Luisa writes:

I don't know who I should be writing to but I just wanted to thank you for guiding me in the right direction! After reading the information on your site, I realized I could be helped!

I incurred $315 in overdraft fees over a 3 day period. Every fee kept making me overdraft more and more. The 1st one was my fault but it just snowballed into a $315 problem. I went to my local branch and had 3 of those fees credited by a very nice branch manager. I proceeded to call CSR and was immediately shut down after pleading my case. I immediately started researching and came across your site. I figured it couldn't hurt to give it a shot and let B.O.A know what happened and that I would be taking my banking elsewhere. Long story short, I had ALL $315 credited by Norma, who personally called me earlier today.
The little guy won, all because of your help! Thanks a million! The Consumerist rocks!

Here's the letter that Luisa sent to Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis.
October 11, 2008

Mr. Kenneth D. Lewis
100 N. Tryon Street
Mail Code NC-1-007-18-01
Charlotte, NC 28255

RE: Checking account # xxxxxxxx

Dear Mr. Lewis,

I am writing to you to express my dissatisfaction with Bank of America . My name is Luisa [redacted] and my husband and I have been loyal Bank of America costumers since 2005.We have a checking, savings account and credit cards with your company. As CEO, I am sure you would like to know when you are losing customers to a credit union because your customer service representatives refused to waive some overdraft fees .

Since October 9th, 2008, my checking account was charged $315 in over draft fees. I understand that the first time I over drafted was my fault, and I immediately went to the bank and deposited $200 in cash before the pending transactions posted. When I come back to check my account online I see my $200 have been eaten up by fees and I again am showing a negative balance. At this point I have no more cash to deposit and wait until the following morning to go and speak to a branch representative. Ms. [redacted] was kind enough to refund 3 of those fees after I explained my situation. I have deposited a total of $420 in my account within the past days to make sure I had all of my pending transactions covered and I am still racking up overdraft fees.

I am writing to you as a full-time college student and mother of a toddler in need of a favor which may be small to you, but very helpful to me. I am asking you to waive these fees, which as CEO of Bank of America, I know you have the power to. I simply cannot cover afford to pay the overdraft fees incurred and the ones I am sure will post to my account come Monday.

I hate to have to close all my accounts with Bank of America and move them all to Suncoast Federal Credit Union. I really enjoy the simplicity of online banking and bill pay and I do not wish to discontinue my banking with you.

I hope you understand and find it in your heart to waive the overdraft fees that both pending and posted.

Congratulations, Luisa! If you've got a problem that needs a little TLC from BoA, try sending a well-written letter to Mr. Lewis.

(Photo: thecornballer )

"I Am Going To Be Small" by Jeffrey Brown, via Neatorama

Yep.

You guessed correctly.

[WallStreetFighter]

First, he tried firing everyone who knew anything about the products that Circuit City sold (about 3,400 experienced salespeople) then, he responded to the inevitable tsunami of blood that followed... (2nd quarter losses of $62.8 million, and 3rd quarter losses of $207.3 million) by unveiling a retention program that would reward each top executive with $1 million.

Meanwhile, Circuit City's human resources department was wading through their own entrails and trying to hire their own fired employees back.

Finally, Blockbuster tried to move in and take over Circuit City — hoping to "differentiate products in both Blockbuster and Circuit City stores by offering exclusive content and content-enabled devices." Whatever that means. After taking a good hard look at Circuit City's books, Blockbuster decided that whatever Circuit City had, they didn't want to catch it, and called the deal off.

It's clear that Circuit City's new CEO, James "Tourniquet" Marcum, has his work cut out for him, but here at Consumerist we're pro-success. In the spirit of a new beginning, we've decided to share your suggestions with Mr. Marcum.

These comments were all written by you, the shopper. If Marcum wants to turn it around, he'd better listen up.

• CC lost their best employees, which in turn meant they lost their best trainers for new employees.

  How would I fix it? Hire arsonists and collect the insurance money. You're going down in flames, you may as well get paid.
  

• Firing competent, experienced staff so they can hire incompetent inexperienced staff at a lower hourly rate is only one step above off-shoring (which is kind of difficult to do if you want your store staffed with live people on-site!). Scumbags, that's what Circuit City's upper management are: Scumbags. And honestly, I'm insulting scumbags by making the comparison.
  
• When spending at least $2,000 on a HDTV or Plasma TV, I don't think that I can trust the expertise of a 17 year old high school dropout to guide me into choosing which one might be best for me.
  
• Fix the damn CD and DVD sections. Seriously, can anyone find one thing they're looking for?... Highlight the gadgets! I hear people like little handheld things these days. Maybe make them easier to find, easier to fondle etc... Blow everyone away with friendly returns/customer service. Unlike Best Buy where they like to accuse you of committing a crime when returning something.
  
• Stop selling Monster Cable! They would sell exponentially more cables if they didn't want $103 for 6' of HDMI cable. If I see a retailer selling Monster Cable, I will usually look for an excuse not to buy something from them.
  
• The only *good* thing about Circuit City customer service is that it's SO bad, they usually just ignore you. And ironically, I count that as a plus, as there's no faster way to turning me off in a store than to be pestered by incompetent customer service. At least when I walk into a Circuit City, I know that the reps are all going to be huddled together in the part of the store farthest away from me, so I'll be left alone to browse at my leisure.
  
• Make the executives work for a month at random Circuit City stores, with no power or authority to make changes. Spend one week at each in the "Customer Service Booth", and require them to provide responses to each and every inquiry.
  

• What do I find wrong with Circuit City?
  They have higher prices than their competitors, and most of the time they don't have what I want. How do you fix that?
  Cheaper prices. Better selection. Aggressively letting people know that they have both.
  

• Reduce the size of the stores and aim for the higher end customers. Make sure everyone selling an item is an expert on that item, or at least on that category. Spend money on wages, benefits and training to attract and retain those people.In other words, become the opposite of what Circuit City is now, because you're not the best at that and you probably never will be.
  
• Integrate the CircuitCity stores with the CircuitCity website, with the goal of making shopping easier and less stressful.
  
• Does anyone get that good feeling that they get in BB when they walk into Circuit City? No. The stores look ancient, the cust. service is just piss poor, there are never any cash registers open at any store.
  
• Most of these kinds of stores put a bunch of cheap ass computers on display, then hire a moron to help customers. Real computer experts only go to CC or Best Buy because they are in a pinch- not because they want to. I could go to Target and get the same stuff they sell at CC, but it is cheaper.
  
• Stop selling the same thing as Best Buy. Switch to high-end computer parts and systems only. At least then you'd have something different... as it is, there is nothing different between Circuit City and Best Buy.
  

• I would love it if I could feel like when I go in and need to ask a question, it's not being answered by someone who just picks up the box and reads what I just read.

Hire people who know what they're doing. Offer a better selection of products that will interest high-end cash-heavy consumers, and staff your store with people who know at least as much as they do. Clean your stores. Hire enough people so that you can have a register open at all times. Concentrate on the products that people actually want to buy, like handheld devices, cameras, consoles, and other gadgets. Mop the floor and tidy up. Don't let your employees huddle in the back of the store. Make shopping through the website easy. Lower the prices on your accessories to compete with Best Buy. Find friendly people and put them to work behind the customer service desk.

Good luck.

Republican officials said Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had agreed to demands from lawmakers in both parties to limit the pay of executives whose companies benefit from the bailout. The enormous pay packages of some Wall Street executives, coupled with the realization among nonwealthy Americans that the crisis could affect their financial foundations, have created an incendiary issue on Capitol Hill.

That's a good term! It's inclusive and condescending at the same time. "Nonwealthy Americans." I'm a "Nonwealthy American," how about you?

Paulson Said to Give Way on C.E.O. Pay; Bush to Speak [NYT]
(Photo: spinadelic )

He was replaced by Alan Fishman, former president and COO of Sovereign Bank. The company has also entered a "memorandum of understanding" with the Office of Thrift Supervision, which is like probation for banks, requiring it to disclose lots of info to regulators throughout the year. Killinger built WaMu into one of the nation's largest thrift banks, but then got the bank into too much of the sub-prime mortgage business and over-aggressively expanded its retail outlets. His rolling head joins a line of other recently executed banks CEOs, Wachovia's Ken Thompson, Merrill Lynch's Stanley O'Neal and Citigroup's Charles Prince.

How much severance is he getting? WSJ says:

People close to the situation said Mr. Killnger would retire under the terms of his employment contract with no extra severance benefits. According to the most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing related to Mr. Killinger's compensation, he held 1.2 million shares of common stock as of Dec. 31, 2007, currently worth about $5.2 million. He also has $14.9 million in deferred compensation and $3.5 million in pension benefits, according to the filing.

WaMu Placed On Probation As It Ousts CEO Killinger [Dow Jones] (Thanks to Dariush!)

The site also details operational improvements that the pilots want to make, (avoiding delays by using all the open gates at the United terminal, for example.)

The Chicago Tribune says that the pilot group feels Tilton has been distracted by the recent airline merger orgy.

Tilton neglected the airline's day-to-day operations over the past two years as he attempted to merge with Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines and US Airways, said Captain Steve Wallach, chairman of the United Master Executive Council, the leadership team of the Air Line Pilots Association.

"I think that there's been a lack of leadership, which is why our airline has been dragged to the bottom of the industry," Wallach told the Tribune. "Glenn's only plan outside of bankruptcy was to merge."

Glenn Tilton Must Go
United pilots call for resignation of CEO Glenn Tilton [Chicago Tribune]

Companies defend the practice as an appropriate way to take care of an executive's family after an unexpected death. They also note that the benefits often are negotiated as part of a pay package that has many components. In many cases, compensation attorneys say, death benefits are really a form of deferred compensation, structured partly for estate-planning or tax reasons.

Companies often say one goal of their pay packages is to keep executives from leaving. But "if the executive is dead, you're certainly not retaining them," says Steven Hall, an executive-pay consultant in New York.

We're fine with this, but only on one condition: that the CEO's family members, pets, and belongings have to be buried with him.

"Companies Promise CEOs Lavish Posthumous Paydays" [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo: t-bet)

First phone call was to my mom. Probably the toughest day I've ever faced, ever. Ever, ever, ever! Because moms have a way of putting their sons up on pedestals. I said, "Mom, how are you?" And she goes, "Great. Why are you calling me at ten in the morning?" I just said, "Hey, I just want to tell you, I'm not with Starbucks anymore, but everything is fine."

The three men also talk about the big blunders that happened on their respective watches—Donald says he should have expanded Starbucks internationally faster to offset the plunging U.S. economy, while JetBlue's David Neeleman says it was the infamous, icy Valentine's Day 2007 when passengers sat trapped on tarmacs as thousands of JetBlue flights were canceled.

I think on the PR side, we did it right. I've always learned, if you make a mistake, you admit to it. You explain what happened. And then you explain how it's never going to happen again and what you're doing to make sure it doesn't. It's a very simple formula, I think. But really there were two events: the stranding of people on airplanes, which was absolutely inexcusable. Then there was the lingering on—how it took us three, four days to get all our flights back in the air. We learned our lessons from that.

[Later] a couple of board members came to my office and said, basically, "We want you to step down as CEO and be the chairman and be responsible for strategy." I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe it. Just the fact that I was flabbergasted - either I'm the biggest idiot on the planet or maybe the process could have been better.

"Lessons of the fall" [Fortune]
(Photo: Getty)

A few weeks ago (or possible months) Consumerist published Directv CEO Chase Carey's email address. I filed it away because I was considering a subscription to Directv for the future. Earlier this month I responded to an advertised offer from DirectSatTV, a Directv reseller, and had a bad install experience. I sent the following email to DirectSat Customer Service but used the Chase Carey email as a "cc".

Message: Unbelievably Poor Customer Service So Far
I placed an order for a satellite system on 5/7/08. Installation was scheduled for May 20, 1:00-6:00. Agent called but did not come to my house after talking to me. I phoned again at 6:00 PM on 5/20 and rescheduled for today, May 26 between 1:00-5:00. No one called; no one came.

So far I have given up one-half day of work and one-half day of vacation waiting for an installer who never arrived. My prior television provider was disconnected May 18.

I am very disappointed in the lack of service I have received so far and to say the least, I am rather upset. Is this typical for DirectSat and Directv?

What must I do to get this system installed?

The next day I received a phone call from a nice lady who identified herself as "Michelle from Directv". She told me that Directv was taking over my account from DirectSat and asked when could they have an installer at my house. I told her that the next day at 5:00 PM would be good. She told me that a "master installer" would be there—which he was. Michelle phoned me four times during the course of the install to check on his progress. The installer's supervisor also phoned him numerous times to make sure the job was going well. The installer truly did an outstanding job going far beyond minimal expectations. I talked with him while he worked and he told me that "everyone" in their company saw my email. He said it was labeled OOP (Office of the President). I said to him, "I'm really 'nobody' other than an informed consumer". He said, "Well, you're somebody today".
I could not be more pleased with the service I received from Directv after DirectSat let me down. I also could not be more pleased that I'm a Consumerist reader! I read the blog every day through Google Reader (RSS feed).
Thank you very much!
Mark
Dallas, TX

Hooray! If you're having problems with a DirecTV installer, there's no reason they shouldn't hear about it. Here's that contact information again.

I found this Citi email funny because it is the CEO making me "among the first to know about the bold steps" that Citi is taking. He then goes on to not tell me anything at all about the bold steps. At least in my opinion.

-Ben

Citi writes:

Dear BENJAMIN [redacted],

I want you to be among the first to know about the bold steps we are taking at Citi to be the premier, global, fully integrated financial services firm.

Our objective is to create for our customers an experience in which services are seamless, payments and transfers effortless, and distances meaningless. My commitment - and the commitment of everyone at Citi - is to work tirelessly around the world and around the clock to deliver outstanding value and service as we continue to earn your trust.

We are proud of our enduring strength as a global financial institution, striving to successfully meet the needs of clients like you in more than 100 countries. As always, we look forward to continuing to serve you - wherever you are and wherever you need to be.

Sincerely,

Vikram Pandit
CEO, Citi

Ben, your problem is that you don't speak CEO. Thankfully, we do. What Mr. Pandit really means to say is this:

An Oppenheimer analyst was quoted in the media as saying ""We wish [Citi's] management team all the best in their ambitious endeavors, but we fear [it] is past the point of fixing," so we think you might fire us as your bank... and so we thought we'd email you. Hi there! Please ignore the fact that people are saying we are "so deep in a black hole that even renown physicist Stephen Hawking could not help the ailing company." Kisses, -Vikram

CITI IS BEYOND REPAIR [NYP]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

Q: My question is where are you currently employed.
A: I' m not. I just told [you] I work for free.
Q: OK. You're not employed by the HTFC Corporation?
A: Hit That Fuckin' Clown. That's what it means.

Q: This is your loan file. What do Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald do for a living?
A: I don't know. Open it up and find it.
Q: Look at your loan file and tell me.
A: Open it up and find it. I'm not your fucking bitch.
Q: Take a look at your loan application.
A: Do it yourself. Do it yourself. You want to do this in front of a judge. Would you prefer to [do] this in front of a judge? Then, shut the fuck up.
Q: Sir, take a look—
A: I'm taking a break. Fuck him. You open up the document. You want me to look at something, you get the document out. Earn your fucking money, asshole. Better get used to it. You'll retire when I'm done.

(Thanks to James!)

From ABC News:

"There seem to be two different economic realities operating in our country today. And the rules of compensation in one world are completely different from those in the other," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "Most Americans live in a world where economic security is precarious and there are real economic consequences for failure. But our nation's top executives seem to live by a different set of rules."

In 1980, chief executives in the United States were paid 40 times what the average worker made. They now make 600 times the average worker's salary, Waxman said.

"I think there's merit to pay for performance," Waxman said. "But it seems like CEOs hit the lottery even when their companies collapse."

Instead, the CEOs talked about tough economic conditions and about how they helped many Americans who might not otherwise have been able to afford homes.

Mozilo just can't seem to figure out why people are always blaming the poor adjustable rate mortgages:

"Much blame has been leveled lately at the variety of products, such as adjustable rate mortgages," Mozilo said. "Before the onset of the current housing crisis, these products were widely offered by industry because they made homes more affordable for more people and helped homeowners consolidate other, more expensive debt.

"In fact," he continued, "adjustable rate mortgages had been popular with both borrowers and lenders for many years. From my perspective, then, the issue is not so much the products, but the housing market."

"Whatever I have achieved in life has been the result of the unique combination of luck, hard work and opportunity that can only exist in this country."

Subprime CEOs Explain Why They Made Millions While Americans Lost Homes [ABC News] (Thanks, Natalia!)

PREVIOUSLY:Interview With An Anonymous Hedge Fund Manager
BREAKING: Bank Of America Buys Countrywide, CEO Gets Up To $115 Million Parachute
Citibank CEO Resigns, Additional $11 Billion In Subprime Damage Predicted
Merrill Lynch CEO Forced To Resign After Disastrous Third Quarter?
Merrill Lynch: We Just Lost $9.8 Billion

I just wanted to thank "The Consumerist" for the EXCEPTIONAL information! EECB was instrumental in helping me resolve my billing dispute with T-Mobile. Here is a copy of e-mail I sent off to the e-mail of Robert Dotson, CEO of T-Mobile and the correspondence that followed. I have to say that T-Mobile's Executive Customer Relations department was phenomenal to deal with. In the letter they write back to me, they essentially say I was wrong, but they are reimbursing me anyways.

Thanks Again

-=Rob=-

Rob writes to T-Mobile's CEO:

2/25/08

Dear Sir,

When I received my February bill, I was surprised to see my bill that is usually under $100.00 had skyrocketed over $275.00.

I briefly had the opportunity to discuss this with a customer representative when I received my bill. She was exceedingly helpful and professional. She kindly informed me that the billing charges were the result of a huge text messaging overage caused by instant messaging. I stated that I had the Unlimited T-Zones on my plan, and that I was told by a store representative that Instant messaging was free with t-zones. She informed me that this is true, but only when used from T-Mobile's WAP site, and not through the client installed on the phone. I did not have time to go further into the matter that night due to family obligations, but asked the representative to change my plan at that time to include unlimited text messages to put a stop to the overages for the time being.

Yesterday evening I spoke with a T-Mobile customer service representative, and eventually his supervisor, to continue my dialogue and try to resolve the matter of the service charges on my bill. I have always praised T-Mobile's customer service, but for the first time in my 5 years as a customer in good standing, I am exceedingly disappointed with T-Mobile's customer service.

I purchased my new Shadow phone on December the 6th. While browsing through the features on this new phone at checkout, I noticed that AOL instant messenger was included on the phone and asked the sales representative about this particular feature. He stated that since I was a T-Zones customer at the time, instant messaging would be free. When I called to discuss this with customer service representatives yesterday evening, I was told to:

"Go find the store rep that made the error"

and that I could not be credited or helped further without

"Proper Documentation".

When I asked what proper documentation was, neither the customer representative nor his supervisor could give me any answer at all other than to repeat that they need proper documentation. I was repeatedly instructed to try and find that specific store representative and resolve the matter with him. When I informed the phone representative that most stores will not give out employee scheduling information as this is a personal security risk, I was also not given a reply, and was only met by dead silence on the phone.

This incredible lapse in customer care leads me to rethink T-Mobile's service when my contract comes to completion. Working for a customer-centric electric utility company, I understand dedication to customer service and satisfaction, as we are reminded everyday that no company can work and grow without it's customers.

Sincerely,

Robert

Mr. XXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your reply. As stated in your email to Mr. Dotson, you are aware that when using the instant messaging feature embedded in the menu of your device, you are billed at a per message rate of $.15 a message, unless you have a messaging bundle added to your monthly services.

T-Mobile records indicate that you used a total of 1312 text messages during your December 28, 2007, to January 27, 2008, billing cycle. As such, it is T-Mobile's position that the text messaging charges are valid and owed.

Nevertheless, as a gesture of good faith to you, and in an effort to amicably resolve the issue, T-Mobile has rerated your January 2008 billing statement as if you were on the $14.99 Unlimited Messaging Value Bundle. As such, we have placed a one time credit on your account in the amount of $197.39, for the text messaging charges less the cost of the Unlimited Messaging Bundle.

You currently have a credit balance on your account in the amount of $197.39; you can verify this by dialing #646# on your T-Mobile phone, or by calling Customer Care at 800-937-8997. If you wish to have this amount refunded to you, please reply to this email and we will do so in three to five business days. T-Mobile regrets any inconvenience to you.

Sincerely,

Brian Watson
Executive Customer Relations
Office of the President

(Photo:Crawfishpie)

Crandall either reflects poorly on American Airlines, or the dollar-driven management style that makes Wall Street giddy. Crandall's successor, Donald Carty, was ousted for his own cost-saving strategy: asking unions to accept almost $2 billion in salary cuts while showering executives with lavish retention bonuses. Something to keep in mind next time you ask for peanuts or a pillow.

The enlightening clip comes from NBC travel maestro Peter Greenberg's excellent two-hour behind the scenes look into American Airlines, which occasionally airs on CNBC.

Wonder What Goes On Behind the Scenes at the Airlines? [Peter Greenberg]

Target and Circuit City, on the other hand, were acting almost as if they're in the business of consumer electronics and looking forward to the transition as a selling opportunity. Weird.

Executives with Circuit City and Target agreed the digital TV transition is fraught with challenges.

But the transition presents opportunities as well, says Steve Eastman, vice president and general merchandising manager for consumer electronics at Target. The analog-to-digital switch will get people thinking about high definition and what technology is in their homes, he says.

Target plans to have converter boxes in stores by April.

James Cayne, the chairman and chief executive of Bear Stearns Cos., under fire from shareholders since the Wall Street firm was badly burned by the downturn in the mortgage market, is stepping down as CEO, say people familiar with the matter. ... Bear Stearns's stock has lost more than half its value in the past year, and some directors had been privately discussing Mr. Cayne's departure. They had been hoping that he would take the initiative and resign, but didn't want to pressure him, given his long service to the firm, say people familiar with their thinking.

"He thought about it, and the board thought about it, and they agreed it was time to pass the baton," says one person familiar with the deliberations.

Cayne to Step Down As Bear Stearns CEO [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:AP Photo/HO/Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.)

In an apparent reference to investors' anger, he said: "I can assure you, you will be going through a metal detector." He ended the conference call by saying "Let's go. There's no questions. Let's get the [expletive] out of here."

Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce called the metal-detector remark "an attempt at humor" and the expletive "an unfortunate slip of the tongue." Mr. Joyce said the call had been intended for Mr. Lord, in his new role, to give investors a "broad overview" of the company's situation.

Sallie Mae: Expletive Included [WSJ]
Full Conference Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha]
(Photo: Susan Biddle)

"It is my judgment that given the size of the recent losses in our mortgage- backed securities business, the only honorable course for me to take as chief executive officer is to step down," Prince said in a statement issued by Citigroup. "This is what I advised the board."

Which CEO will the subprime meltdown take next?

Citigroup's day of reckoning [CNNMoney]

1) Good...

2) Excited...

3) Optimistic...

...about Walmart's upcoming holiday season. Why? Because consumers are broke and they have to shop at Walmart or else.

"I saw great merchandise and our customers are going to love our prices," Scott said during the conclusion of Wal-Mart's two-day annual analyst and investor meeting in Rogers, ARK.

"I feel we are well positioned for an economic downturn," Scott said. "Our low prices and low-cost business model should give us an advantage over other retailers if things get more difficult for consumers."

Wal-Mart CEO excited about holidays [CNNMoney]
(Photo:Paul Jerry)

Sigman began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone as a stockman in 1965. He stayed with the company as it grew from the smallest Baby Bell to the nation's largest telecommunications company through a series of aggressive acquisitions.

You can now address your complaint letters to his successor, the less alliterative, but decidedly sexier-sounding Ralph de la Vega.

AT&T Mobile Phone Chief Retires [Associated Press]

Yes, that Northwest airlines. We can only assume that a merger is in the works (though they deny it), and the combination of Delta and Northwest... We don't even want to think about it, but we will speculate that if those two operations merged we'd have to hire another e-mail intern.

Anderson's appointment as Delta's (Charts, Fortune 500) chief, which takes effect Sept. 1, stoked speculation that Delta, the No. 3 U.S. airline, and Northwest, No. 5, could join forces. But Anderson said in a conference call there are no plans for a merger between the two.

Anderson, 52, has been president of UnitedHealth Group's (Charts, Fortune 500) commercial services unit since 2006. He joined UnitedHealth after a 14-year career with Northwest (Charts, Fortune 500), which emerged from bankruptcy this past spring.

Grinstein preferred a choice from Delta's executive team that helped in the recent turnaround. But the board went in another direction.

"After a thorough search, the board concluded that Richard Anderson possesses the right blend of seasoned leadership, strategic skills, international experience and airline knowledge the company needs to navigate the industry's challenges and capitalize on its opportunities," said Daniel Carp, chairman of Delta's board.

The comments are open for suggestions.

Delta names Richard Anderson as CEO [CNNMoney]

"The authors found a large and statistically significant reduction in vocabulary among infants age 8 to 16 months who viewed baby DVDs or videos, compared to those who did not view them. They also concluded that more research is needed to determine the reasons for this statistical association."

Here's the full letter:

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Mark A. Emmert, President
August 16, 2007

Mr. Robert Iger
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521

Dear Mr. Iger:

Thank you for your letter of August 13. I have reviewed the news release about the paper published by three of our faculty in the Journal of Pediatrics entitled, "Associations between Media Viewing and Language Development in Children Under Age 2 Years." In addition, I have conferred with one of the paper's co-authors.

The Journal of Pediatrics is a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal. Papers submitted to this journal undergo a rigorous review by experts in the field before they are accepted for publication. This process ensures that the work represented in the paper meets the high standards of scientific inquiry required by the editors of the journal and its editorial panel of distinguished scientists. The University of Washington stands behind the work of Professors Frederick Zimmerman, Dimitri Christakis, and Andrew Meltzoff.

The paper set out to "test the association [italics added] of media exposure with language development in children under age 2 years." It did not purport to establish a causal relationship, as the authors explicitly state in the article. The authors found a large and statistically significant reduction in vocabulary among infants age 8 to 16 months who viewed baby DVDs or videos, compared to those who did not view them. They also concluded that more research is needed to determine the reasons for this statistical association.

The authors of the study and I believe the news release reflects the essential points made in the research publication. The news release clearly is not intended to substitute for a reading of the research paper, which was made available to all the reporters who contacted our news office. The news release briefly summarizes the methodology of the study and includes the researchers' interpretations of the findings, something in which most news media are interested and one of the reasons for issuing the release. The researchers find no inconsistencies between the content of the news release and their paper. They believe the release accurately reflects the paper's conclusions and their commentary. For these reasons, the University of Washington will not retract its news release.

We do not view this study as the last word on the subject of the influence baby DVDs have on child development. The findings were considered significant enough to be reported in a major journal, and as a public institution we feel duty-bound to make the public aware of these findings. As we say in the release, "more research is required, particularly to examine the long-term effects of baby DVDs and videos on children's cognitive development." We believe that our researchers at the University of Washington will continue to be in the forefront of this important research aimed at helping parents and society enhance the lives of children.

Sincerely yours,

Mark A. Emmert

UW President rejects Disney complaints [University of Washington]

PREVIOUSLY: Walt Disney Demands Retraction From University of Washington Over Baby Einstein Video Press Release
"Baby Einstein" Videos Probably Don't Work, Might Even Hurt

Roger didn't just write the Consumerist, however, he also CC'd his email to Verizon's CEO. And it worked. Roger writes:

On Wednesday morning, I get a phone call and email from Mark D. Reddick (Executive Customer Relations) saying that he would personally handle the matter at the behest of Mr. Seidenberg (talk about action).

I was going to try to find out the name of someone in Executive Customer Relations (as per the advice of one of your interns to my first email to you guys) but was lucky enough to have them contact me first. When I got home from work, a technician called me to get my set-top box information... unfortunately she wasn't able to get the matter fixed and she ended up scheduling a technician to come out to my home today ... Suffice it to say, the tech was able to get me up and running.

It sucks that I had to email the friggin' CEO but apparently Verizon's computer systems leave a lot to be desired (I will say this much, their CSR's were all very friendly despite their inability to address my issue). This goes to show you how effective a polite email that is addressed to Consumerist AND the CEO can be. Thanks for all your advice.

Sincerely,
Roger

(Photo:Maulliegh)

Dear Consumerist(s)...

I was a frustrated Xbox 360 owner. Long story short, I had 6 Xbox 360 since launch that needed to be replaced, 4 of them due to poor quality control with the refurbished units (only 2 fell victim to the overheating issue). I had already purchased an extended warranty, beyond the extended one Microsoft provided. On the 6th repair, I was insisting on getting a new, not-refurb, unit. I escalated the call as high as I could, to where I was given a special phone number and extension for a case worker of sorts.

I was told that if I had called a few days sooner (closer to when I received the 6th unit), I could have gotten a new unit...but it was too late. He also insisted he was as high as I could go, and there was no flexibility. I thought what I was requesting was fair, and was getting very frustrated.

Around the time I received the box in which to send back my busted 360, The Consumerist posted the email addresses for Microsoft execs, including Bill Gates. I typed up my case, clicked send, and crossed my fingers. Just two days later I received a call from a rep who was perfectly willing to replace my 360 with a new unit! The turn over time was fast, and so far my 360 has worked flawlessly! Granted, it wasn't in a brand new retail box, so I will never know if it is truly new, but it had no scuffs like my refurbs did, and smelt like a new item. So I just wanted to than you guys, and if you are ever at the Jersey shore, come on over for a BBQ and some Xbox 360 gaming!

AlteredBeast

(Photo:AlteredBeast)

RELATED: Contact Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

"I am very excited to be part of a team focused on re-establishing Chrysler as a standalone industry leader, with a renewed focus on meeting the needs of customers," said Nardelli.

Robert Nardelli Named CEO of Chrysler [CNN Money]

PREVIOUSLY: Home Depot's "Embattled" CEO "Big Bob" Resigns
Home Depot Is Still Really Sorry That You Hate Them
Home Depot Revamps Customer Service: "We are not to let a customer go untouched."

The Today Show asks Gary "Sit Anywhere" Kelly, CEO of Southwest Airlines, to explain himself in the above clip.

We enjoyed the part where Kelly is asked to explain how every airline at every airport has thirty 8:00 flights when everyone knows it's impossible for that many planes to take off at the same time.

The answer? Pay more attention to your arrival time than your departure time, because your wait to take-off is built in.

We also love how big-media types are not afraid to ask the "tough" questions when it comes to something that personally irks them, like air travel hassles. After all, first class arrives at the same time as coach.

The Today Show

Farmers & Mechanics Bank President Craig W. Yates, who obviously needs to read "Eloping Nearly Ruined By Bank Blocking The Entire "State" Of Las Vegas," as quoted in a 2003 Philadelphia Business Journal article.

Peter Leppik responded with a novel, albeit, one offering a compelling strong insight into why customers often find themselves strangled by the phone tree.

CONSUMERIST: What's the number one reason for customer service failure through the phone lines?

LEPPIK: We see a lot of the same complaints over and over: automated systems which are hard to use, difficulty reaching an agent, and poor agent skills are the most common.

A lot of people would assume that the root problem for a lot of bad customer service is that the companies aren't willing to spend the money it takes to provide good service. It is true that if you want to provide Ultimate Customer Service and give each customer his own personal butler you're going to have to spend a lot of money.

But for providing a reasonable level of competent service—what most customers would expect—the issue usually isn't money. In fact, incompetent customer service is often more expensive than competent service, since it takes more phone calls and more time to take care of each customer's problem...

The real issue is twofold: one is the mistaken belief that better service is more expensive, and the other is a simple lack of management attention to customer service quality.

Since people often believe that better service is more expensive, one common reaction when companies cut costs (and let's face it, every company is cutting costs all the time) is to make service worse. They do that by trying to force customers to use automated systems (which doesn't work because customers call back to get to an agent when they need to), cutting agents and training (which just forces longer hold times and more time for less skilled agents to handle questions), and similar techniques.

For more on why forcing customers to use self-service doesn't work, see here.

What we've found in our research is that most consumers are perfectly happy to use an automated system for routine tasks, if the system is easy to use and able to complete their task. So if a company wants to save money by getting more customers to use the automated system, the way to do it is improve the self-service so that customers prefer to use it when possible.

In other words, companies can often save money by improving service levels (in a smart way).

And that brings me to the second point: lack of management attention.

Let's face it, in some companies customer service and support is viewed as a nettlesome cost center, rather than an integral part of the company's product or service. Managing the call center isn't a stepping-stone to the corner office in most companies. (As an aside, if you name the companies with truly outstanding service in their industries—Midwest Air, Apple, Four Seasons, etc., you'll generally find that these companies (a) view customer service as an integral part of their product or service, (b) spend considerable management time and attention on service, and (c) view outstanding service as an important competitive differentiators which allows them to charge a premium price and earn a higher profit margin.)

One great example of the lack of management attention is the fact that "end-of-call" surveys are so popular these days ("end-of-call" surveys are the automated surveys where the customer is asked to stay on the line after the agent hangs up). This technique is deeply flawed because it is easy for the customer service agent to manipulate which customers take the survey—and the flaws are usually obvious to anyone who spends more than a few minutes looking at the data (one red flag is that the data often shows absurdly high satisfaction rates, numbers 30 points or more higher than anything we've ever seen at VocaLabs in five years of surveying). Yet this flawed survey data—supposedly a key driver behind management decisions—often gets accepted without question.

(For more on this particular topic, here's an overview of survey techniques:
Here's more on the real-world data we've collected.
Here's a discussion of the reasons why bad surveys often go unquestioned. As you can tell, bad surveys are a topic near and dear to my heart.)

Another great example is the fact that nearly every large call center records at least some calls for quality assurance, but almost no call center has the ability to record entire calls from end to end. In other words, at most companies the recording begins when the call connects to the agent—all the frustration with the automated system is lost forever. At some companies, they can record the agent and the automated system, but it comes out as two (or more) separate, uncorrelated recordings. How many customers experience only the agent (or automated) part of the call? To a very good approximation, zero.

(By the way, you may find it hard to believe that end-to-end call recording is so rare, but we've actually had some client projects where the entire project was just to record calls end-to-end, because the call center didn't have the ability. This despite the fact that we're a survey company not a recording company.)

But if the CEO says that outstanding customer service is a priority, and backs that up with tough questions and action, then you find that several things start happening: 1) the company does a better job of measuring service levels and generating actionable data about how to improve service; 2) the company does a better job trading off cost vs. quality and stops doing dumb things; and 3) morale in the call center improves because agents feel like they are important partners in the company's success, not just worker-drones.

CONSUMERIST: Relative to the number of calls you process, are complaints rising or falling?

LEPPIK: We can look at a couple specific industries which we've been following for a long time.

In the mobile phone industry, which we've been tracking every quarter since the beginning of 2004, there actually has been a long-term trend towards higher satisfaction with customer service, and Verizon, T-Mobile, and Cingular/AT&T are all providing pretty good service these days (pre-merger, the old AT&T Wireless scored relatively poorly).

On the other hand, in the financial service industry, which we've been tracking since the beginning of 2005, there's been no meaningful long-term trend among the handful of mega-companies we've been following—though individual companies have gone up and down.

It's not really meaningful to try to look at customer service trends globally, since every industry and company has its own dynamic. When industries go through a phase where they compete heavily on price (such as the mobile phone industry in the late 90's), often you'll see service deteriorate, both because management thinks they can save money by making service worse, and because service is no longer the focus of attention.

On the other hand, when customer retention becomes a priority (such as the mobile phone industry today), better customer service is often viewed as a key driver of retention, so service levels go up.

Another driver is the availability of competitive data about who has better service. It's surprisingly hard to get high-quality data about which companies in a given industry have better customer service (and more importantly, why), and if a company doesn't know where it stands relative to its competition, it's hard for them to know if they need to improve. One of my goals at VocaLabs is to be able to supply reliable and actionable competitive data about customer service quality in a number of different industries. Most existing comparisons (such as the ones Consumer Reports publishes) are based on consumer surveys which often happen months after a customer's call—that's OK if you want a general sense of whether people like a company, but it's useless for trying to figure out why Company X does a better job solving customers' problems than Company Y.

CONSUMERIST: Do you think people's experience with the phone systems are affecting their future purchase decisions?

LEPPIK: Every piece of research I've ever seen (and some we've done in-house) shows that customer service experiences are among the most powerful drivers of brand loyalty and future purchases, both positive and negative.

Unfortunately, most customer service experiences happen after the purchase, which is why some companies have been able to get away with lousy service for so long.

The Internet is becoming a more powerful force for getting information about service into the hands of consumers pre-purchase. For example, it used to be the rule of thumb that a mistreated customer would tell ten friends, but these days, that unhappy customer is just at likely to blog about the experience (or send an e-mail to The Consumerist), exposing the service problem to thousands of other potential customers.

If there's a critical mass of upset customers, this can snowball out of control—the classic example is Jeff Jarvis' bad experience with Dell a couple years ago ((Here's what I wrote at the time, one and two.), which spiraled from blog entry to mainstream media, and likely eventually contributed to a management shakeup at the company.

— BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:The Most Excruciatingly Painful, Yet Typical, Customer Service Call Ever

We don't currently find ourselves in a position to speak intelligently on the topic of which satellite radio service sucks more, but we do appreciate Mel's, uh, frankness.. —MEGHANN MARCO

Sirius Satellite Radio Boss: 'We Suck Less!' [Fox News]

The move comes after an embarrassing service meltdown that on Valentine's Day that exposed JetBlue's inability to cope with weather disruptions. A flood of negative PR followed, leading David to publicly apologize for the incident approximately 800 times. We guess it wasn't enough. More recently, several JetBlue employees have been charged with credit card fraud. The employees (including Customer Service representatives) stole credit card numbers of JetBlue customers and went on a "spending spree" that included trips to Victoria's Secret.

David will be replaced by Dave "Sorry Doesn't Cut It" Barger, 49.

"The board suggested to David that he could best serve the company in a more strategic role. David agreed," JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said. "The conversation was initiated by the board." —MEGHANN MARCO

JetBlue CEO pushed out [CNNMoney]

It was a concept he called "The three Es."

* Enhancing the core.
* Extending the business.
* Expanding the market.

Out of Focus: The Rise and Fall of Robert Nardelli [Ad Week]

Lay and Skilling, who also served as CEO, were convicted in May 2006 for their role in the accounting fraud that led to the collapse of Enron in 2001. The bankruptcy erased billions in investors' money and wiped out the pensions of thousands of Enron employees.

The custom-made desks with "an elegant Makore Pommelle veneer" have a minimum bid of $25,000 each, which so far has not been met. The auction began Friday and runs for 10 days.

Enron Founder & CEO Ken Lay's Custom Office Desk [eBay]
Ken Lay's desk goes up for grabs [CNNMoney]

Oddly framed vase of roses aside, we're basically with it, ethics, it's not how you win or lose, etc, until the very end.

Notice how he adjusts his shirt sleeve for no apparent reason. Police interrogators look for these self-adjusting tics as they are often signs of liars. You can check out the rest of the clips and decide whether Gary is fibbing about his dedication to ethics, or whether he's just nervous on camera. — BEN POPKEN