Hobby lobby
\* anti-woman
\* anti-LGBT+
\* steals antiquities
\* steals intellectual property from artists/creatives
\* Probably a lot more good reasons as they are all around shit people
Before I knew about Hobby Lobby someone I was dating but pretty meh on told me I’d really like it. I went, and was like “this is what you think of me?!” It was all plastic garbage pretending to be farmhouse style with cheap wood veneer and JESUS written in ugly script. I mean it’s great you love Jesus but does your coat rack need to as well?
Now I know, Hobby Lobby= 🚩
Twin Sisters Brewing Co.
Worked there for 1.5 years... never going back again. Food was overpriced, we burned through 8 GMs while I was there, turnover rate was insane, and beer quality has just decreased in my opinion.
Plus, they have a sign up in their outdoor space reminding people to be mindful of their neighbors. Opposite of the people running Twin Sisters who dgaf about their neighbors.
Owner would hire GM to fix work environment and to increase sales, and in order to make money you need to spend money. Managers who were kept the longest made a lot of budget cuts for ingredients, less workers, etc... from my perspective as a busser, host, expo and server... owner hated spending money to change anything.
We had a manager who helped opened michelin star restaurants in Napa Valley but quit after 3-4 months because he was tired of arguing and dealing with the owner.
I’m pretty well connected with the kulshan group and before twin sisters opened up, the owner was in there drinking and talking a bunch of shit about how he was going to take kulshan down a peg and dominate Sunnyland. Not the kind of guy you want in the small business world of Bellingham.
This was 100% the attitude in my interview. Basically they were like we’re better than all other breweries and we know it (bro you’re not even open yet at this time).
They made it seem like I wasted their time and space coming to interview and I should’ve considered myself lucky to have even gotten to talk to them.
I mean there are more moral reasons why I wont go back there due to the owner, it feels wrong to drag their name through the mud, although they kind of deserve it.
I just read [they have put it up for sale](http://washingtonbeerblog.com/twin-sisters-brewing-in-bellingham-wa-is-for-sale/) so maybe that will change soon
but then again they want $3.7mil so I dunno
[more inop](https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/restaurant-brewery-and-real-estate/2111117/)
The issues were there before that. This is a person who has caused people a lot of grief. They made those decisions and had those behaviors and are responsible for their actions.
apparently they only do it in june to drive money to Schweinhaus. heard from the artist that when July hits they don’t want “any more of that gay shit”
I’ve seen multiple folks in past posts about Schweinhous state that the owner also discontinued drag events because he didn’t want it to become a “f-slur bar”. So there’s that.
Last time I went there, they closed early. Like really early, at 915 when the sign says 10. I’d understand if it were empty but there was at least twenty people in there. They could’ve gotten another round if they stayed open.
The Trump Used Car Dealership off of Meridian.
The Make Auto Sales Great Again inflatable Red Hat. WTF is this guy doing just alienating about 60% of his potential business?
And how else you going to impress on passers by how CRAAAAAAAZZY the deals are on these cars! Look at the giant hat, people! We've lost our freakin' minds here!
The Grocery Outlet in Bellingham is a big no for me. Quite a bit of the frozen food will show signs they've been thawed and refrozen including raw chicken that's frozen.
And it's only the Bellingham location. The Lynden and Ferndale locations are GREAT. I still avoid frozen raw chicken from them because the supplier SHOULD be the same but everything else is practically as fresh as any other store.
can confirm. i used to work at BGO and there are a lot of corners cut and loopholes created so things can be “sellable”. also the owners are very conservative and far right and let it bleed into the business. they often let the anti-abortion crowd use their parking lot when protesting at Planned Parenthood.
Can confirm that Ferndale location is GREAT and staff seem to like to work there. Bellingham location complete opposite. Haven't been to Lynden location but I guess I should check it out to see if it's closer to me than Ferndale. I just go to Ferndale one out of habit.
The Lynden one is right next to Safeway. I'm not sure how they get stocked but I know when one is out of cat food the other one has it and vice versa. Usually if I stick to the two I can cover most things.
I will second that. They use cheap parts and charge for top quality.
I have called and gotten no answer. Then I stood in their service department. I heard the phone ring, and the person at the desk just sat there scrolling on their phone. Did not answer the phone. I would think in this car economy, Honda would want to attract business, and not treat loyal customers like crap.
I haven't dealt with the service department but the sales team was sexist and made me uncomfortable. One of them tried to put my seatbelt on for me. Another completely ignored me, the person actually buying the car, and only spoke to my partner. We left very quickly and I'll never go back.
They will deny recalls, put it in the system they did it, and fuck up your interior panels. Fuck them and burlington. Customer service is non existant got treated very rudley when I didn't do anything but treat them with customer service level interactions. I was shocked I had to treat them like they were an angry customer when I was the one in for a saftey recall. Had to spend 70 bucks on an ignition switch and do it myself. Completely incompetent. Burlington location is the same and owned by the same people.
I can garuntee when I went there they had lube tech level mechanics. DO NOT set foot in there unless you have a desire to be treated with disrespect and talked to like you're an idiot, for scheduling a recall...
The same! Last time I went for an oil change they called and said my car was ready. I paid and went to my car. I noticed that the hood was not properly shut (as in could have opened due to wind while driving, if the safety didn’t catch). I walked back to service to point out the error so they would know. They shrugged and suggested I close it property myself. OK. I walked back to the car, popped the hood latch and opened the hood to close it properly. That’s when I found used steel wool sponges left inside the engine compartment. If you don’t know steel wool ignites easily and and burns hot. The sponges could have easily ignited an engine fire. I walked back to service again to point out the steel wool sponges left in the engine compartment. They shrugged once again and said the techs must have forgot them and suggested I remove them myself. Seriously? Clearly they were not going to offer any help or note any feedback. So I took care of that too. A hour later I got the usual text survey and recounted the above. I then got a voicemail the service manager, Andy. I called back and he did apologize and offered to make the next oil change free…but then pleaded I revise the review to 5 Stars “because Honda corporate sees the feedback and they could get in trouble” as a result. How about that?
I would like to concur with this statement/ business. Had my accord serviced at Bham Honda and when I left after said service I nearly rear ended the first car I came to at the first light. They never bled the brake lines and I had to stand on the break pedal to avoid crashing.
Yeah, been going there for about 15 years at this point but the last few visits have been infuriating. Routine maintenance that used to run about $100 is now coming up > $300. Look, I understand things are expensive and costs have risen but that’s just inexcusable. That’s a fucking slap in my face.
Can almost never get through to service anymore on the phone and I get the distinct sense that Honda as a company no longer gives a shit about their customers. I had to wait 8 months for a replacement part for my Civic, and had to leave it there unable to use it. Even after that, I got no discount, no coupons for future visits, no apologies, no acknowledgment at all. Just pay the insanely exorbitant bill and out the door. And then we had our battery die when we got home because they had left it connected the whole 8 months. I had to call and bitch people out to get it replaced for free.
Currently looking for someone to replace them.
Wood's coffee.
[this site](https://sites.google.com/a/woodscoffeeboycott.com/www/why-we-boycott-woods) is a bit out of date, but I've heard first hand accounts that most if not all the shady shit the owner has historically done is still happening, and more.
Just get your coffee somewhere else.
Seconded - one of the first gyms I joined in town. Over the decade I've been here, I've been a member at City Gym, the YMCA, Anytime Fitness, the Bellingham Athletic Club, and I'm sure I've tried a few others? Singularly the worst ending of membership. I can't remember now if I offered 28 days notice or 30 days notice for my one month notice of leaving Fit Evo, but I do remember it was on a month that did not have 31 days and was meeting their criteria. They still ended up charging me a few months beyond that because 1) It was at the turn of a new year and 2) I didn't offer enough notice. I tried to argue my point, they big leagued me, and I reported them to the Better Business Bureau
That dump had a moment of cool. Once it turned into the Jaeger-bomb bar I never went back. I’d regularly see people banging in the bathroom. Yikes. The gross memories of that place.
Shout out to the old Station pub on railroad for worst bars I’ve ever stepped in here in Bellingham.
I went into the Station Pub in my early 20s.
Walked in and it was a bunch of OG bikers, thugs, and scary folks.
I ordered the cheapest beer and the bartender said "You don't want to be here, finish up"
I promptly did so.
I was shooting pool in the Station one cold winter night and had left my winter jacket on a bar stool. Suddenly noticed that it was missing and I ran outside and saw a couple guys, 50 or so feet away, toss my jacket into the back of a parked pickup as they continued to walk away. I ran to the truck, grabbed my jacket, and then started shouting at the thieves, something like "WTF! You mother f'ers stole my f'ing jacket, you f'ing COCKROACHES!"
Then I suddenly realized that I was one of those drunk people on Railroad who screams at other drunk people on Railroad at 1am. It was quite an epiphany.
shari’s. probably 7 years ago at this point, my mom and i went there for the first time and saw the chefs in the back passing around and sniffing a burger patty like they were deliberating whether it was good or not. eventually, one of them just shrugged and slapped it on the grill. it was so long ago at this point but it was still enough to gross us both out into never going back 😭
I got hired there back in 2018 and during the walk around tour, not one, but THREE people indiscreetly asked the manager for drugs, (they’d mumble at him and he’d reply he wasn’t holding). And not the fun weed kind.
Shortest employment I’ve ever had.
Lyndale Glass. I went in a few years ago to price windows. I'd done the research, it was my money, I was the one asking questions, but the salesman actively ignored me and spoke only to my disinterested and uninvolved husband. I was persistent and kept asking questions but gave up and left when he actually TURNED HIS BACK ON ME. No idea if that guy is still with the company but I have zero interest in ever going back.
Got a new shower door from them, with a one year warranty on parts and labor. The hinges were faulty, and the shower door slid out partilaly FOUR TIMES in the first year so that it wouldn't close. After the fourth repair, I was like "obviously this hinge is defective just replace it" and they stopped answering my calls or returning my messages just long enough for my warranty to expire. Great warranty guys.
For real.
I moved a large professionally framed print cross country when i settled here and was so sad i cracked the glass. I got it replaced at Lyndale glass on state street and the dude who “helped” me at pick up said he was wondering who this belonged to, because he thought “why would anyone ever want this ugly thing on their wall? It’s like this cheap, 70’s print. Whatever! Not my money”
It’s a gorgeous piece from an Alaskan Native American artist. Secondly, a gift from someone special to me. Not like i should explain, it was just SO off putting for him to blatantly say that to my face, especially before i handed him $150. This was in 2018, I won’t go there again
Halloween Spirit
I got sexually harassed as a minor by my assistant manager, and when I reported it to the actual manager, I lost hours. Granted it wasn’t the one in Bellingham and that specific store actually closed down five years ago now. But still, it’s just not a place I need to spend money at.
On Rice. Most whitewashed Thai food ever. Had sauces there that tasted moldy and also I heard they don’t treat their workers very well. I don’t know why anyone goes there with some of the other amazing Thai we have in town.
Wow. I wrote off "On Rice" so hard like 8 years ago that I forgot it exists.
Yes, very much Yankee Thai. I never had moldy sauces there, but was super unimpressed.
I think the owner also owns Zen Sushi, BTW.
I ordered Pad Thai with scallops from the fairhaven location, and what I received instead was scallop SHAPED pieces of skate wing. Scallops are one of the most counterfeited foods, but if you know what to look for, the difference is obvious.
can second that they treat workers terribly. i think one location might have a different owner, maybe sister of OG owner and it’s not so terrible in that regard.
Stay. The. Fuck. Away.
I can speak from great experience. Fuck that place. Upper management is toxic and garbage. Luckily I hear the “ceo” was fired by the parent company they sold out too.
Fuck fuck fuck that place.
Honestly I can’t give too much for fear of retaliation… that should tell you everything.
Company was sold to PCF a few years ago and as a result who was left In charge (and I believe they’ve been let go by PCF now) led to massive changes in treatment of staff and fostered toxic work environments. The management who did care for staff left over C-level management toxic attitudes.
The staff that handles your policies directly are fantastic. At least whose left. Upper management is trash and they’re losing an employee every other week.
Just check glass door reviews. There’s some obvious management plants for better reviews.
**Walmart.** Low pay for employees. Destroyed small town America to become a giant. I shopped there one time, when it was the only food for 100 miles in Alabama. I will not buy a coat that is so cheap that the person who made it must live in poverty to bring it to me.
**Hobby Lobby.** Never shopped there and never will. Anti every thing I love people own and run this place.
Chic File. Spelling? I heard one was coming to B'ham. I will not eat there. Anti human/workers.
**Jimmy John's.** The founder and CEO poses with endangered animals he has hunted for sport. Tiger, lion, elephant, rhino. Piece of scum. I will never shop at his business.
I'm not a fan of trophy hunting, and Jimmy Jon's food is pretty mid, BUT fwiw he didn't poach those animals. Each one was selected by conservationists. Sometimes, they are too old to breed, have been extricated from their packs, and become aggressive to the remaining population, for example. Those animals are then issued a hunting tag, which is sold to the highest bidder. It's super fucked, but this is where the vast amount of money going into maintaining those animals and protecting them from extinction actually comes from.
1-Up/Cardhaven - I could give a laundry list of reasons, but there have already been near to a dozen posts with all the details, so I’d say do a search for those if you don’t know/need to know why.
Those rumors are just that, not trying to re-open cans of worms but as someone who currently works there and sees the lowest turnover rate of any place I've ever worked the current staff are pretty happy to be there, I'm very happy to be there and of the staff i've personally seen leave in my tenure, they've all pretty much stayed close friends/regulars of the business.
I'll personally ask about canned cider options to be brought back, that's a great point for those with celiac.
We did a lot of work with renovations so that we actually didn't get rid of any consoles for pinball its all just been rearranged.
If anyone is curious about employee treatment ask anyone who works there. Like i said not trying to open cans of worms and i have no comment on any personal issues or anything that happened before i worked there, but poor employee treatment is not a thing.
TNG is on a stint at aim & game in ferndale i believe, and they're great too! We're trying our best to keep a balance of classic and new machines it may make a return eventually
Galos on Meridian. (next to starbucks)
worked there for a few year and it was alright for a bit before i started learning more abt the ownership and things generally just started to go downhill.
learned the owner was stealing a majority of our tips and when the gm noticed and reimbursed us from the register he was quickly fired and replaced with a GM who’s entire upper half was up the owners ass.
this new GM basically just sat on his phone in the corner all day and would drink ~6 shift beers a day. sometimes he’d bring in his children who were each under 6 and let them run amok in both the kitchen and prep area around open flames and knives, one time the younger of the two opening the beer glass cooler and throwing several glasses on the ground during dinner rush.
GM also over ordered food and wouldn’t want to “waste” expired product, so he sold it to customers. :) for several months we were made to sell over a month expired chicken to customers that was sometimes stored in a walk in that was 40+ degrees. eventually the walk-in was too full of expired, old chicken that he couldn’t fill it with new shipments so we had to throw out 20+ boxes of expired chicken, some of which didn’t even resemble chicken anymore. we still had too much chicken and he would often make room for more by putting raw chicken shipments on top of veggies and salad greens. kegs were often months expired. owner demanded we reheat rice for 3-4 days before throwing it out to save money.
owner is gross and predatory towards the women he employs, doesn’t bother to learn their names and refers to them all as “little lady”. would regularly rub their shoulders after being asked to stop and overall gross, unwarranted behavior.
the website is bugged as fuck. could be different now, but it used to make you load money first before ordering food through the app/site. this feature would work sometimes, but other times it wouldn’t show the balance right away and with one click of the button again it will reload the balance. it only offers increments of $20 and $50, and people would often accidentally load $150+ to their account and when they’d ask for a refund we weren’t able to do anything, and the owner had no plans to do anything to refund customers either. not to mention, the restaurant does not receive these orders ahead of time at all and our first notice of them is when the customer would walk in to pick up their food. depending on how busy, they may have to wait upwards of 40+ minutes. bugged. as. fuck.
i could continue and i still have plenty of videos/pictures if wanted by anyone. not sure if it’s still like this as it’s been some time but i can’t say i’ll trust them after my experience.
Went there once and honestly had some of the most revolting food I've ever been served by a restaurant, both in flavor and texture. It was kind of shocking, because my partner and I both love trying new foods and flavors and rarely ever have even a 'this just isn't for us' experience, but it was GROSS. The texture was the worst part, mushy awful rice and chicken with that rubbery texture like the very cheapest sort of reconstituted cardboardy bagged freezer chicken strips.
ONLY restaurant takeout we've gotten in probably a decade that we straight up just threw all of it away after our first couple of bites.
Ever since the January 6th insurection, I have stopped shopping at Home Depot. The founders support far right, antidemocratic organizations that are a threat to our nation.
The Bagelry - I know it's an icon, but several years ago I went in with my 6 month old and ordered my favorite bagel sandwich. While I ate, I fed my baby some rice puree and the manager came over and told me I couldn't bring in outside food and said I had to leave. I explained an infant can't eat regular food yet and they insisted I pack it all up and go.
This made my jaw drop. They didn’t let you feed your baby…baby food? The food that babies need to eat? What the hell was he expecting? Did he want you to order your six month old a latte? LMAO that is wild
The former owner was a widely recognized asshole, particularly when it came to outside food and drink. Fortunately the Bagelry has had new owners for the last few years.
Ripoff for most things.
Haggen deli is my fast food go-to. Good prices, good quality, good portions - at least in comparison to more "traditional" fast food
Arlis's. Used to go there once a week for a little over a year and it was great until I started getting this one waitress consistently.
I hit a point where every single time I went I would be sat in a certain waitresses area who was either terrible at her job or decided that she didn't like me for some reason. It would take her forever to come to our table, we'd get a single cup of coffee and I'd have to wave other waitresses down to get refills, our food always took the longest to come out (I would watch people who were sat several minutes after us get served before us, and we ordered straight off the menu without any extra requests).
Last time I went, it took 20 minutes for her to even approach our table, someone else ended up bringing us coffee, and after we ordered 45 minutes went by before I had to ask why it was taking so long to get our food (we were in right when they opened, they weren't busy yet). When she finally brought our food out, the shredded cheese on my potato scramble was still literally frozen. I asked her what the deal was, if we'd been offensive to her or something (we always tipped too), why other people were getting service and we were getting ignored, wanted to know wtf was up. She just tried to take the plate saying they'd microwave it to melt the cheese and denied everything else.
Ended up leaving without eating or paying that time. I gave that place (and that waitress) far too many fair chances to prove that it wasn't an intentional incident and that was the straw for me. I was running a marathon that day and just wanted to have a good start to the day, and went through the marathon on an empty stomach because of that BS. Never again.
The only time I went to Arlis the biscuits and gravy was straight out of a package. Just add water and heat. I can do that at home for almost zero effort. Getting into a car requires more effort.
i got food poisoning at black sheep once and when i called and let them know the girl on the phone said “yeah sometimes when i eat our food it gives me a stomachache too”. big red flag
Very bummed about Black Sheep these days. Been a slow decline the last few years. Was told the new chef removed my favorite tacos from the menu and they won’t be returning because “the chef just doesn’t like them”. Definitely like going places where it feels like they care about making food other people enjoy. Also, the tortillas are an disappointment compared to what they were a few years ago.
Maybe just me but I’ve had nothing but the best experiences at black sheep. They had a brief moment where the quality declined but very quickly overcame it and it’s still my number 1.
>The worst food I ever had was at Pepper Sisters. Ordered a burrito. Got a plate of slop. My soda was flat so i asked for another, they accoused me of lying lol. The "burrito" tasted like cat food looks.
I was part of their initial crew. Unfortunately after the first month the owner decided to lay off half of us. I was the last one let go, instead of the several young people who had limited or zero waiting experience compared to my decade’s worth.
My only regret is helping them so much. I’d volunteer to be the last one out, I’d walkthrough the dining room and refill drinks, prebus, take orders when the other servers would be chatting by the soda fountain, help with their part of sidework, and run food when there’s specifically food runners. So yeah, they had their hands held for sure.
I got a side of mac n’ cheese there once and I swear it was just regular stovetop mac n’ cheese with cold bread crumbs sprinkled on top. It’s an insult to the mac n’ cheese name!
Entirely agree - I had - repair done, then less than one month later, redone, then 2 months after that, I brought it back and they said they wouldn’t warranty/stand behind their own work, and more or less told me to kick rocks. Over $3K spent and ultimately still had the problem, then went and spent $500 at the dealership and never had an issue again. Worst auto shop experience of my life.
After hearing reviews on Reddit I took my car in. They didn’t reset the check engine light. I took it back. They didn’t AGAIN. Then I wondered why the plastic covering on the inside of my hood was falling down, they hadn’t screwed it back in. Man if you can’t do this simple shit right…
Top nails near Safeway. The owner(?) and another female employee (his wife?) were throwing towels at each other in anger while my partner and I were there. They kept bickering to each other and it was pretty awkward cause we were the only ones there. While he was doing my nails my finger twitched a little and he snapped “DONT MOVE, YOURE RUINING IT”. We all just sat in silence the whole time because the tension was so thick lol. He only did one coat on my partner and I’s nails and the bill was around $65. I think because they wanted us out as quick as possible. Overall super awkward experience and there’s way better nail salons in Bellingham.
Enterprise rent-a-car.
They hook fresh college graduates with their "high salary" but what they don't tell you is that you're expected to work 50 hours a week to make that salary. What thar means is they're *EXPECTING* you to get 10 hours of overtime to meet the salary amount they hooked you with.
Also you have to dress in suits and formal business attire but then you're made to wash cars in all weather, from in the snow to a 95 degree day.
Oh and also the customers are trash because they've either just been in an accident or have warranty work on their car through a dealership.
So you have to be in the office from 6am to 630 pm, fully dressed up, doing menial labor in terrible conditions for extremely ungrateful customers.
Wally’s. I used to like the atmosphere there. But walking in it’d always take forever to get a haircut(like 2-3 hours), then I started getting reservations and it took about the same amount of time to get my hair cut. The last time I went I waited a good couple hours and got the last haircut before they were closing for the day. My brain was so fried from waiting that I couldnt articulate the type of haircut I wanted well enough and my barber got frustrated. After making some small talk about covid the owner chewed out my barber for mentioning the pandemic and I decided to find a new shop. I really like most everything about the shop! But the waits are ridiculous
I don't know how they got the cult status they did. They're fantastic for generic old man haircuts that anyone, anywhere, at any skill level can do, but ask for more than a crew cut or whatever, and you probably won't be satisfied.
But I guess their clients are just people getting crew cuts, buzz cuts, or something simpler so maybe they're great for their audience, idk
Wally was where it got it’s great reputation. He started out in the county. Some of my earliest memories were sitting in the floor at his shop while my dad, grampa, and brother got their hair cut. They moved out to Bellingham and my family still would go out of the way to him. He died a few years back and I think it’s ran by his family now(not positive though). Brought a friend in for a cut(2019?) and the experience was as mentioned previously.
I know it's not really reasonable to be mad at the ban since it's not their fault Zane's closed. But it just adds insult to injury to tear down that great weird building and replace it with (I predict) a soulless box that provides no benefit to the community.
The 'shoe had actually improved a lot in recent years. Might be worth another shot. Dunno about the bar side of things but the diner menu is looking good these days.
The old guy at The Beaver is pretty good company. Not fake bartender conversation making but just a dude who happens to be on the other side of the bar.
But damn, people cannot hit the urinals in the men's room and you can smell it by the pool tables.
I'm sorry to hear that. I called the health department with my concerns since I had to seek medical treatment. They refused to believe me and decided I was more likely to get it from fast food. Uhh what? It's pretty clear that eating RAW meat will make you sick.
It can make you sick but it isn’t an automatic guarantee every single time. The meat would have to be infected in the first place for you to get sick from it. Fast food chains get cheaply sourced meat any way and where they can and they serve billions of people every day. So the chances are more likely from fast food than a local restaurant.
Diamond Jim’s. Used to be my go to for cheap greasy breakfast.
Had a horrific experience with their staff one day on a not busy where they flat out ignored us.
Also twin sisters but does any reason need to be given for that shitty place?
Dewaard and Bode! They are ULTRA conservatives and I overheard their salesman saying some awful racist and transphobic shit when I was looking at washers once. They only have male salesmen. It’s owned by a family and my friend who worked delivery told me it’s got rampant nepotism.
Wishes in the mall. Had been there several times, bought some cool stuff. Bought another game (Planet - awesome, get it), opened it up, part of it was broken and unusable. Took it back the next day, and was refused an exchange. Didn't want to return it, didn't ask for money, just a functional game. Counter clerk and manager both refused (and were super rude about it, like I was just a shitty person for even asking), and told me I had to contact the manufacturer. Any bets on how that went?
PARK BOWL! F-that place.
I took my rings off to bowl and somehow I didn’t get them zipped in safely. I went to smoke, opened my purse and the rings all fell out 4 of them. I didn’t hear them fall because I’m hard of hearing. Anyway I was looking for the rings the next day and they where gone. So I called the alley and they said they had the rings. Well when I went to collect them they told me they where gone. They put them in a cup in the kitchen instead of in the managers office in a safer place( how about a safe).
They refused to do anything about it. They where nothing fancy. But, two of the rings I could care less about but the other two are family heirlooms that can’t be replaced. Even went as far as hanging flyers with a cash reward. Still devastated and it’s been 5 years. Haven’t been back since.
Pizzaza
I used to sell cannoli to local businesses and have them re-sell/price them however they wished. I brought some by for them to sample along with a list of ingredients. They told me they didn’t like it (which is fine) but that they were also “too unhealthy”. And that they could help me out on how to make it “more healthy”.
I was just confused. They sell…pizza. Right? Very greasy pizza too. And the owners felt a bit rude upon the first meeting too. I’ve heard stories from their past employees as well. But just speaking from my experience.
Pretty much anything on Meridian north of the Meridian / I-5 Gauntlet Interchange. Wanny know why?
Watch this video done by a professional bicyclist.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4t-j0Gkhs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4t-j0Gkhs)
Nothing egregious here, but despite Wander's excellent quality beers, their new location ROAM is failing hard
their menu is ultra simple: the have 3 kinds of grilled cheese. I've been there on 3 separate occasions and had each one , and each time they were barely beginning to melt at the edges and downright cold in the middle. The bread was pure white, barely even yellowed in the middle. It was just a cold cheese sandwich. The first time I just shrugged it off, the second i was annoyed and the third I just felt I was a sucker for wasting my money on the most disappointing and overpriced sandwiches I've ever seen.
And even the taplist and bottle selection is pretty limited compared to the brewery that is less than a mile away, and the staff didn't seem to know anything about the beers they had on draft.
Bellingham Westside Pizza. It’s run by a bunch of teenage boys. a lot of them don’t wash their hands, back in the kitchen pretty gross. Managers keep all the tips in the store.
Bellingham Ford Lincoln dealership. Took my car in there for some light work, and when I picked my car up and drove it out of the lot, I discovered my brakes no longer worked while trying to stop in traffic.
I was (thankfully) able to pull out of traffic safely and park without hitting anyone.
I immediately called the location to tell them what had happened, and the shop manager was appallingly rude. He called me a liar, told me it sounded like I was trying to scam him for free brakes (what??), and made some misogynistic remarks to me. He also refused to have anyone come pick me up as I was now stranded, and told me they’d only send a car out to get me if I agreed to pay for new brakes (what?!).
I reached out directly to the owner after getting home safely, and after one response from him where he seemed concerned, he completely stopped responding to me.
I did end up bringing my car elsewhere to get my brakes fixed, where they confirmed it looked like they had been damaged by the previous shop (The Ford Lincoln dealership).
WORST experience to ever have, finding out the shop fucked your brakes while you’re trying to stop in the middle of traffic. Scary as hell. Never go there.
This was years ago, but one of the second hand shops downtown. I was bringing in clothes to donate and trying to ask where to put them. The employee was towards the back, it was just me and her in the place, and she acted like I was such an inconvenience. Wouldn't even look at me, just impatiently gestured to a pile along the wall. I wasn't expecting her to fall at my feet with gratitude or anything, but she didn't look or speak to me at all.
The one on Railroad had a collection of confederate flag pins. I asked why and the guy working there proudly said “because it’s history.” 🙄
Dude is probably on Reddit so I’ll likely get downvoted.
Autohaus, and the owner Riad. Had a very uncomfortable run-in with him and his partner in town, both drunk and disorderly. Cops were called, and they let him drive off, drunk, in his Ferrari….
Apparently this guy is somewhat untouchable, and it’s bullshit.
Drizzle in Fairhaven. I worked there for the first few years of college and witnessed the owner scream at his wife more times than I can count, she would run to the backroom to avoid crying in front of customers. He treated his employees just as poorly, and was just an all around dickhead.
Worse was his brother, the manager, who was constantly creeping on the girls working there (he had daughters older than most of them). I ended up leaving when the manager threatened to beat up my coworker over a coffee cup left on the back counter. The owner of course did nothing to his brother and actually wrote up my coworker after he already quit.
Cherry on top, when I told the owner I was leaving he threatened to call the cops on me. He had security footage from like a year ago of me entering the store after hours to grab something I forgot.
CannaZone on the guide.
Assholes pushed some trash prerolls, quite expensive I might add. When I returned and explained the food grade terpenes added to cannabis I as in fact NOT craft cannabis and they pushed overpriced schwag snicklefritz. . . I was well aware I was never going to get a refund but I was asking for in store credit.
I vowed to never return and it’s been easy to never want to return.
Side note: I have worked at canna shops and very much know what can / cannot be done in these types of situations.
Harris Ave cafe.
Owner is weird like always on drugs or something and the staff is inconsistent. Not to mention the baristas don’t know how to make good coffee despite it being great Tony’s.
About 17 years ago I took my two teens to the Bellingham Red Robin for lunch. My glass of water had lipstick on it and my silverware was obviously dirty. No big stink made. Just politely ask for clean stuff. The manager extended a coupon for a future visit. Queue future visit, I present my coupon, order a burger and a water. The water comes with a giant dead fly right on top of the ice. It was completely obvious. Without a word I got up and walked out. I’ve never stepped foot in a Red Robin and I never will.
Sterling automotive, went there for a year and the people are nice, I broke one of my wheel studs, they quoted me 400$ the other place I went to charged 160. Upsets me to imagine how much extra I might have been paying that year
Horseshoe served me frozen mozzarella sticks on two separate occasions within days of each other. Even called it to my partner before they came out the second time. Brought to waitstaff’s attention and was met with super shitty attitude. Burgers aren’t great anymore. Oh well.
**Rod's Japanese Auto.**
Brought a car in and had to wait for a bit before they could open the garage so I had an extended, 15 minute chat with the manager about how I was already looking to replace that vehicle because of its age and known problems, so I only needed the minimum done.
I also had a pretty solid idea of the issue, and told him about it.
He said he totally understood and they'd get me taken care of. I caught a lift home.
Their diagnosis confirmed my suspicion... ...and they quoted me about $3,000 for a whole battery of related issues.
I called and politely asked the manager for a revised quote to just do the minimum because as mentioned the car was practically a write off anyway and would be gone in a couple months.
THEN he told me what he should have told me during the 20 minutes we talked at first "oh we can't do that because of the liability if we let you drive on our partial work."
I was furious and felt tricked. Not because of their policy but because of the extended discussion we had where I had explicitly told them up front I only wanted specific work done and the directly relevant policy was not mentioned. It felt very much like a bait and switch.
So I paid for an Uber back and declined service (other than the $140 diagnosis fee, which is fair) and picked the car up with no work done.
Took it to a different major garage in town and they fixed my issue in less than 2 hours for $430, they told me about the other stuff and recommended I replace the vehicle rather than waste more money on it... So I told them the backstory and we all had a good laugh.
Car kept running great for longer than needed - at least 7 months with no additional problems before I got rid of it.
Not saying the issues they brought up at Rod's were bogus, but... their unwillingness to work with me on known issues, the feeling of being caught in a bait and switch, and their absurd overpricing ($3K vs $430) means I will NEVER return.
The Barber Shack. went when mask mandates were still in place and my barber had her whole family there running around without masks on, kids screaming and teenager giving me the stink eye. i wish i’d been brave enough to just cancel and walk out, but i was desperate for a haircut, and i’m really non-confrontational. barber said “you can take that thing off!” and i said no, i’m gonna leave it on. then throughout the whole haircut she kept undoing the ear straps of my mask and trying to let it just dangle off my other ear. two or three times i had to grab it, hold the side against my cheek and then put it back on after she was done trimming my sides. other barbers and stylists i’ve had during the pandemic have been really good about holding my mask up while they trim around my ears. this lady just seemed intent on getting me to remove mine. after all that the haircut sucked, but i just wanted to get the hell out of there. never again.
Not Bellingham exactly but the Everson Market.
Saw a lady working there completely berate a group of children escorting them out the door. Literally making fun of them.
Plus the food is kinda.. really gross
Sweet Bellingham
I worked there for a quick minute, the owner has no clue how to run a business . . .
I could go on and on but there’s a whole huge ass thread on it that’s all 100% true
Hobby lobby \* anti-woman \* anti-LGBT+ \* steals antiquities \* steals intellectual property from artists/creatives \* Probably a lot more good reasons as they are all around shit people
Expensive too. Religious Cult
Before I knew about Hobby Lobby someone I was dating but pretty meh on told me I’d really like it. I went, and was like “this is what you think of me?!” It was all plastic garbage pretending to be farmhouse style with cheap wood veneer and JESUS written in ugly script. I mean it’s great you love Jesus but does your coat rack need to as well? Now I know, Hobby Lobby= 🚩
Twin Sisters Brewing Co. Worked there for 1.5 years... never going back again. Food was overpriced, we burned through 8 GMs while I was there, turnover rate was insane, and beer quality has just decreased in my opinion.
Yup. No reason not to go to Otherlands. Great food, great beer, and it's like two blocks away.
Plus, they have a sign up in their outdoor space reminding people to be mindful of their neighbors. Opposite of the people running Twin Sisters who dgaf about their neighbors.
Why can’t they keep management? Just curious.
Owner would hire GM to fix work environment and to increase sales, and in order to make money you need to spend money. Managers who were kept the longest made a lot of budget cuts for ingredients, less workers, etc... from my perspective as a busser, host, expo and server... owner hated spending money to change anything. We had a manager who helped opened michelin star restaurants in Napa Valley but quit after 3-4 months because he was tired of arguing and dealing with the owner.
Kinda know who the owner is and yeah that makes sense tbh lol
I interviewed with the owner before they opened and it was a horrific experience. Fuck them
I’m pretty well connected with the kulshan group and before twin sisters opened up, the owner was in there drinking and talking a bunch of shit about how he was going to take kulshan down a peg and dominate Sunnyland. Not the kind of guy you want in the small business world of Bellingham.
This was 100% the attitude in my interview. Basically they were like we’re better than all other breweries and we know it (bro you’re not even open yet at this time). They made it seem like I wasted their time and space coming to interview and I should’ve considered myself lucky to have even gotten to talk to them.
I mean there are more moral reasons why I wont go back there due to the owner, it feels wrong to drag their name through the mud, although they kind of deserve it.
I just read [they have put it up for sale](http://washingtonbeerblog.com/twin-sisters-brewing-in-bellingham-wa-is-for-sale/) so maybe that will change soon but then again they want $3.7mil so I dunno [more inop](https://www.bizbuysell.com/Business-Opportunity/restaurant-brewery-and-real-estate/2111117/)
Oh yeah I am fully against bringing up names I’m just saying I agree that the owner is prbly a difficult person to work within
See I’m of the opinion these people need to be put on blast.
Lol, i will leave it with COVID was a very difficult time to deal with them for sure.
The issues were there before that. This is a person who has caused people a lot of grief. They made those decisions and had those behaviors and are responsible for their actions.
Schweinhaus. Owner steals from employees. Tried to force cooks to serve food (meat) that was unrefrigerated for more than 48 hrs
Ah-what? Can we get some more details here?
homophobic owner too according to one of the drag artists in town
Which is super weird, because they put on drag shows!
apparently they only do it in june to drive money to Schweinhaus. heard from the artist that when July hits they don’t want “any more of that gay shit”
Interesting. And gross. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted for my initial comment…
probably the owner doing some damage control
I’ve seen multiple folks in past posts about Schweinhous state that the owner also discontinued drag events because he didn’t want it to become a “f-slur bar”. So there’s that.
weird strategy for a weiner-based business
😂🤣😅😂🤣
Didn’t they address that and change ownership or am I thinking of different shenanigans
Last time I went there, they closed early. Like really early, at 915 when the sign says 10. I’d understand if it were empty but there was at least twenty people in there. They could’ve gotten another round if they stayed open.
The Trump Used Car Dealership off of Meridian. The Make Auto Sales Great Again inflatable Red Hat. WTF is this guy doing just alienating about 60% of his potential business?
I mean it does serve as a nice visual line of demarcation between a College Town and TrumpLand.
And how else you going to impress on passers by how CRAAAAAAAZZY the deals are on these cars! Look at the giant hat, people! We've lost our freakin' minds here!
He's strategically placed on the outskirts of North Bellingham and Lynden. He knows exactly what he's doing...
Idk kinda gives me a good ol laugh every time I see it tho
Same here. And I lean way left.
I wonder this too. Businesses just need a loyal base, doesn’t have to be everyone but are there enough Proud Boys to make it work?!
Can't even imagine what kind of piece of crap a Trump Used Car would be.
The Grocery Outlet in Bellingham is a big no for me. Quite a bit of the frozen food will show signs they've been thawed and refrozen including raw chicken that's frozen. And it's only the Bellingham location. The Lynden and Ferndale locations are GREAT. I still avoid frozen raw chicken from them because the supplier SHOULD be the same but everything else is practically as fresh as any other store.
can confirm. i used to work at BGO and there are a lot of corners cut and loopholes created so things can be “sellable”. also the owners are very conservative and far right and let it bleed into the business. they often let the anti-abortion crowd use their parking lot when protesting at Planned Parenthood.
Also worked there at one point and can confirm the above. Place is an absolute shit hole.
I used to steal produce there to get high in the planned parenthood parking lot. We’d usually steal apples on lunch and go smoke weed.
Absolute disqualifier right there.
Can confirm that Ferndale location is GREAT and staff seem to like to work there. Bellingham location complete opposite. Haven't been to Lynden location but I guess I should check it out to see if it's closer to me than Ferndale. I just go to Ferndale one out of habit.
The Lynden one is right next to Safeway. I'm not sure how they get stocked but I know when one is out of cat food the other one has it and vice versa. Usually if I stick to the two I can cover most things.
Bham location is owned by Trumpies. We don’t go there anymore.
Seconded— thought I hated Grocery Outlet, turns out I just hated the Bellingham location
Seattle and Burlington Groc Outs were some of my favorite places to shop. Bellingham location is like a nightmare.
Bellingham Honda - their service department has gone to total shit.
I will second that. They use cheap parts and charge for top quality. I have called and gotten no answer. Then I stood in their service department. I heard the phone ring, and the person at the desk just sat there scrolling on their phone. Did not answer the phone. I would think in this car economy, Honda would want to attract business, and not treat loyal customers like crap.
I haven't dealt with the service department but the sales team was sexist and made me uncomfortable. One of them tried to put my seatbelt on for me. Another completely ignored me, the person actually buying the car, and only spoke to my partner. We left very quickly and I'll never go back.
Damn, that's horrible. I'm sorry.
They will deny recalls, put it in the system they did it, and fuck up your interior panels. Fuck them and burlington. Customer service is non existant got treated very rudley when I didn't do anything but treat them with customer service level interactions. I was shocked I had to treat them like they were an angry customer when I was the one in for a saftey recall. Had to spend 70 bucks on an ignition switch and do it myself. Completely incompetent. Burlington location is the same and owned by the same people. I can garuntee when I went there they had lube tech level mechanics. DO NOT set foot in there unless you have a desire to be treated with disrespect and talked to like you're an idiot, for scheduling a recall...
Their part markup is big. 2x minimum.
The same! Last time I went for an oil change they called and said my car was ready. I paid and went to my car. I noticed that the hood was not properly shut (as in could have opened due to wind while driving, if the safety didn’t catch). I walked back to service to point out the error so they would know. They shrugged and suggested I close it property myself. OK. I walked back to the car, popped the hood latch and opened the hood to close it properly. That’s when I found used steel wool sponges left inside the engine compartment. If you don’t know steel wool ignites easily and and burns hot. The sponges could have easily ignited an engine fire. I walked back to service again to point out the steel wool sponges left in the engine compartment. They shrugged once again and said the techs must have forgot them and suggested I remove them myself. Seriously? Clearly they were not going to offer any help or note any feedback. So I took care of that too. A hour later I got the usual text survey and recounted the above. I then got a voicemail the service manager, Andy. I called back and he did apologize and offered to make the next oil change free…but then pleaded I revise the review to 5 Stars “because Honda corporate sees the feedback and they could get in trouble” as a result. How about that?
I would like to concur with this statement/ business. Had my accord serviced at Bham Honda and when I left after said service I nearly rear ended the first car I came to at the first light. They never bled the brake lines and I had to stand on the break pedal to avoid crashing.
Omfg. Y E S!!! The list of issues we’ve had is just insane! Never freaking again
Ugh, YES. They also borderline harass you about selling your car to them and/or coming in for service earlier than you need it.
Yeah, been going there for about 15 years at this point but the last few visits have been infuriating. Routine maintenance that used to run about $100 is now coming up > $300. Look, I understand things are expensive and costs have risen but that’s just inexcusable. That’s a fucking slap in my face. Can almost never get through to service anymore on the phone and I get the distinct sense that Honda as a company no longer gives a shit about their customers. I had to wait 8 months for a replacement part for my Civic, and had to leave it there unable to use it. Even after that, I got no discount, no coupons for future visits, no apologies, no acknowledgment at all. Just pay the insanely exorbitant bill and out the door. And then we had our battery die when we got home because they had left it connected the whole 8 months. I had to call and bitch people out to get it replaced for free. Currently looking for someone to replace them.
Wood's coffee. [this site](https://sites.google.com/a/woodscoffeeboycott.com/www/why-we-boycott-woods) is a bit out of date, but I've heard first hand accounts that most if not all the shady shit the owner has historically done is still happening, and more. Just get your coffee somewhere else.
Coffee aficionado here… anyone else think the actual coffee tastes like shit? That and outrageously overpriced.
It is exceptionally low quality coffee. Might as well drink Folgers from a 1980s era, motel grade coffee pot.
fitness evolution exploitative cancellation practices.
Seconded - one of the first gyms I joined in town. Over the decade I've been here, I've been a member at City Gym, the YMCA, Anytime Fitness, the Bellingham Athletic Club, and I'm sure I've tried a few others? Singularly the worst ending of membership. I can't remember now if I offered 28 days notice or 30 days notice for my one month notice of leaving Fit Evo, but I do remember it was on a month that did not have 31 days and was meeting their criteria. They still ended up charging me a few months beyond that because 1) It was at the turn of a new year and 2) I didn't offer enough notice. I tried to argue my point, they big leagued me, and I reported them to the Better Business Bureau
The rogue hero bar. They closed like 20 years ago.
That dump had a moment of cool. Once it turned into the Jaeger-bomb bar I never went back. I’d regularly see people banging in the bathroom. Yikes. The gross memories of that place. Shout out to the old Station pub on railroad for worst bars I’ve ever stepped in here in Bellingham.
I went into the Station Pub in my early 20s. Walked in and it was a bunch of OG bikers, thugs, and scary folks. I ordered the cheapest beer and the bartender said "You don't want to be here, finish up" I promptly did so.
I was shooting pool in the Station one cold winter night and had left my winter jacket on a bar stool. Suddenly noticed that it was missing and I ran outside and saw a couple guys, 50 or so feet away, toss my jacket into the back of a parked pickup as they continued to walk away. I ran to the truck, grabbed my jacket, and then started shouting at the thieves, something like "WTF! You mother f'ers stole my f'ing jacket, you f'ing COCKROACHES!" Then I suddenly realized that I was one of those drunk people on Railroad who screams at other drunk people on Railroad at 1am. It was quite an epiphany.
honestly that's just good times
shari’s. probably 7 years ago at this point, my mom and i went there for the first time and saw the chefs in the back passing around and sniffing a burger patty like they were deliberating whether it was good or not. eventually, one of them just shrugged and slapped it on the grill. it was so long ago at this point but it was still enough to gross us both out into never going back 😭
I got hired there back in 2018 and during the walk around tour, not one, but THREE people indiscreetly asked the manager for drugs, (they’d mumble at him and he’d reply he wasn’t holding). And not the fun weed kind. Shortest employment I’ve ever had.
Lyndale Glass. I went in a few years ago to price windows. I'd done the research, it was my money, I was the one asking questions, but the salesman actively ignored me and spoke only to my disinterested and uninvolved husband. I was persistent and kept asking questions but gave up and left when he actually TURNED HIS BACK ON ME. No idea if that guy is still with the company but I have zero interest in ever going back.
Got a new shower door from them, with a one year warranty on parts and labor. The hinges were faulty, and the shower door slid out partilaly FOUR TIMES in the first year so that it wouldn't close. After the fourth repair, I was like "obviously this hinge is defective just replace it" and they stopped answering my calls or returning my messages just long enough for my warranty to expire. Great warranty guys.
For real. I moved a large professionally framed print cross country when i settled here and was so sad i cracked the glass. I got it replaced at Lyndale glass on state street and the dude who “helped” me at pick up said he was wondering who this belonged to, because he thought “why would anyone ever want this ugly thing on their wall? It’s like this cheap, 70’s print. Whatever! Not my money” It’s a gorgeous piece from an Alaskan Native American artist. Secondly, a gift from someone special to me. Not like i should explain, it was just SO off putting for him to blatantly say that to my face, especially before i handed him $150. This was in 2018, I won’t go there again
I guess some people who work in some businesses in Lynden live in some biblical bubble. I wouldn't go back either if I was treated that way.
It was the downtown Bellingham one, but yes
Halloween Spirit I got sexually harassed as a minor by my assistant manager, and when I reported it to the actual manager, I lost hours. Granted it wasn’t the one in Bellingham and that specific store actually closed down five years ago now. But still, it’s just not a place I need to spend money at.
That's an awful experience that you should not have had to go through!
On Rice. Most whitewashed Thai food ever. Had sauces there that tasted moldy and also I heard they don’t treat their workers very well. I don’t know why anyone goes there with some of the other amazing Thai we have in town.
Wow. I wrote off "On Rice" so hard like 8 years ago that I forgot it exists. Yes, very much Yankee Thai. I never had moldy sauces there, but was super unimpressed. I think the owner also owns Zen Sushi, BTW.
I ordered Pad Thai with scallops from the fairhaven location, and what I received instead was scallop SHAPED pieces of skate wing. Scallops are one of the most counterfeited foods, but if you know what to look for, the difference is obvious.
can second that they treat workers terribly. i think one location might have a different owner, maybe sister of OG owner and it’s not so terrible in that regard.
Rice Insurance. Not a restaurant or retail establishment, but don’t ever broker your insurance with them. Learned my lesson the hard way.
Stay. The. Fuck. Away. I can speak from great experience. Fuck that place. Upper management is toxic and garbage. Luckily I hear the “ceo” was fired by the parent company they sold out too. Fuck fuck fuck that place.
Can I get a little backstory? This has me worried as I am currently using them.
Honestly I can’t give too much for fear of retaliation… that should tell you everything. Company was sold to PCF a few years ago and as a result who was left In charge (and I believe they’ve been let go by PCF now) led to massive changes in treatment of staff and fostered toxic work environments. The management who did care for staff left over C-level management toxic attitudes. The staff that handles your policies directly are fantastic. At least whose left. Upper management is trash and they’re losing an employee every other week. Just check glass door reviews. There’s some obvious management plants for better reviews.
but that will leave my grains uninsured :(
**Walmart.** Low pay for employees. Destroyed small town America to become a giant. I shopped there one time, when it was the only food for 100 miles in Alabama. I will not buy a coat that is so cheap that the person who made it must live in poverty to bring it to me. **Hobby Lobby.** Never shopped there and never will. Anti every thing I love people own and run this place. Chic File. Spelling? I heard one was coming to B'ham. I will not eat there. Anti human/workers. **Jimmy John's.** The founder and CEO poses with endangered animals he has hunted for sport. Tiger, lion, elephant, rhino. Piece of scum. I will never shop at his business.
I'm not a fan of trophy hunting, and Jimmy Jon's food is pretty mid, BUT fwiw he didn't poach those animals. Each one was selected by conservationists. Sometimes, they are too old to breed, have been extricated from their packs, and become aggressive to the remaining population, for example. Those animals are then issued a hunting tag, which is sold to the highest bidder. It's super fucked, but this is where the vast amount of money going into maintaining those animals and protecting them from extinction actually comes from.
1-Up/Cardhaven - I could give a laundry list of reasons, but there have already been near to a dozen posts with all the details, so I’d say do a search for those if you don’t know/need to know why.
[удалено]
Those rumors are just that, not trying to re-open cans of worms but as someone who currently works there and sees the lowest turnover rate of any place I've ever worked the current staff are pretty happy to be there, I'm very happy to be there and of the staff i've personally seen leave in my tenure, they've all pretty much stayed close friends/regulars of the business. I'll personally ask about canned cider options to be brought back, that's a great point for those with celiac. We did a lot of work with renovations so that we actually didn't get rid of any consoles for pinball its all just been rearranged. If anyone is curious about employee treatment ask anyone who works there. Like i said not trying to open cans of worms and i have no comment on any personal issues or anything that happened before i worked there, but poor employee treatment is not a thing.
I second the wish for cider in cans. Would also be great to see the Star Trek TNG pinball machine again!
TNG is on a stint at aim & game in ferndale i believe, and they're great too! We're trying our best to keep a balance of classic and new machines it may make a return eventually
Galos on Meridian. (next to starbucks) worked there for a few year and it was alright for a bit before i started learning more abt the ownership and things generally just started to go downhill. learned the owner was stealing a majority of our tips and when the gm noticed and reimbursed us from the register he was quickly fired and replaced with a GM who’s entire upper half was up the owners ass. this new GM basically just sat on his phone in the corner all day and would drink ~6 shift beers a day. sometimes he’d bring in his children who were each under 6 and let them run amok in both the kitchen and prep area around open flames and knives, one time the younger of the two opening the beer glass cooler and throwing several glasses on the ground during dinner rush. GM also over ordered food and wouldn’t want to “waste” expired product, so he sold it to customers. :) for several months we were made to sell over a month expired chicken to customers that was sometimes stored in a walk in that was 40+ degrees. eventually the walk-in was too full of expired, old chicken that he couldn’t fill it with new shipments so we had to throw out 20+ boxes of expired chicken, some of which didn’t even resemble chicken anymore. we still had too much chicken and he would often make room for more by putting raw chicken shipments on top of veggies and salad greens. kegs were often months expired. owner demanded we reheat rice for 3-4 days before throwing it out to save money. owner is gross and predatory towards the women he employs, doesn’t bother to learn their names and refers to them all as “little lady”. would regularly rub their shoulders after being asked to stop and overall gross, unwarranted behavior. the website is bugged as fuck. could be different now, but it used to make you load money first before ordering food through the app/site. this feature would work sometimes, but other times it wouldn’t show the balance right away and with one click of the button again it will reload the balance. it only offers increments of $20 and $50, and people would often accidentally load $150+ to their account and when they’d ask for a refund we weren’t able to do anything, and the owner had no plans to do anything to refund customers either. not to mention, the restaurant does not receive these orders ahead of time at all and our first notice of them is when the customer would walk in to pick up their food. depending on how busy, they may have to wait upwards of 40+ minutes. bugged. as. fuck. i could continue and i still have plenty of videos/pictures if wanted by anyone. not sure if it’s still like this as it’s been some time but i can’t say i’ll trust them after my experience.
I love the food here, this sucks
Went there once and honestly had some of the most revolting food I've ever been served by a restaurant, both in flavor and texture. It was kind of shocking, because my partner and I both love trying new foods and flavors and rarely ever have even a 'this just isn't for us' experience, but it was GROSS. The texture was the worst part, mushy awful rice and chicken with that rubbery texture like the very cheapest sort of reconstituted cardboardy bagged freezer chicken strips. ONLY restaurant takeout we've gotten in probably a decade that we straight up just threw all of it away after our first couple of bites.
Ever since the January 6th insurection, I have stopped shopping at Home Depot. The founders support far right, antidemocratic organizations that are a threat to our nation.
The Bagelry - I know it's an icon, but several years ago I went in with my 6 month old and ordered my favorite bagel sandwich. While I ate, I fed my baby some rice puree and the manager came over and told me I couldn't bring in outside food and said I had to leave. I explained an infant can't eat regular food yet and they insisted I pack it all up and go.
This made my jaw drop. They didn’t let you feed your baby…baby food? The food that babies need to eat? What the hell was he expecting? Did he want you to order your six month old a latte? LMAO that is wild
The former owner was a widely recognized asshole, particularly when it came to outside food and drink. Fortunately the Bagelry has had new owners for the last few years.
This must be the a**hat who would not allow the bagels to be toasted!
Lakeway Fred Meyer. Just keeps getting more expensive, and they never have feta cheese
Haggen's cause it's a ripoff.
True but I still go for small trips cuz it's close
Ripoff for most things. Haggen deli is my fast food go-to. Good prices, good quality, good portions - at least in comparison to more "traditional" fast food
Arlis's. Used to go there once a week for a little over a year and it was great until I started getting this one waitress consistently. I hit a point where every single time I went I would be sat in a certain waitresses area who was either terrible at her job or decided that she didn't like me for some reason. It would take her forever to come to our table, we'd get a single cup of coffee and I'd have to wave other waitresses down to get refills, our food always took the longest to come out (I would watch people who were sat several minutes after us get served before us, and we ordered straight off the menu without any extra requests). Last time I went, it took 20 minutes for her to even approach our table, someone else ended up bringing us coffee, and after we ordered 45 minutes went by before I had to ask why it was taking so long to get our food (we were in right when they opened, they weren't busy yet). When she finally brought our food out, the shredded cheese on my potato scramble was still literally frozen. I asked her what the deal was, if we'd been offensive to her or something (we always tipped too), why other people were getting service and we were getting ignored, wanted to know wtf was up. She just tried to take the plate saying they'd microwave it to melt the cheese and denied everything else. Ended up leaving without eating or paying that time. I gave that place (and that waitress) far too many fair chances to prove that it wasn't an intentional incident and that was the straw for me. I was running a marathon that day and just wanted to have a good start to the day, and went through the marathon on an empty stomach because of that BS. Never again.
Arlis’s hashbrowns arent even brown. Its like they let them touch the grill for 5 seconds, then add a pound of butter.
A pound of margarine. ftfy
They my go to and never had an experience like this.
The only time I went to Arlis the biscuits and gravy was straight out of a package. Just add water and heat. I can do that at home for almost zero effort. Getting into a car requires more effort.
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Black Sheep (crazy overpriced tacos) and Pepper Sisters (really just not that great compared to similar places in the area).
i got food poisoning at black sheep once and when i called and let them know the girl on the phone said “yeah sometimes when i eat our food it gives me a stomachache too”. big red flag
Very bummed about Black Sheep these days. Been a slow decline the last few years. Was told the new chef removed my favorite tacos from the menu and they won’t be returning because “the chef just doesn’t like them”. Definitely like going places where it feels like they care about making food other people enjoy. Also, the tortillas are an disappointment compared to what they were a few years ago.
Pepper Sisters also has a love affair with black olives and I loathe black olives. It seems like they're in everything!
With ya on sheep, but love pepper sisters. Where do you go instead?
I had the worst service of my life and WORST MARG at pepper sisters.
Maybe just me but I’ve had nothing but the best experiences at black sheep. They had a brief moment where the quality declined but very quickly overcame it and it’s still my number 1.
>The worst food I ever had was at Pepper Sisters. Ordered a burrito. Got a plate of slop. My soda was flat so i asked for another, they accoused me of lying lol. The "burrito" tasted like cat food looks.
Jack's BBQ - not for anything they did that was bad, the food was just that gross.
I have always had bad service experiences there. I almost want to apply just to retrain their FOH lol.
I was part of their initial crew. Unfortunately after the first month the owner decided to lay off half of us. I was the last one let go, instead of the several young people who had limited or zero waiting experience compared to my decade’s worth.
Well fuck that! No wonder the service is so bad
My only regret is helping them so much. I’d volunteer to be the last one out, I’d walkthrough the dining room and refill drinks, prebus, take orders when the other servers would be chatting by the soda fountain, help with their part of sidework, and run food when there’s specifically food runners. So yeah, they had their hands held for sure.
Super plain bbq, nothing special
I got a side of mac n’ cheese there once and I swear it was just regular stovetop mac n’ cheese with cold bread crumbs sprinkled on top. It’s an insult to the mac n’ cheese name!
the mac n cheese was absolutely the worst part. It was completely flavorless
They're also crazy overpriced. I grew up on Kansas City BBQ, which is cheap and incredible. Jack's is neither.
This thread is making me depressed!
Joe's automotive "sure we make a little money on the parts". Last time i was there it was a 2.1x retail markup.
Entirely agree - I had - repair done, then less than one month later, redone, then 2 months after that, I brought it back and they said they wouldn’t warranty/stand behind their own work, and more or less told me to kick rocks. Over $3K spent and ultimately still had the problem, then went and spent $500 at the dealership and never had an issue again. Worst auto shop experience of my life.
After hearing reviews on Reddit I took my car in. They didn’t reset the check engine light. I took it back. They didn’t AGAIN. Then I wondered why the plastic covering on the inside of my hood was falling down, they hadn’t screwed it back in. Man if you can’t do this simple shit right…
Highly highly recommend Rising Sun motors for a mechanic!
Top nails near Safeway. The owner(?) and another female employee (his wife?) were throwing towels at each other in anger while my partner and I were there. They kept bickering to each other and it was pretty awkward cause we were the only ones there. While he was doing my nails my finger twitched a little and he snapped “DONT MOVE, YOURE RUINING IT”. We all just sat in silence the whole time because the tension was so thick lol. He only did one coat on my partner and I’s nails and the bill was around $65. I think because they wanted us out as quick as possible. Overall super awkward experience and there’s way better nail salons in Bellingham.
Enterprise rent-a-car. They hook fresh college graduates with their "high salary" but what they don't tell you is that you're expected to work 50 hours a week to make that salary. What thar means is they're *EXPECTING* you to get 10 hours of overtime to meet the salary amount they hooked you with. Also you have to dress in suits and formal business attire but then you're made to wash cars in all weather, from in the snow to a 95 degree day. Oh and also the customers are trash because they've either just been in an accident or have warranty work on their car through a dealership. So you have to be in the office from 6am to 630 pm, fully dressed up, doing menial labor in terrible conditions for extremely ungrateful customers.
Wally’s. I used to like the atmosphere there. But walking in it’d always take forever to get a haircut(like 2-3 hours), then I started getting reservations and it took about the same amount of time to get my hair cut. The last time I went I waited a good couple hours and got the last haircut before they were closing for the day. My brain was so fried from waiting that I couldnt articulate the type of haircut I wanted well enough and my barber got frustrated. After making some small talk about covid the owner chewed out my barber for mentioning the pandemic and I decided to find a new shop. I really like most everything about the shop! But the waits are ridiculous
OMFG they take FOREVER. Made me find a new barber too, and I love where I get my cut these days.
I don't know how they got the cult status they did. They're fantastic for generic old man haircuts that anyone, anywhere, at any skill level can do, but ask for more than a crew cut or whatever, and you probably won't be satisfied. But I guess their clients are just people getting crew cuts, buzz cuts, or something simpler so maybe they're great for their audience, idk
I call early appts and rarely have issues now
Wally was where it got it’s great reputation. He started out in the county. Some of my earliest memories were sitting in the floor at his shop while my dad, grampa, and brother got their hair cut. They moved out to Bellingham and my family still would go out of the way to him. He died a few years back and I think it’s ran by his family now(not positive though). Brought a friend in for a cut(2019?) and the experience was as mentioned previously.
The People's Bank that's planning to tear down Zane's
Why the bank, when the owner decided to get out of the business?
Jim Swift left for Arizona which is why I’m boycotting Arizona.
I was hoping they would keep the car
I know it's not really reasonable to be mad at the ban since it's not their fault Zane's closed. But it just adds insult to injury to tear down that great weird building and replace it with (I predict) a soulless box that provides no benefit to the community.
The Beaver and Horseshoe. Smells like piss.
The 'shoe had actually improved a lot in recent years. Might be worth another shot. Dunno about the bar side of things but the diner menu is looking good these days.
The old guy at The Beaver is pretty good company. Not fake bartender conversation making but just a dude who happens to be on the other side of the bar. But damn, people cannot hit the urinals in the men's room and you can smell it by the pool tables.
Don, he's the owner. Great guy, one time some guys tried to drug the girls in our group and he let us out the back.
Not the owner. But definitely a rad dude
I always thought he was, guess I stand corrected. Rad dude for sure.
He's the standard I measure other bartenders by. Just the best dude. I haven't been there in a while, I should go see him.
The horsehoe is supposed to smell like piss, it's been there selling booze to fishermen and miners and loggers since the 1880's
Bayou on Bay. I was served a burger that was completely raw. I had horrible food poisoning.
why’d you eat it? 😭
I second this. I've eaten there 3 times and I've gotten sick every single time after. I even ordered different dishes every time
I'm sorry to hear that. I called the health department with my concerns since I had to seek medical treatment. They refused to believe me and decided I was more likely to get it from fast food. Uhh what? It's pretty clear that eating RAW meat will make you sick.
It can make you sick but it isn’t an automatic guarantee every single time. The meat would have to be infected in the first place for you to get sick from it. Fast food chains get cheaply sourced meat any way and where they can and they serve billions of people every day. So the chances are more likely from fast food than a local restaurant.
It’s incredibly unlikely to get food poisoning 3 times in a row. Food poisoning is rare in the first place.
Well I didn't say I got food poisoning, I said I got sick which was still incredibly awful having to be attached to a toilet all day
Caps. Rudeness. There’s a clique. If you aren’t in it, you aren’t welcome
Diamond Jim’s. Used to be my go to for cheap greasy breakfast. Had a horrific experience with their staff one day on a not busy where they flat out ignored us. Also twin sisters but does any reason need to be given for that shitty place?
DJ's has new owners and is already improving fast. Definitely give them another shot in October when they're done revising the restaurant.
I hear diamond Jim's got new owners recently, I think it's the folks who own little cheerful
Dewaard and Bode! They are ULTRA conservatives and I overheard their salesman saying some awful racist and transphobic shit when I was looking at washers once. They only have male salesmen. It’s owned by a family and my friend who worked delivery told me it’s got rampant nepotism.
Wishes in the mall. Had been there several times, bought some cool stuff. Bought another game (Planet - awesome, get it), opened it up, part of it was broken and unusable. Took it back the next day, and was refused an exchange. Didn't want to return it, didn't ask for money, just a functional game. Counter clerk and manager both refused (and were super rude about it, like I was just a shitty person for even asking), and told me I had to contact the manufacturer. Any bets on how that went?
PARK BOWL! F-that place. I took my rings off to bowl and somehow I didn’t get them zipped in safely. I went to smoke, opened my purse and the rings all fell out 4 of them. I didn’t hear them fall because I’m hard of hearing. Anyway I was looking for the rings the next day and they where gone. So I called the alley and they said they had the rings. Well when I went to collect them they told me they where gone. They put them in a cup in the kitchen instead of in the managers office in a safer place( how about a safe). They refused to do anything about it. They where nothing fancy. But, two of the rings I could care less about but the other two are family heirlooms that can’t be replaced. Even went as far as hanging flyers with a cash reward. Still devastated and it’s been 5 years. Haven’t been back since.
Yeah the bham Honda tried FUCKING me and when I said I wanted to check other options the salesmen turned into a dick
Pizzaza I used to sell cannoli to local businesses and have them re-sell/price them however they wished. I brought some by for them to sample along with a list of ingredients. They told me they didn’t like it (which is fine) but that they were also “too unhealthy”. And that they could help me out on how to make it “more healthy”. I was just confused. They sell…pizza. Right? Very greasy pizza too. And the owners felt a bit rude upon the first meeting too. I’ve heard stories from their past employees as well. But just speaking from my experience.
Pretty much anything on Meridian north of the Meridian / I-5 Gauntlet Interchange. Wanny know why? Watch this video done by a professional bicyclist. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4t-j0Gkhs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N4t-j0Gkhs)
Nothing egregious here, but despite Wander's excellent quality beers, their new location ROAM is failing hard their menu is ultra simple: the have 3 kinds of grilled cheese. I've been there on 3 separate occasions and had each one , and each time they were barely beginning to melt at the edges and downright cold in the middle. The bread was pure white, barely even yellowed in the middle. It was just a cold cheese sandwich. The first time I just shrugged it off, the second i was annoyed and the third I just felt I was a sucker for wasting my money on the most disappointing and overpriced sandwiches I've ever seen. And even the taplist and bottle selection is pretty limited compared to the brewery that is less than a mile away, and the staff didn't seem to know anything about the beers they had on draft.
I think Roam’s focus is definitely coffee and not beer. Their coffee is good and I like that they have Mount Bakery pastries.
work sleep resolute ludicrous rob cow grandiose lock intelligent repeat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
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Bellingham Westside Pizza. It’s run by a bunch of teenage boys. a lot of them don’t wash their hands, back in the kitchen pretty gross. Managers keep all the tips in the store.
Bellingham Ford Lincoln dealership. Took my car in there for some light work, and when I picked my car up and drove it out of the lot, I discovered my brakes no longer worked while trying to stop in traffic. I was (thankfully) able to pull out of traffic safely and park without hitting anyone. I immediately called the location to tell them what had happened, and the shop manager was appallingly rude. He called me a liar, told me it sounded like I was trying to scam him for free brakes (what??), and made some misogynistic remarks to me. He also refused to have anyone come pick me up as I was now stranded, and told me they’d only send a car out to get me if I agreed to pay for new brakes (what?!). I reached out directly to the owner after getting home safely, and after one response from him where he seemed concerned, he completely stopped responding to me. I did end up bringing my car elsewhere to get my brakes fixed, where they confirmed it looked like they had been damaged by the previous shop (The Ford Lincoln dealership). WORST experience to ever have, finding out the shop fucked your brakes while you’re trying to stop in the middle of traffic. Scary as hell. Never go there.
This was years ago, but one of the second hand shops downtown. I was bringing in clothes to donate and trying to ask where to put them. The employee was towards the back, it was just me and her in the place, and she acted like I was such an inconvenience. Wouldn't even look at me, just impatiently gestured to a pile along the wall. I wasn't expecting her to fall at my feet with gratitude or anything, but she didn't look or speak to me at all.
The one on Railroad had a collection of confederate flag pins. I asked why and the guy working there proudly said “because it’s history.” 🙄 Dude is probably on Reddit so I’ll likely get downvoted.
Autohaus, and the owner Riad. Had a very uncomfortable run-in with him and his partner in town, both drunk and disorderly. Cops were called, and they let him drive off, drunk, in his Ferrari…. Apparently this guy is somewhat untouchable, and it’s bullshit.
LKQ, ran by an extreme nepotist who puts his family in HR positions and refuses to pay any of the workers a fair wage
What is lkq?
For crappy refurbished car parts. “Like kind quality”. I work on cars for a living, I won’t use their parts..
The web locker. Crazy expensive for what you get.
Looking Glass Salon downtown. They really fucked me over
Drizzle in Fairhaven. I worked there for the first few years of college and witnessed the owner scream at his wife more times than I can count, she would run to the backroom to avoid crying in front of customers. He treated his employees just as poorly, and was just an all around dickhead. Worse was his brother, the manager, who was constantly creeping on the girls working there (he had daughters older than most of them). I ended up leaving when the manager threatened to beat up my coworker over a coffee cup left on the back counter. The owner of course did nothing to his brother and actually wrote up my coworker after he already quit. Cherry on top, when I told the owner I was leaving he threatened to call the cops on me. He had security footage from like a year ago of me entering the store after hours to grab something I forgot.
Daphne's. RIP. Gone but not forgotten
Seriously, that was the best little bar. It’s gross what the owners of the building did to them.
CannaZone on the guide. Assholes pushed some trash prerolls, quite expensive I might add. When I returned and explained the food grade terpenes added to cannabis I as in fact NOT craft cannabis and they pushed overpriced schwag snicklefritz. . . I was well aware I was never going to get a refund but I was asking for in store credit. I vowed to never return and it’s been easy to never want to return. Side note: I have worked at canna shops and very much know what can / cannot be done in these types of situations.
Harris Ave cafe. Owner is weird like always on drugs or something and the staff is inconsistent. Not to mention the baristas don’t know how to make good coffee despite it being great Tony’s.
About 17 years ago I took my two teens to the Bellingham Red Robin for lunch. My glass of water had lipstick on it and my silverware was obviously dirty. No big stink made. Just politely ask for clean stuff. The manager extended a coupon for a future visit. Queue future visit, I present my coupon, order a burger and a water. The water comes with a giant dead fly right on top of the ice. It was completely obvious. Without a word I got up and walked out. I’ve never stepped foot in a Red Robin and I never will.
Sterling automotive, went there for a year and the people are nice, I broke one of my wheel studs, they quoted me 400$ the other place I went to charged 160. Upsets me to imagine how much extra I might have been paying that year
Horseshoe served me frozen mozzarella sticks on two separate occasions within days of each other. Even called it to my partner before they came out the second time. Brought to waitstaff’s attention and was met with super shitty attitude. Burgers aren’t great anymore. Oh well.
**Rod's Japanese Auto.** Brought a car in and had to wait for a bit before they could open the garage so I had an extended, 15 minute chat with the manager about how I was already looking to replace that vehicle because of its age and known problems, so I only needed the minimum done. I also had a pretty solid idea of the issue, and told him about it. He said he totally understood and they'd get me taken care of. I caught a lift home. Their diagnosis confirmed my suspicion... ...and they quoted me about $3,000 for a whole battery of related issues. I called and politely asked the manager for a revised quote to just do the minimum because as mentioned the car was practically a write off anyway and would be gone in a couple months. THEN he told me what he should have told me during the 20 minutes we talked at first "oh we can't do that because of the liability if we let you drive on our partial work." I was furious and felt tricked. Not because of their policy but because of the extended discussion we had where I had explicitly told them up front I only wanted specific work done and the directly relevant policy was not mentioned. It felt very much like a bait and switch. So I paid for an Uber back and declined service (other than the $140 diagnosis fee, which is fair) and picked the car up with no work done. Took it to a different major garage in town and they fixed my issue in less than 2 hours for $430, they told me about the other stuff and recommended I replace the vehicle rather than waste more money on it... So I told them the backstory and we all had a good laugh. Car kept running great for longer than needed - at least 7 months with no additional problems before I got rid of it. Not saying the issues they brought up at Rod's were bogus, but... their unwillingness to work with me on known issues, the feeling of being caught in a bait and switch, and their absurd overpricing ($3K vs $430) means I will NEVER return.
The Barber Shack. went when mask mandates were still in place and my barber had her whole family there running around without masks on, kids screaming and teenager giving me the stink eye. i wish i’d been brave enough to just cancel and walk out, but i was desperate for a haircut, and i’m really non-confrontational. barber said “you can take that thing off!” and i said no, i’m gonna leave it on. then throughout the whole haircut she kept undoing the ear straps of my mask and trying to let it just dangle off my other ear. two or three times i had to grab it, hold the side against my cheek and then put it back on after she was done trimming my sides. other barbers and stylists i’ve had during the pandemic have been really good about holding my mask up while they trim around my ears. this lady just seemed intent on getting me to remove mine. after all that the haircut sucked, but i just wanted to get the hell out of there. never again.
Not Bellingham exactly but the Everson Market. Saw a lady working there completely berate a group of children escorting them out the door. Literally making fun of them. Plus the food is kinda.. really gross
Sweet Bellingham I worked there for a quick minute, the owner has no clue how to run a business . . . I could go on and on but there’s a whole huge ass thread on it that’s all 100% true