What would make you stop/start patronizing a business?

[DSTRen13]

I don't really do organized boycotts and protests much, I just do or don't do things as I see fit and don't try to force my choices on to other people. But there are definitely a lot of places and things that I avoid, now that I think about it. There is a real estate agency in Savannah that I will never go back to because of their blatant racism (if anyone is interested, I have no problem sharing this agency's name via PM). I don't eat at Cracker Barrel because a portion of the proceeds goes toward pro-life groups (no offense to those who are pro-life, it's just not where I would like my money to go). I don't go to Atlanta Braves games because of the name/mascot. Actually, this is a really long list and could just keep going ...

Re: my university, I don't think I would ever give money to the university in general. Most of what they do is military research there, and I want to know that any donation I make is going toward helping the students themselves. I would want to give specifically to things such as my academic department, the archives that I did my research in, etc. Those seem like safe bets.

[jwright25]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

I don't really do organized boycotts and protests much, I just do or don't do things as I see fit and don't try to force my choices on to other people.

I completely and totally agree with you. Freedom is not freedom if you constantly have other people telling you what you should do. Just because something is right for one person doesn't make it right for everyone else.

I won't ever pay to have my car detailed again. Did it once and totalled the vehicle four hours later. Superstitious....

I won't ever buy a computer that runs only Windows, because I far prefer Mac OS.

I refuse to ever take my car back to the local Toyota dealership for service. They charged me a total of 7.5 hours of labor when the car was there for a maximum of 3.5 hours from drop off to pick up. Plus they told me I needed new brakes less than 24 hours after Midas put new ones on. Then didn't do anything to investigate with the mechanic after I questioned it.

I buy generic everything when available (EXCEPT toilet paper and peanut butter) because I don't want to pay extra for advertising if I don't have to.

I patronize local, independent bookstores when available (which they are not in my town). Being in the publishing industry, I've seen what happens when too few people have too much power over what books are made available to the public.

[MaryAmanda]

Four years ago, I took my PC in to Best Buy (where I had purchased it) because the CD-rom drive had died (the disc exploded within the drive!) and it was under warranty for them to fix it. Rather than simply replace the CD-rom drive, they wiped my hard drive clean without my consent. I was young and naive, and I didn't have a backup except for photos and some music. All of my other stuff was gone, and I had gotten rather bad news from my doctor earlier that day, so I was an emotional wreck.

I haven't done business with Best Buy since (...except once, at a different location...because they were the only place in town with a copy of WiiPlay, and I wanted the cheap game/remote combo for a party I was having that night).

In any case, no more PCs for me, thankyouverymuch. I'm a Mac girl now.

[JonInKC]

Since someone mentioned Best Buy and a car dealership...

I picked up a free trial copy of Rhapsody at Best Buy and took it home and installed it. Then my computer started locking up and giving me VisualC++ errors and stuff. So I ended up taking my laptop to best buy and was without it for probably a week or so while they fixed it. Then I e-mailed rhapsody and told them I shouldn't have to pay anything since their software screwed up my laptop. Ha. Never got a response from that.

Another time I took my car to the Chevy dealership to get the power window on the passenger side fixed. After a few hours they called me on the cell so I came back across the street (I was killing time at Borders) and the "fix" didn't even last long enough to get out of the parking lot! The service writer probably sat in my car for five minutes playing with the window trying to get it to work. He suggested I bring it in again and have it re-repaired. So that was $50 and a few hours of my life that I'll never get back.

Screw you, Morse Chevrolet of Overland Park, Kansas.

[AlexMack]

For the record-never use Geek Squad and never get a warranty at Best Buy. Both are total ripoffs.
There's a really popular coffee shop in my college's town called Rao's. Ever since I found out that it's run by communists (seriously) and they don't serve fair trade coffee there I've refused to give them any of my money.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by centaur532

There's a really popular coffee shop in my college's town called Rao's. Ever since I found out that it's run by communists (seriously) and they don't serve fair trade coffee there I've refused to give them any of my money.

So what's their deal? You would think that if you were Communist, unless you could get coffee grown in Cuba, maybe, the next best thing would be coffee grown in such a manner to benefit small scale growers and the rights of workers, such as they are in the coffee industry. Are they so anti-trade that they consider any regulation somehow worse because it makes revolution less likely? Are they simply hypocrites?

[SWTXBelle]

I've got to say - Best Buy has gone above and beyond for me. I took in my t.v. (under their warranty) and, when they couldn't get the part, I got a brand new television to replace the old one. No hassle at all.