For secret reasons, we’re coming up with a list of Consumerist preferred service providers. These are companies that provide a better or cheaper or simply less lame alternative to the “name brands.”
Ok, it’s not a secret, it’s so we can monetize this blog through the Google ads on the top right. Gawker says that if the site makes a little money, they might not outsource our jobs to India.
So we need to pick your brain!
Here are the contenders we’ve got so far: HSBC Direct, USAA, Skype, Speakeasy, IKEA, Farecast, Jetblue, Vanguard, Netflix…
What else is out there? Who doesn’t suck? How about for insurance? Energy? Dating?
Looking more for national companies everyone could benefit from, not so much of the, “Jenny’s Fudge Shack is the shizznit.”
Tell us your faves in the comments, or tips at consumerist.com, or AIM the editor at fakeout.
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Oh Gosh I almost forgot: Koss! They are so great. I emailed you guys about a nice little experience I had with them earlier. Gotta love em. Great headphones.
Lehman’s! (Lehmans.com) Not everyone will be interested in their stuff, but they utterly rock customer-service-wise! And their products are high-quality and reasonably-priced.
And I know some people will beat me down for this one, but IF YOU HAVE A GOOD AGENT, State Farm is a great insurance company.
Unionized Krogers also rock my world pretty well. The non-unionized ones are okay, but the unionized ones have great service.
You do understand, yes, that the hapless individual pictured in the graphic you chose for this piece is, in fact, a real, live human being, with real, live human feelings and emotions? That when he was an infant cradled in the arms of a loving mother, she probably spun the same dreams and hopes about her boy’s future as your mother and my mother daydreamed about for you and for me? I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ll bet her dreams never included her son sleeping on a pavement with just a cardboard box to shelter him from the elements.
Maybe I am a troll for writing this instead of addressing the content of the piece, or maybe I am just a stupidly sentimental old woman, but that photo made me cringe before I could even start reading. Surely your message – irony and all – could have been conveyed without violating the inherent right to dignity of someone who is exactly like us, just so much less fortunate.
Oh, and after racking my brains to come up with an off-the-beaten track suggestion for this very worthy list, I nominate Esnipe.com.
Esnipe is an automated eBay bidding service that lets you place “snipe” bids during the last seconds of an auction. Auctions are won by the bidder willing to pay the highest price, whether the bid is placed at the beginning or end of an auction. But last-second bidding – called “sniping” and endorsed by eBay – has many advantages for buyers. Using an automated bidding service like Esnipe.com means you can bid in the last few seconds even if you can’t be at your computer at the end of the auction.
I like Esnipe.com because they are reliable (place bids accurately and in time per your instructions), secure (maintain the confidentiality of your eBay bidding password), and have lots of helpful features to help bidders keep track of their auctions. They send quick, “real human” responses to inquiries, and charge very reasonable fees.
Publix. Hands down. I will pay more any day to go to a store with a wider selection, friendlier people, etc.
Moe’s Southwest Grille is also awesome.
I’d like to suggest that the public, or at least registered commenters, should have continuing input into this. For example, perhaps only companies rated 5 stars would be allowed to advertise on Consumerist, with their right to advertise being revoked if they lose a star and fail to regain that star within 30 days, or something like that.
I’m sure there are problems with this approach, but it does keep Consumerist’s nose clean and prevent allegations of selling out to big businesses, preserving the integrity and usefulness of the blog.
Since when is Netflix all good? I thought we were all mad at them for delaying shipments to their most prolific renters.
Another vote here for Trader Joe, Target and Costco. And Land’s End — has anybody mentioned them yet? Helpful, knowledgeable customer service; returns are a cinch and their merchandise is very high quality. Plus I second the Charles Schwab mention — when I first started investing I asked their customer service people a lot of ([probably dumb) questions, but they were always patient and polite about answering them. Not to mention that they were able to explain financial stuff in a way that even moi, whose only experience was an Econ 101 class in college, could understand!
I’ll second JetBlue, ING Direct, Wegmans, Lands End.
And raise you a Tim Horton’s (east coast donut-and-coffee shack with amazing coffee and sandwiches).
Also unwiredbuyer.com … awesome eBay-to-cell phone service that I use regularly with nary a hitch.
Hanna Andersson (and hannaandersson.com) … I knew how much I liked their clothes when I realized that I was avoiding changing my PJs because all my others felt scratchy by comparison. Always pleasant to deal with.
I’ll second Peet’s coffee. I used to work for them as a lowly barista, and they had very solid benefits (comprehensive health insurance and 401k plans even for part-timers) and a generally open and friendly attitude to everyone in their sphere (growers to roasters to baristas and everything in between). Great coffee and tea, too.
I second Midwest Airlines. Definitely worth the extra cost to fly them.
Trader Joe’s is also awesome, the one on Union Square in New York has extraordinarily friendly employees, and they all seem sincere about being friendly, too.
I also have had good experiences with the folks at MAC Cosmetics. And Lancome, who let me return $70 worth of foundation and powder when I went home and realized it looked all wrong on me.
Fred writes:
“GREAT for insurance: Amica Mutual (http://www.amica.com)”
I agree with the LLBean fan, and I would add Lands End to that list of quality catalog/Internet clothiers. They have amazing customer service and, like Bean’s, take bath anything at any time for any reason. The other thing I love about Lands End is their sizing consistency. I think in 30 years of shopping with them, I have only had to return one item because the fit was off. I always know exactly what size to order with confidence that it will fit.
In terms of brick-and-mortar stores, the TJMaxx/Marshall’s empire offers excellent deals on top-quality goods, and accepts returns with no hassle.
LOL at my typo above! Obviously I meant “take back” not “take bath”! (Maybe I need to start drinking coffee in the morning.)
Oh, and I agree about Amica insurance, too. Helpful on the phone, quick with the appraiser and payment. We have them for both home and auto insurance and would never change, as long as they don’t.
All right, I’ll shut up now.
I’m a big cheerleader for Method brand cleaning products. Their stuff is human and planet safe, exceptionally nerdy, and pretty damned effective.
kerry, how’s the smell with their cleaning products? My sister is hyper-sensitve to strong smells so even a nice smell that is too strong will make her sneeze. This could be a good thing for her to try since they claim to not have a chemical smell at least.
flyover, I’m not too scared to hear what the Tampax problem was. (Too few in the box?)
Moe’s Southwest Grill
I absolutely LOVE their tacos! In this same strand I actually highly recommend Chipotle too, both of these places always have the greatest customer service and are extremely responsive to custom suggestions and recommendations.
Restaurants can’t just be judged by the actual stores, but by the companies themselves, I think they both do a great job.
I’ve worked both sides of advertising– sales and as a buyer– and am just waiting to see how well this concept is received on the client level. How will Consumerist approach these advertisers and their agencies? I’m just curious.
I think Land’s End is good but they are now owned by Sears/Kmart so we’ll see what happens after they are fully integrated into that mess.
TJMaxx is good. It’s a clearinghouse for other retail so there are no set brands but you can get some really good deals. Their inventory turns over very fast so you have so search each time you are there.
I won’t believe any insurance company is good until I hear how they handle injury accidents where you aren’t at fault, especially when both parties have the same insurance carrier.
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The hand soap and dish soap are pretty fragrant. I’d suggest your sister try and find some in a store and take a sniff before buying any. The cleaning solutions aren’t as pungent and maybe it depends on the fragrance. The “free and clear” laundry detergent and dryer sheets, however, are truly fragrance free. (They work pretty well, too, though the dryer sheets weren’t as softening as the brand I used before.)
If you go to the Method site and read their FAQ, they suggest having anyone who’s fragrance-sensitive to get a hold of whatever product they want to try and sniff it first, just to be sure.
All that said, they’re very insistent that since their fragrances are plant-derived and their cleaners produce no harmful vapors that they should be safer for sensitive individuals than traditional products.
I’ve been dealing with Newegg.com for over a year. They have been the best online electronics company (Computers, software, gadgets, etc.)I’ve ever dealt with. Shopping and ordering from their site is simple and intuitive. The orders ship quickly and often arrive earlier than scheduled. Their RMA process is painless. There really isn’t a single bad egg at Newegg.
I’ll add Duluth Trading to the list. They build stuff to last, and take it back if it doesn’t – no questions asked.
Midwest Airlines is the least sucktastic of the bunch. I’ve been an Earthlink customer for 9 years now, with no complaints.
Costo beats Sam’s hands down.
USAA for insurance, banking, and financial needs (it’s not only military – state department and Fed LEOs qualify, too). I was with Smith Barney for a short while, and they SUCKED.
L.L. Bean has been solid for me over the years, and I still use a rucksack that’s 15 years old.
Let’s not forget Sears. You can take a broken 65-year old Craftsman socket wrench in and get a brand new one. They guarantee it for the life of the tool, not the owner.
We love Jet Blue–always nice, and usually on time. And my kids can watch old-fashioned and violent cartoons through the entire flight.
Even though the power cord for my new macbook pro is horrible, Apple is still a good company to deal with–on the phone and in the store.
I second the Target recommendation.
Henry
GEICO has great phone service, and a great website. The site won a Webby, not that winning a Webby should be a solid indicator of a good website, but it helps. The site gives you ALL SORTS OF INFO, including just about every single document in pdf format related to your policies.
Newegg is the Mecca for computer dorks everywhere.
Compass Bank. Excellent Customer Service and totally free checking! No ATM fees even if you use your ATM card in other banks ATM machines. Al
Compass Bank. Totally free checking. Excellent Customer Service. No ATM fees, even if you use your card at other banks ATM’s. Best deal around.
Just chiming in with more votes for Speakeasy, Jetblue, Trader Joe’s, Koss, and Netflix. Happy with all of those. Surprised to not see it mentioned, but I am quite happy with Amazon as well. I try to buy most stuff from local shops, but when lazy/rushed, Amazon comes through. Great focus on user experience, with features that I actually use (wish lists, reviews, recommendations).
Better World Club ( http://www.betterworldclub.com/) – they’re like AAA, but less full of lobbyists with an agenda which will destroy the planet. The company donates 1% of revenues to environmental clean-up programs.
I take back what I said about Midwest Airlines. See here why.
Ok, Midwest Airlines apologized and made good on the issue. We’re friends again!
Vonage beats any plan offered by any other service provider. $24.99/month for unlimited local and long distance – any time of the day. Very refreshing. Vonage – one smart decision among many many stupid commercials.