Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
51submissions
1week left
51 Petty Business Boycotts People Have Kept Going Out Of Pure Principle And Spite
Some resentments fade with time. Others… stick around like a family heirloom. One day a company “misplaces” your order, turns a basic return into a scavenger hunt, or slaps on a fee they swear was totally disclosed—and suddenly you’re on year 12 of refusing to buy so much as a pack of gum from them. The line’s been crossed, and it’s not getting uncrossed.
Redditors marianneouioui and istrx13 recently asked people to share which businesses they’re stubbornly boycotting and won’t spend another dime at after getting screwed over, and their responses are hilariously personal. Spoilers: more than a few of these grudges are old enough to vote. Read them below.
Discover more in 51 Petty Business Boycotts People Have Kept Going Out Of Pure Principle And Spite
Click here & follow us for more lists, facts, and stories.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Nestle.... "Water isn't a human right..."
F those guys...
Also, they're really hard to avoid....
RELATED:
#3
Hobby Lobby will not provide healthcare that covers birth control to their employees. I have never shopped there, and don’t plan to EVER because of this. Also ChickFillA. Both of these businesses are less than 1block from my home, but I will take a bus across town to get what I need and avoid them!
#4
Locked my keys and phone in my car while picking up 6 pizzas at domino’s. They would not let me use the phone to call my wife to bring spare key. Will not go back. It’s been 11 years.
#6
I worked at Wal mart for a month as a teen. They forced me to work overtime and did not pay me. I won some cash back in a class action lawsuit.
I refuse to spend a dime there. 27 years and counting.
#7
Starbucks. Bad coffee and even worse labor practices. No way am I paying a fiver for burnt coffee.
#8
Bank of America. They charged me 33 dollars a month for only having 5 dollars in my account for 6 months. I was 8.
#9
Uber stole $2 from my bank account (1 buck, twice), and i was broke that week, resulting in 2 NSF charges, 45 bucks each. I called Uber to ask what the frick they were doing, they said "we're just making sure your account is active". I demanded the $92 back, they gave me the 2, said to take up the 90 with TD Bank.
I called TD Bank, they told me to stop spending money if I know I don't have money, even though I had just told them I wasn't the one doing the "spending".
I cancelled my Uber account, closed my TD Bank account (didn't pay the 90), and never did business with either one ever again and here we are 10 years later, neither one making a dime from me.
#10
My favorite story would be from my best friend's dad. Every Thursday he would order a pizza from Domino's but ask that one quarter of it be cheese only for his children. Since they knew him, he paid the full topping price, and he did this so regularly they didn't have a problem with it. That was until one time when he was giving his regular order and the owner interrupted the employee taking the order, insisting that they would not fulfill a special request like that. He explained that he'd be doing it this way for over a year and its never been a problem, but the owner said absolutely not. He was patient with the owner, but with this betrayal of trust and how rude the owner was he would never do business with them again.
Cut to a few years later, the school he works at is taking bids from local restaurants to provide a treat lunch for their students. The contract would be regularly ordering enough for, I think 2500 students once a month. They got bids from a lot of restaurants and Domino's was the cheapest. So he called the owner, had him come up to the school for a meeting to iron out the contract details and explained, "several years ago you refused to let me get a pizza that was 1/4th cheese and I said I would never do business with you again. Therefore, this school's contract is going to [Pizza Hut] instead.
#11
Spotify.
They frick over musicians so badly.
And call me old fashioned, but I want to own the music I listen to. If I pay for something, I want to be able to hold it, do whatever with it - not keep paying to borrow it.
#12
I refuse to use a plumbing company in the area because in 2001 they gave a free quote, came out to the job to preform the work, said it was going to be triple the price which I refused, then charged me a service fee.
I refused to pay the service fee because, by logic, a quote isn’t complete until accurate, and they turned me into collections.
Collections called. I told them I’d be happy to pay as soon as they produce the non existent contract with my signature attached. Never heard from them again.
Frick you, Church Plumbing and Heating.
#13
Dogfish Head Ale House refused to seat my disabled mother.
She had ALS and was in a wheelchair at that point. She just wanted to go out for dinner with the family to feel normal again.
We got there and put our names on the seating list. After 25 minutes they offered us a high top bar table, which was above her head in the chair. We said it wouldn't work, pointed out the wheelchair.
After another 30 minutes they offered us a table upstairs. We asked if there was an elevator. They said no, only stairs. We said it wouldn't work, pointed out the wheelchair.
They had a little discussion amongst themselves. After 20 more minutes elapsed they came came an offered us a high top bar table again. We said it wouldn't work, pointed out the wheelchair YET AGAIN. They discussed amongst themselves again and then told us they had a big party and couldn't be expected to move chairs in the main dining room to accommodate a wheelchair and that they couldn't help us.
We just went home after they wasted an hour of our time. My mom was so embarrassed she never tried to go out to eat again. I know it was probably just a bunch of kids working. But still.
Mom being in a wheelchair was an inconvenience to us too, you think we wanted her to be dying of ALS? It's been over a decade and I'm still mad about it.
#15
DoorDash. Customer service not refunding the tip to a dasher who stole my dinner doesn’t sit right with me.
#16
There’s this pizza place near me that didn’t give me the garlic knots I ordered, and told me I was lying that I didn’t receive them. Haven’t gone to them for 3 years now because of that lol.
#17
Wal-Mart. Haven’t shopped at one in 20 years after reading “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich in 2004.
#18
It’s only been 2 years since we started boycotting Amazon after they ran over my dog, but it takes a surprising amount of effort to do.
#19
Enterprise.
Someone renting their car crashed into me.
They knew I had insurance but repeatedly harassed me personally to not only pay damages, but also pay for their lost revenue. (And again, they crashed into me, not the other way around.)
I told them if they called me again I'd sue.
I still use other car rental companies that are part of the same parent company because it's impossible not to but I'll die before I rent from Enterprise again.
#20
I haven’t bought Exxon gas since 1989 because of the Valdez spill and the fact that they lied about it.
#21
Wells Fargo. They put our rent check through twice, causing everything else to bounce. They wouldn’t refund any of the $200 of NSF fees, even though they’d send us an email that they’d made an error. The email saved us with our other 1st of the month bills pays, but heck them forever. This was around 2002.
#22
I went to a department store that I shopped at a fair bit. As I was in the change room I heard two associates outside saying “you better check her when she comes out.” I immediately got dressed, handed them all the items, most of which I planned to buy, and told them I’d never shop there again. That was twelve years ago and they went out of business in June.
#23
Kohl's. They refused to price match their website, even though their signs at the register stated they would. Even the manager refused. Won't go in one. Won't even return my Amazon stuff there. I hope they go out of business.
#24
The butcher a couple of streets away from me.
I arrived with the goal of buying some pork cheeks.
There were 3 people in front of me. But 5 people ended up being served before myself because a couple of "regulars" arrived and started casually chatting the staff and ended up being served mid chat.
When my turn arrived there was literally a big pile of cheeks on top of the counter. An absolute tower of them. I asked for some and they told me that they were all sold out.
I frickin' hate these places where you're either a part of this weird club or you're treated bad.
#25
The Dairy Queen by my house. The employee very quickly hit the "add tip" button while I swiped to give herself a 20% tip. It was only about $2 but still - that's stealing!
#27
AT&T, charged me $45 bucks for a collect call to home that was under 3 minutes in 1997. I never paid the bill and will never do business with them again.
#28
In 1984, I was at Denny's and was served a sausage that had clearly been bitten prior to service (the ragged end showed that it had been reheated after the attack). I showed it to the waitress, who treated me like a salad-roach scammer. I have not been back to any Denny's since.
#29
KFC is d**d to me.
Back in 2020 I ordered a coffee via kiosk, they told me they can't prepare it because their machine is broken, I said no problem and asked for a refund, they said they cannot refund me because I used kiosk. ???
I left a negative review on google maps, they reached out to google and made them delete the review.
I promised myself to never ever step my foot in any KFC ever again, it's become a bit of a meme my gf jokes about often that we see strange empty lots when we pass by a KFC.
#31
Facebook / Meta / whatsapp. I'm in Europe and everyone uses whatsapp. But ever since cambridge analytica I've sworn off anything meta - and whatsapp is part of that. Most important people are on signal and the rest is through sms, or just not.
#32
20 years since a contractor’s van overtook me in a dangerous spot while speeding. I’ve never used their services and never will.
#33
Red Robin. Has to be 13 years now. Coupon for a free birthday burger with purchase of another meal. Let the server know before I even ordered that I had the coupon. When the bill came I was charged for both meals. I told the server and she said that the burger was a seasonal item that didn’t work with that coupon. Manager backed the server. Okee doke. That used to be a go to easy place with groups of six or more. Haven’t been back since.
#36
Subway fired me for putting too many olives on a sandwich l. Haven't been back in 15 years.
#37
Soup Peddler in Austin. I’ve been boycotting them for 23 years because they told their customers the website I built, like used my name, was causing order delays. Only problem was they moved to a different website made by a different company 2 months prior. They couldn’t even be bothered to apologize.
#39
Local Mexican restaurant. Went to use a gift card i was given for Christmas, the following August. Was told they switched gift card systems and had no way to tell how much gift card was worth. Told me to call a 1-800 number. Left the food since it was a pick up order and have never been back. Been 9 years. Always refuse invites to go out there.
#40
BP. I will drive to E to avoid them because I’m still mad about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
#41
Southwest Airlines. And I think anyone who was part of their multi-day network crash on Christmas of 2022 would agree.
They have made the boycott very easy by getting rid of all the policies that made them appealing in the first place.
#43
Autozone. Had issues with their parts, then sales, and then customer service. Bunch of know-nothing jerks cosplaying as mechanics. Very corporate shill energy. And again, bad parts that are not worth it.
#44
Hechingers sold me a tape measure with a lifetime warranty. When it broke they were no longer in business. I’ll never shop there again.
#46
Jimmy John’s. I ordered a #16 Club Lulu with chips and a coke. No chips or coke came and the sandwich was literally mayo and lettuce - Nothing else. I was so mad I called them to get a refund and they refused. I have never gone back after they did this to me and never will!!!
#48
Crumbl cookies. Aside from being like 4 days of calories in one cookie. Back in 2020 I saw an AMA with their VP of HR answering why they seemed “understaffed in an area” and they blamed it on all their competitors paying above market value wages, and them wanting only people passionate about their brand. That was followed by them posting a huge party on social media during lockdowns, and the “cookie wars” where they tried to sue their competitors for also using “square boxes” among other things.
#50
I received the wrong sandwich at Arby’s when I was about 5. It’s been 30 years and I refuse to let that go.
Add Your Answer! This post is a community curated
Add Your Answer!
Explore more of these tags
You May Like 51 Petty Business Boycotts People Have Kept Going Out Of Pure Principle And Spite 40 Hilarious Quotes From The Most Famous People 125 Funny Phrases To Stun Even The Most Expressful Friend
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Saimonas Lukošius
Saimonas Lukošius
Related on Bored Panda
