Lynn

We rented a car from Europcar in Ireland (Dublin) and presented their clerk with documentation of our U.S. based Visa card rental car protection plan. Despite the documentation, there was a compulsory $5K hold put on our card for the privilege of renting from them. The agent explained that the Visa card perk would not cover things such as tires and other minor damages, so we should take their 'protection plus' coverage to cover "anything" not covered by Visa and that by having such coverage it would take care of "everything" if there was any damage whatsoever to the vehicle. Protection Plus cost Ten Euro per day. (We didn't know at the time that the Visa benefit is indeed supposed to cover tires/ rims.)
We were surprised to find that the car did not pass inspection when we returned it. The agent inspecting the car said that she saw a problem with the rim on one of the wheels and immediately said she was billing us 190 Euro for it. We took photos of the car when we picked it up, but not distinct close-up images of every wheel rim. (We were unaware at that time of Europcar's predatory practices). So, we didn't deny that maybe some very minor damage to a rim could have happened while with us, but pointed out to the agent that we paid for "protection plus" coverage, so that even if we were responsible for the damage, there should NOT be any charge for it at all. That's when the woman said she didn't even know what the company's "Protection Plus" is! (Talk about stupid!). We couldn't get her to understand that we paid extra for daily insurance FROM THEM, that we were promised would cover 'anything' and 'everything' that the Visa perk would not. Despite our protests -- and having documentation of the additional insurance coverage, she wouldn't budge. When we asked for more assistance, we were told to visit the rental counter where we signed the rental agreement. The gentleman there said that wasn't the place to be discussing the problem and that we needed to take it up with the agent at the car return terminal. He was initially rather brusque and dismissive, until I mentioned that we weren't helped in part because the female agent didn't speak English that well. Then, he was more interested in helping us and gave us information on Europcar's Protection Plus and the purported damage would be covered by it and gave us the phone number for customer service we already had. We couldn't reach anyone at Europcar by phone whilst still in the airport, so, we planned to try again once back in the U.S. We were not able reach a human being via their phone number; the recorded message directed to contact by email to their customer service department. It has been over a week and there has been no response from Europcar. We also sent a duplicate email to their address for reservations, in the hope that someone would respond. Also, on the website, we could not even find a chat option for customer service. So, we have taken the matter up with the bank, to handle the fraudulent charge for purported damage by putting the charge into dispute and letting the bank do a 'charge back' to Europcar. The next step will be to contact the European Consumer Centre in Ireland to lodge a complaint regarding what we perceive as Europcar's predatory business practices.

At one time, one of the best perks about having a Visa card was the insurance provided on rental vehicles when paying for the hire with the Visa card. Many years ago, we hired a car in England and experienced a tire blow-out and the coverage we had through the credit card took care of the cost of a new tire. Although some documentation was required, it didn't seem especially onerous nor did we wait an excessively long time for the refund. Fast forward to 2025... Oh, how things have changed! Beware when hiring a car overseas and think twice if you expect that Visa card coverage will easily handle minor vehicle damage.
We rented a car from Europcar and presented their clerk with documentation of our U.S. based Chase Bank Visa card rental car protection plan. Despite the documentation, we had a compulsory $5K hold put on our card for the privilege of renting from them. The agent explained that the Visa card perk would not cover things such as tires and other minor damages, so we should take their 'protection plus' coverage to cover "anything" not covered by Visa and that by having such coverage it would take care of "everything" if there was any damage whatsoever to the vehicle. Protection Plus cost Ten Euro per day.
We were surprised to find that the car did not pass inspection when we returned it. The agent inspecting the car said that she saw a problem with the rim on one of the wheels and immediately chose to bill us 190 Euro for it. Although we had photos of the car when we picked it up, we didn't have close-up images of every wheel rim (and we were unaware at that time of Europcar's predatory practices). So, we didn't deny that maybe some very minor damage to a rim could have happened while the car was in our care, but pointed out to the agent that we paid for "protection plus" coverage so that even if we were responsible for the damage, there should NOT be any charge for it. The woman said she didn't even know what the company's "Protection Plus" is! (Talk about stupid!). We couldn't reach anyone at Europcar by phone whilst still at the airport, so, we figured that a good way to take care of that would be to contact the benefits department at Chase Bank to put in a claim. That's when we became aquainted with their automated phone system for claims and received information on processing requests. To call the process a pain in the neck would be an understatement. Documents for claims processing by the third party insurer Virginia Surety requires the following: 1) "Statement from your insurance carrier or proof of not other insurance; 2) Rental agency's incident report; 3) Rental agency's 'demand letter'; 4) first and final rental agreements; 5) monthly billing statement showing purchase amount; 6) police report; 7) "primary insurance policy's declarations page; 8) "Repair estimate and itemized repair bill"; 9) Two photographs of the damaged rental car.
Such requirements would make sense for a major collision -- but for scuffing on a wheel rim or minor damage to a tire? Who files a police report for THAT! And bear in mind that the documents sent by Chase Bank say that each of the documents listed are REQUIRED to process a claim! Given that we had no response to our email from Europcar and were unable to reach them by phone, we don't have any documents from them to support their claim that we caused damage to the car. Furthermore, we were unaware of damage to the car, so there isn't any accident report nor police report! So, we decided to handle the matter with the bank by entering a dispute with a charge-back to Europcar for the fraudulent 190 Euro charge. There were also other charges by Europcar that we cannot reconcile with the receipts we have. That matter is complicated by the fact that Chase Bank could not provide us details on the costs we incurred in Euros; they can only confirm amounts in U.S. Dollars (yet they are a multi-national bank... go figure!). Dissatisfied with Chase Bank Visa's claims processing system, I called the bank's benefits management department to report the fact that their system is geared to handling major incidents/collisions and NOT very minor damage such as we were being charged for. The agent I spoke with had a good command of English, but not the wit required to fully comprehend my complaint nor my request that a disclaimer be added to their Claim Processing Guidance document to indicate what specifics are needed for those claims, such as a personal narrative, photo and a bill. She was passively rude and inattentive. I had to ask if she was still there on the line and she repeated some script more than once about the 'required' documents. In this rigamarole, I found that tires/rims ARE covered by the Visa perk -- yet they don't make it easy to claim for them.

There is innaccurate information for eligible returns in the order history that could complicate matters on making a return. Three different t-shirts in different sizes and colors were ordered as gifts. They all look to run a bit small from shoulder to hem, but the one that is labeled size small is so narrow across the chest that it looks like it could possibly be a factory irregular, so the plan is to send it back. However, when I went to the returns page for that three-shirt order, instead of it showing accurate details for each shirt in size/color, it showed three identical shirts in black, size small! My understanding is that Amazon reserves the right to cancel refunds if an item that is returned does not match the label for the item that is being returned. Given that understanding, I contacted Amazon chat to get an accurate return label. The first agent seemed to understand and issued the label -- but for the WRONG item! So, I contacted chat again to get the correct return authorization/ label. So far, though, the return page has not been corrected and it is showing the WRONG items, yet the chat agents each seem to have connected the return label options to the WRONG items shown there. RIDICULOUS!

The summer berry lemonade was rather tasty, but the way they advertise the size of the drinks is a bit deceptive. The 'grande' is actually SMALLER than the largest size available, which is just called "Large."

Trying to post messages sometimes can feel like playing the lotto. Lately there have been "thread closed" messages that amount to censorship. There was a time that links to various websites could be added to a message (to serve as documentation, for example, to demonstrate the credibility of statements made), but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. The folks running that platform don't appear to be 'transparent' in their dealings.

Walgreens pharmacy staff did a very poor job of handling issues related to part D Medicare coverage by WellCare. When the insurer declined a drug and gave suggestion for step therapy, pharmacy staff did not recognize that step therapy had already been initiated ... about 2 months ago! Discussing the situation with the physician resulted in the physician ordering a different drug that was supposed to have been on formulary. Went today to pick up the drug and was told there was another problem with insurance ... that they wanted step therapy! And the pharmacy staff, once again, failed to recognize that step therapy had begun 2 months ago! My frustration was manifest to the technician as soon as she mentioned that the insurer wanted a different drug first, so the pitch of my voice increased. That's when she accused me of yelling at her (I hadn't actually yelled yet) and threatened to refuse to serve me. So then I did raise my voice to say 'Good Bye' and left the store.
In addition to that rudeness, Walgreens has the ongoing proclivity of failing to have enough of certain medications on hand that we have to wait for supplies to arrive and to put up with partial fills on some of the maintenance medications. On top of that, our local Walgreens pharmacy department is now closed on Sunday and sometimes on Saturdays, too.
The only reason Walgreens has merited two stars is because of the courtesy of the telephone agents on the national customer service line.

WellCare should be sued for false advertising in its name! They seem to do little to help people become 'well,' but rather contribute to patients experiencing challenges to health created by the company's delay and denial tactics.
As seems to be the experience of so many other WellCare subscribers, a recently prescribed drug was denied coverage. After spending nearly an hour on the phone with a rather inept agent to try to find out why the drug was denied, it looked like the reason was only the cost and that it is not normally included in the formulary. Earlier I had been able to successfully get an "exception" for an expensive topical preparation with my physician's help. I didn't expect it to be easy this time around, but thought that it would be worth the try to get the exception. I was told by the agent that the medication was a 'tier-three' and the request for the drug would be 'expedited.' It was odd that later in the day I received a call back from the agent saying that the drug was not a "tier-three" but "rather a tier-four" drug. I thought that was a little strange to get a call back just to correct what was said about the tier group for the drug; oddly the cost of the drug was not mentioned at that time. Given the difficulty in dealing with WellCare, my physician's office was busily trying to remedy things from their end to find a way to get me a comparable medication quickly and my physician even offered to do a "peer to peer" consultation with WellCare to convince them to approve the drug. The next call back I received from WellCare was to share the news that the drug had been approved for coverage. Sounds good, right? WRONG. They 'approved' the drug but said that it would cost over $400! I went into a tirade and badgered the agent to tell me just how much money WellCare would be contributing to the cost of that drug... it's only about $7! That's right. They would only be chipping in about seven dollars and change (under $8)! Almost 2 days and who knows just how much aggravation just for a pittance from them! The co-pay for an E.R. visit would be cheaper than the cost of that respiratory medicine! I explained to the agent that they could have saved lots of time and aggravation if they could have first indicated how expensive the drug would be, so that another option could have been initiated. The agent said she would be escalating the matter to a customer service manager of some kind. However, she came back on the line several times to say that they were busy, one transfer to a supervisor got disconnected and then that she had successfully connected the call to someone else, and while wickedly laughing, supposedly 'connected' the call, but there was nothing or nobody there! Bear in mind, I didn't demand to speak with a supervisor! The agent offered that 'service.' They behave like charlatans. For those of you who also have WellCare, do file complaints directly with Medicare. WellCare's inept and potentially unethical behavior needs to be reported and followed up on by CMS. American Senior citizens deserve better.

First off, our room wasn't nearly so posh as shown on their website. We weren't expecting an ultra-luxury hotel, but neither were we expecting something more akin to a motor lodge. The place certainly didn't live up to its 'Four-Star' reputation.
The room was clean, yet uncomfortably humid and stuffy given that it was rather unseasonably warm for this time of year in Ireland. Unlike other hotels we lodged in over in Ireland, there were no electric fans in the rooms to circulate the stuffy air. The en-suite bath was especially cramped, making it rather difficult for two people to be using it simultaneously. Unlike what we Americans may be accustomed to, there were not some of the basic amenities in the bath, such as hand lotion or hair conditioner.
The majority of staff were happy, smiling and eager to serve -- the kinds of people and faces that come of mind when thinking of Ireland as "the land of a thousand welcomes." However, there were some staff who may have been demonstrating overt Anti-American sentiment, because one of us was oddly refused 'pre-paid' breakfast service. We chose to stay at Rochestown largely in part because of the full Irish breakfast that is available and booked our reservation accordingly (two adult breaksfasts). On the morning after our first night of the stay, we had a delightful experience at breakfast, with good food that could be ordered for table service by menu. (We typically like to avoid buffets in Ireland because there seem to be fewer sanitary precautions taken to protect patrons from other's coughs and sneezes, etc. For example, many foods are just out in the open with no covering whatsoever and no sneeze-guards as are often routinely found here in the United States.) The food was savory and delicious and the dining hostess and table server were joyful and acommodating. Given the fine experience we had on the first morning of our stay, we looked forward to the same level of greeting and service the very next day. However, our experience was the polar opposite! The dining hostess greeted us in a curt fashion and had the most dour look on her face. She announced that only one breakfast had been booked and paid for, which was NOT our understanding and directed us to take up the matter with the reception staff. We did and were appalled to find that the reception staff could not locate our reservation. We didn't think there would be any worry, given that we had our booking number. We gave her the booking number but that wasn't good enough! She wanted to see an email from the hotel to us with details! Perhaps the problem had to do with the staff who speak ESL, or maybe it may have to do with something dodgy going on. Rochestown Hotel is not the only place nor the only vendor in Ireland by which we appear to have been targeted as an easy mark for such tactics as being refused service for things already paid for.

In general it is a really helpful site that is easy to use that shares frank and honest feedback from users/ customers. Thank you for making this service available to the public; it is very much appreciated.
The 'verified user' process, though, leaves a bit to be desired. There are individuals whose religious belief systems dictate that they not be photographed and also others these days who are legitimately concerned about online security and identity theft. There should be alternative ways to gain validation without having to share a personal visual image. Perhaps there could be ways to validate individual postings by giving the option to upload receipts, etc.

Here's a P.S. with a shout-out of gratitude to Trust Pilot! Very shortly after posting a review on USPS about problems with international mail delivery -- whoosh! The package is in the local delivery mailstream after being stalled for several days elsewhere. Perhaps it's just a happy coincidence that the box is now on its way. However, I do believe that Trust Pilot's process for forwarding feedback to businesses can be very beneficial!

The product development team at P&G appears to be at it again! They have the proclivity to tinker with good and great products to turn them into mediocre--or worse! -- versions. This appears to have happened with Tide Hygienic Clean liquid. Reviews about the product on the P&G website are unflattering and a response from the P&G team acknowledges a recent formula change for the product. Once again, they have taken a really good product and turned it into something undesirable. That happened years ago with their liquid product for washing delicate and dress clothes. That was a great product that was ultimately discontinued for what looked like no good reason at all. Buying P&G laundry products feels like playing lotto. How long will it be before the product changes or before it just up and disappears? It also looks like P&G cares more about keeping a product development team employed than it does about customers? Do they really do any indepth market research to find out what customers really want and need? Do they actually do any REAL focus interviews with customers to find out what they like? Are they more concerned about appearances and political correctness than they are about producing GOOD products? I don't have any accurate answers to those rhetorical lament questions, but I can say that I feel as though I have fewer reasons to remain a loyal P&G customer than I once had.

Wellcare seems to have many of the same customer-unfriendly initiatives as most insurers do, from failing to publish an accurate formulary list BEFORE the start of coverage at a new year to making patients jump through proverbial hoops to get certain kinds of 'ordinary' medication paid for. Thank God, it hasn't been too much of a rodeo lately to have regular maintenance medications filled and properly paid for, but received push-back and denial when the doc added a new drug to the regimen. When I went to pick up the medication, the pharmacy tech explained that insurance denied the drug and 'suggested' that the doc try a different drug first. Step therapy is common these days, so maybe that could've been expected. HOWEVER... the drug that they 'recommended' be taken first is the SAME DRUG that was prescribed almost 4 months ago for the same condition!!! Neither their system nor the pharmacy's system was able to identify the fact that the 'recommended' drug had already been prescribed and dispensed! When I pointed that out to the pharmacist, that the Dr. was indeed engaging in 'step therapy,' then it was the knee-jerk response ... "you need preauthorization and the doctor has to fill out paperwork!" What good is step therapy when ultimately the doctor has to spend the same amount of time to request a particular drug regardless? What good is having an electronic database at the pharmacy if the insurer and pharmacy don't exchange information and nobody bothers to look to see whether someone has already been prescribed a certain drug?
The folks running Wellcare seem to be inept and profit-focused rather than on what their name implies.

Had been a very satisfied customer of Aer Lingus on our previous trip to Ireland. Oh, how times have changed! If it were not for a few courteous flight attendants, perhaps they'd deserve a ZERO star-rating! Their online booking system is frustrating; it does not indicate that certain seats DO NOT HAVE ADJACENT OVERHEAD CABIN SPACE because those cabinet sections are already filled with necessary flight equipment (such as seat-belt extenders, etc.) Policies regarding carry-on bags appear to be contradictory at times. We attempted to call Aer Lingus to verify our understanding of their policy before boarding the plane, but were not able to reach anyone at customer service (and that was even a few days before the trip.) The food is sub-par and served in particularly miserly portions (which could possibly be a vestige of post famine-related native Irish culture) -- so much so that flight attendants 'ran out' of ice and other items, including the most popular pasta-based dinner item. I over heard some other passengers speaking about a shortage of meals so severe that one passenger wasn't served any dinner meal at all, but received just only a couple of paltry little snacks (pretzels)? and that when she complained to the airline that she was brushed off and received no compensation whatsoever. How in good conscience can an airline do something like that to customers? It's not rocket science to know how many seats there are on a plane and to have that many meals at the ready with a handful more to spare!
And on their smaller aircraft, flight attendants will pour water into cups while standing in the aisle without the cart nearby. I was accidentally spritzed by one of the flight attendants who was trying to pour water for the person sitting next to me.
Cramped accommodations, feeling hungry and accidental sprinklings are the kinds of travel discomforts that could be graciously overlooked. The attitude of some of the flight attendants, however, is NOT.
Although a senior citizen now, by God's grace my mind is very robust, and most of the time so is my body. Yet, at least two flight attendants had interacted with me in a rather contemptuous and dictatorial manner when doing seat checks before landing. Rather than engaging me in conversation in a respectful, deferential manner befitting of the fact that I have lived on this planet at least twice if not three times as long as they have, they barked orders at me. When I tried to explain my understanding of the situation and to make a request (to keep my knees covered for comfort), they continued to bark and 'talk over me.' Each time the conversation ended when I raised my voice in a tone to match theirs. I also felt rather discriminated against because I was singled out for tongue-lashings, when in fact others on board also had their knees covered by coats, blankets, etc. A woman sitting right next to me had a big pile of knitting and a pillow on her lap and no one dared to tell her to put her knitting away! Not sure what reason there could have been to be singled out during the 'preparation for landing' ritual ; throughout each flight I conducted my behavior with gentility and decorum, being sure to express my sincere thanks to the flight attendants --even when their service came up short. One of the ladies on our flight lamented the crass behavior of young people who don't know what it means to treat elderly ladies with respect. Perhaps what I have experienced is just a generational conflict that could have occurred anywhere on any airline? Or maybe it's just another sign of how far Aer Lingus quality and standards have declined.

Lately we've had little success with having items arrive on time. An item ordered back on June 28th with a delivery window between July 9th to the 14th shows on tracking as not even shipped yet! Because it was listed as the only item in stock at that time, I wondered whether the delay was because the item had actually already been sold earlier to someone else? When following up on it, I learned a couple of interesting things about Amazon's policies. They don't have prohibition against third-party sellers posting a single item across multiple retail sites. And, invoice details don't always list the name of the third-party vendor responsible for the sale. The chat associate I interacted with was unable to verify the name of the vendor I had ordered the item from -- the one that was so very delayed in shipping that it caused me to wonder whether it was even available at all. Ironically, that item that was supposed to have been the only one from that particular vendor available at the time, was now also showing on another website as the only one available. Interesting, huh? Also, the same item was also listed as costing $50 more on the other website. Could the vendor be holding out for a better price on the other site? Who knows, but it does look odd.
That oddball delay is probably the worst experienced lately. Some tee-shirts ordered and promised for Prime delivery today are now showing as coming tomorrow. Prime shipping that is not 2-day is so very common now.
Back over a month ago, I ordered items for overnight delivery, free with Prime if ordering over $25 worth of merchandise. So, I placed the order (> $35), expecting delivery between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m. as indicated. However, once the order was complete ("PAID"), the estimated ship date showed up as an entire day later! Not just later on the next day, but the day after that! I contacted chat to report the issue (but also to report a couple of other problems with orders, too) and the agent gave some lame scripted response about letting the 'concerned team' know. That really feels like bait and switch. Given the advanced state of technology these days, you would think a huge company like that would be able to monitor which items can actually be shipped overnight and which ones cannot.
That, however, is not the only disappointment with vastly under-estimated delivery times! I had ordered a gift for family in another state and have noticed that delivery times to locations outside our area tend to run a bit late, but this most recent under-estimation is ridiculous... about 4 whole days later than stated!
P.S. The date of this revised review is 7-7-25. Thank you.

Target's sale policies are discriminatory! Now to take advantage of their in-store promotions (such as the current buy 4 oral care products priced at $3.99 each or higher and get a $5 Target gift card) you must have the Target APP to do so! It's down-right disgusting that they are forcing customers to put apps on their phones to receive sale prices! This is just another of Target's customer unfriendly policies. At one time they had a discount coupon attached to their store brand of antibiotic ointment that we purchased. The cashier neglected to remove the coupon, so we brought the receipt back with the coupon the next day. Target refused to honor the coupon! Target is no longer a pleasant place to shop. They've replaced many of their check lanes with self-service ones and today there was only ONE cashier-assisted lane open! Fortunately the frozen foods I'd purchased didn't completely thaw out during the time I spent waiting in line!

We purchased a large box of Meijer brand baby wipes as we have done many times before. This time we were surprised to see that the individual packages were extremely puffy, as though they may have bacteria overgrowth and had spoiled. So, they were returned to the store. So far, so good, but no apology --just a refund to our credit card. We were surprised to find that what was returned was less than we had paid with tax. The associate explained that was because we had used a 'coupon' on our order, yet the coupon was not for that specific item! The policy would be much more acceptable if a coupon were used specific to that particular item -- that was not the case. The coupon was analogous to reward dollars and 'earned' from having made a very large purchase earlier. Looks like whatever 'perks' they give, they will try to claw them back just as soon as they can!

Popeye's makes it difficult to contact them! The online form requires a 'valid receipt,' but what can a customer do when the staff don't provide a receipt? A note was sent in place of a receipt. Not surprising, but they never bothered to respond. Here is an excerpt from that message: "Please understand the online automated form was filled out as accurately as possible to the best of memory; however, given that the staff neglected to give us our receipt, there is no way to confirm our memory of the specific details. This matter is being brought to your attention because there appears to be some unfair business practice going on.
There is no receipt to upload because the rather rude staff neglected to put the receipt in with our ‘to-go order!’ Was that omission deliberate? Perhaps so, because we made mention of the fact that they refused to honor the ‘three-piece for $5’ nationally advertised promotion, and were rebuffed by staff in a very arrogant tone of voice, saying that they would only do that ‘after Mardi Gras!’ Failure to honor such a promotion is tantamount to fraud. The advertisements do not appear to mention that the promotion would not be available in every location. Engaging in deception—classic ‘bait and switch! – is NOT the proper way to run a business.
Furthermore, your company makes it very difficult to contact someone for assistance. The bot system is onerous and the telephone system requires accepting a text message for further assistance! If you really wanted to help customers, the recording could give those instructions straight away. It seems obvious that Popeye’s is not the company it once was."

So very disappointed! There was a time when Kroger had employees who bagged groceries that actually knew enough about what was going into bags to be careful with them! I purchased a refrigerated jar of Bolthouse brand salad dressing -- a refrigerated product! Surely the product was still cool to the touch when it went into the bag --- that the inept bagger put into a bag of canned goods! Yikes! By the time i got the product home, unpacked the bag and was ready to put it in the fridge, it had warmed to room temperature! Shouldn't baggers be taught the basics about how to group groceries into sacks! Not about to chance eating that salad dressing now that it has been warmed! Furthermore, Bolthouse dressings have flat caps, so you can't tell whether something has spoiled, because there is not button on the top to puff up! So very disappointed!

It has been a long time since I visited the JCPenney store at our local mall. I used to visit pretty regularly when my hair stylist was still on staff at their salon. (I have had nothing but praise for their salons and beauty care staff over the years!). I was so very surprised to see that the look and feel of the store had changed so very much. The layout of the store now resembles discount 'after-market' retailers' locations, such as Burlington Coat Factory, Ross or TJ Maxx. There was a time when I could find high quality reasonably priced clothing and jewelry there-- especially items with those pink clearance stickers! Not so much on this most recent visit. Clothing with clearance stickers were mixed up between other items on special discount racks --but there was no way to know just what those cost before going up to the register, because there were no mark-down or sale stickers on the tags. Perhaps the worst change about the store's 'refresh' or 'remodel' is that they've eliminated departmental register stations and now have just one long lane of registers (think of what you typically see at Burlington or TJ's) at the back of the store, behind the shoe department. Perhaps that change wouldn't be so bad, if customers didn't have to work their way through the stinky -- yes, literally STINKING-- shoe department! The shoe department was giving off a very strong and distinct aroma of plasticizer; chances are that foul smell was coming from a new shipment of plastic sandals or other summer shoes.
Given my recent experience at JCP, I don't look forward to going back there anytime soon. If I want to enjoy the 'vibe' of a place like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Ross or Burlington Coat Factory, I'll go there, where many of the discounted prices are much better anyway.

Typically we have good experiences at Meijer, especially with purchases from the grocery department. Overall, Meijer staff are courteous and helpful. But today, I learned that too much 'help' at the wrong time can sometimes backfire.
We chose to have our very large order processed in a lane staffed by a cashier AND a bagger. We put our items onto the conveyer belt, segregating cold items from others, to make the bagging easier for us and the bagger. (Who likes having meat or ice cream sweating all over other items in paper or cardboard packaging?) The bagging process all seemed to be going very well, until a third person showed up and started putting things in bags with what looked like little attention to how items should be mixed. They bagged a little, walked off and them came back, hovering; it felt like they were observing us rather closely, then began to bag groceries again. Perhaps they were staring because they were concerned by the length of the line behind us? Who knows? Once we got home and unpacked our items, we realized that an item was missing. That probably happened, thanks to the confusion created by the third bagger who just jumped right in, without bothering to ask if we wanted or needed any additional help. (We did NOT!). I can understand the store's desire to move orders along quickly, especially when there are few cashiers and the lines are getting longer (there were no people behind us in line when we approached the register, but there were at least three behind us by the time we were ready to pay for our items). Speed is not the only virtue there is when it comes to processing a customer's order!

We'd always enjoyed visits to Dave & Buster's locations in the past. The food was always good (even if slightly over-priced) and there were lots of fun games. Typically we'd visit at a time during the week when the place wouldn't be jam-packed, so that service and access to games would be better. We decided to visit a different D & B's recently because that location has old-fashioned skee-ball, a family favorite. We expected that with global economic changes this year and by visiting on a weekend that the visit would be more much more costly and food service might not be as good. However, it is other changes at D&B's that caused us to take a brief look at the menu and gaming options and then turn right around and walk out the door!
First, the cost of a blank game card has been raised from two dollars to three. The 'structure' of the 'experience' has changed so that it is no longer convenient to go play games first then sit down to a meal. One of the payment options (roughly $60 ) is a TIMED experience for playing games, limited to just 90 minutes! That sounds like fraudulent advertising, because on the menu it says "unlimited game play" at that price! So how is turning off the card at 90 minutes "unlimited?" We were stilling willing to spend time and money at D&B's at that point, but the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back is when I asked the staff (there were TWO of them standing around right there!) at the entrance podium/desk to take my order for new game cards loaded for 90-minute play. That's when she said, "Oh, you have to use the kiosk!" There were three GIANT touch screens by which orders must be placed. Neither of the first two screens worked, so she directed us to the third one; that one was sluggish and froze. Then she said that she would call the manger or we could go all the way to the back of the establishment to try another kiosk. Say what??? Three that don't work so we're supposed to walk all the way to the back of the restaurant to another one that might or might not work? The manager didn't show up during this time, and we waited at least five minutes or so. Other people began to line up behind us and that's when we turned back around and left.
In general, I don't suffer foolishness gladly! Just how foolish is it a business would have two employees just hanging out at a sign-in station, doing a whole lot of nothing and not be able to take orders from customers? D&B's used to have real live people taking orders from customers. Now they seem to think that having people put their hands all over filthy giant touch screens is a good idea! Who knows just how often they clean those miserable things! Skee-ball is still lots of fun, but I'll probably wait until there's an opportunity at a state fair or something to play it. Dave & Buster's is definitely NOT worth the price and aggravation anymore.