Consumerist
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aol
Zombie AOL Account Crawls Out Of The Grave Nine Years Later
Jennifer, like many people, one subscribed to AOL. She paid for the service originally, then received a free account while employed with Time Warner. Then she joined the 21st century and didn't use AOL at all, but her free account remained in the system. Until AOL started billing her. Nine years later. More » -
travel
Bill Would Boost The Size Of Carry-On Bags, Charge TSA With Enforcement
H.R. 2870 would require all airlines to accept slightly larger carry-on bags, which is great if you actually abide by the published carry-on limits. If you don't, well, get ready to change your scofflaw ways because the TSA will enforce the new limits, and even slightly oversized bags won't make it past security checkpoints. More » -
error not in your favor
Utility Claims 99-Year-Old Used 139,876 Gallons Of Water In 1 Month
Meet 99-year-old Jeanette Cohen, a Washington resident who either lives in her shower or is the recipient of the more bizarre bills spat out by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority. Cohen normally pays $30 to use about 3,000 gallons per month, but the utility insists that she used 139,876 gallons of water last month and now owes almost $1,200. More » -
friendly reminders
Change The Name On Your Utility Bills When You Move Out
Add "change the name on your utility bills" to your post-breakup checklist or you'll end up like reader Noah, who had to pay a $140 cable bill for three months of service his ex-girlfriend used after he moved out. Why? Because the bill was in his name, and if he didn't pay up, it was his credit report that was going to suffer. More » -
tips
AT&T Wireless Customer? Turn Off Phone Purchasing Power To Prevent Unauthorized Charges
If you're managing cellphones for a family or your parents, or let's say hypothetically you have a boyfriend who says he reads Consumerist but really he doesn't or else he would have known better, you'll probably run into stupid subscription and content fees from time to time. You know how people are when it comes to fake "free" offers. More » -
easy saver
Ordered From ProFlowers.com? Check Your Statements For Easy Saver
Mark has been taking a closer look at his finances and discovered a recurring monthly charge from some company called Easy Saver (easysaverrewards.com). He's not sure where he supposedly signed up for the service, but his online search revealed a potential connection that he thinks others might want know about. More » -
annualcreditreport
Wachovia Sends Out Its Own "Free Credit Report!" Offer To Customers
Tom just received a great offer from his bank. He can receive a free credit report just by peeling off this sticker and affixing it to another part of the same page. That's right, a free motherloving credit report! Who doesn't want one of those? Free, you say? Sign me up!
Oh, it also comes with an enrollment in some sort of identity theft protection program for $13 a month. More »
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fake bills
Sprint Customer Receives Fake-Looking Phone Bill
Update: Lloyd, a Sprint "Customer Experience" Manager, wrote in to let us know that the bill below is indeed legitimate: More » -
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surprise
Comcast Lowers Your Bill, Then Charges Early Termination Fee
Comcast agreed to lower reader O.'s monthly cable bill to $40, but they didn't warn him that the new, lower price would come with a hefty $150 early termination fee. O. could barely afford Comcast's service before, and wouldn't have agreed to the lower fee if he knew about the surprise fee. Comcast is telling him that he has no choice but to pay, and won't even let him return to his previous plan. More » -
credit cards
Capital One Charges Woman $29 Late Fee For Paying Too Early
Jason writes, "My wife just sent me an email saying that she paid 'too early' (before the new statement was generated) and got charged a 'Late Fee' of $29!" He says she called Capital One and got the fee waived, but it's a good reminder that if you make a payment before the new statement period begins, your card provider will likely apply the payment to the previous statement period, and will still expect a fresh payment from you by the new due date. Just make sure your payments aren't scheduled so early that they're applied to the past and you'll be fine.
(Photo: TheTruthAbout...)
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credit cards
House To Pass Credit Card Reform, Tell The Senate To, Too
The House is expected to pass the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act today, and the Senate is considering similar legislation. The Senate battle will be harder, but you can help! More » -
success stories
Letter To T-Mobile Executives Results In Fees Waived, Charges Reversed
Chris was surprised to find that T-Mobile didn't cancel his account as promised a few months ago. What's worse, the note on his account that mentioned his cancellation request was missing, and nobody at customer service would help him. Chri works for a "very large consumer electronics company" that he won't name (we're pretty sure it's Apple) and thinks customer service is important, so he gave up on the CSR angle and instead came to our site to find contact info for T-Mobile executives. One EECB later, Chris is free from T-Mobile and the ETF they tried to apply. More » -
wireless
Man Downloads Movie While In Mexico, Receives $62,000 Wireless Bill
If you're going out of the country for more than 15 seconds, don't forget to turn off, remove, leave at home, freeze in a block of ice, disable, or otherwise render unusable your wireless card. Above all, do not download Wall-E for your nephew to watch on your computer. Unfortunately, we do not have any more details about what was going on here, because Clark Howard apparently has to get back to his NASCAR pit. More » -
t-mobile
T-Mobile Keeps Charging For Canceled Service, Refuses To Issue Full Refund
Taylor just noticed that T-Mobile has been billing him $19.99 for a data package he asked them to cancel seven months ago. Yes, Taylor should've caught the mistake sooner, but now that he's found it, he wants T-Mobile to refund the $140 in unauthorized charges. T-Mobile, citing policy, is only willing to credit him $60. More » -
idt energy
IDT Employees Stalking The Streets Of Queens Today
Lock your doors, Queens residents! IDT zombies are on the prowl in your borough, and if they catch you they'll try to eat your ConEd account and replace it with their more expensive offer. Jeff says there's one outside his building right now, trying to buzz its way in. More » -
saving money
Bills: Spend Less, Get More
Getting slayed by your bills? Gizmodo has a good roundup of how to save money by ditching your landline and tv, and renegotiating your monthly service rates. It's recap and refresher for expert Consumerist readers, but a nice compendium of tactics that can get you started saving money today.
Screw the Recession: How to Spend Less and Get More [Gizmodo] (Photo: Listener42)
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rcn
Accept The Rate Increase Or Pay A "Downgrade Fee"; RCN Will Get Money From You Either Way
RCN knows some of you aren't going to be happy with having your fees increased, especially in such a tight economy. They know that some of you will probably decide enough is enough and call them to request an account downgrade. They're going to make money off of that, too.
More »
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unnecessary fees
Cox Cable Needs $40 To Change The Name On An Account
It's pretty hard for Cox Cable to change the name on your account, as Keith and his wife (the original account owner) discovered recently. First they have to disconnect your service, then reconnect it under the new name—and that probably requires all sorts of paperwork and labor. Probably hours of work! Probably someone has to drive out to somewhere and manually do something!!! That's clearly why they hit Keith with a $20 Digital Activation Fee and a $20 Video Activation Fee. More »
bills
New York, 9:46 PM
Sat Jul 4
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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