I am generally pretty slow to anger, but once I am angry, I am even slower to let it go.
When I was sixteen, I got my drivers license. My parents insisted that if I was going to drive, I needed to get a job and pay for the gas. I promptly went out and got a job at McDonalds, and I absolutely hated the job. Within just a few weeks, I was out looking for a better job, and quickly found one. With great relief, I quit my job at McDonalds.
The new job was at Woolco, the department store arm of Woolworths. They were opening a new store, and I was hired on for the grand opening. They did a day of training for the grand opening, and then turned the crowds loose on us. I worked long shifts at the cash regiter, bagging purchases and sending guests off with a smile.
At the end of the week-long grand opening event, I reported to work, and was handed an envelope full of cash, and told that my employment with them was terminated... and that I had been a temporary employee, hired just for the opening. I was livid. How could they lure people in to work for them, only to terminate them after a week? To add insult to injury, if I was going to continue driving, I would need to get a job again, and quick. I was forced to return to McDonalds, with my tail between my legs.
I swore I would never set foot in a Woolworths again, and I would spread the word far and wide about how unethical they were. I never did set foot in Woolworth's again, and I took great pleasure when they went out of business. I always felt that I had a hand in their failure... and perhaps in a direct way, I didn't, but by sticking to my guns (for more than 20 years) I am sure that I and other people who felt angered or slighted by Woolworths over the years inexorably hurt their bottom line.
They went out of business. They had it coming...
Rat bastards.
Imagine my great joy, when I read in the paper yesterday that another retailer that was on my shit list is going out of business! CompUSA is closing all of their stores and liquidating their inventory.
CompUSA got on my list because of their terrible customer service. When I started my business, I went there to purchase a laser printer, and walked around the store for 45 minutes looking for someone to come assist me with my purchase, but nobody ever came. During that 45 minutes I observed employees playing video games and talking on the phone, but not one of them could be bothered to help me. They were so indifferent to my presence that I was able to open up a word processing document on one of their display computers, and type in a 72-point font, "CompUSA SUCKS! I came in with $500 to spend, but nobody would help me!" I then unplugged the keyboard and mouse, so they would have to cold-reboot the computer to get it off the screen.
That event wouldn't be enough by itself, except that I called them the next day to complain, and I couldn't even get a manager to speak with me. And to add insult to injury, a few months later, as Christmas approached, they appeared to be the only store that had the digital camera that I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO HAVE, so I drove down there, and they wouldn't sell the item to me at the advertised price.
So they've been on my list, too.
I just work very, very slowly.