You may already have heard about the icky cab driver here in Philadelphia who was caught on camera using a street corner as his personal pooping ground. What you may not know is that — even though the man and his cab company have been identified — no one has come out to actually do much about removing all the offending fecal matter. [More]
Cab Company Balks At Cleaning Up After Driver Caught Pooping On Sidewalk
By July 18, 2012
Federal Judge Revokes Bail Of Bullying Eyeglass Vendor
By July 13, 2012
Threatening to stalk, rape, mutilate, and kill your customers over a $150 chargeback is not a sustainable business model. We could have told you that, but it took a New York Times investigation, a Google algorithm change, and federal prosecution to stop the Brooklyn entrepreneur who built his eyewear business on the idea that online, there is no such thing as bad publicity. He allegedly sent out counterfeit designer eyewear, or no merchandise at all, then harassed and threatened customers who wanted their money back. When customers complained online, it boosted the profile of his brand. Now a federal judge has revoked the man’s bail ahead of sentencing after listening to testimony from some of those customers. [More]
NetZero Locks Me Out Of My Account, Charges By The Minute To Get It Back
By July 13, 2012
Matt has an issue with NetZero’s e-mail technical support. “Wait,” you might be saying. “People still use NetZero?” Well, Matt does. His e-mail address on the service is very old, but he just hasn’t got around to changing the places where it’s his e-mail of record. So he keeps paying for it, year after year, importing the messages into Gmail. At least, he did until he was locked out of his account, and couldn’t reset the password. NetZero charges by the minute for tech support, but Matt was assured that he wouldn’t be charged for a simple password reset. This was incorrect. [More]
TomTom’s Top Gear-Branded GPS Is Absolute Rubbish
By July 10, 2012
Kristan, like many sensible and awesome people, was excited when GPS maker TomTom produced a limited edition unit for fans of the BBC program “Top Gear.” The biggest draw: the recorded voice of Jeremy Clarkson, the show’s lead presenter and an internationally beloved contrarian jerk. Clarkson’s voice isn’t available for separate purchase from TomTom, at least for American consumers. Oh, no. We have to shell out $269 for this spiffy satnav, and that’s what Kristan did. It turned out that the unit….wasn’t all that great. But the final insult came when it failed, and TomTom sent a warranty replacement of an inferior unit that contained no Top Gear content and required an additional $60 fee to reactivate the GO LIVE that Kristan had already paid for. [More]
Gay Lowe’s Customer Accuses Employees Of Making Slurs, Threats Of Violence
By June 26, 2012
A man in California says that what should have been the simple exchange of a leaf blower at his local Lowe’s store instead blew up into an incident that involved a Lowe’s staffer allegedly using anti-gay slurs and threatening the customer and his partner with physical violence. [More]
IHOP Apologizes For Waitress Who Mocked Woman With Huntington’s
By June 15, 2012
Earlier this week, we told you about the engaged couple who had gone to IHOP with the intention of enjoying a nice pancake dinner, only to end up with a waitress who treated them horribly, mocking the woman’s Huntington’s disease and referring to her to other employees as a “junkie.” The couple had received a half-hearted apology from the manager back in March, but none of the promised follow-up. Then the Internet got involved… [More]
IHOP Waitress Mocks My Fiancee’s Disorder, Manager Says He Can’t Do Anything About It
By June 13, 2012
T-Mobile Admits It Made A $250 Error, Still Manages To Blame Me
By May 22, 2012
Welcome to the T-Mobile Customer Service Labyrinth, where every turn brings you back to the center, where headset wearing minotaurs tell you that the exit is right in front of you but it’s not the exit, and where the company can admit in writing to making an error that costs you $250 but says it’s your fault. [More]
Residents Of NJ Neighborhood Say Comcast Can't Fix Oft-Interrupted Service
By January 10, 2012
Comcast may care, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s competent. A chronic, unidentified problem is reportedly wrecking customers’ phone, cable and internet service in a Holiday City, New Jersey neighborhood, and the problems continue despite countless service calls. [More]
Yes, There Is Such A Thing As Bad Publicity
By December 27, 2011
This week, a massive customer service clusterfracas swept the gaming world, then the rest of the Internet. It involved a game console controller that was late in shipping, a a marketing firm in over its head, a popular webcomic, the unholy wrath of the Internet hate machine, and one humble customer who just wanted to know whether he was going to get his gadget by Christmas or not. What did we learn here? That there is such a thing as bad publicity, and that sometimes people on the Internet actually are who they claim to be. [More]
Chick-Fil-A Cashier Just Assumes Customers' Names Are Ching & Chong
By December 12, 2011
One would think that by this point in the internet’s existence that employees at any sort of business that puts customers’ names on receipts might be aware of the fact that putting a potentially offensive nickname, description or slur on said receipts is probably nowhere near as hilarious as it initially seems. [More]
Study: Waiting For Installers, Service Techs, Deliveries Costs $37.7 Billion/Year
By November 4, 2011
As I’m sitting here waiting for my new washer/dryer to be dropped off — They are still within the not-at-all-narrow 6-hour window of delivery — I stumble upon this new study that attempts to put a dollar value on the time spent idling while waiting for everything from cable installers to home deliveries. [More]
Which Companies' Policies Do You Love & Which Do You Loathe?
By October 6, 2011
All commercial businesses are in it to make a dollar, but they go about it in so many different ways. Some retailers (and airlines, banks, hotels, food services, etc.) see the customer as a money sponge from which they can — and should — wring every cent through consumer-antagonizing fees and policies. And on the other end of the spectrum are companies that keep their customers happy and coming back with policies that favor the consumer. [More]
We're Sorry You Ever Came To Our Store & Wasted Our Precious Time
By October 1, 2011
Believe us when we say, we have read some pretty nasty replies to customer complaints. But this latest example of a manager responding to a shopper’s unsatisfactory experience, at a store called GASP in Australia, wins the Consumerist “You Are Deluded And Soulless” award. [More]
Scribbling 9/11 Joke On To-Go Container Is A Good Way To Get Fired
By September 13, 2011
A bartender at a Houston-area restaurant is without a job today because he apparently thought it was giggle-worthy to leave a “Happy Sep” message — complete with cartoon plane about to hit the Twin Towers — on the to-go container of a Muslim customer. [More]
Wendy's Worker Attacks Pregnant Customer For Complaining About Cold Food
By September 9, 2011
Last week, a pregnant woman in Illinois complained to a Wendy’s staffer about being served a cold burger. Little did she know that such a minor issue would lead to her being chased down in the parking lot. [More]
Telling A Diner She Looks Pregnant Is Not A Good Way To Get Tips
By September 8, 2011
Here’s a tip for everyone, but especially those in the food service field: Even if you’re pretty certain that a female customer is pregnant, you might want to not mention it, lest you end up stiffed on a tip and the recipient of an angry note. [More]
Sears Repair Stands Customer Up 4 Times, Delays Repair 7 Weeks
By September 2, 2011
It seemed to a California woman that spending a few hundred extra bucks on an extended warranty for her Sears washing machine was a good investment. And with a newborn in the house, the ability to summon a repairman with a phone call for no out-of-pocket cost. That’s true: assuming they show up and actually repair the appliance. Local Sears employees instead dismantled the machine, ordered parts, and then proceeded to stand her up four times, leaving the family without a working washer for seven weeks. [More]
