As Things Reopen I am Voting With my Purse

[harllee]

Are you in Chapel Hill?

I'm in Durham and I will continue to support Costco, Aldi, Harris Teeter and a few local restaurants who I've ordered delivery through Uber Eats, etc.

OP here-yes I am in Chapel Hill and it is our Whole Foods that had several employees set positive starting in March and they told no one.

 

[BeachOrCity]

Thanks gravitysucks (good name!) I did not know that about VRBO. But VRBO still did not protect renters as much as Air BnB has since Air Bnb refunded all my money.

Don’t be too hard on vrbo. The bottom line is the way Airbnb contractually handle rentals is different than vrbo.

Airbnb could refund your money and not pay the owner so all they lost was the commission. Vrbo model already paid owner the deposit and hence if they refunded and owner refused they were on the hook for the whole thing.

Side note. I am actually not a fan of either service. I find both are taking a large share of rental fees for essentially providing a web listing.

 

[BeachOrCity]

OP here-yes I am in Chapel Hill and it is our Whole Foods that had several employees set positive starting in March and they told no one.

Must be store by store. A DC store had a bunch of people shared the info with employees. The neighborhood was up in arms about it.
Kind of a lose if you do lose if you don’t situation. But they still should notify people as that is part of contact tracing.

 

[harllee]

Must be store by store. A DC store had a bunch of people shared the info with employees. The neighborhood was up in arms about it.
Kind of a lose if you do lose if you don’t situation. But they still should notify people as that is part of contact tracing.

The Chapel Hill Whole Foods did not even tell the other employees when the first employee tested positive and now several other employees have the virus. It has been all over our local news.

 

[Midpack]

I’ll be doing the same as the OP, also in NC. Those establishments that take PPE, distancing and cleanliness seriously will get my business. Others will not for a long time if ever.

Unlike the OP, our local Whole Foods started with coronavirus precautions sooner and still take them noticeably more seriously than any other local grocer.

By the same token, our former favorite coffee place will never get another dime from us. They were sending emails actively pushing coworking for almost two weeks AFTER stay in place orders (and they’re promoting it again with no mention of distancing), posted pics on FB with people way to close and no masks (below, note date) and a few other acts well outside the spirit of SIP. We’ll never be back.

There was a striking difference in the restaurants we support buying takeout. Some were/are very well organized, others were clearly winging it/not taking precautions seriously. That’ll leave an impression on us.

It’s going to get interesting when we reach Phase 2 on May 23 (if data supports it). I can’t imagine restaurants serving at 50% capacity, but I guess we’re going to find out, nationwide sooner or later.

 

[MrLoco]

So.....how will it work when dining inside a restaurant? I assume you are expected to wear a mask upon entering the restaurant. Then keep your mask on while you are seated and then when drinks are served the masks obviously need to come off? The masks stay off until dinner is over and then put the masks back on when leaving?

Also, assuming seating will be limited to every other table and all employees will wear masks all the time? THis will cause longer waiting times and do away with reservations on busy nights. First come, first served.

Problem will be restaurant capacity will be reduced by 50% for dining in and many who have survived so far may not be able to survive much longer.

The fact that restaurants will be able to serve liquor in house will help as the profit margin is much higher than on food.

 

[bmcgonig]

When restaurants begin opening here, we will not be visiting one of our favorites. The manager was curt when we picked up our order, while curbside has been great at other places. I have given all these pep talks to DH about not getting upset when he gets cut off in traffic, etc. because we must show extra patience and kindness during this time, etc. etc. Then, we picked up that order and I forgot all that; the dude was rude.

We will probably forgive him in a few months, but we want to make our statement. : (

But, hey, I did not leave a negative review on Trip Advisor.

We find our local WF feels the safest grocery store to shop in because the customers and employees go to such efforts to keep 6' away; they sorta waltz around each other ....plus....Our son is employed at Whole Foods in Haight Ashbury. Employees wear masks, take temperature before they can begin their shifts, etc. WF has been very good to him while he is in grad school, so we want to help prop up WF. ; >

That being said, we began using Walmart curbside pickup a few weeks ago. We intend to use that service for a long time for our more mundane grocery items.....

Whew, got all that off my chest.

Glad your son made it to SF and is doing well [emoji4]

 

[gwraigty]

When restaurants begin opening here, we will not be visiting one of our favorites. The manager was curt when we picked up our order, while curbside has been great at other places.

A friend of mine recently told me that when she last visited one of her usual restaurants, an independent pizza shop, the owner was ranting, swearing, slamming things around, absolutely furious because he was so busy. The phone wouldn't stop ringing. He said that all these customers were just using him and wouldn't be back when everything opened up again. I told her that maybe he should visit some of the other restaurants that have become ghost towns and then he might have some gratitude for his fortunate situation.

Anyway, I haven't been in too many different places, just the same few grocery stores and restaurants, and everyone working there has been courteous. I've tried to be extra courteous to the people who are out there working in these stressful times. Working with the public can be difficult in the best of times.

 

[Spock]

I'm not going to let the actions of a store under extreme stress determine whether or not I give them my future business.

I don't expect a proprietor who has been struggling to stay open and dealing with reams of regulations to get an emergency loan to turn away business just because that customer doesn't have a mask.

When I look at the extreme issues I've dealt with and then imagine adding on trying to keep a business/my livelyhood and employees afloat on top of that I'm going to cut them a lot of slack.

 

[Ready]

Unfortunately, whether or not to require a mask has taken on a partisan tone and found yet another way to divide the country.

 

[harllee]

I'm not going to let the actions of a store under extreme stress determine whether or not I give them my future business.

I don't expect a proprietor who has been struggling to stay open and dealing with reams of regulations to get an emergency loan to turn away business just because that customer doesn't have a mask.

When I look at the extreme issues I've dealt with and then imagine adding on trying to keep a business/my livelyhood and employees afloat on top of that I'm going to cut them a lot of slack.

OP here, I would give a restaurant owner some slack for some things--maybe not as courteous as I would like or something like that but I will NOT give them slack for not being safety conscious. If they don't wear masks, gloves, etc. they will not get my business. So many restaurants are begging for business-- the ones that will get mine are the ones I believe are taking safety seriously.

 

[harllee]

Unfortunately, whether or not to require a mask has taken on a partisan tone and found yet another way to divide the country.

OP here, very true but each of us can make our own decisions about where to spend our money and I personally am going to spend my money at businesses where masks are worn and other safety precautions taken. I don't think I will have any trouble finding such places to spend money.

 

[Red Badger]

I own a house that I rent out on AirBnB. Our policy, as the homeowner, has always been to give full refunds for cancellations within 5 days of the actual start date, no questions asked. Every AirBnB owner has the option to do that. There are some AirBnB fees that are controlled by AirBnB, not the homeowner, and AirBnB has chosen to refund those fees as well for now, which is good. But people should know that a lot of homeowners who rent their homes through AirBnB generally do give full refunds, and have done so all along. Once the COVID-19 stuff started, a lot of AirBnB homeowners chose to offer full refunds even if it was at the last minute, including us (and now AirBnB is refunding their fees as well). We understand that these are highly unusual times, and we have no desire to keep someone's deposit if they are unable to make the trip to our house for reasons beyond their control.

Hi RAE. Could you share a link to your Airbnb or PM it to me? If we're in need of a stay, I'd prefer to support a community partner. Thanks.

 

[Chuckanut]

Unfortunately, whether or not to require a mask has taken on a partisan tone and found yet another way to divide the country.

IMO, this is only in the eyes of a small minority and the news media that looks for more reasons to divide us into camps of fighting mad people.

Most people I know wear a mask. Those that don't never take offense that I do wear a mask (nor should they since masks are intended to help others not oneself)

I do note who is not wearing a mask, and it goes into the calculation as to how friendly I wish to be in the future. But, so far I have resisted the temptation to bash them over the head with my Virtue Signaling baseball bat.

As far as voting with my purse, I have not flown one certain airline in years and I doubt if I will book a flight on them ever again unless it is an emergency and I have no choice. They don't seem to think we are united together is this fight.

I would not hesitate to book a tour with Rick Steves. No problems getting a full prompt refund when I cancelled my tour before he did. And, I might buy one of his tour books this month to read about a location I want to visit on my own when we get back to a more normal world.

 

[audreyh1]

IMO, this is only in the eyes of a small minority and the news media that looks for more reasons to divide us into camps of fighting mad people.

I really hope so. Lots of noise being made.

The elder care home where DF is now allowing immediate family only to visit, and all visitors are required to wear masks.

I just can’t imagine anyone coming to the home to visit their parents and not wearing a mask. Would they really risk exposing their parents or causing trouble at the home?

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Don’t be too hard on vrbo. The bottom line is the way Airbnb contractually handle rentals is different than vrbo.

Airbnb could refund your money and not pay the owner so all they lost was the commission. Vrbo model already paid owner the deposit and hence if they refunded and owner refused they were on the hook for the whole thing.

Side note. I am actually not a fan of either service. I find both are taking a large share of rental fees for essentially providing a web listing.

Yes, when I was looking for an Airbnb/Vrbo last fall, I observed that Vrbo's tended to be a little cheaper, but their cancellation policies tended to be more restrictive (shorter cancellation windows and smaller refund amounts).

 

[flyingaway]

Since the pandemic began, I have not bought any foods from any restaurants yet, and do not plan to do any soon.

I saw some general promotion ads from local TV station or supporting ads (asking people to support local restaurants) with some restaurants preparing sandwiches without gloves. I don't feel good about it.

 

[W2R]

One place that is not going to get any business from me--the local Whole Foods. It was on the local news that the local Whole Foods had several employees test positive for Covid-19 starting back in MARCH but they did not let the other employees or customers know anything about it --they seemed to hide it. I am not shopping at Whole Foods.

Our WF had some employees come down with COVID-19 but was open about it. I was horrified but within a week, at least a half dozen other supermarkets within a couple of miles of here had the same. I think (at least HERE), essentially all supermarkets had at least a few employees that tested positive for COVID-19 who they had to lay off for a while. That may not be true elsewhere but New Orleans was hit hard by the virus.

So my plan (when I start grocery shopping again, which I haven't done for over two months), is to wear my mask and gloves, stay 6 feet away from others, buy what I need and get outta there, clean and sanitize to the extent possible, and cook all my foods thoroughly before eating. Eventually I will feel OK about eating salads again, but not any time soon.

That said, our new cases are decreasing remarkably here! Here's the curve of new cases each day in Louisiana since our first one. New Orleans has decreased even more than other parts of the state.

 

[Aerides]

I think to one degree or another everyone always make value judgments in our spending and patronage. It's just that the calculus of a good experience is now going to include different things for most of us.

Yes, I want to see stores require masks vs. just follow the county/city thing. And I want to see them doing a good job with social distancing. So I really really hope that my favorite sushi place, and my hair salon, do these things well, or I'll have some very hard decisions to make. (i have a longer time before I'll find out, my county has no ETA but maybe later this month at best).

 

[Midpack]

Unfortunately, whether or not to require a mask has taken on a partisan tone and found yet another way to divide the country.

Sounds like a sweeping generalization to me. If it applies, it's to both extremes, not most peeps. The extremes from both sides are more vocal and get more attention than their numbers too - I don't consider them representative. But just my guess.

 

[GravitySucks]

Don’t be too hard on vrbo. The bottom line is the way Airbnb contractually handle rentals is different than vrbo.

Airbnb could refund your money and not pay the owner so all they lost was the commission. Vrbo model already paid owner the deposit and hence if they refunded and owner refused they were on the hook for the whole thing.

Side note. I am actually not a fan of either service. I find both are taking a large share of rental fees for essentially providing a web listing.

I rent through both and have no vested interest.
Can't find the email, but IIRC VRBO also said they would reimburse their fees.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I saw some general promotion ads from local TV station or supporting ads (asking people to support local restaurants) with some restaurants preparing sandwiches without gloves. I don't feel good about it.

I wouldn't have felt good about that before the pandemic!

In my county, that would be a health code violation. Any food preparation there must be done with gloves (I have a very small part-time gig in a school cafeteria).

 

[statsman]

Since the pandemic began, I have not bought any foods from any restaurants yet, and do not plan to do any soon.

We have. One restaurant in particular had a solid amount of to-go business already prior to COVID-19. Their online ordering and menu system is one of the best I have ever seen. You can tweak your order just about any way you desire. If it is truly a special order you need, you can always call them.

Empty tables in the dining room are always spotless. The owner, who we have gotten to know the past 18 months, is a stickler for cleanliness. It's one of the few public places I don't mind using their restroom. The countertops, both for ordering and for the to-go orders, are always clean.

They don't have drive-thru, so for COVID-19 the requirement is either use their online menu system and set a pickup time, or call for an order (I believe you can have the food delivered, but we have not gone that route). When you arrive for your order, you stay in your vehicle and text them your order number and name. They bring the food out to whatever door/hatch you have open, wearing masks and gloves.

 

[harllee]

We have. One restaurant in particular had a solid amount of to-go business already prior to COVID-19. Their online ordering and menu system is one of the best I have ever seen. You can tweak your order just about any way you desire. If it is truly a special order you need, you can always call them.

Empty tables in the dining room are always spotless. The owner, who we have gotten to know the past 18 months, is a stickler for cleanliness. It's one of the few public places I don't mind using their restroom. The countertops, both for ordering and for the to-go orders, are always clean.

They don't have drive-thru, so for COVID-19 the requirement is either use their online menu system and set a pickup time, or call for an order (I believe you can have the food delivered, but we have not gone that route). When you arrive for your order, you stay in your vehicle and text them your order number and name. They bring the food out to whatever door/hatch you have open, wearing masks and gloves.

OP here--That's the kind of restaurant I want to spend my $$ on!! Good for them.

 

[Chuckanut]

One thing I try to do is make reservations directly with a hotel and not use the online booking services. I like the smaller independently owned hotels. These booking sites take a big chunk of the revenue. Since I want them to stay in business I'll book directly and let them keep all the money. Rumor has it that direct bookings also may get a better room if one is available. At least one place I stayed in tossed in the $10 breakfast for free since I had booked directly. That's probably a violation of their agreement, but I'm not telling.