Consumerist
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Posts Tagged “
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7 Confessions Of An Apple Macintosh Specialist
It was a dark and stormy night, and the Consumerist team was hunkered down at HQ poring over leads. Suddenly, we heard a ruckus coming from the alley. Footsteps, followed by the sound of breaking glass and a cat crying out as if to say, "OMGWTF?" We ran out to see who it was, but by the time we got there they were long gone. Only the noise of faint footsteps could be heard dissolving into the distant hum of the night. I glanced down and spotted something on the ground. As I knelt down to pick it up I saw it was a tattered white envelope bearing the words, "7 Confessions of an Apple Mac Specialist." Its contents, inside...More »
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5 Confessions Of An Apple Tech Support Supervisor
A tech support supervisor, from what we figure to be Apple, has stepped forward to break down some behind-the-scenes workings with his underlings who sometimes make both his and consumer's lives difficult. For instance, one of the reasons you might be on hold so long is agents using fake work codes to avoid taking calls. Also, we know that metrics rule the call centers, but, in one of the confessions, he talks about how not only is it important to not go over your average handle time, you also can't go too far under. Just strive to be perfectly average, and you'll go far... More »
leaks
These internal Verizon emails, sent by the same insider and as a a followup to "LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands," shows why some of our readers have complained about Verizon offering them one price and billing them another, and then being inflexible in offering service credits. It appears to show that Verizon mailed out a half a million "Blitz" promotional rate cards, then decided it was an error and pulled the offer from the computers. Then Verizon let people get the advertised offers, but only if the customer specifically asked for it. Around the same time, on March 3rd, management cuts the discounts reps can give to $150. Two weeks later, it's $50. Two weeks after that, it's zero. Even if a customer was overbilled and legitimately deserved a credit, tough titties, Texas, you weren't going to get it. Verizon insider's explanation, rebuttal to the response by Verizon PR pointman John Bonomo, and the internal emails, inside...
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Internal Documents Show Why Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands
These internal Verizon emails, sent by the same insider and as a a followup to "LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands," shows why some of our readers have complained about Verizon offering them one price and billing them another, and then being inflexible in offering service credits. It appears to show that Verizon mailed out a half a million "Blitz" promotional rate cards, then decided it was an error and pulled the offer from the computers. Then Verizon let people get the advertised offers, but only if the customer specifically asked for it. Around the same time, on March 3rd, management cuts the discounts reps can give to $150. Two weeks later, it's $50. Two weeks after that, it's zero. Even if a customer was overbilled and legitimately deserved a credit, tough titties, Texas, you weren't going to get it. Verizon insider's explanation, rebuttal to the response by Verizon PR pointman John Bonomo, and the internal emails, inside...
More »
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7 Confessions Of A Sears Electronics Salesperson
A Sears electronics salesperson has generously offered to share some insider knowledge of how the game is played at Sears. Inside you'll learn why you shouldn't buy the extended warranty, why the salesperson keeps steering you towards one certain brand, and the pricing codes that tell you whether or not you're buying a discontinued product. Enjoy!More »
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Confessions Of A Hedge Fund Manager Redux
n + 1 has a published a sequel to their much-beloved-by-us anonymous interview with a hedge fund manager. In this episode, HFM explains what went wrong with Bear Stearns:n+1: So can you tell me what happened with Bear Stearns? What were the steps?More »
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C writes:
Confessions Of A Debt Settlement Company Worker
C writes:After spending a year (one of the worst of my life) working at a debt settlement company, I feel that I am obligated to warn as many consumers as possible about how badly you can ruin your financial situation by using one of these companies. My new job is at an all natural bakery, I no longer wish to swerve my truck into a tree on the way to work. Debt settlement is the process of eliminating your debt by ceasing payment to the creditor, and then negotiating with the card companies or collection agency to pay less than the balance owed. The debt settlement company charges a rather hefty fee for this service; however, the consumer should be saving money on the deal because they are paying significantly reduced balances to clear their debt. This is how it is supposed to work. This is not how it usually works.More »
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Former Sprint CSR Tells All
A man who worked on the front line of Sprint's customer service department sent us some dirt on what goes on over there, including officially designated fake supervisors, obnoxious personal notes left in your account from your last call, and credit quotas of about $2.50 per call. "I was once punished by a Supervisor and written up because I was giving too many courtesy credits. Apparently Sprint doesn't feel that being transferred 7 times and then hung up on is worth $10 in return." More »
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Manager Defends Retail Renting As Valuable Sales Tool
A former camera store manager came forward to defend retail renting as a common tactic that helps drive sales. Retail renting is when a customer buys a pricey item like a prom dress with the intention of returning it later. Our completely unscientific poll shows that 70% of you disapprove of retail renting, but our tipster insists that it is a victimless crime and a valuable sales tool. Our enlightening chat with the former manager, inside. More »
confessions
LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands
A mysterious letter was anonymously faxed to our headquarters by a self-described "disgusted" Verizon customer service rep angry at how he/she says Verizon is screwing over landline customers. Here's the highlights of his gut-spilling:
- 30,000+ people nationwide have still not received the free HDTVs Verizon promised new FiOS triple-play subscribers
- Verizon totally screwed up the "blitz" promotion, leading some customers signing up and not getting their discounts, others getting too much discount, and others not getting their discount for months
- Employees issued over $1 million in credit in January '08, double what was given out in Jan '07
- $250 in discretionary credit has been reduced to $50
- Internally, Verizon refers to customer service reps who give out "too much" credit due are called "offenders."
If his allegations are true, they could prove fodder for the NJ AG's office.
Full letter scan, inside...
More »
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10 Confessions Of A Telephone Tech Support Quality Assurance Guy
Read in awe as a former Quality Assurance Specialist divulges the deepest, darkest secrets of outsourced technical support centers. Learn what happens to "rogue" call centers who refuse to give terrible customer service, why the tech support guy stops listening to you after you say certain keywords, and so much more. More »
confessions
The 10 Lies A Door-to-Door Alarm Salesman Tells
Taylor sells home alarm systems door-to-door, and he is the devil, lying, manipulating, and preying on customer's fears push a product. Now he has stepped forward to confess/brag about his sins:
I lie. I lie to people a lot about their home safety. And I don't feel particularly good about it, but when my iPhone buzzes in my pocket, I forget the lies I've told and think of the MacBook Air that just shipped to my house.The ten lies he tells, inside... More »I sell home security systems for a living and I only work the three summer months of the year, and maybe four or five weeks the rest of the year. What I fail to mention is that my bank account regularly has 6 digits. All because I lie to people for a living....
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10 Confessions Of A Ritz Camera Salesperson
A Ritz camera salesperson writes in to give you the skinny on scanning, digital prints, and which memory cards are just a ripoff. More »
cellphones
9 Confessions Of A Retentions Representative
Retentions representatives are the cellphone company's last line of defense between you and freedom. One brave retentions representative has come forward to teach us how to craft a direct, earnest request that will lead retention reps to do your bidding. Rivaled in effectiveness only by executive customer support, retentions reps are empowered to strike down nuisance fees and bargain liberally, all to keep you as a customer. If you were ever tempted to threaten your cellphone company with cancellation, this one is a must read. More »
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7 Confessions Of A Verizon DSL Tech Support Rep
A former employee has stepped forward to tell us what it's like to work as tech support rep in a Verizon DSL call center. Learn about how the supervisors aren't really supervisors, the numbers and call times the reps have to meet to keep their jobs (and the sneaky tricks they use to meet these numbers), and more... More »
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9 Confessions Of A Former Sports Authority Manager
A former Sports Authority manager came forward to explain why their coupons are so damn useless. According to our tipster, "the coupons are always a sham," but apparently, gift cards worth less than $10 can be redeemed for cash. Read his other nuggets of knowledge along with zesty executive customer service contact information, after the jump. More »
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36 Confessions Of A WaMu Banker
Reader B works at WaMu and wanted to share some tips that would be helpful to the everyday consumer. Most importantly, B gives some instructions for getting those annoying overdraft fees taken off of your account.CheckingMore »
- About the WaMu Free Checking, yes it is a different "free" checking account. We just came out with the "WaMu" part about a couple of years ago, so if you have any "free" checking account older than that I suggest you change it to the newer one.
insider advice
7 Lies You'll Hear From Salesmen At Electronics Stores
Future Shop is a Canadian consumer electronics retail chain. Charlie used to work there, and has now passed along the 7 most common lies he heard salesmen use on unsuspecting customers. Whether you have a Future Shop in your area or not, you'll find these lies familiar. (We ran into a lot of them back when The Wiz was still in NYC, in fact.)More »
