Bad Customer Service

Have you ever had such a bad customer service experience that you made a vow to never conduct business with that company again?

Well, it has happened to me on two occasions now, both of which involved well-known, Canadian retail chains. It's quite a shame, considering that I try to support Canadian-based businesses whenever possible but the way they treated me in both cases definitely rubbed me the wrong way; they didn't even apologize!

They have now lost a customer for the course of my life and possibly a few more, as I have mentioned my experiences to several of my friends and relatives, and they were shocked to hear about my experiences that they too are reconsidering making future purchases from these stores.

What ever happened to the Customer always being right?
And in both cases, I was definitely right!
In the first case, the store had recalled the product and I learned about it apparently just over a year later. According to the store manager, I was too late; the recall was only effective for a year. Well, they lost me as a customer for not replacing a recalled item I purchased for less than 15 bucks! In the second case, the store lost me as a customer for not replacing or exchanging a broken item that I purchased for $80 and even more importantly, treating me with no respect.

This type of customer service behaviour may have worked a decade ago but I can now easily conduct business with a competitor down the street or online and get a similar product or service for the same or lower price.