Shaunessy was displeased with his Nexus 10 tablet, and customer service couldn’t help. The tablet they set had light bleed around the edges: sort of a glowing gap at the corners. He returned the tablet to get a replacement, less glowy device, but the new one had the same problem as well. He gave up on the prospect of Nexus ownership, but there was a catch: returning both tablets meant paying a 15% restocking fee, or about $75. That struck Shaunessy as unfair, so he decided to appeal his case to a higher authority: a mass mailing to a dozen Google executives. [More]
escalations
Dear Customers: Stop Making My Call-Center Employees Cry
By 8.1.12
This week, we heard from a reader who we’ll call Mr. X. He works in marketing, and handles escalated customer service issues. He’s the guy you talk to when things go horribly, horribly wrong. He listens to your phone calls, and decides whether you should receive bill credits and other nice things. Mr. X has some very important advice for the customer service ninjas of Consumerist: please stop being jerks to front-line employees. [More]
I Refused To Let AT&T Blow Off My Demand To Instantly Restore Internet Service
By 5.27.10
Andi has an inspiring tale of how she Jedi Mind Tricked AT&T into cutting through the poppyock CSRs fed her about a mandatory delay to restore her disconnected DSL service. [More]
Yes, You Can Still Make Claims On Your Circuit City Extended Warranty
By 4.3.10
If you bought a TiVo with an extended warranty at Circuit City before the chain died and came back as a retail zombie, TiVo forum poster Mark has good news and bad news for you: It is still technically possible to use your warranty, but doing so requires superhuman levels of persistence. [More]
Funai Finally Answers The Phone, Offers Refund For Dead 5-Month-Old TV
By 8.22.09
Thanks to their own determination and a tip from a fellow Consumerist reader, Tavie and Gina have finally found someone at Funai willing to not only answer the phone, but grant them a refund for their Sylvania television that died after only a few months of use. The amount of effort needed to get this result is a little disheartening, but we’re thrilled at the happy ending, and we now have helpful information for other customers who encounter problems with Funai.
Contact DirectTV's Consumer Advocacy Team
By 7.30.09
Are you having a problem with DirectTV that can’t be fixed through the usual channels? Call their Consumer Advocacy Team at 866-785-5537 to talk to someone who can, well, advocate for consumers.
