So I rarely resort to complaints as I think I am an easygoing consumer, but this time Dell went over the line. Maybe I just needed to write this email to vent, but I think it may be worth a post on your site...

Recently my 1 year old Dell laptop stopped charging the battery, so I called technical support (still under 3 year warranty) to try to resolve the issue. The technician recommended trying to plug another Dell power adapter into the laptop to see if this was the problem, and surprisingly it worked - problem solved...send me a new power adapter and I'll be on my way.

Unfortunately here things took bad turn. The technician thought that it would be a good idea to try the faulty power adapter in my other Dell laptop just to confirm that this was the problem. I told him that this laptop was no longer under warranty and that I didn't really want to mess with anything else since we had already resolved the issue. He said that we had to confirm this before he could authorize a new adapter being sent to me. So I plug it in and ZAP! Burning smell, and my old laptop was fried - nothing could revive it. At this point I was worried the technician would hang up, but to their credit they stayed on the line and after about an hour finally agreed to replace my old laptop. At this point, I was rather satisfied despite all of the problems - I was getting a new replacement for my old laptop.

About a week later, I get my "new" Dell laptop. I open the case, and the instruction manual is bent out of shape, and I start to worry. I reach the bottom of the box, pull out the laptop, and first thing I see is the top is covered in scratches. Some people may say that I should be happy since I was getting a newer model laptop to replace an old laptop with no warranty. My old laptop, however, was in great condition. When I opened up the new laptop, I saw the screen was scratched and dirty, and the keyboard was covered in debris. Wait, not debris....what is that? HAIRS!? Not just any hairs - these could only be described as pubes. I hate to be so crude, but pubes are pubes. Not the incidental curly hair, but rather mini-tufts between the keys. My only guess is that Ron Jeremy was the previous owner. At this point, I called Dell back, and I have written this email in between talking to 3 different people and over an hour of hold time. Nobody wants to help, and I'm reached the limits of my tolerance for poor service.

At this point, I'm considering 3 options:

1. Vacuum it, douse it in alcohol, and just try to use it and forget about "the hedgehog"

2. Sell it and buy a new laptop

3. Go to the gym, run 3 miles, trim body hair directly over the keyboard, send laptop back to dell (this is the cleaned up version)

Any other ideas?

("Free Human Hair" Photo: Kevin Dean)

I'm sure you get hundreds of complaints about salons, but have any of the salon owners in question put a lien on the car of the injured party? Mine has.

Nutshell: I went to have a perm done in a Tony Cao salon in Trophy Club, Texas. Three different people worked on me, including a boy who told me he had no idea what he was doing. He was the one in charge of rinsing out the solution on my head. I ended up with burns and bald spots (see attached picture), and severely damaged hair. Not only would the salon owner not give me a refund, he told me it was my own fault for having had damaged hair prior to visiting his salon. He also charged me for a full haircut, when I had not asked for one...

I asked for my money back three times, and he refused, so I wrote on the back of my car window with shoe polish, "Tony Cao Salon Ruins Hair No Refunds." And he PUT A LIEN ON MY CAR! (In Texas, you can put a lien on anything for any reason.) [ed. A lien is a claim by one party on a second party's property that entitles them to a specific amount of money in the event of that piece of property's sale.] After calling and speaking with Tony Cao, I found out that this was not even one of his salons, but it is a man he is suing to get the name taken down. I would never have set foot in the place if I had known it was just some guy off the street! So I have filed a small claims lawsuit to recoup the cost of his salon's services, the cost of the salon services I needed to manicure out the major damage he caused, and the cost of my dermatologist. I got a letter from his attorney last night saying that they will pay me my claim and remove the lien from my car, if I am willing to sign documentation basically stating that it never happened, and promising my complete silence and confidentiality. So, in effect, they are saying they will stop trying to TAKE MY CAR if I promise never to tell anyone that this horrible place burned bald spots in my hair. If nothing else, it's an amusing story to everyone I know. Thanks, Lane B.

Late yesterday, I spoke with their attorney and they made a correction on the suit. So we have settled, and the salon is giving me back my money. Thanks!Lane B

The rest of Nair is a bunch of animal, plant, and mineral moisturizers to try to repair the damage inevitably caused when you chemically burn away part of your body.

"What's Inside: Nair Hair Remover, Feel the Burn!" [Wired]
(Photo: Kevin)

EEEK! From the horrorshow of Charra D's scalp after using Tresemme Color Thrive Conditioner.

Charra writes:

I consider myself lucky that the matting did not happen to the top of my head as I would have had to have my head shaved and I am not up to that. I have never heard one word from Alberto/Culver and am still waiting for the products they were sending me to maybe get the tangles out.

When I got over the shock, I was able to realize that even if it were possible to untangle my hair, the hair surely would be pretty damaged and I would have to cut it anyway. Yes, I am vain about my hair which I inherited from my grandmother, and it just kills me to have to cut it.

She lived on a farm in Massachusetts and one of my visual memories of her was watching her put her head forward, brush that lovely hair, and swirl it around to the top of her head into sort of a bun which was held steady with bone hairpins. Thank you for, at least, listening and believing what I had to say.

Charra, my mother actually wanted me to pass on some advice: "I had something similar happen to me, won't use thier stuff since. Took about 1 week of shampooing and re-shampooing before I finally got it out. If Charra has very long hair it might be impossible without just having to cut it out, but you should suggest that she go and see a good hair dresser before she actually cuts it."

Consider it suggested! Also, put some peanut butter in it.

The point? At least one editor at the Consumerist knows how important a girl's hair can be... in my case, to a man. So when Charra D. wrote us in a bright, purple font to tell us about how Tresemme Color Thrive Conditioner congealed her hair into one disgusting, greasy, almost pubic dreadlock, I began shrieking in hysterical sympathy.

Charra's bad hair day, after the jump.

I have very long hair which I had been coloring for many years. As I grew older, I found that the blonde color did not hold very well so I decided to just let it grow out and did not cut off the blonde part. For three years I have been shampooing my own hair and not putting anything on my hair other than shampoo & water - no blow drying, no color, no hairspray - no conditioner. Since it has gotten longer, it is a little tangled after shampooing and does take a while to comb straight.

I decided to use a little conditioner and bought some TREsemme Color Thrive Conditioner. The bottle is marked for blonde color treated hair. When I finished shampooing & conditioning my hair a week ago last Friday, and removed the towel it was if someone had parted my hair down the middle from front to back, grabbed my hair from both sides, and joined both ends of the bottom of my hair and twisted it together in the back. It somewhat resembles a dread lock - is matted together, solid as a rock. I am going to have to have it cut.

I did call Alberto/Culver last Tuesday since I thought they should know so it would not happen to someone else. They do want me to send them the remaining Conditioner to "test" it. And, offered to refund my money "if I return the sales receipt". I would have thought they would do more than that and would want to see it. I would like to have it tested myself, but cannot find a lab that does that kind of thing. Right now, I would fit just fine in a haunted house for Halloween.