"Dear Mr. Soandso," it says, "We haven't seen you in a year and the truth is, we miss you! We really wish you would jet out of town so we can spend some quality time together..."

They then apologized for the "technical error with our database."

How JetBlue has fallen... [Penchuk]
Mr. So and So [One Sided War] (Thanks, G. Y.!)

Here's MunkyBoi's story:

My (now) wife and I decided earlier this year that it was time to get married. We live in the San Francisco bay area. We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our small gathering to get together, and wound up having a beautiful outdoor ceremony... and followed it with "lunch" at Tahoe Joe's.

For those of you that are unfamiliar, it's a casual dining steakhouse with a Lake Tahoe theme and atmosphere - lots of wood-carved bears, and the food has always been to our liking - never a bad meal. My wife worked with the restaurant manager a few months in advance to get everything prepared for our group of about 50 guests.

For having so much advance notice, they were very poorly prepared. The manager wound up being on vacation for the entire week, and I can't fault him for that, but he should have made sure that someone capable would pick up the slack.

I'll summarize the meal - one waitress (nice, but seemingly somewhat inexperienced), and a couple "helpers" to assist in bringing things out. We had specific instructions on what appetizers we needed, and where to serve them, so that everyone could have a little of everything. Once they came out, it kind of turned into a family-style "pass the food around" sort of deal, and I'd estimate that a third of the guests barely got any.

The drinks went a little smoother, but she didn't know "who had what", so there was lots of beverage passing as well.

The food started coming out, and sure enough, waitress "a" didn't know where any of the dishes were going, so most guests wound up having to pass the food around the table until they got what seemed like their own dish.

I came to find out afterwards, no one got any of the "extras" that they had ordered, and a number of guests simply settled for the plate that they were given as to not make a scene.

Shortly after everyone had already ordered their food, another waitress (she definitely knew what she was doing) showed up, and promptly started tending to us. Waitress "b" handled dessert, and it was handled without a single problem. If she hadn't shown up, I can pretty much guarantee that the meal would have been a complete disaster.

We're pretty easy-going people by nature, but we felt that the manager should be aware of just how poorly most everything was handled that day, and that he should also recognize waitress "b" for the exceptional job she did in pulling their collective butts out of the fire. He apologized profusely, stated that he would speak with his staff to find out what happened, and get back to us in a few days.

This was during the last week of June (08). Two weeks go by, and we haven't heard from him, so we call - he's gone for the day, but if we call back earlier on any other day, we should be able to catch him - we leave a simple message that we called. Another week or so goes by, and we call earlier, and after checking, we're told that he's unavailable. We leave him yet another message to call us back at his earliest convenience. No word.

All I wanted was for him to let us know what happened. We're "over it" at this point, and it has pretty much become a memory, but I still felt that I needed some closure - I wanted to know why everything went so poorly. After one last attempt to make phone contact with him, I decided to contact their corporate offices in Fresno, CA. I wrote a two-page letter, that detailed pretty much everything above, and sent it off in the mail mid-August.

Within a few days, we receive a next-day air envelope from Tahoe Joe's corporate. My letter had been sent to a "district manager" kind of guy as far as I could tell, and he had forwarded it to the president of the company. The president hand-wrote a letter of apology, indicating that he had not yet contacted the manager of the restaurant to find out why things had gone so terribly, but that he knew that he needed to address the matter immediately, and that he would let me know what came of it. He also included a $250 gift card for the chain as a token of apology.

I appreciated the token - we spent a significant amount of money for the meal, and we still enjoy their food very much. I certainly appreciate action from an executive on a personal level - it shows me that he really does value what customers have to say, though I doubt many people mail in that many complaints about the place. I am a little disappointed that I haven't heard from him since. I'll likely get back in touch with him soon, just to satiate my own curiosity.

In short, I'll applaud the executives at Tahoe Joe's for seemingly taking action. We've already returned to the restaurant for dinner since then, and we'll be back again sometime.

PS: The hand-written letter does make a huge difference.

Correction: the handwritten letter accompanied by a $250 gift certificate makes a huge difference.

Tim writes:

I thought you might find the attached (redacted) letter of interest. I’ve had an unlisted phone number for over 30 years, but no more. Moreover, although I use a PO box for billing and everything else, this letter was sent to my street address, so that is probably the address that was sold and will be associated with my phone number. The worst of both worlds.

You can't un-ring a bell, but at last Charter seems slightly sorry for the surprise outing. Other than not publishing Tim's number in the first place, how else, if at all, do you think Charter should respond?

(Photo: Getty)

I received a letter from Countrywide today that says:

"We are writing to inform you that we recently became aware that a Countrywide employee (now former) may have sold unauthorized personal information about you to a third party...

Based on a joint investigation conducted by Countrywide and law enforcement authorities, it was determined that the customer information involved in this incident included your name, address, Social Security number, mortgage loan number, and various other loan and application information."

It goes on to say they will give you 2 years of Triple Advantage credit report monitoring for free and they include a website address and activation code to start the credit monitoring service.

Just great. Luckily the only thing Russian hackers could buy with my credit is a bottle of cheap vodka.

We don't understand why temporary free credit monitoring is always the go-to remedy every time a company "loses" your personal data. The security breach could have huge and long-term financial consequences for you, and the company that enabled that breach should take responsibility for it.

Every company that deals in sensitive data should have identity theft counselors on staff—people who will walk you through a formalized plan for changing account numbers where possible, getting new account numbers if necessary, and setting up a systemized way to monitor financial activity on a weekly or monthly basis. (And they should pay for any fees you're charged in the process.)

Just saying "sorry, here's some free online monitoring" is inadequate—it's like a doctor leaving a clamp inside you after surgery, then giving you coupons for free checkups for a couple of years.

(Thanks to Frisco!)
(Photo: Getty)

Here's the apology email sent to "valued Pizza Hut customers:"

From: Pizza Hut
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 2:05 PM
To: The Internet
Subject: We apologize for the errant email

Dear Valued Pizza Hut Customer:

You may have received an email on Wednesday that appeared to be from Pizza Hut with the subject line "Sports - 2 Medium pizzas, 1 one-topping and 1 specialty or up to 3 toppings". We were testing new functionality that will better serve our customers. It was not the intent of Pizza Hut for this email to be sent to you. We apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused. We value your relationship with us and understand that communicating with you via email is a privilege not to be taken lightly. We have identified the cause of the mistake and have taken steps to make sure this does not happen again.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience or confusion that email message may have caused. We appreciate you as a customer and want you to be 100% satisfied with us.

Pizza Hut and YUM! Brands are committed to your privacy and the privacy of your data. As such, we recently updated our privacy policy. View our Privacy Policy here.

The Pizza Hut name, logos and related marks are trademarks of Pizza Hut, Inc.

(C)2008 Pizza Hut, Inc., 14841 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75254.

Oh, they're striving for 100% satisfaction, eh? Here's an idea: don't force your customers to sign up for unsolicited emails!

(Photo: Scott Ableman) (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
PREVIOUSLY: Pizza Hut Forces You To Opt-In To Spam Marketing When Ordering Online

"IMPORTANT: Your DVD Shipments Have Likely Been Delayed

We're sorry to report that since Tuesday we've been experiencing issues with our shipping system, so many of you have not received DVDs in a timely manner and many of you have not received emails letting you know we got a DVD back from you.
We pride ourselves in delighting you, and we've let you down. We apologize and are working around the clock to restore normal operations. To all of you whose shipments have been delayed, we'll be automatically applying a credit to your next billing statement. Or, if you are new to Netflix and your first shipments have been delayed, we recognize that this is not a good way to begin your Netflix membership and we'll automatically extend your free trial.
Our goal is to ship DVDs as soon as possible and to keep you updated. Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience we've caused you and thank you for your patience.
The Netflix Team"

I actually didn't even notice that my Netflix had been delayed until checking the website, but I appreciate that they are straightforward about the issue. -Kristin

Unlike the J. Crew "We've made some mistakes..." notice, Netflix here acknowledges the cause of the problem, that the company is working to fix it, and offers customers compensation. -Brent

I'm HAPPY about how well the service provider is handling the outage, mostly because other service providers handle things like this SO poorly. -Steve

While my personal experience hasn't been affected by this shipping delay, I am still pleased by their efforts to publicly own up to an error. Not to mention their effort to smooth things over for anyone bothered by the hiccup. I have always been pleased with Netflix and their customer service, and this is just another instance that tells me I've chosen to give my business to a great company. -Annie

1- they admit they messed up (I hadn't even noticed)
2- they said they were sorry
3- they will be crediting me for the error

I'm left happy, even if I need to wait an extra day or two for the new Harold and Kumar movie. -B.

If something did happen, I haven't noticed. Thank you once again Netflix for rising above my expectations. You quickly own up to a problem and provide the appropriate compensation without making me get into a verbal fist fight with a CSR. -Eric

Way to go, Netflix. Now fix your site!

(Photo: corsec67 )

"H&R Block apologizes for gays' tax snafus" [Gay.com] (Thanks to Sharon!)

Obviously, the real message got lost in “sales language” – the piece went way overboard, and I should not have allowed it. Therefore, it was my mistake, and I sincerely apologize.

We think this is excellent, except for one thing: he never addresses the "customer review" that came from his company's IP address. Hopefully, though, he's learned that it's risky to engage in bad behavior anonymously online (and since we don't know who left the comment, it's hard to blame Mike directly anyway).

Here's the full letter from Feazel Roofing:

Monday, June 16, 2008

To the administrator and readers of holyjuan.com and consumerist.com, and whomever else it concerns:

From our headquarters in Westerville, Feazel Roofing Company has been a leader in the roofing business in Greater Columbus for over 20 years. Great service to our clients has built this company, and keeping our entire team focused on that, everyday, will be one of the keys to our future growth and success.

Of course we provide full roof replacement services when necessary, but our company is very much focused on the service and maintenance of existing roof systems. We believe that this is a unique approach to this industry, because many contractors might try to recommend a more expensive roof replacement before it is necessary. However, we have found that with consistent maintenance and preventative care, a well-designed roof system can last much longer then expected.

In regards to the recent Blog post concerning the March 3rd direct mail marketing piece that you received, let me start by saying that I strongly agree with many of your opinions. I must admit, you’re not the only person which it upset, as I received a few other calls with the same concerns. The original marketing piece in question was designed by a 3rd party direct mail company. Fortunately, the letter was only sent as a test to a small group of individuals. While the language in this marketing piece was quite strong, the main message was supposed to be this, and these are quite verifiable facts: CertainTeed Corporation is the defendant in multiple class action lawsuits currently in process in 16 states (including Ohio), and further litigation pending in 8 other states and Canada. The lawsuits cover several different brand names of shingles manufactured since 1987, all of which have demonstrated premature curling, cracking, or de-granulation.

Here is a simple explanation of the CertainTeed Legal activity:

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/features/certainteed-shingles.html

I paid an ad agency to write the letter because I didn’t know the best way to go about educating homeowners on this issue. Obviously, the real message got lost in “sales language” – the piece went way overboard, and I should not have allowed it. Therefore, it was my mistake, and I sincerely apologize.

We do offer free preliminary estimates for all services that our company performs, including repair and replacement. However, we also charge a $179 fee for a full roof inspection. This is a more detailed and time-consuming written report, which may include pictures of any damages found, detailed measurements and multiple courses of action to remedy any concerns. We also offer this service to business partners in the Home Inspection and Real Estate industries. Our inspection pricing is very much in line with what other companies of our size charge for this service, but we always rebate the fee if any work is found during our inspection, which we do find some about half of the time.

We were offering a discounted fee of $49 for a limited time, thinking that we could perform numerous inspections in one area, saving on gas and drive time. This aspect was my idea, not the marketing company who wrote the letter.

Everything else you stated on your original Blog Post is accurate for 99% of the cases we come across with defective shingles. 100% of the CertainTeed Horizon shingles installed were defective, and are installed on thousands of homes in Central Ohio. If your shingles are defective, your home will not collapse overnight, and more often than not, water isn’t currently entering the home. However, we have had more than a handful of cases in which water has entered walls just a few years after installation, causing mold growth and other severe interior damage.

For anyone who would happen to read this who knows that they have a CertainTeed shingle installed on their home, I suggest contacting an attorney. The law firm’s website I’ve been referring homeowners to is www.halunenlaw.com but there are numerous others working on this case which can be found if you search “CertainTeed class action” in your favorite internet browser.

I would like to close by saying again that I apologize for allowing this type of “scare tactic marketing” to be sent from my company. However, I also want to state that we will continue to educate the marketplace on this issue. The shingle manufactures don’t send out a recall letter (like you might get from an auto manufacturer). Left unaddressed, problems may arise, and in some cases the problems can become catastrophic if not found in time.

Sincerely,
Mike Feazel, President
Feazel Roofing Company, Inc.

"Feazel Roofing takes the high road" [HolyJuan]

Violated cardholders can select from two options:

(1) Basic relief. Free credit monitoring for six months, which gives you daily access to your credit report and credit score and 24-hour credit-monitoring service. This normally costs $59.75. Those who elect this option may get a cash payment if there’s money left from the $75 million settlement fund.

(2) Enhanced relief. An alternative enhanced set of services” in exchange for a full release of claims. This options includes nine months credit monitoring, a suite of insurance scores and TransUnion’s mortgage simulator service. This option normally would cost $115.50. You won’t be entitled to any cash payment under this option.

Option 1 could generate cash, but option 2 might provide your actual credit score, depending on which news outlet you believe. Option 2 has the potential to be worth significantly more to the average consumer.

Even better: "Under the settlement, a credit card number would not be required to sign up for either service. After the free service ends, TransUnion could not charge for an extension unless it was requested by the consumer."

The settlement still needs to be approved, but if it is, it'll be a huge win for consumers.

Ken McEldowney, executive director of Consumer Action, a national advocacy group based in San Francisco, called the settlement mind-boggling.

"It's everything we tell consumers that they need to find out if they have problems with their credit," he said. "They are getting information on how to improve it and information about whether they are creditworthy. This is astonishing."

You can start filing claims on June 16 at the settlement website, or by calling (866) 416-3470.

Consumers will soon know the (credit) score [L.A. Times]
TransUnion Free Credit Score Settlement [Blueprint For Financial Prosperity]
(Photo: RobotSkirts)

I would like to make you aware of an incident that occurred in your Burnsville, MN Circuit City yesterday. I read about your Unbeatable Price Guarantee on your website. I had an ad from Costco for a Magellan GPS that was significantly less than the Circuit City price. Before driving 20 miles in a snow storm, I called your Burnsville store and spoke with Tom. Tom told me that because Costco is a local retailer, I would be eligible for the Unbeatable Price Guarantee...

So I drove down to the store, brought the GPS and the Costco ad to the checkout. The teller called for a manager to override the price. The manager declined to do so. So I asked to speak with the store manager. I was introduced to Brad, who later refused to give his last name. I explained the situation to Brad, and he said he would not match the Costco price because it was a club. I told him that I looked on the CC website and that it didn't say club prices were not eligible; and I reminded him that one of his employees ensured me that the price would be matched. Brad said there are more limitations to the policy in a pamphlet. I asked to see the pamphlet and he refused. He then said it didn't matter what the pamphlet stated, because he made the rules in “his store” I persisted. I asked again to see in writing where club prices wouldn't be matched. He told me there was no way he was going to match the price and that I should leave. I said I would gladly leave once he proved to me that the club portion of the policy existed. He response: he called the police! I was there with my 5 year old son, who became very scared by Brad's irrational behavior. Of course, out of concern for my child, we left immediately.

I hope you are as outraged by Brad's irrational and arrogant behavior as I am. I have always been treated well by your employees in the past. I am interested in the true policy about price matching clubs. Does CC match Costco ads? If so, I would still be interested in purchasing the GPS from Circuit City.

Thank you for your attention to this matter,

Emmett

Don't ever let stores bully you around by conjuring up nonexistent policies. When a store denies a reasonable request, whip out your phone and call the corporate office. Even if the manager was correct, he should have known that calling the cops is the worst possibly way to resolve a customer service issue.

At the very least, Circuit City should honor the price match and apologize to both Emmett and his son for their manager's egregious behavior.

(Photo: Xurble)

From the Washingtonian:

We heard from a few readers today that, in attempt to placate people who were turned away from Nissan due to the flooding, that Nissan's offering fans free lawn tickets to an August Radiohead concert—in New Jersey. (Calls to Nissan to confirm this were not returned.) Needless to say, those folks weren't thrilled with the offer.

Did they offer this to you? Are you happy?

Radiohead Fans Offered Make-Up Tickets—in New Jersey [Washingtonian]

Here it is:

I wanted to apologize personally for the way you were treated in our store. I'm very sorry that you were dismissed so rudely. I have looked into the situation you described and have discovered that there is no policy that outlines customer service in this kind of situation. We like to think that we give our employees enough training and flexibility to make smart customer service decisions even without direct guidance, but unfortunately (as you have experienced) this isn't always the case. There were many alternatives that our employee could have chosen to make sure that both customers in this situation went home happy, and our employee failed in that regard. Although I have not heard our employee's side of the story, there's simply never an excuse for that kind of rude behavior, especially from a manager (if that was, in fact, the identity of the employee in question).

With your permission, I would like to take corrective action so that this employee can learn from his mistake. Do you happen to recall the employee's name, and/or the location of the store you were visiting that day? Rest assured that the employee will not be terminated - I'll simply recommend that he be given more training when it comes to customer service so that we can avoid problems like this in the future.

Once again, please accept my sincerest apologies; thank you for bringing this to my attention, and I hope we can convince you to shop at Macy's again.

(Photo:Ben Popken)

Reader Eric says:

Consumerist,

This is why I love netflix. They had a shipping problem on monday. They didn't make excuses or just try to slide by. They fessed up, and without my even saying a word to anyone at netflix, I receive this prompt email telling me that they are sorry and are trying to make amends. This is an example of good customer service.

Eric

We're Sorry Your DVD Was Delayed

Dear Eric,

As you may have heard, our shipping system was unexpectedly down for most of Monday. We should have shipped your DVDs but were unable to. Your DVDs were shipped today, Tuesday, March 25th, instead.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. We will issue a 5% credit to your account in the next few days. You don't need to do anything. The credit will be automatically applied to your next billing statement.

Again, we apologize for the delay and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us at 1 (888) 638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

The funny thing is, if they hadn't sent this, I would have never noticed a delay.

But I think it's important to recognize companies that are getting it right.

Thank you,

Brad

Got this message in my inbox today....apparently Netflix had some shipping problems and they delayed the shipment of my movie by one day. Big deal, right? I probably wouldn't even have noticed it, since I barely have time to watch my Netflix movies anyway. Well, Netflix still found it appropriate to give me a credit on my account because of the problem. Apparently they think that *they* should be the ones to be charged late fees, not their customers! Just another reason that I give them my business instead of Blockbuster.

Reader Ryan says:

This is great service. I wasn't even aware there was a problem, and yet they fessed up to it and gave me a discount that I didn't even ask for (or frankly, think was warranted). Good work Netflix.

Reader Elana says:

Sometimes it's nice to see a company do something unexpected. To be honest, I didn't even notice the shipping delay from Monday and wouldn't have. The movie was my husband's. He works odd hours and often doesn't
get to his movies for a week or more, so a delay is no big deal. We didn't complain or contact Netflix. Instead, I was totally unaware of the problem.

This morning, I received this message, the only notification I had of the issue. The approximately $.50 refund wasn't necessary, but it's appreciated!

Good job, Netflix.

(Photo:Marike79)

See now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

"Restaurant gives 25 percent discount for bugs" [Reuters]
(Illustration: Getty)

This one really left me scratching my head. Not only did [Sears] send me the wrong item, they charged the wrong prices on everything I ordered. I ordered an air blow gun and got a jigsaw instead. I submitted this order during the 20% off/free shipping promotion. The total in my cart at checkout was $26 less than my card was charged, and I was charged for shipping as well.

Half an hour of arguing on the phone with a Sears rep and I was able to get the discount credited back to my card, but no free shipping, and it could take 10-14 days for them to "trace" my $20 blow gun. I am filing a claim with my credit card issuer just to be safe. This is the same company that sends me a free ratchet in the mail every time I exchange one in the store, so I can't complain too much.

Went to Ihop yesterday, here is the feed back I just sent them through their website.

We went to this location on my birthday. After ordering my wife (sitting across from me was staring into the food prep counter area) asked me "What's he doing?" I looked, an employee was standing on a ladder scrubbing the acoustic ceiling tiles! I turned back to my wife, who then said "I don't think I can eat here." The waitress walked by and asked the person cleaning the ceiling over warming counter/pass through to step down off the counter (he had moved to standing on the counter as he was cleaning) she then brought our food down from the counter above and set it right where he had been standing! The hostess/manager walked into the prep area at time time.

My wife and I got up saying no way would we eat there. The manager who we believe had already been alerted to our conversation by my wife cried out "He wasn't cleaning!" to which my wife told the manager "Don't lie to us! We watched him scrubbing it and spraying cleaner over our food and the counter!" The manager then told the cleaning person to move to the other end of the food prep counter to clean the ceiling there! It's only 20 feet at most and more likely 15 or less so he still would have been endangering dropping dirt, dust, mold, mildew etc. into the food product in addition to all the open bins built into the counter he had doubtless already contaminated.

The manager volunteered to remake our food. I told the manager we would never be eating in her restaurant again. We walked up to the register as we were having this discussion and ask for them to let us pay for our teas so we could leave to which they replied not to worry about it.

I have seen disgusting conditions before, but for the restaurant to create them itself and the manager to outright try to LIE to us was inexcusable! If I hadn't been so shocked at the time I should have used my wife's phone to videotape the action and share it with the world! I certainly hope you take a long hard look at that location and the staff employed there.

It's a really nice, really honest response.

As severely stupid as the manager's mistake was, if we received an apology letter like that, we might actually eat there again. The general manager was obviously as horrified as Richard was!

I wanted to tell you of a good resolution I had at the Seattle, Rainier Ave. Rite Aid pharmacy in Seattle, WA.

First, little background. I have Celiac Disease. It's an immune response to wheat, specifically the wheat protein gluten. This is an issue for prescriptions because some medications use wheat products to bind the pills. Even a spec of gluten can make a celiac sick for a few days. It's not a terribly rare condition because 1 in 130 people in the USA have it.

I went to go get a prescription filled at the closest pharmacy, which was the Rite Aid on Ranier Ave, in Seattle, WA. As I was filling out paperwork to get in their system, I told them I had celiac disease, and could they double check to make sure my medication was gluten free. This is a pretty run of the mill request. I have been a nurse since 1998, and I have had to call in this kind of prescription before I even knew I had celiac disease myself. It's a very basic.

The gal at the counter had to have me repeat myself multiple times, which is okay, it was early morning. However, she still doesn't even understand my request, and starts asking the pharmacist if this medication has "glubellium". The pharmacist looks annoyed, and says he doesn't know. I put on the brakes, and tell her that I can't get that medication then, because I can't have gluten in me. The pharmacist just shrugs, and the gal takes my filled out paperwork and starts putting me in the computer, ignoring me.

I ask again, that there has to be a way to check. Celiac is not that unusual a condition. They continue to show me the bottle, and say there isn't any way to check. Then, the gal asks to help the folks behind me, ignoring the fact that I can't even get the medication if I can't be sure it's gluten free. The pharmacist starts filling my prescription, and I am exasperated.

I tell them don't fill the prescription because if they can't tell me if it's gluten free, I don't want it. The pharmacist looks really irritated by now, and says, "I suppose I could call the manufacturer. That could take a few days." I just start walking out, and tell him I will go to a pharmacy that can deal with celiac disease. There are places that know if there is wheat products in my meds.

I then go home, and call the Kelley-Ross Pharmacy in downtown Seattle. They are flabbergasted that a pharmacist would not look this up for me, and laugh at the Rite Aid guy. Needless to say, I go get my prescription filled down there. They even show me the medication insert to make sure it all looks safe. The nice insert that accompanies most medications, and shows all the inactive ingredients. (When I work in facilities as a floor nurse, often those insert papers come attached on bulk meds we get, so I knew they existed, while at Rite Aid.)

When I get home I write an angry but polite email, containing pretty much what I wrote here.

Flash forward to today.

I just got a call from Billy who is the pharmacy district manager for Seattle. He wanted to contact me to make sure I knew that not being able to tell if a medication was gluten free, is not acceptable. They have a Clinical Service Line, that contains that information, as well as all sorts of other stuff. He was especially hard on the pharmacist for not wanting to even initially look it up. He said he thought only "blind stupidity" could be the reason this happened. The pharmacist in question is out for vacation, but he is going to talk to him when he comes back in. Billy agreed this is a pretty common request, and over all seemed stunned that his pharmacist could have done this.

He was also very cool, and said he understands that I get my medications elsewhere now, but if I ever decided to come back, they will be able to handle gluten free medication. He also talked about some of the PDA supported software that you can use to check the gluten free status of meds and foods.

Overall, I am very happy at this. Billy didn't make any excuses, and took credit for the situation. The pharmacist involved will be retrained, so the next celiac that comes in won't have to deal with what I did. That's the kind of apology, that makes me think I will keep shopping at Rite Aid, although my meds are still set up at Kelley-Ross. My husband still has his medications at Rite Aid, and I am no longer in any big hurry to change that.

It made me very happy to know that the corporation does care that its customers are taken care of.

He also shared some advice with the customer on how she can be better prepared to deal with similar situations in the future—so if she runs into another couple of ignorant pharmacy employees, she can answer her own questions about gluten. And finally, he invited her back. Result: he may not get her business in the future, but he effectively cauterized the wound, and can be certain she won't bad-mouth Rite Aid to other potential customers.

Maybe it's too expensive to train employees to have that much emotional intelligence, but it would be nice if businesses would at least screen for that natural ability in customer-facing new hires.

What do you think—still not enough? Or did Billy handle this the right way?

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(Photo: Getty)

Brian(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:05:50 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))> price of high-speed internet

analyst Mike has entered room

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:05:55 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Hello Brian_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Mike. Please give me one moment
to review your information.

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:06:31 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Thank you for contacting Comcast. My name is Mike, how I may assist you today?

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:06:54 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>My Comcast bill has been slowly getting higher and higher each month - so much so that I am now looking at different options for my cable TV and high-speed internet.

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:08:02 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>I am considering switching to Verizon DSL until FIOS becomes available in my area - the price is $12.99 for the first 6 months, then $17.99
for the next 6 months, with a $35 credit for switching from Comcast

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:08:43 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>The offer is very persuasive and would save me quite a bit of money.

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:10:43 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>my advice is to go ahead and switch, and if you find Comacst provides a fast and more reliable service we will welcome you back

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:10:45 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Did you have any other questions?

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:11:39 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>so that's the best that Comcast can do for their loyal customers? they are not even willing to give a promotional rate to their existing customers?

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:14:22 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>promotional rates are only available for new subscribers

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:14:44 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>
you must cancel service and wait 6 months before being eligible for new subscriber status again

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:16:05 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>so an existing customer gets no loyalty or rate break?

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:18:10 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>you have already been provided your promotional discount

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:18:38 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>now we must charge the normal rate or we will not make the required money to maintanence the network

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:19:01 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>without maintanence the system will fail and we will not be able to provide service

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:19:08 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Did you have any other questions?

Brian_(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:19:59 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>no, it's quite obvious that Comcast does NOT care about its customers and is price gouging them

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:21:20 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Thank you for contacting Comcast. If you need assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us. Also please note that answers to many of your questions can be found in our fully illustrated FAQs in the HELP sectoin of www.comcast.net, have a great day!

Mike(Sat Feb 16 2008 14:21:22 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>Analyst has closed chat and left the room

analyst Mike has left room

Good afternoon Mr. [redacted],

Thank you for your e-mail to Brian Roberts expressing concerns about your chat experience with us today. We sincerely apologize for your interaction with our chat agent Mike and will gladly assist.

We appreciate you taking time to bring to our attention your rate concerns has well has your chat experience. This is definitely not how we like to treat any customer. Mike will be addressed.

We will review and have someone in contact with you to go over some promotions.

We value your business and look forward to continuing to service you.

Sincerely,

Ms. Asbury
National Customer Operations
Executive Office.

(Photo:honeylamb)

Tom, friend of the blog, and master of the internet, was among those affected:

Well, this morning I got a billing email from them:

This is just a notice that your DreamHost [redacted] ("zug's Account") has a balance of $380.87 (including any charges not due until 2009-01-14), with $340.97 due (since 2008-12-14).

You also have $321.02 past due (owed since 2008-11-14), and if by 2009-01-14 you do not pay at least the $321.02 part, your account will be automatically suspended until payment is received.

Ok, that's confusing... WTF, I ask myself. Looking farther into things...

WHAT DO YOU OWE MONEY FOR?

We have the last payment on this account to be $12.46 on 2008-01-15 06:48:38.

Since then the following charges have been made to the account:

2008-01-18 - $19.95 for "CODE MONSTER!" through 2008-02-17.

2008-01-18 - $19.95 for "CODE MONSTER!" through 2008-02-17.

2008-02-18 - $19.95 for "CODE MONSTER!" through 2008-03-17.

2008-02-18 - $19.95 for "CODE MONSTER!" through 2008-03-17.....

From Dreamhost's blog:

I'm very very sorry, we're very very sorry, and I'm sure you're very very sorry this happened. I really am. I understand the sort of problems that an unexpected large charge to your credit card (or worse yet, your debit card) can cause. If the tone of this blog post seemed a little light, I apologize I don't mean to offend and I realize how serious an issue this is. I've been up since 3:50am trying to undo the damage and maybe I'm a little shell-shocked.

A new service is running right now (in parallel on all the controllers) that fixes all those future charges, re-enables your account if it was erroneously suspended, and if your credit card was automatically rebilled, refunds the payment automatically. You don't have to contact us or your bank, and you'll get an email when your account is finished fixing up. It's going to take several more hours to complete. There are (or were, after this incident) a lot of you these days!

If, because of this billing mistake, you somehow incurred some fees from your bank or credit card company, please let us know after tomorrow (today we are just replying to all 10,000+ billing messages with a generic explanation) and we'll do our best to make it right for you.

Dreamhost fucks up bigtime! [ScatteredGenius]
Um, Whoops. [Dreamhost Blog]
Billing Issues (846 comments) [Dreamhost Status]

The manager at T.G.I. Friday's in Wheeling told the Arlington Heights family on Saturday that the restaurant couldn't accommodate Dawn even after Greenberg showed him her Public Access card, which explains the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Greenberg said they were told that since Laura already had someone to help her, the dog couldn't be allowed in.

The restaurant issued a statement apologizing for the incident:

"We are very sorry for the terrible mistake our restaurant made. We absolutely should have accommodated our guest and her companion dog. We have contacted the guest to offer our sincerest apologies and we have re-educated restaurant management on proper procedures to ensure a similar situation does not occur."

Amy Freshwater, spokeswoman for T.G.I. Friday's, said Tuesday the manager had been replaced and the company will be re-educating management on the importance of ADA guidelines.

"We're absolutely appalled with the situation in the first place," she said. "This is something we're taking seriously."

Hey, what do you know? They're taking it seriously.

Greenberg said she did not want the employee to be fired, but would like he and his coworkers to receive training, says the Daily Herald.

"He needs sensitivity training," she said. "He needs more than just telling him, 'You did a bad thing.'"

No kidding. What a jerk!

Wheeling restaurant apologizes after refusing service to disabled teen [Daily Herald]
(Photo:Mark Welsh )

6. Ask if they will give you a chance to make up for what you did wrong. Insist on proving to them that you have learned from your mistake, and that you will take action to change and grow as a result, if they will let you. Make a clear request for forgiveness and wait for their answer. This gives the injured party the well deserved "power" in determining the outcome of the situation."

This, of course, assumes you're interested in keeping them as a customer. If your industry thrives on churn, we guess you'll just have to hope the customer doesn't know about making it more expensive for you to ignore their complaint than to fix it.

How to Apologize [wikiHow]
(Photo: Getty)

Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people and all of our customers who received the toys. It is important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of these products that we recalled were the result of a flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers.

For months, Mattel has blamed rogue Chinese subcontractors for endangering American children by violating Mattel's strict safety standards in pursuit of profit. The truth revealed hiding in plain sight by Debrowski's apology is slightly more complex.

Time best explains the discrepancy between Debrowski's apology and Mattel's public position:

Of the 19.6 million toys that [Mattel] has recalled this year globally, 2.2 million were due to lead paint; the remaining 17.4 million (11.7 million in the U.S.) were toys recalled not because of lead paint but because they were made with super-strong magnets.

The United States bans the use of lead in children's toys. Lead contamination can be rightly and exclusively traced to foreign subcontractors. Small magnets, however, which can kill children if ingested, are the result of shoddy designs.

Mattel focused its public response primarily on the smaller issue, lead contamination, which lends itself to easy scapegoating. Irresponsible Chinese subcontractors are responsible for tainting 2 million toys destined for U.S. shelves, but they by no means shoulder full responsibility for Mattel's problems.

Slipshod Mattel designs are, as Debrowski's apology suggests, responsible for the "vast majority" of dangers faced by American children. Mattel and the toy industry have worked overtime to distract from this unsettling and inescapable fact. As Slate superbly explains, the industry's sham proposal for independent third-party testing would do nothing to address the design issues that are root cause of the vast majority of toy recalls.

Now that Debrowski has apologized to China, it seems only fair for Mattel's conniver-in-chief, Robert Eckert, to explain to American consumers why his company chose to scapegoat Chinese subcontractors while keeping the true death-peddlers on Mattel's payroll.

Why Mattel Apologized to China [Time]
(AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

We're happy to report that Google will now be offering full refunds. From the Official Google Blog:

* We're giving a full refund — as a credit card refund — to everyone who ever bought a video. We'll need you to make sure we have your most recent credit card information, but once we know where to send the money, you'll get it.

* You can still keep the Google Checkout credit that you've received already. Think of it as an additional 'we're sorry we goofed' credit.

* We're going to continue to support playing your videos for another six months. We won't be offering the ability to buy additional videos, but what you've already downloaded will remain playable on your computer.

An update on Google Video feedback [Official Google Blog]

PREVIOUSLY: Google Taking Back All Videos You Rented or Bought From Them

Intel's intent of our ad titled "Multiply Computing Performance and Maximize the Power of Your Employees" was to convey the performance capabilities of our processors through the visual metaphor of a sprinter. We have used the visual of sprinters in the past successfully.

Unfortunately, our execution did not deliver our intended message and in fact proved to be insensitive and insulting. Upon recognizing this, we attempted to pull the ad from all publications but, unfortunately, we failed on one last media placement.

We are sorry and are working hard to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Nancy Bhagat Vice President, Director of Integrated Marketing

At least she didn't use the phrase, "We are taking this very seriously" in her apology. Consumerist is so sick of that hearing that phrase.

Intel Ad: Stupid? Or Stupid And Racist? [Gawker]
Intel Ad Might be Racist, but Boy Does It Make Me Want a Core 2 Duo [Gizmodo]
Sprinter Ad [Intel Blog]

We made a mistake. We re very sorry for any frustration and embarrassment that we caused our customer at the Logansport, Indiana, Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store on Friday, June 29.

Many of our store restrooms are located in areas that are not readily accessible to customers and therefore our policy limits the access to the restrooms. However, we have immediately changed our policy to allow any customer to use our restrooms upon request.

Again, we acknowledge our mistake in handling this matter and sincerely hope that our customers will be pleased by our change in policy.

Darrell Webb
Chairman, President, and CEO
Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores

PREVIOUSLY: Jo-Ann Fabrics Refuses To Let Customer Use Bathroom, Even As She Suffers Diarrhea Right In Front Of Them

"He [Former CEO Robert "Big Bob" Nardelli] refused to answer a single question from shareholders, and had a timer count down from a minute, after which burly bouncers would walk towards them to drag them off the stage. I'd never seen anything like it in my life."

"The first thing Mr. Blake did when he got up on the stage was he apologized for last years meeting and he said it wouldn't happen again."

At Home Depot Meeting, a Tale of Two CEOs [NPR]
(Photo: cmorran123)

I have attached a photo of something that arrived in the mail for me from Comcast. I had a problem with a bill where they had charged me twice for something. After exhausting the normal channels, I e-mailed the CEO. The very next day a nice woman from his office called me and said someone from the local office would be in touch. Not half an hour later did I get a call from the local office. Of course, it wasn't just that easy, but eventually the situation was sorted out. So I was surprised to see a box with a big tin of popcorn waiting for me when I got home along with a card that says "Thank you for being a Comcast customer. We're sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. Our goal, as always, is to give you our best service. We appreciate your understanding."

Anyways, I was really surprised and I actually am satisfied that not only did they fix the problem but they apologized. Just goes to show that if you have a legitimate gripe and you are nice to everyone, they will recognize that.

Sincerely,
Todd

(Photo: Todd)

"As long as I'm head of this company, it will never happen again," JetBlue CEO David Neeleman testified at a House subcommittee hearing, where he also argued against proposals to restrict how long delayed airplanes can wait on airport tarmacs before passengers have the right to deplane.

Mr. Neeleman testified that limiting how long planes carrying passengers can wait for takeoffs would be tough to implement at busy airports, where dozens of planes can be queued on the tarmac. Such a rule would be unfair to customers who are willing to wait for takeoff rather than return to the airport gate.

"Baloney!" Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., exclaimed, while paging through a printed copy of a Transportation Department official's testimony.

Another apology from CEO of JetBlue [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
JetBlue CEO to Apologize for Delays [Forbes]
(Photo: NaniRolls)

While we described making a tax program that doesn't work on tax day as being "like showing up to the Olympics drunk," this latest overture shows Intuit sobered up good.

Dear TurboTax Customer, We want to let you know that Intuit will be refunding any TurboTax credit card charges that were charged to your credit or debit card between 3 p.m. PDT Tuesday, April 17 and 4 a.m. PDT Wednesday, April 18. We deeply regret the frustration and anxiety you may have experienced trying to e-file your return on April 17. We worked closely with the IRS to allow taxpayers who were affected by the delay to file their returns until midnight tonight, Thursday, April 19, without penalty. Intuit will also pay any other penalties that customers incur as a result of the delay, although none are anticipated. We will be contacting you early next week with additional details about this refund. We value your business and appreciate your patience. Sincerely, Bob Meighan Bob Meighan Vice President, TurboTax Customer Advocacy Intuit, Inc.

— BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:

IRS Won't Penalize Turbo Tax Late Filers
Interview: Reader Describes Last Night's Turbo Tax Slowdown
Overwhelmed Turbo Tax Servers Slow To Crawl For E-Filers
Turbo Tax's Servers Down?

"In short, they said that while Certegy does help them with the battle against consumer fraud, sometimes their practices hurt their good Walgreen's customers," wrote DudeAsInCool. "Thanks for posting my letter so other consumers won't be insulted and inconvenienced in the future... We should be able to use whatever form of payment we want to, when we want to and however we want to."

— BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY: Statistically Speaking, His Check Was Fraudulent
(Photo: Zepfanman.com)

The CEO's apology inside...

Li'l Franky writes:

I'm Frank Blake, the new CEO for The Home Depot. I've read a number of the postings on the MSN message board (unfortunately, there were a lot of them), and we've dispatched a dedicated task force — working directly with me — that is ready and willing to address each and every issue raised on this board. Please give us the chance.

There's no way I can express how sorry I am for all of the stories you shared. I recognize that many of you were loyal and dedicated shoppers of The Home Depot . . . and we let you down. That's unacceptable. Customers are our company's lifeblood - and the sole reason we have been able to build such a successful company is because of your support. The only way we're going to continue to be successful is by regaining your trust and confidence . . . and we will do that.

We've already taken steps to cure many of the ills discussed on this message board:

* We will be and already are increasing our staffing in the stores.

* We're also in the early stages of launching a nationwide program to recruit and hire skilled master tradespeople to staff our stores so that our customers receive the kind of service and expertise that made The Home Depot great.

* We're investing significantly in the appearance of our stores to make them an easier and more fun place to shop.

* And we're making it clear to all our associates that nothing is more important than you, the customer. Every associate knows that his or her number one job is to make you smile and to help you solve your home improvement problem ... no matter how big or how small.

But the real judge of all of these changes we're making is you. All I ask is that you please give us the opportunity to win you back. When you enter our stores, you should receive a personal greeting. After that, you should encounter a helpful associate who will walk you to find the tools, material or service you need. If you don't, please let us know . . . just like Scott Burns did.

I'd like to thank Scott — his column about our company was insightful and revealing. You can easily tell that it struck a nerve with me. Scott, we'll do all in our power to again make The Home Depot the store you and your wife, Carolyn, once referred to as "our store." I'd also like to give my thanks to the many people who posted comments on this board. We want them. We need them . . . to enable us to keep getting better. We're committed to being the company that helped set the standard for customer service excellence in home improvement. Please continue to hold us accountable.

Finally, message boards of this type do not allow us to respond directly to each poster, so please give us the chance to fix the many issues discussed on this board by writing to wehearyou@homedepot.com. You have my personal assurance that every effort will be made to address your concerns.

The Home Depot was built on great customer service, and we hope to rebuild your trust on that same tradition — just give us the chance!

Here are some posts to help your think of ideas. We know Li'l Franky would love to hear about:
Home Depot's Contractors Instructed to Intentionally Inflate Estimates, Charge For Items Not Installed

Why Home Depot Has Sucked For You, And Will Probably Continue To

Home Depot Calls Customer A "Stupid Cunt"

Home Depot Improvement Scams Father Of 2 Premature Babies

Home Depot Touts Crappy GE SmartWater Boiler As "High Efficiency"

And heck, why not ask them about Can Andrew Dan-Jumbo Save Home Depot? We can't wait to hear the response. —MEGHANN MARCO

Home Depot CEO: Sorry we let you down [MSN]

(Photo: Sleestak66)

The supervisor did tell passengers to stay if they weren't feeling well. To sum up her 45-second talk, she said, "That's all. We don't want to hold you up. We know that it's been an upsetting afternoon and we certainly apologize."

We have flown before. Our planes landed and stopped at the end of the runway. Our planes did not:

• Skid off the runway;
  
• Crash through a fence;
  
• Slam into a ditch;
  
• Lose the nose gear;
  
• Bust up any of the following: wings, engines, undercarriage.

One scared and scarred passenger summed it up well, saying, "They didn't care and we had just been through the worst situation of our lives." — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

Passengers Say Delta Treated Them Poorly After Crash [NewsNet5] (Thanks to Babak!)

• All non-airport crew members of JetBlue will be badged and ready to go if needed to be called upon
• Increasing number phone lines open for changing reservations
• Tripling the size of the group that schedules pilots and stewardesses

The airline announced a new reimbursement program for delayed passengers, retroactive to last Thursday, February 15.

• Delays 1-2 hours: $25 off a future flight
• Delays 2-4 hours: $50 off a future flight
• Delays 6+ hours: Free round-trip ticket

Fine showing of contrition and immediate action. We would fly JetBlue again. — BEN POPKEN

(Thanks to Michael!)