guides
Here's a free handbook that's full of the sort of stuff we spend all of our time discussing on Consumerist. Sections include
how to be a savvy consumer, how to file complaints, and a directory of organizations and agencies to contact when you have a problem. You can
view the contents online or
download a PDF copy, and you can also
request a print version for your doesn't-go-online relative (although you'll have to wait for a reprinting).
More »
updates
After reading about how Jesse was
banned for life from Bank of America for no clear reason, other readers wrote in with similarly bizarre BoA stories. Wayne was locked out of his new account after he opened it and charged a $75 overdraft fee. Chris was sent checks linked to a duplicate account and then charged penalties when the checks bounced. Edward's new account was closed but the CSR refused to tell him why, and he was charged a $60 "research fee" for the closing. When Edward went to a BoA branch to clear things up, he says the employee there told him, "That's why you don't open up accounts online."
More »
best buy
An anonymous tipster sent in an updated list of
contact info for some of the people working at the top of the
Best Buy food chain. Remember, don't bug them until you've exhausted all other options.
More »
contact info
It's not uncommon to run into a dead end when trying to resolve your Xbox 360 or
Xbox Live issues with the official customer support channels, which is why sometimes you have no recourse other than to try to get the attention of the executives at
Microsoft. Here are some addresses to try, culled from the
Penny Arcade forums.
More »
master spas
The story of Craig Hueffner, a man who sold spas with hefty rebates that weren't honored, is a good reminder of the limits of small claims court: namely that if the defendent plays dirty,
it may be a long, expensive task to make him pay up.
More »
credit bureaus
Having trouble finding the mailing address for any of the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, Equifax? Here they are:
More »
Warhammer: Age of Reckoning
Electronic Arts immediately forwards all pre-orders to a secretive processing facility, so if you happy to change your address after ordering a game eight months in advance, well, tough. At least that's what Electronic Arts told Micah when he asked to update his pre-order for the now sold-out limited-run collector's edition of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. When Micah pointed out that it might not be the best idea to sell games eight months in advance without a way to update addresses, Electronic Arts canceled his order altogether and told him to find another copy somewhere else.
More »
greyhound
There's not a lot of contact info on the web for Greyhound or its executives, but one
determined customer has put a lot of effort into documenting what there is. Here are mailing addresses and a few unpublished phone numbers for people in the Greyhound executive offices.
More »
att
We've seen a few addresses that have fractions in our time on this planet, but we never stopped to think about what it was like to try to order internet at one of these locations. Turns out, its about as annoying as you think it would be. Meet Michael. His address is 914½. This problematic little fraction causes AT&T to completely freak out for
two months.
More »
contact info
Having problems with Register.com that can't be resolved, and you've exhausted all traditional customer service routes? An anonymous tipster sent in the following email
addresses for the executive team.
More »
iphone
AT&T demanded a $750 deposit from Richard before selling him an iPhone, but couldn't provide service because they improperly entered his address. Richard spent hours at the AT&T store trying to fix the mistake before deciding to cut his losses and recover the deposit. AT&T promised to refund his money in 7-10 days. That was two months ago. Why the hold-up? AT&T can't issue the refund because they don't have Richard's proper address.
More »
privacy
Matthew wrote in to complain about
a new website called Spokeo, which sounds like a stalker's dream: it sucks up all the entries in your address book, then returns a Big Brothery smorgasbord of all the publicly accessible accounts and services linked to each email address, along with updates any time something happens. It might surprise you to see just how easy it is for someone to assemble a picture of your Internet footprint with only an email address.
More »
whoops
Tired of repeatedly hearing that his One Laptop Per Child was on the way, PC World's Harry McCracken called OLPC and was
surprised to discover that the charity didn't have his mailing address on file. Apparently, PayPal passed McCracken's payment to OLPC without providing his address.
More »
moving
Reader Ryan called the Dish Network three weeks before moving to disconnect his service. Dish graciously offered to send prepaid return
boxes for his equipment, but instead of sending them to Ryan's new address, Dish sent them to his old address. Three times. Oddly, Dish managed to properly address a bill to Ryan's new address. Ryan writes:
More »
florists
Missouri florists have
bankrupted a New Jersey telemarketer accused in a class action suit of tampering with phone book listings to siphon callers away from local businesses. The telemarketer, TTP, purchased phone book listings under the same names as local florists, but did not provide an address; the listings appeared side-by-side, but when local callers dialed the number without an address, they were directed to an out-of-state call center that tacked on a handling fee and submitted the order to a different area florist.
"The primary objective of both lawsuits is to get TTP out of Missouri," said Gregory Leyh of Gladstone, the attorney for both class-action lawsuits. "TTP cheats by pretending to be a local florist so it can fool consumers and steal the legitimate business of Missouri florists. At least for now, TTP is no longer in the floral business in Missouri."
More »
Consumerist
kodak
contact info
Here's how the Newegg email address was spoofed on the Creative forum over the weekend: Creative has a security protocol in place where you have to verify your email address before you can post. However, after you publish a post you can go back and change your address to anything you like. You won't be able to verify the spoofed address and therefore won't be able to post anything new—but anything you already posted will now display the spoofed address. Maybe you can get Daniel_K to fix your forum boards, Creative. (Thanks to Jawaad!)
