Landior left a comment on my Disappointing Dior post describing her unpleasant experience at The Bay in Kingston. I always felt that The Bay in Kingston is very unwelcoming, from the second you pass by the cosmetics section to the second you check out.
I believe that as customers (or even just as humans!) we have the right to be treated in a respectable manner. Some sales people just have this bad attitude for no comprehensible reason. Bad attitude, rudeness, carelessness and racism should not be tolerated.
I’ve therefore created a new category called “Praises and Complaints†where Canucks can share their good or bad shopping experiences. You can email me your story ( my email is boo at smartcanucks dot ca) and I will publish it on here as is as long as it’s written for a family-friendly environment (i.e. no cussing). If you’re complaining please feel free to name the specific store where you had your bad experience. If you’re praising please feel free to name the store or even person.
I just want to make it clear that I’m not saying all sales personnel are nasty. In fact, I’ve met some wonderful people who deserve all the appreciation and respect. We want to make sure that it is these courteous people who get recognized, rewarded and promoted 
Here is Landior’s comment about the Bay in Kingston, Ontario:
Dear Boo Radley,
I am the person who came a couple days earlier! I came with my sister, and we were so excited. We had printed off the coupons, but when we went to redeem them the Dior lady said that the offer was only valid in Ottawa, and that they should say that on the coupon. The Dior rep was pleasant, but I generally find the staff at The Bay in Kingston to be EXTREMELY rude. A couple of years ago, the manager of the women’s clothing department nearly brought me to tears. The dept had held a swimsuit for me, because they could not find the price. They took down my number and said they would call, but they never did. I was fine with that, I figured that they had lost my number, and those things happen from time to time. So this time, I found the swimsuit, and explained that I had attempted to purchase it a couple of weeks ago when they were 50% off. I explained that they had recorded my information and the promotion that was on at that time. As soon as I said 50% off, she cut me off, and in a raised voice told me that it was impossible because that sale had never occurred and that I “got [my] information wrong†or that I was lying! She never attempted to look for the record of my having attempted to purchase the item, and her tone, body language…every aspect of her behaviour was very rude. I almost burst into tears; she had treated me like dirt. I walked away at first, but then I went back to the counter and put down the items that I was going to purchase (my entire family has supported The Bay for as long as we can remember) and I explained to her that I had planned on buying those items, but after the way she treated me I would not purchase anything that day, and would think twice before shopping there again. She just muttered, “whateverâ€.
Now, I have worked in retail, and I would always try to serve my customers to the best of my ability. I always tried to score them a deal, and help them coordinate outfits, etc. I made sure I showed them sale merchandise and informed them about freebies/promos/contests. I have had bad days, but I would never dream of taking it out on my customers.
The Bay in Kingston is known for having terrible customer service (understaffed + rude staff). I know that there have also been several reports of racism Apparently a racial slur was used by one sales associate, and black customers received no help (only suspicious looks).
Dana, at Lancome is great about freebies, and she does a great job on makeup, but beware the lady with the British accent–she doesn’t seem to like the freebie idea.
Again, I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you too. I hope that future freebies work out much better for you! Take care, and happy hunting!
Rebates through tigerdirect.ca are iffy at best.….had 2 rebates denied due to postmark dates which was a load of crap. Item was a sandisk mp3 player. Other times the rebates would be extremely slow but would get them eventually. Tigerdirect shipping and products are very well priced and have been happy with the products themselves. However, don’t trust their rebate practices as there are TRULY Shady and Dishonest. If you like the price without the rebate then I would recommend Tigerdirect. If you want to receive rebates from this site.…BEWARE.….STAY AWAY.…..
Carpet City Ottawa… worst service EVER
——————————————————————————–
We ordered carpet from carpet city(flooring canada in Ottawa.
Our carpet was scheduled to be installed by noon on November 27, 2007. We had held up our end of the bargain by having all furniture removed from the area and had been waiting patiently for
the installers to arrive. After they were an hour late, My husband called there and had to explain the situation to several employes
and was repeatedly put on hold with no resolution. He finally go ahold of the salesmen named “MIKE” and he said that he would find out what is
going on and call us within the half hour. After 35 minutes went by, my husband called back and was
put through to “STEVE’s” voicemail. My husband left a message about the installer being late and asked “Steve” to call him back.
My husband called back at 1:45 and was passed through 3 people and was finally told by someone that they would get a hold of the truck and get back to him. The installer
was late as well in returning the call(1:45), but we were told that it wouldn’t be much longer, about 4 pm. The installer called once again about 2pm to confirm that
they would be making it by 4pm.
At 4:10 my husband called the installer directly from the number he called us from, to find out why nobody had shown up yet. Fifteen minutes later, a girl named “CHANTEL” called
my husband back and said there would be more delays.. and so
now we were looking at about 6pm. At 6 pm “Chantel” called back for directions. They did not arrive till 7 pm and entered our house smelling like a cigarette factory!
The installer then proceeded to tell my husband that he could just leave the job for later.. possibly saturday, but he also said that he didn’t mind doing the job right away so we told
him to get started as we were worried that he would be this much trouble to get to us the next time without phoning us!
He complained about the previous carpet repeatedly and again wasted about 20 minutes trying to tell us that we could wait till saturday. We asked him to keep going and he dissapeared to his van for a break
with the other worker he brought with him. They were in their for quite some time so we went out to look for them and they were having a smoking good time in the van. They spent over half an hour having
the first of many breaks. He went back to removing the previous carpet on the stairs and after only 3 stairs.. he took yet another 20 minute break. This continued for much of the night
and my husband and i knew that at this pace it was going to take all night.
When they were out for one of their many smoking breaks, i took pictures of the stairs and the poor job they were doing scraping them. I also took pictures at one point, of the
garbage they left on the stairs and just simply covered over with a poor job of the underpad and carpet.
The installer then came in from wasting several minutes talking on his second long phone call of the evening and complained that he had been working on removing our stair carpet for 3 hours..
which didn’t make much sence cause he had only actually spent less then an hour in the house.
It was after midnight when they finally brought the carpet in from the truck! The carpet reeked of cigarette smoke, and myself and my husband are allergic. It still smells to this
moment, and is going to need a professional carpet cleaning.
they installed the carpet over the next couple hours and at 2:30 were finished. The carpet looks awful. It is lumpy and crooked near almost every wall.. The stairs are poorly cut and
you can see where the pieces are separated. Some of the stairs have chunks that hang over and my 1 year old son pulled on a stuck out piece and we could actually see the stairs exposed.
Our walls had been painted in the last month and there are some very noticeable scuff marks that need to be fixed as well as a couple big chips right through the paint and the wood of the decorater
boards that are going to have to be filled and fixed.
It is saddening, and nobody will take our calls!
Because of a Better business bureau complaint…The president showed up on NOvember 29th/2007. His solution was to buy us some febreeze to mask the smoke smell.. but as we were allergic and contracted for smoke free carpet, i told him it wasn’t good enough. He wouldn’t even offer a professional carpet cleaning and that probably wouldn’t even fix the problem completely. He also offered to have someone tighten the carpet on the stairs only, but as the carpet is not cut long enough and i have pictures of the bumpy underlay, i did not find this to be a good enough fix for us to pay full price for. That is all he would offer and when i refused, he said that he would send a collector after us and stormed out of our house. So please everyone.. don’t order from there. I will send you pictures if needed.
I wonder how to post my bad experience on this Web site
Thank you very much!
I had a very bad experience on shopping at Bad boy finiture store in London, ON.
I bought a dinning room set, when they arrived, two charis of six with 3 legs, and another 4 with surface damaged. The buffet and hunch with no glass hold.
I paid money on July, now it is December, I have not got glass hold and has to leave the finiture there useless.
I have gone to the store on early September and also made many calls, some times they just did not return my call. The last call is two weeks ago, the manager said: the glass hold is in Toronto, he dose not know why have not been here (If he dose not know, how I know), He told me when glass hold is here, he will call me.
For two weeks, from Toronto to London (Two hours drive) I have not get any calls from them ( I have given them my day and night phone number).
I will not buy anything from Bad boy furniture store. My conclusion is: Bad boy furniture, bad quality, and bad service.
I would like to get some suggestions from you guys!
Thanks for reading my bad experience,
Yan
Yan, we too have had a bad experience with Bad Boy. Your location is brand new — as is ours in Kitchener.
We purchased a 2-piece sectional during their grand opening gala event back in early-August 2007. We shopped like any normal couple, were approached by a few sales people — the usual of what you’d expect of any furniture store. When ready we got some help and went with 3-months no payment although the sales guy was trying to sell us 1-year with an admin fee. Anyhow, he took our credit info, I signed a consent — the usual thing. This isn’t the first time we bought something on credit. The guy came back about 15 minutes later and we were told that we got approved for up to $1500. We’d have to pay the balance directly. No prob, we paid a deposit and would pay the prior to delivery. No big deal, we signed paperwork, paid by debit and were told it would deliver in a couple weeks into beginning of September.
September came and no couch. We called in and were told it was there. We went in to square up the balance as they needed payment first — which is again, normal. We get there and a sales manager — not sales rep — asks to speak to us. Actually, the wife stayed in the car and I was the one who ran in. He told me that the couch was indefinitely held up and apologized for the delay…reducing the COD by $100 or so. It was something to help. He said it would arrive beginning of October or into October but wasn’t 100% — we were one of the first ones on the waiting list, waiting.
Never at any time were we contacted by Bad Boy about our sectional — we were calling them following up when their promise dates arrived. The couch finally delivered middle of October. Delivered by 2 guys who were rather young and unprofessional. Done.
December comes and I’m needing to find out why I haven’t gotten a bill from CitiFinancial — the ones who financed us. I didn’t want to be caught off guard that 3 months have gone by but not from when we purchased but from date of delivery. We know some companies don’t update their records especially if there’s a change in delivery. Curious, I called Bad Boy and asked where my statement was — and to clarify my concern. I was told to call CitiFinancial and was given a number. At this time I also called about a seemingly big defect with the couch — it was sagging on the longer piece, cushions seemed squishy, and the 2 pieces didn’t go together very well — a couple legs of the one piece was off the ground a slight bit. Anyways, the call was to take care of all this and find out who handles which.
Calling Citi I was told that they do not do any retail services for Bad Boy. Nor was my name/info found. They said to call Bad Boy and verify that they were the ones who financed me. Okay. Once off the phone I called Bad Boy and after a couple calls, ended up leaving a message stating that Citi has no record of me and what was going on. I was taking initiative to find out where my invoice was because I was not wanting to be caught off guard and secondly, I knew how things ran and that I should have received something for my records. Now this is December for my inquiries. First week.
Bad Boy calls a few days later (Friday, 14th I recall) and I figured it was for the technician to come to the house as I had requested. But they were calling because they had spoken to CitiFinancial and basically told me what I had originally called and left a message to them about — how I can’t be found.
The lady I spoke to — both of them — kept apologizing for their screw up. How they “lost my paperwork”. They had nothing on me. They had my information but nothing that I had signed. She asked me to come to the store to sign paperwork again. At first they had accused me of using someone else’s account and that I had been declined — but wasn’t sure because the paperwork was lost. The whole focus of the call was to apologize and beg for me to come back in to straighten things out. I said no problem for me to come in and sign the promissary note but no way was i doing another credit application — I signed for consent, gotten the approval from both rep and manager who was overlooking the transaction (because rep hadn’t been there long). Everything was verified. The ladies even offered to get us an Ottoman for all the inconvenience. I had no problem going in to sign the promissary note. I wouldn’t be able to make it in until after xmas for obvious reasons.
Still no sign of tech or Bad Boy calling back to take care of that — I call again on the 27th and leave a message. Someone calls back on the Jan 2nd saying they’ll be there 10am on the 4th. Finally.
Technician comes and says the sectional is screwed up — he had to bend frame, undo staples underneath and stretch leather, he said one leg was missing as there was a screw under and that would literally destroy the couch in under a year. He suggested to have it replaced. We call Bad Boy that evening and speak to Norm, sales manager. Different sales manager than who we dealt with initially though. But he said it takes a while to get service and things would work out. You know, the type of talk you’d hear from anyone trying to downplay the problem and buy time.
Jan 5 (today) we go to Bad Boy to rectify about the defects and take care of the promissary note. We get there, speak to Norm and are told we need to do another credit app and we had never done one in the beginning. He said we used someone else’s account and was saying he would pick up the couch if we refused to sign the credit app and promissary note. One of the ladies who I had spoken to about this was there and the story between her and Norm changed at least 2–3 times in a matter of 15 minutes. Saying we just needed to sign the promissary to then saying we needed to do a new application. Over the phone, the lady said we had to sign the promissary note and that was it. Norm wasn’t very professional in taking care of things — even to the point where he threatened that if I refused to do another credit app or “quick app” — where my credit is dinged again — that he’d put a remark on my credit bureau where I’d never get credit again. What sort of sales manager talks like that? He was saying the account we used (like we went and processed the paperwork ourselves!) was not ours and that person’s credit line was for $5000. No, our credit line was for $1500. If it were for $5000 or we used someone else’s line for $5000 why would we be told that we’re only good for $1500 and would have to pay the balance? By default, the entire amount would have been put against the $5000 credit line IF it was being put on another person’s account. At the end of the conversation — I did not sign anything — he said he didn’t know exactly what was happening with our case. My wife was there and she was quite upset but she bare witness to his attitude.
We went through the process of applying and getting credit. No big deal. We were accused of using someone’s account when really, we just sat there and waited for an answer on yes or no with the approval. Bad Boy realized that they messed up and lost my paperwork but given that, should not trying to coerce or threaten to damage our credit because of their fault.
At this point, we think Bad Boy will try to say that we stole the sectional…but after reading this, anyone would see that that would be a joke. We paid for it, paid before delivery, waited extra long for delivery and even made all communication to take care of things and follow up where our statement was. No way could we have stole this because they themselves delivered it and we went with all their terms. They’re merely trying to salvaga as much of their mistake as they can. The lady even told us that Citi paid them off on November 12.
Any comments or something to share?
We purchased a diningroom set for just under $3000.00 in July at the Kitchener grand opening. When it was delivered fully half of the items had to be replaced because of damage. Chips, parts missing and the worst was the table top had forklift marks on the top surface!
They sent replacement chairs and a table top within a week but the second table top was damaged far worse than the first. I found out that this set was made in China and the next delivery date was mid August.….then the end of August…then in the end of September another one with a chunk out of the corner arrived. Once again we waitied.….until January and that table top wouldn’t fit the pedestals!
Every time we were the ones who had to call the Manager Jeff at the Kitchener store to hear the same excuses. Everytime they couldn’t give us a delivery window so I had to sit at home all day waiting. Well last night they called at least giving me a window for delivery. Now we’ll see what happens with this one.…BAD BOY.……NEVER AGAIN! This whole experience SUCKED.
Hi, Fred:
I am so sorry for writing to you so late, because I have not been here for long time. Since 2008 it is the first time that I visit here.
Thank you very much for sharing your bad experience in “Bad boy†with us. I totally understood your situation and frustration, which I have gone through.
After posting my bad experience, I called again and again (I wanted to get my glass holder before Christmas). Finally, they called me back and gave it to me. But I found out that the glass holder was not ordered from the manufacturer, they just simply bought from the local store (I have bought some and realized it is smaller, which did not fit properly and during trying this, I broke my crystal). At begin, they promised they will order them from the manufacturer, but after taking three months they just gave those to me.
I was very anger, but I have to force myself forgetting about it, I really no energy to deal with the bad service. I think I paid the money to learn the lesson. Richard is absolutely right, BAD BOY…….NEVER AGAIN!
Now, I hope more people join us, and also hope that the owner of the “bad boy†knows what is going on in his store.
Hope you get what you should get and Best wishes to you and Richard!
Yan
Hi,
I purchase a coffee table and side table from BadBoy in mid April 2008. At this time I was told that it would take 2–3 weeks to deliver the products. The coffee table was not received until end of May, over 5 weeks. They still did not delivery the side table and the coffee table that was delivered was damaged. They agreed to replace the coffee table after I fought with them about it. It has been three months since I first made this order. I have been telling my situation to a few of my co-workers and they mentioned hearing similar stories about BadBoy. I have emailed this company four times and have left numerous messages without a single response. Their customer service department never answers when I call and will rarely return a phone call. Their delivery schedule is unflexible and will only deliver in the morning,which puts me in difficult situation as I work during the day time. Even when they do schedule a delivery, they were over two hours late and since I live in a condo, the service elevator was already booked for the time span that was promised. There customer service department is of no help and the manager’s response to our situation was cavalier. It is now almost the end of July and I just received the replacement coffee table or the original side table. I have learned a valuable lesson. You both are correct, BADBOY…NEVER AGAIN. I would advise everyone to stay away from this furniture store as you will regret it.
A co-worker of mine told me about this website called http://www.EyesLipsFace.com. If you want to talk about a great customer experience, this site was (and still is) selling all of their make-up for $1.00! I honestly couldn’t believe it so I called their customer service number to make sure I was seeing things right. The lady also helped me pick out eyeshadows that would make my green eyes stand out. I’m usually a fan of inexpensive make-up from Walmart, but this was unbelievable and the eyeshadow advise was appreciated. I’m honestly set for the next five years and it was so cheap. On top of that, my shipment came a few days sooner then i expected, which was a nice bonus.
I purchased furnitutre from BAD BOY the missauga store in 2002, 2 weeks later I noticed that the so called leather was peeling they sent technicians, who clained nothing was wrong, and that one miniuite it was covered and the next my claim was denied, My dining room set same think peeling I was told it was not covered because it is vynla and not leather, however on the back of my chairs it indicates 100% leather, so they finally decided 5 years later to replace it for me, when they sent me my new set it too was dammaged on arrival. it took them a year and 7 months to pick it up, and they have had it for 6 months plus, keep in mind that it has been returned to me twice in that 6 months damamged, I want to speak directly to Mel cause on his commercials he promises to deal directly with you, Bull. Its like pulling teeth, I do have someone I have been dealing with there and he is very helpful however he is doing his job, I love how the service department calls to appoligize and when asked what they are going to do about it they never can help.
Lastman’s Bad Boy Furniture, NOOOO SERVICE. I purchased a Kitchen Aid Gas Range in July 2007 from their Barrie store. We were told it was a good name. The salesman insisted that we purchase an extended warranty. We purchased the extended warranty. Our range’s oven failed to ignite a week before Christmas 2008. We called the service department and noooobody returned our call for two weeks. The customer service department said they would have someone fix it. Another two weeks went by, and I had to call again. They apoligized and said they would have someone service the oven. We didn’t hear anything for another two weeks. The story goes on. Noooobody from head office will return our calls and it is now March 2, 2009 and our range is still broken. There’s been a lot of talk about our tough economic times, I will bet anything, that Bad Boy will not survive if they continue with their poor, non-existent customer service. Their “Golden Promise” isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
We purchased a leather sectional from Bad Boy Burlington this past summer…August 14th..and because it was a rather large purchase ($2000), I purchase the warranty on it.
I decided to p/u the couch myself and as soon as I got it home, noticed a scratch in the leather which would def be hard to repair. I called and left a message with the Customer Service department. When I did not hear back fromn them within a week, I ventured out to the store to advise them of the issue.
The manager advised me that he would call himself and get some answers. Two days later, a member of their “Service” team called to advise me that someone from the repair company would be coming out to view the sectional. The gentleman arrives, takes a look and says right away that he cant repair the scratch. We also show him a popping in the seams that was starting to begin as well. He said that he would advise Bad Boy to replace the entire sectional.
A week goes by…at this point I have contacted them twice. I finally get a phone call saying that they will replace the item but it is not in stock and wont be until October. No big deal, free use of a sofa as far as I was concerned!! I call the first week of October, as I was advised, and leave two messages. I finally get a call back from someone at Customer Service stating that the sofa was on the “boat” being shipped from overseas. When I advised her that we had bought the item partially because it was “Made in Canada”, she hesitated, chuckled and said, no, the item was from China..LOL.
We were told it would arrive the first week of November.…still nothing. I called them yet again and was told it was not in stock. I finally got a return call for re-delivery for today..yippee!!!
And one more thing, my wife was taken by the sales lady (Diane) in Burlington who had promised to sell her a matching ottoman for $50. She said she had only had it a month, but didn’t have room for it. When we called her three weeks later as Diane had requested, she told my wife that she didnt think we wanted it and had to “sell” it to another customer in order to “get” the sale.
The whole experience has been pretty shitty!! I have been in the hospitality for a long time and this would not be acceptable. I would be throwing compensation around like crazy!! The only good service in this whole issue has been with the Manager at the Burlington store (Carlos) who initially took ownership of the problem and called corporate.
I had a frustrating experience with ordering a stroller online at ToysRus
…I found a double stroller i wanted at my local toys r us store in Edmonton, AB. The price tag was $270.00 so I decided to hold off on the purchase for a bit and look around more. I looked at their website when I got home and it had the stroller on “sale” for $220.00 (with free shipping right to my door) if you orderd online only and that day was the last day of the sale. So I orderd it and said i would recieve it in about 3–5 days.
3 days later i got an email saying it was backorderd and they didnt know how long it would be. I wanted to start using the stroller right away since i dont own a car and that was going to be our transportation everywhere, so i went back to my local store, bought the stroller there at regular price and planned to return the stoller that I orderd once I got it but using the reciept from the stroller i bought in store. That way I could have the stroller right away but still get the price i was promised onlie.
Every week i would call their customer service 1–800 number and ask if they knew when i would get it yet? Which by the way their customer service # isn’t even run by Toys r us so they never really knew anything about their store, their sales, etc. and the local stores had no way of accessing info. for online orders and knew nothing about the website.
After 3 weeks I called again and they couldnt find my order, it turns out they had canceld it without notifying me because I orderd it and after my order it went to backorder instead of ordering it when it was already backorderd…or something like that which made no sense.
They replaced my order and still promised to give me the sale price i was origonally given. After another week i still had not recieved the stroller so I called my local store to see if they had them in yet…and they said they were just loading them off the truck then. I expected mine to then come too the next day.
When it hadnt come i called the customer service number again and they once again didnt know when it would arrive. I told them that i called my local store and was aware that the store recieved more the day before. I asked if i could somehow just go to the store and pick one up from there for the price i was promised which would actually save them money too since they wouldnt have to deliver it to me. There was no way to do that since their stores and websites are completely unrelated to eachother.
A couple days later i noticed Toys r us was having a “trade in event” where you bring in an old carseat, stoller. etc. and they would give you 20% off on a stoller, carseat. etc.
I found an old beat up stroller i could bring in and called the store ahead to make sure they had the double stroller in stock.I had to call all 4 local stores and nobody had them in stock except 1 store had the display stroller that they would sell me. So I went to go pick it up, and trade in a stroller for the 20% off. The display stroller was a little scuffed up and obviously used a bit from customers testing out. It also didnt have an extra attachment for the parent cup holder console it normally comes with as well as the manual, warranty, etc. So I got it and went straight to another local toys r us store and returned it using the receipt from the same stroller i had bought right away at the origonal price. I finally got the sale price i was promised after a month and a half, although i did have to find and give them a beat up stroller, spend a good bit of gas money driving around, and frustrating phone calls and no help really from anyone. Not too sure if all added up to be worth it in the end although i am happy with the actual stoller i purchased. What a hassle, inconvenience, no support or help, and they never actually lived up to the sale price i was promised. I was happy to get that all out of the way and go home to cancel my online order!
Sorry if this gets very confusing but that was my experience with ordering online at Toys r us.