, since most of the businesses in my section of town are run by Asians of one stripe or another.

    That said, I have no issue with poorly-run businesses of any kind going under.
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

    William F. Buckley, Jr.

  18. #18
    God/dess doc-catfish's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2002
    Location
    123 Tornado Alley Way, Hooterville USA
    Posts
    6,322
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 36 Times in 30 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    One reason that big impersonal corporate chains have supplanted M&P stores is a very obvious one. Mom & pop have to go home and sleep, not to mention take care of the kids sometime, and sometimes customers need those goods/services at hours which M&P aren't open.

    My parents have owned their own business for 30+ odd years now, and I've considered following in their footsteps on a few occasions. Of course, this would mean pretty much forgetting about taking a vacation for as long as I would be running the store. Regardless of your operating hours, its a 24/7 job.
    Former SCJ now in rehab.

  19. #19
    Featured Member Hatshepsut's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    USA, in a notoriously stripper-unfriendly city
    Posts
    1,780
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    I'm not disfavoring mom and pop places in the least, I'm disfavoring SHITTY ones who feel that they are entitled to be kept afloat regardless of their frequent mishaps. To them, it's like, "Oh boo fucking hoo in C-minor."

  20. #20
    God/dess Mastridonicus's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Paradigm City
    Posts
    6,784
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by gingerlee View Post
    Were you in West Palm Beach last night? I was very happy to be playing the megatouch thank you very much!

    I WAS the megatouch.


    thank youuuuuuu
    People are not ruled by their memories.

  21. #21
    Banned gingerlee's Avatar
    Joined
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Where the cool kids hang out.
    Posts
    4,103
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mastridonicus View Post
    I WAS the megatouch.


    thank youuuuuuu
    Wow, is that why I only had to use a dollar and I got to play for an hour straight?

  22. #22
    Member
    Joined
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    67
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hatshepsut View Post
    ..."Oh boo fucking hoo in C-minor."
    ^^HAHAHAHAHA - Im gonna steal that!

  23. #23
    God/dess Mastridonicus's Avatar
    Joined
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Paradigm City
    Posts
    6,784
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 13 Times in 7 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by gingerlee View Post
    Wow, is that why I only had to use a dollar and I got to play for an hour straight?
    Yea. I tried out for porn, but I was too cheap, and couldn't pop on command. At least here it's not WORK
    People are not ruled by their memories.

  24. #24
    God/dess Bella21's Avatar
    Joined
    Sep 2003
    Location
    SoCal
    Posts
    7,772
    Thanks
    2
    Thanked 40 Times in 35 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    There are good and bad things on both sides. I mean, what about the parking lots for the "big business" stores? (Think, Walmart parking and lines... pulls hair out) >.<

    What is eyebrow threading??
    If you think school is hard, try being stupid.

  25. #25
    Featured Member Hatshepsut's Avatar
    Joined
    Apr 2007
    Location
    USA, in a notoriously stripper-unfriendly city
    Posts
    1,780
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts

    Default Re: Awww your mom and pop shop being shut down? No pity here.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bella21 View Post
    What is eyebrow threading??
    It's when they use a looped thread to remove hair. It's quicker than tweezing, and doesn't rip off skin like wax. It's accurate and gives amazing arches.

Similar Threads

  1. The Pity Dance
    By Shy_Guy in forum Customer Conversation
    Replies: 30
    Last Post: 08-28-2009, 03:49 AM
  2. Shut up, Dad. Seriously. Just shut up.
    By Yekhefah in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 28
    Last Post: 03-08-2007, 04:40 PM
  3. Pity for the Loser
    By TaLlOnE in forum Customer Conversation
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 06-16-2006, 01:26 PM
  4. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 07-28-2005, 07:32 PM
  5. The pity factor....
    By sallylou in forum General Board
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 05-18-2003, 08:23 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •