Adam dug around a little bit on the computer and found employee phone numbers, customer addresses, and credit card info. The Curves in question is located on 134th Street in Vancouver, WA. Adam called to let them know what happened, here was their response:

Before I posted this I tried twice to talk to the manager of the offending Curves… both times I called they were “busy” or “out”. No one offered to take a message so I never left one.

I’m not sure if it’s that they are not used to men calling (Curves is a women’s club) or if their customer service is just as crappy as their data destruction policy. In any case, as I said in the post, I contacted the corporate office. After I made this post I did call again and got voice mail; so I left a message inviting the manager to [read this post].

Adam also contacted Curves corporate before contacting the local franchise. They told him that, although each franchise is responsible for its own IT and privacy policies, they agreed that this franchise's actions were inappropriate and they'd get in touch with the franchise.

Dear Curves, Respect Your Client and Employee

Here's a nice little story of what I encountered at the Apple Store.
Bad customer service turns to good customer service, I guess?

I have a MacBook Pro that I've had for about a year now. I noticed a
few months ago that the Bluetooth was acting up - by acting up I mean
Leopard told me there was no Bluetooth installed. I use my laptop as
my business. I do freelance graphic design so I rely on my MacBook Pro
and couldn't afford to take it in for a week just to get the Bluetooth
fixed.

Well I had planned a vacation out of town for a week so before I left
I thought I'd bring it in to the Millenia Apple Store so they can work
on it while I was away. When I brought it in, the "Apple Genius"
looked at my repair history and saw that I had my top case replaced in
January (which I did, they fixed a double click mouse problem). I
mentioned to him that my bluetooth has failed to work for several
months. He told me that the Bluetooth module was attached to the top
case, and when they put a new top case on in January they did not
transfer the Bluetooth module from the old part to my computer.

Wow, ok so Apple screwed it up in the first place. The tech apologized
and said it was totally their fault I had to come back, etc. I told
them is wasn't too much of a problem since I had planned to go on
vacation. He promised me it would be fixed and that was that.

7 days later, when I returned from my vacation I headed back to the
Millenia Apple Store. My computer was not ready. As a matter of fact,
the tech told me they had a back log and my computer hasn't even been
looked at. I spoke to the manager, told them it was Apple's fault for
me being there in the first place and I needed my computer. He
apologized to me but stood firm that it would be done in a few more
days but that was unacceptable to me as I needed my laptop for work.
So I left, laptop in hand in the same state as I brought it in.

I then went to the Florida Mall Apple Store and spoke to the manager
there. I told him the story and he seemed appalled at the way I was
treated. He took my computer and promised it would be fixed in an hour
or so. I wandered around the mall for a little while and came back to
a fully functioning computer. He told me he would speak to the
district manager about the way I was treated at the Millenia store.

So there you go. Two Apple Stores, two ways of being treated. Apple
supposedly has the highest customer service rating in the industry but
apparently there are still holes to be filled.

-Adam

Apparently, all Apple stores aren't the perfect little clones as they would have you believe. But believe it or not, we're not here to crucify Apple. The fact that the other store was able to understand Adam's needs and rapidly correct his problem is evidence that Apple's extraordinary customer service is the rule and not the exception. Kudos to the Apple Store at the Florida Mall.

(Photo: dlayphoto)

Joelle cc'd us on her Executive Email Carpet Bomb:

Dear Acer,

I have been a long time user and proponent of your products. My friends and family look to me when facing purchasing decisions, and for the most part I have been recommending Acer to them. Recently, I have had some trouble with my laptop, and I am afraid that I will no longer be able to recommend Acer.

I've had my Acer 8204 laptop for a while now, and it has been in for repair more than once. Either due to poor design or poor workmanship, the fan apparently becomes easily fouled and the laptop overheats. However maddening this may be, it is not the reason for this email.

I recently sent my laptop to you for repair, as in addition to again overheating, the sound and bluetooth components had failed. As much as I was not looking forward to being without a computer for two weeks, the overheating had become chronic and the situation was becoming increasingly untenable. I sent my laptop in for repair, and waited.

When I received my laptop back from repair, I turned it on to discover that (yes, indeed) the sound and bluetooth had been fixed. However, the screen was incredibly dirty, a sort of brown dripping appeared to be all over it. I went to wipe the screen and realized that this dirt was on the inside. I assure you that when I sent the notebook in for repair the screen may have been dusty, but not internally coated in grime.

When I contacted your support about this problem, they told me two things. First, I could expect to wait another two to three weeks without a laptop. Second, the screen is not covered under my warranty and that I would have to pay for a replacement. Also, the damage to the screen must have been caused by the shipping company, as rough handling can obviously cause this kind of damage. As I am writing this, the WI-FI has now failed on the laptop.

I believe that it is wholly unacceptable for me to be without a computer for upwards of a month. In addition, by attempting to shift blame from your repair technicians to me or the shipping company, it makes me think that you are not very much interested in customer satisfaction and more interested in the bottom line. I am very much disappointed that your company will not accept responsibility for the products and services that you offer.

A satisfactory resolution for me would be an expedited repair or replacement for my now perennially broken laptop and my warranty extended by the time that my laptop was missing.

I look forward to your reply with a resolution to my problem.

Sincerely,

Joelle

Kingston S: Welcome to HP Total Care for Desktops. My name is Kingston. How may I assist you today?

Consumerist Reader: hello my compaq has expanded leaking capacitors

Kingston S: Hi [redacted], how are you doing today?

Consumerist Reader: my compaq has expanded leaking capacitors

Kingston S: I understand your concern. Let us go through the issue and check how best we can resolve it.
Kingston S: In order to understand the issue better, please let me ask you few questions.
Kingston S: May I confirm your email id as: [redacted, but misspelled]?

Consumerist Reader: it's [redacted]

Kingston S: Alright. Please let me know if the operating system in your computer is Windows XP.

Consumerist Reader: it's xp

Kingston S: May I know when this issue started?

Consumerist Reader: it's been intermittent for a while it's gotten progressively worse with the compter hanging or not starting

Kingston S: May I confirm the model number of your computer facing the issue as: Compaq Presario 6010US Desktop PC?

Consumerist Reader: that's correct

Kingston S: [redacted], I am sorry about that but I will not be able to assist you in this regard as it is out of my support boundary. Shall I share my views with you instead?

Consumerist Reader: what?

Kingston S: [redacted], you can contact the Authorized Service Providers and they may be able to do something for this.
Kingston S: This is because this was one of the best computer model when it was released.

Consumerist Reader: is there a phone number?

Kingston S: Now, that it has become old, and the options for taking it for a bench repair is not left at all.
Kingston S: The phone support is a paid support.
Kingston S: [redacted], don't you think it is high time to upgrade your PC?
Kingston S: Why I suggested that because HP is selling new computers at attractive discount prices which has got all the Advanced features and latest technology support.
Kingston S: It is also shipped with the latest Windows Vista operating system.
Kingston S: There is an instant rebate going on with HP. You will get computers from HP even with the latest Windows Vista operating system preinstalled starting from $ 350. Isn't that an awesome offer?

Consumerist Reader: I think I'll buy a Mac
Consumerist Reader: Compaq/HP obviously doesn't support what they sell.
Consumerist Reader: I've heard there are nothing but problems with Vista

Kingston S: If you are getting an operating system with same features and if it more user friendly, you should go for it. I am sorry. This product has become obsolete. So, Authorized Service Providers may be able to assist you.

Consumerist Reader: So you/hp can't help me?

Kingston S: I am sorry. I can only assist you with a PC upgrade now. If you are interested, we can arrange a call back only for upgrading to the up to date PC which we support completely.

Consumerist Reader: This is the last hp product I will ever buy.

(Photo: Getty)

AK-DL1 [Denon] (Thanks to Stephen!)

"We are looking at different options," Gary Severson, a Wal-Mart senior vice president, told MarketWatch during a store tour with media.

The Consumerist would like to take this opportunity to thank Wal-Mart for ensuring the continuing existence of this site. This is going to be fun!

Wal-Mart eyes expansion in electronics services [MarketWatch]

(Photo: Ryan McFarland )

HPNotebookClassAction.com
(Photo: Tahmid the ~) Sensor`BurnEr (~)

(Photo: blue_j)

Before we get to the typical bad-company shenanigans—in this case, Dell's $599 discount mysteriously shrank to $400 between when he placed it in his shopping cart and when he reached the confirmation screen—we want to share this bit of ridiculousness. Dell's CSR Vanessa gives us the scoop on Dell's sophisticated order fulfillment system:

Jack: Can you look at sales history today and verify whether you sold this system at $599 off today? This was to be my third dell purchase, now I will not purchase again!
ATG Vanessa: There isn't a cart history unfortunately.
Jack: Sales history! Actual people who purchased this system today!
ATG Vanessa: We don't keep record of that.
Jack: You're telling me dell does not know what it has sold today?
ATG Vanessa: Remember this is done online and there's some confidential information we usually erase to protect customers.
Jack: Like what computers you have to build?
ATG Vanessa: So no, there isn't a record where you can see how much have been sold.
Jack: How do you know what you have to ship?
ATG Vanessa: It depends on what we have available at the moment.

Aside from that nonsense, the problem here is that Dell enticed Jack with a weird bait-and-switch, and worse still, they snuck it in at the very last moment before he hit submit.

I had found a link for an XPS system that had a $599 instant savings. I configured my system and added it to the cart and the $599 savings still was applied. I chose to then apply for financing beacuse there was no payments for 12 months. Once I was approved, i proceeded to checkout. Once I reached the confirmation page to submit my order I saw that the price had risen by $200.00 when I went back to check what happened the instant savings had dropped to $400. Confused I then initiated a live chat which led to nothing.

---

ATG Vanessa: Thanks for holding, I have checked and the instant savings changed. Please be aware that configuration, pricing, tax, shipping & handling and monthly payment information that appears in your cart is estimated and presented for your convenience only, and is subject to change without notice.

Not only was Vanessa less than helpful, but she was pretty apathetic at the end, too:

Jack: Well dell just lost a customer.
ATG Vanessa: Is there anything else I can help you with at this time?

Umm, no.

(Photo of computers: Extra Ketchup)

UPS agreed to refund $300 of Nick's shipping costs and to issue "a goodwill payment to him for his computer." Here's Nick's response:

So, a happy ending (thanks, I'm sure, to your site). Today, UPS contacted me, saying that since they couldn't find my computer, they were going to pay out the claim on the package and refund my shipping charges. All's well that ends well (that is, so long as they can get it delivered to the right address this time). Thanks for help in publicizing this, and the resources your site offers. I swear, you guys are better than the Better Business Bureau.

We don't really understand how paying for an insured computer that was destroyed adds up to 'goodwill' so much as honoring a stated policy, or why UPS searched their facilities after they admitted to delivering the package to a stranger, but hey, Nick's happy, and that's all that matters.

PREVIOUSLY: UPS Breaks, Steals Computer
(Photo: The Infamous Gdub)

We think we've cracked HP's business model: they clean up laptops that are sent in for repair, then resell them to a new wave of victims! It would explain both the consistently poor quality of their laptops and the repeated stories of customers who never see their computers again after sending them in for repair. On that note, yet another customer has written to us to say that HP has held on to his laptop for 2+ months now and won't give him any information on when he'll get it back. We think that's probably because they've already repackaged it and sold it, Jake.

Jake asks, "Do you have any suggestions?" Below is a summary of what we know so far about how to get a response from the world's worst computer company.

First, here's Jake's story:

I bought an NC6120 professional labtop from them when I started law school. I'm not in my final year. So far, I have had the mother board, hard drive, and dvd player replaced.

A couple of months ago it just started shutting down. Two weeks ago I sent it in at the recommendation of tech support. After the first week I contacted them and asked if they could let me know roughly when the labtop would be returned. No luck. I have been following up with them and escalating my problem and I still haven't had any luck.

This term is a tough one for me. I have to write multiple papers and its really difficult not knowing whether I should go ahead and buy another labtop (although the one they have is still under warranty). Furthermore, after reading some of the stories regarding HP on the Consumerist I am really concerned they are going to keep my laptop for three months.

Today, finally, I received word from one of the folks I had escalated my problem to that they are really busy and they can't tell me anything about my labtop or when it will get back to me. I need to get started on these papers and I can't get my labtop back. Additionally, I was given a new case # and I tried contacting executive customer service and they said they don't have any record of it. I don't have the original case # and now I feel like I am really at their mercy. Do you have any suggestions?

We feel for you Jake, and if you can afford it you might want to just grab a new budget laptop for your immediate typing needs while you deal with HP.

Here's what we have so far for HP, in no particular order:

1. "Call this number for your problem: 1-303-649-5406
It is the number of Jeff Utigard. Leave a message if he doesn't answer, and politely explain your situation." (Thanks to Cell523)

2. "Try calling this number: 877-917-4380 extension 94 in order to get their corporate case managers. If nothing else they are based in Canada and you can understand them. The person you get will be assigned permanently (for as long as they work there, whatever that is worth) to your case. The gentleman I have been dealing with has been very professional and actually seems to sympathize with my problem.

Also, file in small claims court, they will generally give in at that point and it only costs about 25$ to file. Good luck." (Thanks to smalleyd01)

3. Try asking Consumerist reader Jebster for help. He claims to be an HP employee/customer advocate, and he offered to help another reader about a month ago.

Note! If you do contact him and he agrees to help, we recommend you ask him to provide an HP corporate number and extension and/or HP corporate email address to protect yourself from scams. (No offense, Jebster—if that is your real name.)

4. Try contacting the HP Quality Case Managers:
"These are the guys at HP to call if you need to expedite your warranty repair if regular customer service fails you. Note that you need to already have a case number in the system."
877-917-4380
x 79 goes to Desktop case manager
x 94 goes to Notebooks

5. Try suing them in small claims court, if it's possible and affordable in your state. Read more about one man's success story here:
"Man Gets Brand New Laptop After Suing HP In Small Claims Court For Losing His"

Bonus. Here's HP's warranty information online: h10025.www1.hp.com (Thanks to Jordan Lund)

(Photo: Getty Images)

Once again, the lesson is to keep a separate hard drive just for stuff you don't want people in the repair shop to see.

Geek Squad: A matter of trust [Star Tribune]

Statements + Lawsuit (PDF)

Scott in Ireland writes in with proof that it's not just American/Canadian consumers who get screwed by bad customer service. When his new Acer laptop went kaput, it took him over half a year to finally get a working, equivalent replacement—and after all that, Acer told him they wouldn't extend his warranty for the time he was without a laptop.

I thought I'd let you know about my little adventure with Acer here in Ireland. How these guys stay in business if beyond me. Hopefully it'll help people to make an informed decision before buying from them.
 
I bought a laptop from them in March of 2007. It worked fine for a while, then started acting weird - starting up really slowly, crashing, etc. I made a series of frustrating phone calls and eventually was told to send it back to them for repair. I put my suspicions that they were a bunch of clown shoes aside, and figured they'd get it sorted out.
 
It was away for a month, and when I got it back it had the exact same problem, and blue screened within 15 seconds of turning on. I told them it was still broken, and sent it back to them again. Almost 20 fruitless international phone calls and four months later they eventually said it was beyond repair. I argued and argued and eventually got a replacement.
 
Six weeks later the replacement arrived, and had about half the spec of my original model. I phoned them another five times until someone agreed it was inferior, and told me to send it in and they'd organise a replacement. The guy I was talking to was laughing and said he wasn't surprised I called, that the spec of the one they sent me wasn't even close. Another guy was so rude that I asked to speak to his manager. He told me I'd have to hang up and call back to get someone else, and ask to speak to their manager.
 
I sent the replacement back to them, only to have them courier it back to me. They called me, told me they had made a mistake, and asked that I return it to them again.
 
Eventually, after a total of more than 10 e-mails, 4 faxes, 40 phone calls and 7 months I received an equivalent model. Only, it turns out that it's also got a fault; the charger makes a loud buzzing noise. I e-mailed them to tell them and they say I have to send it back to them, and pay for shipping and insurance. They said they'll have a look, but that it may have to go back to Taiwan for a full inspection. I also asked if they were going to entend my warranty to account for the seven months and they replied with an e-mail that simply said "No extension to warranty."
 
All-in-all, a very slow, rude and ineffective company. Hardly a master class in customer service, doncha think?
 
Cheers,
Scott

MSNBC says that when the hapless customers returned the "defective" computers, Best Buy shrugged and sent them back to the manufacturer. Meanwhile, Denice was selling the parts over the internet. It's estimated that over $100,000 worth of merchandise was lost in this scam.

We suppose this means that not only do you have to check to make sure the stuff you're buying is inside the box when you're shopping at Best Buy, you have to make sure the parts are inside the computer. Fun!

Man Accused Of Gutting, Returning Computers [MSNBC] (Thanks, Jeffrey!)
(Photo: tengaport )

7. iPods have two fixes. Resetting and Restoring.
If both of those features do not work, your iPod is trash. Unless it's under warranty or you purchased AppleCare, then they will give you two options. First is to trade in your iPod for 10% off any model (except shuffle), or they will give you out of warranty replacement, Which usually means that you will pay around $100-$250 depending on the model you purchased.

6. We have 4 things that we will try to sell you when you purchase a computer.
AppleCare, of course, is your extended 3 year warranty, we are told to sell it as a service plan, but it does not do ANYTHING extra, but extend your warranty, and does not cover anything extra. .Mac is a ripoff unless you use the web site hosting. ProCare has to be the biggest ripoff. All this does is upgrade your AppleCare for one year. It has a little perk for business uses, but otherwise useless. Lastly, One-to-One training, which is the best deal in the store.

5. If you have a return outside of the return policy we will most likely take care of you.
If it's sealed we'll take it back, and open, if you speak to a manager and plead your case, they will most likely take care of you no matter what.

4. We do not know ANYTHING about when some product will come out.
And we aren't allowed to speculate on anything that isn't on apple.com. We can get fired if we even tell a customer that a 3G iPhone might come out.

3. Apple Employment: If you want full-time, do not get into this company.
To be full-time, it is a recommendation that you be with the company for a year or more. The shifts are horrible, and they typically have more than 100 people working in a single mall store. For part-time you can get anywhere to 4-20 hours in one week, very very unreliable."

2. Why we will ask you for your e-mail at checkout.
This is for two reasons. One, we will send your receipt to your email, and two there is a survey at the bottom of the email. This leads to the store being ranked on what is called detractors and promoters. The company takes an average from the surveys and ranks us. 10-9 is a promoter, 8-7 is a "passive" and 6 below is a detractor. Which leads to the next confession.

1. If you fill out the survey and rank us 6 or lower, a manager will call you the same day or the next, corporate policy.
They usually will ask why you had a bad experience, and offer to make it better, usually by discounting something or another for you. These are directly related to the salesperson who checked you out, so we get our asses reamed when we make a detractor. Also, If you complain to a manager, nothing usually gets done, it goes in one ear and out the other. Buy something very small, have them email your receipt, and fill out the survey. The management will wait on you hand and foot. Oh, and return the product.

(Photo: madmarch)

The only information Minoru has to go on to reconstruct the last, sad hours of his new laptop's life are the status tracking updates:

• Apr 22, 2008 3:36 AM On FedEx vehicle for delivery
• Apr 22, 2008 5:24 PM At local FedEx facility
• Apr 23, 2008 1:10 PM Shipment exception / Unable to deliver

Wow. So now I'm really disturbed. I called FedEx, and the rep tells me that the package is damaged, and they will not deliver it. I demanded more information, and she switched me to her manager. Ceci Watts at Cincinnati call center was absolutely 0% helpful. You could tell she handled this type of calls frequently. All she could repeat was the same stupid line no matter what I said or asked. This isn't word for word, but it's pretty much how it went:
 
Me: So was the package on the truck at 3:36 AM or not?
Ceci: It was a miscellaneous scan.
Me: What does that mean?
Ceci: It was a miscellaneous scan.
Me: So what does it mean? "On FedEx vehicle for delivery" sounds like it at least made it to the truck for delivery. I would like to know if the package made it to the truck, and when and where the package was damaged.
Ceci: That's irrelevant.
Me: It's relevant because I need to know why I don't have my package.
Ceci: It's irrelevant.
Me: So was it a lie? Are you saying the status was a lie? It never made it to the truck?
Ceci: It was a miscellaneous scan. It doesn't matter.
Me: This is ridiculous.
 
Ceci insisted that there's nothing they can do for me, even though they destroyed my package. My laptop was fine until it entered that mysterious 14-hour window on April 22. It was in FedEx's hands, and it somehow got damaged, and who knows where it is now. The only option for me, Ceci said, was to contact Apple. So even though it's almost impossible for anybody else to be responsible for the matter, they're refusing to correct the situation or be helpful about it in any way. Now I have to take my own time to contact Apple, Apple would have to investigate it, then send me another computer.

Screwed up video display is a problem dear to our heart. In Willy's case, the video problem didn't happen until HP had taken the first crack at fixing his laptop and charged him over $400. They didn't fix it the second time he sent it in, so he sent it once more, again specifying that the video display "has lines, spots, and it scrambles." HP diagnosed a faulty audio component—which Willy says worked just fine before he sent it in—and offered to repair it for $300 more. Willy sent HP an Executive Email Carpet Bomb and has spent hours on the phone with customer service, but it still came back unfixed—but with a shiny new audio PCA. So Willy is disputing the charges with American Express.

I have had this laptop for a good long while, about four to five years, and since then, migrated to a new one, but this one was still old reliable for a while as a backup. Well, as all good computers do no matter what, they eventually develop something, and this one developed an issue where it wouldn't turn on.

Now keep in mind that yes, this is a somewhat old laptop (Compaq R3000) but I have been trying to get this fixed for a while. This has already been in repair three times in one month time. I understood the first time that I would have to pay for the repairs as it is beyond the warranty. At the time, I didn't care; I'm one of those people that would like to see older computers running and being used. The unit does not turn on. I had also requested that the unit be —inspected extensively— and make sure it still runs properly, as I wouldn't know if there was problems since it doesn't turn on.

That was March 26 and I paid $417.90 for the repairs. The repair number for this is:

I get the laptop back on April 1st and immediately found that the computer was making unnecessary fan noises (as if the fan was hitting something inside the computer) as well as developed video problems; the screen was looking like a blur with vertical lines along the screen.

called again to have the unit sent in and the unit arrived at the center at April 7, and received the unit back on April 10. The fan noise is gone but the video is still having the same exact problem. Basically, dead on arrival. That repair number is:

Now I have the unit sent in for the third time (April 11, new repair number: ) over the last four weeks and now they claim that the AUDIO JACKS are broken and I must pay a cost of $312.90. Now I DO know that the audio jacks works as I've tried them through headphones when I had the laptop a second time before the video issue. Unfortunately, this so-called "repair" is not even related to the video problem that came in the second time, and I suspect that would not even get fixed. For the most part, that should have been inspected in the first place at the original repair.

I have been on the phone with HP Support ever since it has entered into the repair facility for the third time. I have asked for supervisors and managers, and they have instead just put me to agent to agent, with some of them even hanging up on me. I've been at my wit's end trying to figure out why they have not repaired the unit, or even replaced it, and why they did not inspect the laptop the first time properly so I wouldn't have been sending it in all the time.

The strange irony of this is that I MYSELF work for technical support for a competing electronics company which deal with EXACTLY THIS class of both technical problems and servicing problems. From my perspective of this and comparing it, you are doing far worse than I remember. I remember it used to be quite quick, snappy, and reliable.

I am sorely disappointed by the support that I have been provided for the notebook, and the difficulty of getting answers and a satisfactory resolution to this problem. Since I have made this charge on my American Express card, I have decided to also dispute the charges to this and halt payment, as I'm not satisfied at all at the quality of the repair and workmanship that you have done with my laptop and I have not gotten any resolution to this.

PREVIOUSLY: Dell Won't Stop Sending Me Catalogs So I'm Burning Them

When my girlfriend encountered problems turning on her laptop, she was frustrated with yet another problem. 6 months ago, her hard drive crashed and she had to have it turned over a couple days of repair at the Genius Bar at the King of Prussia, PA.

She also at that time bought the extended warranty for the computer.
 
So when we went to the Genius Bar on yesterday for service, we were surprised/confused that the invoice they had produced with the serial number of the computer was completely inaccurate. It contained an address and phone number of a person completely different than her computer.
 
On top of that, the warranty that she registered for her computer with Apple was not showing!
 
To me, it's clear that they mixed up the computers. I don't think my girlfriend should be responsible for the other persons wear-and-tear.
 
Thoughts?
 
Also, I have no qualms about this becoming a story on the Consumerist. The Apple at King of Prussia needs to be called out for its horrible service and inadequate retail space.
 
footnote: I'm handling this for my girlfriend b/c she is super busy with work/school and is having a hard enough time adjusting to life without a working computer.

"I am a tech support supervisor for a very well known computer company. (If you must know, this company is notoriously secretive. I think that's a big enough clue.) I felt the need to respond to the "7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep" article you ran with some insights of my own.

I also started near the beginning of a new call center that was supporting three different product lines for said computer company. Customer service was stressed over and over and over again. I've been with the call center for about 5 months, but I've worked in other non-call center positions with the company since 2002. I thought someone needed to shed light on the fact that the seven confessions are not the exception to the rule — they ARE the rule in most cases when it comes to tech support call centers.

This particular call center is all "Tier" (or Level) one support. Within this center, we have Quality Assurance to monitor the agent calls in-house. If necessary, these Tier 1 agents escalate difficult calls to Tier 2 — which can be anywhere in the world. It will almost never be the same person twice.

You're not going to speak to someone's actual supervisor
There is a specific, direct queue line to "Supervisor Requests" for our agents. I don't know why most people think they will actually speak to the support agent's actual supervisor. We're too busy answering technical questions for the agents (regardless of the fact that they have many more resources to find these answers than we do), sitting in worthless status meetings, and reporting to corporate and/or operations about the metrics of our agents. These supervisor requests go to specifically trained Tier 2 agents who spend 90% of their time calming down irritated customers. It is a great perk as a supervisor to know that there are specifically trained agents out there to take the "angry customer" calls so I can actually get work done.

Metrics Rule EVERYTHING
We have very specific goals that we have to enforce as supervisors. 99% of our job (and job security) relies on our ability to keep our statistics within specifications. Handle time is 15 minutes or below at our call center as well, but with a hitch — if it is TOO far below 15 minutes, we also need to be able to reason with our supervisor why we know *for sure* that the agent is not just dropping the calls to keep handle time low. It's a delicate balance, as I'm sure you can imagine. It's the same with after call work — it needs to be below 1.5 minutes.. but if it's TOO low, then we have to be able to answer the questions that arise from that. Moral of the story? Don't over-perform, and don't under-perform and your supervisor will love you — because he/she will not have to answer to his/her supervisor. Quality Assurance AND supervisors are required to monitor calls — supervisors must listen to calls twice per shift (which is nearly impossible). Yes, agents hate this, but wouldn't if they would just do their jobs.

You're on hold so long because agents are ducking their work
To make metrics (and schedule adherence) agents do terrible things, like dropping calls, and something we refer to as AUX-hopping. This means that agents switch between various auxiliary codes (break, after call work, etc.) to not have to take as many calls. What does this mean to the customer in the queue waiting? You now have to wait longer because some nineteen year old punk doesn't feel like taking as many calls as the guy next to him. Now everyone else in all the call centers worldwide for this product have reduced time between calls, and calls in the queue back up even further. It's irritating for everyone involved.

Customer service skills are more important than tech skills, here's why
The tech support agent was correct. In management, we believe it is easier to teach anyone technical support than it is to teach common courtesy. Sure, we could hire only applicants with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from an Ivy League school, but call centers typically employ college students, retirees, and those with a less-than-stellar academic background. Bottom line is, it doesn't matter how well educated you are; we're going to pay you x amount. "But I have a BS in CS from (enter university here)!" That's fine, you can take the x amount or find another job. Our agents do not use scripts — we give them between two to three weeks of training (depending on the product) and then they take it from there. The bottom line is that "techie" people do not want to work for so little — so we hire people who will and make do with what we have. Even the "techie" agents can be some of the rudest, or most lacking in common sense (ie: don't scream at the customer).

Our QA department does not seem as bad as Verizon's. Mostly, they coach agents on ways to show empathy with the customer, how to obtain information without violating privacy policies, etc. Not one agent here has been let go because they did not use the right "buzzword." I guess that's the difference between call centers who use a script, and those who don't.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys Are GOSPEL
This is the number one way that management can evaluate an agent's performance. While our agents are not required to use a certain phrase, or even mention the customer survey, each customer receives one via email after a case is completed for them. They are rated from "Very Dissatisfied" to "Very Satisfied," and as a manager — nothing makes my job easier than telling my boss that all my agents have "Very Satisfied" on all their surveys. I know it is not the usual to fill out the survey or ask the agent to talk to a supervisor when you have received excellent service, but in our call center — that's our bread and butter. Those surveys help to determine who gets promoted, who gets fired, and who gets special perks (best shifts, days off, etc.).

The Verizon agent was also correct in saying that polite customers, even if upset, are more likely to get helped. Those customers are even more likely to get the above-and-beyond service, so please keep that in mind.

-Anonymous"

RELATED: 7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep

(Photo: hanapbuhay)

I am crawling under my desk in my work clothes before I have to take children to school and then run for the train. There is a phone wedged under my ear and a bowl of cereal in one hand. With the other, I am trying to pull a cable from behind my computer while a customer service rep for Treo (like a Blackberry, but worse) attempts to diagnose why the computer just wiped out every article I have ever written and my appointments through next year. She is in Bombay. My children are in my kitchen. They are yelling for me.

Your call is important to us [Larchmont Loop]
(Photo: Getty)

I was wandering around Best Buy yesterday here in Missouri when we came across this. Essentially, the back of this "open box" tagged computer was completely broken off. I realize that this may indeed be the nature of "open box" product, but seriously... 1700 dollars for a computer with this kind of blatant damage?

You'll also notice that it is marked neither damaged or missing parts...

Newegg, however, is charging $40 more for an undamaged version. Seems worth it to us, but what do we know. At least they're not charging more this time.

Andrea eventually shipped the laptop to Dell so they could repair Joel's damage. Sadly, they forgot to repair her headphone jack.

Andrea writes:

I was just reading the story about the pubic hair laptop, and I have my own story about Dell!

Since I bought my Dell Inspiron 9100 in fall 2004, it has had so many problems, making my extended accident insurance totally worthwhile! My charger died after about a year, they replaced it after 3 hours on the phone, and that one died shortly after, which was also replaced. I reformatted the summer after college, and my Wifi quit working. I spent hours on the phone with a multitude of different techs and the last one realized the cd they'd sent me wasn't for a different wireless card. But the worst thing to go wrong was my computer's fans. Being an overzealous first-time computer buyer, I didn't realize what a GIANT this laptop is. After just a few minutes on, it heats up fiery-hot and kicks on the jet-engine fans. And after a few months, the headphone jack attached to one of the scorching fans stopped working.

So I called Dell. Over, and over, and over. Keep in mind this was in 2005. Every tech had their own idea what to do, and many of them spoke almost no English, so it usually took at least 2 hours just to explain what was wrong. Don't get me wrong, they were courteous and they wanted to help, but they just couldn't understand me. Finally, in fall 2006, someone decided to do something about it. They offered to send someone out to replace my motherboard, or ship it off to Dell somewhere. I couldn't afford to not have my computer for a week, so I opted for the Dell technician. Oh jeez was I stupid.

The next day, a gentleman named Joel called to schedule my appointment. He arrived at the scheduled time and went to work. I was alarmed by the overwhelming scent of ALCOHOL and cigarettes on him, but too polite to say anything, I let him do it. Except, he forgot his tools in the truck. He returned 5 minutes later reeking more strongly, but ready to fix my computer. I watched him take out all the parts, gently. My IT boyfriend came over around then, and we sat watching videos and watching Joel. After removing my motherboard, he started replacing parts. Except, they didn't fit. What to do?? GET OUT A HAMMER AND HAMMER IT BACK IN!!?? Oh yes, he did. With my LCD monitor attached.

When completed, there were a few problems. The frame around my monitor was cracked through, and there were 2 nail holes coming up through the wrist rest area and frame of the keyboard. I pointed them out to Joel [the destroyer] and he said 'Yeah, I thought that was weird when I got here'. He asked if it was working now and I said yes(like I was going to say no and have him touch my poor laptop again!) When I lift up my laptop, there was a neat little pile of the bits of plastic he had broken off.

I called Dell right after this and the tech I got was pretty indifferent. After 3 hours, they said they'd send out a different Dell Service Technician to fix the problem. Guess who called? You're right, JOEL! I didn't answer his call. So I called Dell again, and said no, not Joel. I had to explain the damage to this technician too, which despite showing them pictures still took 3 more hours, they put in another service order. It was Joel, AGAIN! This time, he showed up AT MY HOUSE, WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT. He called me 5 times that day, each time leaving angrier and angrier messages about where am I? The only reason I didn't call the cops was because I had just moved and this creepy freaking guy outside my house all day didn't know that I no longer lived there. He had been calling me on his cell phone, so I had no idea what company he worked for or what I was supposed to do. I asked Dell. They told me if I wanted someone else, I would have to call the company. So I did. I complained about him and demanded another technician. And they said he is the only Tech in the area, so it's him or nothing. So I decided maybe losing my laptop for a week wouldn't be the worst thing ever. I am still pissed that his company felt too good to give me an apology. If you live in Madison, WI, beware of JOEL!!

Dell shipped it out and back in 4 days to replace the cracked frame, nailed wrist rest and keyboard frame, and motherboard. Keep in mind the WHOLE POINT was to fix my HEADPHONE JACK. Everything came back all pretty except the jack was STILL BROKEN. AND the computer overheats and shuts down now! I called Dell, again. They stayed on the line with me for hours AGAIN. And FINALLY I got someone who knew something about my laptop!!! Dana shipped me a replacement fan, which was also a replacement headphone jack, and TADA! After 2 years, my headphone jack worked! Now, if my warranty hadn't expired, I could get my computer to stop trying to start on fire, and then shut down! It is completely worthless if I want to use it for longer than 5 minutes.

I attached 3 of the most obvious photos of what was damaged when he hammered my computer. The first is of the cracked LCD frame, the 2nd the weird dent from hammering a screw into the wrist rest, and the 3rd the completely drilled through keyboard frame. And in Dell's defense, my boyfriend got me a Latitude C640 from 2002 they were throwing out at his work and it's wonderful. It is portable, reasonably fast, and doesn't overheat, even after 6 years of use.

It is amazing how good it feels to vent that to someone who could benefit from my experience! Thanks for this opportunity, Consumerist!

So I rarely resort to complaints as I think I am an easygoing consumer, but this time Dell went over the line. Maybe I just needed to write this email to vent, but I think it may be worth a post on your site...

Recently my 1 year old Dell laptop stopped charging the battery, so I called technical support (still under 3 year warranty) to try to resolve the issue. The technician recommended trying to plug another Dell power adapter into the laptop to see if this was the problem, and surprisingly it worked - problem solved...send me a new power adapter and I'll be on my way.

Unfortunately here things took bad turn. The technician thought that it would be a good idea to try the faulty power adapter in my other Dell laptop just to confirm that this was the problem. I told him that this laptop was no longer under warranty and that I didn't really want to mess with anything else since we had already resolved the issue. He said that we had to confirm this before he could authorize a new adapter being sent to me. So I plug it in and ZAP! Burning smell, and my old laptop was fried - nothing could revive it. At this point I was worried the technician would hang up, but to their credit they stayed on the line and after about an hour finally agreed to replace my old laptop. At this point, I was rather satisfied despite all of the problems - I was getting a new replacement for my old laptop.

About a week later, I get my "new" Dell laptop. I open the case, and the instruction manual is bent out of shape, and I start to worry. I reach the bottom of the box, pull out the laptop, and first thing I see is the top is covered in scratches. Some people may say that I should be happy since I was getting a newer model laptop to replace an old laptop with no warranty. My old laptop, however, was in great condition. When I opened up the new laptop, I saw the screen was scratched and dirty, and the keyboard was covered in debris. Wait, not debris....what is that? HAIRS!? Not just any hairs - these could only be described as pubes. I hate to be so crude, but pubes are pubes. Not the incidental curly hair, but rather mini-tufts between the keys. My only guess is that Ron Jeremy was the previous owner. At this point, I called Dell back, and I have written this email in between talking to 3 different people and over an hour of hold time. Nobody wants to help, and I'm reached the limits of my tolerance for poor service.

At this point, I'm considering 3 options:

1. Vacuum it, douse it in alcohol, and just try to use it and forget about "the hedgehog"

2. Sell it and buy a new laptop

3. Go to the gym, run 3 miles, trim body hair directly over the keyboard, send laptop back to dell (this is the cleaned up version)

Any other ideas?

("Free Human Hair" Photo: Kevin Dean)

Hey Consumerist,
 
I've been using Apple products for years. I've always been satisfied with their customer service and exceptional products. Naturally, I was upset when I noticed the MagSafe power adapter on my Intel Core Duo Macbook (ca. 2006) was fraying by the magnetic port, rendering it mostly useless (or at least, useless if I didn't want to set my house on fire charging my Macbook with exposed wires).

Cursing my luck, I tried to reconcile making myself buy a new charger when it was just this small part of the product that was faulty and wondered how this could have happened after extremely meticulous care of my notebook (to the extent that I can count on my hands how many times it's left the house). I went to Apple's online store to check the price ($79) only to discover that there appears to be literally hundreds of complaints from people claiming to have used their adapters for even shorter periods of time, or at least very carefully, before being forced to replace them, and demanding that Apple address the issue of its poorly fortified MagSafe ports.
 
Forcing that many people who have already invested a large amount into a reliable product to buy replacement parts so soon seems like an easily resolved situation that would save Apple a lot of headaches in the future and, more importantly, goes against their image as a company that sells sturdy, easily managed products.
 
Please help! I've resigned myself to the fact that I have to spend that money so I can actually use my notebook but would sleep sounder knowing that the money was going toward something that would last me longer than a Dell charger would. I certainly feel like I've paid for that privilege.

Right now I am typing this trying not to move my computer too much so the 2 steel wool thin wires that are still attached will charge my computer. I am in love with this computer... with power. I smell melting plastic too.
 
The Magsafe adapter on my MacBook Pro, unlike the one on my deep fat frier, has an extremely limited life span. The one on my frier has a reinforced neck where the wire meets the adapter.
 
the adapter never laaves the house.....however, base connecting point of the AC adapter's nifty magnetic head just started to smell of melted rubber; now it is looking melted and i can see the wires inside!

From the law firm's press release:

Apple told consumers that both the 20-inch and 24-inch iMacs displayed "millions of colors at all resolutions." Indeed, the new 24-inch iMacs display 16,777,216 colors on 8-bit, in-plane switching (IPS) screens, as did the previous generation of 20-inch iMacs. But the new 20-inch iMac monitors do not even come close, displaying 98% fewer colors (262,144).
 
While Apple describes the display of both the 24-inch and 20-inch iMacs as though they were interchangeable, the monitors in each are of radically different technology. The 20-inch iMacs feature 6-bit twisted nematic film (TN) LCD screens, the least expensive of its type.
 
The 20-inch iMac's TN screens have a narrower viewing angle, less color depth, less color accuracy and are more susceptible to washout across the screen.
 
Apple's Web site tells consumers that "No matter what you like to do on your computer — watch movies, edit photos, play games, even just view a screen saver — it's going to look stunning on an iMac."
 
In fact, the inferior technology of the 20-inch iMac is particularly ill-suited to editing photographs because of the display's limited color potential and the distorting effect of the color simulation processes.

I bought a Gateway laptop from Best Buy with a warranty a few years ago.

Powercord was loose and wouldn't stay in laptop. First time I brought it in, they sent it away to have the AC jack on the laptop itself replaced. When it came back, now the AC power supply cord was loose because of the jack being loose, so they had to send away for a new one.

A few months later, the AC port was loose again. This time it took them two months because they had to replace the motherboard. When it returned the DVD/CD drive door was warped open and it wouldn't work because according to the guy at the counter, it was jammed in at an angle incorrectly. Because it was my computer I did work from, I couldn't afford to have it gone two more months so I asked the guy at the counter to add a note in the system, under my name, that it came back this way so that when I did return it, they would know they had to fix what they broke.

Flashforward to last week when I took it in to a different location (where I had to wait for 10 minutes for the only two employees to come out of the back) which was a comedy of errors in itself:

1. They had trouble finding my complete history because under my phone number my name is under my first and last, as well as my first and middle initial.
2. They determined that it had to have been a shipping accident, and when they checked my account to see the note I asked the other employee to add they found he didn't put it in there.
3. It took two employees to do all this, because one geek along couldn't determine how to enter a work order in their computer.
4. When it was entered, he printed it too early and promised he would fix it immediately and call me with a new work order number (never called).
5. I did get a call the next day from their computer telling me the laptop was ready. This was an error and was a result of the employee fixing his previous mistake 24 hours later.

One call to the Best Buy to get my new tracking number had me on hold a half an hour before I hung up. The second had me on hold for fifteen minutes. Requests to have them call me back with a new number, three in total, were never returned as they promised.

I called today to get a status update, because the tracking system on their website still said it was arriving when I knew a week ago it already got there.

Today the employee apologized to me that it was going to take a bit to check on my order because he had to log in twice, which led to it crashing all together and him having to use another computer.

And with all of this, they aren't counting having to replace my AC power supply twice as part of the "hardware repairs" even though both times my laptop couldn't power up for the two weeks it would take them each time to replace it. That means that even though I have been without it five times total, it doesn't meet the "lemon policy" of a computer having to be serviced four times in order for them to deem it a lemon and replace it.

They send you paperwork with each replacement and repair telling you what it cost them each time. I determined that when you add what I paid for the laptop to what I paid for the warranty, they still lost money by the hundreds. When I told the kid at the counter that (that replacing it a long time ago with a more reliable laptop would have saved them hundreds in repair costs) he told me the name of the insurance company they use and how they are the ones paying for this, not Geek Squad, not Best Buy.

They are horribly inept on all levels and I regret ever doing business with them. I have found that it didn't matter what location I dealt with or where they sent it away, there was always numerous mistakes and horrible customer service.

People need to be warned and until Best Buy replaces Geek Squad with a better service and system, they shouldn't buy any computer equipment from them.

Well, George, I'd suggest writing to Geek Squad CEO Robert Stevens, but he may be blowing us off. I wonder if he realizes that this kind of rampant incompetence undermines Geek Squad's recent statement in Kiplinger.com, "Says a Geek Squad spokeswoman, 'We have been the target of a blog that prefers to focus on the exceptions to our service and not the overall, vast majority of successful services we provide to clients.'" They have a perfect chance to step up and make sure George gets a working laptop, one way or another.

(photo:meghannmarco)

Jake writes:

I need some help; Some help dealing with Dell.

I purchased a DEll XPS 1530 (red) edition at the end of January. Being the geek that I am, and have had a laptop last up to 4 years (an iBook G4) without problems, so why get insurance?

On (roughly) day 45, as I finished a paper, I closed the laptop. I unplugged it from the charger, set the laptop on the table, unplugged the charger form the wall, grabbed my M1530 off the table and walked upstairs.

I opened the laptop up after I plugged in the charger to the wall and laptop and sat down in my room. There was a huge crack in the LCD screen that starts the the bottom of the screen, which was next to the hinge of the laptop.

$1300, 45 days and there is a huge crack in the screen, that honestly, shouldn't have happened. If they didn't make such cheap products, that wouldn't have happened.

I called Dell since the laptop was under the one year manufacturer semi-warranty. Sure enough, they want money to replace the LCD screen that broke.

Considering that I have seen laptops that have been dropped, kicked, traveled with, taken apart, stepped on and beat to hell and still run perfectly. A less than two minute walk up the stairs and me setting it up so I can use the laptop in bed causes a crack in the LCD screen and Dell is being too cheap to realize that I have a defective laptop.

What should I do?!

Since the laptop is so new you might be able to take advantage of any damage guarantees that your credit card offers. For example, an Amex gold card has up to $1,000 of purchase protection that includes accidental damage (not that this applies to you, or anything, but you'll be sure they won't hassle you.) Some cards will double the manufacturer's warranty, others offer a return guarantee that will fully compensate you if you decide to "return" the item within a certain period of time and the retailer won't accept it. If you can't work it out with Dell, you should call your credit card company and talk to them about what they can do to help you.

It's important to understand what protections your credit (or debit) cards offers so you can take advantage of them.

Good luck!

(Photo:Ben Popken)

In addition, I used to receive catalogs from Dell Home and Home Office but they honored my unsubscribe requests. Obviously whoever is running the small biz catalogs is not doing their job right. It's my hope that this series of beautiful and seemingly childish gestures might possibly prompt Dell to investigate the matter. If it results people's unsubscribe requests actually get honored, then I will have saved more trees by burning this catalog then if I recycled it. It's just a hunch, but somehow I don't think simply placing the catalog in the recycle bin will have the same effect as my direct marketing pyre.