Back when I got my first work BlackBerry, I was all, “Hey, cool — I can email on this thing and message people. Great.” And that’s basically where BlackBerry has been stuck over the last few years, as iPhones and Android phones have erupted in popularity and gained devoted followings. Now, the company figures if you don’t want to actually own a BlackBerry, maybe you’d still want to use its BBM free messaging service. [More]
BlackBerry To Offer Free BBM Service To Customers Who’ve Already Fled To iOS, Android
By May 15, 2013
Bank Of America Gives Existing Customers Yet Another Reason To Flee
By May 14, 2013
Many banks offer benefits to account-holders who also have their home loan serviced by the institution. Bank of America has been doing that for years, cutting fees for people with both checking accounts and mortgages. But now BofA has gone and sold off millions of these mortgages to another servicer, starting a countdown clock for account-holders to go elsewhere or likely face new fees. [More]
Aereo Announces June Launch Date For Service In Atlanta Area
By May 14, 2013
While all the broadcast networks continue to sue Aereo, the streaming service seems determined to expand. Today, it announced that Atlanta will be the third metro area (following New York City and Boston) to receive service. [More]
Hertz Tells Me It Has No Idea How To Read A Fuel Gauge
By May 13, 2013
Anyone who has returned a rental car with less fuel than agreed to knows full well that rental company employees understand how to read a fuel gauge, because there is money to be made if you’re coming back light on gas. But one Consumerist reader says it’s a different story when you prepay for fuel and you’re the one looking to be reimbursed. [More]
Adobe’s Creative Suite: Now Only For Rent, Not For Sale
By May 8, 2013
“Ahhh…the joys of having a monopoly running your professional life,” writes reader Brian. Like many people who depend on Adobe’s Creative Suite to perform their creative work, he’s upset at the news that Adobe is abandoning the stuffy, old-fashioned software business model where you buy a program once and get to keep it. Instead, they’re going to release new versions solely through their Creative Cloud service, charging a monthly subscription price. [More]
Time Warner Cable Entices Us Back With Discounts, Forgets To Give Them To Us
By April 30, 2013
When Michael quit Time Warner Cable, it was easy. Too easy. He didn’t face retention staff begging him to stay. They canceled the account, and let the couple go. Temporarily. After only a few days, Time Warner began to call them to win them back, With some coaxing and special discounts, Michael and Mrs. Michael came back. Then they learned that the deal that enticed them back was not, strictly speaking, real. [More]
What Are America’s Most Damaged Brands Right Now?
By April 26, 2013
How mighty brands fall. Bad leadership, bad planning, a run of bad products: any of these can damage a brand in a short amount of time, and it can take years to recover: if, indeed, the brand recovers at all. What brands are the most battered in the United States right now? 24/7 Wall Street rounded them up, based on which publicly-traded major companies are currently dealing with aggressive competition, reputation disasters, and a lack of direction. [More]
Galaxy S3 Owner Pens Love Letter To His Phone, Gets Samsung CEO To Pay For Out-Of-Warranty Repair
By April 25, 2013
Vince sent a love letter to Y.K. Kim, the head of Samsung USA. No, he doesn’t have a crush on Mr. Kim. He is deeply in love with his Galaxy S3, and shared that love with the regional CEO of the company that brought it to him. Only his love has a problem. A pink discoloration on the screen. He was brokenhearted, and also doubtful about his future plans to buy an S4. [More]
Would You Pay For A Checking Account If You Had The Option Not To?
By April 24, 2013
The “pay whatever you want” way of doing things has often worked for music groups, museums and other artistic institutions, mostly because while some people will pay nothing, others will pony up cash in appreciation for the benefits they receive from the product or art. But one new online bank is well, banking on the fact that that model could work as well. [More]
Samsung Replaces Blu-Ray Player That Won’t Play Perfectly Good Discs
By April 4, 2013
Richard was unhappy with his Blu-Ray player. Some discs wouldn’t play at all. Samsung claimed to be on it and working on a firmware update as a solution to the problem, but have said that for a year now. What was a customer who just wants to watch some movies to do? His family couldn’t even watch “The Dark Knight Rises.” What horror! Richard flexed his complaining muscles and fired off a letter to Samsung’s Office of the President e-mail address. [More]
Tracking Down An Executive Means I Get Actual Good Service From Time Warner Cable
By April 3, 2013
In contrast to the post from earlier today about Time Warner Cable refusing to acknowledge that they’re giving a customer free cable, here’s a story about the cable giant that will makes them look much more warm, cuddly, and competent. LJ’s Tivo got stolen during her move, and Time Warner Cable charged her for the missing cable card, which she thought she had turned in with her TWC tuner. Of course, it was only after tracking down higher powers within Time Warner that she was able to actually get anything done. [More]
Here Are Your Sexiest CEO In America Tournament Finalists!
April 1, 2013
Every year, when our Worst Company in America tournament rolls around, some yaysayers wonder why we can’t make it more positive. “Where’s the Best Company in America?” they ask. Things like “good customer service” and “corporate responsibility” are important and all, but no one else is asking the real hard-hitting question: how easy are companies’ chief executives on the eyes? [More]
4 Ways Retail Stores Are Monitoring Your Every Move
By March 27, 2013
From the second you pull into a store’s parking lot, you can be relatively certain there are electronic eyes on you. But we’re way past the days of black-and-white monitors to discourage vandalism and shoplifting. Today’s retailers follow you everywhere and know lots about you. [More]
Samsung: If You Want Us To Fix Your MP3 Player, You Have To Fly To Hong Kong
By March 25, 2013
The beauty of shopping online is that it’s easy to bring products from all over the world into our homes with a little bit of typing and a major credit card. The problem with buying from abroad, though, is that products for different markets don’t come with the same consumer protections. And sometimes you don’t know that you’re buying a product destined for a different market at all. That’s where Cassi’s cautionary tale comes in. From a small discount site, Cassi bought a Samsung MP3 player. Samsung tells her that it was made for the Chinese market and that if she wants them to honor her warranty, she has to fly to Hong Kong. Being a sensible person, Cassi does not want to fly to Hong Kong over a $200 MP3 player. [More]
Worst Company In America Round 1: Chase Vs. Wells Fargo
March 21, 2013
The tournament’s first banking battle gets Day Three of WCIA competition off with a bang! [More]
Target Sent Me Free Stuff! Too Bad It Was An Open Box Cutter
By March 21, 2013
The good news, for Carmen, was that she received some free stuff in her Target order. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Carmen. At least, she doesn’t like free box cutters that nick her finger and make her worry that she will get some kind of Warehouse Plague. [More]
Verizon Thinks My Wife Spent 10-Hour Roaming Call Talking To Co-Worker’s Voice Mail
By March 15, 2013
RL isn’t arguing that his wife made a roaming call to a co-worker from a hotel in Venice, Italy. His dispute with Verizon wireless is regarding how long that call was. His wife says that it was ten minutes long. Verizon counters that it was ten hours and nine minutes. Considering that the call was to a voice mail box, that must have been an epic, almost close to the the actual meaning of the word “epic,” voicemail. [More]
Great, My Acer Laptop Battery Exploded
By March 14, 2013
Did you think that the laptop battery explosion epidemic was over? No, it’s not just in the Boeing Dreamliner. Bill’s Acer laptop battery exploded not long ago: of course, he bought it in 2011 and the computer is now out of warranty. Acer is happy to take the computer back, but only to look at it for a “safety evaluation” and maybe to not send it back to Bill. He doesn’t think that this is fair. He sent the relevant exploded parts back to Acer, but doesn’t want to send back his hard drive or the rest of the computer. He wants replacement parts so he can get it working again. [More]
