NEW YORK, 5:33 AM, SAT JUL 19 | 19 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | RSS
Posts Tagged “

Complaint

sprint

Don't Maintain A Negative Balance With Sprint Or They Will Disconnect Your Service

Sprint disconnected Bill's service for "exceeding his account spending limit," even though his account had a -$50 balance and he was signed up for Sprint's Simply Everything unlimited plan. Sprint quickly reactivated Bill's phone after he pointed this out, but warned that his service "will probably shut back off in a couple of days." More »

customer service

Why Won't Krystal Respond To Their Customers?

Hey! Krystal! Are you there?! Reader Josh sent two letter complaining about his local burger franchise and hasn't heard a peep in response. Not even "we're taking it seriously" or "your opinion is important to us." Nothing! More »

american airlines

AA Lies About Bad Weather To Deny Reader Compensation

Reader S knows his stuff when it comes to his rights as an airline passenger. He was flying on American Airlines (AA) and takeoff was delayed. AA said it was because of thunderstorms in Dallas. He called a friend in Dallas and they said "there isn't a cloud in the sky." AA later revealed the flight was actually delayed because they were waiting for a fax. It's understandable why AA lied. Since this was something they had control over, it meant they owed several things to the delayed passengers. By lying and saying it was due to the weather, they could escape their obligation. The flight finally took off but reader S missed his connection and had to stay overnight in a hotel, a hotel room that American should have paid for. Inside, the letter S executive email carpet bombed after two customer service reps refused to listen to his story on the phone and an online form sent back a robotic received reply with no real results. More »

comcast executive email carpet bomb

Warn Comcast You're Moving, Lose Your Internet Access

Chris gave Comcast a heads up that he was moving and wanted to arrange a transfer date ahead of time, and they disconnected his present internet access instead. Gahhhhhhh! Ahhhh!!! When he made various calls to various Comcast departments, various employees agreed it was messed up, but all refused to actually solve the problem. So Chris, using some email addresses we posted, sent out a well-crafted executive email carpet bomb... More »

complaint letters

Professional Complaint Letter Writer Shares His Secrets

"Praise with faint damn" is the underlying secret to how professional complaint letter writer Bruce Silverman is able to be so successful in getting companies to give him free stuff. First class upgrades, Room upgrades with views of frolicking whales, Checks for hundreds of dollars... all these and more are the fruits of Bruce's calculated typewriter clacking. Now Bruce has come out with a small book with a big promise: to teach you How To Complaint For Fun And Profit. Here's a chapter from it, exclusively on The Consumerist, detailing how he was able to turn a disappointing experience at the Ritz-Carlton in Hawaii into a long-term stream of room upgrades, comped meals, and decidedly above and beyond customer service... More »

complaints

WaMu Doesn't Care You Could Be Stranded In Himalayas With No Money

Lila got her Washington Mutual debit card pickpocketed while traveling in India. Naturally, her account was drained. She filed a fraud report with Washington Mutual and a got a temporary credit issued on the account while the case was investigated. Less than 3 days later, the credit was reversed without warning. It's not WaMu's policy to reverse provisional credits in these matters before 30 days have passed to investigate, and not without warning. None of the various reps and fraud personal could explain why this happened, nor could they give her her money back, nor could they connect her with anyone who would or could do anything. Supervisors are mysteriously never around. It's a good thing she already had some Rupees in hand when the theft occured, or Lila could have been stranded in the Himalayas while WaMu reps were busy playing Snood. Her complaint letter, and our advice on how to be more effective, inside... More »

A lawyer in Florida has launched a business where he'll send a complaint letter on your behalf for a flat $50 fee. He even sends prospective customers to our website to educate themselves on "fighting back." Florida only. [Equal-Footing]

capital one

Capital One All Hassle Credit Card

How hard should you have to work to pay your bills? No, not to make enough money to pay your bills, but to actually give your money to someone else? Reader Matt has been trying to convince Capital One to take his money for several months now. They're not taking his money, or his calls, but they are willing to send him to collections! Check out his story, inside. More »

videos

All The Dashboard Lights Flash Whenever I Drive My Dodge Charger In The Rain

Whenever Brian drives his Dodge Charger in the rain, all of the dash lights flash and has trouble restarting his car. He's taken the car to the dealership multiple times, but they say they're never able to recreate the problem. Above are two screencaps of the video he took last time this occurred. He's now taken to writing a letter to Chrysler CEO Big Bob Nardelli, which is most likely a futile effort. You might instead email Cerberus, the company that now owns Chrysler's ass. Maybe the dealership will find it's able to recreate the flashing signals if Brian rides along the next time they test the car. Maybe call the Car Talk radio show. Inside, a video of this bizzare phenom in action, and his letter to the CEO. More »

free speech

Complaint Remover Gets Rid Of "Negative Links," Including LOLCats

Complaint Remover is a special service that says it gets rid of "defamatory" and "negative links" on the internet for you:
The immediate goal of our service is to stop defamation by positioning links on the Search Engines and by appeals to law to remove negative information. We send cease and desist letters and if necessary, file legal actions against the perpetrators and Internet service providers contributing to the unjust defamation of our members.
Their site has an online chat function with a customer service rep and we decided to ask if they could help us take a crap all over free speech, and how much that would cost... More »

complaints

Repeated Comcast Outages Nearly Cost Reader His Job

One reader's Comcast outages have gotten so bad that they could get him fired from his job at Adobe. Here's his letter of complaint:

Mr. Brian Roberts
Chief Executive Officer
Comcast Corporation
1500 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Mr. Roberts,

I have never taken my valuable time to write a letter like this before and to further use snail mail to send a letter of complaint. I have been through hell and back with Comcast trying to set up my internet for the last 3 months from the time I moved into my new house at [redacted], Princeton, NJ 08540. I have had at least 8 technicians come out for a total of 10 to 12 visits to my house over the last 3 months attempting to fix my internet issues. I have taken time off of work in order to meet these technicians at my home each time, as has my wife....

More »

complaint letters

Written Apologies Are Worthless

A reader showed us a letter he was going to send to AT&T. At the end, among his demands, he listed, "a written apology." We told him to get rid of it. He asked why. He said the apology would actually be worth more to him than the refunds for which he was asking.

We said, for one thing, you're not going to get an apology. That's an admission of wrongdoing and legally that's a bad place to be for a company. Secondly, it has no place. You're having a dispute with a business about a business transaction. Inserting a request for a written apology just elevates your letter to "probably crazy" status, encouraging them to ignore it.

Let's say you did get a written apology. There's no guarantee the company meant it. There's a story about a business exec who sent a complaint letter after bedbugs ate him up all night on a train trip. He received a moving letter from the rail company, saying how sorry they were, and the steps they were taking to ensure it never happened again. His original letter was included in the envelope. Across the top was written, "Send this jerk the bedbug letter."

All you should be concerned about is that you're getting the goods and services for the price you paid. If you want someone to care about your feelings, get a dog.


Sample Letter For Objecting To Lame BoA Settlement If you're disgusted by the pitiful compensation proposed in the Bank of America privacy violation settlement, check out Hayden's sample letter for inspiration for registering your objection.

hughesnet

We'll Downgrade Your Bandwidth 82% And You'll Like It

Mark is pissed at HughesNet satellite internet service for downgrading his bandwidth allowance from 350MB per 4 hour period, to 375 MB per 24 hour period. More »

success stories

Executive Email Carpet Bomb Scores Direct Hit On Delta

Using tips from How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb, Evan got 500 Sky Miles and a $50 change fee refunded, along with a $200 travel voucher. More »

How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb Here's a classic tactic for rattling the corporate monkey tree to make sure your complaint gets shoved under the nose of someone with decision-making powers. Let's call it the "EECB," or Executive Email Carpet Bomb...

complaint letters

UPDATE: Radio Shack Screams Nonsense On Phone With Rebate-Seeking Customer

Daniel writes in a happy ending, with an unexpected twist, to his Radio Shack rebate complaint we posted yesterday. More »

complaints

Radio Shack Screams Nonsense On Phone With Rebate-Seeking Customer

He said that my check, which I had been expecting since November will not be rushed, and began screaming like a deranged person if there is "Anything else Sir?" over and over.
More »