Some days, I feel as though if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all. Of course this isn't true, I am in fact one of the luckiest people I know, but as I am sure you all know there are some days when things just go sideways on you... Last Thursday was exactly that kind of day for me. I had to buy some cement to set post for my gate. I went as usual to Fraser Valley Building Supplies in Mission. Would that I had gone to the Rona. But no. As I drove into the stock yard at FVBS the gate slammed down on my hood, leaving behind a dent and a long scratch. The lady who works at the kiosk in the stockyard begged me not to yell and scream at her, and told me that it happens all the time, and that the store had had to pay to fix someone else's car in the past. Now, to be honest, I think that the accident was regrettable, but not unforgivable. I went into the store to the customer service desk, and the lady there called someone for me. The guys she called actually went out and looked at my car before they even spoke to me. How rude is that? They were very adversarial from the beginning, and one of them had the gall to suggest to me that my car was so old and ugly that it was hardly noticeable at all, and that it was just a scratch and it could be buffed out. Now, for those of you who have never seen my car I can tell you that it is neither old nor ugly. It's a 6 year old civic in very good condition, but that hasn't been washed for about a month. It's spring in BC, so of course it has a layer of road dirt on it, but it is far from a decrepit old beater.
In any case, the guys didn't promise to fix it, but told me to go to an autobody shop of their choice to find out the extent of the damage, which I did. Apparently they didn't like what they heard, and they offered first to pay half the repair cost, then when I said that was unacceptable, to pay the first $250.00. Of a $400.00 repair bill. For damage they were entirely responsible for. Heck, all I did was go to the store to buy $15.00 worth of cement. By the next morning, their offered had dropped to a mere $125.00
They were so contemptuous and rude that I will never shop there again, never mind the circumstances. From the very start, they set out to make me feel as though I was the one at fault, as though they were doing me some kind of favour by tossing $125.00 at me. Well I can assure you that $125.00 hush money is not enough. I wasn't expecting anything more than a sincere apology, and an assurance that the gate would be fixed. Perhaps an offer to pay my insurance deductible. Had they done so, they would have retained my custom. As things stand now, I will go out of my way to not give them my business. And I can promise you that over the course of the years this will cost them far more than the $400 it would have cost them to repair the damage they caused to my car. I ask that all you fair-minded, hardware shopping British Columbians who read my blog join me in my boycott of Fraser Valley Building Supplies, and head to Rona, or Home Hardware, or Home Depot instead.
Read more...
