Defects

hp

HP Offers To Fix Your Defective Laptop For Free, Then Changes Its Mind. Twice.

Reader Amy's HP laptop is defective and HP offered to fix it for free—then changed its mind and wanted $800. Amy asked them to return the laptop, and when she got it back, she found that it was even more broken than when she sent it in. She contacted HP again and again they offered to fix it for free. This time, they let the laptop sit around for 3 weeks before calling her to let her know that they were voiding her warranty because of "liquid damage." Amy says the first repair ticket has no mention of this mysterious liquid damage... More »

12:38 PM on Tue Jul 8 2008
By Meg Marco
6,269 views, 31 comments

Latest by Kevin V: I have a R4000 Compaq aka HP ZV6000. Sent in 3x. First was from crappy metal battery lock - it broke - battery would not stay in. Second was because Muskin ram was not compatible with the HP weirdo motherboard more »

frustration

T-Mobile: We Can't Help You, Sell Your Brand New Defective Phone On eBay

A link to the following letter to T-Mobile's president just popped into our inbox. It seems that if you receive a T-Mobile Sidekick for Christmas and it's defective... your options are fairly limited. T-Mobile's best solution to your broken phone? Sell it on eBay. More »

12:44 PM on Mon May 12 2008
By Meg Marco
7,364 views, 34 comments

health

1 Year Later: Feet Scarred From "Chemical Flip Flops," Walmart Still Not Talking

It's been about a year since Kelly Stiles' feet were (somehow) injured by a $3 pair of Walmart flip flops. In that time, Kelly says her feet haven't fully healed and she still can't wear sandals or flip flops. She says she still has pain where she was injured. More »

6:32 PM on Tue May 6 2008
By Meg Marco
11,284 views, 70 comments

complaints

Why Does It Take IKEA Four Months To Replace A Defective Couch Cover?

Joyce has been waiting since December for IKEA to send her a replacement couch cover. IKEA admitted that the cover had a known defect, but since they were out replacements at the time, they promised to call Joyce a month later when new covers arrived. Joyce gave her information and asked for a reference number, but was told that one wouldn't be necessary. Wouldn't that have been nice? More »

3:41 PM on Sat Apr 26 2008
By Carey
4,047 views, 23 comments

followups

Protesting Honda Civic SI Get Transmission TSB

Those Honda Civic SI owners who were holding protests in front of dealerships about the widespread transmission problem (where the 3rd gear kept grinding, popping out and randomly going into neutral), finally have their day. Honda issued a TSB (technical service bulletin) on the issue, so now owners experiencing the problem can go their dealership and get it repaired for free, provided they are still under warranty. It's not quite the recall owners were hoping for, but it's something. Guess Honda has now heard of the problem they previously said they "never heard of before." Must have been all that negative news coverage. Here's links to the TSB (for Honda dealers, for Acura dealers (PDF)) so you can print it out and bring with you. Inside, one of the original newscasts covering the uproar.

More »

5:20 PM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By Ben Popken
3,448 views, 20 comments

Latest by Meiran: @notallcompaniesareevil: Agreed. It was disappointing for me because I just bought an SI, and I adore it but about a week after I bought it, this story broke on Consumerist. That was annoying for me, but I more »

complaints

Honda Ignores Civic SI Owners' Complaints About Faulty Transmissions

A bunch of Honda owners are mad because they think Honda should issue a recall on their cars due to their transmission, things like randomly deciding to pop out of third gear into neutral and not fully engaging. When these owners confront Honda, the car company kept saying "we've never heard of the problem before," despite numerous complaints being sent in, and dealers say they "can't replicate" the problem. There's a writeup of the whole problem at AuotmotiveTech.org, a list of message board forum members with the problem, and now, Fox 6 San Diego picked up on it after angry owners organized a protest at a local dealership. Suddenly, Honda's tune has changed, and they're "aware of the problem" and "investigating." Video after the jump. More »

6:13 PM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Ben Popken
9,788 views, 57 comments

Latest by kracer22: I had a 2003 RSX-S, and I'm sure the current tranny is an iteration of the older one, and I remember 3rd gear was sometimes choppy, not as smooth to get into as the other gears. more »

defects

Dell Is "Too Cheap To Realize That I Have A Defective Laptop"

Reader Jake says he just opened his 45 day old laptop and the LCD cracked for no reason. Now Dell doesn't believe his story and won't cover it under his warranty. That sucks. More »

8:38 AM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Meg Marco
6,092 views, 90 comments

aggravation

Try To Exchange Your iPod Due To A Scratch, Apple Scratches It More And Sends It Back

Reader Matthew bought a new MacBookPro and an iPod from Apple. The MacBook was ok but the iPod came with a scratch on the screen. He decided to try to exchange it for an undamaged iPod. He sent it back to Apple and instead of a new iPod he got his old one back with an additional scratch on it. More »

11:55 AM on Thu Mar 6 2008
By Meg Marco
9,948 views, 47 comments

above and beyond

Lutron Brightens Up Your Day With Good Customer Service

Peter noticed that several of the 25 Lutron Maestro dimmers he installed three years ago while renovating his 120 year-old home had started to fail. The dimmers were expensive, $30 a pop, so Peter sent them back to Lutron expecting some sort of response. Soon after, one of Lutron's product managers called with a seemingly innocuous question... More »

4:50 PM on Sun Mar 2 2008
By Carey
15,188 views, 66 comments

sisyphus

Guitar Hero For Wii Owners Are Furiously Angry At Having To Mail Their Discs To Activision

We've been getting a lot of emails lately about Activision and their requirement that people who purchased their defective game send it back and wait a month in order to receive a replacement. More »

4:53 PM on Tue Feb 19 2008
By Meg Marco
8,298 views, 51 comments

health

Tainted Puerto Rico Pills Hit U.S. Mainland

A review of FDA reports shows that Puerto Rico's pharma industry has exported pills with metal in them, pills with incorrect dosages, and pills with paint from the factory doors embedded in the finishing, among other defects. One company, responding to the findings, said "some metallic material was to be expected because the manufacturing equipment is made of metal." The FDA says the problems in Puerto Rico, which makes 13 of the top 20 best-selling drugs, are proportional to those found on the mainland. Consumer advocates contend that that just shows how ineffective the FDA is, both on the island, and on the mainland. If those are the defects inspectors found, imagine which ones they didn't, and are inside our bodies right now.

Tainted Pills Hit U.S. Mainland [AP] (Thanks to dragontologist!)
(Photo: Getty)

11:00 AM on Wed Feb 6 2008
By Ben Popken
1,083 views, 17 comments

Latest by chemman: @Empire: Actually, what I was thinking was, why is 150 ppm an appropriate specification for the EPA in drinking water (which is consumed in much larger quantities) when the FDA specification is 20 ppm. But you're right, it's not my more »

insurance

BMW Catches Fire, Everyone Tries Not To Pay For It

Poor guy. Buys a 2000 540 Bimmer and while he's driving home, it catches on fire. Some sort of thermostat failure. At first, he was screwed. Commerce, his insurance company, wouldn't pay for it because they say they don't cover mechanical failure, and there was no flame. "No flame, no claim," was their clever explanation. BMW said there were no recalls or faulty parts for that model and so they weren't going to do anything either. Then the BMW owner posted his complaints on an online message board, got a lawyer, and filed a complaint with the State Insurance Commission. All of a sudden, magically BMW now sends out an engineer to the guy's house and found that yes, the car had failed. BMW offered him enough of a settlement that he no longer feels queasy about buying BMMs in the future. Ah, the power of putting your dukes up. More »

10:00 PM on Tue Feb 5 2008
By Ben Popken
6,276 views, 35 comments

Latest by n/a: @Buran: OMFG, it's a typo, alert the authorities! You don't need to point out every mistake on a blog. We'd be here forever otherwise. more »

customer service

Apple Store Manager Calls Autistic Guy A "Freak"

Joshua's MacBook was splitting along one side—you could push it back together, but after a few minutes it would start to separate again. When Joshua, who has Asperger syndrome, tried to get it repaired at his local Apple Store, he ran into all sorts of problems. First there was a two-hour wait to see an expert, then an assistant manager walked up and said, "I've seen you in here a lot with that laptop, what's wrong?" Joshua explained, and pointed out that he had a meeting to attend that evening and needed his laptop to take notes, so he was hoping to have it looked at in person.

"I'm sorry if I seem on edge or anything, I just.... I'm born with this"... The assistant manager then says "It's okay. It's the Monday before a full moon. There will be plenty more freaks like you before close". And tells me to calm down.

More »

11:40 AM on Thu Jan 31 2008
By Chris Walters
16,098 views, 128 comments

Latest by n/a: Quote: Joshua's MacBook was splitting along one side you could push it back together, but after a few minutes it would start to separate again. Quote: as a person with autism they never failed me. I've been able to lean on them and more »

error

GameStop Will Not Accept Defective PS3 Exchange Because Of Serial Number Mistake

Reader Ben's receipt doesn't match the serial number on his defective PS3, so GameStop and Sony are refusing to repair or exchange it. More »

12:18 PM on Thu Jan 17 2008
By Meg Marco
11,147 views, 93 comments

apple

5 Years, 6 iPods, and $1495 Later, You Just Want One That Works

Last week, Reader Andrew CC'd us on this email to Steve Jobs: More »

settlements

Home Shopping Network Agrees To Pay $800k Civil Penalty

HSN has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $875,000, according to a CPSC press release, settling allegations that HSN "failed to report in a timely manner, as required by federal law, serious injuries and hazards with the Welbilt Electronic Pressure Cookers." The CPSC alleged that from 2001 to 2004, HSN received "at least 25 reports" from consumers that the cooking appliance was potentially unsafe. (In 2005 the cookers were recalled.) More »

11:18 PM on Thu Dec 27 2007
By Chris Walters
2,326 views, 19 comments

Consumerist

UPDATE: Ruby Tuesday Says Man Ordered Fatal Crab Dish

Gawker Media Network