Consumerist
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lawsuits
Have You Received Your Dell Multi-State Settlement Check Yet?
Did you file a claim form in the Dell multi-state settlement earlier this year? Have you received your check yet? According to the FAQ posted by the attorneys general of states participating in the suit, Monday, June 22 was the deadline for Dell to mail checks to consumers. More » -
computer repair
Is This Rogue Installer Running A Scam On Comcast Customers?
If you live near Burke, Virginia, you might want to pay close attention when the contractor hired by Comcast comes to install your service. Rick runs a computer repair company and has twice run into the same problem with Comcast customers, where they can no longer access the Internet after an upgrade and are offered an off-the-books repair service. More » -
laptops
HP Ruins Yet Another Laptop Repair—Three Times And Counting
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 » -
malware
Meet The Virtual ATM Skimmers
Just when you thought that you and your ATM card data were safe from criminal eyes, Scientific American brings a different sort of threat. This time, the skimmers are inside the machine. Malware within the ATM itself harvests enough data to do some very bad things. More » -
malware
Try These Search Terms If You Want Some Malware
Computer virus company McAfee has assembled a list of the top search keywords that are most commonly linked to malware exposure. The winning phrases are: word unscrambler, lyrics, myspace, free music downloads, phelps, game cheats, printable fill-in puzzles, free ringtones and solitaire. In addition, the general categories that are considered riskiest are: screen savers, free games, work from home, Olympics, videos, celebrities, music and news. More » -
follow ups
More Info On Replacing An HP Laptop Motherboard
We asked John, who wrote to us earlier this week about replacing the motherboard in his HP laptop, to send us a link to the listing he found for $150. Below is his response.
Several readers also contacted us to point out that HP extended the warranties on a number of models recently due to motherboard failures, so John or other readers may have more options than they initially thought. More »
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computer repair
How Much Should It Cost To Replace The Motherboard On A Laptop?
John's wife's laptop died, and his local Geek Squad wants $800 total to replace the motherboard. John says he found the motherboard for $150, and he wants to know why Geek Squad thinks it will require $650 in labor. So all you IT and geek readers out there, we ask you: is this a fair price? More » -
spyware
Sears Settles With FTC Over Spyware Charge
In 2007 and 2008, Sears invited select customers to join the exclusive "My SHC Community," which involved installing an app that would monitor online browsing in exchange for $10. The app was called spyware by researchers and the FTC, because the data it collected on customers included "details from their online shopping, bank statements, drug-prescription records, video rentals, library-borrowing histories, even the names and addresses of their e-mail correspondents," as well as "data about the users' computers, printers, and other devices." More » -
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discounts
Best Buy Offers Enticing -$120 Off Laptop Price
Looking for an insane deal on a laptop? Look no further than Best Buy. They have a sale going on now that you wouldn't believe. We got a screencap just in case you miss it.
More »
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computers
HP Overdrafts Your Checking Account After 4-Day-Old Laptop Breaks
The hard drive of Chris's HP laptop failed within its warranty period. Technically, it was four days after he bought the brand-new computer, but who's counting?
He was willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt. HP sent him a replacement hard drive, without including the prepaid shipping label he needed to send the hard drive back. Then...well, that's when things sort of all went to hell. More »
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credit limits
Dell Offers You $310,000 - What Credit Crunch?
Travis is well aware that there's a credit crunch on. That's why he was surprised when, according to a mailing he received, Dell decided to increase his credit line. Not by a little, either. They increased it from $2,500 to $310,000. Wha? How does that happen? He's just a regular consumer. Does anyone who isn't an IT professional need a $310,000 Dell credit line? More » -
good samaritans
Best Buy Employees Find $10,000 Hidden In Computer Tower
A man in St. Louis dropped off his computer for repair at the area Best Buy, but apparently forgot that he was also using it as a bank. "Employees at a Best Buy store in South County discovered about $10,000 cash inside," writes the St. Louis Post Dispatch. More » -
fire
HP Calls About Pants Burnin' Laptop
HP called Consumerist about our inquiry about Jillian's sparking and flaming HP dv2845se laptop adapter that she says burned a hole in her pants and caused a welt on her leg. Jillian had also alleged that HP customer service, regular and escalated, was both unresponsive and rude. HP told us.... More » -
fire
HP Adapter Catches Fire, Burns Pants, Execs Ignore
UPDATE: HP Calls About Pants Burnin' Laptop
Pants pants, burning bright, in my house in the night, thanks to a malfunctioning power adapter for the HP dv2845se. It's no Blake but it is what happened to reader Jillian Madison. While she was using her laptop, her adapter started sparking and burst into flames, burning a hole in her pants and causing a welt on her legs. Now, after dozens of phone calls and emails to HP executive support and HP executives, and 6 weeks of waiting, she hasn't heard a thing back from HP, though she says some reps have given her an earful of rudeness. More »
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recalls
HP And Compaq Laptop Computer Batteries Recalled Due To Fire Hazard
HP announced today that laptop computer batteries have been recalled as a fire hazard due to risk of overheating. Affected models are HP Pavilion, Compaq Presario, HP, and HP Compaq computers sold from about August 2007 to March 2008. Find out if your computer is affected and get a replacement battery at HP's site.
HP Recalls Notebook Computer Batteries Due to Fire Hazard [CPSC] (Thanks to The Fake Geek for the heads-up)
HP Notebook PC Battery Pack Replacement Program(Photos: Markusram and CPSC)
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usps
USPS: Your Five New, Insured Laptops That We Lost Are Worth $74
The US Postal Service lost five new Lenovo laptops that Pedro's friend bought and shipped to him. Pedro expected that this might happen, so he wisely insured the package for $3,000. After stalling for about two months, USPS finally agreed to pay his insurance claim, but reduced the payment, claiming his merchandise was only worth $74. More » -
dell
Dell Breaks Customer's New Laptop Remotely, Won't Send Him Replacement
Anthony has been a long-time Dell customer and has shared his positive experiences with friends and family, but that's come to an end thanks to Dell's abysmal customer service. It's been one month since he first received his new Studio 15 Laptop, which worked correctly for 4 days. Since then, he's been on the phone with Dell for a total of 14 hours, he's watched a Dell CSR remotely break his laptop by interrupting the BIOS flash, he's been locked out of the data on his hard drive, and there's still no replacement laptop on the way to him. When he copied us on this email, he added, "All I wanted was the computer that I paid for long ago." More » -
hewlett packard
Reader Uses HP Executive Customer Service Number, Great Success!
Chris reports getting sweet satisfaction from HP after he searched for their executive customer service number on our site and gave them a ring: More »
computers
New York, 1:07 PM
Sun Jul 5
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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