Archive for 2001

We are both “local” in the sense that we prefer local dives over anything commercialized. But, Applebee’s had a great deal on Mondays. All their steaks were $2 off. At this rate, it was quite affordable on a regular basis. This was their “regular” “special” they had had for months. They also had a great happy hour and had Shiner Bock on tap. (For those of you who’ve never lived in Texas, Shiner is a great Texas-only beer with a German influence. It’s very popular and is often as much as the imports, even though it’s made a couple of hours from here.)Our Applebee’s experience was much like that of Los Nortenos, but in two parts. We arrived as usual on a Monday night. Lori’s favorite steak was no longer on the menu. They had dumped all but one of their steaks in favor of some seasonal items. Now, we don’t expect much, but it was just a steak with Parmesan on it. How can they NOT be able to make it? But, steaks were still $2 off and they do make a great sirloin, so we ate dinner and still went back.

The next trip involved two problems. Not only were steaks not $2 off anymore, they had replaced Shiner Bock for Ziegenbock. When we asked about it, the explanation we got was that they were going for a more popular beer.

Let’s see, no specials and only “popular” beer instead of local tried-and-true-brew?

Dillard’s – any, including dillards.com

Wedding planning is supposed to be a fun time in your life. That was not the case when it came to dealing with our registry or the wedding “consultant” at Dillard’s. They added items to our registry that we did not request. And, they never replenished stock of “seasonal” items that we did want. They still don’t have the margarita set that several friends tried to get for us. Then, when we tried to return items we did not request (like EXTRA place settings), we got both a hassle AND we were only allowed to get “Dillard’s Dollars” for the items. Since they violated the only agreement we had and didn’t care about the consequences, Lori demanded better service. They stood by their “policy”. Lori made several scenes in the store, consulted a regional manager, told everyone she knew, and posted it on PlanetFeedback.com (where she found hundreds of other similar complaints). Dillard’s cares not one bit for the customer or for the future of their business. We have spent our LAST dollar in Dillard’s and have cancelled the card we had there. It’s a shame that employees at a Texas-based company would behave in such a manner.

By the way, Target has the same registry and return policy, so we don’t ever buy gifts there. At least they were nice about it and didn’t add stuff to our list! Plus, it’s Target; it’s easy to find stuff to spend store credit on.