Consumerist
-
timeshares
Alan Thicke Can't Save Tahiti Village Timeshare Company From Going Under
Even the hearty television presence of Alan Thicke couldn't help Consolidated Resorts, Inc., a company owned by Goldman Sachs that sold timeshares, from going belly up. An anonymous tipster emailed us yesterday to say that they "just laid off most of their staff, including all collections, customers service, marketing, information technology departments." And according to this insider, this is good news for consumers. More » -
insiders
More Insider Tips When Buying From Radioshack
There's clearly no love lost between D. and D's former employer, RadioShack. A little over a year ago, D. sent us some insider tips on what to watch out for when you shop at RS. Now here comes a follow-up, with more information on cell phone sales tricks, warranty pitches, and used merchandise. More » -
insiders
Dusty PS3 Inspector Threw Dirt On PS3 So He Wouldn't Have To Repair It
Well well well. New information from an inside source says that the tech threw dirt on the infamous "dusty PS3" to deny the warranty claim because he didn't feel like repairing it. Shocking! His confession, inside.
More »
-
repost
Insiders: Countrywide Made Racist Sub-Prime Loans
The Wells Fargo racist sub-prime mortgage lawsuit reminded me of an old post we did where an ex-Countrywide employee alleged that that loan company had racist practices too. Here's the insider email we posted back in February, 08: More » -
incompetence
Hank Paulson Admits He Never Really Understood How Mortgage-Backed Securities Worked
Here's more proof that the people who probably should have known how they were making all that housing bubble money never did—even those who personally made tens of millions off of it. The Business blog at The Atlantic notes a quote Hank Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO and Treasury Secretary, gave Newsweek: "I didn't understand the retail market; I just wasn't close to it." More » -
insiders
How To Shut Webloyalty Down For Good
A retail insider tells us why Webloyalty/Reservation Rewards stays in business, and how you can stop them by cutting off their juice at the source: More » -
crime
Bad Idea: Confessing To Your $100,000 A Year Shoplifting Habit On National TV
All the clever shoplifting tricks in the world won't save you from yourself if you decide to reveal your secrets on Dr. Phil. Last week a fraud task force raided the home of Laura and Matthew Eaton, who appeared on an episode in November to show the audience how they did it and to say they were going straight. More » -
cash4gold
10 Confessions Of A Cash4Gold Employee
UPDATE 3: We did a feature investigative article on Cash4Gold, entitled, "The Article Cash4Gold Doesn't Want You To Read."
UPDATE 2: Cash4Gold (Green Bullion Financial Services, LLC) sent us a copy of a judgement they obtained on default, granting a "temporary injunction" against the ex-employee to prevent them from "publishing any more confidential, proprietary information, and any defamatory information on the internet."
We continue to look into the ex-employee's statements and will keep you apprised. (7/02/09)
UPDATE 1: Cash4Gold has filed a defamation suit (right-click here and save to your harddrive to view the PDF) against the ex-employee who posted the below allegations against the company on ComplaintsBoard. The company asserts that the employee's statements were entirely false, and claims that she said she was going to "make Cash4Gold be sorry for firing her." They have also asked us to remove this story. We'll be looking into this and will keep you posted on further developments. (4/3/09)
From the acid-cloud haze of the Cash4Gold processing center steps forth a shadowy figure, fingers stained with orange testing fluid. It's an ex-Cash4Gold employee and in-between tuberculosic wheezes he manages to pass you a yellow legal paid with 10 confessions about how his former employer taught him to rip people off. Then he evaporates leaving behind a pile of gold dust. You dip your finger in it and touch it to your tongue. Just as you thought: fool's gold.If you decide to investigate the creaky clock tower, turn to page 4.
If you decide to read the confessions, to the post inside. More » -
-
circuit city death watch
6 Liquidation Sale Tips From A Circuit City Employee
Sam, a reader who says he is a current Circuit City employee, writes in to offer his advice on navigating the liquidation. More » -
insiders
12 Confessions Of A U.S. Bank CSR
A customer service rep (CSR) for U.S. Bank's 24-hour banking hotline has stepped forward from the shadows to reveal 12 tips that can save customers money and time. Insider tips on how to get fees refunded, how "available balance" is a lie, and why you should demand the Portland call center when you have a fraud problem, inside... More » -
insiders
Call Centers: Teleperformance USA Is A Cancer
"Thank you for holding, your call will be answered in the order it was received by an incompetent drug-addict whose training consisted of watching funny stuff on YouTube." That's the substance of this insider confession from a former trainer at Teleperformance USA, one of those outsourced call centers that turns your customer service call into the modern-day version of The Trial. Hear about the restroom sex, drugs sold on-site, and employees getting away with writing down and running off with customer's credit card numbers, inside... More » -
circuit city death watch
Insider: Smart Shoppers Are Going To Circuit City Stores That Aren't Closing
An employee of one of the closing Circuit City stores tells us that they were offered "big bonuses" for sticking around until Dec 31 instead of looking for a new job — but when the liquidator showed up the "bonus" was $0.75 an hour. Ouch. Oh, and yes, the liquidator is raising prices according to this now disgruntled employee. More » -
insiders
Beware Items Without Pricetags At Liquidated Circuit City Locations
A former Circuit City employee says he visited some of his old coworkers and found out about a trick the liquidators are using that you should beware: More » -
insiders
How Outsourced Call Centers Are Costing Millions In Identity Theft
A former Chase call center rep tells the story about this one thief who was able to rip off one customer for over $40,000, thanks to his constant outwitting out the internationally out-sourced security department. It wasn't that hard. Over and over again, he was able to commit credit card fraud just knowing the guy's name, social, and mother's maiden name. More » -
flight attendants
What It's Like To Be A Flight Attendant
A travel reporter for the New York Times spent two days working as a flight attendant on American Airlines, flying between Dallas and New York City and shadowing the real flight attendants as they dealt with drunk passengers, supply shortages, and travelers who are already fed up and tense before they even board the plane.
“Who would have thought, after 30 years, that we’d be a flying 7-Eleven,” Becky Gilbert, a three-decade veteran of the industry told me during a break in our training session in Fort Worth.
More » -
bank of america
Ex-Credit Card Bankers: "Every Customer Who Calls In Is A Mark. It's A Great Big Con."
CNN has an interview with two former credit card bankers who are admitting that their job was to get consumers to max out their credit cards and take on as much debt as possible, regardless of the customer's ability to afford it. They both worked for MBNA at their "sprawling consumer call center in Belfast, Maine." The bankers say that they were told to aggressively push cash advances, and were trained to convince consumers that they needed the maximum amount of debt at the highest interest rate. More » -
wells fargo
Home Mortgage Collector Confessor Responds To Your Comments
In response to some of the comments posted on 12 Confessions Of A Home Mortgage Collector, the confessor has sent in a followup letter to answer your questions, and clarify some of his statements. More » -
confessions
Why I Quit Staples Easy Tech
Sick of seeing customers screwed over and billed for unnecessary repairs by undertrained technicians, a Staples tech writes in to tell the incident that made him quit. See this picture? This is the floor model computer where he was told to copy all of a customer's hard drive data as part of their diagnostic process, then he had to leave the area and leave all the data up on the screen for any customer to see or snag with a thumb drive. The full story, inside... More »
confessions
New York, 3:30 PM
Mon Nov 9
15 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@consumerist.com
tipline: 347-42C-ON95
Co-Managing Editor:
Ben Popken
Email | AIM | Twitter
Co-Managing Editor:
Meghann Marco
Email | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Chris Walters
Email | Twitter
Weekend Editor:
Laura Northrup
Email | AIM | Twitter
Associate Editor:
Alex Chasick | Email
Associate Editor:
Phil Villarreal
Email
