My comic book store has really poor service and fairly rude, standard comic book store jerks. However, there’s the Faustian bargain of the 35% discount I get for having a pull list there, and they’re pretty much the only place in my town for comics in the first place. So I put up with it, but I wish I didn’t have to.
<sigh>
I live in a small college town. There is no such thing as GOOD service here, at least in terms of the restaurants. The bulk of them tend to hire college kids who are clueless, or locals who have never left the area and have no idea that maybe it’s a bad idea to bring the entree 30 seconds after you brought the salad. Or that people might get a little pissed if they wait more than 30 minutes after ordering to get their food. Or that rolling your eyes when I ask what the specials are is not that great of an idea.
I have to go back, otherwise I’ll never go out to eat! Small town hell, let me tell you…
Wong Kee’s in Chinatown, London. People actually go there to be insulted.
I went with a friend a few years ago. The food was great, and after the meal (which only lasted about 15 minutes, so swift was the food in coming) we ordered the check. We were sipping Chinese tea, and the waiter came over, slammed the check down on the table, and said “OK please leave, you finished now.” I replied: “Not yet - I’m still drinking my tea.” The guy grabbed the teacup out of my hand, and walked off with it, saying “you finished now,” over his shoulder. Wicked!
Nope, won’t put up with rude service. I try to never reward rudeness. Cluelessness I can handle, though it will eventually force me to try to find the thing I want somewhere else first, but if you treat me like I’m less than you, I won’t go back.
K-Mart. Their staff is reliably rude from coast to coast. But they’re also the most reliable place to find the jeans and slacks I like, in my size. It’s all a matter of tradeoffs.
Aaah, I’ve been looking for a place to push/trash the DC Bread 'n Chocolate. I kid you not, half the staff doesn’t speak English, but more impressively they don’t want to, nor do they want you to. I’ve had servers eye me down from across the counter, daring me to order something. When you finally do get someone’s attention and order something (perhaps not what you intended, but food none the less) it can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours…probably closer to the latter.
If you need a refill you can stop the server, ask nicely for more water, and still not have it when half an hour later she stops by to ask if you need anything. You might think this is one-time flakiness and be inclined to politely remind her. Then you will have the repeat experience and wonder whether you’re stuck in some crazy water-less twilight zone where you speak and it is as if it never happened. You might be tempted to stand up, yell, and generally make a scene over your lack of water. This would be foolish as you will be ignored by the waitstaff and stared at by other patrons who think you are utterly bizarre…
On the other hand, they serve hands down the best potato leek soup anywhere…I gotta raise my standards!!!
God help me, Best Buy. I swear I won’t shop there, but it’s so damned close to my house. I will say that I have occasionally gotten FABULOUS service there–but it’s not always easy to find someone available to help you. That’s the problem–the wait.
Most vegetarian restaurants around here.
Blind Faith and the Chicago Diner are great for “can’t be bothered with customers” attitude.
Green House Cafe in Harvard Square. Occasionally you’ll get a nice friendly one but most of the time you get Zombie Army of the Sullen. Well, I always tip at a minimum of 15% there-I am getting served even if very sulkily and I would probably crack after hours of serving college kids anyway. Besides, it’s incredibly cheap. I’m pretty mellow when it comes to bad service.
Oh and I put up with rude-ass service at McGill University in 3 years from the people in the little building in Dawson? Hall (has been a while). Of course, after I graduate and need certain documents from the Chancellor for law school applications in the United States I deal with his people and they are the nicest people in the world. Special shoutout to Ali, the guy the put up with all the incessant faxing of letters with me.