Stephen G. moved into a new apartment and decided to sign up for service for Mediacom Cable (not to be confused with the London-based media agency MediaCom). He called the local representative on an ad he’d been given, and was told he didn’t have to sign a two-year contract, so he didn’t. Later he found out his name was on a Mediacom contract anyway. Surprise! [More]
Gold's Closes Your Gym, Traps You In Contract Anyway
By September 23, 2011
There happens to be a Gold’s Gym right inside the building where Cynthia works. How convenient! She took her employer up on an offer to subsidize part of her membership, and was happy with the arrangement. Three months later, the building Gold’s announced that it was closing. Not to worry, though: Memberships limited to only that location would change so members could visit any local corporate-owned Gold’s club. That’s pretty standard when a branch of a chain gyms closes, but Cynthia is annoyed that she joined so close to the change and has to pay for a membership she’s unlikely to use. Someone must have known that branch was doomed, but would the front-line and sales employees have known? [More]
Elderly Couple Thought They Canceled The Insurance, End Up Overpaying Anthem $5,000
By August 1, 2011
By the time the couple in their 80′s noticed the monthly auto-billing on their bank account, they had overpaid Anthem $5,000 for insurance they thought they had canceled two years ago. That’s money these two living on pension could have been using to fix their crumbling front walkway. It was until they beseeched their local consumer reporter and he took an interest in their story did Anthem retroactively cancel their policy and refund their money. [More]
Canceling Verizon Without ETF Over Fee Increase Is Hard But Doable
By June 29, 2011
Some readers have tried out the info from yesterday about using an increased regulatory fee Verizon is charging to get out of contract without paying an early termination fee (ETF). The most successful so far was commenter doogz, who got his ETF cut in half. Here is his story: [More]
MySpace Made It Really, Really Difficult To Cancel My Account
By March 21, 2011
If MySpace were a scorned lover, we imagine it would be the kind that would hold onto your foot as you tried to walk away, crying desperately and clinging as you unwillingly dragged it along. Justin B. was done with MySpace, but instead of just accepting the breakup and letting him cancel the account, it flatly refused to believe it was over. [More]
Did The ECA Charge You For The Membership You Already Canceled?
By September 30, 2010
Last year, we reported on the trouble that members of the Entertainment Consumers Association had with canceling their memberships, as well as other complaints about the group. Now, one reader reports that he was charged for the membership that he canceled earlier this year. [More]
Why Won't Gamefly Answer Their Stupid Phones?
By September 30, 2010
John tells Consumerist that he is having a baffling problem with Gamefly. He can’t cancel his son’s account online, but customer service is unreachable. The company keeps sending games that he doesn’t want and charging his card. What’s wrong here? Update: the account has now been closed. [More]
Get Sprint To Credit You For The Discount They're Taking Away
By August 9, 2010
By calling up Sprint and insinuating he might cancel because they’re taking away his discount, one of our readers was able to get Sprint to credit his account for the same amount they’re taking away from him. [More]
Urban Active Gym Appears Lets You Cancel, Then Charges You More
By August 6, 2010
Gyms are notorious for being difficult to cancel your membership at, so at first Heather thought hers was different. They even backdated the cancellation date so she wouldn’t pay for the full month. So nice! A month later, collections called her. [More]
"This Is Why I Canceled Cable," As Told In Collage Form
By July 2, 2010
Redditor Lambboy got an email from his cable company asking him why, oh god why, had he canceled cable? Doesn’t he know that without it life is but a cheap oat paste? Lambboy struggled with the best way to communicate his innermost thoughts. The radio buttons on the survey, and, yes, even the optional comment boxes, were insufficient tools with which to express himself. So, he sent them this collage. [More]
How To Cancel A Credit Card Without Hurting Your Credit Score
By April 5, 2010
Say you’ve got a credit card you don’t want for whatever reason and have decided to cancel it. Here are some simple steps you can take to make sure the card a) really gets canceled b) it doesn’t harm your credit score. [More]
Charter Communications Rep Says Cable Companies Taking Over All Streaming Video On May 1st
By March 16, 2010
The Charter Communications CSR who spoke with Dustin has some pretty astounding news about what’s on the horizon for all of us. It looks like starting May 1st, cable companies will have total, FCC-sanctioned control over streaming video and will take down all competing services. [More]
Why Won't AT&T Cancel My Account?
By March 3, 2010
Usually, when customers try to change an Internet service provider, the ISP will do things like discount the rate or offer some benefit in an attempt to retain your business. But that’s not what’s happening to Consumerist reader Addie; AT&T loves her so much, they’ve continued to bill her for six months for a service she doesn’t even have. [More]
AT&T Credits New Customer's $200 T-Mobile ETF Just To Be Nice
By February 24, 2010
Mike shared with Consumerist a story that is almost baffling for many reasons. First, he writes that T-Mobile charged his wife a $200 ETF when there were only 90 days left on her contract. But then a delightful, wonderful AT&T customer service rep offered a $200 credit for AT&T service–effectively paying her T-Mobile ETF and earning themselves two delighted customers in the process. [More]
AOL Has No Reason To Cancel Your Free Account
By February 13, 2010
Jim wants his AOL e-mail account to go away. It’s a free account, so billing isn’t an issue–he just wants it closed. This seems like a relatively straightforward request to anyone except AOL. He writes that the company somehow makes it impossible to cancel a free account. [More]
How Can I Make The Newspaper Stop When I Don't Subscribe?
By January 31, 2010
We know that the newspaper industry is suffering. Subscribers are fleeing, ad revenue is down, and things are generally dark and terrible. However, this does not mean that it is a good idea to throw sacks of junk mail on the lawns of people who won’t subscribe to your paper. It will not endear you to them. We’re looking at you, Baltimore Sun. [More]
Reach AT&T Executive Customer Service
By January 6, 2010
Got an impossible issue with AT&T wireless? After trying and failing with the regular customer service, you can try this gal who works in the AT&T Office of the President.
Gina Cain
866-220 8446 ext.1047
Kill Off Your Online Identities With The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine
By December 30, 2009
Supposedly the most depressing day of the year is just a few weeks away, and that sucks. But if you off yourself, you can’t drink, so it’s a conundrum. What you can do is use the website suicidemachine.org to remove yourself from unnecessary social media sites that either you’ve stopped using or don’t really enjoy anymore. [More]
