bad-customer-service

Jay Goltz, a small business owner in Chicago, thinks there are three reasons why customer service is so terrible at so many companies.  More »

Will thought he was buying the newest MacBook Pro model—that's what it said on the box and on the receipt. After he'd set it up, he discovered it was a previous model, so he took it back to the glass box Apple Store on Fifth Ave in NYC to get the version he paid for. Now Apple wants him to pay $100 to transfer his data over to the new laptop. But hey, he shouldn't complain, because they're "waiving" the restocking fee!  More »

The only thing crazier than people involved with wedding planning are people in the scrapbooking supply industry, it seems. Weddingbee reports that an online craft supply store called Urban Expressions (not to be confused with the handbag company) completely lost it when an angry customer wrote in asking why they had neither shipped the item she'd bought nor specified otherwise as promised. Their response makes us understand why they chose the name "Urban Expressions" for their store.  More »

A Consumerist reader has pretty much reached the limit of poor AT&T customer and technical service over his shoddy Elite DSL account, which for two years now drops to speeds of around 10k every four months. Check out this letter and included chat log for some stunning examples of all the ways AT&T fails at providing a service it charges lots of money for.  More »

Tyler needs his laptop repaired, but he's got the bad luck to own an HP product. If you read Consumerist regularly you know that Hewlett-Packard has one of the worst track records for taking care of its customers. The last time we posted a complaint, the person who reached out to us from the corporate side was a third party at a PR firm hired by HP, if that tells you anything about how little they care about doing a good job. Read Tyler's recap below and remember it the next time you're in the market for a computer.  More »

What does it take for an airline to retain customers these days? Here's a tip: given the graying of America, try not treating elderly people with medical emergencies like crap. Livejournal user urzepatriz details how American Airlines added insult to his or her grandfather's injury. Literally. By bumping him to coach on a cross-country flight after an injury sustained during the trip required major surgery and left him unable to bend his knee.  More »

Remember the disgruntled Range Rover owner in England who lettered his complaints on the vehicle and parked it in front of the dealership? Reader M.H. discovered his American counterpart standing in front of a Hyundai dealership in Vancouver, Washington.  More »

Reckon is a company that sells silkscreened designs of celebrities on various articles of clothing. Seriously, where else can you get a Morrissey onesie? Dan ordered a custom t-shirt with a design of Larry David on it in April of 2008. He'd like to report on the fit and quality of the shirt, but he can't, because he hasn't received it yet.  More »

Tracy needed a new lawn mower, and ordered one online from Sears. Later that day, an email arrived announcing that the lawnmower was ready for pickup. For whatever reason, Tracy wasn't able to make the 17-mile trip out to the store until more than a week later. The mower was....well, nobody quite knows what happened to the mower.  More »

Kristie wanted a specific bag, in a specific size, and ordered it directly from Louis Vuitton. They sent her correct item, but in the wrong size. They had sent her the Speedy 25, which costs $25 less and is quite a bit smaller. The company sent her a pre-paid shipping label so she could return the bag and they could correct their mistake. Two weeks later, she received the same box back, with a letter informing her that the bag had obviously been used, and they wouldn't accept the return.  More »

Skye is on a boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean without any way to pay for things, because Citibank canceled his card due to a security breach and didn't bother to warn him first. What's worse, they're making him call repeatedly to try to fix it, which is costing him $3.50/minute because he's in the middle of an ocean.  More »

After waiting in line ~10 minutes I swipe my credit card only to get the following message "Tickets cannot be found, please try another machine." After trying several other machines, I quickly realize that nobody can find their tickets.  More »

Want a great example of the broken state of airline customer service in this country? Try a four-way conference call between yourself, Amex Travel, US Airways, and Delta. You'll see firsthand how CSRs from the two airlines can play the "it's not our responsibility" so well that even a devoted Amex Travel rep can't get them to solve your problem.  More »

CSR: Oh, that's really not the way to look at it. I know that if it were my mother, I'd pay it. That's why we're in the banking crisis we're in: banks having to write off defaulted loans.  More »

We love it when what's supposed to be internal communication leaks out to the customer—it gives you such clear insight as to how a company really feels about you. In the case of 1800mattress.com, calling to complain about a missed delivery date makes you "difficult." But hey, they'll still send you some free pillows.  More »

Dave bought his mother a Samsung digital photo frame for Christmas—Christmas a year ago, and it stopped working after just a few weeks. Since then, Dave has tried regular customer service and executive customer service, he's waited on hold for up to 2 hours at a time, and he's waited patiently for RMAs that are promised but never sent. Now it looks like he's throwing in the towel: "I no longer have the time or energy to waste with them." You win this battle, Samsung! But you do realize that Dave—a small business owner who has made large Samsung purchases in the past—will never buy another one of your products, right?  More »