As I was getting into my car to go to work a Fed Ex Express van pulled up behind me. It was my replacement Jawbone from Aliph. I definitely wasn't expecting it to be overnighted to me.

I opened the box and inside with the brand new Jawbone was a hand written note from Lindsey Cromwell who is Richard's executive assistant. Also include were 2 Jawbone car chargers and 2 sets of their new earbuds which was another unexpected surprise.

This was a great customer service experience!

Excellent. Horrible problem reported Monday night, no-questions replacement + personalized prizepack received Wednesday morning, going from Jawbone melting to jaw-droppingly good customer service. You just earned yourselves a place in the "Above and Beyond" hall of fame!

PREVIOUSLY: My Jawbone Melted

"My name is Jordan W and I am writing to you to tell you about my success story with Apple and my MacBook Pro. I almost feel compelled to tell you because it was your article that inspired me to take action in regards to resolving my issues with my MBP. (see http://consumerist.com/consumer/apple/get-your-defective-laptop-replaced-by-sending-well+written-emails-to-steve-jobs-256931.php) In short, my laptop was experiencing an array of issues including USB, firewire and bluetooth reliability issues, hard drive problems (slow read/write), complete superdrive error (fails to burn cd/dvd, laser disc error) and the display experiencing warping issues when the lid was shut. After my laptop being in the Apple shop twice and nothing being resolved, I decided to look elsewhere for answers to my problems - online. Here is where I stumbled upon the article posted on Consumerist about this one man's success story with getting his MacBook fixed/replaced by simply beginning an e-mail correspondence with sjobs@apple.com, so I decided to give it a shot. Attached is the e-mail I wrote at 2:22am on November 4th:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Jordan
To: sjobs@apple.com
Date: Nov 4 at 2:22am
Subject: MacBook pro dilemma; Jordan
—-—-—-—-—
Mr. Steve Jobs,

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Jordan W and over the past two years, I have been a loyal Apple customer through purchasing two MacBook Pro's (one for me, one for my brother), several iPods as well as Apple peripherals (keyboards and mice). Simply put, I love Apple products. Unfortunately, a horrid dilemma has been developing with my experience of my most recent MacBook Pro, which I purchased in June of 2007.

Several problems have begun to arise with my MacBook Pro (late 2007) concerning the display, USB ports, bluetooth reliability and overheating. I have brought my beloved notebook in several times for repair, but each and every time, I have been told there were no problems detected and my machine was working properly. In addition, one time during a service repair, my laptop came back to me slightly damaged (casing at bottom-left of laptop was/is loose), which I was told was "already there", when it most certainly was not. Also, I purchased the 3-year Applecare extended warranty (expires in June of 2010) in hopes that it would cover these sorts of issues. Apparently, it was not worth the extra $$$ to assure my laptop's reliability.

My experiences with Apple Support in the past have been relatively troublesome, but not to this degree. I finally have
become fed up with leaving my laptop at Apple Sagemore of South Jersey (I live in State College during the school year) for two weeks at a time and risking my data being destroyed, only to be told that it is "functioning properly". So now, I am stuck with a half-functioning laptop that experiences hardware failures all too frequently, poor iPod syncing due to USB issues and a useless wireless keyboard and mouse. I write to you in hopes of receiving some sort of explanation
or advise on what to do, as purchasing a new notebook at this time is not in my realm of options. I cannot find a notebook that is better than an Apple, but how can I remain a loyal customer to a product that consistently fails me and a repair process that does not help resolve the issues? Any reply at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sincerely,
Jordan W

Contact Info:
M - xxx-xxx-xxxx
E-mail - xxxxxxxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly seven hours later, at 9:30am on Nov 5, I received a very friendly phone call from my local Apple store and spoke to the manager about what we could do regarding the repair of my MacBook Pro. She kindly asked me to e-mail her a detailed list of all the issues I was experiencing over the next two weeks, so when I came into the Apple store on Nov 24, the geniuses could be prepared to assist me. Here is the e-mail I sent to her concerning the issues I was experiencing:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From: Jordan W
To: xxxxxxx@apple.com
Date: Nov 19 at 12:27am
Subject: Jordan W; MacBook Pro Issues

Manager,

Here is the list you requested of issues I have and can recreate.

* Sporadic USB behavior
o Iomega eGO external USB drive will fail to mount, must unplug and plug back in to recognize/mount
o Time Machine will not backup via USB, firewire only
o iPod is not always recognized/mounted as well, syncs will hang at "Syncing with calendars..." until i manually remove the iPod from the USB connection
* Sporadic Firewire behavior
o Time Machine is recognized/mounted, frequent error occurs which says, "Time Machine failed to backup."
* Consistent Bluetooth Issues
o Devices (Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mighty Mouse) will drop bluetooth link from MacBook Pro after a given period of use
o Sometimes, when connected, the mouse will stutter across the screen until I shut the mouse off and on again
* Strange DVI behavior
o When MacBook Pro is waked from sleep, as well as Dell 2408wfp, the screen will flicker twice before any picture is to come through
* CD/DVD drive burning failure
o CD-R, CD-RW fails to burn because of "unable to read disc laser speed" error
o DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-DL burning capabilities (ISOs for example) fail to burn; Messages say "Beginning burn..." then about 10 seconds later, the message "Finishing burn." appears and hangs for 10 to 15 minutes until it informs me the burn has failed
o Attempted to burn media through iTunes, Finder, Disk Utility and Disco, none have worked
* MacBook Pro display warp
o The display on my MacBook Pro now is bent, even though I have had the display replaced/repaired
o Very visible when closed (Apparently, this is a documented issue)
* Slow Hard Disk Read/Write
o Formatted using Zero-Disk to see if it will solve the problem; no improvement found

If I find anymore, I will add them to this. Thank you.

- Jordan W

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Nov 24 finally came around, I went to the Apple store at 10am and was greeted by one of the many-a-salesperson. (I live at school and Nov 24 was the first day I could get to an Apple store) I told them my issue as well as who I was and they informed me I was expected where I was then escorted to the Genius Bar. Then is where I explained all the issues I had with my MBP and he took my machine in the back. He also politely told me that he would be right back out. About five minutes later, the gentlemen came up to me and told me that I was to receive a replacement machine free of charge! (I tried very hard not to smile and jump up and down until he walked away) Twenty minutes later, I was signing the paperwork to my new MacBook Pro (Yes, the actual new one that came out a couple weeks ago, not a refurbished replacement. In fact, I am writing this e-mail on it.) and walking out of the store with a mile-wide grin on my face.

All thanks go to you Consumerist, for without that article, none of what happened could of been possible.

P.S. - Apple, you rock too."

(Photo: James Young Art)

They even let him keep his hard drive from the first one so he wouldn't lose all his games. And when it turned out they only had cheaper bundles available, they refunded him the difference. Virg says the key was, "the often mentioned Consumerist advice of dealing calmly and courteously with store employees and asking for a reasonable resolution to my problem. It scored a direct hit and got me a fantastic end result. Thanks guys!"

(Photo: naviniea)

From the Daily Record:

Samaroo, of Middle River, was employed at the IKEA Direct in Rosedale, which handles phone and mail orders. Between September 2007 and August 2008, Samaroo gave himself refunds for purchases made by customers, Lippe said. He doled out the money to family and friends and bought himself a new car, a motorcycle and several crystal pieces, among other goods, Lippe said.

Kind of makes you wonder how he thought this movie was going to end. Ya know?

IKEA worker pleads guilty to stealing $400K [Daily Record via Inside Charm City]
(Photo: Meg Marco )

They're one of those companies whose job it is to ask you at the end of your call with customer service how things went, and their survey results show that when asked how satisfied they were with their agent, 60% answered "very satisfied." Dell customers? Only 44%. Gateway followed with 37%. Not enough info is yet available on Toshiba and HP to be statistically significant.

So if you want to pay more for a nicely designed computer with the best customer service, looks like Mac is it. If you want to play computer games, you will have to accept worse customer service, and not get a Mac. Unless you use BootCamp and run Windows on a Mac. Oops. Full data below.

"the dictionary defines refinance as:

1. When a business or person revises their payment schedule for repaying debt.

2. Replacing an older loan with a new loan offering better terms.

Unfortunately the word refinance does not exist over at Capital One. After spending the better part of several hours being transfered back and forth between the loan customer service dept and the new loan dept I finally wrote the to the president of Capital One, Richard Fairbanks. here is what I wrote:

My wife and I have owned a capital one credit card for several years now. We also have the loan referenced above. It was originally for 25K and it is now down to 20K. Due to some unexpected hardships we find ourselves with a credit card bill of $6000 as well as some other smaller debts. We have decided it would be in our best interests to roll of these into one new loan. We want to do this with Capital One. The term for this is refinancing, a term which apparently doesn't exist in the capital one vocabulary. When I called to try to do this I was told that loan can't be refinanced, we must apply for a brand new loan. When we spoke with the loan dept we were told that unless we were solicited by Capital One recently, we could not take out a loan. Forget for a moment, the fact that my wife has in fact received such offers in the past 2-3 months, this policy is ridiculous. Even if, because of the credit crisis I've read so much about lately, you aren't loaning out money to new customers, we are NOT new customers.

We are an existing customer who you make money off of every month. We simply want to restructure the loan.

After speaking with numerous depts, being transferred multiple times between the new loan dept and the existing loan dept we are convinced that Capital One doesn't want our money. If Capital One can't assist us in restructuring this loan then we will get a loan thru Chase, where we have our checking and savings. We will use that money to pay off the loan and pay off the Capital One credit card and Capital one will stop making money off us. If Capital One isn't interested in our business, fine. I accept that. I just want to hear someone say it. I want someone to tell me "Capital One is sorry to lose your business and all the interest we are making off your loan and credit card." I don't want to be given BS reasons about this and that, I just want you to tell me to my face "Your money is no good here"

Regardless of whether you do or do not respond or whether you can or can't help me, this loan and credit card will be paid off. The only question is what company will loan us the money and thus make interest off us? If you can give us a loan for 27K over 60 months, then let's talk. If not, I still want someone to call or respond back and tell me that you don't want our money. If you can't do this, there is no other logical explanation. You (or someone you designate) can call us at XXX XXX-XXXX. We have already applied to Chase for a loan and will have an answer within 24-48 hrs. You still have the opportunity to retain our business, but the window for that is closing quickly.

Unfortunately for Mr Fairbanks, he has completely lost us as a customer before he even had a chance to rectify things. My loan installment is due today. If you pay on their website it takes 5 days for processing and yes, you'll be hit with a late fee even if you made the payment on or before the payment date. If you go into a branch and pay it takes 2-3 days for processing. My wife wanted to make the payment over the phone with our credit union debit card. She was told she could do so over the phone and that if it took too long to process that the fee would be waived. Only problem is I had the card with me. When I came home I called in and was told you can't pay with a credit or debit card over the phone." This, despite the fact that earlier my wife had been assured that we could. I said I would go to the website and pay there. Did the man warn me that you can't pay at the website with a credit or debit card? Noooo.....

So I go to their website. You used to login by putting in your account # and last four of your SS#. Now it wants an account number. I'm baffled so I call us customer service. My wife had previously today told them to permanently note the account that they had permission to speak to me (she's the primary, I'm the co-signer). Tech support tells me there is no such note and he can't help me. I speak to a manager who sees the note in question and is happy to help. He tells me to go the capitalone.com, click on personal loans and that I should then see a tab marked access account. Nope, no such tab. After 5 minutes of going back and forth, he asks "Are you at capitalone.com?" No, I'm at kissmyass.com! I tell him to stop asking stupid questions or get me someone who can help me. This MANAGER transfers me back into queue for the same dept. That's right the manager can't help me, so he's going to have a subordinate help me! The person who answers explains that the process has in fact changed and I have to click on enroll in online banking. Apparently the manager is a moron.

I finally create an account... and discover you can't pay with a credit or debit card online.

I call up and ask if this is true and the representative happily confirms this to be true.

Did I mention that in calling them yesterday and today I was cutoff at least a half dozen times by their VRU? When you enter your account #, password, mother's maiden name, shoe size and penis size, you finally have to hit zero to speak to someone. At that point, the VRU transfers you internally and someone at Capitalone screwed up the VRU programmed because they transfer you to a nonexistent number and you get that annoying local telco "do-do-DOOO! The number you have dialed is invalid..." recording. So at this point after the incompetent management, the inability of the people to know their job well enough to tell me how I can and can't pay my bill, and the fact that oh yea —I CAN'T PAY MY BILL WITH A CREDIT CARD! What is this? 1987?— I am done with Cap One. I am dumbfounded by the ineptitude on both the frontline level as well as their policy towards customers.

as a a famous man once said "They are the suckiest bunch of sucks who ever sucked."

I guess they really don't want my money after all. And even if they did it wouldn't matter. I don't want them to have my business. Once I get my new loan I'll pay off the loan and their CC and cancel the CC and they can keep their miles. Yes they had the best rewards program, but honestly, who cares about rewards when you get such crappy service?

-Mr Bill'

(Photo: yksin)

UPDATE: Bill would like to add the following clarification: "I was attempting to make a payment using a debit card linked to a credit union savings acct purposely established for emergencies. Since there is no checking account # I can't pay via check. I could have gone to the credit union, gotten a check deposited it in my bank and waited a few days for it to clear, then made the payment via my checking account. I couldn't do any of that that day since the credit union was closed. Sorry for the confusion, but I wasn't trying to pay with another credit card. I've had a car loan where I could pay using a debit or credit card, so I naturally assumed I would have the same option. Not to mention that their representatives told me I could pay that way. I would not have been so mad if they had told me up front "no you can't pay that way". I would've been annoyed but not hyper angry.

As for the idea of restructuring or refinancing I realize I may get a new, possibly higher interest rate. I never stated I expect a lower one. I have no issue if the interest is higher as my monthly obligations will be less overall. My issue is their poor service, their broken VRU and the fact that they were uninterested in maintaining me as a customer. ""

(Photo: Joi)

So recently the APR for my Citicard, which I have had for years at the still-crappy yet manageable APR of 10.99% increased to a whopping 16.99%.

Holy cow, you may be thinking. You must be some kind of deadbeat!

Nope! I have never missed a payment on this card. I have kept a substantial balance on it for years, which I'm sure credit card companies like. It seems that Citibank was just randomly screwing me. Of course, I could always refuse to accept the increase—and then close one of my oldest credit lines and hurt my credit report. Nyuh-uh.

I immediately responded by bailing: I transferred a huge chunk of the balance to my Bank of America card, which is no good for purchases as it offers no rewards, but oftentimes has promotional rates on balance transfers. I also called Citi today. It was a marginally successful call, only because I did not get jerked around as much as anticipated.

The customer service rep was a girl named Angel with no marked accent; surprising, being as all of my contact with Citi so far has been with heavily-accented men who try to wheedle me into buying account protection. "But ma'am you may cancel at any time." But I digress.

I was polite yet slightly crazed. I told Angel 16.99% was the most ridiculous APR EVER. I told her that my first credit card that I applied for when I was 18 without any credit history offered me a lower APR than that. I told her I had several cards with lower APRs that hadn't raised them because of some vague "financial market" excuse. I told her I didn't want to use a card that would charge me 16.99%. I have options.

Angel fumbled politely for a bit, and quickly transferred me to her manager, which was a pleasant surprise.

The manager was understanding and also polite. After giving me more vague "financial market" excuses, she said she could review the card and POSSIBLY give me a lower APR. I then got to use my favorite phrase when speaking to customer service (in bold):

"I just don't see how I can continue to use a card that has such a high APR, especially when all of my other card like my Discover card offer me 9.99% or better. I'm sure you understand."

"Oh yes," she said. And she agreed that affective today, my APR would by 11.99. Not back to where it was, still crappy, but sure as hell better than 16.99. I am proud of my response:

"Well, I will accept the 11.99 APR, but I will probably still won't use this card ever again."

Cool like ice!

"Citicard: PremierPass to a high APR" [nicolestanfield.vox.com]

GetSatisfaction.com

Best Buy says:

A Message from Brad Anderson, Brian Dunn and Bob Willett
To all employees:

This morning, we announced that we've seen a sudden change in consumer spending, in our comparable store sales, and in our expectations for this year's earnings. We'd like to provide more context around these changes and their impact on our business.

The year started off well, with total company comparable store sales (sales at stores open more than 14 months) growing 4 percent for the first half of our fiscal year, a period that runs March through August. Our results were fairly consistent until September, when our comparable store sales turned negative, declining by 1 percent. Then our comparable store sales softened further in October, declining by nearly 8 percent, amid unprecedented changes in the financial markets, a deteriorating economy and weakening consumer sentiment. From where we stand today, we could see total company comparable store sales for the rest of the fiscal year decline by 5 percent to 15 percent.

Revenue gains are important to our business model because the majority of our costs ─ such as rent and store operating costs ─ are fixed. Typically, when comparable store sales increase by 3 percent or better, revenue growth outstrips expense growth (including merit increases, rising health care costs and the like), and our earnings rise. Currently, due to comparable store sales declines as well as spending increases, we have expenses rising faster than revenue. That's why we're now anticipating an earnings decrease for the year.

Specifically, today we also announced a new range for our earnings expectations: $2.30 to $2.90 per diluted share. The midpoint of our range is a 17-percent earnings decline compared with the $3.12 per share we earned last fiscal year.

Let us be very clear. These reduced earnings expectations reflect the unprecedented tumult in the financial services industry, which has reduced consumer spending across the board in retail. The outstanding work of our 165,000 employees doesn't make us immune to our environment. We can't change the overall level of consumer spending, but we can focus on deepening our relationships with customers wherever we interact with them: in our stores, on our Web sites and through our call centers.

While our comps have been negative, we gained market share in September and October. So we're getting a bigger piece of a business that is currently shrinking. Customer satisfaction remains at all-time highs. Employee turnover is at historic lows. We firmly believe that our strategy of customer centricity is of great value in driving our performance versus the industry, and that's the strategy we plan to pursue to continue to strengthen our position in the marketplace.

We must find ways to win with the customers who are coming to us today. Serving our customers better than anyone else is the best way to create value for customers, employees and shareholders alike. We need every employee engaged in serving customers better, and more efficiently. We want your unique perspective on what we should do differently in this market, based on what you see and touch, and using the talents you have.

We could let today's turmoil distract us from serving customers. Other retailers might do that. But we will not. Instead, we will use these circumstances to redouble our efforts and deepen our commitment to each other, to our company, to our strategy and to the customers we serve. In so doing, we will strengthen and fortify ourselves as a team. A winning team. That's who we are, and that's Best Buy.

Brad Anderson, vice chairman and chief executive officer
Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer
Bob Willett, chief executive officer of International and chief information officer

FEE - $10 more for:

• Priority boarding (getting on the plane first)
• Priority disembarking (getting off the plane first)
• Expedited baggage delivery
• Priority rebooking in case of flight cancellation
• Complimentary meals/hotel accommodations when a flight is either cancelled or substantially delayed
• In-flight Internet access
• Guaranteed space in the overhead bin
• In-seat power
• Premium snack/meal offering
• A freshly laundered pillow/blanket set that you may keep after the flight
• An amenity kit with earplugs, eyeshades and toiletries to keep you refreshed on the plane
• A wait of 10 minutes or less to clear security checkpoints
• Sitting away from parents traveling with babies/small children

• Savings for not checking bags
• Savings for not earning frequent flier miles
• Savings for only bringing aboard one small piece of carry-on baggage (e.g., only a purse or computer bag)
• Savings for being the last to board
• Savings for using online check-in instead of a kiosk
• Savings for using either a kiosk or online check-in instead of a human agent
• Savings for having my checked luggage to be among the last to be delivered
• Savings for sitting in a middle seat
• Savings for making no changes to your ticket prior to departure
• Savings for not getting free water, coffee/tea, juices or soft drinks in flight
• Savings for having a seat that does not recline
• Savings to sit close to parents traveling with babies/small children

How about a $10 savings for helping out fellow sleepy passengers...

Airline considers $10 surcharge for baby-free seating, priority disembarking [ELLIOTT] (Image: Getty)

So, if the low-level peons are ripping you off, try appealing to the higher authorities, en-masse, via EECB.
(Photo: Alexis Deadly)

Jeff writes:

Today I am writing to pay a serious compliment to one of your outstanding employees. I do not know her last name, but Leslie (the manager?) from your Emeryville, CA transfer center went above and beyond the call of duty today, and this outstanding effort on her part should be recognized.

Today I am purchasing a vehicle from a private seller. Due to some complications with the bank holding the title, it was not shipped from Georgia until yesterday evening, and arrived in California early this morning, with an expected delivery date of Monday. This was not good, as the seller was leaving the country (for good) later this afternoon, so we had to have the title by this morning. After the seller placed a few calls to fedex, they informed him that he would be unable to pick up the shipment because it was stuck in the Oakland airport. We were both disappointed, and tried to come up with a workaround. However, a few hours later, I checked the tracking information and saw that the package was now sitting in the Emeryville shipping center. Again, the seller tried to call but whoever he spoke to refused to transfer him to the Emeryville office!

At this point I called and spoke to a very polite and helpful customer service rep on the phone (whose name I cannot remember), who assured me that she would get a message to Emeryville and see what they could do. An hour later, Leslie called me to confirm the tracking number and asked me a few questions for verification, and promised to personally find the shipment and have it ready by noon. I was thrilled. When the seller walked in around 9:30, Leslie had already found the package.

Because of the singular effort on the part of Leslie, I will be able to purchase my new car today, something that would have gotten way more complicated once the seller left the country, even it even could have been completed at all. I have already told several people this story, and will continue to mention it in the future. This sort of exemplary action on the part of FedEx employees reinforces the brand image your company attempts to portray on Television and other advertising campaigns: If it absolutely has to be there, you can absolutely depend on us. Today Leslie has reminded me that FedEx is one company who actually takes their credo seriously.

Leslie, thank you so much,

Jeff G.

And that's how the front lines can win you customer loyalty.(Photo: billy verdin)

Yesterday my fiancée and I were out and about with a lot to do in preparation of the upcoming wedding, our travels finished in Westchester County, NY. It was getting late and we were starving, we thought seafood would be great and we were close to a Red Lobster (yes, I know, I know) so we decided that we’d zip in for dinner.

Once inside we learned that there was a 25-minute wait, that was out of the question as it was already closing in on 9PM. With that said we decided to sit at the bar area that had no wait. It took a couple of minutes to get our food ordered which was fine and to be expected, hey, they were busy. Well we order our dishes, receive our drinks and then waited 20 minutes for our appetizer, after those aforementioned 20 minutes our entrées show up and we asked the server what happened to our appetizer he apologized and offered to go see, we decided that we’d skip it, finish eat our dinner and head home.

Now all throughout our meal there were waiters going back and forth between the kitchen, the bar and their respective tables, all the while they were cracking jokes to the likes of “Why cant I get a hot customer” and another waiter complaining about the fact that their table came $15 short of the required amount for a automatic tip to be added, both situations I can sympathize with. However as I was halfway through with my meal, two waiters passed by and were audibly joking about diarrhea, well enough was enough and my appetite was finished. A few minutes later I saw the Service Manager passing by and explained to him the situation regarding our appetizers and the professionalism of the waiters. The manager asked me if there was anything he could do, I told him that there was nothing (I know, we should have had a clear request of some sort), we were just grossed out and wanted to let him know what was going on. He apologized and then his eyes caught on fire, he started pointing at waiters and directing them to the back, we overheard a waiter say “All wait staff meeting in the kitchen and at this point my fiancée and I were satisfied, the manager was addressing the situation. We waited for the waiter to comeback and asked for the check and gave him the credit card. A few minutes later the manager emerged with my credit card and informed me that he was buying our dinner tonight, he explained that he was very embarrassed by the situation and had reminded his staff that they are always on stage and that nothing comes before the customer.

Needless to say we left with a smile on our face and despite my fiancée’s concerns about a potential retaliation from the staff, we’ll be back to the Scarsdale Red Lobster next time we’re in the area.

And that's why it's always a good idea to speak up.

(Photo: Simon Goldenberg)

Dear Consumerist,

Overheard a couple guys at work talking about phone service, and it reminded me that it's been a while since I checked for lower prices. I am currently paying 19.95 for the lowest speed DSL and $21.46 for basic service, unlimited local calling w/caller ID (number only, no name).

Online ATT offers $14.99 for the same internet service I currently have, and also offers a basic home service for $21 that includes unlimited local clg, caller ID w/name, and call waiting. I see an opportunity to save $5.46 and add services.

I call the internet services number (877-722-3755) and the first guy I talk to has to verify my # (even tho I entered it already), then the last 4 of my SSN. He says he has to xfr me to someone else for my request. that person asks for the same info (ph#, last 4 SSN). Still can't help me, offer apparently for new customers only (which to me does NOT reward loyalty), says she can see what options are available with a contract. Says she will transfer me to a diff dept, gave me # in case disconnected (877-722-3755, SAME # I called first). I am put on hold there, so I hang up.

I call back to the internet svc number, this time hit 0-0-0-0-0-0-0. Shortly, I speak with a rep, explain that my cable co. has offered me a price of 14.95 for basic internet, can ATT match? He transfers me to a guy in Billing, I repeat myself, he transfers me to Retention group at 800-288-2020. ( I used the magic words, "thinking of canceling, have better offer elsewhere"

There, I speak with a very helpful lady who says she can definitely take care of both of my requests. She is very quick and efficient, we spend a few minutes while she works her magic with my account, and I end up saving $5 and walk away with more services than I started with.

All thanks to Consumerist tips I read every day.

Thank you! Have a great day!

Always keep an eye out for other advertised deals from other vendors and if you see something better, don't be afraid of calling up your provider and saying you're thinking about cancelling unless they can pricematch.

Worst? Buy [Clif Guy all the time] (Photo: Maulleigh)

TWC.COTP@twcable.com
203-328-0600 - option 2
Leader of Office of the President team: James Abott

(Photo: lymang)

Yes, a Room’s Available. But No, You Can’t Check In. [NYT]

Owner Elga Koehler told The Star-Ledger that the store went bankrupt in August but wasn't required by law to notify customers, or immediately give them their dresses or money back. They'll get their money back "eventually," she said, after a repayment plan was "formulated." Evidently, Elga was unconcerned about how if you snatch away a woman's wedding dress she's picked out and paid for, it will make her very very mad— a point that the angry women, several of whom were dressed in black and wearing Ugg boots, according to an eyewitness account by Daniel Edelman, sought to drive home with their protest. Apparently, their mothers never told them how to do a chargeback.

Millburn bridal shop goes bankrupt without providing brides with dresses [The Star-Ledger] (Thanks to josh42042!)

Rick's letter to Lenovo:

As the Senior Vice President for Operations, I want to bring to your attention an operations business practice which I believe is bad for your customers and is leaving Lenovo with a negative public opinion.

First, a little background...

My daughter will be starting her freshman year at Portland (Oregon) State University in the last week of September. Since she will be a commuting student, I was looking for a small and lightweight laptop for her to carry daily. I have been following "netbook" development activities of several companies, including Lenovo. As soon as I learned the IdeaPad S10 was available to order, I placed an order via Lenovo.com (Order # ) on August 19.

I knew I could count on a Lenovo product; for eight years, a previous employer provided me with a series of ThinkPads which served my flawlessly.

A few days after I placed my order, I was able to log-on to my account. I saw my order had an estimated ship date of 09/16/08. Though this was four weeks away, it would arrive before my daughter started her studies.

As September 19th approached, I started checking the ship date more-and-more often; it never changed. With less than one week until September 19, I started getting worried. Using Google, I found a number of message boards with commentary from customers who had ordered S10s, had their estimated ship date come-and-go, and had heard nothing from Lenovo. Some people have called Lenovo, only to be told there would be a two month delay in shipping any S10s!

Today, I too called Lenovo. I was told there was a 50-day slip in shipping. This is very, VERY disappointing on two points:

* The huge amount of time between ordering and shipping
* Lenovo has made no effort to update its customers

On a personal level, this means my daughter will not have her S10 until mid-November — too late for the start of her first term.

This also means I need to reevaluate my decision to order a Lenovo S10 and either buy a larger laptop or to consider a Dell Mini-9, Asus Eee, or MSI Wind.

I'd much rather buy the S10....

I urge you to look into error in your processes which had led to the second bullet above.

Rick S.
Sherwood, OR

Rick's letter to us after he sent out the first one and heard back from Lenovo:

The next morning, I received an email from the Chief of Staff in the CEO's office! He again apologized for the issue and looked into my order. Over the next week, we exchanged several emails but the bottom line is that unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to ship the S10 any sooner than October 14. He then offered to ship me a loaner laptop – a Lenovo "Reserve Edition". I discovered this is a $5000 limited edition leather-wrapped laptop! While a bit worried about handing-off this über-laptop to my daughter, I accepted this generous olive branch. I was then handed-off to a woman in the "Office of Bill Amelio, President & CEO", who arranged for the Reserve Edition laptop to be shipped overnight. She even included the labeling for Lenovo to pay the cost of the eventual return to Lenovo.

It's going to be difficult to return this sweet notebook in a few weeks and downgrade to the S10. I must commend Lenovo for their handling of my concern. As I told the Chief of staff, "This is analogous to loaning a Maybach when having a Hyundai serviced."

To other Consumerists, I offer this advice: If you have a problem with a product or service, reach out, be polite, and take the time to craft a well-written letter. Your efforts may be rewarded.

CEO: David Hodess
5870 West Jefferson Blvd
Suite J
Los Angeles, CA 90016-3109
(310) 660-6410
dhodess@gamefly.com

PREVIOUSLY: Casio Voids Warranty, Claims There's A Fingerprint Inside New Camera

ORBITZ (in clipped, offshore-outsourced call-center perfect English diction): Mr. Popken, is this a business trip?
BEN: Yes.
ORBITZ: What business are you in, Mr. Popken?
BEN: I'm a blogger.
ORBITZ: What is a "blogger?"
BEN: Someone who blogs. Heh. It's a special kind of website with lots of posts arranged in reverse chronological order.
ORBITZ: I see.
Long silence.
ORBITZ: So you are like Perez Hilton?

BEN: Sure, we're both bloggers. But we write about different subjects.
ORBITZ: Do you write about celebrities?
BEN: Ah, no, I write about customer service and consumer affairs. So watch out!
ORBITZ: I always deliver an excellent customer service experience every time so I have nothing to fear from any blogger.
BEN: That's excellent.
ORBITZ: How am I doing so far?
BEN: Great, you're doing a great job.
ORBITZ: Thank you for that compliment, Mr. Popken.
BEN: Anytime.

(Photo: Getty)

The Americans would beg and plead with the Filipinos to not unblock the account, and over and over again they would. Says our insider, "if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime." It's not the outsourced place's fault, though. They're just following orders. It's whoever designed the laminated binder they were blindly following that should really be held accountable. Read the whole messed-up story below.

Our insider writes:

A guy calls up on the direct number, his voice is distinctive: deep, but nasal, like he has a cold. I ask for his name and account number. He tells me his name but says he doesn't have his card with him. Step two: I ask for his social security number. He "ums" and "uhs" for a second and I'm certain I hear a faint rustling of papers in the background. The number he gives me isn't linked to any account on file. As soon as I tell him this, he hangs up. It was odd, but I wrote it off. Calls came at a snails pace and it wasn't unusual to have 20 minutes in between them. So when a couple of minutes later I got another one, it was strange. Once again it was a call from the direct number. I ask for name and number and the voice is strikingly similar. The name he gives is different but again he has no number. I ask for the SSN and again I can hear papers rustling while he stalls. This time an account pops up. He fails verification of the mother's maiden name and immediately hangs up. By this point I'm laughing about it with my co-workers because he seems such an inept thief. As the nights go on, we start to get more calls from him. I say "we" because this was the only call center that the phone number goes to and there were only about 15 of us on staff at any given time. He had the same mannerisms for every interaction and it became such that as soon as any of us got one of these calls we immediately put him on hold (usually making up some innocent sounding excuse) and tried to put him through to security. The problem with the Philippine security department quickly became apparent.

The US security department had access to LexisNexis. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a encyclopedia of everybody's life. Previous addresses, family member's names, jobs, schools, anything and everything that could be linked to your name and/or social security number. As an example of how incredibly (and frighteningly) thorough it is, when my now 30 year old brother was a tot, he liked to respond to junk mail with a fake name; this fake name came up as a former occupant of my parent's address when I got a chance once to do a search on myself (we had it in collections). Chase didn't trust the Philippine department to have it though. In fact, the only information they had the ability to verify was what was on the account: name, social security number, mother's maiden name, and recent purchases if they felt like being that diligent.

Here's the part of the story where some poor guy's account get's completely f-ed. This thief had been bounced to the out-sourced to security so often that he must have made a check list of any possible questions they would ask him. Through whatever means, he managed to get the answers to these questions. Now when he called, he could give us the information we were asking for, but by this point we knew his voice so well that we still tried to get him to security. It worked like this: We put him on hold and dial the extension for security. We get a security rep and start to explain the situation; we tell them he was able to give the right information, but that we know is the same guy that's been calling for weeks and we are certain he is not the account holder. They begrudgingly take the call. Minutes later another one of us gets a call from a security rep saying they are giving us a customer who has been cleared by them. And here the thief was back in our department. For those of us who had come to know him, the fight waged on night after night.

Chase is a revolving door. If you work there longer than a year, you're considered to have seniority. The few of us who knew this account was being raped could do nothing to protect it. Some newbie wouldn't know about the situation and would let the thief have his way with the account. The US security department became aware of the issue and put blocks on the account as well as incredibly long notes that explicitly said to not remove the block for any reason at any time. But sure enough, over and over, the guy would call in overnight, talk to the out-sourced security, and the block would be removed. Again, they were only able to verify with him with information that he was already known to have, yet that never seemed to deter them from clearing him.

Things got quiet for a while, and we thought maybe he'd finally been stopped from unblocking the account. Turns out that he'd actually been caught, but only after more than $40,000 in fraudulent charges on this one account. I cannot stress enough that if US security had been able to intervene from the get-go, he would never have been able to do so much financial damage. For the rest of his life, the true owner of that account will be dealing with the effects of this crime.

I wish I could this was the only time I saw the security department failing at securing an account. There was a consistent problem with the overt cultural difference. A man calls in and says he's the cardholder "Angela" and you find yourself trying to explain to security that Angela isn't a man's name and the odds of it really being his name are slim. And they just see it as cut and dry: He says he's Angela, so he must be.

To be fairer than Chase deserves, I'll note that I've been out of there for almost two years, so it's quite possible that it's all ponies and rainbows now. I'm gonna go ahead and assume though that it's run as poorly as ever.

(Photo: brycej)

Jury orders Target to pay $3 million in civil case [Greenville Online] (Thanks to Philip!) (Photo: maliavale)

Citibank Executive Responsive Office in NYC
(718) 248-6433

Citibank Executive Response Unit
Rudy Guerrerro
(210) 677-7284 direct line

Remember to be nice, professional, and succinct. In customer service, karma happens very fast and you get what you give. (Photo: thecornballer)

Customer service & support for Gawker [Get Satisfaction]

Sam can't get his 6-month-old Casio camera repaired under warranty because Casio's U.S. repair center says the camera has been opened. Sam writes that he's even sent in copies of his fingerprints to compare to the inside of the camera, but so far Casio won't budge. We have a particular dislike of Casio and won't buy from them again due to their incompetent repair facilities, so we sympathize with you, Sam. Since he's getting nowhere with Casio's customer service, he's written the following letter to their Executive Customer Service and their Complaints Department in Japan.

Sent via Fax & Mail to: 973-537-8972 (Casio- Dover, NJ)
Sent Via Mail to: 6-2, Hon-machi 1-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-8543, Japan
To: Casio President Kazuo Kashio, Executive Customer Service, and Complaints Department:

On April 24, 2008 I purchased a Casio EX-F1 camera from Sandrian Camera shop in Clinton, NJ (USA). I loved the form factor and the capabilities of this truly remarkable product. On October 5,2008 I tried turning on the power to my camera. It would not power on and only a red status light would blink on and off. As the camera was only six months old I took comfort in the fact that I had bought it new from an authorized Casio camera shop, thus the 1 year warranty would cover this glitch.

After contacting Casio I was instructed to send in the camera, insured, at my expense to Casio's repair center in Dover, NJ (USA). About five days later I was sent an email stating that the estimated cost of repair is $470.75. Assuming this had to be a mistake I called up Casio only to be told that the warranty is voided because the camera appeared to be dissembled and a finger print is located inside. Outraged, I began a search to contact some level of executive customer service or higher management in Casio.

Eventually after leaving messages with Casio's technical representative and customer service I was told that a senior technician would take a second look at the camera. Two days later I received a phone call from Adrienne, a customer service rep telling me that Casio would not honor the warranty and my two options are to pay $14.95 to have the broken camera shipped back or pay $470.75 to have the camera repaired. Either way my camera's warranty is voided.

As a consumer and avid Casio camera user (numerous of the exlim series) I took a chance and immediately bought your flagship camera immediately after it came out. I now fear this to be a mistake. On both fronts I am at a loss to Casio's position to not stand by their product and to not honor the warranty. Now my only options are to pay for a camera that should not have been broken in the first place, and not have any warranty on it? I did not open the camera at any point in my short six months of ownership. I did not let anyone open the camera, and it has always been in my direct possession.

Using logic, why would any one open up a $1000.00US camera that is covered under warranty? I am not a technical person, I am a marketing manger, I wouldn't even know how to open it.

I bought the camera brand new and I can have, if necessary the camera shop (Sandrian, Clinton NJ) write a letter stating they sold me a brand new camera. Casio should stand on its reputation and stand behind its product and once again restore a consumers faith to purchase Casio products again, which I am confident Casio will do.

Left with no choice I will have open up a case with the Better Business Bureau (USA). I am consumer looking for options as I have reached no resolution with Casio. As an avid camera user I am a member of numerous web blogs, camera groups and consumer protection websites. While I am sure my case is an isolated one, I will begin to explain my predicament and course of action to [anyone] who will listen. As a consumer, how can I stand behind any Casio product in the future if I know for 100% fact I never opened the camera, [never] gave it to anyone to open, and bought the camera brand new from an authorized agent? I purchased your flagship camera in the correct manner (not grey market), and I have followed the correct channels to have the camera replaced, and all Casio has told me is either pay $14.95 to ship back my broken camera or pay $470.75 to have it repaired (again with a voided warranty, when in reality it that should have more then 6 month left on it ).

I am looking for any assistance. I hope I can resolve this issue with Casio as soon as possible and once again restore my faith to continue to recommend and purchase your products (as I have avidly done in the past). I simply want a 100% functioning Casio Ex-F1 with full intact warranty. If there are components inside my camera that Casio would not represent as a brand new (when I purchased it), I expect Casio to replace the camera with a brand new one. I took a chance in buying Casio's first attempt into entering a higher end camera market. I hope that I can continue to do as I had in the past and voice positive remarks and convince others with my opinions to purchase your products.

Thank you for you time.
Sam
Casio Camera user since 2002

Bobby submitted the following through Enstrom's web form:

Your Almond Toffee does not work well as a tax preparer. Per your unconditional guarantee, I formally request my monies to be refunded at the earliest possible date to:

[redacted]

Please confirm receipt of this email and the issuance of my refund at the earliest opportunity.

Best regards,

Bobby

Enstrom quickly replied:

Thank you for contacting Enstrom Candies Customer Care Department. We would be more then happy to replace the box of toffee as stated in our guarantee. Would you please provide your order number or customer number so I can do so?

To place an order, please contact Enstrom Candies Call Center at 1-800-367-8766 (24 hours 7 days a week) or visit our website at www.Enstrom.com. Should you need further assistance, please reply to our email or contact Customer Care Department at 1-800-367-8777.

Jessica Shaner
Customer Service Representative
Enstrom Candies

Wow, that is an unconditional guarantee! Bobby was shocked by the response, and since he isn't a colossal jerk, he didn't follow through with his request. The satisfaction that Enstrom would honor their guarantee was more than enough. Plus, we're told that the toffee was excellent. Delicious work, Enstrom!

There is now a dedicated website, and your better check it often if you want to beat out the 150,000 strong mob to win a snazzy hotel room. At least that is what Leading Hotels apologizer-in-chief Ted Tang said in what he promises will be the final update:

Dear Internets,

I would like to once again express my gratitude for your continued support, understanding, and patience with The Leading Hotels of the World. Since October 1, we have explored and evaluated many solutions to the technological failures encountered during the online USD 19.28 Sale.

I am delighted to inform you that today we selected Akamai Technologies, Inc., the world premier web content delivery network, with clients such as Yahoo, Travelocity, and Amazon. Together we are working diligently to finalize a new procedure whereby you, as well as the other 150,000 registrants, will have a chance to secure one of the originally allotted 6,000 room nights that are available at the rate of USD 19.28.

In developing a fair and foolproof platform, we have been faced with various considerations. Timing - both on the developmental front as well as for your trip-planning purposes - has proven to be our major and foremost concern. We chose to preserve the hotel availability dates, which in most cases began on November 1, as to not delay the promotion by several months. We also opted to maintain the promotion on a first-come, first-served basis. To make the offer a random selection or lottery would significantly delay the re-launch due to complicated international regulations. Lastly, we wanted to ensure successful communication to registrants in a prompt manner. We are now confident that, with Akamai, we have found a solution that addresses all of these challenges.

Please note that you will not be receiving any further emails, rather, we have decided to post all future updates and details on a dedicated website at www.lhw.com/1928status, which will go live on Monday, October 13. This will allow all registrants, throughout the various parts of the globe, simultaneous and equal access to the USD 19.28 updates around the clock. All updates will indicate the date and time of posting. Please know that we have intentionally communicated this website address only to registrants in order not to dilute your chances of securing a reservation at the promotional rate. We will announce the details of the new USD 19.28 promotion, no later than Friday, October 17, which will occur the following week. The sale details will be posted at least 48 hours before the promotion begins.

With thanks,

Ted Teng
President & CEO
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Sorry, Ted, for posting the link to the super-secret website. We didn't mean to dilute the contest or anything, but since it's out there now, how about an RSS feed?

Keep checking this site, and by Friday at the latest (maybe sooner! surprise!) we'll find out when the mob gathers next.

1928 Status Page [Leading Hotels of the World]
PREVIOUSLY: Leading Hotels Do-Over Postponed
Do-Over Announced By Leading Hotels Of The World
$19.28 5-Star Hotel Room Promo Ends In Fiasco
Book A World-Class Hotel Room For Only $19.28 Per Night
(Photo: Getty)

It's Above and Beyond, so you can guess how this ends. Tracey writes:

My daughter got this set of toys for her birthday. These are heavy, solid wood toys; only the wheels and airplane propeller are plastic. She dropped the airplane on the floor and the metal pin that holds the wheels on broke and fell apart. We had the set for less than a month when it broke.

So I e-mailed the company one evening explaining what happened. I just wanted to make them aware of it because the wheel and pin could pose a choking hazard.

They got back to me the next morning and wanted me to call. I called and spoke to Chris, who told me I could choose another toy or replace this one.

I asked him if he was giving me free reign to shop on their site and he said "within reason" and told me to choose 2 toys in case he couldn't get my first choice.

OK. So her vehicle set retails for $20. So I thought since I'm only sending back 1/3 of the set, the plane is worth about $7.

So I sent them an e-mail back with the following choices:
A picnic basket which retails for $20

And a wooden stacking toy which retails for $7.

I also mentioned that I would be equally as pleased if they just replaced the broken plane.

A few days later a box arrives. It had BOTH the picnic basket and the stacking toy!

They asked me to package the broken airplane in the same box and give them a call so they could arrange UPS to pick it up. I did so, and UPS came the following day.

Needless to say, Melissa & Doug have a customer for life. I was really happy with their customer service and how quickly and easily they dealt with my problem.

Great work, Melissa & Doug!

Here's the situation: Reader Bryan ordered an item from Adorama's Amazon store. After the item shipped, he decided to change the shipping instructions so he could pick up his package at the UPS store. Amazon's policies kept Adorama from changing the instructions on a shipped item, so, after apologizing, Adorama gave Bryan two options: a full refund, or once the item returned undelivered, they could re-ship the item with the right instructions.

Bryan didn't send us his original request, so we'll start with Adorama's response. The writing isn't the clearest, but the content speaks for itself:

hi!

unfurtunaly this is an Amazon order and we wont be able to have you pick it up. I apologized for the inconvenience this may have caused you.

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Brian responded:

I don't see why it being an amazon order changes anything. It's MY package that I paid for, and paid shipping for. UPS is not able to deliver to my location, all I want is to be able to pick up the package THAT I PAID FOR.

Make it happen, or I'm just returning all of it, and then you'll be refunding my money.

Right off the bat you can tell Bryan is trouble. "Make it happen?" Tell that to a waitress and you'll rightly end up with a drink down your shirt. Let's see how Paola responds:

I apologized for the inconvenience but our contract with Amazon is like that we cant make any changes to the order or have ups hold it for you , if you are unable to be at the address you provide with your order for shipping the order will come back to us and we will give you the money back for the item.

have a nice day!!

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Paola provided a direct explanation to Bryan's question. Adorama's contract with Amazon prevents them from changing the shipping address. Simple enough, but Bryan kept pushing:

Well, I guess you just lost some money. I have NEVER had any issues with getting UPS to hold a package that I have bought from Amazon.

I'm so sorry for the inconvenience maybe you place the order through Amazon and it was ship by another company. I don't want you to feel like if we don't appreciated your business but unfurtunaly we can not hold the pack. if the order was place directly from us we wouldn't have this problem.

again I apologies.

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Another fairly direct response from Paola, and a way to avoid the problem in the future. Fine.

How Bryan choose to advance his case?

Please learn proper grammar and english. It would make your messages much easier to understand.

At this point, Paola could have stopped responding. The substantive interaction was over. If we were in Paola's place, we wouldn't have been able to respond with anything approximating a polite response. And as we'll see, advancing the conversation doesn't help anyone, even if the intent is to help an unreasonable customer.

Oh thank you.... For the compliment... am just trying to give you good customer service. at least someone is paying attention to your problem.

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

See, this is what I'm talking about. Re-read your last 2 messages. They are written poorly. "unfurtunaly" is spelled "unfortunately".

All this poor grammar and spelling lets me know is that the employees at this place are incompetent, and that I would never order anything from you again. No one is paying attention to my problem and I am NOT receiving "good customer service". If I was receiving "good customer service", my problem would have already been taken care of when I called yesterday. I can't believe all this hassle is being put into this situation. All I want to do is pick up my package; this should not be an impossible task.

You fail. I will never order anything from adorama again.

Are you a teacher? All I m trying to do is help you and "unfortunately" you don't see that you are just looking for mistakes in the grammar. I hope you have a very nice day!

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Yes. I am a teacher. I teach 4th grade, and they spell better than you

and can complete sentences using proper punctuation. It reflects poorly on you and the company you work for. If you can't do this, maybe this is the wrong job for you. You are doing NOTHING to help me. If you want to help me, offer to overnight me another camera with no restrictions on the package, so that I can pick it up at the UPS office. Sitting here and arguing with me does nothing to fix the problem.

Today, I will be contacting any management/owners that I can get ahold of and informing them of the awful customer service I've received. If you can't solve the problem and just type gibberish to me, then you are of no use in your current place of employment.

With the respect you deserve let me explain you something. I was trying to assist you since the first time that you call , but you just say that you wanted your money back and started complaining about my grammar instead of telling me that you wanted the item expedited, is very frustrating for me as a customer service representative that is doing her best to assist you, to only get this kind of email in response like if I was one of your students . Am really sorry this is going the way is going, you are the first customer I get that is a "teacher" and act like a student.

If you want the item I will be more than happy to place a new order for you, I will need to charge you for the item again and am supposed to charge you for shipping as well because I don't see where we mess up with your order we send it to the address that you provide Amazon for shipping. if you will like I can ask my manager as a first time courtesy to give you free shipping. And if you want fell free to contact my manager to complaint about my customer service skills her ext# is 2219 her name is Leah, I am sure she will be happy to listen to you and read our emails....thank you and have a nice day!!!!!!

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Can we all agree this is a reasonable solution? Paola offered to resend the item, possibly even waive the shipping. And she volunteered her manager's number and rightly suggested that any third party might find Bryan's behavior offensive.

So how does Bryan respond to the olive branch?

Wow. I have no clue what any of that says since your sentences are all run-ons and really really long. Go back to school.

The situation deteriorates from there.

I just feel sorry for the kids you teach ... You are very disrespectful, maybe my problem can be solve going back to school but in your case you will have to be born again.. Respect others is easy and make others life easier too. Here at Adorama we treat our customers with respect because that's how they treat us. but that's not you case. Have a good life.

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

Spend less time telling me to be 'born again' and more time studying an English book. Religion is just a crutch for the weak.
Sent from my BlackBerry(r) smartphone with SprintSpeed

Be happy!! Have a nice day!! "teacher"

PAOLA
Adorama customer service

I was happy today until I had to deal with you. And for some reason you decide to bring religion into this. I'm making phone calls right now, doing my best to make sure that you don't have a job by the end of the day.
Sent from my BlackBerry(r) smartphone w