Reader Matt says:

I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the Christmas holiday on the planet but the spirit isn't typically shown after Thanksgiving. I've gotten a few laughs on how many stores started with the Christmas Creep extremely early this year. Well it extends beyond the stores. After dropping my fiancee off at Logan Airport this morning, which is in Boston for those not familiar with the area, I started scanning the radio to find some decent tunes. And what did I find on Oldies 103.3? You guessed it Christmas music. When I got home and took a look at their website, http://www.oldies1033.com/ , it really put the icing on the cake. The "holiday season" has gotten out of control this year and I just wanted to share my experience with you guys.

My manager began playing Christmas music the week before Halloween. I've had numerous customers come up to me and complain.. saying we're pushing to much into the season. The music continues to play, nonstop. We only stopped for a short hour or two on Halloween to play Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a couple of times. Christmas is here, at Borders Books and Music in Massachusetts.

Reader Aaron says:

Today I was in Rite Aid in Bellport, NY with my wife getting her prescription filled. When we walked down an aisle, I was greeted by a nice, long display of Christmas decorations and items to purchase! I groaned and told my wife how it is just obscene and obnoxious to have this stuff out when it's September and I'm still wearing shorts. I mean, Halloween is still a month away!

Anyhow, I share in your anger of how a single day out of 365 is exploited beyond belief.

Aaron, you're just lazy. By today's standards, you should have been buying your Halloween decorations two months ago. Get with the program!

Most agree that AFTER Thanksgiving should be the start of the CHRISTMAS season, but this idea has been lost on retail for a long, long time.

I spotted this wrapping paper at Walgreens, and although its on the unreachable top shelf and probably just overflow from the stock room, I definitely think it qualifies.

Christmas Creep at Walgreens [FutureGringo]

Greg says:

So I decided on my lunch break from work I wanted some Mc Donald's.... I went into this new store for the first time and well.... here's my email to Mc Donald's corporate....

I visited this store for the first time. I placed my regular order and when I said "and a Sweet Tea with no ice" I got met with resistance from the cashier and manager. The cashier called over her manager and they spoke in spanish, not english like I was speaking. The manager then said it was $1.69 for the sweet tea even though right above her head it say $1. She claimed it was because I didn't want ice. I stated at every other restaurant I have never been charged 69 cents for "having it my way" without ice. She then pointed to a sign hung on the wall that stated " $1 Sweet Tea with ice only otherwise regular price". First, I never knew Sweet Tea had any other price than $1 and the big sign behind didn't show that. So I then said "Ok, I'll take ice in my drink, 1 ice cube will be enough." She then said it has to be totally full of ice, and then pointed to a different sign that said "$1 Sweet Tea with FULL cup of ice only. Otherwise regular price. No Refills."

For as long as I have been buying food at Mc Donald's I have never been charged for not taking ice. Thats like charging me 50 cents because I don't want mustard on my burger.
Is this normal practice? Is this a new rule about sweet tea? If so I am very disappointed in Mc Donald's and your marketing strategies.

PS. I also do have photos of the two signs they used as proof to try to charge me more money.

I am yet to hear back from Mc Donald's and doubt they will say or do anything in regards to this, but I think its getting a little outrageous how these companies can just start adding fees and surcharges for something as simple as no ice.... Its not like an employee has to stand there with two forks and manually grab the ice out of my cup, just don't put it in to begin with.... shouldn't they give me a discount for not having to spend the time to put the ice in the cup...?

Oh, no, Greg. Don't you see? You're not paying the fee for "convenience," you're just a dirty scammer who was trying to get a tiny amount of "Sweet Tea" for free. McDonald's is on to your little game. You'll take your ice and like it! Oh, wait. Have you tried asking for your ice "on the side?"

In any case, Greg says that the two signs were tucked away in non-obvious locations. He says the one pictured here was "behind the work area of the employees on a side wall at about 7 feet high" nowhere near the menu. Sneaky.

Last night during a leisurely stroll through the mall, I happened to snap a shot of the Christmas Creep in a storefront window. And it's only July! The picture is pretty crappy — I took it with my Blackberry, but I thought I would share it anyway. You know, there's only 148 days until Christmas!

Nooooooooo. Christmas Creep in July? We realize they're probably trying to be funny, but for some reason we still find it depressing.

I wanted to share a recent annoyance at 2 Home Depot locations. The first occurrence I was actually a little surprised when an HD associate approached me, I assumed with would be the usual "Finding everything". But it was an attempt to interest me in the special promotion for home owners they're running. Apparently its some service with Trane to inspect your home air conditioning. Fortunately there was a sucker beside of me who spoke up and I moved along. A few minutes later and a few asile away who do i see coming but the promotion guy. Again I get the "did you hear about our new promotion". Wow, yes and still not interested. Even though I was quite annoyed I didn't think that much about it until at a second store a few days later same sales pitch. That's enough for me, I'm not going to shop where I'm going to be bothered with these pitches.

Submitted to HD's customer support form:
Over the last week I've had the occasion to be in 2 different stores in the Charlotte area several times(Steele Creek #3662 and S Boulevard Charlotte #3646). At each location while I was trying to find my items and continue with my daily life I was approached by an HD representative who wanted to tell me bout the special promotion for Home Owners. Apparently this is some attempt to sale AC services with Trane. I have to say how annoying this is that I can't simply shop at your stores in peace, I'm going to be accosted for hard sales of services. This is not acceptable to me and will make me hesitant to return to a Home Depot store in the future. Regards.

We suspect that stores like Home Depot underestimate how annoying these sales pitches can be. Has a store ever lost your business because their sales force pestered you to sign up for membership cards, credit cards, or special promotions too often? Who are the worst offenders? Let us know in the comments and we'll round up the best stories in another post.

(Photo: Den-Mod )

Jason writes:

On Thursday I went to Blockbuster and rented a videogame for 8.47$. The next day I checked my online statement to find out that I was charged 8.47$, and then another separate transaction from Blockbuster for 1$. Considering the guy behind the counter had no idea what he was doing at the time I figured he made a mistake and called the Blockbuster back to investigate. They informed me that it is a relatively new policy on all in-store rentals for debit/credit cards in which before charging you the rental for the game, they first bill your card $1 to make sure that it is active, then they bill the rental in addition to that. The manager I spoke to said that they refund the $1 at a later date, but here I am almost a week later with no refund. If this is even legal, why not just charge the $1, and if it works, charge the normal rental price subtract the $1?

Ugh.

(Photo: Seth W )

Earlier today I got a call from a Chase telemarketer.  He called to inform me about a great Fraud Protection service.  The caller vaguely described what was covered over the next minute as he read his prepared script.  Toward the end of the script, he said that Chase would be sending an informational brochure and that I would have the opportunity to review the information with my family before I proceeded with the purchase of the Fraud Protection service.
 
At this point, I initiated the end of the conversation by saying: "I'll review the materials when it comes in the mail".
 
Chase telemarketer mumbled: "Ok, I'll charge you $7 and ship the information out to [Address]".
 
I cut him off mid sentence and asked him to repeat and clarify to make sure what just happened.  He indeed signed me up without my permission.
 
I proceeded to tell him "NO" in a strong and firm voice.  "I did not agree to pay anything, I did not agree for any service".
 
I politely requested that he send me the information, and not sign me up for the fraud protection.
 
At this point, I was about to hang up the phone when he came back with "Mr. XXXX, don't you know that some one's identity is stolen every 4 minutes"
 
I replied, "No, I don't want the service"
 
Chase telemarketer rudely cuts me off: "but Mr.  XXXX, what are you going to do when someone steals your identity?"
 
"No, Didn't you hear me?"
 
Chase telemarketer cuts me off again, "but you arent safe...."
 
I slam the phone down.
 
You just lost another customer Chase.
 
Now I have to call back and make sure that he didn't sign me up.  I feel like I need protection from Chase's employees from stealing my identity rather than some stranger who might steal my credit card or something to that effect.

(Photo: jebb)

He writes:

On a recent flight, on United Airlines, I had my suitcase damaged. When I reported it to the United baggage office in Portland, OR, they apologized for not having the proper form on which to report the problem and suggested that I contact the United baggage office at one of the airports in my home city, Washington, DC. Upon returning home, I attempted to contact United's baggage department by phone. The "800" number was of no help, nor was the "Customer Service" call center in India. When I called the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority in an attempt to obtain the telephone number for one of the United baggage offices, I was told that United had instructed them not to release the number FOR SECURITY REASONS!

I have written to the VP of Customer Affairs at United to congratulate him on following the example of the now defunct Soviet Union which had no telephone books for security reasons.

Sid

We checked United's policy on damaged luggage and it seems that the first baggage office screwed you with bad advice. From United's website:

Please report any damage to your baggage immediately after retrieving your baggage from the baggage claim carousels. A customer service representative at our Baggage Service Offices will be happy to complete a damage report for you. Please have your passenger ticket receipt and claim check available when filing your claim. All baggage claims must be reported within 24 hours of travel.

You've already launched an EECB of sorts, so all we can really suggest is that you also file a complaint with the Department of Transportation and CC: it to Graham Atkinson at United.

Filing official complaints with the government will sometimes reduce the time it takes for an airline to get around to dealing with your complaint. You might also try filing your complaint in person, again, but we could understand why you might not want to trek out to the airport with your luggage.

(Photo: Ben Popken )

T-Mobile's heart is in the right place. What they need is another feature, one that lets you disable their annoyingly useless text message reminders.

While searching for bank to open up my first checking and savings account, I decided to take WaMu up on its much-advertised free checking account offer. Unfortunately, that decision left me with a $5 monthly fee.

For some unknown reason, when I first opened up my account at a local WaMu branch a week and a half ago I was also simultaneously enrolled in the "Plus Package" program. I'm not sure if it's standard practice for bank representatives to enroll new customers in the program, but it's certainly an interesting twist on "free" accounts.

Within days of opening my account I noticed a $5 debit while reviewing my information online. The description read "PLUS PACKAGE MEMBERSHIP," which made it pretty easy to find out what was going on. I soon learned about all the fantastic benefits of membership from a terse entry on WaMu's website, including discounts on hotel accommodations and eyewear. No thanks

I went back to my local branch last Saturday and explained that I never consented to enrolling in the program and never received any information about it. The representative was very understanding and un-enrolled me from the program and refunded the $5. She speculated that the mistake may have been because they used to enroll people in the program for a free trial, a promotion which has since ceased. However, I would have also guessed that the old promotion at least included telling customers about the program — ya know, about the fees and benefits. Apparently not.

Unfortunately, I've also found out that there is a $10 early termination fee for leaving the program within 120 days of enrolling in it, so now I've gone from being out $5 to being out $10 for my new free account. I wrote an online message to customer service about the mix-up and a representative responded that there was "no bank error" and I would not be refunded. I've sent another message back in hopes of clarifying the situation and am awaiting a reply.

So far this has been a mediocre start to our new relationship. Way to go WaMu!

I was originally enrolled in this program without my knowledge and went back to my local bank less than a week after opening my account to un-enroll from the Plus Package program. The initial $5 monthly fee has since been refunded to my account but now I need this early termination fee to be refunded as well.

Thank you.

Dear Michael [redacted]:

Thank you for your email.

Washington Mutual takes responsibility for bank errors and will work with customers to resolve issues arising from those errors. Your concern has been researched, and as no bank error was found, the fee cannot be refunded.

I regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

(Photo:bookish in north park)

I know you already did a piece on strange hotel charges a little while ago, but I was in the Bahamas at the Comfort Suites in Atlantis and I thought this was so misleading I took a picture of it.

I just think it's outrageous-if it wasn't bad for the Earth, I might as well be leaving on all my lights when I leave the room, just to get my money's worth! I was with a family of 4, and we booked the hotel because it was cheap. However, they did not include this 24 dollar a night tax! We stayed for 6 nights-they jipped us of $144!

PREVIOUSLY: Watch Out For These 14 Hidden Hotel Fees
10 Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees

Joan launched an EECB and cc'd us so we could listen in:

I am a Verizon telephone, DSL and wireless subscriber [redacted].

I have been dealing with an erroneous billing situation and its severe customer service consequences for over six months. In September 2007, the owner of a telephone number I once owned (and disconnected 15 years ago) ordered FIOS. Since then, that person's FIOS charges have been appearing on my bills, despite different account numbers. The new owner's account number shows up on my bill as [redacted]. Since discovering the error, I've contacted customer service six times - once per month, beginning on September 21st. During those calls, I spoke to [redacted] and a few others whose names I've misplaced. Each of them assured me that the problem would be corrected immediately and that my bill would be credited immediately. In each case, this proved false.

My latest bill, dated February 7th, shows an overdue balance of $149.35 for this FIOS service, as well as a new $39.95 charge for another month of another person's FIOS. In understand from the bill that I not only am I being charged for the other account's FIOS, but I am being charged interest on an overdue balance that does not belong to me. Further, I have worked hard to ensure my excellent credit standing, and I am concerned that this issue is being reported to credit bureaus. This is clearly unacceptable and should be rectified immediately.

Satisfactory resolution of this issue would include the following:

1. All erroneous charges removed from my account
2. Separation of my account from the other person's account so that the charges do not reappear in the future
3. Assurance that this mistake has not been reported to a credit bureau (and if it has, assurance that a correction has been filed with the bureau
4. A credit on my next bill for the exceptionally unreasonable amount of time and energy I've had to expend in my efforts to have these charges removed.

Given that I have been pressing this issue for six months now, I will expect appropriate resolution within 48 hours.

Sincerely,

Joan

(Photo:JohnMarino92)

Last December I placed an order at art.com for a framed print which I intended to give as a Christmas present. I placed the order well within art.com's recommended time frame for delivery in time for christmas. During the order they promised delivery by December 17th. Well, as you may guess December 17th came and went with no package (they shipped it on the 15th via DHL.) December 24th came and went with no package. DHL finally delivered it on the 26th after I had been forced to go out and purchase another gift to replace the one that had not arrived.

In the end I let it slide. I had no desire to deal with telephone customer service the week after Christmas to get my shipping money refunded from art.com. I had better things to do with my vacation time.

This week I come home and find an issue of "Working Mother" magazine in my mailbox. Thinking it was delivered by mistake to my box I check the address label. To my surprise I find that it is addressed to me. Having all the correct Male parts it is anatomically impossible for me to be a working mother so I was puzzled as to how I ended up with this subscription. I refused delivery of the magazine by writing "refused" on the label and leaving it in my mailbox with the flag up. Next I visited their website and put in an inquiry via an online form. Surprisingly they got back to me very quickly. The verdict? Art.com had signed me up for a complimentary subscription for one year. I certainly don't remember clicking anything during my order with them indicating that I might be interested in 12 issues of a magazine that I will throw directly into the trash every month. If I did leave a box checked or something it must not have been very conspicuous because I usually catch stuff like that.

Working Mother magazine canceled my "subscription" in response to my message to them.

As a postal customer I'm bombarded with a pile of junk mail every month. Shame on art.com for adding this mountain of waste.

Brian

I was at Best Buy looking for 'The Fountain' on DVD. I found three copies in the drama section, and three different prices. No tricks here, no collector's / special editions. Just the standard widescreen version at name-your-own-price. Guess they're trying to emulate Radiohead?

He's been trying for days with disappointing results:

I have tried 5-6 times in the last 3 days to cancel my MySpace account, and they don't appear to be allowing me to do so. Are they that worried about losing people to Facebook?

On their website, I was able to go through the "cancel account" rigmarole, only to be told that they would send me an email in which I there would be a URL I had to click on, in order to confirm my desire to cancel. I have not received any such emails from them, despite repeated attempts — not in my In Box, not in my Spam folder, nowhere.

I have sent two messages to customer service; the first one I got back an automated message telling me to follow the steps on their website that I had already done, and the second time I got an automated message saying someone would get back to me. That was a couple days ago.

How Do I Delete My Account? [MySpace]

I have a situation which may interest you and for which I'm trying to find a little help. Essentially I have asked AT&T three times now to stop sending me junk mail and they keep sending me junk mail. The worst part is that it's not even to my right address. The worse-than-worst part is that it's for a service that isn't offered at my address! Full story below.

Not long after I moved into my apartment, I noticed that I got a lot of junk mail on a regular basis. Thursday was local coupon day, Tuesday was national coupon day, and every couple weeks or so I would receive something from AT&T. Now, the strange part about this mail is that it is not even going to my correct address—my street number ends in '4', this ends in '6'—but I get it anyway because the address they are addressing it to does not exist.

Well I didn't know who to contact about the coupon circulars I get in the mail, but I knew for sure that I could contact AT&T. So I did, and politely asked them to stop mailing me any more items. They said, "Ok" and I thought that was that.

Until I received the next piece of AT&T junk mail in my mailbox. It happened a couple more times before I got around to calling (you can only speak with someone during business hours and I usually don't get off work until after said hours). Again, they said, "No problem." Sure enough, more junk mail keeps coming in. Repeat this scenario again and that's where we stand now.

The most ironic part of all of this is that they are pushing the U-Verse service. Although I didn't want to reward them for their tactics, I have to admit the service did look appealing, so I went online to check it out. I plugged in my real address and I got back the message that U-Verse wasn't available in my area? What? Surely this is a mistake. I called them up to confirm and they told me that, yep, U-Verse is not available at my address ending in '4'. But what about the non-existent address whose mail I receive that ends in a '6'? Well, U-Verse is available at this imaginary place.

What do I do to get them to stop mailing me fliers I don't want for a service I can't get? Now that I've called them three times, is it time to ratchet it up? Is going to executive customer service even worth it for this kind of issue?

Thank you, Consumerist.

-Dustin

Some other options:

1) Be like Ben. He calls and goes all Quentin Tarantino on his dentist, threatening to report them to the FTC. Meg is not really bothered by junk mail, because she enjoys using her paper shredder.

2) Try placing a big sign on your mailbox that says, "THIS IS NOT [whatever the incorrect address is] " You could also try writing "Incorrect address" and "return to sender" on the mail and then dropping back in the mail. We're not sure that this will actually do anything though. Any postal service employees care to offer some ideas that will actually work?

Anyone else have any ideas?

(Photo:hyku)

The result of this stunt is a website featuring short videos of Mark's adventures inside the IKEA that we felt were just little too irritating to actually watch, but maybe you'll like them.

Living in IKEA does sound sort of fun, though, we have to admit. That's probably why they're selling houses in Europe.

Man Lives At IKEA [CNN]
(Photo:CNN)

SIT-VC.WAV [Art Of Hacking]

Reader Jason writes:

I saw this at Target in Tinley Park, IL yesterday and thought it was funny. Guess it's never too early to start gearing up for Easter.

Arrggghhhhh.

Please send us any "Easter Creep" photos by emailing them to tips@consumerist.com or submitting them to our Flickr pool with the tag "Easter Creep." Thanks.

(Photo:jb0)

Anyway, not only does this extra water screw up a lot of recipes (the meat won't brown right, and roasted chickens end up soggy), it means 15% of the price of grocery store pork and chicken I am actually paying for water! (Mmmm, sizzling, juicy water.) Working this into the equation, the price per pound of actual meat for unadulterated pork and chicken at the natural foods co-op is not as high as it might seem.

Jenni

We did post a news story from NBC Augusta in which they squeezed a bunch of chicken and then figured out how much your average consumer was paying for "chicken water" each year. Guess how much it was? Did you guess? Ok, fine we'll tell you.

$60 a year. In chicken water. Yuck.

PREVIOUSLY: Are You Paying $60 A Year For Water Pumped Into Chicken?
(Photo:eggrollstan)

from: Registration OptOut < shopper@jcpenneyeservices.com> to: ******@gmail.com, date: Dec 12, 2007 10:36 AM subject: Email Unsubscribe Confirmation mailed-by: jcpenneyeservices.com

While registering as a shopper with jcpenney.com, you chose not to receive our promotional Email. This is being sent to confirm that ******@ gmail.com will not receive Email from jcpenney.com.

The decision to receive Email is personal and can be influenced for a variety of reasons. In an attempt to better understand and respond to our customers, we would appreciate it if you would answer a short survey on this topic.

To participate in the survey, click here.
Your responses, and your email address, will remain private and will help us to continue to build a better shopping experience for you, and a stronger relationship with our customers.

jcpenney.com has always believed in using only permission-based Email marketing. If, in the future, you decide that you would like to begin receiving our promotional Email you can subscribe at jcpenney.com.

Thank you for your participation, and thank you for shopping with us.

(Thanks to Scott!)

About 2 months ago, I deposited a nice, fat commission check into my account via the B of A branch ATM. All seemed well, and I noted that the deposit showed up online at my B of A account.
24 hours later, the entire check had been reversed back out of my account, being noted as 'non-negotiable, deposit correction'.

I

went to the bank branch once I realized what happened, and the bank manager told me there was nothing that she could do, was unable to find out why it was kicked out, and that I'd have to wait for the check originals to be mailed back to me. I asked why I couldn't just get a scanned copy from the bank and she said they did not have scanned copies.

I ended up talking to different (new) employee, and he managed to get through to the right department and find out what the heck happened. It showed that the MiCR line was invalid. He magically was able to get a copy of the scanned check (wait... I thought they did not scan copies?) which I presented to the counter clerk, who verified that it was indeed good. I also verified the check with the issuing bank and got a letter showing that the check and MiCR line was good. I showed this to the manager, and she informed me that she still needed the original before she could do anything, and I'd have it in 3-5 business days.

Well, almost a solid month later, (and now FIFTEEN overdraft fees, and multiple desperate trips to the bank, and calls to customer service asking for help) still no originals in the mail. I asked what we'd do if the copy never showed up at all, and she kept putting me off, and was horrible, rude, and curt. I gave up on her, went to another branch armed with all of my information and check copies, and was able to find a nice gentleman who was willing to help. Of course by that time I'd had my company cut me a replacement check and opened a new account at a different bank. The helpful guy did get me a counter credit for the overdraft fees, but they would not reverse them (so it still looks like it was my fault).
I did get the originals back, and surprise! It looked exactly like the original (as copies are meant to do). Nothing was wrong with the check.

I've closed the B of A account after 15 years.
Crazily enough, my fiancé (different last name, no linked accounts, no way for the bank to associate us) deposited two smaller checks into the ATM about 2 weeks ago. (I warned him!) And don't you know, they kicked his out as well. This time, it's because the checks were made out to "Jim Smith" instead of "James Smith". Never mind that Jim has had an account with B of A for 10 years and has deposited numerous checks written out to "Jim Smith" with no trouble.

And guess what? The bank manager (different branch) told him that they do not scan checks that come through the ATM. (LIES!) He had to wait for the originals. His came faster than mine (but not fast enough to alleviate frustration and time wasted going to the bank several times), and he had the overdraft fees that were incurred as a result reversed- but not without resistance. They wanted to give him a counter credit as well. On top of that, when he insisted the overdrafts be reversed instead of credited, the bank manager went back in his account and noted that, 'well, I see you had an overdraft fee here in September, as well...' with the implication that Jim was just trying to get overdraft fees reversed for the hell of it, as opposed to their bank error.

Jim has closed his account as well.
I suppose I could understand their complete lack of assistance if either of us had a history of trying to pass fraudulent checks, or if we were new account holders, but we were both long-term account holders with no previous issues.

Way to go, Bank of America!!

Keep up the good fight, Consumerist gang!

Warmly,
Stacy C

(Photo:Bob Reck)

• Exciting Sweepstakes Offer: 4.5 inches
• Essential Purchase Details: 6.5 inches
• Gift Receipt Section: 7.75 inches

Complete Receipt Defeat [An Entirely Other Day]
Image via Aeropause

I just returned from a trip to Marshalls where I was subjected to an ad for Proactiv over the PA system. It was really horrendous and must be addressed! The worst part is that I'm pretty sure they don't even sell Proactiv at Marshalls, so it's not like a blue light special informing us shoppers of a Proactive special in aisle 12.

Has research been done that shows Marshalls shoppers are acne prone? It was total bullshit and during the whole thing I wondered what life will be like when I no longer shop at Marshalls because I refuse to be advertised at when I'm wandering around a store spending money. I'm hoping a good expose will end the advertising and allow me to continue my life of off-price shopping at TJX stores. Please help!

(Photo:cmorran123)

1) I had to call their 866 number to order the guitar. OK, a little annoying, but I'll deal with it.

2) Their phone lines were completely down within minutes after the sale started at 8am. I just got a generic phone company message, no busy signal or anything. For an hour.

3) I found their live chat, and got in Queue....at number 21

4) After almost 40 minutes I finally was number 1 in line, then got a message that all agents were busy, with a button to click for an email form.

5) I filled out a fairly polite email as my children and wife ran around me getting ready to meet my sister for breakfast.

6) I finished and moved my mouse over to scroll to the submit button........NO SCROLL BAR. Just a word of advice to etailers out there, you MIGHT want to support Macs. It is the 21st Century.

7) After much cursing I managed to copy and paste the web address into Safari where the form did have a scroll bar, but I also forgot I copied the text of my email prior to that, and lost it. So I had to type it all over again, much angrier this time.

8) I hit submit and got a page that said nothing about my message, and had a "create account" button. WTF? So I clicked the button and got a page that offered generic solutions to problems I didn't have, then in small type at the bottom of the page was a line of text asking if I was sure I wanted to submit my email. I did. At 10:05am. My wife and kids were now waiting in the car at this point, and we ended up 20 minutes late for breakfast with my sister.

9) 11:30pm Friday night I got a reply from what sounded like a high school kid with bad grammar, but he said I could call any time and still get the 20% off, b/c "We only had a few reps on the phone and there were hundreds of calls in cue."

10) Sunday night at 5pm after family had left I finally had some time to call and order (again), so I called their 866 number. Another high school aged "dude" told me (after putting me on hold for 5 minutes) that I needed to respond to my email and tell them to create an account for me with a note that I could get the 20% off. I asked if he had any way of doing that. He said no. I offered the "incident number" from my email, but still no go. Ridiculous.

11) I sent a quick but slightly obnoxious response to my email from Friday, and asked for them to create an account for me, blah blah blah. Then I went downstairs to make/eat dinner.

12) 2 hours later I checked my email to find a generic response stating that my response had to be written between 2 very specific lines in the email or they could not process it. WHAT?! I then sent a very nasty response back about how it seems like they are trying very hard to keep me from purchasing the guitar at the sale price. This all happened almost 72 hours ago, and their email form states that a reply will be given to all communication within 24 hours.

13) I just checked back through my communications with them, and found a link to their site that has cataloged the emails I've sent. This is probably the only thing I can say they have done well so far. Yet it says the status of my complaint is "solved." Great, now I get to start from scratch—thanks Guitar Center. I wonder how many other 20% off purchases they successfully stopped this way? I'm going to continue until I get my guitar at the sale price!

Jon

Anyone have any advice for Jon?

(Photo:Random Hero)

Apparently we're not the only ones who haven't heard of some of these fees, Forbes Traveler says that there have been lawsuits over them:

In Maulding v. Hilton Hotels, Hilton was forced to settle a class-action suit relating to hidden resort fees at 11 of its resort properties. Wyndham Hotels paid $2.3 million to settle with the state of Florida in 2006 after a five-year investigation showed that it had not adequately disclosed hidden fees. Today Wyndham discloses all fees nationwide and requires that online sites that sell rooms on its behalf do the same. Still pending is a lawsuit by James Shulevitz against Arizona's Phoenician resort, where he was forced to pay undisclosed housekeeper and bellman gratuities.

The Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees:

The Resort Fee
"Why, then, would a resort tack on an additional $10 to $25 resort fee for each day of your stay, even if you never go near the pool or the beach? Because it can."

Telephone Fees
"AT&T would charge our hotel 10 cents per local call. The hotel would then charge the guest between $1.50 and $2. Long distance was even worse. It's a very easy way to add to the bottom line."

The Energy Fee
"In reality, the fee has nothing to do with the amount of energy you actually consume during your stay. It just is what it is."

The Technology Fee
"You'd think by now hotels would be scrambling to offer free high-speed Internet access as a competitive advantage, but that's often not the case."

The Groundskeeping Fee
"Here's hoping you enjoy looking at the rose bushes that line the resort's driveway. They could cost you an additional few bucks in "groundskeeping fees," one of the more absurd fees that some resorts have come up with."

The Towel Fee
Proceed with caution, especially at poolside, where cabana boys will offer you extra towels and then ask for your room number."

The Safe Fee
"One could easily argue that a fee for an in-room safe is fair...if you actually use the safe. What's unfair is charging you $3 a day just for the privilege of sleeping in the same room with a safe even if you never touch it. "

The Housekeeping and Bellman Fees
"Maids and bellmen work hard for the money, and they depend on tips to supplement their income. That's fine, but the tips should be up to you, not up to the hotel, which may assess mandatory gratuities but not tell you until you check out, long after you've already put cash in hands all around the hotel."

The Parking Fee
"Hotels routinely get away with charging $20 or more per night (plus tips) for mandatory valet parking, even if there's a convenient hotel parking lot just steps away."

The Mineral Water Fee
"How nice to see a bottle of Evian or Fiji water on the credenza next your bed, just begging to be the quencher of your traveler's thirst. And how utterly frustrating to be charged a $7 anti-dehydration fee."

The Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees (Article) [Forbes Traveler]
Top 10 Most Annoying Hidden Hotel Fees (Slideshow) [Forbes Traveler]
(Photo:DCVision2006)

One of the survey group's analysts writes, "I spotted the first holiday set-up in a store on August 18th this year - that's nearly a month earlier than last year. Retailers are looking to start the season earlier but consumers just aren't ready." He also blames the low enthusiasm on the lack of any "must-have" products this season, and says that retailers are a victim of their own deep discounting as Christmas nears, which has conditioned shoppers to wait for better deals.

"Christmas in October? No thanks, shoppers say" [CNN Money]

RELATED
"Stores Know You Don't Like Christmas Marketing In October, But Don't Care"
(Photo: Getty)

Walmart won't start Holiday marketing until Halloween, but are "not embarrassed at having rollbacks available now for shoppers. We know many like to plan ahead and spread the cost of Christmas," according to their spokesperson.

Toys 'R Us who recently opened a "pop up holiday store" in Manhattan causing us to scream in frustration, said: "It's understated." "Everyone can use a little Christmas right now, after a summer of toy recalls," Ms. Waugh said. "It's time to remember what toys are all about."

L.L. Bean is running an ad with red and green but no explicit Christmas references. They call it, "a little toned down." When asked if L.L. Bean worries about irritating shoppers, their spokesperson confessed: "It's safe to say there is always anxiety," she said. The ad "serves the marketing purpose. It gets people thinking that the holiday is coming."

Does "Christmas Creep" bug you? Take a photo and submit it to our Flickr pool, like vidaarctique did. The best photos will be collected and featured on Consumerist. Be sure to tag your photos "Christmas Creep."

Stealthily, Stores Start Christmas in October [NYT via CBS News]
(Photo:vidaarctique)

The player's ability to don, kick, toss or use products is part of the appeal. In "Super Monkey Ball," players try to get their monkey characters to collect Dole-branded bananas. And in "Tony Hawk's Project 8," players use Nokia phones.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

For advertisers, they're not just games [LA Times]

Wired!

Your magazine is great. I love it all... all but the invasive advertizing. My monthly ritual of de-magositing my Wired, was utterly painless. The 4 "Subscribe to Wired" cards all but fell out. No extra thick pages, gummed in advert books, or "look at me I'm a 4 page spread in 2 pages" fold outs? Is this a fluke or a new direction. I hope the later!

Willing to pay $40 for less advertizing (and less invasive advertizing)!

Clark

If you would like to send a similar email encouraging the good trend seen in this months Wired do so by emailing rants@wiredmag.com

We used to subscribe to Wired ourselves until we grew tired of these very ads, which are not just in Wired but in tons of magazines. —MEGHANN MARCO

How to Read Wired Magazine [Instructables]

Customers using one of several wireless phones can now use the company's PTT service, as needed, for $.15 per minute. In addition to having access to the largest PTT network coverage area, a customer can receive several enhanced PTT features unavailable on similar services offered by some other carriers including:

* Availability- unique icons allow PTT users to see if other PTT customers
are available before making a PTT call.
* Convert to Cellular - enables a PTT call to be converted to a regular
wireless voice call. Calls with up to 30 participants can be converted
effectively creating a mobile conference call.
* Voice Messaging - allows customers to send a voice message to one person
or a whole group.

Blackberry Pearl, LG models CG300 CU400 and F7200, Motorola V365, Samsung models D347, D357 and D407 or Sony- Ericsson Z525a. More devices will be released within the year. —MEGHANN MARCO

AT&T Says 'Hear Me Now!' Introduces Pay-Per-Use Push To Talk Service [Cingular via Gizmodo]

Finally, The Cable Guy Is Getting With The Program [WSJ]

TiVo's Fast Forward Ads Are Back [My Surmise]

New Annoying TiVo Ads [My Surmise]

The Times goes on to give some examples of ads that have appeared on mobile phones in the past. "The ads have tended to involve simple banners or text messages, like those connected to the "American Idol" show, in which consumers are urged to send in a vote. Or they have offered digital coupons, like those that allow Dunkin' Donut customers to show a coupon on their phone at the counter to get a 99 cent latte."

Wow, a latte. So what is the future of cell phone advertising? "David Goodrich, director of digital for the West Coast region for OMD, an ad agency, said he did not believe mobile advertising could be particularly effective until marketers could regularly and easily buy space for video clips.

Advertisers "are crazed to get information" onto the phones, Mr. Goodrich said. But the effectiveness "will be really limited until you've enabled site[sic], sound and motion."

Fantastic, we can not properly express the rage we will feel if our cell phone ever plays a video clip that shills Dunkin' Donuts Lattes while we're just trying to check the weather. Sigh. Are we alone on this? —MEGHANN MARCO

Verizon to Allow Ads on Its Mobile Phones [New York Times]

Emirates Airlines will become the first carrier to enable full cellphone use on its flights, starting January. The western world is surely soon to follow.

Finally, definitive proof that using your cellphone on the plane supports terrorism. — BEN POPKEN

International airline to allow cell phone chatter on planes [CNN] (Thanks to CrayonShinobi!)

Don't Wrap Before You Fly [InFlightHQ via Lifehacker]

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