Here at Consumerist, we can tell you a lot about Cash4Gold. But the smart grid technology advertised by GE has fared a lot better...due to federal stimulus money.

About $4.5 billion in federal stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is being doled out by the U.S. Department of Energy to help utilities turn the existing power grid into a smart network. This modernization is designed to enable two-way communication between utilities and consumers.provide safer, more-efficient management of the electric grid, and save you money.

One might call it Cash4Current. No?

A tale of two Super Bowl ads: GE's smart grid and Cash4Gold

RELATED:
Consumerist's Super Bowl Ad Liveblog
Cash4Gold's Superbowl Ad Targets History Buffs With Mc Hammer And Ed Mcmahon

Under the arrangement being discussed, NBC Universal would be spun off into a standalone company, with Comcast owning 51% and GE holding 49%. There will be a window of opportunity for new ownership between mid-November and mid-December, when France's Vivendi, which presently has 20% of NBC, has an option to sell up.

"Cable TV giant Comcast in talks to buy majority stake in NBC" [Guardian]

Fuze Slenderize
Advertising for Fuze Slenderize energy drinks was allegedly misleading consumers with claims that the drinks would cause appetite suppression and/or weight loss. (Consumerist was suspicious of Fuze's advertising claims years ago.) If you bought a Slenderize drink between July 16, 2004 and April 6, 2009 (July 16, 2002 and July 15, 2004 in New Jersey) You can claim for fewer than ten bottles without proof of purchase. Fill out the form here. Deadline: July 10, 2009.

T-Moble Early Termination Fees
If you were charged a flat-rate early termination fee instead of a prorated one when canceling your T-Mobile contract between July 23, 1999 and February 19, 2009, you're eligible. However, you're also eligible if you happened to be under a T-Mobile contract with a flat-rate ETF during that period, whether you canceled the contract or not. The claim form is located here. Deadline: September 25, 2009.

450 Prescription Drugs
The suit alleges price-fixing among major pharmaceutical companies, and consumers who paid cash (between 8/1/01 and 1/23/09) or percentage-based co-pays (between 8/1/01 and 3/15/05) for any of 450 name-brand drugs (PDF link) are eligible. Evidence such as receipts or a doctor's letter is recommended, but not required. Get the claim form for your class here. Deadline: July 9, 2009.

Bextra and Celebrex
The suit claims that Bextra (which is now off the market) and Celebrex were marketed in a way that was not consistent with their FDA approval. If you paid cash or a co-pay for Bextra or Celebrex before July 29, 2005, you're eligible to file a claim. Deadline: October 23, 2009

GE Microwaves (warning: site immediately plays video with sound)
A number of GE microwave owners have experienced scary, scary problems with their appliances, including control panel failures, arcing, fires, pet deaths, property damage, and the microwaves turn themselves on for no reason. They are looking for other people who have experienced similar problems and are interested in a class action suit.

(Thanks to Top Class Actions for some of this info, and our lovely readers for the rest!)

(Photo: muffet)

It's #7 eBay (including Paypal, Skype and StubHub) VS #26 General Electric (including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, GE Capital, NBC Universal...)

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2009 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers, and seeded according to number of nominations. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america Download the bracket here.

Zack writes:

OK, I'll try and make this a quick summary. I called GE with a problem with my 11 week out of warranty washer machine on August 4th. Long story short, I get forwarded to customer relations, who tells me that as a courtesy a technician will be sent out the following week, on the 11th. I get immediately suspicious and ask that he will in fact fix the washer, as I thought this might just be a courtesy diagnostic to tell me the true cost of repair. No, she said that it would be a full repair.

A week later, on the 11th, a technician comes and immediately determines that the motor and lid switch need replacing. He says that there is no courtesy credit to my account, and calls in to confirm that yes, they will not repair the washer for less than $175. I decline, it is a $400 washer give or take and I don't want to throw good money after bad. I talk to customer service with the technician there to confirm that the previous weeks technician did not in fact fill out the correct form to give me the free repair. I am informed those forms can no longer be filled out. So be it, I am where I was last week, no big deal.

The problem comes as the technician leaves. He tells me that I will be charged $99 for the visit. To make it clear, the first time out of several phone calls and speaking to several people I am informed of the charge is as the guy is leaving. I tell him to leave the property immediately, and he does.

I call GE, and they say that they will not remove the charge. I never would have consented to it, it was said that this would be a courtesy call for which I expected there would be no charge at all. They have already threatened to send this to collections. One representative said it doesn't matter if I was not informed of the charge as, and I quote this, "I should have been aware of the service charge already." I will be filing complaints to the BBB and NY Consumer Protection Board, but is there anything else I can do to not have to pay $99 to get my credit out in the clear?

We'd suggest getting in touch with someone higher up at GE to see if they can resolve this.

(Photo: silent (e))

The unit was sold under the brands GE, GE Profile® and Kenmore, and you can check the CPSC's website for the affected serial numbers.

These oven combos were sold from January 2000 to December 2003 for between $1,500 and $2,000 and were manufactured in the good old U.S. of A.

GE is offering a $300 rebate for the "GE" unit, and a $600 rebate for the "GE Profile" unit OR a you can schedule a free repair. Sears is offering $300, or a free repair. If you're keeping the thing, you're advised not to use the microwave until they get around to fixing it, lest you set fire to your Apple Jacks and Special K.

For additional information on GE /Profile units, contact General Electric toll-free at (888)-240-2745 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET Saturday, or visit GE's Web site at www.geappliances.com. For additional information on Kenmore units, contact Sears toll-free at (888) 679-0282 from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday, or visit Sears' Web site at www.sears.com

General Electric Recalls Microwave Combo Wall Ovens Due to Fire Hazard [CPSC]

Door seals in the GE WCVH6600H[WW], $900, and WBVH5100H[WW], $750, frequently trapped washcloths during the high-speed spin cycle. The seals were abraded and deposited ground-up rubber on the cloths. We tested one unit of each washer before they were sold at retail and one unit each bought at stores anonymously. Door seals in all four washers left the residue, and we couldn't completely remove the resulting stains with further washing.

Two New GE Washers Not Recommended [Consumer Reports]

8 weeks ago he bought a GE fridge from Home Depot.

According to Paul's blog, "Over the telephone GE has repeatedly told me that my GE refrigerator is operating normally and is safe to use even though the freezer temperature goes into the 40s and the refrigerator temperature goes into the 60s." Well, Paul. That GE CSR is completely full of crap. According to the USDA, foods held at temperatures above 40 F for more than 2 hours should not be consumed. Got that, GE?

Read Paul's complaint inside.

Paul writes on his blog:

Eight weeks ago, we purchased a brand new GE refrigerator from Home Depot.com. Over the telephone GE has repeatedly told me that my GE refrigerator is operating normally and is safe to use even though the freezer temperature goes into the 40s and the refrigerator temperature goes into the 60s. The last GE service technician to visit said he would not use the refrigerator but could not find the problem. Given that I never know if, when, or for how long the refrigerator will fail I will not trust this unit again.

We have lost hundreds of dollars worth of food, hours worth of time, and weeks of frustration. We currently have no food that requires refrigeration or freezing.

Two service technicians have looked at our refrigerator. The first said he fixed the problem by replacing the power control board. With a few days it failed again. During the second failure the ice cream in the freezer turned to a liquid, soaked through the cardboard container and formed a puddle. I don't know how long this takes but I would not be surprised if the freezer had been above freezing for days. (Our house has had uninterrupted power for years. If our house had lost power, several of our clocks would have needed resetting.)

Everyone I have talked to at GE says they will not help us. They say the refrigerator may never rise above the appropriate temperatures again. Our refrigerator works to GE's standard of quality. I still can not believe this is actually the position of the GE corporation. I explicitly asked my headquarters case manager, Richard, if this just his position or if it was GE's. He indicated it was GE's. I said since this is a matter of my family's safety and I found this position untenable for a respectable American corporation, I wanted it in writing. I asked the manager to fax this statement to me. He would not. I asked for it in an email or in postal mail. He said he would never put anything in writing.

Unlike most appliances, a refrigerator is responsible for the safety of our food and thus the safety of my family. When I told my headquarters case manager, that I could no longer use the refrigerator because I believe to do so at this point may endanger my family, he told me of course I could indeed use the refrigerator because anyone would be able to visually inspect the food and tell if it looked bad. After the first failure we called the product safety line of a major food manufacturer and they told us a different story. I believe my GE appliance is unsafe. He reiterated his point that my refrigerator is working fine.

I consider GE's position appalling and unacceptable. (I have told GE's representatives exactly this repeatedly.) If you are considering purchasing a GE refrigerator, do you expect to repeatedly lose your food in the first few weeks, be told it's the consumer's responsibility to continually monitor functioning of the appliance? Is this what you expect from GE's standard of quality?

Why don't I just sell the refrigerator and purchase a reliable brand? I believe this product may put the safety of my family at risk. I don't see how I could sell it if it is going to put the safety of others at risk.

If I had called GE for repairs and was informed they were bankrupt, I would be disappointed but could accept the financial loss and purchase a new refrigerator. However, I am continually perplexed and aggravated because I consider their position morally bankrupt. How can a trusted American icon behave like this?

Please warn others who are considering purchasing a GE refrigerator. I am very curious to know what you think. Do you have any suggestions of what steps I should take next?

My GE Refrigerator - Is it safe?

Ultimately the high efficiency lamp (HEI) technology is expected to be about four times as efficient as current incandescent bulbs and comparable to CFL bulbs.

GE Announces Advancement in Incandescent Technology; New High-Efficiency Lamps Targeted for Market by 2010 (Press Release) [Business Wire]
(Photo: General Wesc)

The highlights:

1) Apple "The American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI)* second quarter report indicates that within the Personal Computers category, customers perceived Apple as the best company in terms of customer service." (Those commenters who are angry about the recent posting of mildly negative Apple news can feel free to apologize and send flowers.)

2) GE In the major appliances category, the ASCI survey has named the General Electric company no. 1. Yay for large appliances!

3) Toyota Reliable cars!

4) Google It's not just a verb!

5) Southwest Happy employees = happy customers!

The list of the 10 worst is, from our perspective, equally unsurprising. The companies on the list are often in the subject lines of our emails.

AOL, Home Depot, Best Buy, AT&T, and Circuit City stand out to us the most. Can we go a single day without someone bitching about Home Depot? No, no we can't.— MEGHANN MARCO

10 Best and Worst Companies for Customer Service [CRMLowdown]

When questioned why they chose to market it this way, a Home Depot rep said the heater was considered "high efficiency" because, "it's the highest efficiency Home Depot sells."

Don't believe the hype! Check the energy guide on the side before purchasing boilers and other large appliances. — BEN POPKEN

Home Depot's hot air [Stay Free!]

"I am so frustrated I practically throw the dishes into it," she writes.

She contacted GE. They seemed concerned and understanding. GE even sent her a new dishwasher rack, though it was the same size.

In recent phonecalls, GE told Michele that standard plate size is 8".

Michele's plates are 10". Today she went to Bed Bath and Beyond and measured plates. Michele couldn't find any 8" plate. Most of the plates she found were just under 11".

They say that a good way to control your weight is to use a smaller plate. Maybe GE is just trying to do its part to help America's obesity epidemic.

If you don't want GE's help, avoid model # EDW2060F0155.

Video subject Jakob Lodwick's first complaint, of course, completely neglects page 4 of the GXCF20E Water Cooler manual.

However, Lodwick says, "The problem is, not all water bottles have a center plug. In fact, it's quite common for there to be no center plug. Poland Spring, for example, has no center plug on their bottles. "

Lodwick is definitely right about one thing, though, can't they make 'em pour faster? Sounds like an industrial design thesis project in the works.

He also sent us the CPSC letter, click on it to expand, which includes his notes he took as he proceeded through the six maddening calls, which gave us a schadenfreude chuckle inside in our blackened heart. Read his letter inside.

Doug writes:

"Greeting Consumerist!

I have had a wonderful time this AM trying to get GE to take care of a little problem with my dishwasher that could burn my fucking house down. It only took six phone calls to find out I would have to wait for the part to be shipped to me and a local shop is supposedly going to contact me to install the new part.

Attached is the CPSC letter regarding the small flaw that could burn my fucking house down. Starting early today, I called the GE 800 number provided, I danced through a number of menus narrowing down the model is question. I of course had to repeat all of this when I actually got a human on the line. Dee was friendly enough but she told me that there is no GE service center in my area (Boise, ID) so I would have to call another number "that opens in half an hour" to get a local authorized center to perform the work. Turns out Dee was wrong about both the number and time of opening (an hour and a half later) but I guess she has to go with what they give her.

My frustration at this second number being closed could have been abated by the GE "Cutting Edge" automated service call system. If cutting edge means that music runs over the menus and the computer could not understand my inputs, then cutting edge it is. I rolled the dice and hit the "0" ending up in a call queue, which my computerized friend told me of a wait of no more than five minutes, which ended up being about ten.

Paola who eventually answered was the low point. After reciting my basic info, it became obvious that they had all for the info in their database... well about me at least. Paola seemed willfully ignorant of the 75 Thousand dishwashers affected by this recall. She then proceeded to grill me about the service contract she could tell from her database I did not have. No contract, no service. WTF? So I gently advised her that I had a letter from the United States Government telling me GE would fix this little problem that could burn my fucking house down. She the informed me that it is actually Consumer Relations that handles out of warranty-no service contract-recall issues and would transfer me, and she promptly hung up on me.

I took a deep breath, wandered around my desk muttering about GE, hopeful that Paola would recognize here error and call me back since she had confirmed my phone number moments before. No such luck. After taking a few to compose myself, since I had wasted about 30 minutes on this I called back and tried the automated system again. The computer told me that there was no one in my area to service me and hung up on me. Shit.

Trying yet again, sixth call (and seriously considering going out an just buying another damn dishwasher) I managed to fool that old computer by using the "already have a service scheduled" prompt. I was lucky to get William who, unlike Paola, was clear on the situation. He managed to transfer me to Customer Relations successfully but he had given me the direct number as well, just in case.

10 minutes on hold, 15, 20... Lenice in Customer Relations picked up, and I go through my spiel again, Lenice just needs phone, model and serial number. I am told for the umpteenth time that GE has no service in my area and the local authorized dealer is... wait for it... The Moth Shop? Lenice informs me she will forward my request to The Moth Shop, but the replacement part will be shipped to me since 'They don't like to get the parts". "They" being independent service centers. So now I wait for parts and moths.

Over an hour of my time wasted and I still have no idea when my dishwasher will not burn my fucking house down (sorry, just love writing that). Is it really so impossible to A. Have humans answer the goddamn phone and B. Have the people on the phone know WTF they are doing? Because I'd really like to know.

Best,

D"

The deterioration of the GE WR30X10061 starts with little pieces of translucent plastic breaking off the liner and being distributed into the drinks. These immediately enter your blood stream upon ingestion and cause urinary tract dysfunction as well as mini-strokes. If you don't replace the ice liner at this point, the GE refrigerator will then kindly up the ante, thoughtfully distributing razor blades to clink and tinkle in your gin & tonics.

GE is fully aware of the problem; they don't really care. "Again, instances of metal shavings dispensed from ice makers are rare and this is probably related to the same problem that causes plastic to break — when the ice maker is trying to dispense ice that has frozen together," said one rep.

That sounds like a rare problem, alright: the ice dispenser only dispenses razor-sharp metal shards when it tries to dispense frozen ice. Certainly not a problem worthy of a recall.

GE Ice Dispensers Serve Up More Than Ice [Consumer Affairs]

One of the last bastions the local retailers have against their internet competitors is their physical proximity to customers. Online, you might get same-day shipping, at a premium, but nothing beats jumping in the jalopy and snagging goods with your bare claws, "same hour delivery." That said, the brick n' mortar bazaar has to ante up on its natural advantages, like people in the flesh who can help customers with a smile, immediately address problems, suggest solutions and crack a joke about last night's ball game.

Sears could have done that and more, but instead Bruce traversed a rigmarole of inanity and ended up right where he started: ordering from another supplier over the internet. Ire raised, a Sunday wasted, his tragic tale, after the jump...

Bruce writes:

"I've ordered things from them before for local pickup, and their system isn't too bad (or should I say wasn't too bad in the past). When you shop Sears.com, you get information on which local stores have the product in stock and the choice of picking your purchases up locally. They're not too confident in their inventory system, so they instruct you not to head off to Sears immediately, but to wait until you receive a confirmation letter from Sears telling them your product is ready for pickup; I assume this is so a local picker can reserve the item and make sure that it actually is in stock. When you get the e-mail, you go down to your local Sears with your printed e-mail, run it under their scanner, and your merchandise comes out in about 5 minutes (they give you a $5 coupon on a future purchase if they take more than 5 minutes). They even have an overhead monitor that shows you how long you've been waiting and the average wait time to give you an idea whether you're being singled out for karmic punishment or whether the clerks are just having a bad day.

OK, so back to my water filter. I go through the usual procedure. Order, wait, get e-mail confirmation at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. I go down to pick it up at 3:00 p.m. that day. I scan my receipt and wait. Out comes a lawn mower for the customer before me. 5 minutes ticks by. Cha-ching! $5 coupon (or so I thought). 10 minutes passes. Out comes a vacuum cleaner for the customer after me. Finally, after 14 minutes and 26 seconds, I get the bad news...

Clerk: "We don't have it."
Me: "What?"
Clerk: "It didn't come in on the delivery truck today."
Me: "Huh? I got an e-mail saying it was ready for pickup."
Clerk: "Yeah, but it didn't come in."
Me: "But your e-mail told me that it was already here."
Clerk:
Me: "When will it be here?"
Clerk: "It'll probably be here on Wednesday's delivery truck."
Me: "Probably???"

It was at this point that I became blind and deaf with rage and was unable to process anything else said by the clerk. I tried to make him spontaneously combust by telekinesis, but instead had to settle for heading back to my car cursing at Sears under my breath. Oh, yes. And I didn't even get my $5 off coupon. DOH!

On the plus side, I canceled my order and will order it from an internet source at a lower price, with no sales tax, and delivery that will probably beat the Sears delivery truck.

Bruce"

The way it works is this: if the sticker on your banana or cherry has four digits, it's conventional. If it has five digits and starts with an eight, it's GE. If it starts with a nine, it's organic. We hope all our readers have five digits starting with nine — you may want to tear the sticker off before a date, though.

We don't personally have a problem with GE foods: not only do we feel that the opposition to GE foods has overstated its case to the point of absurdity, but we think its a valuable method to feed the world's hungry, most of whom simply can't be fed by organic methods. That said, we love living in a country where we have the choice to eat purely organic foods if we choose. Consequently, while we're glad there's a way to determine whether a fruit is organic or not, we wish the labeling was more transparent. Counting digits and looking at what number your sticker starts with is an awfully convoluted way of getting across what could be much more clearly stated simply by printing the word "Organic" on the sticker. Of course, we're sure it's this convoluted and confusing for a reason — they don't really want you to know what you're buying.

Read The Numbers On Your Fruit [MegNut]

But before ya'll speak, Sandra:

Home Depot. What lovely little angels of home improvement! Sure, when you can actually *find* one of the orange apron wearers you might get some assistance but what happens when you try to buy and have them install an appliance?

Last summer I bought my first home and after seeing the Flintstones era dishwasher I decided it needed to be replaced. Flush with $200 in Home Depot gift cards from my recent housewarming party I set off to Home Depot, ready to get it done.

Home Depot had other ideas.

Buying the GE dishwasher was easy enough. Home Depot, like many other retailers, is adept at *taking* your money. I plunked down my gift cards and popped the rest on my credit card. I even arranged for them to install it. I was elated by the good news that they had my model "in stock" and that it could be installed in a few days. I scampered home, eager to wait by the phone like a sophomore girl awaiting a call from the captain of the football team.

Two days later, I got the call. They offered me a few dates, I picked one. I asked for an installation in the early morning or late afternoon since I would have to arrange to be late to work or leave work early. Piece of cake, right?

It wasn't cake after the jump.

Nope. They only do installations for my area of Sacramento between 11am and 3pm.

"What if we move the installation date? Would that be helpful in changing the time?" I asked.

"No. We only deliver and install in your zip code during that time window." the "helpful" installer caller replied.

"Well, is there a Saturday appointment available?" I asked.

"No. We are all booked up for Saturdays for the next month. We can do it next week but it would be between 11am and 3pm" she said.

I gently explained the problem with that installation window but she would not budge. I asked what would happen if I was the only install on the books for a particular day. "Could I have the dishwasher installed early in the day since you had nobody else to deliver to?" I inquired.

"No, we only deliver and install between 11am and 3pm to your zip code. It's because of how we route our installs and deliveries. Your item will be in the middle of the truck and we would have to move other people's items to get to it for a morning delivery" she replied.

"But, if I was the only one, there would be nothing else on the truck" I pointed out, feeling victorious in my logic (I should have known better).

"Sorry, it's our policy. 11am to 3pm for your area", she said, undaunted by logic and reason.

So, I told her to cancel the order and restrained myself from directing her to place the GE dishwasher in her lowermost orifice.

Getting my money back from Home Depot proved to be equally difficult.

You would think that by cancelling an order over the phone that it would be entered as cancelled in their system and that you could go to your nearest Home Depot, present your order number, have them retrieve the order and refund your money.

Of course not. That would be too easy.

It took me two weeks to get my money refunded.

First, I had to wait until the cancellation cleared through GE's system. Why? I couldn't tell you. GE never had to touch the order as far as I was told. I bought from Home Depot, they had it in the warehouse and their rigid "only between 11am and 3pm" installer was to bring it out. But, no, GE had to clear it through their system. The customer service rep at their "help desk" told me it was because they "transmitted payment directly to GE daily for appliances purchased" and that I had to wait for GE to send the money back to Home Depot for my order. Once that happened, I could return for my money.

How long would that take? In my case, almost five days!!

So, a week from the day I bought the GE dishwasher I returned for my money.

They couldn't find the order. They found the installation order but couldn't find the order for the product. I was flummoxed. They were ordered at the same time, with the same payment method but now one has gone missing?

After 45 minutes of calling, conferring amongst themselves and calling GE again, they approved my refund. I got part refunded to my credit card and then began the "gift card war." Since I paid with $200 in gift cards they would only give me a $200 gift card. Exasperated, I took the gift card and marched on out of there, determined to never spend one more dime at Home Depot again.

7 months later, I still haven't. Luckily, I sold the gift cards to a co-worker for full value. :)

Bonus Link: Home Depot Tool / Equipment Rental Class Action Investigation [Lawyers And Settlements]