Worst Orlando Shopping Experiences

There is a lot of shopping for tourists around Orlando. There is also some shopping to avoid around Orlando.

IKEA - you are on your own if you shop here; if you like self-service, you will like shopping here. It took me years to figure out the floor plan to this store, I used to get lost at the Orlando IKEA, and was unable to find anyone to give me directions. There is a water fountain and public restrooms are available, in case you get locked into the store, although, security might tow your car or you if you are in the store after hours.

Beall's Discount Outlet - if you want matching outfits or a specific item, go to the regular Beall's store, or to Macy's or Dillards, please. This store is a discount store, and the pieces are sold as is. This is also one of the worst places to shop if you only have 15 minutes to find an outfit for yourself, as some of the pieces are sold with a small defect on the item, which requires time for inspection. The prices are hot, some of the time, the quality is not - shop here on your day off only, please.

Stein Mart - This is not a place to go inside and not purchase anything from the store; purchases under $20 are even noted as being suspicious by the store security. If you go to this store, go there to shop, otherwise, stay out. I will keep on shopping from the website, rather than going there just to browse. This store is the worst place to purchase club wear from, as well, unless you are going to a retro party.

Eclectic Furniture - According to the My 3 Cents website; if you are expecting the furniture when you would like it to be delivered, as you would like it to be delivered: bring your own pick-up truck. The delivery service makes errors. The shop changed hands, and the new owners know nothing about the botched delivery of broken furniture. I do not know the exact details of this, I was not there when it happened. I realize that renting a truck from a rental company and taking the heavy stuff back to your place with a hand truck is a tough call to make, however, problems such as this are happening all the time to people.

Cracker Barrel Restaurant , Orlando; this place is so popular, the wait is much too long for the restaurant - unless you like family reunions in the lobby; and everyone is well-behaved, not, well, behaved... This is the place where everyone goes. If you must go, try to get there 15 minutes before the place opens, in order to have enough time to enjoy the scented goat's milk hand lotion in the restrooms, or request that a sample bottle be placed in the restroom for everyone to try. This is not a place to make history at, if you enjoy sitting in a rocking chair for 45 minutes while half-asleep, you might like it here. If you are one of those unfortunate types who is either awake or asleep, this place is not for you. This is also not a place to shop for clumsy people, as there are a lot of breakables, and yes, the gift shop is on the way to the restaurant. This means that breaking something with a small group of people is too easy to do.

Moe's, Sand Lake, Orlando; the managers are even telling people to go to the Winter Park or another location. Maybe the place is too crowded, or maybe the help varies so much from week to week that the service is also variable. There is an Amtrak train to Winter Park, near the art museum, spend the day in Winter Park, just, please, avoid going to this Moe's with the rest of the herd.

Sonny's BBQ - I had had a really enjoyable meal at the original Sonny's, and had looked forward to visiting this chain version of the restaurant, until I saw the quality of the food. Even the coffee looks greasy at the restaurant, which I did not complain about. This is the worst place to go for vegetarian or seafood cooking. I am unsure if there is anything in the shop that does not have meat oil in it. I have made the useless and ineffective effort to go and complain about this, and made one last attempt to compromise by way of (my mistake) eating a deli sandwich with deli-style chicken meat on it. A few sick leaves and several antibiotic prescriptions later, my complaints about the restaurant were still unresolved. The original Sonny's restaurant by the Convention Center is a nice place, however, the little red barns that imitate it around the Orlando area are not.

Consumers, there are guides for how to take action available on the market, should this happen to you. First of all, state your case to the management, after reading the guidelines about how to make a complaint. Keeping your cool at an upscale storefront is absolutely important when you have a complaint with the store's goods or services, or both. Getting upset with the store staff will only document their side of the case, to your disadvantage.

Upscale restaurants are not always what they appear to be from the outside. Everyone has their own opinion about what is a good restaurant as well as what is not a good restaurant. It's difficult to judge what is going to be good food from an eatery's reputation. There has been a major problem with grouper switching in the area, grouper is an expensive fish, and a lot of restaurant owners are switching orange roughy or another fish fillet, while still claiming to be serving grouper, and charging the grouper price. This has been a major problem in Tampa as well as Orlando, at several area restaurants; although, this is not a problem that I myself have suffered from.

Sources: My Three Cents, various complaints; Government Printing Office, Consumer Information Center; Merchants Circle, website; Complaints Board, website; experiences, One If By Land