Joy says:

This weekend, I had plans to fly from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale. When I got to the airport, I had trouble checking in. I went to the ticket counter for help and it was there that I discovered I had accidentally booked the tickets from Baltimore, NOT Philadelphia. I was horrified and shocked; visions of hundreds of dollars danced in my head. I explained my apparent stupidity to the attendant and asked how I could get to Fort Lauderdale. After some intense clacking of keyboard keys, she told me if I ran, I could make a flight that connected through Atlanta.

I ran.

When I got to Fort Lauderdale, I stopped by the ticket counter to arrange the return trip on Wednesday. I explained what happened and that I needed to return to Philadelphia, not Baltimore as reserved. Apparently surprised by the ineptness of some travelers, the attendant had me explain a few times. Once she understood, she clacked her keys for a while and told me she thought she could help but needed to call her supervisor. After a little while, she waved me over to her station and told me she could return to me to Philadelphia for $500. I gulped and as I figured out how I would cough up the extra funds, she asked me to wait a moment. With a bit more clacking of keys, she told me there would be no charge.

I have no idea why these two ticket counter attendants took it upon themselves to help me out of such a stupid mistake, but I really appreciate their assistance. The situation was entirely and completely my fault, yet they fixed it for me. Frankly, I was shocked; in an age when airlines charge for everything from extra pretzels to water bottles, I was completely floored that my ticket was corrected at no charge. But more than that, I'm grateful. I haven't flown Airtran very many times but if this is any indication of the level of service provided, Airtran is becoming my preferred airline.

Everyone who has heard this story has been equally amazed by the service. Traveling via air has become so miserable that to receive extra service and a little bit of mercy makes all the difference in the world.

The best part of this story is that they were nice not once but twice. This means that AirTran has at least two different people working for them that are kind to others.

(Photo:Flying Photog)

Reader Macezilla, who sent us this tale, mused,

She is still deciding what to do, but swears that she really isn't going to buy $1,000 worth of Sigg bottles........but I have a feeling that I know what everyone is going to get from her for Christmas.

Well, let's hope not. No matter how dehydrated they might be, it would be hard to find a use for two thousand metal water bottles.

We knew this replacement program would be expensive for the company, but we didn't think it was that bad.

PREVIOUSLY:
SIGG, Where Are My Replacement Water Bottles?
SIGG Will Replace BPA-Containing Bottles For Free
Water Bottles Marketed To BPA-Fearing Parents Contained BPA All Along

Tim says:

So for many reasons I'm leaving behind my Tivo and switching to a comcast dvr (it's cheaper, among other things - the entire story why I'm switching is for another email). When I went to Tivo's website to cancel my subscription I encountered the classic "But wait - you're such a good customer we'll give you discounts if you stay!!" message. Curious, I decided to see what sort of savings they're offering. Below is a screenshot of my findings. Tivo, like all good companies, apparently fails at math.

I can save $100 by upgrading my Tivo Series 2 dvr to a Tivo HD dvr. So instead of paying MSRP of $299.99, I only have to pay $249.99!!! Or if I go with a Tivo HD XL dvr, I don't have to pay the $599.99 - I only have to pay $549.99!!! This is such a great deal, that I felt compelled to pass it along. The only way I can see their claim of saving $100 is if I buy one of each. But that's a long stretch.

Yeah, we'd probably pass on this one.

From the Business Journal of Milwaukee:

The suit alleges that MillerCoors issued about five million tickets containing invalid codes.

Chicago-based MillerCoors, which has a major brewery and regional headquarters on Milwaukee's west side, is named in the suit, along with Molson Coors Brewing Co. and Miller Brewing Co. MillerCoors is a joint venture launched in July 2008 by Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing and Coors Brewing, Golden, Colo.

The sweepstakes began on Aug. 1 and is scheduled to run through Oct. 31, according to the suit.

Prizes offered in the sweepstakes are two tickets to a 2009 regular-season NFL game and a $100.

The website Consumer Affairs notes that the charge of "millions of invalid codes" seems a bit of a stretch: "The complaint alleges that Coors has received ‘hundreds' of complaints about the issue, but goes no further than that."

"Suit filed against MillerCoors over sweepstakes" [Business Journal of Milwaukee]
"Coors Faces Class Action" [Consumer Affairs]

Jonathan noted all the ways in which the DMA doesn't do an adequate job of helping people opt out. Among them are:

• You can't permanently remove yourself from their lists.
• You aren't notified when your "enrollment" expires.
• The DMA won't use change-of-address lists to update your information (although they do use such lists for people who haven't opted out, proving that it's a capability).
• You can only enter five names per account; if you have more than five family members to opt out, you have to create a second, third, etc. account.
• Sometimes the website "doesn't work" and you get a blank screen. The DMA is aware of this and their response is that you have to mail in your request.

That list is enough evidence for us that the DMA isn't acting in good faith on its opt out program, but then Jonathan contacted the organization to ask them to investigate his second account (the one where he received a blank screen and no confirmation as to what happened). In response, a DMA rep did this:

The folks at the DMA to whom I complained about the problems on their site decided that the right way to respond was by emailing me my account passwords in plaintext, thus proving that (a) the people who designed the site don't have a clue about secure Web applications (secure Web applications NEVER store passwords in plaintext!), and (b) the people who support the site don't have a clue about Internet security (NEVER email passwords!).

What makes this so egregious is that people tend to use the same passwords everywhere, which means that if someone manages to steal the DMA's user database (and it doesn't have to be hacker — apparently there are people at the DMA who have access to the data), they can use the email addresses and passwords in it to break into OTHER sites that the DMA users are registered at.

It's a bad, bad scene.

Update, September 25, 2009: It turns out the DMA didn't like our post or Jonathan's complaints, and they sent Ben a lengthy, point-by-point rebuttal. As per his instructions, I'm pasting it below.

1. With regards to the statement that "the DMA doesn't really care so much," DMAchoice (www.dmachoice.org) empowers consumers to easily opt out of mailings that they would prefer not to receive. DMAChoice is intended to aid a consumer on an individual basis, and can aid with family members at the same address. DMAchoice gives consumers the flexibility to choose which categories of mail that they do/do not want, while companies can address the wide array of individual preference requests. Also, DMAchoice allows a consumer to enter up to three variations of their name to ensure adequate and accurate suppression of unwanted mail. In addition, DMA provides for an individual caring for a dependent, allowing him/her to fill out the caretaker form, and those with a recently departed loved one who can fill out the deceased form.

2. With regards to whether names are removed permanently: Names are removed for a period of three years, not permanently, due to change of address, name variations or other data updates needed to facilitate name suppression and ensure that is effective. Unlike other name removal services that simply contact marketers and nothing more, members of the DMA are obligated to accept the requests as a best practice under the DMA's ethical guidelines. If there is a company that is not honoring the request made, an individual can contact DMA by going to http://www.the-dma.org/guidelines/complaintprocedures.shtml. The DMA handles cases against member and nonmember companies, and will contact the company to ensure they honor the request for compliance purposes.

3. With regards to whether you are "notified" when the enrollment expires: Since this is a name removal service, we want to respect that individual's preferences and proceed with caution by limiting the number of email communications sent to the individual. After an individual registers, we do not contact them further except for a service update if they have provided an email address and are allowing us to communicate with them in the future, or if they have a question, concern or comment. Enrollment expiration information for a registered individual is easily obtained by contacting DMA's customer support team via dmachoice.org.

4. With regards to the statement that DMA won't use a "change of address lists" to update your information and that they do for those not opting out proving that is a capability: We are not certain what this is referencing since the DMA is not a company, but is instead a nonprofit trade association that represents for-profit and nonprofit organizations that market to consumers (and businesses). The DMA itself does NOT market to consumers and, hence, there is no need for it to utilize suppression lists intended for companies that market to consumers. However, the DMA does maintain and enforce a set of self-regulatory Ethical Guidelines that its members are obliged to follow as a condition of membership. The Guidelines span all media and cover list management, among many other things. To review the Guidelines, please visit http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/Guidelines/. To learn more about DMA's Ethics Committees which enforce the Guidelines, please visit: http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/Committee/. In addition, the DMA's Board of Directors passed an Environmental Resolution in 2007, which laid out the DMA "Green 15," a set of eco-responsible business practices. Among the Green 15 tenets, companies are expected to run their marketing lists through the National Change of Address (NCOA) system of the United States Postal Service. To learn more about DMA's Green 15 tenets and many other environmental initiatives, please visit www.the-dma.org/environment.

5. With regards to the statement that the DMAchoice system runs only 5 names per account: As noted above (#1), DMAchoice is set up to aid a consumer on an individual basis and allow for an individual to provide his/her name variations. Nonetheless, additional accounts may be created. In addition, DMA makes a special exception for an individual caring for a dependent, allowing him/her to fill out the caretaker form, and those with a recently departed loved one who can fill out the deceased form.

6. With regards to the statement that sometimes the "website doesn't work," and there is a blank screen: If an individual is having a technical issue we are happy to assist the consumer, they can email us at dmachoice.org. Just as any other product or service that is offered to consumers, there will be some technical issues that need to be resolved. We are striving to provide an excellent consumer service and such a technical problem should not lead a consumer to believe that the DMA membership "does not care" as was stated. In fact, members of our organization are committed to honoring consumer preferences (see www.dmaccc.org for more information) and are running the DMAchoice name removal file on a monthly basis. This system has reduced unwanted mail for consumers and improves the relevance of the marketing offers to those consumers that are interested in receiving marketing offers that may save them money or provide services they are seeking.

7. With regards to the statement that there was a potential security risk when the individual that ran into a blank screen was provided his account passwords in plain text by a customer service rep: We appreciate the concerns raised and will follow up immediately with our team to verify what happened in the process and ensure that we are following the appropriate security protocols.

"DMA's Mail Preference Service: Once a fraud, always a fraud" [Something better to do]
"DMA site is not only broken, but insecure" [Something better to do]

Smartly, Sprint is honoring the offer for anyone who happened to sign up today while it was being advertised—so some lucky few are getting their hands on a $99 Palm Pre very soon.

"Sprint withdraws $100 credit offer for new Pre users" [Reuters]
"Sprint backtracks, cancels $100 Pre service credit offer" [Engadget]
(Photo: zoovroo)

She signed up with Chater Communications — and then found out that she had a 2 year contract with DirecTV and would be charged a cancellation fee — despite the fact that she'd only canceled because they were overcharging her and wouldn't stop.

The woman's granddaughter told the paper:

"She's truly on a fixed income - nothing but Social Security," [the granddaughter] said. "She always had set aside $100 for (cable and phone) bills, and now that was more like $200."

DirecTV helped her out by debiting $469 from her checking account. Soon after, she started getting calls from her bank informing her that her checks were bouncing.

Robert Mercer, a spokesman for DirecTV, said the company is careful to warn customers that they must be a customer for 24 months to avoid a penalty fee.

Maybe that's fair, but shouldn't the company make an exception for the widow of Belleville? After all, she canceled because she was being overcharged and DirecTV wouldn't correct the error. Mercer said he'd look into it.

We hope she gets the fee reversed, although if she does, that'll be the first time we've heard of it happening with DirecTV.

DirecTV double bills elderly customer, then hits her with cancellation fee [Post-Dispatch] (Thanks, everyone!)
(Photo:TimmyGUNZ)

We join our hero as Verizon tells her that she and her family must have been "accidentally" using the internet. I would accept this immediately with no backtalk because using the internet is somewhat akin to breathing for me, but her family apparently doesn't suffer from this problem and didn't find this explanation credible.

From the Plain Dealer:

My patience with this issue ran out last month. I went to a local Verizon store and told the nice salesman, Jason, that I wasn't leaving until the mysterious, recurring $1.99 "data usage" charge was resolved. Lo and behold, he was able to look up what day and time my son most recently "accidentally" accessed the Internet for one minute and one minute only.

It turns out this $1.99 charge showed up on my son's line on a day when he was grounded from his phone. His phone was in my dresser drawer. And we were out of town that afternoon. Oops. No accidental Internet access going on that day. I erupted.

Verizon's next explanation was that it has a "backup assistance" service that automatically backs up your contacts list without your knowledge in case you lose or break your phone. Some people get charged $1.99 a month for this, even though it's free.

Jason told us he could fix it so we'd never get billed for this again. Yes, it can be done. If customer service tells you otherwise, they're wrong.

The paper has some instructions for getting your money back from Verizon, so we'll pass them along:

Take a look at your bill

Where to look for the data usage charge:

The first page of your bill should have a section labeled "Quick Bill Summary." Look under the summary for "Usage Charges, Data."

What to do if you spot an error: Call Verizon customer service (800-922-0204) or visit a full-service store to investigate the charges and ask for a credit.

If Internet usage is the issue, ask technical support to track down the Web sites visited, and dates and times.

If premium text messages are the issue, determine whether you have applications that are downloading information automatically. Go to your "menu," then click "media center." You may need Verizon's help determining what applications cost money.

You can block features you don't use and don't want to be charged for by accident, such as Internet access or the weather forecast. Access your account online, call customer service or visit a store.

Verizon's $1.99 'data usage' charge ended, but it wasn't easy: Money Matters [Cleveland]
Verizon offering refunds because of mystery 'data usage' charges [Cleveland]
(Photo:Tom Simpson)

Someone wrote in to "Dear Prudence" on Slate recently (see third question) asking whether she should keep silent on a double refund.

A giant bottom-feeding corporation [...] just e-mailed to let me know that they will be crediting my card back for a purchase I have returned, to the tune of $300. Only problem is that they have already credited me back the full amount, several months ago. Husband thinks I need to fess up about the double payment. I think I should take the money and donate it to charity. What say you?

We don't always think "Dear Prudence" is a font of wisdom—we're still scowling at her for some really, really lame sexual advice she gave a few years ago (and yes, we read far too many advice columns, and by "we" I mean just me). But Prudence gives just the right answer to this question:

Here's a way to make everyone happy: You call their 800 number and tell them you've received double credit for the return of a purchase; then you donate some money to charity, anyway.

"Dear Prudence" [Slate]
(Photo: soylentgreen23)

The abandoned woman isn't even angry at the airline. She says she loves flying and will do it again. Her kids, however are not in a very good mood after hours of wondering what happened to their mother.

The trouble started Tuesday. Ms. Jones had a connecting flight at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. She made the connection in time, but no one pushed her wheelchair down the jetway.

After the gate agent realized what had happened, he called her family and American Airlines arranged for food and a hotel room. The following morning Ms. Jones was returned to the Terminal and left with a Skycap. Nobody helped her to her gate and she missed the second flight, too. Eventually she was upgraded to first class and given a $100 voucher for a future flight.

Ms. Jones' family says that they are upset about the lack of communication from AA.

From WFAA:

"It's just a simple human error," said Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman. "We apologized profusely to Ms. Jones. We've done everything we've been able to do to make her comfortable."

American Airlines forgets grandmother at gate [WFAA]

I had a negative experience flip into a positive one by venting my frustration to an online form I expected to go nowhere.

Yesterday, I ordered online from Dominos. I ordered a pizza, breadsticks and a 2-liter of Sprite. When the delivery guy showed up, the order was missing the Sprite. He apologized and advised me that the store had no more bottles of Sprite, so they substituted a Coca-Cola instead.

Rewind to about a year ago when the same thing happened to me at another location. At that time, someone from my office grabbed the delivery so I had to take the issue up by phone to the store. "I don't drink Coke, so I don't want this. I'd either like you to pick it up or not charge me for it." That location declined both and the charge was taken up with my credit card company, and all was eventually corrected (I wasn't charged for the incorrect order).

Back to the current story — I refused the delivery of the Coca-Cola. Since I paid with credit card, the driver offered to give me cash for the difference. Easily settled, he just kept the cash as tip and I proceeded to enjoy my meal.

When I returned to my computer after lunch, I noticed the online form on the post-order screen for Dominos — If you're not familiar, it has the "tracker" to see your order being made to delivery. At the bottom is a form rating your experience and any feedback. I rated accordingly, noting my issue with not being contacted before the order got here to let me know a part of my order wasn't available.

Thirty minutes later, the delivery guy was back with Sprite in hand. He was advised by the store to buy a bottle from a grocery store and deliver it to me at no charge. Already shocked by that, I then received a call from the store asking about the feedback I submitted online and ensuring my concerns were resolved.

I'm not sure if stores are rated by that feedback that most people, including myself, normally dismiss or if they were legitimately concerned with my feedback submitted. Either way, the minor annoyance that would have left me with some negative feeling about the transaction was flipped over into a really positive one.

Either things were very, very slow at that particular Domino's that day, or maybe some restaurants are now using INSTANT FEEDBACK!

(Photo: KFreon)

Our favorite part of this, of course, is that the $5.99 markup is the sale price that Target concocted in its ongoing quest to offer low prices. Just think, when this sale's over next week, "FREE" is going to be a lot more expensive.

Thanks, Michael!

Poll Everywhere screwed up their mail merge and sent out a personalized "it was great seeing you!" email to *|FNAME|*, aka Jose. He wrote back and pointed out that he hasn't answered to *|FNAME|* since, well, ever.

The response he got back from Poll Everywhere's CEO was:

Hi Jose,

Just wanted to apologize and say that we know your name is not *FNAME* :) Oops.

We're so bad at this spamming thing... We don't even know how to do a proper mail merge!

Jeff

Even better, compare the before and after opt-out notices from the bottom of Poll Everywhere's emails:

BEFORE
We're emailing because you signed up for an account at Poll Everywhere as *|FNAME|* *|LNAME|*. We send really short news like this about twice per year. If this bugs, you can unsubscribe. We understand.

AFTER
We're emailing (and poorly, at that) because you signed up for an account at Poll Everywhere as Jose Castillo. We send really short news like this about twice per year, and we usually know how to use "technologies" like "mail merge". If this bugs you and you don't like being referred to as *|FNAME|*, you can unsubscribe, because we totally *|COMPASSION_WORD|*.

Nicely done, Poll Everywhere! You took the snarkiness out of our mouths, and now we feel compelled to like you. As far as Jose is concerned, "Thanks to Jeff and the folks at PollEverywhere for being human beings and having some fun at their own expense. I will use them again."

"Screw Up, Say You're Sorry, Be Funny, Win Over Your Customers" [think jose] (Thanks to Anthony!)

Best Buy marketing manager John Bernier tweeted that the $99 price in the system was due to "human error," but the price was honored while in the system, and Best Buy will not be chasing down customers who got that price and demanding an extra $100.

On the ground, the Wall Street Journal discovered that not all stores were quite sure what was going on:

On the West Coast, a man from Best Buy's location on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco told me the phone was indeed $99, and that "lots of people came in" to buy it (but then admitted that out of three Pres in stock, they'd sold two). Farther south, in Palo Alto, the Pre was also selling for $99, and the one handset they had in stock had already been sold. In Sunnyvale, a salesman reported that they'd had "quite a few" people come into the store to take advantage of the $99 Pre. When I asked him if he'd heard the $100 price drop might be a mistake, he said, "As far as I know, that's just a special offer we have going on this week."

But at Best Buy's store at 13th and Harrison streets in San Francisco, the salesman told me that the $99 offer might be a glitch in the system. "We're not sure if they're going to change it back tomorrow," he said of the Palm Pre's price, but they had 30 in stock and had already sold 10.

Confusion at Best Buy Over Rumors of a $99 Palm Pre [Wall Street Journal]
Best Buy Selling the Pre for $99 with 2 Year Contract. Update: Oops, it was a Best Buy Error, Price is $199 [Pre Central]

(Photo: Pre Central)

C.W. says:

My mom's birthday is soon, so I decided to order one of those lightweight 4V power screwdrivers for her. She may or may not find it useful, but more importantly she would have a tool that my Dad would not get to use.

Anyways, I decide to order it online through Craftsman.com (which is really just a skin on Sears.com). First, whatever forms they are using did not seem to work correctly with Google Chrome. No big deal, I switch over to Internet Explorer.

Next, I go through the entire order process as a 'guest' user and when I hit submit at the very end I get an error message that says I did not have permission to do that. I check me email to make sure the order didn't go through, then start the process again, this time as a registered user. (Side note: it took multiple tries to register and I almost gave up). When I finish the ordering the second time and hit submit it takes me to the summary page and I see a new mail has arrived.

I check my mail see two new mails! I realize that the first order went through and I've just ordered the same item, with the same gift wrapping and same gift note, twice! I Immediately find the customer service number on the site and call explaining the situation.

Me: Can you please cancel one of the orders, I guess the guest one.
CS: I'm sorry, I can't do that. You'll have to refuse the package.
Me: Huh? Why not, I ordered it like 3 minutes ago?
CS: I'm sorry, its in the system now, I can't cancel it.
Me: Look, there is no way that has shipped already, its just a line in the computer why can't it be canceled?
CS: I'm sorry, I would if I could, but the system won't let me.
Me: Really, there is nothing you can do?
CS: Afraid not.
Me: Ok, I understand, can you please direct me to the complaints department.

When I called the complaints department to complain how ridiculous it was that I was unable to cancel an order minutes after placing it, the operator there told me that orders go through several phases and can only be canceled during specific phases. She told me to check back a few hours later to cancel it.

I checked the online website every few hours for the rest of the day and never had the option to cancel. I gave up when I got the shipping notification the next day.

Kinda ruins the birthday surprise when you have to call and warn about two packages, one of which will need to be refused.

What an excellent system.

Bret says:

Thought this situation might be of interest to Consumerist readers, a short synopsis:

I ordered a Dell monitor to be shipped to Boston, MA on 7/15 with free 3-5 day shipping

On 7/18, Dell shipped the monitor and charged my credit card

On 7/21, I checked the UPS tracking which stated that the item was "Out for Delivery." Unfortunately, it was out for delivery in Wichita, KS, about 1600 miles away from where it should be.

On 7/21, I called Dell to ask about the problem and they claimed their system showed my correct address in Boston as the shipping address and UPS must have done something wrong. I asked to speak to a manager who then tells me the same thing.

On 7/21, UPS called me after Dell provided them with my number and tells me that they are looking at the box with a Dell label on it stating that the package was sent to a "Gladys [redacted], [address redacted] Wichita, KS." While I'm sure Ms. [redacted] is a very nice lady, I do not know her and did not decide to buy her a new Dell monitor just for fun. UPS said that the only way to get the package to me is for Dell to call them and make that request.

On 7/21, I then called Dell back and reported what UPS told me. Dell once again stated they have the correct Boston shipping address in their system and that UPS is lying to me. They will not call UPS to fix the package routing because "they do not do that and UPS was incorrect in saying that they could do that." The customer service representative, after saying he understood the issue, stated that one of my options was to pick the package up at the service center. He wanted me to fly to Wichita and pick up my monitor.

On 7/22, I called UPS again after seeing that the status for the package had been changed to "Receiver will pick up at UPS Facility." UPS says that someone (which wasn't me) called the night of 7/21 to inform them that the recipient (me) would be picking up the package in Wichita. Evidently, the helpful people at Dell called UPS last night to let them know that I would be picking up the package in Wichita.

At this point, the package will sit in Wichita until Tuesday, 7/28, at which point UPS will send it back to Dell. They would then process it and (hopefully) send me a replacement.

Through all this, I tried to tell them that I am the customer here and that their shipping issues are not my concern. In my opinion, after recognizing the shipping issue on 7/21, they should have immediately overnighted a new monitor to me in Boston. The incorrect shipment would then be processed by UPS and sent back to Dell sometime in the next 1-2 weeks and the issue would be resolved. Unfortunately, Dell seems to believe that pointing fingers at UPS is the best policy and that charging buyers for goods they have not provided is a fine policy.

I would appreciate any publicity you could provide on this, as everyone should know that Dell doesn't believe that it is their responsibility to make sure items reach their customers

We think its just adorable that Dell volunteered you to pick up the monitor in Wichita. Google Maps says it's only 1,624 miles away, we don't know what your problem is. Just hop in the car!

Ok, Ok, fine if you really must complain, try kicking your complaint upstairs. You may reach someone at Dell with an interest in geography.

Catherine says:

This week I've been getting phone calls from Capitol One, those annoying automated calls that expect people to actually wait and be transferred to a live person. I always hang up. Today I logged into Capitol One's web site to check my account. It says I'm 0 payments past due. My next payment is due July 22nd. Below is the message that was waiting for me.

I can't decide if being 0 payments past due is good or bad but according to Capitol One it can happen to anyone. That's a comfort. Of course if I make my next payment by the due date all will be good with the Capitol One universe and I won't be reported to the credit bureaus for not being late.

Balance: [redacted]
Amount Due: $41.00
Payment(s) Past Due: 0

Dear CATHERINE [redacted],

Your account is 0 payment(s) past due and we know that can happen to anyone. If you're having problems making your monthly payments, we'd like to help. That's why we wanted to let you know that it's not too late to put your account back in good standing. And you can now click here to make a payment online.

Making a payment of $41.00 by 07/22/2009 will make your account current. This will keep us from having to report your account as past due to the credit reporting agencies.

And remember, the better your credit, the more likely you may be approved for new credit and lower rates in the future. Depending on your situation, even a partial payment may help keep your account in better standing with Capital One.

We understand your financial situation is unique. But finding the right solution to help you get through life's little financial hiccups is what our specially trained associates do every day.

So please don't miss another payment - call us Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. (ET), at 1-800-955-6600 or click here to make a payment online today.

Sincerely,

Capital One Bank (USA), N.A.

Hey, at least they understand that your financial situation is unique. That doesn't really bode well for Capital One, does it?

(Photo:Taberandrew)

The embarrassingly-named VISA BUXX card is a debit card for teenagers: parents get reports, control, etc. My daughter has one.

My lectures about financial responsibility appear to have failed: yesterday she charged $23,148,855,308,184,500.00 at the drug store. That's 2,000 times more than the national debt, which is a paltry 11 trillion.

The ever-vigilant folks at VISA added a $20 "negative balance fee," and have suspended the card.

When I called, they said that there was a "system problem," and that the "help desk was working on it."

Wow, I didn't think of that before I submitted this story to Consumerist. Wouldn't that be ironic cosmic retribution? Jerky consumer puts VISA's honest programming mistake on display for the world to make snarky sarcastic comments about... but then it turns out that he's just posted the debit card number!

Happily, this is not the case. Please carry on with the caustic commentary.

In that same thread, another commenter named mlcastle points out the series of digits fails the Luhn check, a simple checksum formula invented in the 1950s, and so cannot be a valid credit card number.

Update 2: Hawkins posted a follow up on page 3 of the comments:

I have an update, if anybody's interested.

The issue was with VISA, not with CVS. Apparently lots of VISA debit card users were affected by it, at several different merchants. Each victim was charged exactly $23,148,855,308,184,500.00.

The folks at VISA have removed the 23-Grillion dollar charge, but not the $20 negative-balance fee. They promise to do so "as soon as this is all sorted out."

Here's how ChexSystems works, courtesy of an Assistant Vice President at a "large regional bank" who contacted us:

We have had to close out accounts in the past due to a negative report from ChexSystems which shows that the customer had a charged off account with money owed. To keep using ChexSystems we have to not open accounts that have money owed to other banks. That is usually the only way [for those banks] to collect.

Of course, BoA could have explained everything a lot better. Just because someone has a negative ChexSystems report, it doesn't mean they are blackballed forever. It's kind of like bankruptcy, as you come off their records after 7 years.

Although that's probably why most customers denied a new account at any bank are rejected, it doesn't sound like it applies to Jesse's case based on what he told us:

They said it "may have something to do with an unpaid account." The only problem is that I am young, have good credit, and had never had any account with Bank Of America. Their claim was impossible.

ChexSystems doesn't care where the old account was—in fact, the whole point of it is to catch people with bad accounts at unrelated banks. But if what Jesse told us was true then we doubt he has an unpaid account with a former bank.

We contacted him and asked him to spill more secrets about his financial history for the benefit of the community. Here's his response:

I had 2 accounts with a local branch in Massachusetts, the first was a savings account which I closed when I switched over to a checking account.

I waited to close this account until I had received my new one. After receiving my TD Bank card I closed the account with this bank over the phone and they had no issues with me.

I barely ever use checks and have never bounced one.

I have only one credit card, which I got only a few months before applying for BOA. I have yet to be late on a payment.

I have no idea how ChexSystems works, but the only debt I have is from student loans which are actually still in a grace period.

My best guess is that I was denied due to some sort of issue identifying my residential address because I had just moved. Of course that doesn't explain why they sent me the cards in the first place.

Who knows, maybe it was ChexSystems who caused the problem and not BOA. Still, is it really means to ban a customer for life?

We received so many stories from other readers telling us how BoA screwed up their new accounts that we had to spin them off into another post. After reading those stories, you may begin to feel that Jesse dodged a bullet by having been turned away immediately. At least that way BoA couldn't charge him overdraft fees, "research" fees, or other penalties without explanation.

Continue reading: "Bank Of America: 'That's Why You Don't Open New Accounts Online'"

RELATED
"Bank Of America Bans Customer For Life"
(Photo: TheTruthAbout)

If you don't have time to read all three stories, skip to the bottom to see what Edward found out after sending an EECB to Bank of America.

First, Wayne's story. It's long, but it illustrates that even when Bank of America attempts to fix the problem, they can cause more harm than good.

I recently moved to a new state and opened a checking account with BoA online (my local bank in Ohio didn't exist where I moved outside Philadelphia). It was a Sunday when I filled out the application online and I had considered just waiting until the next day and walking into the bank and opening one. After talking to an online customer service rep via their chat window I was assured it was smarter to open the account online because the free checking account offer I was signing up for was ONLY available online.

I transferred my balance (around $400 I think) over from my old bank to my new BoA account. The online rep explained to me that until I received my debit card in the mail I could just walk into my local BoA and take money out of my account, which was fine with me. Wednesday rolls around and I do just that. The bank teller lets me take $200 out of my account and sends me on my way. So far so good. A couple of days later I come back to take another $100 out of my account and I am told there is a problem.

First, the new bank teller says she can't understand how they let me take any money out of my account the previous time because there is a flag on my account and it says I don't have any money in the account. In fact, it shows that I came in on the date of my previous date and withdrew money, and that they charged me a fee for having insufficient funds. At this point I am totally confused...and slightly pissed.

She explains to me that she doesn't understand what is going on either and that I need to call their customer service center because they are the only ones that can handle my problem. I am on my lunch break from work so I hop back in my car, start heading back to work (hungry), and dial up the number the teller had given me. The customer service rep that answers my call confirms that there is a flag on my account because they could not verify my new address. I explained to her that I just moved not even a week ago and since I moved into my cousin's apartment, I didn't sign a lease or anything. I told her I had to sign some paperwork to move in with the leasing office however so that they knew who was going to be living there. She asked if I had any utility bills in my name there and I said no, I don't, but I did have a new cell phone from a provider in the area where the bill was sent to my new address with my cousin.

The rep told me to take something from the leasing office acknowledging that I was living there and my cell phone bill into my local branch and they could take care of it. I said that's fine, but shouldn't my social security card and ID be enough to verify I am who I am? She says that would help but take at least a copy of my cell phone bill or a letter from my cousin and instructs me to go back the branch. I turn my car around (still on my lunch break (and still hungry) and go back to the bank that I had just left.

I walk in and talk to the same teller and explain to her what the lady said. The teller seems even more confused. She tells me that there is no way they handle anything like that and gets the manager. The male manager confirms the same thing. At this point I am pretty frustrated and just want to close my account and take my money and get something to eat so I can get back to work and on with my day (and life...without BoA). The teller and manager at this point take me to a tabel on the side and have me call their customer service line again right there from the branch.

This time I get a male customer service rep who confirms there is a flag on my account because they couldn't verify my new address. Nothing shocking there. I clue him in on what the previous customer service rep and he seems incredibly confused stating he has no idea why the other rep would have said that and said that in fact they had already closed on my account out completely. He said I would be banned from ever opening an account with Bank of America again. I ask him when I can have my money back (since Christmas was less than 10 days away) and he tells me 6-8 weeks. I hang up the phone, tell the manager what he said and they seemed just as baffled as me. I leave the branch pissed off.

Now...the best part. I had around $100 left in my account at BoA when they closed it. Around 6 weeks later I receive a check in the mail from BoA for around $20 with another letter explaining an overdraft fee of $75, apparently from when I took the original $200 out of the account. The kicker is that THEY SENT THE CHECK TO MY NEW ADDRESS THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T CONFIRM. As far as I am concerned not only did BoA waste my time and screw me over for doing nothing other than signing up for one of their accounts online (under the guidance of one of their own online reps), but they also flat out stole money from my pocket by charging me for it and for taking my own money out of the account...after telling me that I could.

I wouldn't wish a BoA account upon my worst enemy. At least when my car was broken into and robbed the thief ran off and tried to hide. When BoA stole from me they sent me a letter to brag.

Here's Chris's email about the duplicate checking account and how BoA tried to charge him penalties for not noticing he'd been given a second, fake account.

I was just reading the Bank of America article and experienced the same thing this past year. I received a set of checks in the mail that were registered to a second account under my name, that I never knew existed. The account was registered to a bank in a town that I have never actually been to. Because I did not know about the second account I proceeded to use the checks and the checks got returned because the account did not have any money in it. Once I discovered what happened I was on the phone with Bank of America reps all day working my way up the food-chain. No one would listen to me until I said that Bank of America is a scam and that they were trying to con me. Once I threatened them with those words I finally got them to reimburse any charges that I received for checks bouncing and had them cancel the account. They tried to tell me I applied for this second account, even though it was at a Bank of America in a town that I have never been to. Bank of America is a screwy company at best.

Finally, here's a copy of the EECB Edward sent to Bank of America after his account was closed without explanation and dinged $60 for an unexplained "research fee":

On May 7, 2009 I applied online for a MyAccess checking account. I chose the Debit card funding option and had $100 withdrawn from my Chase bank account to fund the Bank of America checking account. I received confirmation of submission of my application. Shortly after, I receive notification my account was approved. On May 11, 2009 my Chase checking account was debited for $100.

On May 13, 2009 I received two seperate mailings: one included information regarding my temporary password for my online account and the other contained bank disclosures. I proceeded to enroll in online banking and was notified that a call to customer service was required. I called customer service and they informed me that my account was closed — they could not provide any reason and said I would need to contact their Risk Department at 877-240-6886. I called them that night, but they were closed — apparently they close at 4PM PST.

On May 14, 2009 I called the Risk Department around 1PM. Once the representative verified my information, she began reading to me what sounded like a prepared script. She went on to state that when opening the account online, I agreed to a disclosure that stated Bank of America reserves the right to close my account for any reason and at any time. She goes on to tell me that the account is closed and that I will never be able to open an account at Bank of America. I asked them what was the reason behind my account closure. The representative then repeats that Bank of America reserves the right to close my account for any reason and at any time. I ask again, "But why was it closed?". She repeats the same statement for the third time and then states, "That is the reason why." She said they will be sending me a cashier's check for $40. I inform her that my initial deposit was for $100 and it has already been debited from my bank account. She states that there was a research charge for $60. I respond saying that it is hard for me to comprehend how Bank of America can close my account, without giving any valid reason AND charges me $60 (60% of my account balance). She tells me for the fourth time that Bank of America reserves the right to close my account at any time for any reason and then disconnects me.

Immediately after this phone call, I walk into my local Bank of America branch. I am eventually directed to a personal banker. I explain the situation. After telling my story, she comments, "That's why you don't open up accounts online." She lets me know that the online departments are seperate from the retail branches, but says she will try to find any additional information. She asks for my social security number and tries to look up my account history. She cannot find any information. She lets me know all she can see is that the account is closed. She tells me there's no use in her calling the Risk Department as they will only tell her the same thing they told me. She gives me a card to Customer Solutions. She tells me to call the number as it is my best bet at getting this issue resolved.

I call Customer Solutions at 1-800-831-4419. I explain my story. They put me on hold as they contact the Risk Department. They come back on the line and give me the exact statement the Risk Department told me. I let the representative that it is completely absurd that they cannot even give me a valid reason, let alone charge me $60. She says Bank of America will not refund the fee. I ask her if I have ANY other options to get this issue resolved. She responds, "No." At this point, I want to start recording names and record the shady nature of these business transactions. I ask her for her name and extension or any other information in which I can identify her. The line goes silent for a minute and then disconnects.

I look online to see whether this has happened to other individuals. Apparently it has.

http://www.raisedguidance.com/2008/10/banned-from-bank-of-america-fo.html
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/banking/bankofamerica-risk-assessment.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/checking-account-scam-c92924.html
http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=41155
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090312090401AAcoGUA

This has been absolutely my worst experience in dealing with a bank. It bewilders me to see how Bank of America treats its customers. I expect at the very least, a full justified explanation for my account closure along with a refund of my full $100 deposit. Assuming that Bank of America charges $20/hour for research, please let me know what exactly took three hours and what research they found because apparently I haven't heard it.

Edward notes that the EECB appeared to do the trick. He even finally got an answer as to what triggered the closure:

I was also sure to copy the comptroller of the currency who regulates these financial institutions. Long story short, someone from the "executive offices" of Bank of America gives me a call letting me know that Bank of America is sorry and that they will refund the fee they charged me. They sent me my entire balance back along with a $50 Home Depot gift card for my inconvenience. I also finally got a real answer in regards to why they closed my account — my mailing address was not the same as my legal address (note that despite this, they had no problem taking funds from my Chase bank account).

Anyways, thought you might want to share this with your readers. Obviously Bank of America has some serious procedural issues in regards to how they handle what they determine as "fraud".

RELATED
"Bank Of America Bans Customer For Life"
"Update: Banned Bank Of America Customer Says His Credit Is Clear"
(Photo: jonathan mcintosh)

I spilled a bit of Snapple on the keyboard of my early 2009 Macbook Pro. The unibody design requires the entire top assembly to be replaced, $320. So I pay that, but they tell me the logic board needs replacing because one of the fans isn't working. They say [I] voided my warranty because of the liquid damage to the logic board. So I open up the bottom and see what the problem is and it's just a little jumper wire that wasn't seated all the way in.

I press it down and click it back into place and the 2nd fan starts spinning back up, CPU temp goes from 80C idle to 45C idle.

I call them up and they tell me that the only way they can reinstate my warranty is by sending in the laptop because I opened it and tampered with the laptop. What a crock, it was the technician's fault for not seating the cable into the board properly at the time of the repair and now I'm being held responsible. Smithhaven Mall Apple store in NY. Can we get some justice on this? I even had ProCare and they brushed me off, including the manager - falling back on the Terms and Conditions of my warranty.

(Photo: Christoph*B)

Update: Be sure to check out Jesse's follow up post where he clarifies his credit history, and these stories from other short-lived Bank of America customers who had accounts closed for no clear reason, or worse.

Jesse writes,

I recently moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut. Upon my arrival I made the choice to leave my local bank account behind. I signed up for a Bank of America account through their website, thinking it would be simple to have ATMs that were available in both states.

After a month or two of frustratingly waiting, I received not one, but TWO debit cards in the mail. I looked through the paper work and found that they had in fact signed me up for two separate checking accounts.

I figured a quick call to customer service would clear the issue up, but the story only gets worse. The customer service rep I talked to told me that my account had a "flag" on it. I proceeded to ask if this was because THEY gave me two accounts and was told that the issue was not that. They said it "may have something to do with an unpaid account." The only problem is that I am young, have good credit, and had never had any account with Bank Of America. Their claim was impossible.

Finally I asked if I could just close the accounts and open a new one. They told me that I could no longer open an account with Bank Of America. I asked if I could open an account in the future and they told me that I could NEVER open an account with them again. As in NEVER.

Basically, Bank Of America banned me for signing up for an account after they made the mistake of sending me two accounts.

I called them a second time to see if I could get another answer and the customer service rep said "We suggest you find another bank."

I switched to TD BankNorth and currently have no major problems, besides any bank is better than one that gives you two accounts and bans you for life before you can use either.

In a way, BoA may have done you a favor, Jesse! Now if only Chase would start banning its customers for life, we'd be getting somewhere.

Update: Matthew says the same thing happened to him, and the only explanation BoA offered was that the fine print gives them the right to close an account at any time for any reason:

I too was banned from BoA. I recently got a new job and was looking to switch banks. I loved BoA's program in which they round up purchases, and send the difference to a savings account. I signed up online and was approved and received everything I needed in the mail; Cards, Pin Numbers, etc... I sat on the cards for about a week, waiting for all my purchases to clear from my former bank account to transfer everything over. I called to activate my card, and my account had been closed. "What the heck?" I thought. I'll call tomorrow and get this straightened out. I received a letter in the mail that day stating again, that my account had been closed. An account I never used.

I searched on your website and found the numbers for the higher ups and decided to give them a call. They did confirm that my account had been closed, but could not notify me why because they had some fine print (which was there) that stated either party can close the account at any given moment. The rep then stressed to me that I would NEVER be allowed to open another BoA account again.

I wasn't mad or anything, I'm was just more worried about WHY they closed it, more-so than the fact that they did.

(Photo: TheTruthAbout)

"We had heirlooms in there…my mom's dining room set…her hutch with her dishes in there," the homeowner told WSBTV.

The demolition company said it had paperwork.

"I said, ‘Paperwork for what?' and he said, ‘For the house, to demolish the house.' I said, ‘I'm the owner of the house, I haven't given anybody any authority to demolish this house,'" said [the homeowner]....

"I said, ‘What address did you have?' and he said, ‘They sent me some GPS coordinates.' I said, ‘Don't you have an address?' (and) he said, ‘Yes, my GPS coordinates led me right to this address here and this house was described,'" said [the homeowner].

[The homeowner] said he suspects the intended target was actually across the road.

The report also said that about a month ago the power box had mysteriously been removed and holes punched into the walls. They thought it was vandalism at the time, but now think that the company was preparing to demolish the house.

Guess there's still something to be said for an address and a map. Oh, and maybe a photo of the house would have helped, too.

Homeowner Says Crews Demolished Wrong House [WSBTV via Consumer Reports]

Three months ago, I ordered a batch of maternity clothes from the Gap and Motherhood Maternity. Unfortunately, when I returned the pieces that didn't fit - I mixed up the returns! The Gap immediately returned the shipment meant for Motherhood, but Motherhood did not. In emails they have claimed to have 1. never received it (I sent the UPS delivering confirmation), then they claimed to have sent it back (I asked for tracking info what was never supplied), then they just quit answering emails. I reported them to the BBB saying - yes, this was my mistake but they still should have returned it - and they told the BBB that no proof was every supplied that the items were sent to them (I resent the email thread and the delivery confirmation).

What a huge hassle - and now it's too late to get credit from the Gap. Still I feel I should at the very least get my return back. I'm pretty appalled that Motherhood has been such a stinker about this whole thing. I won't ever do business with them again!

So, um, which was it? Did they receive it, or didn't they? Did they mail the item back to Christine, or didn't they? I suspect that mixups like this happen quite often, and while it is the customer's mistake, she should still get her stuff back. I wonder whether Motherhood Maternity's own mailed returns tend to disappear, too.

(Photo: kingfox)

He wrote:

So I was flipping through the new offers from Dell to see if anything would suit the fancy of my fiance and, lo and behold, my $2,500 credit limit through them has apparently become $310,000!

I've double checked my account through Dell's website and I still have a $2,500 limit. But that's a hell of a "whoops."

Travis later pointed out that this isn't just a hilarious typo to mock on the Internets—he wonders whether anyone else received the same mailing and said "Woo-hoo! Shopping spree!" Not that they'd get very far.

So, the questions remain: How many people got this letter? Have any other Consumerist readers received one, with a similarly insane (and inaccurate) amount? Also, where on earth did the number $310,000 come from?

Photos: jose_kevo, cag2012,

He writes:

I was buying a small NY strip steak at Food Lion the other day and noticed a very high price for a such a small cut of strip. I looked closer at the sticker and peeled it away to see a much lower priced sticker underneath. The pictures are self explanatory.

If this were us, we'd get a scale and then argue for the lowest unit price available. Or we'd just get some ground chuck and cook up a tasty burger.

E. writes:

The website imlive.com is a very popular webcam site. They provide (for the most part) adult entertainment with a per credit/ per minute fee of about 1$ per credit (bought in increments of 50$. I was a member of the site since 2006 and used it off and on. Stupidly i allowed the site to save my Credit card info on their site. Then much to my shock I found a 450$ charge on my card two weeks ago from their billing provider (ccbill). And found two "confirmation" emails in my inbox. I put quotes around confirmation as they werent really checking to confirm just cheerily informing me that i had made these purchases. I quickly logged onto their site and called their customer service and literally sat there watching the credits that had been purchased tick away by someone who had hacked my account on their site and was fraudulently making purchases on my credit card.

While on the site i changed my password and called their customer service. This stopped the hacker from being able to use my account. Unfortunately he had already used 250 credits by then. Upon contacting them they were able to disable my credit card purchases from the site (I later just canceled my credit card altogether.) Upon contacting their fraud department i was told that because the purchases were made under my username and pass and that purchases were already spent they were unable to refund any of the money. They offered to replace the credits. I found that to be wholly unacceptable as i really cant afford 450$ worth of adult material. I contacted my Credit card and they informed me that they would open a fraud investigation but they warned me that they would likely run into the same issue. As a good faith step i complied with imlive's request to keep them informed if i had made a decision not to accept their offer of free credits. I informed them that my credit card was investigating the fraud. Thats when the situation went off the rails. And i received the following email.

I am in receipt of your last email.

I want to make it very clear that all personal details regarding your Imlive.com account are held in strict confidentiality, and are never released to third parties.

Please note that it is one's responsibility to keep his Imlive.com account details secure and to not use it on other sites. Imlive.com will not be held responsible if your personal details have been accessed.

There are a number of locations on the site in which you are prompted to change and update your password to secure your details which you have not used in the past two years.

Your Imlive.com account was accessed with legitimate login and password to purchase the disputed charges, and thus we consider these charges as your own.

Nevertheless, since you have been a valued member since 2006 we offered an exceptionally generous solution as we rarely approve refunds for transactions of this sort.

Filing a fraud claim with your credit card company will result in a charge back. Charge backs are considered a serious violation of our terms of use.

If you have already filed a report with the credit company, I will not cover the debit that will result in your account due to the charge back.

In case you can pull back your filing with the credit company and respect the offer we presented, I will refund the last two transactions and bonus your account as previously agreed.

We reserve our right to keep all records of your activity with the Sexual Stress Relief Hosts on the ImLive.com platform.

Sincerely,

Sandy Mills,
Manager
Imlive.com

Not only were they trying to scare me out of a chargeback if one was issued by my credit card. But i think the last sentence is an explicit attempt to illicit fear that somehow my actions on their adult site would be exposed on a public forum. Obviously as i am emailing you to expose this gross mismanagement of security and subsequent lack of accountability for their mismanagement of security i could care less about exposing the fact that i enjoy the occasional viewing of the bare human form. I have yet to hear back from my Credit card company (USAA) but my account on imlive has been closed (by them) and I am beginning to believe more and more that i am out of 450$ because of a security flaw on their site. My account info and password on their site was never given out or used on other sites and was hacked as an obvious use of username/password list hacking software (i.e. software that repeatedly tries u/p combinations until it finds a hit).

E. later sent us an update:

My credit card company agreed to call it fraud and gave me a chargeback for the 450$. After that imlive deleted my account with them. Which is fine with me after the way they treated me. I received no contact from them since.

The same error showed up on bottles of bottled Starbucks Frappucinos and Diet Orange Crush.

GALLERY


END

Dave framed his complaint as a fan letter to the Verizon guy, begging for FiOS. He writes to TWC and Verizon:

Dear FIOS guy-

I'm in dire straights and desperately need your help. I live in Edgewater, NJ (07020) and I have a full-blown Time Warner Cable inflicted football emergency.

In my time with Time Warner Cable I have suffered through a TV picture that looks like it's made of Legos. I have been booted off of my internet network (and subsequent fragfest/video game session) innumerable times. I have had technicians come over to my home to fix a problem, only to introduce a new one that's not readily apparent until after they've left. All the while, I've patiently waited for Verizon to roll FIOS out in my neighborhood. However, I can no longer sit idly by and suffer the injustice and indignity of Time Warner Cable's craptastic service.

For the past three weeks FOX HD has gone blank on me right around the start of Sunday's NFL action. I have had their technicians out and had the cable box replaced, all to no avail. Their customer service reps literally have no clue. The first woman that I spoke to this Sunday insisted to me that the game was blacked out — despite the fact that the NY Giants have not been blacked out in the local area (I live 20 minutes from the home stadium)-um-EVAH or the fact that the game was transmitted in HD to Cablevision and Direct TV customers in NJ or the fact that the game was available on non-HD FOX. Apparently, this blackout only applied to people with good television sets, which makes sense because one can only fully realize just how bad the picture is on Time Warner Cable until you get a good TV.

I have even had two different TWC CSRs insist to me that the reason I lost FOX HD is because FOX has stopped transmitting an HD signal. I kid you not. They are claiming that the flagship affiliate for FOX in NYC, home to the Super Bowl champion NY Giants who are in the midst of an 11-1 season, in the biggest football TV audience in the country just decided to cut its HD broadcast. Needless to say the SVP of Communications for Fox Sports and the VP of Engineering and Operations at FOX 5 NY were extremely surprised to hear this (and none to pleased that TWC's reps were lying about the problem and placing the blame with FOX.)

Normally I never attribute someone's actions to malice when sheer incompetence will do (especially where Time Warner Cable is concerned), but I have another theory. I think there's a rogue Eagles fan over at Time Warner Cable. In what will likely be a non-playoff season for Philly a little resentment of the success that the NY Giants have experienced thus far this year and last has to be expected. A little schadenfreude goes a long way these days.

The NFL season is now ¾ over. The playoffs are quickly approaching. I know you guys are close; the main office is in the next town over. I NEED you to fast-track my development (of over 500 units) for FIOS installation. Please, help me FIOS Guy, you're my only hope.

Well, Dave, the Eagles did make the playoffs, but never mind that. It's still a better theory than "FOX doesn't broadcast HD in New York." TWC responded to his email, but his cable woes didn't end.

Dave writes to TWC:

I just wanted to touch base with you to let you know that TWC's services continue to be an EPIC FAILURE. While the problem detailed in my previous email has been resolved (no, FOX 5 NY had not stopped transmitting an HD signal, as I was told by multiple TWC CSRs...rather, it was faulty wiring/installation on TWC's part), your services continue to disappoint.

Your TV service is horrible. HD channels constantly pixelate, freeze and cut audio. Sometimes to the point where it becomes unwatchable. This is not a problem with any of the wiring or equipment in my home, as verified by your own technical staff. This is a known problem with your feed from NY (again, as relayed to me by your technical staff.) I have this problem, my neighbor in my development has the same problem. Even my buddy who lives in Manhattan and uses a cable card on your service has this problem (so, clearly, the problem does not even lie with the cable boxes; it is all your bad signal.) Yeah, HD is free on TWC...and apparently, you get what you pay for.

Your internet service is equally as bad. I can be surfing online and watch as my signal drops from 54Mbps, down to the 40's, 30's, 20's, 10's and finally disconnect. Then it starts to cycle back up. I am sick and tired of having streaming video freeze and getting kicked off of online game sessions because of your sub-standard product. Once again, your technicians have been over every inch of wiring in my home. The problem does NOT originate in my home.

You should also know that TWC was not the only one to reply to my original email about your craptastic services and products. Verizon contacted me about my interest in bringing FIOS to my development of 600 units. Guess what? It turns out that they had fiber running right across the front of my development. I have since put them in direct contact with my management office. A site survey of the property has already been completed and efforts are underway to finish the final paperwork for the fiber upgrade.

Prepare yourselves to loose a whole bunch of customers this spring and summer...all due to TWC's incompetence and inability to provide decent products and services to their paying customers.

After that TWC replied with an entirely blank email, after which Dave gave up and forwarded the whole chain to us.

Well, it's good to see that TWC Executive Customer Service is just as incompetent as your 1st Level Customer Service. You people can't even reply to an email correctly.

You had no problem clicking 'reply' and no problem clicking 'send', but you forgot about the little buttons on your keyboard with all of the letters on them. You see, letters make words, words make sentences and sentences make paragraphs, which convey meaning. Unfortunately, your reply to me was completely devoid of any of those things.

Thanks, Dave. Good luck with your forthcoming FiOS installation. Keep your fire extinguisher handy.

Kelly writes:

Since so many recent stories relay tales of consumers being seemingly duped or scammed by companies, I thought it might be nice to share an amazing customer service experience I had this week with Pinkberry. After having gone to Pinkberry during my lunch break on two different occasions (also, two different locations), I found that their opening times did not correspond to those listed on their website, so I emailed Pinkberry. The following is a chronological unfolding of communications: (Also, despite being a long-time follower of Consumerist, I finally broke free from lazing around such that I'm currently "auditioning" to be a commenter...not sure if sending in tips helps at all, but what the hell.)

Original Message From Me

Subject: Please Correct Hours

"Good afternoon, I'd like to preface this email by proclaiming my love for Pinkberry and its variety of offerings. I've been a loyalist for over three years but have been very disappointed on my last two trips. This past week, on two of my lunch breaks from work, I visited two different Pinkberry locations. On your website, the opening time is listed as 11:30 for both stores (St. Marks and Spring Street in New York), but when I went, the first didn't open until noon, and the Spring Street location was open, but upon entering, I was told that they were not open until noon. I know it's only a thirty minute difference, but when I structure my lunch break around it and other errands, it ends up being a huge inconvenience and waste of time. I am just writing in hopes that you will correct the hours on your website to prevent others from making the same mistake. Thanks so much for your time,"

The first response I received was from someone in their LA offices expressing their apologies and telling me that they would forward it to a NY district manager. (There was some sort of legal message prohibiting dissemination of it...)

The next was from the NY district manager:

"Good Evening Kelly,

My name is —-- and I am a District Manager with Pinkberry here in New York City. First, I am very sorry to hear about the confusion between the posted website hours and the actual store hours. We were not aware of this and I can assure you that we will be making adjustments right away so that this does not happen again. I know that you have limited time on your lunch break and we are so grateful that you choose you spend this time with us at Pinkberry!

I would love to send you some "Pinkberry on us" cards to thank you for being such a loyal fan of Pinkberry. If you would send me your address, I will have these cards sent out to you right away! Thank you for taking the time to write to us. Your feedback can only help us improve!!!

I look forward to hearing from you!"

But the next was even better:

"Thank you, Kelly!

Please feel free to contact me at —-— if you have any questions!! Do you work near the Spring Street store? We would love to come to your office and give some of the staff what we call a Goodness Business Break. Basically, we bring some of our staff to your office at a time that you choose and we bring a few yogurts and toppings for some of the hard working people that you work with!!! Let me know if this is something that you would be interested in doing and we can set this up right away!!!

I will have your cards sent out to you right away!!!"

I didn't take her up on the offer, but I was just amazed at their desire to please one minorly-disgruntled customer, when all I really wanted was an amendment to the hours on their website (which has since been made). This may not even be that worthy of note, but I think it adds a little optimism to these Swine Flu, Miss California, party-swapping, recession-ridden times.

(Photo: samantha celera)

The number of overcharging violations - defined as charging more at the register than the price in an advertisement, on a shelf sign, or on the item itself - soared to 711, from 425.

By comparison, rival Walgreens had 71 violations for overcharging.

Consumer activists "who visited 22 CVS stores in the Boston area during April were overcharged [an average of 56 cents] on purchases at 20 of these stores for items including tissue, baby wipes, mascara, and extension cords."

CVS told the paper that it strives to update prices as quickly as possible, and that this is a smear campaign. But a former employee for the company said that it was just cheaper for the company to pay fines than to meet the state's price protection laws:

Aaron Weintrob, who worked at CVS for 14 years until leaving last year, said it is costlier for CVS to follow the pricing laws than to pay the fines.

"It's deliberate," said Weintrob, who now works as a retail salesman in Massachusetts. "If price accuracy was important, CVS would have the measures in place - signs, item pricing, employing people to maintain accuracy - to follow the law. Fines are simply looked at as the cost of doing business."

"CVS called a leader in pricing violations" [Boston.com] (Thanks to Alex!)
(Photo: Daquella)

This great sale was discovered by Mark in Chicago.

I like how someone took the time to put up so many sale decorations, but didn't notice that the item wasn't really on sale.

I recently switched doctors because I didn't like the first random doctor I picked after moving to Austin last year. My prescriptions from that doctor had one renewal left on them at the Costco pharmacy. My new doctor said if I had Costco fax him for refills, he'd have them all changed over to him, since he'd done my bloodwork already and determined that those prescriptions were fine to continue.

I phoned Costco and asked them to switch the prescriptions to the new doctor. They said it would be no problem, just to give them a few days to process it. I had planned for that anyway.

So at the end of that week I picked up the prescriptions while shopping at Costco with my family. As usual, I glanced at the list to make sure they were the right drugs. However, what I didn't notice then - and actually didn't notice until three days later when I went to use one - was that one of them was the right drug, wrong dosage. It was the 15mg version but I'm on the 30mg version. Of course, it was the brand-name, no-generic-available one so I'd paid the bigger $30 copay.

I phoned Costco the next morning and explained the problem to the pharmacist. I figured that since I had signed for the pickup and then taken three days to notice the error, that they'd a) tell me it was my new doctor's fault and to call him myself, and b) too bad on the $30. I was wrong! The Costco pharmacist was extremely pleasant and helpful. He could see that they had faxed the request properly to the doctor, but said that the electronic prescription filing system my doctor uses (which is apparently a big national one) is highly prone to errors, and that the doctor had probably clicked on the wrong dosage in a list of choices. The pharmacist went on to say that they have tons of problems with that system, from wrong dosages like this to wrong directions to even the wrong patients with same or similar names. He said the system is set up in a way that makes errors easy.

But instead of telling me to go call my doctor, he said he'd take care of it for me. He said he'd fax the doctor again with a partial record to show that I had been on the 30mg for some time, and that he'd call me when he heard back from the doctor. He said if the doctor wouldn't fix it, then I'd have to deal with them directly, but otherwise he'd take care of everything.

Since moving to the US from Canada 9 years ago, I've become sadly used to having to chase down medical/insurance problems all the time, spending hours on the phone at times just to resolve the most basic billing problems. I can't fully express what it meant to me, even in this small instance, to have someone else say they'd handle it for me.

Happily, the doctor quickly replied to the pharmacist with the right dosage. I brought in the wrong pills and the receipt. They did the exchange at no cost to me at all.

Costco really stepped up to the plate for me on this. They took care of the hassle and the money when they didn't have to do either. It may not have been a particularly dire issue, but it made me a very happy customer. I really shouldn't be surprised, since we've had consistently excellent customer service from all departments at Costco, both here in Austin and when we lived in Las Vegas. Clearly, discount prices doesn't have to mean discount service!

PS to Consumerist readers: if your doctor uses electronic prescription filing, be sure to check everything carefully! And don't count on it being quick; I had to wait 18 hours once before a basic antibiotic prescription made it through the system because of backlog on a busy Monday when lots of prescriptions are sent in to the system.

(Photo: CarbonNYC)

Here's the letter that Mark, the now proud owner of a nearly 60% discounted annual pass for 2009, received:

Dear [Redacted],

Thank you for your purchase of a Disneyland Resort Annual Passport.

Unfortunately, per the terms of the Retail Installment Contract for the Annual Passport Monthly Payment Plan, the Monthly Payment option is only available to residents of Southern California within zip codes 90000-93599. You were inadvertently sold a pass under a program in which you are, regrettably, ineligible to participate. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may cause as it is never our intention to inconvenience our guests in any manner.

We will stop billing and collecting all future scheduled payments on May 1, 2009 and your contract will be terminated at that time. For your enjoyment, however, the Annual Passport purchased by you under the Monthly Payment plan will continue to be valid for admission until the printed expiration date. When your current Annual Passport does expire, we would invite you to renew your Annual Passport, using a standard one-time payment. Again, we apologize for any disappointment this may cause.

Disappointment? What? We couldn't hear you because we were going into the Haunted Mansion for the 18th time so far this year.

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(Photo: LDCross)

Pattie says:

Today I picked up my medication from CVS Pharmacy, it's something I've taken for a couple years now so I'm familiar with what the pills are supposed to look like. When I got home with the bottle of pills and went to take one, I found that they looked all wrong. My pills are blue oval pills and rather large. These pills were small round gold pills. It's written on the bottle what they are supposed to look like, and the bottle said, "blue oblong tablets." I have never noticed this description before but I now see (looking at old empty bottles) this has been on there for some time. I wonder how many other people don't read the description.

I returned to the pharmacy with the bottle of pills and the pharmacists seemed confused but not concerned or terribly apologetic. They did say they were sorry, but that did not explain to me how this happened. What if I couldn't see? I'd have taken these mystery pills and who knows what could have happened to me. Don't pharmacies have double check policies to make absolutely certain that what is in the bottle is the proper medication? How often does this happen?

It's hard to actually know how often this happens — because pharmacies are not required to report errors to any regulating agency.

A 2007 20/20 investigation found that "in more than one in five cases, chain pharmacies made some type of error in filling their prescriptions," which, of course, is totally terrifying.

ABC says that none of the errors that they found were as severe as yours, (they were never given the wrong medicine) but their report apparently saved someone's life. A mom saw the investigation and checked her son's meds — only to find out that he'd been on the wrong pills for three weeks.

Ramirez said she filled her son's prescription for a drug called Tegretol-XR, which was prescribed to treat her son's mental health problems, on March 15 at her local Walgreens. But her child's condition worsened, and his doctor told her to increase the dosage.

It was not until a friend suggested she view the recent ABC News "20/20" report on pharmacy errors on The Blotter on ABCNews.com that Ms. Ramirez thought to double-check the prescription.

To her horror, instead of Tegretol-XR, Walgreens had given her Toprol XL used to treat high blood pressure in adults.

Apparently, had this gone on for much longer, it might have been fatal.

So pharmacy errors happen. Drugs sound the same, doctors scribble, and pharmacists don't have magical bad handwriting deciphering powers. They're also human beings who make mistakes.

Consumer Reports Health has some tips for preventing pharmacy errors from harming you or your family. Check them out.

Prevent drug mix-ups [CR Health]
Results of the ABC News '20/20' Undercover Pharmacy Investigation [ABC News]
New Pharmacy Error Found at Walgreens [ABC News]
(Photo:Spidra Webster)

"Contact Us" [Yum] (Thanks to JB!)

Of course, if it's not an error then this is the most brilliant invention in grocery technology ever.