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insiders
insiders
Foreclosure Mill Apologizes For Dressing Up In Halloween Costumes That Mocked Foreclosed Homeowners
By Ben Popken on November 2, 2011 2:00 PM
58 Comments
When pictures of their employees dressed up as homeless foreclosed homeowners for last year's Halloween were published in the New York Times, the high-volume foreclosure firm brushed the matter aside. They said that it was "another attempt by The New York Times to attack our firm and our work." But now that it's blown up in their faces, they're falling all over themselves to apologize. More »
5 Bad Deals In Extended Warranties For Holiday Shoppers
By Ben Popken on November 1, 2011 12:00 PM
69 Comments
Extended warranty plans are generally known as being bad deals for consumers. But how specifically are they bad? An insider who works, begrudgingly, for an extended service plan company lays out some of the worst extended warranty deals to watch out for when shopping this holiday season. More »
(fabbio)
Foreclosure Mill Employees Dressed Up In Costumes Mocking Foreclosed Homeowners
By Ben Popken on October 31, 2011 11:00 AM
90 Comments
What do the employees at a foreclosure mill - a law firm that aggressively pursues massive numbers of foreclosures, even against homeowners in the middle of working out a mortgage mod - dress up for Halloween? Well at one joint, last year they dressed up as homeless former homeowners and as the corpse of a lawyer who filed a class action lawsuit against them, according to photos sent to the New York Times. More »
Target Store Has Great Black Friday Idea: Only 30 People At A Time
By Ben Popken on October 19, 2011 2:00 PM
108 Comments
Here's a crazy idea: let's construct a Black Friday sale in such a way as shoppers aren't hospitalized in a mad dash for deals. That's what one Target store in Indiana is doing, where the plan is to only let 30 people in the store at a time on the sale day after Thanksgiving. More »
(Ninja M.)
Replace A Damaged Cellphone For Cheap
By Ben Popken on June 3, 2011 5:00 PM
60 Comments
Rats. You just threw your phone across the room in a rage and now it's broken. Once you regain control of your temper you decide to see about getting it repaired and find out it will almost cost as much as the phone to get it fixed. Either that, or you have to pay the full unsubsidized price to replace it because you're not eligible for an upgrade. Turns out, as pointed out by the company insiders posting over at Insidr.net, a better idea is to call up customer customer service and ask them nicely to move your upgrade forward. More »
Update: Best Buy Changes Credit Quota Firing Threat
By Laura Northrup on May 27, 2011 9:00 AM
117 Comments
Well, that was fast. The reader and Best Buy employee who wrote in earlier this week about the threat of termination being used to make employees generate more credit card applications from customers. (Or, as the headline put it, "cram credit cards down customers' throats.") The tipster wrote back in to let us know that management in this particular region has backed down. While offering credit applications is still an important part of the job, working twelve shifts without persuading any customers to apply is no longer grounds for automatic termination. More »
Best Buy Store Won't Price-Match Website, Still Does In-Store Pickup
By Laura Northrup on May 26, 2011 10:35 AM
128 Comments
Reader B. is a Best Buy employee, and has a moral problem with a new policy. This policy may just be at B.'s store or in that district, but it's still annoying. Employees have been told that they can no longer price-match BestBuy.com. They can, however, help the customer place an order online for in-store pickup from inside the store, then wait around for up to half an hour. This seems inefficient at best to B, but sounds familiar to us. More »
Best Buy Employee: Pressure To Cram Credit Cards Down Customers' Throats Now Intensifying
By Laura Northrup on May 25, 2011 9:00 AM
218 Comments
The next time you're shopping at Best Buy, try not to get too angry when employees attempt to cram store credit cards down your throat. They're not personally out to scam you, or hawking cards to line their pockets. They're just trying not to get written up, reprimanded, or fired. A very insightful tipster who works at a Best Buy somewhere in the United States shared with us the impossible credit application quotas now in place. More »
(teksmith)
How Booze Keeps Getting Served In Sippy Cups To Kids At Restaurants
By Ben Popken on May 23, 2011 2:45 PM
74 Comments
We've had a few stories about toddlers accidentally getting served alcohol inside sippy cups by the waiters at big-name chain restaurants and wondered, how in the heck did that happen? According to what some restaurant insiders say, there's a very simple and sad explanation. More »
Ex-Hertz Employee Shares 3 Tips On Saving On Your Next Rental
By Ben Popken on March 31, 2011 2:00 PM
52 Comments
A former slinger of keys for rental car company Hertz has stepped forward from the shadows to share his three tips for saving on your next car. More »
Former Installer: Why You Shouldn't Get Lowe's Installation (Or Why You Should)
By Laura Northrup on March 1, 2011 11:00 AM
89 Comments
An anonymous reader who once worked installing as an installer for Lowe's shared some very helpful advice with us: you probably shouldn't go to a big-box store for your deck-building and window-installing needs. Why is that? Let him count the ways. More »
Insider Debunks The 9 Extended Warranty Sales Pitches
By Ben Popken on February 24, 2011 1:00 PM
105 Comments
Here are 9 of the most common lines salespeople try to feed you in order to get you to buy an extended warranty, debunked by an insider. His job is training and development in this 3rd-party service plan industry, a job he's leaving soon because he's sick of the "half-truths and deceptions" it foists on consumers... which he will now reveal to you. More »
10 Confessions Of An Insurance Telemarketer
By Ben Popken on February 10, 2011 5:00 PM
70 Comments
One of our readers works sales in an insurance telemarketing operation. He's stepped forward to give us the skinny on how he gets commission, the real reasons that drive some of their tactics, and what personal information you should never give over the phone to a telemarketer. More »
AT&T To Change Text Message Packages And Chuck Some Upgrade Discounts
By Ben Popken on January 20, 2011 4:00 PM
61 Comments
Is it cellphone plan adverse tweak season? Now AT&T is changing up its text message plans and doubling the per message rate for going over them, and getting rid of some upgrade discounts, reports Engadget, going off a leaked internal document. More »
(pbump)
Sanitation Whistleblowers Say Department Intentionally Delayed NYC Snow Removal
By Ben Popken on December 30, 2010 12:00 PM
157 Comments
Was the slow snow removal in New York City the result of a planned Sanitation Department protest to make the Mayor pay for reducing their staff? That's what several whistleblowers are reportedly saying, according to the New York Post. More »
23 Things An Extended Warranty Call Center Rep Wished You Knew
By Ben Popken on December 28, 2010 2:00 PM
102 Comments
A shadowy figure steps out of the shadows, his fingers nicotine-stained and shaking. He glances around nervously before leaping forward and grabbing you by the lapels. "I've got 23 things to tell you about calling into an extended warranty call center," he says, "and I don't have much time." More »
(B Bretz)
The New GameStop Rewards Card Isn't Worth Your Time Or Privacy
By Laura Northrup on October 27, 2010 9:00 AM
143 Comments
Last week, we learned that at least one Gamestop employee won't even sell to you unless you sign up for a rewards card. Why might that be? Reader Dragonfire81 has mysterious inside knowledge, and warns all good Consumerists to stay far, far away from the new rewards program that Gamestop is pushing. More »
Branch Manager Quits Rather Than Trick Bank Customers Into Signing Up For Overdrafts
By Ben Popken on August 13, 2010 11:00 AM
91 Comments
The bank branch manager who felt uncomfortable that his bank was making him choose between misleading customers into signing up for overdraft protection and keeping his job has decided to quit. More »
(EG Focus)
Get Customers To Sign Up For Overdraft Fees Or Get Fired
bank teller branch manager and he feels queasy. His bank is making him trick customers into signing back up for overdraft fees, and if he doesn't, he'll get fired. More »
By Ben Popken on August 3, 2010 10:00 AM
122 Comments
One of our readers is a 
Chase Banker: I Hate That We're Required To Pull People Out Of Line To Offer Upsells
By Carey Alexander on July 31, 2010 3:00 PM
106 Comments
Chase now requires bankers to drag customers waiting for a teller out of line so they can upsell other bank products. One longtime banker wrote in to apologize for the practice, which "blatantly exploits a customer's trust," and to encourage customers to call Chase and tell them that they hate it, too. Read the banker's full heartfelt note, after the jump. More »
