There's just never enough good news on the consumer front.  I
just had two happy experiences.  Though it's really too far from us, I
had a car serviced at Crestwood Dodge and found its service department
to be head-and-shoulders more enjoyable to patronize than anything in
Ann Arbor.  
        And we needed a couple of windows replaced.  I usually think of
window replacement outfits as being, by nature, a bit sleazy.  But we
found Affordable Windows (bad name, huh?) to have good prices, a decent
product, and a superior service mentality.  We were pleased.

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 I can echo Valerie's sentiments about Jourdan's. Solid work at good prices.
I got my taxi serviced there.

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I own some of the stock.  Keep shopping there, Valerie, and continue to tell
your friends.  Jerry and I plan to do some mega shopping there next Saturday.
See you there?  I will buy some bulbs at your suggestion.  Wouldn't have
thought of that there.

I keep hearing good stuff about HQ from friends but I have better luck
finding what I need at Builders Square.  Their green color scheme also
yells "POOR TASTE!" at me.  When it comes to lumber, I go to Fingerle,
Chelsea, or any other "real" lumber yard.  Good going on the plants
though Valerie.  Should be a decent time to plant with all the rain.

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The one time I went to Builders' Square I was looking for some reasonably
small thing, which turned out to be incredibly hard to find in such a big
store.  Ace hardware, being much smaller, seems much easier to find things
in.

I've never been to HQ.

Both Builders Square and HQ have trouble with little things. For example,
they don't have those boxes of an enormous variety of hardware from
which you can pick what you need - everything is already prepacked. You
have to go to the better hardware stores for to find a larger variety.
My first choice is Stadium Hdwr, followed by East Ann Arbor.

When I wanted to replace our front storm door with a good one, first I 
went to Fingerle.  No display model, so I'd have to special order one
out of the catalog.  Then to HQ.  They had the display model on sale but
no stock.  Builders Square had the display model and stock, but not on
sale.  It took half the day to find a door, it took the rest of the day
to install it.  I had a similar problem finding a decent toilet tank
shut-off valve/float.  If your not sure of what you need or how to do the
job, your best bet is a real hardware store like Stadium.

Stadium Hardware is fantastic for getting help.
HQ is better than builder's square at having a helpful staff around to answer
questions.

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Guess they don't want you to switch.

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Exactly.  Brand loyalty, as well as Co. loyalty, has become a thing of the
past.  Most Co's know that by now and use other tactics to keep you.

Well, I wouldn't say all brand and/or company loyalty is totally gone,
but some companies definitely are responding like it is--which does not
help the perception that it is.  I really don't like to spend a lot of
my time switching phone companies, so I generally stick with one until
they do something to make me feel like they don't give a hoot any more.
So far AT&T has tried very hard to get me to switch, but I've stuck
with Sprint.  If anyone ever offers me free phone service for a year,
I'll probably jump at it regardless of loyalty.  In general, though, I've
found loyalty to be a good shortcut/simplifier assuming that the loyalty
is well-placed.  I'm sure a lot of what is seen as "loyalty" is nothing
but inertia/laziness, however.  Unfortunately, a lot of companies think
they can buy loyalty with coupons, rebates, and followup phone calls.
It would be better for me if they would try to provide stellar service
at a reasonable price so I wouldn't have to bother with any of that (I
generally don't, anyway; I just don't have the time).

Sometimes loyalty is just inertia in disguise.

 The only thing an entity needs to do to keep my business is to perform as
advertised, or better, and offer decent products.
  I can think of a few that meet that criteria:

 Apple computers- Never really had a major problem in the 5 yrs that
I have had my Plus.
 Meijer- Good prices, and good people.
 Dawn Treader books- Always a smile and help if you need it. You can find your
book, as well.
 Little Professor- They will do anything for you.
 Busch's- Still needs a little work on conforming to the scanner laws, but
all in all, a pretty good place.
 Merchant of Vino- Despite being pricey, they do aim to please
 Evergreen Restaurant- Really yummy chinese food, at way decent prices.

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Very dangerous.  Alternator fans go about 3 times as fast as the engine rpm.
The fan blade tips are like bullets.  What kind of a car?  Was it the original
alternator?

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Why dangerous?  Unless your poking your head under the hood when one lets
loose.  Might put a few, small, dings in the hood from the inside.
 
I'm just a little confused as to why the alternator loosing its blades
caused the engine to over heat?

Dangerous because these things can come right through the hood (and do).

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