This is an excerpt taken from my blog. . .I was so disgusted I devoted an entire blog post to…read moredescribing why The Little Snack Shop sucks. . .
Conveniently located next door to the laundromat is The Little Snack Shop. The first few times I ventured to the hole-in-the-wall convenience store, they were closed, even though according to the posted hours they were supposed to be open. Whatever. I could easily drive down the street to Aloha Gas Station for a drink. I always gave the store the benefit of the doubt, figuring it was a small family operation. But then they crossed me. Three times.
Reason #1 - No Change For You
One day, I went to do laundry and the change machine wasn't working. At that time there was only one change machine in the laundromat. I didn't have any change on me or in my car. I called the laundromat's posted numbers and reached their voice mail and answering machine. It was getting late, and if I didn't do laundry soon, there wouldn't be enough sunlight to dry my clothes for work the next day.
I went next door to The Little Snack Shop and was relieved they were open. The lady inside was pleasant enough, greeting me when I entered. I asked her if I could get change since the machine next door wasn't working. She said no and to contact the owner of the laundromat. Her reaction was understandable, because maybe she didn't have a lot of change and couldn't risk giving away her change to all the laundromat patrons.
I told her I would buy a snack, and chose two $0.99 bags of sunflower seeds. I brought them to the register and took out a $5 bill. The woman looked at the sunflower seeds and said she couldn't give me change. I told her I was completely willing to purchase a snack. She shook her head and said that she wouldn't sell me the sunflower seeds because I was only buying it to get change. I asked her if she was serious. She said yes and took the bags of sunflower seeds and went to return them to the rack. Oh my.
Reason #2 - Yesterday's Paper Is Just As Good As Today's Paper
The second time I visited The Little Snack Shop, I wanted to get a Sunday newspaper. I can't remember if it was for the sales, coupons or a specific article, but when I entered the store, the lady looked up from reading her Sunday paper and smiled. She asked if I needed any help and I asked her for a Sunday paper. She said, "We don't sell the Sunday paper." I said, "But you're reading one." She replied, "This is the newspaper for the store. We have Saturday's paper, still." At this point, I was over the conversation and said, "That's okay." As I turned to leave, the lady said, "It's only from yesterday." Like I was being picky or something. I didn't answer and as I exited the store she called out, "You should try Longs." Great. So super helpful.
Reason #3 - They Have Dibs on Parking
Just today, when I went to do laundry, the parking lot was pretty full. The spaces in front of The Little Snack Shop were open so I pulled into one of the empty stalls. After I got out of the car and was opening the rear driver's side door to retrieve my laundry, I saw the lady from The Little Snack Shop in her car behind me, motioning me to leave. I pointed to the stall next to me and she shook her head. I pointed to the other full stalls and she motioned again for me to leave. Mind you The Little Snack Shop has a reserved stall on the other side of the parking lot, literally like 10 yards away.
Sure, I had a choice and could have stayed in the spot, but that wouldn't have been very nice. So I pulled out and drove away to a different laundromat and vowed to write a scathing, I-Would-Give-It-Zero-Stars-If-Possible-Review on Yelp. As I was driving away, I noticed that she had parked so she was taking up the last two spaces in the parking lot. Wow.
Terrible on so many levels.