Patty set out to make a purchase from Ann Taylor Loft. Her friend who lives in a different state did not. And yet, their data is somehow tangled. Patty’s friend’s credit card info is part of Patty’s Ann Taylor account record, and no one has any idea why. [More]
Straight Talk Cuts Off My Data, Will Only Explain Why In Confusing Doublespeak
By March 20, 2013
Mike’s phone spent two weeks in the repair depot at Samsung. When it came back, shortly afterward his data stopped working. Oh, no! Would it have to go back for more repairs already? Well… no, that wasn’t the problem. The problem is that his mobile carrier, Straight Talk, has throttled his data access down to nothing. [More]
I Can’t Make My Son Use Less Data On HIs iPhone Without Giving AT&T More Money
By March 15, 2013
Mark has a teenage son. His son has an iPhone. Like many teens (and quite a few adults, come to think of it) his son has trouble managing his usage on his 200-megabyte data plan. Most of the time he’s near wi-fi…but that’s only most of the time. Mark called up AT&T to see whether there was any way that he could lock down the phone from his account so it just can’t access the data network at all after reaching its limit. That would be a nice feature, wouldn’t it? Too bad that AT&T doesn’t offer a way to do that without somehow giving them more money. [More]
Facebook's New Mobile Ad Network Uses Your Data To Target You In Other Apps And Sites
By September 19, 2012
Yesterday, Facebook announced that it’s new mobile ad network (the one that analysts are counting on to rescue the company’s stock price) would allow advertisers to pay to use your Facebook data to target you with ads outside the Facebook environment. So, for example, if you’ve authorized Facebook on an outside mobile website, you’ll begin to see ads targeted to your Facebook profile data. [More]
Ask The Consumerist: Is There Any Point To All These Stupid Surveys?
By September 19, 2012
Rachel is sick of surveys and writes in to ask if we think they serve any purpose. [More]
House Passes Bill To Track All Federal Spending On Single Website
By April 26, 2012
The federal government has never exactly been known for its transparency, especially when it involves exactly where all our tax money goes every year. But things could get slightly clearer thanks to legislation passed yesterday by the House of Representatives. [More]
T-Mobile Customer Demands Refund For Two Years Of Too-Slow Data… And Gets It
By March 21, 2012
When Sam was having problems with his T-Mobile smartphone, he did what he thought he was supposed to do: call up support. The agent on the phone couldn’t restore his phone’s Internet connectivity, but they did try to upsell him on some new services. He’d rather have the services he was already paying for working, thanks. When he took the phone to a retail store for help, he learned the real cause of his problems: he’d been wandering around for two years with an old 2G SIM in his 4G phone. He thought that he should have the extra cost of a 4G data plan refunded to him, and T-Mobile acquiesced… but only after he launched an executive e-mail carpet bomb. [More]
Cheap Ways To Back Up Computer Data
By December 15, 2011
Your computer seems to know when you’ve neglected to back up important data so it can choose those times to crash and burn. To protect your precious work, you’ve got to preemptively strategize against your devices by making a habit of backing up data as often as possible. [More]
A Richer Way To Measure Poverty
By September 29, 2011
The way we currently measure poverty is, shall we say, based on a paucity of data. New York is deploying a new system of measuring poverty that aims to give a greater depth and richness to the poverty picture. [More]
Whopping 11% Of US Homes Are Empty
By February 1, 2011
The vacancy sign is blazing over house divisions across the US. About 1 in 10 houses in America have no one living inside them, according to new data from the Census, CNBC reports. (Update: while technically correct, this number includes other kinds of properties like abandoned farm house. The more typically used number, the home-vacancy rate, is 2.7%, up from 2.5% the previous quarter). [More]
Consumer Reports Says AT&T Is "Worst-Rated"
By December 6, 2010
It won’t come as a surprise to its users who have had to deal with dropped calls and poor customer service, but AT&T ranked dead last in a new Consumer Reports survey of wireless carriers. [More]
How Fast Is T-Mobile's "4G" Data Network?
By November 3, 2010
T-Mobile rushed out of the gates with news this week about its high-speed 4G mobile data network. Not so fast, said competitors and telecom experts, who were quick to point out that the network is more like “3.5G” and isn’t nearly as fast as other 4G networks. [More]
Nielsen Partners With Facebook, Other Websites To Measure Ad Views Online
By September 28, 2010
If you don’t like the concept of having your online actions tracked for marketing purposes, you can add Nielsen to you list of sworn enemies. The audience measurement company is better known for its TV viewer ratings, but yesterday it announced a new partnership with websites like Facebook where it will access user info (age and gender only, it says) to collect aggregate data on ad views around the web. [More]
Walmart's New Cellphone Plans Are Great If You Skip The Data
By September 14, 2010
Yesterday, Walmart announced that starting next week it will offer a new wireless plan under its own brand, but running on T-Mobile’s network. The rates are good compared to national carriers: $45 per month for unlimited texting and minutes, and $25 per month for each additional line. There’s also no contract, and you pay the bill at the end of each month instead of loading up a pre-pay account. It’s one of the better family-style deals available, except for one thing: the data plans are actually more expensive than AT&T or T-Mobile. [More]
Consumer Group Launches Anti-Google Ad In Times Square, Keeps Google Analytics On Its Own Website
By September 6, 2010
The group Consumer Watchdog is pushing hard for Congress to establish a “do not track” list for online consumers, which I’m all for. I’m not sure whether releasing a ridiculously unpleasant cartoon in Times Square is the right strategy, though–especially when you use the very service you’re warning people about. [More]
Watch For Mysterious Data Usage On Your iPhone
By September 1, 2010
If you’re on one of AT&T’s limited data plans, you’d better start carefully monitoring the data usage, because some customers are noticing unexplainable daily hits on their accounts. The support forums at Apple are filled with pages of theories and complaints from frustrated customers, but our tipster David got the following admission directly from an AT&T rep: “She told me that most, if not all, 3g-capable iPhones were being charged erroneously like I had been experiencing. She told me AT&T was unaware of why the data was being charged, and where it was coming from.” [More]
Flight Cancellations Hold Steady Despite New Tarmac Delay Limit
By August 8, 2010
Remember how airlines threatened to cancel a mess of flights if the Department of Transportation imposed fines for holding planes on the tarmac for more than three hours? Well, the DOT imposed the rule and it looks like airlines are coping just fine. The Wall Street Journal examined recently released data and found that the most probable explanation for the slight jump in cancellations is a combination of weather and shoddy maintenance. [More]
