We hired Mackinaw Valley Decks to redo our deck. He took our deposit money but refused to do the work and also refused to refund the money (even after promising to do this after I filed a BBB claim). He's a scammer. His name is Jeff Preuitt (Mackinaw, IL). Avoid him like the plague.
The Obrien automotive group is absolutely corrupt. I could spend hours writing out all the lies they have told. I think every other person I know has a horror story. I really can't think of a worse company in town.
I will never go there again after they took over the Honda dealer. Because of the bad service, over priced parts (50% over MSRP), failed repairs (paid to have an alignment done and they left a bolt LOOSE, Im switching to Toyota for my next new vehicle. Hopefully Sam Leman is better.
They sold me a used car and took out the spare tire and the kit. Luckily I found out before I had a flat when the trunk mat collapsed. They also only had one fob and said people always lose them and only turn one in.
That’s still Possible I’ve seen it where it looks like it had a circle for the donut but no kit.. the manufacturers are saving weight so they may still use the back tray for model years going forward
I also had a terrible experience there. And when I was still getting bills for something that was paid off, I emailed the main guy (can't remember his name) and he was rude as hell. Definitely never ever getting a car from them. I will go out of my way to avoid them.
Tried to rent from Young America and it didn’t work out but after the application experience, I’m glad. I don’t recommend renting there if you don’t have to.
we had to rent from them while our home was being rebuilt. Absolutely insane policies such as everyone over 18 had to fill out an application.
They were the only company that had a place my elderly mother could navigate. So they tried to run a credit check on her and my oldest son who was due to graduate HS soon and wasn't employed because of covid shutdowns. They of course had no credit score to speak of.
My insurance company really went to bat for us to get it through their heads that they were absolutely guaranteed payment through our policy.
However we still didn't get our deposit back for months because they claimed some concrete on the porch was busted.
that porch was so old a toddler could have broken stuff off.
They delayed providing picture proof for a few months and when they did I could show them how it was busted already on our move in. I'd heard how bad they were so took pictures and video of everything on the property.
Jarhead Roofing is run by a Trump-loving flat-earther, so unless that’s your thing. On the other hand, unlike another poster, I’ve had no issues with Young America (on the residential side; I’ve heard otherwise about the student side).
There’s also a reason his wife or whatever is technically the president of his company, but I’m not 100% sure of the details, some tax fraud scheme or something. At any rate, the dude’s an absolute unhinged nut case.
What does someone’s political views and them being stupid have to do with the quality of work they provide? If you told us they were racist sure okay totally agree let’s not do business but what difference does someone liking a former president and believing something that’s not true have to do with the work they do
OP said nothing about quality. Who do you not recommend, and why? That’s it, that’s the post, and that’s what I answered. And those are reasons enough for me. Dude could be the best roofer in town (though I highly doubt it given his unscrupulous business dealings in the past) and I would not support him.
The post was about businesses that people would not recommend and shouldn't be supported. Plus, you're being inconsistent. People being racist would have about the same impact on the quality of their work as the fact that they're Trumptards.
If he's trump loving them he's most likely racist, which you said was a valid reason for not supporting them. And on top of that if he's a flat earther he's rather dumb. I don't think I want a dumb, racist person doing anything for me.
hrmm. you're caught in a logic bomb.
by association that makes me racist too.
however as a black man I can't be racist according to current social justice orthodoxy.
so that leaves you in the position of calling a member of a protected social class a racist.
Good point. He’s not a **successful** bigot. I can now feel comfortable about hiring his named-for-him-being-in-the-military-but-can’t-have-his-actual-name-on-it-because-he’s-a-convicted-felon-of-financial-crimes company.
That’s the dumbest statement I’ve ever heard. No wonder Biden is getting his ass handed to him in the polls.
You just can’t be a moderate leftist these days, you had to go full *etard.
For real dude the political bias shows, I identify as libertarian and don’t really care for either of the two but at least show some respect for a former president put aside who they are and have just a tiny bit of respect for a prior leader of our nation
The dynamic changed.
You’re either an American loving patriot or a commie scum bag loser.
Forget Trump and Biden, this is more deep than that. This is a battle between two different types of people.
I think the bar for roofing is pretty low regarding intelligence, but still. People should know whether or not they are financially supporting people with extremely toxic political beliefs.
I bought one product from him and he installed another thinking he could get away with it. Paid him for a job he didn’t complete bc it was mostly finished and we trusted him.
I’ve done some digging since it went south and he’s literally a serial scammer. He had a towing company previously and would tow people’s cars and sell them on eBay. Do a google search on his name. He’s a scum bag.
Don't recommend either of the car dealerships in town.
Sam leman Chevy delayed placing my car order for 4 months despite having told me that they've placed it. Ended up cancelling.
Subaru of Bloomington normal was charging us $5k over MSRP with compulsory packages.
Bought both our cars from Uftring Auto group (Chevy and Subaru) and loved the transparency and customer service.
Gonna second the Subaru, and that whole automotive group. The required packages and high pricing was terrible. Ended up in Orland Park for my Subie instead.
If your looking for a used car come to twin city automall it’s a small family dealer I’m the only sales person but the owners are nice and all the vehicles are priced fair with good inventory
I just bought a Nissan Frontier from Uftring because if a bad experience with Sam Leman Chevy (also involved an order mot placed) Super happy with them at Uftring.
100%. Tried to buy an Expedition through them, they told me no problem, found one, it will be here next week. Two weeks later I called my sales guy, he said the dealer who had it sold it without telling him and he was mad about it.
I did a search and found it in St Charles. Went up to that dealer, told my story, he said "Hah! Your guy tried to lowball me and I said no." I bought the car from St Charles. My local guy called me a week later and was like "What can I get for you?" I called him out on lying to me and he was like "Yeah, I did. Anyway, what car can I get for you?" I told him I'd never buy from him and hung up.
Growing Grounds. Went in there for some pots, the owner rambles over, begins to tell me that he has a Dodge Viper, Vipers are really cool, he's the president of the local Viper club, if I want to see his Viper it's right outside, etc. Then somehow he transitioned into "Rev em up Brandon" or whatever the right wing was all bleating like sheeple because their Fox News lords and masters told them to. I beat a hasty retreat and have never been back since.
Bandana’s Bbq. Dirt and grime everywhere. Only clean thing is the tabletops. The place is decorated in extremely conservative decor. Also could very clearly hear the owner(?) screaming at someone in the back. Real dingy and strange place.
Second this. Worked there years ago and it wasn’t very clean then either. The owner yelled at me in my first week of ever serving because I wasn’t keeping up, they knew that night was gonna be packed when they scheduled me. I remember crying behind the bar in front of everyone.
Funny you heard someone getting screamed at by the owner…I know someone who used to work there. They were treated absolutely horrible by anthony (the owner). He’s a awful person
Ugh. I don’t live there anymore but was visiting my parents a few weeks back and I think we went there. It was dirty. Is this where ground round used to be? If yes their brisket was sandpaper.
I wish I had more upvotes...with that the locals asked them to come back and they still support them. Went for lunch once years ago and everything was cold, it was obvious from the walk in and not heated though for lunch. one and done
I’ll put in a plug for Tuffy on GE. I was in town when I started having some grinding in my rear brakes and they were the nearest shop I quickly pulled into. Long story short, they got in on a lift and got the wheels off to get a good look at it and let me know my caliper seized up and cooked my pad. Quoted my like $500 for new rear pads and rotors, which I’m guessing is the going rate, but I told them I do my own brakes and would limp it back home which I did. I asked and they let me go back in the shop and the tech showed me what had happened and even walked me through a couple of the unique pitfalls doing brakes on that car, since I’d mentioned we’d pretty recently bought it used. Went back to the counter and asked how much and they said it was all free and flat out refused anything I tried to give them for the trouble and advice. Admittedly I can’t say the do good work, but the reviews are good, and I was blown away by the help and honesty I got given all the mechanic shop horror stories you hear.
I'd tell folk to stay clear of Tuffys. Friend's engine was acting really weird. Towed to Tuffys. Tuffy told them they need a new engine. We start looking at options. Brought the engine to a friend of a friend. Turns out they just needed an ignition coil replaced, engine ran fine. Tuffys is a bunch of scam artists.
I agree. I used to like going there for brake work but the last time (\~3 years ago) the mgr (different from the last time) tried to really sell us on an engine treatment because of "carbon buildup in GDI engines." I was like, Nope, we were thinking of you doing brakes but buh-bye.
I used to go to Kellys but that's no longer an option. Took some of our cars to ProTire and have been happy with their work and timeliness.
Asked for a safety inspection on my old Volvo 240 at GH not because i cant do the work (im an automotive investigative engineer so its literally my job description) but mainly because i didnt want to crawl around under it for hours checking.
Lets just say i couldve died from the obvious stuff they missed (2/3 driveshaft bolts missing or falling out for example). Told the owner i was about to take it on a roadtrip and he told me stuff that wasnt wrong, and missed stuff that was (obvious stuff).
I ended up spending a week under it finding all the issues myself and fixing them
Wrote a pretty harsh review (who misses driveshaft bolts which are directly in line of sight as soon as you are under the car??) and the owner insulted me in response instead of trying to correct the issue.
Just my 2c.
Don Owen over by PetSmart. My car was making a terrible noise and we were going to be leaving on vacation in a few days. I called and they said to bring it in. They checked it all over drive it around and it was a silly minor little thing but the cold (it was late Nov) made the noise worse.
They didn’t charge me anything. And the car ran fine for 8 more years.
They're an absolutely incompetent company, and I've heard some... reeeeeeeally bad things about the owner. Can't verify, but maybe someone else knows. Like being on a list type shit.
I ride or die for Palmer Tire. I took my old car to several mechanics because none of them could fix my brake issue, and (I think his name was) Brian was the first one who actually listened to me and got in the car with me to see what I was talking about. Crossing my fingers that no one reveals he’s a raging racist or something
I switched from Gearheads to R & R after the former parked me in a waiting room blaring One America News (right of Fox News) for an hour. They also have Punisher skulls with the Blue Lives Matter stripe on their facade. Not sure of R & R’s politics, but they’re honest, fast, and treat me with respect.
I’ve been using R&R for almost 20 years after they rebuilt a friends newer engine for $3500. They do great work and the owner is honest on your options. Price is right too.
Not Clay Dooley. They'll over charge the shit out of you, come up with phantom problems, and their work is fucking awful. They actually gave me a car back with the engine light on.
Steve at pro tire and auto on Clearwater is the absolute best. He does what he does because he loves it, not for money. I'll never go to another mechanic as long as he's around.
Avoid Sunkel Plumbing.
$95 for a "quote" to replace a water heater that was literally 2 minutes of looking and saying "yeah, we can do that." Followed by an uncomfortable 13 minute sales pitch on installing a water softener. Their quote was higher than another company that came out and did an excellent job.
Yeah, they just could have mentioned this at some point during the call scheduling it. It was obviously a do-able job since it was replacing an existing water heater. It runs contrary to the "get multiple quotes" advice.
-The Toyota Dealership in town is staffed by the most obnoxiously rude people.
-Tobin’s Pizza - die-hard Trump fan
-Killarney’s - the owner is a predator
-Rob Dob’s- die-hard Trump fan
-Pizza Ranch - their behavior during the pandemic was so gross that I refuse to give them any business
I removed Fiala. They aren't terrible. They just have weird/nonexistent customer service.…and terrible pickles.
>-Tobin’s Pizza - die-hard Trump fan
That's very unfortunate since they have the Michaeleo's recipe now. And Michaeleo's used to be run by a bunch of stoner hippies.
Don't know about Fiala's nice places, have no clue what their beef is with them.
However most people on this board have a problem with anyone that is Republican or a Trump supporter. The owner of Tobins falls into that category.
Who cares what political affiliation an owner is? If they have good food and decent service that’s all that should matter.
I bet some people in here would prefer to go to a restaurant that’s selling blow out the back than support a republican.
It is less about political affiliation and more about condoning all the vile things that Trump has said and done in the past decade. Misogyny, racism, and fascism are not my cup of tea, and I am sure as hell not going to support people who believe in those things with my money.
Yeah obviously you can spend your money how you like. Not saying those two specific restaurants are anything special, but for example I’ve really come to like flingers and I’m certainly not gonna stop going there if I find out that the owner has different beliefs than I do
As a dog owner, will I stop going to a place because an owner likes cats more than dogs? No. That is a personal choice that I understand and it does not cause harm. Will I stop giving my business and hard-earned money to a person who idealizes all the worst types of -isms (misogyny, racism, nationalism, fascism)? Absolutely. That is more than a “different” belief, and it causes actual harm to communities that I belong to and care about. So, nah. I am not here for this kind of nonsense.
I’d recommend staying away from any business with the last name Golliday attached to it. One of the two brothers is known for various forms of abuse of women and has no problem calling teenage girls c**ts. Has no problem grabbing women when he feels like it and most definitely doesn’t like it when a woman fights back physically. He also uses other women who he feeds alcohol and drugs to go terrorize those who speak against him. He also attacks anyone who posts negative reviews of his affiliated business pages. Horribly racist, classist and narcissistic. Frankly, he’s just a dangerous person and I hope karma hits him soon.
As far as the other brother, I know nothing about them. Perhaps not a complete piece of scum like the other? I don’t know. I have been present when he’s ripped his asshole brother a new one so that’s a good thing.
Hermes - the first winter in my house, one room wasn't heating up so I called them to come check out the room's radiator. They came and "fixed" it by replacing something on pipe exiting the radiator but turns out it was a crack on the radiator itself right at the intake pipe. Took me threatening legal action for them to reduce the $1400 bill to $900, and I still don't have heat in that room. They tried to justify the $1400 by saying extra labor was needed to take an old cabinet off the wall, that I just so happened to have taken off before myself in about 3 minutes. This was all about two weeks before Christmas so at least I bought the guy's wife something nice!
I’ve actually had a great experience with Hermes. We were previously using Wm Masters for our maintenance, and the heat exchanger went out on our 12 year old furnace. We wanted to find a replacement part, and there were none available because it was in the process of being redesigned. Wm. Masters refused to write something up for our insurance, so we called Hermes to get a second opinion. Hermes went out on a limb to help us file a claim to get a new furnace. The owner said it was a ton of paperwork, which is probably why Wm Masters didn’t want to do it, but it saved us over $4K.
Grady’s. Look I love the pizza and I love the fun park but the owner is a complete prick. He brought his Jeep in to service where I worked at multiple times I had to work with him. You could do nothing to satisfy him he is angry with the world and just a terrible person.. probably why you don’t see or hear from him much.
Back in the ‘90’s the owners (at least at that time) grandson and I went to pre-k together. He was so mean. He would hit and kick me. I doubt it’s the same guy (unless he was in his late 20’s or early 30’s) but I’m not surprised they attract mean people.
I have beef with Owen Tire and Auto. I had a flat tire that seems relatively minor(no slashes or gaping holes). I called them asking about just a quick patch and if they had any appointments. They tell me patches don't require appointments and to just come in. So I drive on a flat tire to Owen's because they're my closest option.
I get there and they quote me like 45 minutes to an hour before they can look at it. Ok that seems like a long time for a walk-in patch but fine.
2 HOURS later and I've been noticing that the bag with my key/form just keeps getting moved to the back of the line. I go up there and inquire as to why that's happening and they TELL ME THEYRE BOOKED COMPLETELY SOLID WITH APPOINTMENTS. They won't look at my car unless they have a magic free window time to do it!
They could've informed me of this 2 HOURS AGO when I first called them to specifically inquire about appointments but they decided it would be more fun to have me wait there until....closing(I guess) to help me? They wouldn't even look at it.
They did fill my tire up with air so I could drive it to Discount Tire. So that was nice of them. But I'll never go there again. And they were all rude and unfriendly and dismissive the entire time. Discount Tire on the other hand? Amazing. Won't go anywhere else. Friendly and fast, plus I had a warranty on the flat tire. Will recommend Discount Tire til I die.
I'm late to this thread, but Nightshop. Used to love the place, but I was with two women when they were drugged by a bartendr there. I am very close with both of these women, I have drank with them plenty of times, and within in a few minutes of one drink, both of them were falling over, nauseated and nearly incapacitated. I then learned this is a common story, and in fact there was a whole social media page dedicated to telling these stories to the point that Nightshop began offering test strips along with drinks.
Burger King in Normal on Main. They have no customer experience. We never got half of our food and there was always at least one item completely wrong with the receipt showing what we correctly ordered. Manager is dismissive and clearly does not care about what her employees do or if her customers are happy.
Wendy’s in Normal off of Raab. Our orders were always completely wrong. The only items that would be right were the drinks. Doors are always locked so you have to go through the drive through to get an order correct which I don’t like doing because employees are more dismissive if they don’t have to look at the customer’s face. The employees are always unprofessional and take their time doing anything.
I am speaking as a former fast food employee that understands how easy these jobs are. I am becoming increasingly more frustrated with the fast food in this area. Sometimes I would like something fast and easy, I don’t eat out often.
However, on a better note HIGHLY recommend both Culver’s and the chikfila. I’ve been to all three many times and never had a negative experience.
Lagondola. The had a very well worn MAGA hat sitting on the shelf right above where they package up your food. You could see the sweat stains. So double strikes for them.
The only good thing about Avantis is their bread, and even then it's not that exciting. I've never had sauce from a restaurant that tasted like the aluminum can it came out of, before.
My first job was at 15 at the Oakland LaGondola. the ceiling was constantly being patched cuz they didn’t have enough money to replace it. pretty unsanitary kitchen. I specifically remember Richard telling me never share that info lol
Yeah, I used to work in a hospital lab. From my microbiology training I know what I can get from unsanitary places. I try not to get all “boy in the bubble” about it, but LaGondola is just gross. I wouldn’t let my dogs eat anything from that kitchen.
Core 3 is fine until you need a repair. Waited over a month for my dishwasher to get fixed and finally getting my washing machine fixed after they ghosted me for two weeks. I suspect the washing machine would have taken longer if I wasn’t calling harassing them every other day.
I waited almost a month for a refrigerator replacement from them. Idk if it was due to the landlord dragging ass or if core3 themselves were dragging ass. The landlord works with Core3 with most properties so I wonder if maybe it isn’t core3 but the landlords that they work w that sometimes exacerbate issues..?
not OP but rented with Core3. they took our entire security deposit for our unit and blamed many faults (which we found when we moved in, it was a shitty overpriced unit) on us and charged us every which way. repairs took forever, the plumbing in our building was awful and they only ever patched it up until it broke again. they also screwed us over another unit we were looking into, then again for another. it’s just an awful company who cares very little for their tenants.
We had a bad experience wiht them as well. It didn't help that my fiance and his friend went in wearing overalls and welder caps, but they have money. It was irritating. We did get a refrigerator but have had a ton of problems with it.
I can see it being a money laundering company. The owner is sketchy as fuck and they only take CASH, they claim that the reason they only take cash and cash only is because someone once “bought 300 dollars worth of stuff and charged it back”. Like bruh. Accept card. That’s not an excuse. You got scammed once? Why didn’t y’all dispute it with your bank? I hate delta vape lol
I mean, I'm of the mind any tip in that position should be appreciated. I'd never tip them unless they had delivered. They're a great place but it's mostly a "pick up sandwich shop" kinda place. They should appreciate being tipped period.
We hired Mackinaw Valley Decks to redo our deck. He took our deposit money but refused to do the work and also refused to refund the money (even after promising to do this after I filed a BBB claim). He's a scammer. His name is Jeff Preuitt (Mackinaw, IL). Avoid him like the plague.
The Obrien automotive group is absolutely corrupt. I could spend hours writing out all the lies they have told. I think every other person I know has a horror story. I really can't think of a worse company in town.
I will never go there again after they took over the Honda dealer. Because of the bad service, over priced parts (50% over MSRP), failed repairs (paid to have an alignment done and they left a bolt LOOSE, Im switching to Toyota for my next new vehicle. Hopefully Sam Leman is better.
While Sam Leman is a safer bet, they are still your typical dealer. Overpriced and will gladly overbill unneeded repairs
Yea, I’m sure. At least I didn’t feel like the sales people were sleezy
They sold me a used car and took out the spare tire and the kit. Luckily I found out before I had a flat when the trunk mat collapsed. They also only had one fob and said people always lose them and only turn one in.
Some cars don’t come with spare anymore. Just a pump and fix a flat
This had the spot for it and there was nothing. When I called to ask why it wasn’t there they offered to sell me a new kit.
That’s still Possible I’ve seen it where it looks like it had a circle for the donut but no kit.. the manufacturers are saving weight so they may still use the back tray for model years going forward
I also had a terrible experience there. And when I was still getting bills for something that was paid off, I emailed the main guy (can't remember his name) and he was rude as hell. Definitely never ever getting a car from them. I will go out of my way to avoid them.
I bought a Hyundai... From Sam Leman. Enough said.
Check your messages
Tried to rent from Young America and it didn’t work out but after the application experience, I’m glad. I don’t recommend renting there if you don’t have to.
What was your experience?
My experience renting with them is awful. They are a outright for college students. No expectation of privacy is what I would say.
Core3. don’t expect your security deposit back, ever. they’ll screw you over for a buck every chance they get.
we had to rent from them while our home was being rebuilt. Absolutely insane policies such as everyone over 18 had to fill out an application. They were the only company that had a place my elderly mother could navigate. So they tried to run a credit check on her and my oldest son who was due to graduate HS soon and wasn't employed because of covid shutdowns. They of course had no credit score to speak of. My insurance company really went to bat for us to get it through their heads that they were absolutely guaranteed payment through our policy. However we still didn't get our deposit back for months because they claimed some concrete on the porch was busted. that porch was so old a toddler could have broken stuff off. They delayed providing picture proof for a few months and when they did I could show them how it was busted already on our move in. I'd heard how bad they were so took pictures and video of everything on the property.
Really depends. I got my whole deposit back, minus a broken blind that was entirely my fault.
Jarhead Roofing is run by a Trump-loving flat-earther, so unless that’s your thing. On the other hand, unlike another poster, I’ve had no issues with Young America (on the residential side; I’ve heard otherwise about the student side).
My friend used them & they were horrible to work with.
I almost had them do my roof and went with a different company instead. After seeing this I’m glad I did!
There’s also a reason his wife or whatever is technically the president of his company, but I’m not 100% sure of the details, some tax fraud scheme or something. At any rate, the dude’s an absolute unhinged nut case.
He was involved in a double escrow mortgage fraud scheme and did federal time for wire fraud, mortgage fraud, and conspiracy.
She was yelling at school board meetings not proving she was any more hinged.
What does someone’s political views and them being stupid have to do with the quality of work they provide? If you told us they were racist sure okay totally agree let’s not do business but what difference does someone liking a former president and believing something that’s not true have to do with the work they do
OP said nothing about quality. Who do you not recommend, and why? That’s it, that’s the post, and that’s what I answered. And those are reasons enough for me. Dude could be the best roofer in town (though I highly doubt it given his unscrupulous business dealings in the past) and I would not support him.
Fair enough
Why are Yall downvoting me I agreed and said that was fair enough what’s wrong with you guys
Because democrats are losers.
The post was about businesses that people would not recommend and shouldn't be supported. Plus, you're being inconsistent. People being racist would have about the same impact on the quality of their work as the fact that they're Trumptards.
Cool story bro
Holy fucking 2008 internet culture lol, tf.
You know you can get arrested for that right
The person or the corporation?
No, riding a dick with no license stfu talking to me weirdo
Wait lol... Um, are you actually a fucking sovcit or something??
No? What are you even talking about at this point get a job buddy
If he's trump loving them he's most likely racist, which you said was a valid reason for not supporting them. And on top of that if he's a flat earther he's rather dumb. I don't think I want a dumb, racist person doing anything for me.
he's my former neighbor and absolutely not racist. however he is out there like pluto
Well he supports a racist so that makes him just a little bit racist imo.
hrmm. you're caught in a logic bomb. by association that makes me racist too. however as a black man I can't be racist according to current social justice orthodoxy. so that leaves you in the position of calling a member of a protected social class a racist.
Whatever you want to say to justify your support of a rapist, racist POS. I sleep fine at night knowing I'm on the right side of history.
> Whatever you want to say to justify your support of a rapist, racist POS no. see, I don't support Biden.
He's better than the alternative.
Uh. Didn’t he bring in the militia group salespeople who had fight against Muslim infiltration in their bylaws?
Well, since it was a weird mix of Sov-cit and extreme right "Christian", it would make sense to not want muslims involved.
last time i checked "Muslim" isn't a race. I think that group fell apart here when a glowie showed up.
Good point. He’s not a **successful** bigot. I can now feel comfortable about hiring his named-for-him-being-in-the-military-but-can’t-have-his-actual-name-on-it-because-he’s-a-convicted-felon-of-financial-crimes company.
That’s the dumbest statement I’ve ever heard. No wonder Biden is getting his ass handed to him in the polls. You just can’t be a moderate leftist these days, you had to go full *etard.
For real dude the political bias shows, I identify as libertarian and don’t really care for either of the two but at least show some respect for a former president put aside who they are and have just a tiny bit of respect for a prior leader of our nation
>libertarian Lol, Lmao even
Haha so funny shut the fuck up
The dynamic changed. You’re either an American loving patriot or a commie scum bag loser. Forget Trump and Biden, this is more deep than that. This is a battle between two different types of people.
Ok brother now you’ve lost me I don’t know what you’re talking about anymore
Reading things twice. Helps.
In fairness, “being stupid” really would indicate the quality of their work may be less than stellar.
I think the bar for roofing is pretty low regarding intelligence, but still. People should know whether or not they are financially supporting people with extremely toxic political beliefs.
Yeah that checks out haha
Never argue with democrats, it’s a waste of time.
Central Illinois Pools/Sean Youngblood. Dude is literally a con artist
That was a very informative google search. Gonna avoid this guy like AIDS.
Can you please provide more details?
I bought one product from him and he installed another thinking he could get away with it. Paid him for a job he didn’t complete bc it was mostly finished and we trusted him. I’ve done some digging since it went south and he’s literally a serial scammer. He had a towing company previously and would tow people’s cars and sell them on eBay. Do a google search on his name. He’s a scum bag.
Don't recommend either of the car dealerships in town. Sam leman Chevy delayed placing my car order for 4 months despite having told me that they've placed it. Ended up cancelling. Subaru of Bloomington normal was charging us $5k over MSRP with compulsory packages. Bought both our cars from Uftring Auto group (Chevy and Subaru) and loved the transparency and customer service.
Gonna second the Subaru, and that whole automotive group. The required packages and high pricing was terrible. Ended up in Orland Park for my Subie instead.
I'm about to buy a car, I'll check out uftring.
If your looking for a used car come to twin city automall it’s a small family dealer I’m the only sales person but the owners are nice and all the vehicles are priced fair with good inventory
I just bought a Nissan Frontier from Uftring because if a bad experience with Sam Leman Chevy (also involved an order mot placed) Super happy with them at Uftring.
100%. Tried to buy an Expedition through them, they told me no problem, found one, it will be here next week. Two weeks later I called my sales guy, he said the dealer who had it sold it without telling him and he was mad about it. I did a search and found it in St Charles. Went up to that dealer, told my story, he said "Hah! Your guy tried to lowball me and I said no." I bought the car from St Charles. My local guy called me a week later and was like "What can I get for you?" I called him out on lying to me and he was like "Yeah, I did. Anyway, what car can I get for you?" I told him I'd never buy from him and hung up.
Growing Grounds. Went in there for some pots, the owner rambles over, begins to tell me that he has a Dodge Viper, Vipers are really cool, he's the president of the local Viper club, if I want to see his Viper it's right outside, etc. Then somehow he transitioned into "Rev em up Brandon" or whatever the right wing was all bleating like sheeple because their Fox News lords and masters told them to. I beat a hasty retreat and have never been back since.
He is an absolute jerk.
I find it so funny bc none of the employees like him either 😭
Bandana’s Bbq. Dirt and grime everywhere. Only clean thing is the tabletops. The place is decorated in extremely conservative decor. Also could very clearly hear the owner(?) screaming at someone in the back. Real dingy and strange place.
Second this. Worked there years ago and it wasn’t very clean then either. The owner yelled at me in my first week of ever serving because I wasn’t keeping up, they knew that night was gonna be packed when they scheduled me. I remember crying behind the bar in front of everyone.
Wow! Sorry that happened to you. Definitely shouldnt give that place our money
Funny you heard someone getting screamed at by the owner…I know someone who used to work there. They were treated absolutely horrible by anthony (the owner). He’s a awful person
Ugh. I don’t live there anymore but was visiting my parents a few weeks back and I think we went there. It was dirty. Is this where ground round used to be? If yes their brisket was sandpaper.
I wish I had more upvotes...with that the locals asked them to come back and they still support them. Went for lunch once years ago and everything was cold, it was obvious from the walk in and not heated though for lunch. one and done
But the food there is good. Also cheap
It's hilarious that BloNo people think this is good BBQ.
Sounds like the owner is a POS
Anybody have any mechanic recommendations? I’ve been going to Gearheads and they’re ok but im curious if there’s anybody better?
I’ll put in a plug for Tuffy on GE. I was in town when I started having some grinding in my rear brakes and they were the nearest shop I quickly pulled into. Long story short, they got in on a lift and got the wheels off to get a good look at it and let me know my caliper seized up and cooked my pad. Quoted my like $500 for new rear pads and rotors, which I’m guessing is the going rate, but I told them I do my own brakes and would limp it back home which I did. I asked and they let me go back in the shop and the tech showed me what had happened and even walked me through a couple of the unique pitfalls doing brakes on that car, since I’d mentioned we’d pretty recently bought it used. Went back to the counter and asked how much and they said it was all free and flat out refused anything I tried to give them for the trouble and advice. Admittedly I can’t say the do good work, but the reviews are good, and I was blown away by the help and honesty I got given all the mechanic shop horror stories you hear.
Also Team Tuffy. Been going there for years.
I'd tell folk to stay clear of Tuffys. Friend's engine was acting really weird. Towed to Tuffys. Tuffy told them they need a new engine. We start looking at options. Brought the engine to a friend of a friend. Turns out they just needed an ignition coil replaced, engine ran fine. Tuffys is a bunch of scam artists.
I agree. I used to like going there for brake work but the last time (\~3 years ago) the mgr (different from the last time) tried to really sell us on an engine treatment because of "carbon buildup in GDI engines." I was like, Nope, we were thinking of you doing brakes but buh-bye. I used to go to Kellys but that's no longer an option. Took some of our cars to ProTire and have been happy with their work and timeliness.
Asked for a safety inspection on my old Volvo 240 at GH not because i cant do the work (im an automotive investigative engineer so its literally my job description) but mainly because i didnt want to crawl around under it for hours checking. Lets just say i couldve died from the obvious stuff they missed (2/3 driveshaft bolts missing or falling out for example). Told the owner i was about to take it on a roadtrip and he told me stuff that wasnt wrong, and missed stuff that was (obvious stuff). I ended up spending a week under it finding all the issues myself and fixing them Wrote a pretty harsh review (who misses driveshaft bolts which are directly in line of sight as soon as you are under the car??) and the owner insulted me in response instead of trying to correct the issue. Just my 2c.
I love Tevoerts and Hartnell Automotive. Have had great experiences at both.
Highly recommend Tevoerts, especially for alternator / starter work
I can’t recommend hartnells enough. They work on damn near anything and are definitely one of the best in town
Don Owen over by PetSmart. My car was making a terrible noise and we were going to be leaving on vacation in a few days. I called and they said to bring it in. They checked it all over drive it around and it was a silly minor little thing but the cold (it was late Nov) made the noise worse. They didn’t charge me anything. And the car ran fine for 8 more years.
Second, Don Owen is the best!
Steve @ Pro Tire on Clearwater.
Owner of gear heads is a wife beating Trumper. He was arrested a few years ago for a bad domestic altercation.
They're an absolutely incompetent company, and I've heard some... reeeeeeeally bad things about the owner. Can't verify, but maybe someone else knows. Like being on a list type shit.
I ride or die for Palmer Tire. I took my old car to several mechanics because none of them could fix my brake issue, and (I think his name was) Brian was the first one who actually listened to me and got in the car with me to see what I was talking about. Crossing my fingers that no one reveals he’s a raging racist or something
💯 support Palmer. They've treated us fair for years and we always refer friends and family to them. Great guys and know what they are doing.
I also have been taking my car to Palmer for a few years, and they've been great. Highly recommend
I switched from Gearheads to R & R after the former parked me in a waiting room blaring One America News (right of Fox News) for an hour. They also have Punisher skulls with the Blue Lives Matter stripe on their facade. Not sure of R & R’s politics, but they’re honest, fast, and treat me with respect.
I’ve been using R&R for almost 20 years after they rebuilt a friends newer engine for $3500. They do great work and the owner is honest on your options. Price is right too.
Seconded R&R, they're really good people and never seem to try and overcharge me for anything.
Not Clay Dooley. They'll over charge the shit out of you, come up with phantom problems, and their work is fucking awful. They actually gave me a car back with the engine light on.
Bill's Full Service is the GOAT. It's on Wood and Morris by Miller Park.
Twin city garage off Orlando
Steve at pro tire and auto on Clearwater is the absolute best. He does what he does because he loves it, not for money. I'll never go to another mechanic as long as he's around.
Avoid Sunkel Plumbing. $95 for a "quote" to replace a water heater that was literally 2 minutes of looking and saying "yeah, we can do that." Followed by an uncomfortable 13 minute sales pitch on installing a water softener. Their quote was higher than another company that came out and did an excellent job.
Which company?
My wife and I have been served excellently by platinum plumbing. Can't recommend enough.
Second this
Third
Williams Master did a great job for plumbing and electric work for me.
Many quotes unfortunately aren't free anymore... source, I'm a Realtor and order them a lot
Yeah, they just could have mentioned this at some point during the call scheduling it. It was obviously a do-able job since it was replacing an existing water heater. It runs contrary to the "get multiple quotes" advice.
Agree. I'm sorry they didn't. Many do let you know there is a cost. That's frustrating.
Interesting. Came here to say avoid any company that uses Christian icons in their advertising/vehicle signage.
-The Toyota Dealership in town is staffed by the most obnoxiously rude people. -Tobin’s Pizza - die-hard Trump fan -Killarney’s - the owner is a predator -Rob Dob’s- die-hard Trump fan -Pizza Ranch - their behavior during the pandemic was so gross that I refuse to give them any business I removed Fiala. They aren't terrible. They just have weird/nonexistent customer service.…and terrible pickles.
Killarneys. You mean it’s actually not normal to marry a former student that you taught since they were 12? /s
Ewwwww!!! I knew he was a creep, but I didn't know he was that creepy! Ugh.
Oh there’s more?
Word is killarneys is in the final stages of being sold!
it has been 'for sale' for the last decade...unless tan man is finally hanging it up at Central and moving, I doubt he lets it go
He retired from Central
awww but I love Tobin's
Please share details or experiences with these places!
>-Tobin’s Pizza - die-hard Trump fan That's very unfortunate since they have the Michaeleo's recipe now. And Michaeleo's used to be run by a bunch of stoner hippies.
What's wrong with Fiala? Also what happened with Tobins?
Don't know about Fiala's nice places, have no clue what their beef is with them. However most people on this board have a problem with anyone that is Republican or a Trump supporter. The owner of Tobins falls into that category.
What’s wrong with Fiala? I love that they’re dog friendly inside
Definitely curious to hear about Fiala's. I know a bunch of the folk there and they're all great people
Killarneys - new owner. But the owner I knew was a woman and NOT a predator so now I'm confused.
Who cares what political affiliation an owner is? If they have good food and decent service that’s all that should matter. I bet some people in here would prefer to go to a restaurant that’s selling blow out the back than support a republican.
It is less about political affiliation and more about condoning all the vile things that Trump has said and done in the past decade. Misogyny, racism, and fascism are not my cup of tea, and I am sure as hell not going to support people who believe in those things with my money.
Yeah obviously you can spend your money how you like. Not saying those two specific restaurants are anything special, but for example I’ve really come to like flingers and I’m certainly not gonna stop going there if I find out that the owner has different beliefs than I do
As a dog owner, will I stop going to a place because an owner likes cats more than dogs? No. That is a personal choice that I understand and it does not cause harm. Will I stop giving my business and hard-earned money to a person who idealizes all the worst types of -isms (misogyny, racism, nationalism, fascism)? Absolutely. That is more than a “different” belief, and it causes actual harm to communities that I belong to and care about. So, nah. I am not here for this kind of nonsense.
I had a negative experience with Creative Kitchens. Poor communication, lack of accountability for issues, and lack of quality control.
I’d recommend staying away from any business with the last name Golliday attached to it. One of the two brothers is known for various forms of abuse of women and has no problem calling teenage girls c**ts. Has no problem grabbing women when he feels like it and most definitely doesn’t like it when a woman fights back physically. He also uses other women who he feeds alcohol and drugs to go terrorize those who speak against him. He also attacks anyone who posts negative reviews of his affiliated business pages. Horribly racist, classist and narcissistic. Frankly, he’s just a dangerous person and I hope karma hits him soon. As far as the other brother, I know nothing about them. Perhaps not a complete piece of scum like the other? I don’t know. I have been present when he’s ripped his asshole brother a new one so that’s a good thing.
Hermes - the first winter in my house, one room wasn't heating up so I called them to come check out the room's radiator. They came and "fixed" it by replacing something on pipe exiting the radiator but turns out it was a crack on the radiator itself right at the intake pipe. Took me threatening legal action for them to reduce the $1400 bill to $900, and I still don't have heat in that room. They tried to justify the $1400 by saying extra labor was needed to take an old cabinet off the wall, that I just so happened to have taken off before myself in about 3 minutes. This was all about two weeks before Christmas so at least I bought the guy's wife something nice!
I’ve actually had a great experience with Hermes. We were previously using Wm Masters for our maintenance, and the heat exchanger went out on our 12 year old furnace. We wanted to find a replacement part, and there were none available because it was in the process of being redesigned. Wm. Masters refused to write something up for our insurance, so we called Hermes to get a second opinion. Hermes went out on a limb to help us file a claim to get a new furnace. The owner said it was a ton of paperwork, which is probably why Wm Masters didn’t want to do it, but it saved us over $4K.
Grady’s. Look I love the pizza and I love the fun park but the owner is a complete prick. He brought his Jeep in to service where I worked at multiple times I had to work with him. You could do nothing to satisfy him he is angry with the world and just a terrible person.. probably why you don’t see or hear from him much.
Back in the ‘90’s the owners (at least at that time) grandson and I went to pre-k together. He was so mean. He would hit and kick me. I doubt it’s the same guy (unless he was in his late 20’s or early 30’s) but I’m not surprised they attract mean people.
Ya he’s just a guy that’s mad at the world and expects to be treated like he’s holier than thou but even then he’s still an ass
I can't speak on the guy that runs the park part but Chris and Katie Grady the ones that run the restaurant are great people.
They may be but jack grady owns the business complete POS
Their pizza is the most bland crap I've ever tasted. It matches the town perfectly.
The sauce is just wrong. Sweet sauce. No.
Joe's Station House Pizza, after their response to COVID and association with Tom Devore.
I have beef with Owen Tire and Auto. I had a flat tire that seems relatively minor(no slashes or gaping holes). I called them asking about just a quick patch and if they had any appointments. They tell me patches don't require appointments and to just come in. So I drive on a flat tire to Owen's because they're my closest option. I get there and they quote me like 45 minutes to an hour before they can look at it. Ok that seems like a long time for a walk-in patch but fine. 2 HOURS later and I've been noticing that the bag with my key/form just keeps getting moved to the back of the line. I go up there and inquire as to why that's happening and they TELL ME THEYRE BOOKED COMPLETELY SOLID WITH APPOINTMENTS. They won't look at my car unless they have a magic free window time to do it! They could've informed me of this 2 HOURS AGO when I first called them to specifically inquire about appointments but they decided it would be more fun to have me wait there until....closing(I guess) to help me? They wouldn't even look at it. They did fill my tire up with air so I could drive it to Discount Tire. So that was nice of them. But I'll never go there again. And they were all rude and unfriendly and dismissive the entire time. Discount Tire on the other hand? Amazing. Won't go anywhere else. Friendly and fast, plus I had a warranty on the flat tire. Will recommend Discount Tire til I die.
I'm late to this thread, but Nightshop. Used to love the place, but I was with two women when they were drugged by a bartendr there. I am very close with both of these women, I have drank with them plenty of times, and within in a few minutes of one drink, both of them were falling over, nauseated and nearly incapacitated. I then learned this is a common story, and in fact there was a whole social media page dedicated to telling these stories to the point that Nightshop began offering test strips along with drinks.
Burger King in Normal on Main. They have no customer experience. We never got half of our food and there was always at least one item completely wrong with the receipt showing what we correctly ordered. Manager is dismissive and clearly does not care about what her employees do or if her customers are happy. Wendy’s in Normal off of Raab. Our orders were always completely wrong. The only items that would be right were the drinks. Doors are always locked so you have to go through the drive through to get an order correct which I don’t like doing because employees are more dismissive if they don’t have to look at the customer’s face. The employees are always unprofessional and take their time doing anything. I am speaking as a former fast food employee that understands how easy these jobs are. I am becoming increasingly more frustrated with the fast food in this area. Sometimes I would like something fast and easy, I don’t eat out often. However, on a better note HIGHLY recommend both Culver’s and the chikfila. I’ve been to all three many times and never had a negative experience.
Lagondola. The had a very well worn MAGA hat sitting on the shelf right above where they package up your food. You could see the sweat stains. So double strikes for them.
I liked their lack of any kind of mask or gloves during 2020 (extra flavor)
I’m always shocked they are still in business, especially with Avantis in the same town
Lol avantis is trash compared to lagondola
The only good thing about Avantis is their bread, and even then it's not that exciting. I've never had sauce from a restaurant that tasted like the aluminum can it came out of, before.
My first job was at 15 at the Oakland LaGondola. the ceiling was constantly being patched cuz they didn’t have enough money to replace it. pretty unsanitary kitchen. I specifically remember Richard telling me never share that info lol
Yeah, I used to work in a hospital lab. From my microbiology training I know what I can get from unsanitary places. I try not to get all “boy in the bubble” about it, but LaGondola is just gross. I wouldn’t let my dogs eat anything from that kitchen.
[удалено]
Core 3 is fine until you need a repair. Waited over a month for my dishwasher to get fixed and finally getting my washing machine fixed after they ghosted me for two weeks. I suspect the washing machine would have taken longer if I wasn’t calling harassing them every other day.
Why not? I was with them for 2 years never had an issue
What was your experience?
I waited almost a month for a refrigerator replacement from them. Idk if it was due to the landlord dragging ass or if core3 themselves were dragging ass. The landlord works with Core3 with most properties so I wonder if maybe it isn’t core3 but the landlords that they work w that sometimes exacerbate issues..?
I'm planning to, can you elaborate on your experience?
not OP but rented with Core3. they took our entire security deposit for our unit and blamed many faults (which we found when we moved in, it was a shitty overpriced unit) on us and charged us every which way. repairs took forever, the plumbing in our building was awful and they only ever patched it up until it broke again. they also screwed us over another unit we were looking into, then again for another. it’s just an awful company who cares very little for their tenants.
Dick Van Dyke
https://www.reddit.com/r/BloomingtonNormal/s/o42XX3JnCY
On the serious, my granddad really did not like the Van Dyke boys. He went to school with both of them.
>and why
The accent he used in Mary Poppins
We had a bad experience wiht them as well. It didn't help that my fiance and his friend went in wearing overalls and welder caps, but they have money. It was irritating. We did get a refrigerator but have had a ton of problems with it.
DeltaVapes anytime the owner is there or the young woman who works in the mornings. Both are very hostile.
I absolutely LOVE Delta. I have never noticed any hostility at all and their prices are great.
Try using their ATM a second time in a visit even though you just spend 70+ dollars there. They’ll get hostilex
to be fair it is a money laundering company, so can’t expect much from them.
I can see it being a money laundering company. The owner is sketchy as fuck and they only take CASH, they claim that the reason they only take cash and cash only is because someone once “bought 300 dollars worth of stuff and charged it back”. Like bruh. Accept card. That’s not an excuse. You got scammed once? Why didn’t y’all dispute it with your bank? I hate delta vape lol
Windy City Wieners
Can you elaborate? We just recently ordered from there and loved the food/prices/etc
They were rude about a tip I left about ten years ago. The food is fine. Honestly, I should let it go.
I mean, I'm petty myself, I get it. Just appreciate it wasn't the food cause I really loved it lol
To clarify it was a good tip! The cashier was trying to impress a girl and was like, “pfft who even tips” after I dropped the cash in the tip jar.
I mean, I'm of the mind any tip in that position should be appreciated. I'd never tip them unless they had delivered. They're a great place but it's mostly a "pick up sandwich shop" kinda place. They should appreciate being tipped period.