The Consumer Complaints Blog

My experience took place at the Gateway Newstand at the Toronto GO Bus Terminal. I purchased a $2.25 bottle of Diet Coke which, when opened, foamed and spewed all over the place. I went back to the shop to ask for a replacement. The person said fine and replaced it with another bottle. This was did the same, if not worse. I was standing by the glass wall about 20 feet away from the shop when it foamed over, spewed all over me, the glass and the floor. I carried it, dripping all the way, back to ask for a refund. The person became irrate and started shouting at me, accusing me of “doing it on purpose”. When I tried to explain that the smallest movement set the bottle foaming over it shot up again, all over his counter, wall, floor…everything. He became verbally abusive at this point, saying that all we “white people” were the same and that I should leave, he would absolutely NOT give me a refund and I should call the police if I wanted to. For me this was not about the measly $2.25 but about the personal attack on my charater by a complete (ignorant) stranger. I was so humiliated at the way his shouting caused the whole station to stop and turn that I just walked away. I have never in my 50 years experienced such treatment. I am well-educated, a professional, well respected by everyone, and to be treated in such a terrible manner has left me shaken and angry.

I sincerely hope you post this and urge your readers not to give this ‘gentleman’ any of your hard earned money.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I received absolutely horrendous service at a bar this weekend in Richmond Hill called the Crown and Phoenix. It is at the intersection of Yonge and Weldrick. I figured I would share my experience on here because it would be a public service to do so.

I made a reservation for 14 people for Saturday night for my birthday. As soon as we got there, one thing went wrong after another.

First of all, the waitress was not able to even balance a tray. She spilled Coke all over me, thus staining the expensive dress I showed up in and destroyed some of the birthday presents I had received. And I got cut with flying glass.

It was karaoke night there, and the DJ they hired was a pompous jerk. There was at least FIVE MINUTES in between each performer. He actually told one of my friends, who had given him her song just as karaoke was starting for the evening, that the reason why she had to wait almost two hours to do her song was because he did not like the song she had chosen. We only stayed after that because we had a large group of people coming and some of our friends had not arrived yet. Meanwhile, not only did he sing FIVE songs of his own, but my fiance and another friend of ours didn’t get to do their second songs.

The worst part of the evening though? The bill. We had a group of about 14 people, so some people left earlier than others. They gave us a hard time about having separate bills for our large group. However, some people who left early asked for a separate bill for their stuff so that the rest of us were not stuck paying for their stuff. So they got billed for their stuff and paid. When the rest of us left, not only were we billed for the stuff that our other friends had already paid for, but we were also billed for stuff that nobody in our group even ordered!

STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THIS BAR!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

I am one of four owners of a small, but growing business. One of the other owners used his personal credit card to rent some scaffolding from Alberta Drywall & Stucco Supply in January 2011. He 4 months later was putting through his expenses and realized that they used his credit card to process the final rental fees and never sent him a copy of the invoice. He contacted them to request one be sent to him and was told by a female staff member (who seemed a bit put out) that she would look for it and send it out the next day. A week later after hearing or receiving nothing, he called back and spoke to a gentleman about the same request. This time the guy was blatant about the inconvenience of this task, especially because it was 4 months after the transaction and we were “JUST ASKING FOR IT NOW?” When he was informed that the total of this particular transaction was $86.10 (to help him locate it) that is when he went into full chorus of “You want me to spend $100 to find an $86 invoice?” Apparently his wage for the estimated 4 hours he felt it would take to locate our invoice was too much for a customer. When he was asked plainly if he would locate it or not he said “No.” Now the best part about all of this is when I called back to Alberta Drywall & Stucco Supply to see if I could speak to a manager and enlighten them to the attitude that their staff demonstrated to the public and their customers. When I told the office manager my request, he told me that he would have one of the office ladies obtain it and sent a copy to me the next day. I took that moment to tell him of the last response we got not hours prior. That is when he acknowledged being aware of it by telling me “Ya…I know. That was the owner.” I was FLABERGASTED!!!!! I told him that if that is the image that the owner wants associated with his company then all the power to him. It is one thing to see poor customer service from staff that are maybe poorly trained, unhappy with their jobs or maybe just having a bad day, but THE OWNER?! I can assure you that anyone that has a company that thinks that they can pick and choose who they service kindly, poorly or not at all, in my opinion won’t be in business too long. I know that we will not ever be customers of theirs again.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

On February 12, 2011 we ordered a couch from this store with delivery promised in 4-6 weeks. We paid in full, I know big mistake. The couch has yet to arrive. In a mid-March email they had asked us to give them until April 20 to produce the couch, we agreed and asked for full credit if it did not arrive, they agreed. Needless to say April 20 passed, the couch did not arrive, nor was the credit processed. Telephone calls and emails have not been answered, the manager was ‘on vacation’ when we dropped into the store.

Based on our experience, I would advise against dealing with EOS Modern, they have a strong web and Facebook presence, and a store at 9000 Keele St. in Concord.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.

When I bought my house four years ago, I hired Pillar to Post to do the home inspection.

This is a very critical part of the home buying process. Not only do the buyers rely on this report, but to some degree the banks do too.

To make a long story short. The Pillar to Post inspection stated plainly that there was no visible evidence of wood destroying insects. These creatures are better known as termites! The report from Pillar to Post further stated that there was no visibile evidence that the structure or a portion thereof (my house) was treated for termites. I bought the house.

Ok, so here is where the fun begins! It’s now time to sell my house and the buyer’s inspector shows my realtor and the buyers evidence of past termite damage in plain view.

On top of that he shows them drill marks where the termite treatment was applied. That too, is in plain sight, just as you enter the house. Are you kidding me?
Any inspector with basic training should have seen this. The evidence was in plain sight, to the trained eye that is (hint, it should have been to the Pillar to Post inspector).

I contacted Pillar to Post and apprised them of this information. I requested that they re-imburse me for the fees I paid to them. Reasonable enough request.
Not to Mr. Dave Moore, the current owner of the franchise. He basically stated that Pillar to Post is not responsible because they are not required to affirm that there is no evidence of damage or treatment, in spite of the fact that their report affirmatively checked “No” to whether or not “it appears that the structure(s) or a portion thereof may have been previously treated.”

And their report also checked off the following: “No visible evidence of wood destroying insects were observed. When I read this report back to him, his response was well, they are only responsible for 6 months! Can you believe that? How is the average buyer supposed to know what termite damage or termite treatment looks like when the “professional” doesn’t know. If you can’t rely on the home inspection company, who can you rely on?

Not only was Pillar to Post incompetent in doing the inspection, but I believe they are thieves too, because they did not earn my fees. And on top of that they cost me negotiating power (which translates into $). If I would have bought the house, you can be sure I would have demanded from the Sellers a concession($$$$), treatment and a warranty. Which is exactly what the current buyers of my house demanded.
So I had to give the buyers a concession ($$$), pay for an inspection, and treatment for the next 3 years (long after the sell of the house).

Signed,
Telling everyone via blog, email, and word of mouth about how incompetent Pillar to Post is…. aka

BUYERS BEWARE:So remember Pillar to Post is responsible for giving you a report, not for whether or not it is an accurate one.

Disclaimer
This article was submitted by one of our readers. Penciltrick cannot make any claims as to its authenticity but the article was accepted on a good faith belief that it is an accurate and truthful account of the events listed.