The WORST service I got in town was from home depot.  Not a single employee seemed to have 10 seconds to even point me which direction to go to find what I needed.  After that I went to the homes for less and had the best service I could ever imagine!

When Wal-Mart comes and puts K-Mart out of business, we'll not only have an ugly empty building, we'll also have to deal with the same lousy service at Wal-Mart.

Are you listening and reading -- K-Mart and Home Depot?

When Wal-Mart comes here we will have an opportunity to evaluate them. But, please don't pre-judge. Local retailers, like Henry's Home For Less will continue to thrive because of their low prices and excellent service. On the other hand, there are those who have been picking our pockets and giving poor or NO service for years because they had no competition. They will fail, and deservedly so! Good riddance, I say.

I love Subway sandwiches but the service leaves a lot to be desired. They act like they are doing you a favor and with a long line, some of them just hang out in the back and too busy talking to each other instead of stepping forward to help their customers. They avoid eye contact as a means of escape.

On the other hand, Tea Donuts offers excellent service, fresh donuts, strong eye contact, and friendly, smiling service. Let's hear about some of the good ones and keep this blog going. We can ALL benefit from it.

Jim Richards

Don't be mean to me Jimr, : )  there's a little pre-judging in all of us.  This is just one of my fears.  The "little bit of negative in me coming out".  It seems to me the smaller, home-town stores are more customer friendly.

I was at kmart yesterday for over an hour and most of that time was spent in line. A manager was calling other associates to come run a register and not a single one of them came to open a register. There was 2 registers open with about 50 customers. I was only there to buy a cheap vacume cleaner because the one I bought at Home Depot broke after 2 months, so I refuse to buy another one there.

Home Depot stinks because nobody knows where anything is. And IF you can find someone to help you they just state that they do not work in that department and stretch out there arms and point in another direction. And on one occassion I had to order a dishwasher and that got all screwed up, it never got ordered. I ended up having to spend an extra $100 for a diffrent model that they actually had.

Tea donuts rocks!! The people that work there are extremly nice and do a great job!!!!!

Let's see, I also love the little shops along the Blvd.  Nonie's.  I love the Apple Shed. Kohnen's bakery.  I love Kelcy's.  I go back and forth on all of the new businesses coming to town.  I love the "hometown" feel of Tehachapi and I'm afraid of losing that. 

After all, 15 years ago, sitting at City Park in the Summer, with my 3 little girls and the cool breeze blowing through the trees is what convinced me that I just had to live here.  I'll never forget that feeling.

That's where I got re-married 2 1/2 years ago.

I have also noticed at Home Depot that there are alot of employees around but none of them are very helpful with the one exception of the paint department. I can't remember the fellows name for the life of me but he's probably in his 40's or so. He helped us so much and for that we were very thankful.

K-Mart seems to be developing a trend here and my experiences there have been the same. Long lines, not enough cashiers, slow service, sale items never in stock, and the customer service desk is somewhere I've often found myself after being charged incorrectly or having an item scanned multiple times,.

Albertsons never seems to have sale items in stock when I am there but they are always good at writing out rain checks which is nice. The prices there seem so infllated even compared to Bako. I will find myself there only when I run out of something but for my real grocery shopping I always go to Bako and find myself at food for less or any other ghetto grocery store that has the exact same products at half the price.

Books n Crannies, 99+ store, Mud Hut, Postal Plus, Tehachapi Animal Hospital, Canine Creek, Johnson's Printing, Sav-ons in Albertson's are just a few of the places that offer real customer service.

I will not do business ever again with Applegate Florists.  Home Depot hires idiots.

For groceries, I do a big shopping trip once a month to Wincos in P/L. The prices are unbelievable, so is the selection. When I need milk or bread, I stand in line at Albertson's - but they do have good customer service too.

I won't eat anywhere that does not have an "A" from the health department. I will never go to the Tehachapi McDonald's again either...I won't tell you what I had in my box of fries.

K-Mart I have mixed feelings about. They always came through with generous donations of items and space for SCVFD fund raisers. Other than not being able to find some items there, I've never really had a bad experience.

I'm sure I'll be able to add to this blog...

Let's see. I usually try to avoid K-mart and end up going to Walgreens for many of the things I need. I've never had a problem there. I've tried to get plexi-glass cut twice at Home Depot, both times I've been told they don't do that, but they've done it for my mother??  My wedding horror story includes Tehachapi Flower Shop, but that was eight years ago so hopefully they've changed.......ALOT!  I love Albertson's and sorry whoknows I love Carlos' donuts. They are awesome and they make a great cup of coffee, plus their doz. is 14 not 12! lol I think the customer service at the Great Wall is outstanding!  I've also always enjoyed my meals at City Slicker's and if I ever had any complaints they were always very accommodating and quick to fix the problem.

Love Don Juan's and Jake's and the Japanese place on F Street (can never remember the name but it is terrific).  Don't expect customer service from Home Depot or K-Mart but shop both places because the prices are good.  Like Home 4 Less, but they too often don't carry something I am looking for.  Hate Abbey's Carpet, Ace Hardware and Pioneer Hardware.  Tried ALL the auto repair shops and feel they are jip joints and should be turned into the BBB.  And oh yeah, K-Mart's return counter - that guy should be taken out and flogged.  Sorry about that - several bad encounters there.

I've had some really good experiences at Walgreen's, Post Net, Baskin Robbins, Albertsons, BlockBuster, Guido & the Blondes, and I'm crazy about Leisure Clothing.

I have tried and tried and tried to shop Tehachapi because I want my buying dollar to stay in the community.  But, sometimes it is just not possible.  Where do you go for a nice bottle of perfume, a new serving dish, pretty table napkins, a good bottle of wine, baby clothes, a good bottle of olive oil, lamps, rugs, etc.?  My list is long.  I go to Bakersfield and shop on-line.

The customer is always right but - I wish retail establishments could just throw some customers out the door.  Honestly - it is not cool the swear at your kids or smack them in the head.  It is sooooo wrong for anyone to stand in line and have an x-rated conversation in hearing distance of my grandmother, or my granddaughter or ME .  Shame, shame.