"People think when they come to court that they are going to get instant relief," said Judge Rebecca Dallet of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. "We can give what the law allows, but we have no way of getting the money for them. I don't think people realize that."

In two stories over the past few days, Ellen Gabler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has tried to track down Craig Hueffner, who has sold spas through the Wisconsin State Fair for most of the past 11 years. There's a fairground pavilion named after him, and his caricature is painted on it. His brother was even present this year selling spas. But many customers have had trouble getting Hueffner to pay contractually obligated rebates (which he offered even when he knew that the company behind the rebates was having financial problems)—and it seems no one can track him down, because he repeatedly gives incorrect addresses and contact information.

Those who've tried to sue Hueffner in small claims court say he's an expert at wriggling out of his responsibility to pay. He lists different addresses and different business names to avoid being served with court papers, they say, and he stalls in court.

After the first article appeared, some customers were given a lucky break—Hueffner's real address—but Hueffner may have frustrated and exhausted the couple to the point that they're giving up:

After Sunday's P.I. story appeared, Albert and Sally Merschdorf received a call from someone who knew Hueffner's home address. The Merschdorfs gave up trying to sue Hueffner last October after they said they spent at least $300 and many hours trying to track him down and serve him with court papers.

"At this point, I don't know if it's going to do me any good," Albert Merschdorf said of Hueffner's address. "It's frustrating getting it now, rather than when we were trying to serve him (with court papers.)"

There's not much you can do to help track down Hueffner, but you can ask Bob Lauter, the CEO of Master Spas, whether or not he's still doing business with Hueffner even after knowing what he's been doing to customers. Lauter told the paper that he'd investigate, but then fell silent and stopped returning calls:

Craig Hueffner worked as an independent dealer of Master Spas, a brand of hot tubs sold by the Fort Wayne, Ind., company.

Bob Lauter, CEO of Master Spas, said he knew Hueffner had run into trouble with the rebate program but said he didn't know about the judgments against Hueffner or customer complaints. He also said his company hadn't sold Hueffner products in six months.

"We have to look at this, re-evaluate it, and probably terminate him as a dealer," Lauter said. "I don't want our customers to be involved with that."

Three weeks later, however, Lauter wouldn't return repeated calls, so Public Investigator could not confirm whether Hueffner was terminated as a dealer.

Here's Master Spas' contact info:

Master Spas
6927 Lincoln Parkway
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
260-436-9100

"Spa dealer elusive in paying court-ordered debts" [JS Online]
"'Spa Man’ still elusive, even at home " [JS Online] (Thanks to !)
(Photo: Getty)

This past weekend, I went to Bloomingdales with a gift card that I received two years ago. The salesperson told me it had "expired." I was furious. How could a gift card "expire" after such a short time? How could they take "my" money?

I searched Bloomingdales.com, and learned that gift cards purchased after Feb. 2008 never expire.

That didn't comfort me. Then I sent an email to Customer Service. Lo and behold: they replied with a phone number to call to "restore" the balance in my expired card:

1-866-593-2540

A minute and one phone call later, I have the full $109 back on my card.

It's interesting how no one at the store was willing or able to give me this information — and how there's no directions about it on Bloomingdales.com.

703-434-8200 x3

I just opened my mail for today. I just received a pre-approved credit card application and they ::oops:: included another one for my neighbor, in my envelope.

Gosh, that doesn't sound very secure.

Of course I will just shred both pre-approved applications. I wouldn't want pre-approved cards floating around out there with my name on it in strangers mailboxes. So included is also instructions from the company [on] how to remove your information from the database. I know I wouldn't trust them with mine.

If you want to make sure LPC doesn't mail your pre-approved credit card app to someone else, you can contact them at the addresses below:

LPC
P.O. Box 21804
Los Angeles, CA 90021

customerservice@lowpaycard.com

This summer, I joined Bally in what I was told was a month-to-month membership. I let the membership run out, and just discovered that not only have they been automatically renewing my membership, they put me in a 36-month contract that can't be cancelled. I felt incredibly stupid - had I not read the contract carefully enough? Etc. etc.

The copy of the contract that they gave me does indeed say that it is for 36 months, but this contract is not the same as the one I signed, and it is blank.

One of the places I would have signed, had this been the same contract, is immediately preceded by "The length of the term of this contract is 36 months...by signing below, you acknowledge [this]" in a large bold font. Even if I hadn't read the contract at all, I would have noticed that. But because memory can always fail, and I am astounded by the stupid things I do sometimes, I checked online, and apparently this is standard business practice for them.

Bally sucks. I'm pissed. In true college-student style, I've handed it off to my father, who will hopefully get this mess fixed, because if not, I, along with many other people who apparently have been similarly scammed, will be out a few thousand bucks.

Chanda, if they can't provide the contract you signed, they won't be able to hold you to that 36-month agreement. It will be awesome if your father can resolve this for you, but it will be awesomer if you handle it yourself, because you'll help teach this Bally Total Fitness to not assume college students are easy marks. You might want to try cheryls50's suggestions on this Bally post from April—she recommends you send a certified letter to Bally's corporate office and copy your state's Attorney General on it as well. Bringing the AG into the situation should help put some weight behind your demands that Bally cancel this fraudulent 36 month membership. Be sure you make it clear that Bally must agree in writing to not report anything negative on your credit history, too.

Here's some contact info we were able to find for mailing a letter. If you need help drafting a good letter to these guys, check out our tips on this post. (It's for email letters, but will work for snail mail too.)

Bally Total Fitness
Don R. Kornstein, Interim Chairman
John H. Wildman, SVP Sales and Interim Chief Marketing Officer
8700 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
Chicago, IL 60631
773-380-3000 (Phone)
773-693-2982 (Fax)

And remember to always make a copy of any contract you sign, so that in the future you can put an end to this sort of con as soon as someone tries to pull it on you.

Here is some information you might find handy.

Call 401-765-1500 and press #

This will get you into the Company phone directory. All you have to do is say the name of the person you want to call...including the CEO (Tom Ryan). You wont get him, he has 2 dedicated secretaries, but it will get things moving along.

Also, if the people being "nasty" are pharmacists or in-training, the worst they will get is a slap on the hand. There is a lack of pharmacists in the country right now so no-one will get fired.

The most customer service can authorize is a $25 gift card. That is hard-coded into the system. The only person that can go over that limit is the District manager. You can usually find their name on the main store door (should list the manager and DM).

If you need a list of CVS executives to navigate the directory, check here.

Now it reads,

Your questions and concerns are very important to us.

In an effort to provide a faster response, and to ensure your personal security, we ask that you please use our online chat (available on most pages in the upper right corner), call or visit us at one of our retail locations. This will ensure the most complete and timely response to your questions and concerns.

Well, at least now they've provided an explanation (and there's at least one reader who agrees with them).

Remember, if you've tried to resolve a problem with your Qwest account and haven't had any luck, you can always try one of the people listed in their corporate directory.

(Photo: Getty)

Justin tried to contact Qwest last week to resolve a problem with their service. He clicked the "E-mail Us" link under "Residential" and a window popped up with the following message:

Your questions and concerns are very important to us, however we are no longer able to respond to email. Please consider the other contact options available.

The "Small Business" email option has been disabled, too.

Justin points out,

Email is an amazing tool for communicating complex technical problems. My intention was to email them a screenshot, which clearly shows the problem. Explaining this issue over the phone would be nearly impossible.

Email is also useful for contacting customer support when you don't have a lot of time to sit around waiting to be told how Very Important you are to the company. Apparently, however, it's too old fashioned for Qwest to deal with.

Remember, if you've tried to resolve a problem with your Qwest account and haven't had any luck, you can always try one of the people listed in their corporate directory.

(Photo: Getty)

Greyhound Lines, Inc.
Attn: David Leach, CEO
15110 Dallas Pkwy, Suite 600
Dallas, TX 75248-4635

Operator with Executive Office: 214-849-8219
Bryan: 214-849-8217
Ursala: 214-849-8215
Safety Dept: 214-849-8214
Claudette: 214-849-8213
Jennell: 214-849-8211

These are the numbers that I was able to reach people, however, you can try to reach other live people by dialing 214-849-82XX

Mail customer service complaints to:
Customer Service
Greyhound Lines, Inc.
P.O. Box 660689, MS 490
Dallas, TX 75266-0689

Greyhound's parent company:
Laidlaw Inc.
Kevin Benson, CEO
55 Shulman Boulevard, Suite 400
Naperville, IL 60563
U.S.A.

Laidlaw's parent company:
First Group PLC
Attn: Moir Lockhead, CEO
Carmuirs House
300 Stirling Road
Larbert
FK5 3NJ

Greyhound Bus Call To Action
(Photo: Omar Omar)

It appears that classiccloseouts.com has decided that they could get a nice revenue boost by going back through their files and giving all their past customers a nice new charge on their credit cards. Of course, they don't answer their phones, their voicemail is full, and there's no notice of the charge.

I got one ($49.99), and it looks like a few thousand other folks did, too, with the amounts ranging from $39 to $69. Lovely.

Rip-off Report has a similar story from another customer, this time for $69.99. In that instance, Traci writes that she only ordered from the company once back in 2004.

Another Rip-off Report reader found a $29.99 charge late last month, and despite over ten calls to the company's customer service number, never received an explanation or any sort of response from the company—although the charge was reversed four days later. Mrthurms gives the following contact information for the company:

A member of SlickDeals reports the same fraudulent charge, and says he shopped there once "a year or two ago" for a $5 blanket that was featured as a slickdeal.

He reminds everyone to immediately dispute the charge and consider requesting a new card. He also suggests filing complaints with Trust-e and the Better Business Bureau.

(Photo: Getty)

Reader Sean writes:

After being disconnected from Verizon Wireless’ regular support line about three times in a row, I did some digging and got a phone number for their tier 3 voice support, and tier 2 data support. They both use the same number. These people actually know what they are doing and get things fixed. Also, they can authorize overnight RMA’s without having to go ask their boss. No long phone tree either!

(Photo: northernplateguy)

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)

With my recent problems with Best Buy I have found these addresses scattered around and I think people here could really use them.
 
Brad Anderson CEO/Vice Chairman/Director -
brad.anderson@bestbuy.com
 
Shari Ballard, Executive Vice President, Retail Channel
Shari.Ballard@bestbuy.com
 
Kim Motz at 612.291.5332 Shari Ballard's assistant???
Kim.motz@bestbuy.com
 
Bruce Chatterley, President and Chief Executive Officer
Bruce.Chatterley@bestbuy.com
 
Steve Delp, Chief Operating Officer, Magnolia Audio Video
Steve.Delp@bestbuy.com
 
Brian Dunn, President and Chief Operating Officer
Brian.Dunn@bestbuy.com
 
Julie Gilbert, Senior Vice President, Retail Training
Julie.Gilbert@bestbuy.com
 
Jena Lund, Julie Gilbert assistant at 612-291-4030
Jena.Lund@bestbuy.com
 
David Hemler, Senior Vice President, Best Buy for Business
David.hemler@bestbuy.com
 
Paula Prahl, Vice President, Public Affairs
Paula.Prahl@bestbuy.com
 
Lisa Smith- Best Buy Vice President Customer Care
Lisa.Smith@bestbuy.com
612-291-5421 Office
 
Sean Skelley, Senior Vice President, Business Group Leader,
Sean.Skelley@bestbuy.com
 
PR number at (612) 292-NEWS
 
Susan Busch, 612-291-6114 Director, Corporate PR
susan.busch@bestbuy.com
 
Dawn Bryant, 612-291-6119 Manager, Corporate PR
dawn.bryant@bestbuy.com
 
Mark Paragi
Senior Executive Resolution Specialist
Best Buy Corporate Campus
(612) 292-0077 Direct
(952) 430-7033 Fax
mark.paragi@bestbuy.com
 
Investor Contacts: Jennifer Driscoll, 612-291-6110 Vice President, Investor Relations
jennifer.driscoll@bestbuy.com
 
Charles Marentette, 612-291-6184 Senior Director, Investor Relations
charles.marentette@bestbuy.com
 
Carla Haugen, 612-291-6146 Director, Investor Relations
carla.haugen@bestbuy.com

Working
stephanie.comfort@qwest.net - Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy
teresa.taylor@qwest.net - Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer
john.richardson@qwest.net - Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President

Bounced back
edward.mueller@qwest.net - Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer
richard.baer@qwest.net - Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
william.johnston@qwest.net - Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer, Controller
frank.popoff@qwest.net - Found a press release referring to him, I believe he's on the Board.

RELATED
"Qwest Sells Woman "Cheaper" Package That Costs More, Has Unmentioned 2-Year Commitment, And Requires New Modem"

The answer is almost always "No." When this happens we have to guess.

Here is one method of guessing that often yields results. Instead waiting around for no reason, you can do it yourself!

You will need:

1) Google Finance

2) The Company's Website

3) Your Brain

Step 1) Figure out the email address format. Either

a) Type *@companyname.com in Google and see what comes up in bold in results to figure out what they're using as a format. This post has more on this technique.

b) Go to the company's website. Find the place where they post their press releases. Open a press release. Look for an email address that ends with the company's name. Do not email this person.

Step 2) Go to Google Finance. Enter the company's stock symbol or name. Scroll down to where the top executives are listed.

Step 3) Using your brain, apply the email address format from the press release email to the names of the executives listed in Google Finance. It will probably be something like "FirstName.LastName@CompanyThatINeedToSpeakWith.com"

Step 4) Send a very short, very concise, very polite email to the executives explaining that your problem is not being dealt with adequately through the usual channels and that you would like someone with more authority to contact you to discuss the situation. Feel free to CC: tips@consumerist.com so we can listen in.

We're not sure if this is distressing, or oddly comforting.

Rob writes (emphasis ours):

I wanted to write in to tell of a positive experience I had using the Sprint Consumerist Hotline. I spoke with a very knowledgeable associate named Shondra [redacted]. She listened to my issue, and then immediately started working through all of the red tape to get it resolved. The whole process took nearly 2 weeks, but she kept me throughly informed of the status of my case and in the end, was able to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. Before resorting to calling this support line, I had called the regular support line, and was passed around to several departments, and several hangups. Shondra was always patient with me, and only became impatient when talking to other departments within Sprint that wanted to argue about insignificant details rather than focus on the issue at hand. I was able to listen in a couple of times as she spoke with the porting department, and was amazed at the amount of run-around she was given by people in her own company. Thanks Consumerist, and thank you Shondra!

Rob S

(Photo:Maulleigh)

Dear Consumerist(s)...

I was a frustrated Xbox 360 owner. Long story short, I had 6 Xbox 360 since launch that needed to be replaced, 4 of them due to poor quality control with the refurbished units (only 2 fell victim to the overheating issue). I had already purchased an extended warranty, beyond the extended one Microsoft provided. On the 6th repair, I was insisting on getting a new, not-refurb, unit. I escalated the call as high as I could, to where I was given a special phone number and extension for a case worker of sorts.

I was told that if I had called a few days sooner (closer to when I received the 6th unit), I could have gotten a new unit...but it was too late. He also insisted he was as high as I could go, and there was no flexibility. I thought what I was requesting was fair, and was getting very frustrated.

Around the time I received the box in which to send back my busted 360, The Consumerist posted the email addresses for Microsoft execs, including Bill Gates. I typed up my case, clicked send, and crossed my fingers. Just two days later I received a call from a rep who was perfectly willing to replace my 360 with a new unit! The turn over time was fast, and so far my 360 has worked flawlessly! Granted, it wasn't in a brand new retail box, so I will never know if it is truly new, but it had no scuffs like my refurbs did, and smelt like a new item. So I just wanted to than you guys, and if you are ever at the Jersey shore, come on over for a BBQ and some Xbox 360 gaming!

AlteredBeast

(Photo:AlteredBeast)

RELATED: Contact Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

I went looking on Motorola's website for a corporate office phone number without any luck, until Meghann pointed me to the company's Google Finance profile, which listed the phone number. I called and requested to be transferred to Ed Zander's office. After being queried as to the nature of my call, I was instead transferred to their Customer Advocacy group.

For the record, the phone number is 1-847-576-5000. If you stay on the line and ignore the voice prompts you'll get an operator in due time.

Once transferred I spoke to an extremely friendly, polite woman named Kimberly who took my case number, read through the notes, and then said the magic words: "We'll just send you a new phone. Will that resolve the matter?" She did mention that there was a "transition" in their repair center structure, but quickly followed that that should not concern me. I'm told I'll have my new phone next week.

Thanks, Chris!

(Photo:physis3141)

While we do understand that Apple's warranty doesn't cover throwing your laptop into a river or sitting on it, most of the complaints we get are from genuine-sounding people who are astounded and hurt by being called liars and denied warranty coverage under a plan they paid a lot of money for.

Louis is such a person. After getting the runaround from Apple he sat down and wrote a nice letter to Steve Jobs about the poor quality of service that Apple's warranty repair team was giving him. He blind CC'd the complaint to us. You you can read it... and Louis' follow-up email, inside.

Louis writes to Steve Jobs:

June 10, 2007

Steven P. Jobs
1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014
sjobs@apple.com

Mr. Jobs:

My name is Louis [redacted], and I have been a loyal Macintosh user for a relatively long period of time. I am writing this letter to inform you about the horrible experience I have been recently having with both Apple, Inc. and its products. Taking my years of using Apple's products and services into account, I cannot say that I have ever experienced a situation as disappointing as the situation I am detailing to you today. As such, I purchased my MacBook Pro (Serial number: [redacted]) on March 7, 2006, only to find its enclosure becoming extremely hot after some time of use and the battery beginning to fail after two months. I had called AppleCare to resolve the issue, and the battery was replaced under my AppleCare warranty. The MacBook Pro was relatively fine for eleven months, that is until its display failed.

The failure of the MacBook Pro's display occurred on April 7, 2007, when I was using the computer at my desk. The laptop is always used on my desk, as I was instructed to do so by AppleCare when I initially complained about its intense heat. As such, the MacBook Pro is rarely handled, only to transport it to Apple for service. After I was finished with my work on the computer, I had put the computer to sleep by gently closing its lid. I have always closed the lid by putting a slight amount of pressure on it until the lid made contact with the bottom casing. This time, however, the hinges failed to prevent the lid from falling, and the lid subsequently made contact with the bezel much more quickly than ever before. At this point in time, I realized that I still required use of the computer, and I lifted the lid up to awake the MacBook Pro from its sleep. I did this only to find the display plagued by a series of vertical lines covering about 2/3 of the screen's area. I was initially bewildered by this, as I had never seen it occur before on any of my previous computers with LCD displays. I rebooted the computer several times, reset the PRAM, and even reformatted the hard drive with a fresh copy of OS X, but none of these things worked. I had no choice but to call AppleCare for support.

My initial AppleCare call (Case ID:[redacted]) resulted in a troubleshooting session essentially similar to the steps I had already conducted. The support agent, Sue, determined that I would have to bring the computer into an Apple Store for service, as there was nothing more AppleCare could do for me over the phone. I explained that the Apple Store nearest my home was a bit of a drive away, but bringing it there was still suggested. I then brought the computer to the Sagemore Apple Store in Marlton, New Jersey as soon as physically possible. The problem occurred over Easter weekend, so the store was not open until Monday, April 9th. The employees there determined that the computer would have to be sent out for service, and subsequently arranged for an at-home pickup. The employee that assisted me, Eric, inspected my computer while on the phone with the AppleCare depot, noting that it was in flawless condition. The process was relatively fast, and I thanked the employees for their assistance. A box arrived at my home the next day, and I packed the MacBook Pro for it to be serviced (Repair ID: [redacted]).

Some days later, I decided to confirm my repair status via Apple Support's online repair status service. I noticed that the status indicated something akin to "Apple needs more information before we can repair your product. Please contact AppleCare." By this time, I was surprised, as I had ensured that the Apple Store employee had provided all of my contact information to the AppleCare depot agent when the service request was arranged. I then called AppleCare, and the representative presented with me of a charge for $1259.95, based on the repair depot's claim that the MacBook Pro had experienced "physical damage." She then noted that the depot claimed that the bottom casing was showing "warping." I had taken pictures of the MacBook Pro immediately before I had packaged it for service, and I could not identify the damage that the the repair depot was claiming. I requested to speak with a supervisor so the charge for service would be removed, but the supervisor failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion at the time. She then arranged for the MacBook Pro to be shipped back to my home without repair, as I had no other options at the time. In the process, she assured me that all of the components aside from the display and lower bezel casing would remain covered by my AppleCare plan. I had called again some time after that call in hopes of speaking with a representative that would repair the computer, but the representative would not agree to do so. This representative also confirmed that the only components no longer covered by my AppleCare agreement were the bottom bezel and LCD display. The representative then suggested that I file a claim under my credit card company's extended warranty plan. In attempt to minimize the amount of aggravation on my part, I filed a claim with Visa for this service and waited for Visa's response.

About a month later, I had received a call from a Visa claims administrator, and he stated that my claim was denied based upon Apple's claims of "physical damage" to my unit. The claims administrator stated that he had spoken with Aaron at Apple, and Aaron had noted that there was "corrosion in the hinges that caused them to fail and a cracked screen." As I had no other options, I then called AppleCare again in an attempt to resolve the issue.

By this time it was May 15th, and I spoke with Crystal [redacted]. She further detailed the depot's claimed problems with my MacBook Pro, and these included the "warping," "physical damage," and "bottom bezel damage." I explained to her that I did not cause the damage myself, and that no other person had handled the machine while it was in my possession. That is, while it was not at Apple to be serviced. She explained that there were pictures that the depot had taken illustrating this claimed damage, and that she was able to send the entire set to me. I received these pictures, and to this day, I fail to see any significant abnormalities with the computer. Crystal then claimed that Apple's images prove that the LCD screen was physically cracked, yet the images which were sent to me do not illustrate anything remotely close to proof that the screen is "cracked." Moreover, she denied that my computer's hinges were corroded when I stated that is what Apple told Visa. I asked her to verify the claims again, and she again denied the existence of such corrosion. I was beginning to become suspicious of Apple's practices at this point, as the information given to either to me or my credit card company was incorrect. After about an hour of attempting to resolve the issue, I was yet again left without many options. One of these options was contacting the Better Business Bureau, and I filed a complaint with them later that day. When had filed the complaint, I had realized that Apple was not a BBB member, but still believed that Apple would at least respond to the complaint by the given deadline. Now, it seems that I was wrong about that belief.

Since the lines on my MacBook Pro's display were progressively worsening, I was forced to connect an external monitor to the computer to continue my daily work. As I do not use the machine solely for work, I attempted to play the few modern, Mac-based games available (Call of Duty 2, Civilization IV), and found that the MacBook Pro would unexpectedly shutdown while playing these games. These shutdowns would not even prompt the infamous kernel panic message, the computer would just completely cease operation. Further use of the machine led me to realize that the problem was only apparent while using graphics or CPU-intensive applications, as well as Windows XP under BootCamp. The problem would never occur when just using web browsing or email applications under OS X, regardless of version. As I had been familiar with a similar problem on the MacBook line of computers, I called AppleCare for assistance (Case ID: [redacted]). After detailing to him the problems which Apple claimed were wrong with the computer, the support agent stated that it was a hardware issue, most commonly with the logic board, and that a box would be sent to my home for repair (Repair ID: [redacted]). With the assurance of the previous support agents that all components aside from the screen and bezel would be covered, I naturally expected that the repair would be covered. As it turned out, this was not the case.

Two days after I had shipped the computer, I checked Apple's online support status site, only to see that Apple now needed more information about my product before it can be repaired. I then called AppleCare, and spoke with Obi. Obi claimed that the previous assessment of physical damage voided my computer's entire warranty until the fee for repair of the screen and bezel was paid. I explained to him that was not in line with what was told to me by previous representatives, and that the problem was relatively common. This did not have any effect, so I requested to speak with a supervisor, Jennifer. Jennifer confirmed Obi's statement that the entire warranty was voided because "our repair depot does not handle partial repairs." She further explained that computers which Apple claims have experienced "physical damage" are "hard to warranty." As any reasonable person would do, I responded that that was a ridiculous statement based upon the other representatives' claims, and that I would have to complain about this issue to Apple directly. Jennifer confirmed that Apple had received a letter on my behalf, and that I was "not being ignored." As it is past the initial deadline for Apple's response, June 7th, is sure seems as if this is not the case. As Jennifer was a dead-end for what she could offer me, I called AppleCare back again.

This time, I had spoken with Louise, and she confirmed the statements of the previous two representatives, Obi and Jennifer. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and was transferred to Cathy [redacted], possibly the most helpful person I had ever spoken with at AppleCare. After explaining the whole situation to her, including the fact that the corroded hinges statement differs from what was given to Visa, and the fact that other examples similar to the problems my MacBook Pro was experiencing could be located on the internet, she performed an intensive search of any applicable information. After about fifteen minutes of searching, she failed to uncover any information about the intense heat, claimed case warping, hinge failure, or screen failure affecting a "significant number" of MacBook Pros. If needed, I will send links detailing these issues affecting other user's machines. I informed her that I had viewed an image of a MacBook Pro in Germany with case warping almost exactly matching Crystal's description of the warping affecting my MacBook Pro. Sadly, she could not take the information regarding how large of a user-base this issue is affecting, as Apple did not have a significant amount of similar reports in their support database. Disheartened by this, I thanked Cathy for her attempt in assisting me and ended the support call.

Although I have been told by several representatives that Apple's CEO does not accept mail, I am now asking for your assistance with the issue. In all of my time spent dealing with the computer and electronics industries, I have never before experienced anything quite like my experience with Apple and its support services. Over the course of two months, I have invested a great amount of my time endeavoring to resolve this issue, but have miserably failed. I have since recalled the belief I once held when I had initially switched to the Mac platform several years ago, a belief that Apple was one of the few companies in the industry which actually cared about its customers. Taking my recent experience with Apple into account, this belief could not have been further removed from the truth. I now ask you both as the CEO of a multinational corporation, as well as a decent human being, to provide a working computer for me. I have spent a large amount of money on Apple products, with my MacBook Pro purchase alone totaling $2848.00. I believe that any customer spending any amount of money on a product should receive a product in working condition, not one which quickly fails and is then determined as ineligible for repair under the expensive extended service plan.

I realize that your time is greatly valuable, and as such, I am deeply grateful for your consideration regarding this issue. Given the truly troubling experience I have had with Apple's products and support services, I hope you will agree that a remedy is in order. Once again, I thank you for your time and consideration regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Louis

Hello again,

After sending my email to Steve Jobs, a representative from Apple's corporate executive relations discussed the situation with my repair, and he stated that the support representatives I spoke with did not fully take the heat generated by the computer into account for the display's failure. As such, he offered to repair or replace the machine free of charge, and I received the replacement computer on Tuesday. The representative is now working with me to transfer my AppleCare to the new machine.

I would like to thank the Consumerist for the wonderful service they provide to consumers in need. I apologize if my reply had not been the fastest, as I wanted to make sure all was well before I contacted you again. Thank you again for your time.

Sincerely,

Louis

(Photo: earth2kim)

At your request, we've put together a list of contact information and addresses for the largest of the companies, as well as pictures and some biographical information about their chief executives. This is all public information. Get to know your RIAA:

Warner Music Group:

Edgar Bronfman, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer

Edgar Bronfman, Jr. has served as Warner Music Group's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer since March 1, 2004.

Write to:
75 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10019

Call:
+1-212-275-2000

Sony BMG Music Group:

Andy Lack, Chairman of the Board

Before going to NBC, Mr. Lack spent much of his television career at CBS News, where he created and served as the executive producer of the groundbreaking newsmagazine West 57th (1985-89).

Write to:
550 Madison Ave.
New York, NEW YORK 10022-3211

Call:
+1-212-833-8000 (Phone)
212-833-4818 (Fax)

EMI Group:

Eric Nicoli Chief executive officer, EMI Group

As part of this role he has direct responsibility for the management of EMI Music, the Group's recorded music business including overseeing directly the operations of EMI Music North America.

Write to:
27 Wrights Lane
London, ENG W8 5SW

Call:
+44-20-77957000

Universal Music Group:

Douglas (Doug) Morris, Chairman and CEO

A graduate of Columbia University, Mr. Morris began his music career as a songwriter for music publisher Robert Mellin, Inc.

Write to:
1755 Broadway
New York, NEW YORK 10019
USA - Map

Call:
+1-212-841-8000 (Phone)
212-331-2580 (Fax)

We ask that if you call you not yell at the person who answers the phone. Behave yourselves.

I work for Dell headquarters in Round Rock, TX and would like to provide assistance. Though this circumstance is not very common, this error may have occurred when our weekly promotions are being updated and refreshed to the website. Please be assured, our online marketing team is very engaged when issues like these arise and work fast to fix the error. I appreciate the concern you have noted and will forward this information to our website team as feedback. If you have any other readers who have encountered this error and is it being incorrectly reflected on their order, please contact me directly. Send your order number to customer_advocate [at] dell [dot] com. Thanks and have a great day!

Best Regards,
Marie
Dell Customer Advocate
Email: Customer_Advocate [at] dell [dot] com

Boy, she seems really nice and helpful. We wish all our emails were that nice and helpful.—MEGHANN MARCO

PREVIOUSLY: Dell Math: $1710 - $386 = $1549

Perfect for circumventing the secretary and delivering the raspberry straight into the CEO's ear.

Jigsaw, a fantastic new contact information service, as long as we're not in it.

Jigsaw is a Really Bad Idea [Techrunch] (Thanks to Jason!)