So I have been very quiet about everything bring written on pinecam. I have read and thought about the messages on this Web site and it is starting to make me ill. Have you sat back and read what is being said?
I wonder why Juans shut down, "about time the food was awful", how about the new thrift store, "why would I donate to a profit organization?", the feed store "i'm going to boycott them because they don't feed the horses", Angry llama "they don't do enough for the community", now the coffee shack "I will not support them because of the children and I also won't support the feed store because of the children."
What is wrong with our community? We as a society are a "for profit country", I have started a company myself in the last year and am proud to meet some very people. The companies up here rely on feedback from people for the next job. Please treat people with respect, it is getting very nasty in pine cam world.
The only way to keep business up here is by supporting them not bashing them. And just think, if you want the business to do something your way, support them and make suggestions face to face. Money will solve the problems faster than nasty words. Think before writting.

AMEN!!!

Agreed While it is a great venue to share experiences and opinions, due to beign annoymous, people care crass and cruel.

Opinions and experiences are welcome, trashing and destroying are another.

There is a fine line between Bashing and relating experiences. To often people mistake someone posting an actual experience with a Business with Bashing a Business. ie;the article on Long brothers. The world as we know it today is becoming so PC that if a person says they don't like the food or service at a business it would be considered Bashing the Business. On the other hand a rant is a whole different story. How else would we be able to share our experiences Good or Bad with others.When reading these posts we should be objective. JMO

You are so very right! I have had my own business for 18-years and know how hard it is to deal with the “slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune”, especially the innumerable bureaucracies. It moves me to tears every time I see a local business close and think of all the effort, hopes, tears, and prayers that have been lost in trying to make it a success. Reading the know it all “Monday morning quarterbacks” observations saying things like “they should have known better”, “they didn’t treat me perfectly”, etc. from those that lack the courage and spirit to try achieve their dream irks me to no end. My only consolation is that these critics are doomed to stay at the bottom of Maslow’s Pyramid.

My observation?
It's not a phenomenon unique to Pinecam.


Yahoo, Google, Amazon and sites that come up when you do a business search such as Yelp and CitySearch have an area for customer feedback. This IMHO is what started the vicious environment.

It's a shame that the double-edged sword of business owner and customer are in a crucible of a small town. Businesses such as Safeway, Staples and Kings I can be understanding with because a large majority of the employees have to commute from town; as do a lot of the shelf stockers, who are the vendors, such as Earth Grains, Deep Rock, Coke and Pepsi, etc.

People will be people. But there's little to no excuse to bash your neighbor, who is struggling just like you may be and want your money to go as far as possible. And, it's not as anonymous as Yelp or Amazon.
And Big Fred is on to something. The reader is a part of the equation. We're not face to face as Beachrobin's tag says, but we have a chance to make communication balanced, i.e. the speaker and the interpretation both have a responsibility to do their jobs.

Bravo! We need "Like" buttons.

We here at the Coffee Shack always strive to "make it right" whether it be someone's drink order or their concerns about children riding their bikes in the parking lot. If you've had a negative experience in our shop we would hope you would come to us and let us know about your experience so we can improve our service.

I personally have saved at least one valued customer who said she had three different mochas made by three different people that she thought were terrible. I fixed her the perfect mocha, apologized for her previous experience and bought the perfect one from my own pocket as a means of apology. I also told her that I appreciated her giving us so many opportunities, but in the future to let us know immediately if it wasn't right and we'd fix it on the spot.

We strive to offer the best service and product we can, but without someone telling us there's a problem we aren't aware of it and can't fix it. As in the recent example here on Pinecam, if "500 Foundation" or any of the other concerned posters had come into the store and expressed their concerns about the children in the parking lot, we could have had a much more reasoned conversation about the situation and tried to come to a reasonable solution that let the customers understand we listen to their concerns and will take the appropriate actions.

kirt8572, PM me your name and the next time you stop in at the Coffee Shack, your drink is on me.

Anybody notice that the businesses that do well are Not bashed here? They are often praised and recommended... maybe a rare comment or two in the negative, but if they are really trying (like the Coffee Shack above, YAY!), they are well liked and well supported. There are many reasons why businesses fail and lessons learned. Sharing our experiences and opinions can be helpful but there will always be bitter, negative people who rant on Pinecam and everywhere else. I'm just glad I'm not them and read on.
"What's wrong with our community?" Not much, if this is your complaint! I think we have a most wonderful, unique community overall, and our differing opinions add to it. Are you trying to censure us? "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nuthin' at all."?
I'm not talking about those who rant and are mean, our great moderators take care of them. I'm sorry you are focused on what's wrong with us rather than what's right. Our comments are only a part of why businesses struggle and fail and I am grateful for all feedback. We learn from our critics, too.

Well said. You can believe I read all the reviews on the vacuum cleaner I just bought. I happen to think reviews of products and services are a good thing. I don't like being ripped off and if that makes me politically incorrect, so be it.

People running retail Businesses these days are under a great amount of stress. I owned my own Business for years worrying about how to make payroll each week,how to pay the escalating expenses associated with keeping the doors open. Maybe that is why I treat people who wait on me, be it in a small venue or a worker at King's, Walmart etc with respect. I see customers yelling at these people,trying to return soiled and damaged goods just to get their way,Really Now what have we as a society evolved into where we treat others in this manner just to accomplish a specific goal. Before we jump on the Band Wagon to discredit a Business we really should ask ourselves what is our agenda in doing so,and what are we accomplishing.
Now there is talk about Kings merging with or taking over Safeway. The net result up here would be one will go. How many more jobs lost and maybe the final nail in the Town Centers coffin.

Having a small business has been more of a challenge since big box stores came into existence and now the internet has made it even harder. I finished up my working years as a sales rep. I called on small businesses, before that I was a retail turnaround specialist so I've had plenty of experience in retail.
As a rep I observed many things and was amazed many of the stores were still in business. Owners that did not train their employees in customer service, or exhibited poor customer service themselves. Owners and employees with poor product knowledge, dirty shelves, floors, restrooms, out of stock product, etc. Owners that didn't even know how to figure a profit margin and did not know what profit margin they needed to grow their business.
I still watch for "signs" of a poorly run business when I shop. I am likely not to business when I see those signs. Yes, I am tuned in more so than others, but I believe others get a feeling or uncomfortable and don't know why. What they feel affect if they will shop in that business again and to what degree.
Some have done their homework or have a knack for business and have few problems.....those that do have problems need to look at their business with fresh eyes and make corrections before they close their doors.
Yes, there are some customers that will never be pleased, in my years in retail I got rid of 5 customers by suggesting they would be happier shopping elsewhere. Those people will never be pleased and will do a business harm no matter what you do to try to please them.
If an owner or an employee is having a bad day, once they go through the door to start the business day, that bad day has to stay on the other side of the door.

I don't just look at the negative, I look at the total picture. Maybe I am missing something but I haven't seen a thread that said " the best place to eat, shop, or relax up here is."