From: Kelsey
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2009 at 3:05 PM
Subject: Two important consumer issues
To: colleen.haggerty@bankofamerica.com, britney.w.sheehan@bankofamerica.com, nicole.nastacie@bankofamerica.com, joe.price@bankofamerica.com, keith.banks@bankofamerica.com, michael.jones@bankofamerica.com, brian.t.moynihan@bankofamerica.com, steele.alphin@bankofamerica.com, maryellen.baker@bankofamerica.com

Good afternoon,

My name is Kelsey. I have been a loyal B of A customer for years. I'm enrolled in Keep the Change, have two credit cards with BofA, and have my first savings account (I've been with BofA since college) and a checking account. I have recommended BofA to my boyfriend and my roommate, both of whom have switched and also enjoy keep the change and the Add it Up program. The online banking setup is superb, and your ATMs are everywhere...hard not to like BofA. However, in the past few weeks, there have been a few instances making me question my relationship with the bank:

/snip/

Recently, I left town for my grandfather's 90th birthday. My rent check cleared a few days before, but apparently the first purchase I made once I was in Connecticut overdrafted my account. Mea culpa. I was out of town and not checking my account balance, but was still, as mentioned before, under the impression that I was covered by overdraft protection. Apparently this was not the case. I got paid in the interim so the paycheck corrected the overdraft. I log in to find that there is a significant amount of money missing. I look at the statement. Eleven overdraft fees; one for each time I used my debit card while I was out of town or once I got back and needed to buy groceries. That's a total of $385. I was told on the phone that I could be refunded $140 as a courtesy, but since I believed I was enrolled in overdraft protection I don't really see how that is a courtesy.

I told the customer service woman I spoke with (who to her credit was very nice despite my tears/frustration) that I thought I was enrolled in overdraft protection. She told me several things: First, that if I were enrolled, it would say that on my statement. How do I look for something on my statement that I have never seen on another one of my statements and don't know to look for? Second, she told me that since I had overdrawn recently, and didn't say anything about overdraft protection at the time, she really couldn't believe my claim that I requested it when I opened the account. I'm sorry, but this seems ridiculous to me. One fee is easy for me to overlook, slap myself on the wrist and move on...11 is off-the-charts and warranted an immediate call to customer service. I have no recourse here: it's my word against your computer system, which "has no notation" that I requested overdraft protection. How am I supposed to prove that, when the person I asked to set me up with it undoubtedly doesn't even work at that branch anymore? Basically, what she is telling me is that because someone messed up on B of A's end four years ago, I am out $245.

I'm a reasonable person, and I can admit a mistake, but 11 fees is something I cannot afford. With the $245 that has still been deducted, I could pay off half of my Komen Visa balance (a card I gladly and PURPOSEFULLY opened with B of A), but these two events have me contemplating moving my money elsewhere. I may not have millions in the bank, but I think that my loyalty, especially during some of these more trying times, should count for something.

Best,

Kelsey

Two hours later, Kelsey got a call from someone who said she would investigate the checking account complaint. Two days later, all the overdrafts fees were refunded.

"Although at the time I believed it was 11 overdraft fees total, it was actually 15, totaling $525 of my hard-earned money...The woman from the executive office thanked me for reaching out, and being polite and proactive, and told me that by looking at my accounts she could tell this was a one-time thing and that I am a responsible banking customer," writes Kelsey.

"I never expected that response, especially from BofA, but plus one to Consumerist for teaching us all that a level head and a fair request can help the consumer come out on top."

c0crusader wrote this complaint letter to Sony:

Dear Sir/Madam:

I purchased a custom configured laptop from SonyStyle - the VGN-SR190. Before placing this order I called Sony technical support to inquire about the availability of an HDMI port on the SR190. I was told by the tech agent that the base model did not have an HDMI output but if I upgraded the graphics card to the ATI Radeon 3400 it would make an HDMI port available, as is the case when upgrading the SR290 to the same graphics card. I relied on this information when configuring my laptop and expended $99 on the ATI Radeon 3400 graphics card. Again, the only reason I made this upgrade was because of the information provided to me by tech support regarding the availability of an HDMI port with this upgrade.

You can guess what happened next. I received the laptop and found that even with the upgraded graphics card the computer still did not have an HDMI port. I called customer service to voice my dissatisfaction about being given false information by tech support and requested an adjustment. Owen R. from the Billing Department denied my request for a credit for the price of the graphics card. After escalating the issue to Beverly W., I was informed that because there was no record of me having placed a call to tech support prior to ordering, there was nothing that could be done. But why would I ask for a record when simply calling to inquire about a product. I assume the information a Sony tech provides about Sony products is accurate and thus verifiable without any extra records.

So I decided to make an after-the-fact record. I called tech support again to inquire about the availability of the HDMI port on the SR190 if you upgrade to the ATI Radeon 3400. No surprise, I was again reassured that the SR190 came with an HDMI port when upgraded to the ATI Radeon 3400, this time by John from Tech Support. I made sure to get an Event Number this time. I called the Billing Department to ask for the credit and again the request was denied. The agent, Daniel (ID# 4978), was very rude and refused to accept the new Event Number as proof. He claimed he had no "authority over technical support," and could not do anything because Owen R. had already made a decision. He said that issuing a return label was all that Sony was willing to do.

Not content with the free return label to settle the matter, c0crusader dropped da bomb on 40 Sony executives and found immediate success:

Not a day later I starting receiving emails and phone calls from the executives. Suffice it to say they immediately refunded me the $99 and promised to investigate the tech training issue. Moral, ask for a record when calling tech support and when all else fails send an Executive Email Carpet Bomb — it really works!

Oh, EECB, how unhelpful corporate underlings wish we could quit you.

(Photo: adam reker)

This is the letter he sent to addresses for Steve Balmer and Bill Gates he found on Google searches:

Dear Microsoft Executives,

On Sunday September 20th at 11 AM CST I updated my 80 Gigabyte Zune to the latest firmware that you offer via the Zune software. Needless to say after the update was finished my Zune has completely stopped working. So after letting it sit for a few hours hoping that maybe the battery needed to be charged I tried to get my Zune to work again. No luck so at 3 PM CST I felt an call to Zune customer support was in order.

The first representative I talked to was named Icee. He has me do all the tricks that are on the Zune support pages that I have already done to no luck. Icee then puts me on hold for several minutes before finally getting back to me saying that I would have to pay $160 to send my Zune to them to fix it. I explain that their software is liable for causing the problem and you should fix it on your dime. Icee tells me that they can't do anything since my account is "locked" and that its expecting an credit card number in order to advance with the repair.

I then ask for an manager. Icee puts me on hold for several minutes again before I get transfered to the manager Lee. I explain the issue to Lee who then tells me to "keep an eye on Zune.net" since they are investigating problems with the firmware update. I get the case number [redacted]. I made it clear to him that I am very unhappy with even the idea that I should have to pay out of my pocket for their software issues making my Zune no longer work. He simply tells me to watch the website and has no idea on when to expect an fix if any. Call at the end was 30 minutes or so.

I have spent most of today trying various methods to get my Zune working again. As of right now its refusing to work. I am at the point of where I am very unhappy with the idea of having to pay $160 out of my pocket to fix what your software messed up. This is not the first Zune that has stopped working on me as my previous 80 gigabyte model
also stopped working.

Zune support responded the next day, asking for an address to send his prepaid Zune coffin. Brian now awaits the return of the spoils of his EECB direct hit.

(Photo: organic nyc)

My name is Greg [redacted], and I have been a long time reader of the Consumerist. I am contacting you today because I have had continuing issues with my Dell Latitude E6400, a notebook that ultimately did not live up to its name as a Dell business laptop. Anyway, I've been working to try and solve various issues related to the notebook for almost a year and thought that you might be interested in knowing that it took at EECB to finally fix it. A new system is on the way, and it will probably arrive within the next week. ...

Just make sure your readers know to use michael@dell.com to contact Dell. The email address reaches an executive relations team.

It's just a tad disappointing to know the address isn't the key to Michael Dell's personal inbox — I always pictured him chuckling over all those forwards I sent him — but at least Dell has provided customers an all-in-one EECB smartbomb target.

D writes,

Someone close to me just lost $250 out of her savings because a store charged her debit card 10 times for the same transaction. When, days later, they reversed all but one of the charges, the overdraft fees for those 9 charges went away as well, but not the overdrafts for all the other purchases made during that period.

When she contacted her bank, they said it was the store's responsibility and to contact them for reimbursement. When she finally got a hold of them, they said she needed to fill out a form and send it to them with an unaltered (eg, intact account #s etc) bank statement. Oh and that form would get mailed out to her sometime in the next month.

Is this normal? Is there someone else we should be talking to? I haven't mentioned the names of the companies because this didn't happen to me personally, and I am just seeking advice, so if your advice is "have her email you with more details", that's fine.

This is one of those situations where we think your friend needs to push now and push hard to get the bank and/or the company to fix this problem. The thing is, she didn't create this problem, so the onus shouldn't be on her to try to get it fixed. We think she should launch EECBs at both the bank and the merchant who screwed up, and very clearly make her request that these added penalties get refunded to her account immediately.

She may also want to contact politicians who are sympathetic to the cause of reducing the free-for-all overdraft environment banks currently enjoy—this is exactly the kind of example that illustrates how far banks have gone with exploiting this "service" for profit.

RELATED
"Banks Cling To Overdraft Fees Because They Need Them To Survive"
(Photo: zak_greant)

He's connected with others who have faced the same issue and brought the issue up to HP brass via an Executive Email Carpet Bomb to no avail. He writes:

So a year and a half ago I bought an HP TX1000 laptop. At the time it seemed like a good unit, if a bit more expensive ($1,000-1,200). A little over a year into owning it, as its warranty expired, i watched a few episodes of Lost and went to sleep. The next morning was the beginning of a slow death. The root of the problem is a graphics card that runs so hot it self destructs the motherboard. The GPU core runs about 170 degrees, pretty typical for it in light use and about 50 degrees too hot.

Luckily i have found a whole community online, all stuck with either a failed motherboard just out of warranty, or a motherboard failing for a second time after a replacement under warranty. The failure is multi-stepped with the wireless card connection failing, then audio, then the death spiral of failed connections to the graphics card (mine is currently in and out of audio, with a UBS wireless stick- so around step 2).

The catch is none of us can get HP to do anything. They know it is a problem, it is all over their own message boards (and never with an official fix- that would admit it is a problem), and they won't do anything about it. it is the heart of what they sold me failing, in a years time, and a $400 fix- almost 1/2 its original cost. What do we do when 500 of us in yahoo, google, and facebook groups and online petitions can't get them to budge? Our biggest problem is it wasn't a big seller, so there aren't enough of us for them to really care.

What do we do when nothing seems to work?

Bobby isn't alone in his problem. This forum is filled with similar complaints.

The point of an EECB is to bring a problem to the attention of the bigwigs, not necessarily to bend them to your will. Even though he hasn't gotten his computer repaired, at least he's taken the process as far as possible and learned about how the company operates, and he can keep that information in mind when he makes his next computer purchase.

HP can't go extending its warranties forever, but it would probably be prudent to take care of widespread hardware issues before they bubble over. Any suggestions for Bobby and his friends?

(Photo: digi_dt)

With no other options, he researched the e-mail addresses of the company's executive board and fired off a carefully crafted executive e-mail carpet bomb.

Dear Toys R Us Executive Committee,

My name is Seth M. and I am taking the unusual step of writing
you personally after having exhausting your normal customer service
options.

Back on July 6th I purchased a "Fast Lane Mutator" Radio Controlled
vehicle for my son. I paid $65.98 for it including sales tax. The
day after the purchase the main drive gear in the transmission
stripped out leaving us with an inoperable car. Inside the packaging
was a card telling us that in case of problems, not to return the toy
to the store but to e-mail, service_toysrus@yahoo.com. I did so and
quickly received an automated reply telling me that the address was no
longer good, thereby stripping me of that service option. I went to
the ToysRUs Website and after a little searching came up with a phone
number, 1-800-869-7787.

The guest relations staff at this number were very helpful, taking my
information and telling me that they would forward it onto the proper
people. They also gave me a case number [redacted]. About 15
minutes later, I received a call from another associate who was looking
to check my information and to gather some details that were missed in
my prior call. She told me that my problem would be forwarded to the
"Private Label Team", because the "Fast Lane" line of merchandise was
built as a Toys R Us house brand. She also said I should hear back
within 5 business days.

During the next two weeks I did not get a call.

Then, while my family and I were on vacation, I received a message from
someone, Daphne I believe, in "Corporate Guest Relations" requesting
that I return her call. We returned home August 8th and I was able to
call the number, 1-800-961-5984, on Monday the 10th. The associate
who answered said that they just wanted to let me know that my issue
had been forwarded onto the Private Label Team and that I should hear
back within three days. On Friday the 14th after hearing nothing I
called again to check up on the progress. I was told that they would
re-send it to the Private Label team and to expect to hear something
within 5 days.

It is now August 21st and another call was made. Again I was told
that they would re-send my case to the Private Label team. I asked
the associate if there were any other options for me as the sending of
my case to the Private Label team seems to have no effect. I was
given the name of Mr. Storch and the Corporate mailing address, with
the suggestion that I send him a letter.

This e-mail is the resultant letter.

Before moving on, I would like to tell you that at every step of the
way along your customer service chain, the men and women I spoke to
were polite and very willing to do whatever was in their power to help
me, this is commendable. However it seems that nobody I have spoken
to as of yet has the ability to actually resolve my issue.

My family and I often shop at ToysRUs, and would prefer to continue.
With our children it is definitely easier to have a toy in hand versus
a printout of a delivery confirmation. When I first started contacting
your company I was hoping to either receive a replacement part, or
vehicle. Unfortunately at this point I think that a full refund would
be the best way to resolve my problem.

I understand that it being late on a Friday, an immediate response may
be difficult. I look forward to hearing from you next week.

Thank you for your time,

Seth M.
[Phone number]
[E-mail address]

cc: http://www.consumerist.com

After reading his initial e-mail, we asked Seth how things turned out. The response to his EECB was immediate and quite impressive.

I wrote my initial e-mail on Friday evening. I received my first e-mail
reply from a member of the Toys R Us Executive Committee (the focus of my
e-mail) early Saturday morning. Shortly there after I was called by
Rachelle from Executive Relations who let me know that it being Saturday
there wasn't much that could be done until Monday. She did say that Toys R
Us would do whatever was needed to make things right. She said that a gift
card was the easiest for them but they could also mail me a check. She said
that she would call me on Monday to make all the arrangements. I told her
that a gift card would be fine.

I also received an e-mail from the Vice President of Operations Ms. Claire
Babrowski, letting me know that she would make sure everything was taken
care of.

Later Saturday Ms. Babrowski e-mailed me again after finding out that
Rachelle had already called me to arrange a resolution. Ms. Babrowski
wanted to make sure I was satisfied and asked that I keep her updated on the
status of everything. She also offered to, in addition to the gift card,
send my son a "zero gravity" RC toy to apologize for Toys R Us's failure.

I replied that my son would appreciate the toy and sent my address.

On Monday Rachelle called me to confirm my address for the gift card.

Tuesday morning the "apology" card arrived with a hand written apology from
Ms. Babrowski, much to my son's surprise and joy.

I as of yet have not received the gift card but have every expectation that
it is on its way.

I cannot thank the consumerist enough. It was via the various posts
regarding an EECB that I learned how to search for e-mail address formats
and how to write an appropriate concise letter. I did not expect such a
quick and complete response from Toys R Us.

What a great resolution! We're a bit concerned about the runaround Seth received when trying to replace the toy through regular channels, and hope that Toys R Us has taken this opportunity to fix the problems with their private label product support.

Do you have a customer service problem that can't be solved through the regular channels? Empower yourself with the information available here on Consumerist, starting with the Ultimate Guide To Fighting Back.

UPDATE: Seth just reported that he received a gift card for the total amount he paid for the car, plus $15.

Billy Rogers of Dallas says he struggled for months last year to get Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield to process bills of around $1,350 from doctor visits. The holdup came because the company was investigating whether Mr. Rogers fully disclosed his medical condition when he bought his policy, he says. The 47-year-old political consultant says he was healthy, though one check after he was insured showed somewhat elevated blood sugar that he says quickly dropped in later tests.

Fed up, Mr. Rogers fired off an email with the subject line "Horrible Anthem Coverage." It went to Chief Executive Angela Braly and a public-relations official at Anthem parent WellPoint Inc. He also sent it to several reporters and documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. Within hours, Mr. Rogers says, he got an email from the WellPoint spokesman, and days later the claim went through. The tactic "sends a signal that you're not going to give up on this," says Mr. Rogers. "I was really, really angry."

Want to send an EECB to a health insurance company? First, have a valid claim. Then, document the heck out of your issue and come up with really good reasons to support your argument. Then exhaust normal customer service options. Once those fail, it's time to send an EECB using these tips.

Taking Gripes Over Insurance to the Top Brass [WSJ](Thanks to Alexa!)

Bryan writes:

About 18 months ago I purchased a new HDTV from Best Buy and also purchased the extended service plan (stupid I know, but this was before I started reading Consumerist). I purchased this specific TV because the light source was supposed to last for 5 years and even came with a 5yr warranty. Well, as it turns out the light didn't last nearly 5 years. It conked out after 6 months. I thought maybe it was just a bad part so I spent about a month in the Geek Squad repair cycle and had it replaced. The TV worked great for about another 6 months, when the light source died again. I again went through the Geek Squad repair maze and about a month later the TV was fixed. This time the light source broke within 1 week of the repair. Ok, I was irritated before but now I am getting mad. Luckily this time I was on vacation and the TV was repaired before I got back home. Another 6 months later and the light source broke for the 4th time.

I decided to contact Best Buy and request a replacement under their "no lemon" clause of the extended warranty. After all I have had 4 failures of the TV and that is what it takes under the policy to get replaced. To my dismay, but not unexpected, a Best Buy CSR left a message on my cell phone denying my claim. He said the light source was not a qualified part under the policy. The next day I called Best Buy to investigate the denial. The CSR I spoke to repeated that the light source was not a qualified repair. Knowing I would not get anywhere I immediately asked to speak with a supervisor. I very much thought my call would get disconnected right then but to my surprise a supervisor was on the line in less than a minute. I went back and forth with him for about 10 minutes about the policy and why it should qualify. Needless to say he would not budge from the "not qualified" line so I ended our conversation.

This is when I decided to take The Consumerist's advise and write an EECB to Best Buy. Less than 24 hours later I was contacted by the Executive Relations Specialist. She said that she would be looking into my issue and would contact me soon. To my complete shock and amazement the Executive Relations Specialist contacted me less than a week later and said that my replacement had been approved. She supplied me with an exchange number to take to any Best Buy to get a new TV. I can even use the original purchase price as credit towards a different TV.

Below are the email that I sent to the Best Buy Executives and their responses. Thanks Consumerist!

Bryan sent one of the better EECBs we've ever read. It's clear, direct, and earns the reader's sympathy. He wrote:

I would like to begin by thanking you for taking the time to read my letter and for taking the necessary steps necessary to resolve my situation. Please know that I am not taking writing to you directly lightly. I have tried to resolve my issue through both Geek Squad and Best Buy customer service on many occasions. Being unable to resolve my issue through normal channels I feel that I have no other option but appeal to you directly.

I have been a loyal Best Buy customer for many years and am a Preferred Silver member of your Reward Zone program. I have been very pleased with the level of customer service that I have received from your stores, until now. My story begins when I bought a 56" Panasonic LiFi LCD Projection TV on January 3, 2008 along with the Performance Service Plan #XXXXXXXXX (a copy of the receipt is attached). I selected this specific television because both Best Buy and Panasonic claimed that the LiFi light source in the television had an expected life of 20,000 hours and "lasts so long you may never need to change it."

Sadly, over the year and a half that I have owned the TV is has fallen vastly short of living up to its claims. Only six months after purchasing the TV the LiFi light source on went out and needed to be replaced. Approximately six months after that the LiFi light source failed again requiring another replacement. This time the LiFi light source only lasted a single week before it went out again and needed another replacement. Just recently, the LiFi blight source failed again and requires another replacement. This is the fourth time in a year and a half that the LiFi light source has failed and needed replacement (receipts for all repairs are attached). During the last service call the Geek Squad technician conducted a performance test on the TV to verify that no other components were causing the problems. He established, and verified with Panasonic, that there were no other problems with the TV causing the LiFi light source to fail.

At this point I contacted Best Buy customer service to fail a claim under the "No Lemon" policy of the PSP for a replacement TV. The representative who took my claim was very helpful and told me a confirmation number would be sent in 3-5 business days that can be used to obtain a replacement. However, instead of a confirmation number a representative named "Brian" called me on 7/3/09 to inform me that my claim had been denied.

On 7/7/09 I contacted Best Buy customer service again to inquire as to why my claim had been denied. I first spoke with "Chava" who informed me that a technician had determined that the TV was repairable and therefore not eligible for replacement. Upon hearing this I asked to be transferred to a manager for further clarification. I then spoke with "Matt" who I spoke with for 20 minutes regarding my situation. During our conversation Matt gave several contradictory excuses for why my TV was not eligible for a "No Lemon" replacement. Below I will discuss each of Matt's arguments separately.

1) Matt: If the technician determines the TV to be repairable then it does not have to be replaced.

a. Under the PSP is specifically states "After three qualified (3) service repairs have been completed on an individual product and that individual product requires a fourth qualified (4th) repair, as determined by us, we will replace it with a product of comparable performance of like kind and quality not to exceed the original purchase amount." The PSP does not give the option to continue repairing the TV after the 4th repair. It only gives the option for replacement.

2) Matt in response to above: The LiFi light source is not a qualified repair as it is a "consumable part" because it is a "bulb."

a. The LiFi light source is not a consumable part as defined by the PSP. It does not have electrodes that deteriorate with time like a traditional projection bulb. It is designed to not be consumable and last the life of the TV.

b. The LiFi light source is not considered a "bulb" in other parts of the PSP, and therefore should not qualify as such under the "No Lemon" policy.

i. The PSP states that it will only "One (1) bulb replacement for DLP, Projection LCD TVs and Home Theater Projectors of your original bulb during the term of this plan" will be approved."

ii. However, the LiFi light source has already been approved for replacement under the PSP three times. This shows that the LiFi light source is not considered a "bulb" under the PSP.

Needless to say, Matt was not able to resolve my issue with the perpetually broken TV which is why I am writing to you. Over the past year and a half that I have owned the TV it has been broken and inoperable approximately 20% of the time. In order to get the TV repaired I have taken 4 full days off of work to be available for the Geek Squad service technician. These constant repairs have cost me a great deal of lost income and entertainment time; time and money that should never have been lost if the TV was not a "Lemon."

The bottom line is that the TV is not living up to the claims made by Best Buy and Panasonic when I purchased it. The LiFi light source in the TV has failed four times in the past year and each time needed to be replaced. I purchased the additional Performance Service Plan to protect me from this exact situation but am now being denied my rights under the agreement.

I ask that you please look into my situation and rectify the egregious error. I am not asking for anything more then what is rightfully owed to me under the PSP; a replacement of the faulty TV through the "No Lemon" policy of the PSP. I would even be willing to accept a refund of the original purchase price of the TV in the form of a Best Buy gift card so I can purchase a replacement myself.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to read my letter and address the issues that are raised within it. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email address.

An executive resolution specialist responded with a promise to look into his case:

Good morning Bryan,

I wanted to reach out to you surrounding the email you had sent to a few of our executives and leadership yesterday afternoon. Please allow me to address your concerns on their behalf.

I am truly sorry to hear about the number of times the LiFi light has had to be replaced within your Panasonic LiFi Projection TV in the last

18 months or so. I can understand your disappointment and I regret the inconvenience these issues must have caused. Normally, projection lights are considered bulbs/lamps which although may be covered under your Plan, does not count toward No Lemon.

However I would like to take the opportunity to partner with the local leadership to see what resolution we may be able to offer. I will reach back in touch with you again soon.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns in the mean time.

Respectfully,

Nichol Mathis
Executive Resolution Specialist

She quickly followed up with an offer to replace the defective television:

Hello Bryan,

I wanted to reach back out to you. I received an email late yesterday advising me that we were able to approve your TV for exchange. Your confirmation number is xxxxxxx.

You may go to the store immediately to have the exchange performed.

Please be sure to bring your confirmation number and receipt if possible. If you no longer have a copy of the receipt then you can refer to your Customer Service Pin which will allow the store to locate the transaction. The pin is xxxxxxxxxx.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns.

Kind regards,

Nichol Mathis
Executive Resolution Specialist

Learn how to launch your own EECB by reading this post.

(Photo: The Joy Of The Mundane)

My AT&T bill is set to charge to my American Express every month. Its simple, I get the points, and I make one payment to AMEX for everything. After receiving my recent AT&T bill, I noticed that AT&T stated that I owed $317.60, including $157.40 from last month's bill and $160.20 in new charges.

I did not notice anything significantly different last month, but I went and checked my AMEX statement anyway - sure enough on June 27, AT&T charged me $157.40 as they should have. Well, my bill stated that my card was declined and that's what the AT&T rep said. "Your card was declined, spoco." was pretty much the way it was handled. I could not escelate because "I did not have a valid concern that would need to involve a supervisor." The local AT&T store could not help either.

So even though I have transaction IDs and proof that the bill was paid by automatic draft to my AMEX, they will not discuss it. Well, on 7/26, they charged my AMEX the full amount due, $317.60. I contacted them again, and its the same song and dance - "I owed from a previous bill." I can't even get anyone to even look at the possibility that there was a mistake on their part.

Spoco, if you can't get anyone at ground-level customer service to help you, it's time to aim higher. Try contacting others within the company and explain what's happening.

You should also make it clear to AT&T that you will initiate a reversal of the payment should they refuse to investigate it.

Consumerist reader Rebecca recently had an unsettling experience with a pair of maternity pajamas she bought from Motherwear: a ribbon at the front detached and ended up lodged in her newborn's mouth as he was nursing. Rebecca was able to retrieve the ribbon and her son was thankfully unharmed. Rebecca wrote to Motherwear to let them know about the potential choking hazard that these pajamas present. But the apathetic responses she received from Motherwear customer service are sadly lacking, given that we're talking about the possibility of infant death.

Rebecca wrote:

Last summer, I bought a pair of pajamas from you. They adjust at the front with two ribbons.

With the warm weather here, I just pulled out those pajamas for the first time in several months. I was nursing my 9-month-old in bed, and he stopped nursing (which he often does at this age—stops and starts). But for some reason, he wouldn't start again—he seemed to have something in his mouth, and he seemed unhappy about it.

I popped his mouth open and was shocked to see that one of the two ribbons was detached from the pajamas and inside his mouth completely.

I wanted to let you know about this, in case you want to warn other customers, as it's clearly hazardous. If I had nodded off next to him in bed, thinking he was actually done nursing, I'm not sure what could have happened with that length of ribbon in his mouth.

Motherwear's response?

Thank you for contacting Motherwear. We're sorry you had a problem with these pajamas. We are happy that your child was not harmed by the ribbon. We will pass your email to our merchandising department as well as the company CEO. Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,

Customer Service
Motherwear
1-800-950-2500

Unconvinced, Rebecca wrote back again, this time a little more firmly, but again received a stock, three-line response.

Does anyone have the info Rebecca needs to fire off an EECB?

I wanted to share a phenomenal success story I just recently had with Bank of America and those pesky overdraft fees.

To start with I want to acknowledge that I was 100% in the wrong in this case, but the variables were blown to mammoth proportions. I just recently moved into a new apartment and had written the check to my landlord on the 30th of May or so. I thought that he had cashed the check and I still had quite a bit of money left over which was great because I had a great many essentials I had to buy for my new/first apartment. Cleaning supplies, shower curtain, rental van etc. Unbeknown to me at the time my new landlord cashed the check on Friday and I was shopping for said essentials at various stores.

The weekend went off without a hitch moving wise and I was happy in my new place. I go to check my account on Monday to find that I was about 300 dollars overdrawn, mostly smaller transactions and that there were more on the way. Needless to say I was a bit distraught and the small purchases I had made started to rack up all incurring 35 dollars a pop.

So I decided to call Bank of America to see what my options were and possibly contest a few. Long story short, they were unwilling to do anything.

The next day I decided that I was going to go in to a branch and close my account to prevent my direct deposit from going in so I could avoid having to pay the total amount outright and be better able to pay my mid monthly bills. It was a no go, I couldn't close an account that was in the red and once again they were unwilling/unable to help me in any way.

More transactions went from pending to over drafted. All told I ended up with 15 overdraft fees amounting to $525 in fees alone. A hefty sum to be sure.

Being an avid reader of the Consumerist for a couple years or so, I remembered the notion of an executive email carpet bomb (recent article as well). So I set about crafting the email explaining the situation, stating that I have no problems with overdraft fees on large purchases but 37 dollars for a coffee from Dunkin Donuts was a bit much to swallow.

A bit nervous I hit send and began the waiting game, to no avail. Today while at work I received a call from an unknown number, figuring that it was a credit collector hearkening my financial downward spiral I ignored it. They left a message though and curiousity got the best of me. A pleasant man named George from the office of the CEO had left a message notifying me the fees were to be removed and he left a number for me to call. I immediately called after that and spoke to him for about 5 minutes telling me about the notification systems they have available to me and a little bit of light lecturing.

I just checked my account and the fees were indeed returned. Needless to say a large weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

See what a polite, well-crafted letter can do?

Go here to learn how to craft and launch your very own Executive E-mail Carpet Bomb.

(Photo: jamisonjudd)

Alison writes:

I know Jiffy Lube gets a bad rap but I've never had any problems with them and have been taking my car in for regular oil changes there for years. That is until a few weeks ago when my husband took our '94 Corolla in for an oil change at a local Madison, WI Jiffy Lube before a big trip. They suggested flushing the transmission fluid. I don't think we'd ever looked at the transmission fluid and we figured it could use some attention, so my husband agreed. The next day we drove to Chicago to visit my parents before driving on a few days later to Louisville, KY for a wedding. My mom immediately noticed something leaking under car. We were able to get our car in to see a mechanic who told us that the transmission drain pan plug was completely stripped and we were just a bump or two away from losing it, losing our transmission fluid, and having catastrophic car damage. He repaired the damage and we were on our way, although miffed about all the money we just spent. When we finally returned home I drafted a complaint email and submitted it via Jiffy Lube's website. I actually submitted several emails over a period of about a week because we never heard back from them, or so I thought. We did find out later that they were trying to contact us via our landline phone fairly regularly (we don't use it and it's not hooked up to an answering machine). Their phone calls were showing up as Heartland Automotive and after reading about car warranty robo-callers on your site we didn't answer, thinking it was one of them. Doh!

Another couple weeks go by and I start getting ready to craft an EECB. I do some research and find that Jiffy Lube's CEO, Rick Altizer, has done a YouTube video on Jiffy Lube's commitment to service which lists his email address. I also find out that my Jiffy Lube is actually owned by Heartland Automotive Group "America's Largest Jiffy Lube Franchisee." The email addresses for CEO's at Heartland Automotive Services were relative easy to find with a Google search. I sent my email out and that night we get a call (coincidentally or not) from the manager of the Jiffy Lube store (this time we realize who's calling from Heartland Automotive and pick up the phone). He was polite and spoke with my husband about the situation with our car. Not surprisingly they denied all damage and gave an excuse that is too lame to repeat here. After confirming with our mechanic that his excuse made no sense, I re-sent the EECB with a follow-up regarding the phone conversation and expressing my continued disappointment with how the situation was being handled. That was this morning and by this afternoon I had a reply email from the CEO of Heartland Automotive Services assuring me that they were taking this matter seriously and apologizing for what happened. They also will be reimbursing me for the original transmission fluid flush, the repair for our car (that's about $250 total) and throwing in a coupon for a free oil change. I've already had someone contact me about getting the reimbursement rolling. I couldn't be happier with their response to this matter.

Thanks Consumerist for helping empower me as a consumer—EECB's totally work!

Learn how to craft your own Executive Email Carpet Bomb by reading this post.

(Photo: Gregg Sperling)

He tried sending a certified letter. He contacted the credit reporting agency to dispute the delinquency claim, and he ended up being sent back to BoA's credit dispute department, where they refused his request. Finally, all other channels exhausted, he resorted to the following Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB).

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing today to express my frustration in the lack of help I've been receiving from the associates at Bank of America. I've been in constant contact with your Credit Card Customer Service department about an on-going issue for the past few months along with sending certified letters (see below for tracking info) for someone to help me. Because of the lack of notes each associate has taken on my record, each call to Customer Service is always new adventure. Another result of the lack of notes is that no associate believes anything I say and are quick to note, "well we don't have a record of that" which allows them to offer minimal help. It came to a point where I called on 6/18/09 asking for help and was told "there is no help and there's nothing I can do." I can't express how embarrassing it is to call your customer service, explain my situation, and then be treated as if I were irresponsible and, basically, shown the door.

I have multiple products with Bank of America including a checking account and 2 credit cards and have contemplated moving more accounts over to take advantage of some of your other products. I have been a member since my accounts were MBNA back in 1999. That's ten years of loyalty. But I am writing to talk about credit card account [redacted] which I used as my secondary credit account in the event my primary Bank of America card had any issues.

Since I used my primary card so much, it got to a point where no card readers would accept it. So I put in a call to Bank of America for a new card and used my secondary card (which carried a $0 balance) until my primary card was replaced. Since I'm also a heavy user of the BankofAmerica.com website, I enjoyed checking my statements and paying my bills online. I noticed the account-in-question was not attached to my online profile and a point came where I was not receiving a statement to pay off the account. I called Customer Service and after a couple hours of back and forth with your tech department and other managers, they were able to return with "an issue linking old MBNA accounts/profiles that were transferred during the buyout". The customer service agent said that they were going to work on the online problem, but until then, a statement was definitely on the way.

Time passed, and I still didn't get a statement. So I called Customer Service again and was told that the statement was already sent and to wait a couple days and call back again if it doesn't show up. So I waited, no statement, and I call customer service again. The new agent I spoke to was confused as I tried to explain my situation, again, that my account was not attached online, your tech department was working on it, I'm not receiving statements, and I have no way to pay my bill. The customer service agent said I can pay over the phone but there was a fee. I asked if she can waive the fee considering all the issues and she told me she could not do that. So I said I'll wait another week for the statement since the agent ASSURED me one was on the way.

Time passes, again, no statement. I jumped on my BankofAmerica.com account and the account in question had Finally attached to my profile. I was relieved because I really didn't want to call customer service again over this issue. BUT, I had to… The account was past due and late fees were tacked on… I called and had to explain the story again, and of course I get "there's no record of any of that" and that I needed to be more responsible. Obviously I'm trying to be responsible, which is why I have been calling. But the agent politely apologized for the inconvenience and waived all the fees to the account and stayed on the phone with me as I completed an online payment to the account. I was VERY happy with how the situation ended (or so I thought) and we proceeded to close the account since I still was not receiving statements.

I recently ordered a pre-approval for a mortgage refinance and received my credit report. I noticed a flag on my credit report for the account in question. After the constant communication with customer service, the issues with the web site, not receiving statements, an admitted "issue with previous MBNA profiles/accounts" and not to mention the 10 years of loyalty with absolutely no blemishes, I cannot understand how this account was reported as a "delinquent account."

I wrote letters to the 3 main credit bureaus (certified mail), a letter to Bank of America (see tracking info below), and, again, called Bank of America customer where I was greeted with "I don't have a record of any of that" but will put in a "request" to the Credit department to review the account (April 22, 2009). A few weeks later I received responses from the 3 credit bureaus all stating, "We have verified that Bank of America did in fact report this account. All disputes should be resolved through Bank of America." That's fine, but I had yet to hear anything from Bank of America from the letter and dispute I requested.

June 17, 2009.

I decided to call again to see what steps were being taken on my account where, again, I was greeted with "I don't have a record of any of that except that we closed the account and a dispute was generated by our customer service department." So I again repeated the entire story in which the agent told me "we already made a decision and we will not be removing the delinquent notice from your credit report." I asked who else I can speak to but was told "there is no one else." I don't buy it, there's ALWAYS someone to talk to. I didn't ask to speak to a CEO, just to someone who can help me and who would listen to my side of the story.

I was then told "Sir, there is no one else to talk to, we've made our decision. From what i'm reading, you were late and you disputed this."

Even after explaining the story and all the issues again, and being told that there is absolutely no one else I can discuss this with, I asked, "So where is the letter I sent you explaining the situation? Did anyone review it?"

"I don't have a record of that," your associate responded.

I respond, "Well, I have a record that I sent you a letter, and I have a record stating you received it, so why isn't THAT recorded in your notes, and why hasn't anyone responded? If you guys record every contact you receive from us, why hasn't anyone contacted me" (see tracking info below)

"I'm sorry sir, that may be on another recording system."

SERIOUSLY?? Another recording system?? So are all my other online issues and phone calls also on another recording system?

We again went back and forth about how many other people there are at Bank of America and I, in no way, can speak to any of them.

I asked how the last customer service associate put in the dispute I requested by phone. "There is a form we fill out," he said.

I asked if its just "Check off your issue" and then fill out an explanation, or just copy/paste my account number and then push send.

"No, I fill out your account and then select ‘would like to dispute' and send it in."

Any employee can look at an account and see the person was late and say "we won't fix it." But that wasn't the case with mine. I wanted to speak to someone. I wanted someone to read my letter. I wanted someone to HELP me. SPEAK to me. GIVE me the respect of explaining what was going on over there... I even went out of my way to write a full letter requesting help as well as attached a copy of my FULL credit report with the issue highlighted to make the issue for your associates as simple as possible upon receipt.

Now, I understand mergers can be stressful, I also understand mistakes happen, I am also VERY forgiving when it comes to mistakes, but, constantly being told that it's my fault, "we don't have a record of that," "we can't do any more for you" and "there's no one else that can help you" is UNACCEPTABLE. I've been extremely patient with your staff, I have never yelled at them, never cursed at them, and have tried to uphold as much professionalism as I can muster. But this has gone TOO far. 10 years of loyalty, 10 years of being in "good standing" and an issue I had NO control over arises and I get screwed over with absolutely no help from anyone.

I've hit a dead end and would like some help from somebody. A manager, a district manager, someone who will actually take the time to listen to me and review my situation without looking at the lack of notes and saying "we don't have a record of that."

I included my contact information below and am available, at any time, to discuss this matter.

Your kindness in this matter would be GREATLY appreciated.

Sincerely ,
Andrew

Whew, that was long! But it was a long story, and a frustrating one. We were especially annoyed by how, as time went on, Bank of America used its own institutional amnesia to justify blaming Andrew for a series of mistakes made on their end. What's the point of having a "notes" section on an account, and of repeatedly referring to it, if your CSRs aren't actually using it correctly?

The good news is that the EECB had the desired effect. Andrew wrote back to us this morning,

The day I sent the email (Friday), an executive named Nereida called me from the office of Ken Lewis. She was extremely polite and seemed to really care about how I felt with getting a dead end in the customer service I should have received. She was prepared with a list of names of managers ready to work with me. But she did NOT send me on a calling spree. She had already put in calls to these people, but since it was Friday night at 730pm, everyone here on the east coast was gone for the day. So she said she would call me first thing Monday morning and keep me informed on any updates she received, and again apologized for not receiving more attention.

I received a call from Nereida this morning at about 10:30am and she conference-called me with Myron who worked out of the Consumer Credit Affairs division. Myron told me that they would be removing the alerts from my credit report. He also told me that he did see a couple reasons as to why I may not have recieved a statement and because of that, and along with all the details I had given, he saw no reason not to remove the alerts on my credit report.

The lesson here is that the EECB still can work, if you have a good reason to send it. As Andy points out in his summary below, it really pays to exhaust your other options first. When you launch and EECB you should be able to explain how you were blocked from a solution at every other customer service path in the company first.

Originally, I thought that my EECB would be a lost cause. Even fall on deaf ears... But thanks to Nereida's kindness and swift action, she helped to make my issue go away in less than 2 days.

To the readers of The Consumerist, the EECB works, but PLEASE do not abuse it. I exhausted every resource including numerous phone calls to customer serivce, secure emails from my bankofamerica.com account, and even resorted to Certified Mail with the USPS, which I feel was the biggest help in my case.

(Photo: Indigo Goat)

He wrote:

I have been a Time Warner cable and internet customer since 2006. I recently began shopping around for service from your competitors in the area to compare pricing. I went to your site and viewed your current prices and realized that your standard bundle of digital cable and Roadrunner Standard was $10.00 cheaper than what I have been paying for the last two years and this is not a promotional price. This lower price has been in effect since 2007.

I called your customer service number, waited for a CSR for 40 minutes, and explained the issue. My request was simple: Correct the billing to reflect the regular bundled rate, upgrade my internet service to Roadrunner Turbo ($10.00 more) and credit me the overcharges for 1/2 the time it occurred. I am willing to split the difference. In addition, I will remain a customer and add a premium service. I think this is a more than reasonable request. The CSR placedme on hold to ask her supervisor who declined and offered to correct the billing as of today and credit me the previous 3 months in overcharges. The CSR offered to let me speak to the supervisor and Suzanne came on the line. Suzanne's reply to my offer was "This is not Let's Make a Deal".

I found this to be extremely rude. Throughout the course of the phone call, she repeated this statement on two more occasions even after I mentioned to her that it was rude. I am an avid reader of The Consumerist and used the email address your company provided to them for problem resolutions. I have had a nice relationship with your company for the last three years and I want to give you one more chance before I cancel, and do business elsewhere.

Here is my current pricing:

Digital Cable with HDTV Tier: $50.95
Road Runner Standard: $46.95
Additional Tiers: Variety: $5.00
Equipment: HD DVR: $6.50
DVR Service Charge: $10.00
Multi-Product Discount: -$5.00
Total: $114.40

Here is your pricing for this bundle since 2007:

SURF N' VIEW: $82.95
Digital Cable with HDTV Tier (included)
Road Runner Standard (included)
Additional Tiers: Variety: $5.00
Equipment: HD DVR: $6.50
DVR Service Charge: $10.00
Total: $104.45

I request that you credit me for 1/2 of the overcharges since your new pricing took effect. In return, I will remain a loyal customer, upgrade to Roadrunner Turbo and add a premium service. Thank you for your time.

He fired his EECB on a Saturday evening. By Monday morning, the price of his service had been corrected, and he had a $240 credit on his account.

To learn how to launch your own Executive Email Carpet Bomb, read this post.

(Photo: dan taylor)

Mary Olsen of Copake, NY, called Maytag when her washer had motor problems. It was still under warranty, and the Whirlpool rep transferred her to Sears—the retailer the washer originally came from.

The repair guy, who came from Sears, fixed the washing machine. He charged the couple $466 for parts and labor, and left.

And the Maytag was back in business.

When the Olsens tried to get reimbursed, they were denied. Why? Not because it was the wrong part that failed. In fact, no one disputes it was the motor, which was still covered. No, apparently because Sears was not an authorized Maytag repair center.

"Then why did they transfer me to Sears?" Mary Olsen asked, reasonably. "I didn't know who was coming to fix it."

An epic consumer battle has followed, since $466 is $466. Sears has offered the Olsens $100, and a letter to Whirlpool's CEO produced an offer of $180, covering parts but not labor. (Whirlpool bought Maytag a few years ago.)

If you find yourself in a similar situation with Maytag (or any appliance company) how can you fix this situation once your washer is fixed? If you don't have your own newspaper columnist on retainer, check out this post or this one to learn how to get Maytag to listen to you through the magical power of the executive e-mail carpet bomb.

Though, in this case, the Olsens did write to the CEO and that still didn't produce the refund they should be entitled to, so maybe media attention was needed here.

Maytag balks on warranty [Albany Times Union]

(Photo: jspatchwork)

Ryan sent the following to the members of Bank of America's board:

Good Morning,

My name is [redacted], and I have been a loyal Bank of America customer for many years now. In fact, I opened my first checking account with Fleet Bank, which as you know, now has become part of the Bank of America family and has been for some time.

I have always been a great proponent of Bank of America. It seems no matter where I am, both in-country and abroad at times, there is always a Bank of America somewhere nearby for all my banking needs. The customer service at the branches has been exemplary most times, with a knowledgeable and helpful staff on hand.

Recently, upon logging into the Bank of America website, I have discovered I have a total of nine over draft penalties incurred on my checking account. While I generally accept one or two overdraft fees can be the fault of the customer, I fail to see how nine overdraft fees resulting in $315 being deducted from my account can be seen as acceptable.

I am switching jobs in June, and need to setup a new direct deposit for a checking account. I would hate to have to close my account with Bank of America and move it to a competitor. I really enjoy your online banking system and the responsiveness and amiability of your staff and do not wish to discontinue my service with you.

I hope you understand I simply cannot afford to lose this $315, and I hope you feel like you cannot afford to lose a loyal customer.

Thank you for your time.

He later added:

This was sent Wednesday, May20, 2009. Today, May 22, 2009, I received a phone call from Nancy Condos with Ken Lewis' office. She said she was going to refund all nine over draft fees, as well as let me know why these fees occurred. She was professional , courteous, and very respectful. All in all, the conversation lasted maybe four minutes, and upon logging into my BoA account I see a credit for $315.

Learn how to write your own Executive Email Carpet Bomb by reading this post.

(Photo: old defeatism)

(Photo: kylemac)

First, here's the backstory from Chris:

I wanted to cancel my [T-Mobile] account and return to ATT and I also wanted to get a sim unlock code for my previous T-Mobile Phone. I found a plan on ATT that would satisfy my cellular needs and I wanted to continue to use the little flip phone that I purchased with my T-Mobile account.

I called T-Mobile's customer support about 4 months ago and spoke with a very nice gentleman and he assisted me in SIM unlocking my phone and apparently canceling my account. Since I was on a Flex Pay account I was told that I was not under a "contract" like most phones but if I didn't pay my bill I would not receive a bill for the next month, kinda like a Go phone right? Wrong...

So I checked my checking account a few months back and sure enough T-Mobile continued to debit my account with a total of $51.14 each month for a total of two months. I immediately called the T-Mobile Customer Service number and expressed concern with my findings. I was told by another Customer Service Representative that under no circumstances would they ever cancel any account and not charge a early termination fee.

I was flabbergasted to say the least. I work for a very large consumer electronics company that will stay unnamed, and we pride our selves on customer service. I basically was told "you cannot speak to my supervisor because she is going to tell you the same thing I just told you." After about 45 minutes of getting a run around I politely ended the conversation and told the gentleman that I would contact an Executive for T-Mobile and I would get things straightened out myself.

Well here comes the good stuff! I immediately went to your website and searched for T-Mobile executives' emails or phone numbers. I found a great email listing for Executive Response.

Chris sent a detailed email that basically repeated what he just described above, although in greater detail including the dates and times of each discussion he had with a T-Mobile rep. He also explained just why he was frustrated by the experience so far:

I know what customer service is and I pride myself on making a situation right for the customer no matter what. So when I was told that I was going to have to pay a 200 disconnect fee to cancel my plan that I thought had already been canceled or continue to receive debits from my account, I was less than thrilled to say the least. Now I understand that business is business but I will not be responsible for an error made on the CSR's part. The other thing that I realize is that the Customer Service Team is the voice for your company to the public. So if an agent over the phone told me that everything was taken care of, but there is not a single note regarding canceling my plan but sure enough there are notes about me wanting to unlock my phone for another carrier, why do I become responsible for it? I wish I had noticed my account was being debited last month as well because this email would have been sent sooner. So far I have been charged for a phone that I no longer use nor do I have access to and to a phone number which has not been used in over two months, and the charges add up to $102.90. So it seems I have payed for 2 months of usage and I haven't even used it.

[...]
In closing I would like for you to understand what I, the customer, would like to see happen. First I would like to no longer receive debits from my account, thus canceling the account completely without paying a disconnect fee. And I would like at least one month of a credit back into my checking account. I do feel that I have been unfairly treated and unfairly charged fees that should not be there.

Here's what happened after he sent the email:

I just received a phone call by a very polite and professional woman who claimed to be from the Executive Response Team and she said she would be more that pleased to cancel my account, not charge me a termination fee and get this, refund the 2 months worth or account balance back to me in the form of a check.

All in all I just wanted to pass along the word to you guys because even though I just check the website a lot just to see how screwed up big business is in America I just so happened to be a victim and without this website I would not have known where to turn. Maybe this will be posted online and let other individuals know that there is a way to get the outcome that is right and that all we need is the resources to find out how those outcomes come to light.

If you don't know what an Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB) is, or how to write one, read How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb.

RELATED
"How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb"
(Photo: hirnrinde)

Tmobile
Stuart, Executive Assistant to the Vice President
1-877-290-6323 ext. 341-8025.

Glenn A. Zaccara
Sr. Manager, External Affairs
425-378-4982
glenn.zaccara@t-mobile.com

Michael Butler
Chief Marketing Officer
Michael.Butler@T-Mobile.com

Bryan L. Barkoff
T-Mobile Wireless
Regional Retail Manager
Detroit North
Office # 248.465.1756
Fax # 813.353.6711

Kelly Spindle
Executive Customer Relations Coordinator
T-Mobile USA
877-290-6323 Ex. 8082

Avelar, Mercedes
Mercedes.Avelar@T-Mobile.com'

Clelland, John
John.Clelland@T-Mobile.com

Carney, John
John.Carney@T-Mobile.com

Otley, Casey
Casey.Otley@T-Mobile.com

Brodman, Cole
Cole.Brodman@T-Mobile.com

Corporate Responsibility Department
corporate.responsibility@t-mobile.net

Deutsche Telekom AG (owns T-mobile)
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 140
53113 Bonn, Germany
Fax: +49-228-181-8872
www.telekom.de

Investor Relations E-mail: investor.relations@telekom.de; investor.relations@usa.telekom.de

Other e-mails:
'hamid.akhavan@t-mobile.com'; 'michael.guenther@t-mobile.com'; 'rene.obermann@t-mobile.com'; 'robert.dotson@tmobile.com'; 'robert.dotson@t-mobile.com'; 'robert.p.dotson@t-mobile.com'; 'Kai-Uwe.Ricke@telekom.de'

T-Mobile International (T-Mobile's parent company)
Landgrabenweg 151
53227 Bonn, Germany
Fax: +49-228-936-31719
www.t-mobile-international.com

File a complaint against T-Mobile with the Washington State Attorney General's Office
[www.atg.wa.gov]

When you file this complaint, use this address for T-Mobile on the form:
T-Mobile USA, Inc.
12920 S.E. 38th St.
Bellevue, WA 98006

File a complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's office
[www.ago.state.nm.us]

When you file this complaint, use this address for T-Mobile on the form:
T-Mobile
Customer Relations
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380

"You can try dialing 1-877-290-6323 x341-8025 and changing the extension to do an EVCB (Exec. Voicemail carpet bomb) buy reducing the extension by 1 (i.e. 341-8024, 8023, 8022) so far i have been doing this and it seems to be connecting me to various executive customer relations personnel."

(Photo: Greg Easton Photography)

Antonio Perez
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, EKC
Phone: 585-724-3230 x43230
E-Mail Address: antonio.perez@kodak.com

Phil Faraci
President & Chief Operating Officer, EKC
Phone: 585-781-5808 x15808
E-Mail Address: philip.faraci@kodak.com

Mary Jane Hellyar
President Film Photofinishing and Entertainment Group & EVP, EKC
Phone: 585-724-0713 x40713
E-Mail Address: maryjane.hellyar@kodak.com

Jeffrey Hayzlett
Chief Marketing Officer
Phone: 585-724-9710 x49710
E-Mail Address: jeffrey.hayzlett@kodak.com

Terry Taber
Chief Technical Officer & VP, EKC
Phone: 585-722-1816 x21816
E-Mail Address: terry.taber@kodak.com

Maryann Overacker
Senior Executive Secretary, Chairman's Office
Phone: 585 724—6400 x46400
E-Mail Address: maryann.overacker@kodak.com

Anne Alfieri
Executive Secretary
Phone: 585 724-7661 x47661
E-Mail Address: anne.alfieri@kodak.com

Kathy Fritsch
Executive Secretary
Phone: 585 724-4649 x44649
E-Mail Address: kathleen.fritsch@kodak.com

Remember, don't ruin it for the rest of us by being a jerk with this info!

Steve writes:

I was having a great deal of trouble getting Ashley Furniture to stop their robo-calls to a pay-as-you-go cell phone. I've never given them this number, don't know where they got it, and couldn't make them stop using it. After repeated calls to the local Ashley Home Store and repeated assurances that the number would be removed from their list, I finally sent an EECB to the corporate manufacturers in Wisconsin and they have since tried to make things right (FYI: I used "Dear Sirs" because they were in fact all men):

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
Dear Sirs,

Please remove my name and phone number from whatever automated lists, mailing lists, or any other lists upon which I've gotten sucked into.

I do not appreciate the automated phone calls to my cell phone. I do not appreciate receiving them when I am at work, in staff meetings, playing with my children or having dinner with friends. I don't even appreciate them when I'm not doing anything in particular. Your company does not have permission to interrupt me at any time. Ever. Make. It. Stop.

I have tried repeatedly to call your company and have my name and number removed. I have been told repeatedly that this would be done. So far it has not. The calls show up as coming from this inoperative number: 256-xxx-xxxx

These obnoxious calls cost me both time and money. Perhaps you have plenty of both, but I do not. If these calls do not stop, I will have little choice but to contact Troy King and the Alabama AG office, and to file a suit in small claims court in order to recoup the costs - thus far totaling around $4.35 in cell phone charges.

The number I want you to remove is: 256-xxx-xxxx

Do not ever call this number again.

As you can imagine, I am relating my unpleasant Ashley Furniture experience to everyone that I am able to. The sooner these robo-calls stop, the sooner I'll stop warning people to avoid your stores.

Thank you for your attention to this matter

Steve Tanner
Huntsville, AL

Within minutes two things happened:

1) I received a call to that number from someone at corporate apologizing for the inconvenience. That's right, the number I told them to never call again. But to be fair, they were trying to fix the problem.

2) I received the following email from Terri:

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--

Mr. Tanner

Your name has been electronically removed from our list. I removed it personally and confirmed the action via email through the provider. We apologize for an inconvenience this may have caused you.

We have this number assigned to another customer that purchased with us last year. Perhaps this number has been recently reassigned or was keyed incorrectly into our system. Either way, please note that 256-xxx-xxxx will no longer receive automated calls.

Feel free to send me your mailing address, and we will gladly reimburse your $4.35 in cell phone charges.

Kindest Regards,

Terri Moore
Marketing Director
Huntsville Wholesale Furniture, Inc. dba
Ashley Furniture HomeStore

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—--

So after sending an EECB, they made every attempt to make it right. The cost of the minutes wasn't actually much of an issue for me, but I am glad they made the offer. Perhaps I'll shop there in the future after all.

Steve

(Photo: faeryboots)

love reading the posts and used some of the skills I have learned from them to clear up a recent issue I had with EZ Lube. I will preface this with an acknowledgment that I made a major error of judgment. I know better, however, I fell victim to the dreaded "Air Filter" scam at EZ Lube. I learned long ago not to ever buy an air filter or have one installed by an oil change business, as they are always overpriced and ripoffs.

Unfortunately, I let my guard down when I went on March 26th to EZ Lube #093 in San Diego, CA for a simple oil change. First, I was pushed to get a synthetic mix oil change for $52.99, which I immediately balked at, but was then told that I was a "VIP" and that they would take $8 off. I was doing this on my lunch break, so I said sure, just get it done. I signed the estimate form and went and ran an errand. I came back and waited a few minutes before I was asked to join the service technician for a 14-point inspection. Here, they had my air filter and cabin filter atop the engine, accenting the dust and particles that the filter had acquired over the past 5,000 miles or so. The technician quizzed me on my air filter, which I told him I do myself. He then pressed me on the cabin filter, which I had never installed before. My ignorance in this area proved to be my downfall, as the technician informed me that they can change this in no time and that they charge the same price auto stores do. With that, I agreed and again walked away informing them that I needed to get going soon.

My car was completed and I went to pay for the bill. I was told my total was over $140 and I refused to pay. I told them that this was ridiculous and that I was never told the Cabin filter would cost $70.

The cashier muttered something about a HEPA filter and that these things are expensive. A manager approached and immediately took off $20, and I begrudgingly agreed. I paid with my credit card, since I felt this was shady and wanted to protect my options. I then hopped on my phone and Google'd the cabin filter's SKU. Guess what? Amazon and others sell this thing for $15-$20 tops. So, I got home and emailed my story to EZ Lube corporate. Within 24 hours, I received a phone call from Todd Mann with Corporate. We discussed what had happened, what documents I signed and what estimates I was provided. He informed my that the $70 cabin filter was likely due to labor and service fees associated with the part. I informed him that I have no issue paying for services which I am not an expert in and cannot do on my own, however I felt that I was taken advantage of and that this was simply a ripoff. He informed me that they would issue a refund on the air filter if there were inconsistencies with the paperwork they provided me, as EZ Lube apparently has requirements for proper documentation of services.

I scanned and emailed my receipt and invoice to Todd, and today was informed that I would receive $50 from EZ Lube due to the inconsistencies in the store's documents.

Though I feel that I won my little battle here, I think it is fair to say that this scam will continue. Hopefully more people will learn from my mistake and many of the other stories out there on oil change businesses and their practice of scamming with air filters. Thanks for continuing to fight the good fight!

Remember, if you decide to try this route, send your email to each address separately; apparently Microsoft will flag your email as spam if you send it to a group of addresses.

Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board -billg@microsoft.com
Steve Ballmer, CEO - steve@microsoft.com / (425) 706-8448
J. Allard, CTO - jallard@microsoft.com
Robert Bach, President, Entertainment and Devices Division - rbach@microsoft.com
Joe Belfiore, Corporate VP, Entertainment and Devices eHome Division - joeb@microsoft.com
Kathleen Hogan, Corporate VP, Worldwide Customer Service - khogan@microsoft.com

You can find out more information about Microsoft's leaders (although not contact info, unfortunately) on their press page.

Never sent an Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB) before? Here's how to do it.

(Photo: Steve 2.0)

kenneth.I.Chenault@aexp.com, kenneth.Chenault@aexp.com, daniel.t.henry@aexp.com, daniel.henry@aexp.com, edward.p.gilligan@aexp.com, edward.gilligan@aexp.com, alfred.f.kelly@aexp.com, alfred.kelly@aexp.com, l.kevin.cox@aexp.com, ashwini.gupta@aexp.com, john.d.hayes@aexp.com, john.hayes@aexp.com, judson.c.linville@aexp.com, judson.linville@aexp.com, louise.m.parent@aexp.com, louise.parent@aexp.com, thomas.schick@aexp.com, steve.squeri@aexp.com, douglas.e.buckminster@aexp.com, douglas.buckminster@aexp.com, william.h.glenn@aexp.com, william.glenn@aexp.com

(Photo: Andres Rueda)

Alberto.J.Verme@citi.com, Richard.Evans@citi.com, Gustavo.Marin@citi.com, Mary.McDowell@citi.com, Vikram.Pandit@citi.com, Michael.L.Corbat@citi.com, James.A.Forese@citi.com, Jane.Fraser@citi.com, John.C.Gerspach@citi.com, Douglas.Peterson@citi.com, Charles.D.Johnston@citi.com, William.Rhodes@citi.com, Mark.Rufeh@citi.com, Deepak.Sharma@citi.com, Stephen.Volk@citi.com, Paco.Ybarra@citi.com, George.Awad@citi.com, John.Havens@citi.com, Bonnie.Howard@citi.com, Lewis.Kaden@citi.com, Brian.Leach@citi.com, Paul.McKinnon@citi.com, Shirish.Apte@citi.com, Suneel.Bakhshi@citi.com, Stephen.Bird@citi.com, Nicholas.Calio@citi.com, Don. Callahan@citi.com

(Photo: GarotaDesastrada)

Unlike so many of our airline stories, Alan finally managed to get his $150 back, but only after he escalated it to Dennis Cary, the Chief Customer Officer at United. Alan writes,

[Denis Cary] emailed me back saying someone would contact me. The next day, someone called me back and offered to refund the fee. Oddly enough, they indicated that no fee should have been applied (as the original agent indicated).

I applaud United for doing the right thing in the end, but its seems ridiculous it took such escalation. Hopefully, people can learn from my mistake, and just email Dennis Cary directly.

Here's the email Alan sent to Cary. Maybe if you run into a similar problem with United's reps in the future, you can follow his advice and achieve some resolution.

From: Alan
To: Cary, Dennis
Subject: United Airlines Dispute - A Loyal but highly unsatisfied customer

Hello Dennis,

I write to you contemplating my next steps in my quest for fairness in a dispute with United Airlines.

Since taking my post as a consultant 3 years ago, I have spent many of my days flying on planes, several with United (Premier Member XXXXX). I have largely been satisfied as a United customer, frequenting the airline with my project team when the route so takes us. After amassing miles on United, I decided to take a personal trip with your airline to Toronto in January 2009.

I was excited to use my miles to take my significant other to my home town of Toronto. I was flirting with several different potential travel dates, and as such, was very cognizant of the need for a ticketing option which was refundable. On January 8th 2009, I called United Airlines Mileage Plus (I was intending to use United Airline Miles) to inquire about booking 2 tickets. Given my concern about cancellation, I peppered the agent with questions about potential fees – I am a frequent flier, thus (somewhat) aware of what to ask. The agent told me in black and white, that I would be charged no fees if I cancelled my ticket(s) within 24 hours. I then again, explained to the agent I may cancel the ticket, and then reconfirmed that there would be no fees in that event. I booked the ticket using Rewards miles on January 8th 2008 in the morning

According to two United representatives, there was to be no fee when I cancelled my ticket.

Ticket confirmation number: XXX Ticket number(s): XXXXX,XXXXX

I called back on January 8th in the evening, and cancelled the ticket, and was told (by a different agent) there would be no fees. On January 15th (in the morning) I checked my Debit card statement, and noticed a $150 charge from United. I called United immediately, and spoke to several agents. The 3rd agent I spoke to told me the fee was a ‘non refundable processing fee' but offered to provide an Airline Voucher for the amount (150). I stated this was unacceptable, as United had assessed this fee without my consent. I was then directed to the Customer Relations department, as I was told that they could potentially provide a refund. In Customer Relations I spoke to Navneet Kaur, and then her supervisor Vandana Sharma. Vandana was very pleasant, and was largely in agreement that it appeared United had mislead me. After placing me on hold several times to ‘exhaust her options', Vandana told me there was nothing to be done. The fee was ‘non refundable' and ‘valid' and that United was ‘not on my booking phone call' and thus could not verify what the booking agent did or did not do. I continued to explain to the Vandana that a United representative has essentially lied to me, and United had then taken my money under false pretenses. Vanada acquiesced that it appeared United was not standing behind its agents, and betraying a loyal customer. I was then told, by Vanada "We are at an impasse. United will not refund the fee"

United Case Number: XXXXX

After dealing with this difficult and emotional situation, I was unsure of my next course of action. I then filed a fraud dispute with Citibank. With Citi Rep Debbie (ID: XXXXX) on the phone (Feb 18th 2009), I called United to further inquire about the charge. The United rep who answered the phone was nothing short of hostile. Debbie then began in a line of questions to aid in my cause dealing with a fraudulent charge. Debbie first asked if the initiative was new, the agent stated the charge was a new initiative at United. Debbie then inquired as to whether customers had been notified of the change, and the United rep said "No" – Debbie asked whether the change was in writing, the United Rep said "No"

According to a United representative the fee charged to United customers is not in writing, and customers were not notified of the potential fee (even after I asked several questions to several reps before booking my tickets).

Unfortunately, despite my filling with Citibank , Mastercard International has not taken up my cause. Regardless of Mastercards mishandling of this issue, I am well aware that fraud has occurred. United agents have without question lied to me and taken funds without my consent. I except that some (if not all these calls) are documented and could be used as evidence to support my claim. Moreover, I have a Citibank representative (Debbie) who was on the phone with me when a United representative informed us of the unfair and unacceptable business practices relating to my claim.

The callousness of United in dealing with my claim has been not only disappointing, but disturbing. As a management consultant, (not to mention a general consumer) I am well aware of the proper value of ethical business practices. I can hardly comprehend that several United agents have lied to me, and that United is unwilling to stand behind their employees.

Truthfully, I would not expect any business to purport that lying to its customers is OK - I hope this situation can be rectified.

If you are not able to help resolve this issue, I suspect I will explore legal action and every other avenue I can to add visibility to this egregiousness.

Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, I await your response.

Cheers,
Alan

(Photo: piston9)

Hi Ben!

I had missed a payment last fall in October, due to a tough month personally, which had caused my small Capitol One card ($300) to go overlimit due to finance charges. Since then, the fees have been mounting and my small monthly payments ($30-$40) were barely covering the fees. As you can imagine, my balance continued to balloon out of control over the next three months.

In order to get myself out of this month, I started doing my research, including becoming an avid Consumerist reader, and decided that in order to start making snowball payments (using the awesome snowball debt reduction spreadsheet!) on all credit card debt, I had to get these fees under control. I tried calling customer service several times, to no avail, other than to offer waiving the check by phone fee - nice but not the issue. I finally emailed Capitol One's CEO directly (rich.fairbank@capitolone.com) and received a call the next day (within 12 hours of my email!) from an executive customer service representative.

Unlike other customer service reps, she was very friendly and eager to help and was very understanding of how this situation had happened. She was able to credit back all fees on my account since October (almost $300), which puts me back under my credit limit! She also lowered my interest rate (down from 18% back to 7.56%) to help make sure my monthly payments go further!

I was absolutely blown away with how easy it was to resolve this issue once I sent the email. The best part was talking to someone who didn't make me feel like a criminal for getting behind and someone who was genuinely interested in helping. Capitol One's exemplary dedication has made them the one credit card that I will keep - frozen in the freezer, of course!

Sidenote - I used the letter that Louisa (name?) had written to the BOA CEO as my template. Clearly there's something about that style that works!

Thanks for writing a LIFE-CHANGING blog and for all the great work you do!

Congrats! Way to rock your debt!

(Photo: Menage a Moi)

E. writes:

I've been an avid reader of this site for several months now and I find a lot of the advice helpful, or at least interesting. But I do have a word of warning regarding the EECB practice.

I work for a major, national bank with whom I also have my accounts. During the month of February I had an incident occur where I incurred multiple overdraft fees totaling almost $300 due to the policy of clearing items from largest to smallest. I tried to resolve the issue through the main customer service line, but got little help. I was extremely frustrated and decided to take my next move out of the Consumerist playbook and launch an EECB to several of the higher ups to try to get some money refunded.

Well, about a week later I have the district president call me into my manager's office who sits me down and tells me that what I did was inappropriate and put me in a negative light with the company. I was mortified. The president continues to tell me that I breached the code of ethics of the company and should have gone to my manager first (neither of which I was aware of).

EECBs can be a great technique for a regular consumer, but if that person happens to be an employee as well as a customer, it can get him/her in hot water.

(I won't name the bank, because it will likely get me in even more trouble; I just wanted to put the warning out there)

If you have an issue with your employer, take advantage of your insider status and escalate your complaint properly through normal channels.

He writes:

Hey, I had to email this in since I used exactly the kind of knowledge I've picked up reading The Consumerist to get through the Duke Energy red tape.

Basically, I'm building a new home and need temporary power service hooked up for construction. The temporary pole is installed, inspected and ready to go. The only problem was getting Duke Energy to come out and hook up the power to it.

Duke Energy has a 1-800 number you can call, but that only leads you into a phone tree of transferring and people that can really only help you pay a bill and things like that. I called the number several times and finally learned the system enough to get transferred to the residential construction department where a computerized voice would cheerfully tell me that my call was important and I should be on hold for no longer than 1 minute. Normally I'd stay on hold about 30 minutes before I would just hang up or get disconnected. One time I was on hold for nearly an hour, but at no point did I ever actually talk to anyone.

I tried a different approach and emailed Duke via the contactus@duke-energy.com email address about 5 or 6 times over 2 weeks. Each time I would get an automated response telling me I would be contact within 48 hours since my email was important to them. I ended up only getting two follow-up emails beyond that though, one directed me to call the 1-800 number and the other gave me a different 1-800 number that was really only a fax machine.

The end result of 3 weeks of calling and emailing about getting this service hook-up was nothing. Being fed-up at having to use generators to work on my house I used the Executive Bomb website (that I found via Consumerist reading) and Googled several Duke Energy executives names to get email addresses so I could fire off a EECB. I was careful to write a rational, short email detailing my problems and literally within 5 minutes of sending the email I received a call from someone at Duke that "handled executive email requests." Not only was she very apologetic, she already had someone from residential construction on the line ready to get my service request activated. I also ended up receiving the direct line to the residential construction department (1(800)454-3853) where only "people that knew what they were doing" would be answering the phones.

So thanks Consumerist for teaching me what to do!

Learn how to launch your own Executive Email Carpet.
(Photo: Steve Punter)

(Photo: SkyShaper)

John-Paul says he tried to send the following email to some Verizon executives but they've apparently changed their email addresses, so he sent it to us instead:

To All Those Concerned:

I am writing you a letter to bring to you’re a problem I had with the DSL division of Verizon. I use to live in a little apartment in Long Beach. We called and purchased your DSL package. Over the course of the next few days we received the box and the DSL was set up. The DSL worked fine for over 6 months. We have no problems and anytime I called Verizon I was treated wonderfully.

Fast forward a few months and we are ready to move into a new apartment. I call Verizon and let them know we are moving. They let me know that someone will come out on December 9, 2008 and that someone might need to be home but I will be contacted via cell phone. I was never contacted and after waiting all day I finally called Verizon to find out what happened. According to the Verizon rep I spoke with, an appointment was never made and I had effectively wasted a day off work to get nothing done.

I am upset but everyone makes mistakes. I call and reschedule a new appointment. This time I am told on the 22nd of December that someone will come out and set up my DSL. I take the day off work and anxiously await the Verizon rep. No one shows up. I call at about 11:30AM. I was hoping that if there was a problem I could get it cleared up early in the day. I am told a second time that the system has no record of any appointment made.

I schedule another appointment on the 26th of December. I got up early so as to not miss the DSL installation. I wait until 10:00 AM and call. After being put on hold and waiting for over 2 hours on the phone I am finally told for a third time that no one was scheduled to come out and install DSL. I understand businesses make mistakes and no one is perfect. I also understand that sometimes I need to contact the highest form of management to get any kind of solutions. I have since terminated my account and no one at Verizon has done anything to even attempt to rectify the situation. This has cost me 3 vacation days as well as over 6 hours total time spent on the phone trying to get information from Verizon. Please let me know if there is anything your company can do to help rectify this situation. Thank you for your time.

Maybe our commenters can recommend a new ISP for John-Paul?

John-Paul has written in and provided the following answers to your pressing questions:

I called and confirmed the day before each appointment.

I took down the information of the people I spoke to at Verizon every time.

I had to purchase a modem that was about $75.00 with no chance of refund

Every time I had an appointment set up and I called on the day it was
scheduled the information magically disappeared.

When I asked the Verizon Rep what the confirmation numbers where used
for I was laughed at.

The only thing offered to me was the reschedule.

I escalated every time but after 4 hours on the phone I had to call it quits.

(Photo:dooleymtv)

ExecutiveBomb

Verify-email.org [Official Site] (Thanks to MB Sensel!)

He wrote:

First, I'd like to start by saying that emailing UPS executives is not my first choice in customer service. However, at this point I'm at a loss for what to do and I'm hoping one of you can help. Here's my story.

On December 16, a package was shipped to me via UPS Ground from Los Angeles. The package contained a Christmas gift for my daughter. The target delivery date was originally 12/24. As you may have seen on the news, there was a considerable amount of snow in Seattle at that time and when the local government decided they were unwilling/able to plow the streets most commerce stopped. I understand that this is not UPS's fault and was not upset at the time that my package did not arrive. My daughter wasn't so forgiving but it was a good lesson in the unfairness of life. I refocused her on making a snowman.

But we're closing in on two weeks past Christmas at this point, the roads have been pretty good for most of that time and still, my package hasn't arrived. And all I get when I ask customer service why I haven't received my package is an apology and an explanation that the weather is causing the delay.

This rings hollow to me and here's why:

1Z 7E0 03 4481 146 (Shipped 12/23 from Texas)
1Z 8WX 604 03 8747 (Shipped 12/22 from Pittsburgh)

Both shipped after the missing package, from further away, and both are here at my house.

I've called 1-800-PICK-UPS each of the last few days as your website directs. Their ability to help seems to be limited to reading me the same information I can find at UPS.com and sending requests to the UPS facility in Redmond. My wife was assured twice that someone at the facility would call her by 4 p.m. today and then when nothing came at 4 p.m she was promised 6 p.m. It's 8 p.m. as I write this and still no call. (Her number is XXX XXX XXXX, you can check the request in your message system).

We were assured on Monday that it would arrive Tuesday. However, here's the tracking note from today:

REDMOND, WA, US
11:42 A.M. THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY / FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY
1:19 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY

Do you know what Joe Collier (Tampa) at 1-800-PICK-UPS told me tonight this meant? The driver forgot to put it on the truck. How does one scan it out for delivery and then it doesn't make it on the truck? We're well past weather delays here. This is incompetence.

So, how can you help? I'd like my daughter's Christmas present and I would like it on Wednesday. But at this point it doesn't really even matter anymore. She's forgotten about it and the whole thing will be anticlimactic. And tomorrow the driver is probably going to figure it out and bring it here without your intervention. But I paid a merchant for shipping and still I haven't received anything except non-answers, apologies and unkept promises that it'll be here tomorrow. This sucks.

I would also like an written apology from the director of the Redmond distribution center. I realize it's been a bad month but those two other packages making it here before my daughter's present have ended my patience.

Thank you very much for your time. I appreciate any assistance you may be able to offer.

Sincerely,

Michael

---

Following-up: Someone from UPS corporate customer service did call me today to apologize. She told me that my package is not on a truck for today and they really don't know when it will be. Then she offered me a check for $50 for my trouble. She also promised she'd keep track of this and update me when she could but wasn't able to help expedite things.

We'll see if any of that happens. At this point, I'd be surprised if I saw the package before next week.

$50 isn't bad, but you know what would be better than $50? Yes, $100, but think even better than that. How about finally delivering the gift Michael ordered nearly a month ago?!

RELATED: How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb
(Photo: belleutti)

B.J. writes:

Something you guys might find interesting:

Evidently, the EECB technique still works with some of our friends over at Dell. Let me explain. Back on December 8th, I called up Dell interested about placing an order for a new laptop for my upcoming college semester. I spoke to an excellent salesperson named Michael who graciously walked me through all of my options based on what I was looking for. Great, as this is what I was expecting and I wasn't let down. I ended up selecting the Dell XPS m1530 laptop in midnight blue. Seeing as I work in New York City and am also a student I needed something decently powerful that doesn't weigh a metric ton. Once we had wrapped up the call I was given an estimated ship date of 19, December. Since I am remarkably impatient once I actually decide to buy something (I'm kind of meticulous when it comes to purchases, not pain-in-the-ass meticulous but the be-sure-of-what-you're-buying kind) I prudently checked the status of the order.

Fast forward about a week and a half. The Wednesday before the 19th I decided to give Dell a call to see if there were any chance of the laptop being sent out earlier than its projected ship date. If there's one thing I USED to know about Dell, its that they're typically pretty good at beating their own deadlines. I was told to check back in the morning with a department called order modification, which resides in the warehouse and could provide me with a better answer.

*shrug* not a problem. I call back the following morning and to my astonishment I am informed that my order had been canceled. Canceled? WTF? I never canceled it? What the hell happened?!? Well, the sales associate, in her disconnected, I'm-only-here-for-the-paycheck way said flatly that there was an issue with credit processing. So here I sit, wondering if I went over my credit limit as I waited for somebody from Dell financial to get on the line. Finally, they inform me that as a new customer, they had to verify my information before the purchase went through. I asked them why now, and not when I ordered a week and a half ago. Nobody had answers. I clear up the block and was sent back to customer care to reinstate my order.

Ok, so here's where things get pharmaceutical...

Now, with most companies if there's a problem with an order they usually contact you, right? After all, they want your business as much as you want their product. No such luck here despite having all three of my phone numbers (home, cell, office) and two email addresses. Furthermore, even though this all happened ONE DAY before its ship date, Dell evidently cannot simply reinstate an order, even if is was their fault. Their resolution was to place an entirely new order for the same configuration as before, wait another two weeks or longer (due to holiday volume) and have a new estimated ship date of 23, Jan. And send that out to me next day comped. Hideously inadequate when you're talking about a previous order that was right on the cusp of completion when somebody on their end nozzed it up on me.

Order canceled late on the 17th. I just checked it earlier that afternoon. wow.

At this point I'm getting feisty because that makes no sense to me whatsoever. What the hell happened to my original order? Did they disassemble it overnight? Did it disappear like the Cheshire cat? The associate was actually trying to answer my rhetorical questions, how's that for sharp? I ask for a supervisor and get somebody who tells me that she's not a supervisor and that there are none in that building. After calling back 9 different times, speaking to six 'supervisors' being held for hours and dropped a few times for good measure I check out Consumerist. I'm pretty sure I'm glued to some unruly customer list because after about the third person I starting cussing people out something lovely.

I applaud the work you guys do, btw. They ways you deconstruct the corporate run-around is admirable. I'd love to work for you.

That said, on your site, I was looking for phone numbers to executive customer service and I happen upon the Michael@dell.com email address. By now, I'm thinking its a shot in the dark and if it doesn't work, I'll go to Sony or Apple the next day. I email my litany of woe and a way to reach me.

I should also mention that I paid a visit to Ihatedell.net and read the horror stories therein, had I read them earlier before I made the initial contact I probably wouldn't have gone here.

According to what I've read on your site, executive responses are often either surgically decisive or glacially slow. I was not expecting a prompt response. Suffice it to say that only maybe two hours later I have an email in my box from somebody at Dell's Global Escalation Management Team.

The epilogue is this:

After talking to the lady at the GEMT she hacked the new laptop's build and ship time from three weeks plus to two days and comped next-day shipping. This mess started on a Thursday and another laptop shipped on Monday. (Didn't get it till last Saturday thanks to FedEx's holiday bumbling, another story entirely) It arrived with upgraded components (higher processor, memory, backlit keyboard, screen) and with headphones and a personal letter of apology. Interestingly enough, despite dell's horrendous incompetence they still seem to get things done you just need to get to the right people. The company employs around 88,000. They can't all be assholes. Happy shopping.

By the by, the computer works great!

Lesson? M.Dell's personal email works. quickly and I would recommend it to anybody who gets stuck in this web.

Among the stops on my Dell Call Center World Tour:

Indonesia, Maylaysia, Ireland, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio and that old, outsourcing favorite, India.

B.J.

Photo:[Getty]

Update: 'emailnamefinder.com' pulls up a 404. You have to add the 'www.' beforehand. Sorry for the confusion!

Bill says:

I had a $500 billing dispute with T-mobile. Long story short: I lost my phone. Got a new one through their insurance program that was configured incorrectly (wasn't using WIFI to make free phone calls) and was charged for tons of minutes that should have been free.

After being rebuffed by customer service and eventually having my phone disconnected, I filed a claim with the BBB and then, when that seemingly had no effect, performing an EECB, emailing the CEO, VP of external affairs, and VP of customer service of T-mobile.

The result:

I received a phone call the next day (today) from someone from the T-mobile "Executive Response" team. The woman explained that she was calling because of the email I had sent (EECB = Success!). She then explained that she was surprised that the BBB said T-mobile did not response because they, in fact, had. In addition, she said that she removed the charges from my account almost 2 weeks ago and left me 2 voice mails (which I never received) saying as such. She was very appreciative that I forwarded her the email the BBB had sent me, because she seemed quite anxious to resolve the situation with them...even though they are not a BBB accredited business they still respond to their claims.

Summation: The BBB and EECBs DO work. Thanks for the tips, Consumerist!

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

(Photo: cmorran123 )

We have quite a few stories now about Best Buy responding favorably to EECBs, which goes to show that if you can find a way to reach the company's executives—and you write a good EECB—your odds of having your problem favorably resolved improves considerably.

Here's Alicia's story:

I just wanted to thank you for running such a helpful website. A Best Buy employee recently damaged my car loading a TV into the back of it. My bumper suffered from several deep gouges due to the large staples holding the box together being scraped across it. Upon noticing the damage when I got home, I immediately called the store. The employee insisted that "no manager would ever be available to discuss the issue" with me, and insisted on transferring me to their "consumer relations" line only to be put on hold indefinitely. Rinse, repeat. Of course, this lead to a dead end.

I've been an avid reader of The Consumerist for some time, and immediately consulted the site for e-mail addresses to send an EECB out to (I've included the letter at the end of this e-mail). I used many of the tips listed on how to write a letter that will receive a response. Sure enough, the next day I received an e-mail from an executive office representative letting me know that their insurance company would be contacting me shortly. Within a few hours an insurance representative called me, took my information, and got the ball rolling. After submitting an estimate, I had a check for the full amount of the estimate in my hands less than a week later.

I can't thank you enough for having information readily available to help consumers fight back against endless streams of unhelpful processes. Please feel free to publish my story if you believe it would be helpful to other readers.

Sincerely,
Alicia

Happy to help, Alicia! Here are some of those links for other readers:

"How To Launch An Executive Email Carpet Bomb"
"Email Addresses For Best Buy Execs"

Below is the EECB Alicia wrote. Here are some things that are great about it:

• It's to-the-point; although you shouldn't feel the need to be too formal, an EECB is not the place for jokiness or overtly conversational writing styles.
• The structure of the email is easy to follow. If you're having trouble writing a clear EECB, try following her 4-paragraph structure:
  1. this is the shopping event I'm writing about;
  2. this is the accident that happened, and how it was not resolved;
  3. this is why I'm a customer worth keeping (a difficult concept to convey without sounding entitled, and Alicia nails the tone perfectly); and
  4. here is what I want you to do to rectify the situation.
• Emotions, insults, and grand statements against corporations/the decline of American values/humanity in general are kept out of the email.

Hello,

My name is Alicia. On the evening of September 5, 2008, my boyfriend
and I decided to take advantage of your 3-year no interest offer on
new HDTVs at store #204 in Austin, Texas. We selected a 46" Samsung,
which was sent to the front of the store to be loaded into my car.

A helpful employee loaded it into the back of my 2008 Honda Fit.
Unfortunately, in this process my car bumper was damaged. Paint was
scraped off, and several gouges were left. As soon as we noticed the
damage, we called the store we had just purchased the TV from, and
asked to speak to a supervisor. We were transferred to Consumer
Relations line instead. After speaking to a representative named
Renee about the issue, we were put on hold so that she could "process
some information." We waited approximately 30 minutes on hold before
giving up and hanging up. We then called store #204 back, and asked
again to speak to a supervisor, and were again transferred to Consumer
Relations and placed on hold for an extended period of time and again
not helped. We were told by the staff member answering the phone at
the store that there were no other options on whom we could speak to,
thus I am e-mailing you in attempts to receive some kind of resolution
to this issue.

We have been loyal Best Buy customers for upwards of six years. We
have easily spent at least $20,000 between us in that time. Needless
to say, we are very disappointed in the lack of customer service we
have received in this matter.

We would like to remain Best Buy customers, and would like to give
your office the chance to provide the superior customer service we
have received in the past. I am asking that a representative assess
and arrange for repair of damages to my bumper. I have included
several pictures of the damage.

I look forward to hearing from you in regards to this matter.

Thank you for your time,
Alicia

One of the best ways you can approach a company to resolve a problem is as a partner in the business transaction—that is, you are not a victim or (worse still) an opponent, but rather someone who has done business with them and plans to do business again in the future, provided you two can iron out some kink that has recently gotten in the way.

Not everyone has the great hand Alicia had to play, because that "$20k customer" detail she throws out there at the end is pretty steep, but even so we think Alicia's letter is a good example of how to approach a company on equal footing. Even if you're not a big spender with a company, there are other ways you remain valuable to them, including word of mouth and long term repeat business.

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