So when you take your Mac to get repaired and they have to send it to their repair center, politely request that a service technician with the ID 31514 at the “CTS, Apple Authorized Repair Center” in Houston, Texas does not fix your Mac.

Unless you want to type in German.

"Apple Repair Remains Dismal" [Paul Stamatiou]

Sean writes:

1) The e-mail I sent to customer service did nothing. They replied that they could do nothing.

2) The store manager called me back the next day to tell me the district manager had given approval to have the store contact the original purchaser, explain the mistake, and ask if they could recharge his card. Once this was completed, they would issue me a gift card for the original amount. She did "apologize for all he craziness" at the store the night of the incident.

3) About a week later I received a call from the district manager asking if everything had been resolved. I said I hadn't heard any updates. He told me that everything had been taken care of (the original purchaser's card had been re-charged) and that my gift card was waiting at the store. I could either pick it up, or they could mail it to me. I asked him to mail it to me.

4) A few days later I received the gift card in the mail. I called the number on the card to check the balance, and it said it couldn't because the card wasn't active. This concerned me, but I thought it could be due to the circumstances it was issued, etc.

5) A few days later, I went to the store to use my gift card. I first stopped at the customer service desk to have them check the balance on the card. They said it wasn't active, and asked if I'd already used it. I said no and that it was a long story, and they went to get the manager. She came out a few moments later (it was the same manager from the night of the original incident) and issued me a new card, which I used immediately.

So, in the end, it all turned out. I was a bit surprised that they didn't offer me anything for the trouble or at least a more sincere apology. But, I guess I should just be happy that they took responsibility and corrected the mistake.

In the future, I'll be much more explicit when making exchanges or returns as to what I want before I hand over the product. And, even though I don't think I should have to, I'll no longer assume the clerk will understand that I'm not the original purchaser if I'm using a gift receipt.

PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Credits Wrong Card For $130 Return, Sends You Away With Nothing
(Photo: qnr - Gone for a while)

Thought you might be interested in some horrible sears.com in store pickup experiences. The first one was simple yet annoying so I didn't go into much detail.

• Sep 11- Order a TV thats %5 off due to one day sale, in store pickup within 10 days
• Sep 22 - Call customer service. Told it'll be in the werehouse that day and I'll receive an email tommorrow
• Sep 23 - No email
• Sep 24 - Call CS again. Told sometime next week. While on the phone, I get an email saying the 29th. At some point in the day I get a call saying it won't be coming in.
• Sep 25 - I call up CS again and they tell me to call the store and ask to transfer the salescheck to another store. I do that, and they cancel my order instead. I call up CS again and they tell me to order from another store and they SHOULD be able to adjust the price to the sale price. I order from a further away store that showed it as immediately available. I get a fairly quick email telling me that the item is in stock and I head otwards the store. I get a phone call telling me that they don't have the TV and won't be getting it in.
   
  I give up on Sears and buy a TV from Costco instead.

The TV situation was annoying but didn't really turn me off to Sears. [Seriously? -Ed.] So I make the mistake of trying again.

Oct 2- I order a heart pendant necklace for my girlfriend's birthday for in store pickup, at a different Sears than the 2 above. I get an email saying it's ready for pickup. I go to the store and attempt to pick it up.

Apparently they have a 5 minute guarantee for them to bring out your order after you sign into their kiosk, but they avoid that by "completing" your order before they even see you. Guy finally comes out, takes my paper print out of the order and disappears. Then he comes back and gives me a sticker (which I saved) and tells me I have to go to the jewelery department to pick it up. I go there and am first told that I'm supposed to pick it up at merchandise pickup but eventually told they don't have the item in stock.

Back to merchandise pickup. No one is there. Wait 10 minutes and still no one, so another call to customer service. I explain the deal and multiple times ask them if this item is showing as picked up. I'm assured it isn't. Customer service apologizes and tells me that this is rare and it never happens and that sometimes lines get crossed and you have to wait a day even after getting the email. They offer to ship it, but not for free, and it definitely wouldn't arrive by when I needed it even if they could. So I tell them to cancel it and I'll place another order myself.

Oct 3- I called CS again to verify that I would receive a refund and the order wasn't showing as picked up, and was assured that was the case. I wasn't really concerned since there were about a half dozen other Sears that claimed immediate availability on this item. So I attempt to order from other stores. I get numerous email cancellations.

I got this for one order.

Dear Sears.com Customer, In order to provide the best customer experience, when you place a Sears.com order for Store Pick Up, we do a final verification step with the local store you selected for pick up to: Ensure the accuracy of the inventory information we have received from the store, and Physically confirm the availability of the item(s) that you ordered prior to you going to the store. Unfortunately, we checked with your local store at SEARS STORES and discovered that one or more of the item(s) in your ORDER #xxxxxxx/ SALESCHECK #xxxxxxxwere not in stock. As a result, we have cancelled this order, and no charges pertaining to this order will be reflected on your credit card.

I got this for three orders.

Dear Michael, Thank you for shopping at Sears.com. Unfortunately, due to the demand for the item(s) that you ordered, we were unable to process your order due to being out of stock. Consequently, we have cancelled your order for the item(s) listed below.

At some point I decided to just place the rest of the orders all together and not just wait to be canceled. So I eventually wound up with 2 orders that weren't canceled yet. I eventually received ready for pickup emails from both orders. I then get a call from the Middletown NJ store. A woman from the jewelery department asking me to describe what I ordered because all she has is an item number. She couldn't find the item, but said she would keep looking and call me back. She actually did call me back and was able to locate the item.

Oct 8 - I let the other order sit for about a week before I canceled. I was concerned about a refund from that getting mixed up with my original order that hadn't been refunded yet. Out of morbid curiosity I called the store inquiring about the still open order and of course, they didn't have it in stock and didn't bother calling me. I canceled that order and received a refund 2 days later.

Oct 11- I email Sears.com customer service inquiring about my original refund and stating that I'll be disputing the charge if I don't get a response by Oct 14.

Oct 14- No response to email, so I dispute.

Oct 15- It's still bugging me and I want to triple check that the original order was not showing as picked up, so I called CS again. I found out that it is indeed showing that I picked the order up. The CS person says she can't do anything if that's the case and I have to go to the store. I ask for it to be escalated and talk to who I presume is the supervisor. I firmly state that I refuse to goto the store again and she calls the store. After a longggg wait she puts me on a three way phone conversation we get the refund processed. I get the smiplest of apologies...

There were a few more customer service calls in between everything, but thats the majority of the problems. I'm just really happy to actually have all my money back.

(Photo: robinsonsmay)

Sean writes:

I returned a product [yesterday] to the Appleton, WI Circuit City with a gift receipt. The clerk accepted the returned product, but mistakenly credited the original purchaser's credit card (I am not the original purchaser) for the return. After informing me of this, I told her that I did not purchase this product, it was given to me (thus, the gift receipt) and that I intended to return it for store credit so I could purchase a different product. I was told that since the return had been processed and credited to the original purchaser's credit card, nothing could be done. I was advised to contact the original purchaser and try to collect the money myself.

After much debate with the clerk, the supervisor, and the operations manager, I was told there was nothing that could be done, and the only option I had was to go back to the person who bought it, and ask for the money. This is unacceptable.

I entered the store in possession of a product (my property, I was the owner). I gave the product and gift receipt to the clerk to process a return. The clerk accepted my return and gave my money (the monetary value of the product - the original purchase price) to the wrong person (someone other than me). I left the store without my property or the monetary value of the property.

I would like either my property (the original product - a Logitech Harmony remote control) returned to me or store credit (gift card) for the orignal purchase price (approximately $130) of the product.

That's the letter Sean sent to Circuit City's customer service department, although Seans says he has yet to hear back from them. He adds, "What can I do? Isn't this illegal? They accept my returned product and mistakenly give the money to someone else, and then refuse to give me either the product or the money (store credit)? Isn't this theft of some sort? Should I contact the police?"

What do you guys think? Will the police take his report seriously? This certainly sounds like the definition of theft to us.

In the meantime, Sean, you may want to send that same letter to these Circuit City executive email addresses. What happened to you sounds to us like a fireable offense for that supervisor, and you need to make sure your story reaches the people who can see to it that you're compensated.

(Photo: Getty Images)

You may remember a few weeks back you posted my blog about being stuck on I-25 in Wyoming and the dismal failure that was Verizon Roadside Assistance. I thought I'd drop you a line and give you an update.

I just got off the phone with a Latrina Jackson, she called to apologize for the troubles I had that day. Apparently someone high up at Verizon Wireless reads The Consumerist. Based on that blog, they have reviewed the call tapes and according to Ms. Jackson, "That call did not go the way it was supposed to." She claims the operator I spoke to that day is no longer taking calls and is being put through their training program again.

In an attempt to make me feel better about the whole ordeal, they took my mailing address and are issuing a check to cover the cost of the fuel delivery. This was way more than I was expecting. I don't know if you guys post updates on these stories, but perhaps your readers would like to know that while I still consider the words, "Can I connect you to Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance?" a death threat, but at least they can admit when they made a mistake.

Congrats, Jason! We're glad that Verizon Wireless stepped in to make things right, and that they're retraining the CSR who failed to grasp the meaning of "roadside assistance."

Here's his story:

I have been an AT&T/Cingular customer for some time (5+ years). I own small business and have 7 phones with them on a small business plan, my normal monthly bill is well over $300. Shortly after Mother's day this year I started getting $2000+ bills for roaming in Nicaragua and Mexico. Neither I nor my phone have ever been to Nicaragua. I called AT&T and they actually fixed the problem in a few days and gave me a credit. So far so good.

However, the next month's bill came and the calls are still there, and the next month and the next month. Finally I had them shut the phone off completely, because they couldn't stop the billing. So the phone is now off, and I am still paying monthly service on it. However, they managed to rack up over $6,000 in charges for roaming in Mexico and Nicaragua before I forced them to shut it off.

Here's the kicker, AT&T says the phone is in both places at the same time. Their own bill shows a call being made from Nicaragua at the exact same minute it is incurring a data roaming charge in Mexico. When I point out that this is physically impossible they just respond with "pay the bill," I imagine it to be similar to what dealing with the Mob must feel like.

I won't get into the byzantine mess that is AT&T's dispute issues process (to be fair, in the 5 years before this incident, I always thought they were pleasant and helpful when I called for anything); suffice to say after over 12 hours on the phone with AT&T (who have a wonderful system that won't allow you to call anyone back), they finally shut my phones off today. This is despite swearing just last night that my service wouldn't be interrupted.

For the record, despite all these issues I was a "good" customer and continued to pay the portion of my bill that was legit.

Please help, or at least if you can't help publish this so other people can stay away.

Serves me right for buying an iPhone.

Thanks,
Chris

Hey, we didn't say it, he did.

Chris, have you tried these numbers?

Here are the morals of this story:

1. Never EVER travel without extra fuel.

2. If someone ever says to you, "Can I connect you to Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance?" They are making a direct threat on your life.

So yesterday I drove from my home in Casper, Wyoming down to Loveland Colorado. Its about a 250 mile drive South down I-25. I was driving a 2003 GMC Yukon XL. I passed Chugwater Wyoming at about 11:00, checked the fuel gauge and decided that half a tank should get me into Cheyenne, 45 miles away.

23 miles later the needle of the fuel gauge finally unstuck and dropped to E in about a second and a half. Then the car sputtered and died. I was out of fuel with no sign of civilization for 23 miles to the North and 22 miles to the South. I raised my hood, hoping that some kind soul would stop and perhaps offer a ride.

I had been in and out of cellular service for the last two hours. In that time my phone was trying desperately to find a signal, which drains the battery at a horrendous rate of speed. I had one bar left on the battery so I went looking for my car charger. I didn't bring it. I don't know anyone in Cheyenne, so I dialed 411. The operator answered and I asked her for a tow truck in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She said to me, "Can I connect you with Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance?" I said, "Why yes you can, I didn't know Verizon offered Roadside Assistance."

So she connects me. I spent the next 15 minutes punching in my credit card number, my phone number, the last four digits of my SSN etc. etc. etc. Then I finally get a live person on the phone to help me. Goes like this:

Her: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance, how can I help you?
Me: Hi, I'm out of fuel on I-25 23 miles North of Cheyenne, Wyoming next to mile marker 30. Can you send some fuel out?
Her: I can help you with that, are you in a safe place?
Me: I'm on the shoulder of I-25, I'm pretty safe.
Her: Ok, where exactly are you?
Me: .... Interstate 25 southbound, mile marker 30, 23 miles north of Cheyenne Wyoming.
(No shit, this was her next question.)
Her: Are you at home?
Me: What? No, I'm next to I-25 in the middle of nowhere.
Her: Could you meet someone at your home?
Me: Are you serious? Lady, I'm broken down in the middle of the prarie here!
Her: I understand sir, is there a mile marker or an exit near you?
Me: Yeah, like I said, I'm at mile marker 30.
Her: Ok, is there a town nearby?
Me: Yeah, Cheyenne is 23 miles away.
Her: Ok, what is the zip code there?
Me: How the hell would I know the zip code of Cheyenne Wyoming?
Her: Sir, I can't do anything without a zip code.
Me: Can't you look it up somehow?
Her: Please hold.

Fifteen minutes go by, my phone is beeping its battery death rattle in my ear.

Her: Sir? Are you still there?
Me: Yes I am, but my phone is about to die, is someone on the way?
Her: I can't find a zip code for Cheyenne. Oh, wait, let me try this one....

I'm on hold again. Three minutes pass.

Her: Sir, what sort of service do you need?
Me: I don't care, send a tow truck, or a locksmith or a taxi or anyone that will bring me fuel!
Her: ok....

My phone dies.

So I figure she's got someone on the way and I wait. Its 12:30pm at this point in time. I took some pictures to pass the time.

I also picked up some of the bottles and cans from the roadside, carried them a few hundred yards off the road into an empty field and had a little target practice.

Four hours pass. No help has arrived. Finally, someone stops, this is the first time since I've been there. He let me use his phone, I called my voicemail. I had a message from the Roadside Assistance bitch that went like this;

"Sir, I was unable to find any services in Cheyenne. Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance, have a good day."

She left me to twist. A 12 hour walk in any direction, she knew full well that I couldn't call anyone else, she just left me out there.

I then called 411 again and asked for a tow truck. The operator said, "Can I connect you to Verizon Wireless Roadside Assistance?" I told her to go have sex with herself in a tirade of swearing that can only be described as Yosemite Sam uncensored.

One hour later Doug's Towing from Cheyenne was there, he collected $150 and I was back on the road.

"Verizon Wireless left me to die. With pics!" [AR15.com]

They acknowledge the router got an upgraded firmware image automatically (forget the fact I had explicitly disabled that feature for this very reason), but I'm shit out of luck. Even though the fact my formerly perfectly working 6100 is now bricked because of something Verizon did without my approval or knowledge, they will not provide me with a new one for free because the router is out of warranty.

Brielle, try this Verizon contact info to reach someone who can resolve your issue.

Update: Brielle has added the following to her post on her own site, in response to people suggesting she flash the router:

There is no way to flash the router at this point. I've not been able to find an actual image file of the firmware, just a tool in .exe, which does not work right cause it really stupidly assumes anything in 10/8 is 255.0.0.0. My home network is 10.14.1.0/255.255.255.0. Tool can't find router, so no way to force an old firmware on to it.

"Verizon is a bunch of assholes" [Brielle's Ramblings] (Thanks to Mickey!)
(Photo: *nomad*)

The Johnson County District Attorney, Phill Kline, told Fox News that Verizon not only seemed unhelpful, but possibly incompetent:

We did have a problem with Verizon. We're talking about 3 hours afterwards, they [the police] were already pushing for this information, with the sergeant speaking to Verizon directly at 2:30 a.m., demanding that this information be provided and it wasn't.

There was a lack of understanding on their end of what they were incapable of doing. I was on the conference call with Verizon, and we had three technicians telling us different things and using different terms, and we can't guess their mind. We've got a girl that's missing. We have a girl that's missing, we have a likely abduction, we need to find her.

Everyone involved in the search has made it clear that Verizon's incompetence had nothing to do with Kelsey's death, but it could have made the search a lot shorter, and saved a lot of people unnecessary grief. Unfortunately, when Verizon's president met with Kline and Kelsey's parents two months later, he brought three lawyers with him for protection.

Kelsey's mom told Fox, "If [Verizon] brought them because you think we're here to sue you, that's not what this is about." Says Kline, "They didn't realize that they have an opportunity... to establish a course that leads the way that is right and responsible, and instead they chose a different posture, and that's unfortunate."

Kelsey's mom:

We almost didn't get to say to goodbye to Kelsey, because of her body decomposition from being out there so long.

Kelsey's dad:

We never did get a why, that was the thing that was so frustrating, why can't you do this. That question was never answered.

"Why Did It Take So Long to Find Kelsey Smith?" (video) [MyFoxKC.com] (Thanks to Albert!)

Lil ole me. A twenty-seven year old female, simply a poor writer in LA.

Capital One Bank— while I appreciate them sending me a letter telling me they sent a credit card to someone with my SS# yet a different spelling of my name AND address than what is on my records at all three Credit Bureaus— why ON EARTH would they still send out a card?

I called Capital One immediately and successfully prevented the criminal from getting that MasterCard card approved. They went ahead and froze the account. After reporting this to Capital One, they send a fraud claim not to me, the victim, but idiotically to the CRIMINAL who stole my identity. This, in turn, alerted the thief (thieves) to take quicker actions with fraudulently using my identity.

This was an act of negligence as well as an unsavory business practice on Capital One's behalf. Capital One Bank has obstructed the law by aiding these identity thieves who are involved with a federal offense.

I mean, wouldn't it make sense for Capital One (and ALL creditors) to make it a company-wide, mandatory practice to alert the customer BEFORE processing ANY requests with mismatched information from the credit bureaus?

So, I called the Social Security and the Credit Bureaus to put a Fraud Alert on all accounts. Then, the LAPD. Capital One was "gracious" enough to give me the address that the criminal used— [redacted]. And courtesy of the White Pages, the residence of one Magdalena C.

What do I do now? Wait until the LAPD finds her? Call the cops on her? I mean, have they thought of looking this woman up on www.whitepages.com? The internet make identity theft so easy, and perhaps catching the criminals easier too.

I hope this Magdelena C. gets locked up for a LONG time.

Sincerely,
A Victim of Identity Theft

We agree that Capital One showed some extra special incompetence there with the fraud claim form. Maybe you should report what happened to the FBI too—that's a link to their local office locator.

Update: As our editor Ben Popken and some of our readers point out in the comments below, there are a few other things you should do, Lisa, to protect yourself.

• Place a freeze on your credit reports. A fraud alert won't necessarily prevent future abuse. A freeze will.
• File a report with the FTC's ID Theft Hotline: 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) or http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx
• And make sure you filed an actual police report with the LAPD if you haven't already.

(Photo: Getty)

You are chatting with {Name Withheld to Protect... Something}, an Apple Expert:

Hi, my name is {Name Withheld to Protect... Something}. Welcome to Apple!

{Me}: I need a new doohickey; TSA lost my old one.
{Me}: I need the thingy that you use to connect a mac laptop to a pc projctor/monitor
{Me}: obviously i dont know what it's called
{Me}: thus I can't find it.
{Me}: and then once I know what it is, I need to know if the apple store by the mall by my house has it

*** 60 second pause ***

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Good afternoon.
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: I'm happy to assist with that.
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Would you like a link to the local Apple STore.

{Me}: I need to know what the thing is called firsty

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: One moment while I research that for you.
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Are you trying to hook your Mac to a projector? Explain to me exactly what you are doing.

{Me}: yes
{Me}: i have a mac laptop and we have projectors for pc
{Me}: the connector for the projector is the same as if I was hooking the mac laptop up to a pc monitor

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Did you have a plug that you previously attached?
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: What type of prong was on the projector for input or output?

{Me}: i don't know what you mean by plug. I had a small white cable, one end hooked up to my laptop on the mac side and one end hooked up to the monitor/projector
{Me}: the pc end looked like pc monitor connectors have always looked. the mac side has a bunch of square looking slots at one end
{Me}: that cable fell out of my bag at airport security
{Me}: or my dog ate it. anyway, it's gone and now I can't hook up to anything.

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: One moment while I research that for you.

*** several minutes go by***

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Thank you for your patience.

****several more minutes go by, I stop sending emails and try some more searches***

{Me}: i think i found it.
{Me}: On my own.
{Me}: http://store.apple.com/us/product/M8754G/A?mco=MTIxODk3Mw

***60 second pause***

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Perfect.
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Would you like me to place it in a cart for you?

(this is one of the stupider offers of help ever, I just found something faster than you did, I think I can click the "add to cart button".)

{Me}: No, I need the phone number for the Mac store in South Pointe mall in Durham, NC.
{Me}: I don't want to pay shipping.

{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: I will gladly send you a link so that you may contact them directly, one moment
{Name Withheld to Protect... Something}: Click Here

(Thanks for nothing. A link to the site I'm ALREADY ON. Way to go.)

You will note I never got what I wanted — them to check the inventory without me calling the store and find out if they had it in stock.

I think I'm going to order the $1.94 knock-off on Amazon, instead. It's got $2.95 shipping, but that's a net of $15.00 less than Apple...

(Photo: Getty)

So my friend goes in and decides to buy a new HP Pavilion Media Laptop. Not only do they push anti-virus protection and an HDMI input on him, they charge him over $200 for it along with $300 warranty. So his $800 laptop is now $1300. He ended up waiting almost 2 hours for them to 'install' these two components on top of this. While this may seem bad enough, the real story comes later.

He's my roomate and decided to buy this PC after his old notebook died. He came back, unopened it and began to download all the things he needs. He then calls me over and seemed confused because he wanted to plug it in and he couldn't seem to find where to plug it in. I started laughing because it seemed like something so simple. I go over and low and behold, the plug is wrong. It seems weird to me that a brand new PC would have the wrong AC adapter. He immediately calls Best Buy (1 hour before closing) and explains that he has the wrong adapter. Not only does the sales rep insult my friend, but he insists that it's not the wrong plug and we're doing something wrong. Now I work in IT, I think that I can PLUG IN A COMPUTER. Then he says "Well you can come in but we close in an hour." Thanks a lot.

So we go in and go right up to the Geek Squad desk and explain the situation. As soon as my friend pulls out the adapter, the guy takes it and gives us the correct one. He then says, "Yea, we put the wrong adapter back in. We put the wrong adapter in two other computers and one, we forgot to put an AC adapter in at all. So I'm not surprised."

Best Buy might actually have a workable customer service model if, you know, belated honesty made up for gross incompetence.

(Photo: Jared Harley)

Our reader writes:

About three weeks ago now, I went to Adobe.com to buy a copy of Dreamweaver CS3 online, as I couldn't find one locally. As I have Adobe CS2 Premium, I qualified to buy the version that is the upgrade from GoLive to Dreamweaver. So I find this version on their store, add to cart, and buy it.

Problem #1 - While most other versions of Dreamweaver are available as downloads, this one, inexplicably, is not. I'm told it will be shipped in about a week. As I had a trial version of Dreamweaver CS3 installed already, I contacted their live chat system and asked if the serial number could be sent via email or something in advance, so I could get to work. No can do.

I wait - and a week later, the box arrives. I tried the serial number received on the trial version at first. Problem #2 - It cannot find my Adobe CS2 (to verify I qualify for upgrade) even though that had been installed in the standard, default directory. So it asks me to enter the Dreamweaver CS3 serial number, then pick what version I'm upgrading from, and enter the GoLive serial number.

Problem #3 - It tells me the serial number I'm putting in does not match the product I'm upgrading from. This in spite of the fact I copied and pasted it directly from Go Live's help menu, and also tried typing it in manually several times. (The only thing I can figure, in retrospect, is that since my choices were upgrading from GoLive 6.0, GoLive CS, or GoLive CS2, the fact that I have CS2 Premium was the issue). I tried uninstalling the trial and installing fresh from the CD, but got the same issue.

I surf over to Adobe's customer support portal, which promises an answer in one business day. I have to register first, of course (grr), but I submit a ticket with all the appropriate information first thing on a Thursday morning.

The following *Tuesday* (six calendar days, four business days later), I get this gem (emphasis added):

Hello ________,

Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.

Due to the Support Portal being closed on weekends [?!], we were unable to
respond to your e-mail. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may
have caused and appreciate your patience.

________, I understand that you purchased the upgrade version of
Dreamweaver CS3 (serial number). As you already had the
trial version of CS3 installed, you took the serial number from the box
that arrived and put it in. It accepted that, but then asked you to
verify that you was eligible to upgrade. You went to your copy of GoLive
CS2, and copied the Serial Number directly out of Help>System Info and
pasted that in to the CS3 dialogue, but it is telling you that the
GoLive CS2 number does not match what you have selected. You tried
selecting Go Live 6.0, GoLive CS and GoLive CS2 and it does not allow
you to proceed under any circumstances.

I understand your concern with this issue and apologize for the
inconvenience caused.

It would have been a pleasure to assist you with this issue. In this
regard, I would request you to contact Adobe Customer Service phone
support at 1 (800) 833-6687 from 6:00am to 8:00pm, PT, 7 days a week.
This is not an issue that can be resolved through this portal and they
are best equipped to handle such issues. They will provide you step by
step assistance through this issue..."

Problem #4: It's taken their customer service portal nearly a week to tell me ... they can't provide any customer service.

I grit my teeth and call the 1800 number. I called at 11:45 EST, and after the first five minutes, put the phone on hands free, so I could at least work while I listen to the dreadful hold music. I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And at precisely 1:07 EST... I was ... disconnected.

As I've had this happen after lengthy hold times with other companies, I suspect this some sort of slate-clearing standard procedure.

I write into the portal, politely, but firmly, to complain about this, and request that one of their reps call ME instead. I suggested that since I'd been waiting a week's shipping time, six days "customer service portal" time, and an hour and 20 minutes hold time to get what should have been a straightforward purchase, that they had a deadline of the following Monday to get it sorted.

I get:

"Hello _______,

Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.

_______, thank you for your reply.

I understand your concern with this issue and apologize for the
inconvenience caused.

It would have been a pleasure to assist you with this issue. In this
regard, I would request you to contact Adobe Customer Service phone
support at 1 (800) 833-6687 from 6:00am to 8:00pm, PT, 7 days a week.
This is not an issue that can be resolved through this portal and they
are best equipped to handle such issues. They will provide you step by
step assistance through this issue..."

So here I am. Please warn your readers (again) to stay away from Adobe; meanwhile, I'm off to issue a chargeback request to my credit card company, and to shop for something else.

We've written about Adobe not being able to actually sell its software before. Twice. These stories are only a fraction of the complaints we get about Adobe. Adobe, if you wonder why your software is so popular on bittorrent, here's one reason: Even the people who want to buy it can't get it from you. Here are some email addresses for Adobe's executives, hopefully they can help: rburgess@adobe.com, cboesenberg@adobe.com, selop@adobe.com, igiffen@adobe.com, sgomo@adobe.com, harris@adobe.com, dlucas@adobe.com, bnelson@adobe.com, snakama@adobe.com, efoley@adobe.com, ushike@adobe.com, mrozen@adobe.com, sofferma@adobe.com.

(Photo: Getty)

Unless you're willing to risk being stranded with 14 other passengers several stories underground in a cattle car elevator on a hot summer day, or plunging at extreme speeds down an escalator with a broken chain, you might want to steer clear of NYC's subway system lifts. The New York Times has published the results of an extensive investigation that includes tales of daily breakdowns, comically undertrained mechanics, and about $1 billion spent over the past decade.

Probably the most disturbing finding is that the subway's mechanics are released into the system with 4 weeks of training, compared to 4 years for elevator repairmen in the private sector. By contrast, mechanics hired by Washington, D.C. metro system now receive 4 years of training, and those hired by the San Francisco metro system receive 2 years of training.

The worst offender is the 181st St station for the 1, 9 trains. As passengers familiar with the station know, you have to take giant elevators several stories underground to reach the subway lines, and they suffered over 100 breakdowns last year. The article highlights one breakdown where 15 people, including two women who began to suffer from asthma attacks, were trapped for 40 minutes last summer. The same elevator "had broken down five times in the eight days leading up to the event. Each time, mechanics came, made minor adjustments and put the machine back in service — only to have it break down again." After the 15 people were let out, the elevator was put back in service, only to break down again later that afternoon.

But it sounds like it's the plunging escalators you really have to watch out for—or at least have strong ankles and the ability to leap and roll when you reach the bottom:

On June 6th, during the evening rush, the chain snapped with a bang and the escalator stopped moving. People began walking down the escalator. The last person on was Magaly Diaz, a pregnant woman on her way home from work.

Suddenly, the escalator sprang back to life. Freed from the hold of the drive chain, the steps began freewheeling downhill, quickly picking up speed. It all went so fast that Ms. Diaz cannot even remember if she screamed.

“It felt like a roller coaster,” said Ms. Diaz, 40. “You know how it feels when you’re at the top of a roller coaster going down? That’s the kind of momentum it had.”

Most people jumped or stumbled off at the bottom. But a friend standing in front of Ms. Diaz fell at the bottom and Ms. Diaz landed on top of her. Both women were taken to the hospital. Ms. Diaz had two badly twisted ankles, though she was grateful that a sonogram showed no injury to her fetus.

Coming soon: the MTA will use this as a reason to call for fare increases.

"$1 Billion Later, Subway Elevators Still Fail " [New York Times]
(Photo: Pro-Zak)

Nicholas writes:

My wife and I have been Cingular/ AT&T customers for many years now. I am in the Marine Corps and therefore travel is normal. Back around 2005, my wife and I purchased Motorola Razors while I was stationed in Florida. Great phones at the time, but with time they break. In 2006, I moved to Camp Lejeune, N.C. and was told I was deploying for Iraq in March of 2007 for 7 months. I called customer service and told them of my orders to Iraq and that I wanted to suspend my account until I return to the U.S.

They required me to fax a copy of my orders to complete the process, which I did, and confirmed by a phone representative that everything was good and that when I returned from Iraq that my number will be intact and ready for use once I called and reactivated it. Around my 6 month mark in Iraq; my wife mailed my cell phone to me so I could use it to call her and my family once I arrived on U.S. soil to catch up on much lost time. In October 2007, I redeployed back to the U.S. and once I had the chance, I turned my phone on and AT&T attempted to contact my wife to let her know that I was very close to being able to finally hug her and meet my new daughter.

Unfortunately this wasn't possible since I had no service. After much troubleshooting, I finally borrowed a friends phone and called my wife and got to finally talk to her and let her know that I was coming home really soon at someone else’s expense since I was borrowing their phone. My wife informed me that she attempted to reactivate my phone but that AT&T/Cingular dropped my line and it was no longer in use. I told her not to worry about it and that I would take care of it once I got to our home. Once I arrived home and got finished catching up with my wife and meeting my new daughter, I finally had a few moments to find out what happen to my number.

I talked to a phone rep and personally went to the AT&T/Cingular store to discuss the matter and got the same response from both: They dropped my line and the number was in recycling and that there was no way possible for me to ever get the number back. Everyone knows that this is a big pain in the butt since I had that number for many years and all my family, friends and other acquaintances’ knew that number. So I begged and begged but it got me nothing. I finally agreed to a new phone number. I had to renew to a new 2yr contact on our family plan. Note that I only got a phone number and not a phone upgrade, therefore the Motorola Razor I have is still from 2005.

Around 2 weeks ago my phone started acting up badly. Now it has acted up in the past but only for moments here and there. But this time it was not functional. Every time I attempted to place a call, send a message or answer a call, the numbers 3 and 4 automatically dialed and dialed and dialed and dialed and dialed. I couldn't make or answer any calls. I figured I had the phone for a long time, and it was about time for an upgrade. A buddy told me about AT&T premier and that the military gets discounts on phones. So I looked into the deal and found it was true. I searched for my new upgrade and found a beautiful refurbished Samsung Blackjack II for only $49.99. Wow! What a deal, right??? I was truly excited just like everyone gets with a new purchase of anything. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the phone and start playing with the new features and upgrades. So I stared to process my order, but it was denied and said I was available for a upgrade until June 2009.

I knew this was a sure mistake since I had the phone since 2005. So I called the customer support and began one heck of a journey with no outcome. Before I go any farther, I must say that all the representatives I talked to remained very professional and never lost their patience with me even though I really did towards the end except one representative whom you will here about. Ok, so I call about two weeks ago and explain the whole above situation. The lady on the phone seems very understanding and attempts to do something while I sit on hold. After minutes the only thing she can do is put a ticket in and have the upgrade reversed so it would state I was available for an upgrade and that she would call in 48 to 72 hrs to update me on the situation. I agree. About a week later I get a call saying that nothing has happened yet and the ticket is still processing. A few more days go by and nothing. So I become very impatient and call customer service and explain everything again for a second time.

After about 1:15 minutes on the phone, the only resolution I get is a force upgrade but I had to purchase the phone right there over the phone. So for the phone I wanted it would've cost me roughly over $200 vice $49.99 on the AT&T premier website. I told the rep that this is unsatisfactory and that I want the deal that I deserve to get. I explained that it was AT&T that screwed everything up by removing my original phone number and that they are accountable and responsible to fix the solution so I can get the same options as any other customer. The rep told me he couldn't do anything else. So I asked for a manager or supervisor. Finally I got on the phone with "Don."

I explained my story for a third time and got the same result. Nothing!!! About this time, I had run out of patience and niceness. So I let this supervisor know my frustrations and that I wanted this issue resolved like yesterday. After much debate, he committed to call me today at 1:00pm central time. I gave him my work phone number since I don't have a functional cell phone to answer. I let him know that I will be waiting at the time he gave me and that I couldn't wait around longer than a 1/2 hour since I was working. Well 1:00 rolled around and the phone hadn't rang. 1:30 rolled around and nothing. I left and did some things to finish up for the day. I got back to my office around 2:10 and no messages from this gentleman. So I called customer service again and gave my story for the fourth time. The lady I spoke with was very helpful and very nice as she tried to rectify my situation. But she couldn't do nothing but submit another ticket which would take more unwanted time. She said I would get a call around May 13th with an update.

I told her that this was unsatisfactory, bad service and bad business. She went on to apologize for some other reps mistakes. At the same time I was speaking with this lady, Don called me on my other work number. I told the lady that the rep finally had called me and we ended our call. Don went on to apologize for his tardiness and that he had to take care of another customer that had called after me the night before and it was urgent. URGENT??? So what is my situation, I'm thinking now. This guy or company couldn't give a care about me or my loyal services. For the past at least 7 years I have paid every bill on time and advertised too many friends and family on how great their service was. Anyway, he proceeded to tell me that there was nothing he could do but to let the trouble ticket run its course and that by Monday I should hear something better.

I explained once again that this treatment was unsatisfactory and very rude and that I couldn't believe that AT&T couldn't rectify my situation in a timely manner. I explained that I couldn't even believe that AT&T wouldn't just give me the upgrade over the phone with the AT&T premier price or even lower for all the unnecessary bull had to deal with. He said he was sorry and asked if there was anything else he could do for me. I laughed at him and told him that he didn't do anything in the first place and that I wanted out of my contract from AT&T due to their negligence. But he told me I couldn't get out of the contract. So that brings me to now and writing this thread. I ask for help from the community on my situation and how do I get this issue fixed and my contract ended so I can get with a provider that is for the customer and the needs of the customer.
The supposed ticket that AT&T customer service submitted originally was supposed to be processed by 10:00 on Saturday 10 May. Well Saturday rolled around, then Sunday and now Monday. And nothing has come from the situation. It still remains unanswered and without resolution. And I still sit here with a non-functional phone while I pay for the service and the inability to call or take calls from people. Thanks AT&T.

AT&T shouldn't have forced to you to sign a new 2 year contract in order to correct their mistake, but you already know that. Unfortunately, you are probably stuck with the contract unless you're willing to pay the ETF to get out of it.

We suggest that the best thing to do would be to launch an EECB (executive email carpet bomb) at AT&T in the hopes of catching the attention of someone at AT&T who has the power to get you the upgrade you deserve. Here's come contact information for you. Go get 'em. For more information about launching an EECB, click here.

Hi,
 
I've been using TimeWarner's road runner service for a few months. The bill is for a speed of 10 mbits/sec, but their tech people confessed that their server is unable to deliver more that 8 mbits/sec in the area; marketing is stretching their capabilities by 20% !
 
They sent 12 people to my house, all but one totally incompetent.
 
Here's the story in numbers:

Advertised speed Real speed in dry weather Real speed during rain Average speed Computers tried Modems tried Cables laid out Technicians dispatched Time on the phone

10mbps 1 to 7 mbps <1 mbps 2.5 mbps 4 4 1 original + 3 new sets 12 >15 hours

Here are some of the gems coming from their tech people:
 

• Can you sign up my work sheet? My friend is waiting for me to go to lunch
• to have high speed, you need a fixed IP
• 3mbps is fast enough!
• why don't you sign up for a slower service? That way you will pay for what you have right now
• I removed the old cable, but I don't have the right drill to put the new one so I cannot finish today
• this is a free world, there are other internet providers. If we haven't managed to fix it so far, it will continue
• I see the problem, it is the splitter! (a new splitter later) I have no idea why it doesn't work
• Do you know a website to check the speed?
• it's the router causing the problem! (I show the router is not plugged in) I have to call my supervisor to see if he knows
• It doesn't rain anymore, so your internet will be fine!
• Why do you have a router if you don't use wireless?
• the wireless signal is slower, that's why it's slow (no it's not slower and I don't even use it)

"Time Warner is sorry" [Sibylle and Thomas]
(Photo: Getty)

I wanted to upgrade my Adobe Creative Suite 2 to CS3, and switch from Windows to Mac. I was afraid it would be complicated, but the sales rep, Jim, knew exactly what he was doing. He found the right order code to get me a double-upgrade (I also own Macromedia Studio), and he explained the complete process we'd follow. He'd overnight the Windows CS3 at no charge, and when I received it, I should e-mail back a Letter of Destruction (LOD), so they could crossgrade me to the Mac CS3. He showed me where to download the LOD, so I could fill it out in advance. He was a delight.

When I got the package, I e-mailed the LOD to Adobe, and got a form letter back from "JD" acknowledging it. Great! But three days later, I got another letter from "Edgar P": "In order to finish processing your letter, please provide a Letter of Software Destruction"...

The rest is a sad story. There are no shocking, egregious, offensive acts by Adobe; nobody was locked in a fitness center overnight, or arrested, or cheated, or lied to. Adobe merely failed. They had forty individual opportunities to delight a customer. Forty opportunities to provide basic, expected service. Or, at the very least, forty opportunities to consider their own enlightened self-interest as a business, and examine their own deficiencies. They showed no interest in doing any of that.

Instead, Adobe failed. Forty times in a row. At every level from the front-line representative to the self-proclaimed manager of North American customer care.

Hi! Thanks for posting it. The update:

1. I have re-annotated the list, made a few more calls, and it's now 59 ways. Adobe makes "Yours is a very bad hotel" look like a model for success.

2. Their corporate web site has an entire section called "Customer Engagement: Today's Business Mandate", in which their executives write at length about:
a. How Adobe "creates engaging experiences"
b. How Adobe "builds engaging content"
c. How Adobe builds tools that enable Adobe's customers to engage with *their* customers

See anything missing? Sad, but true: There is no mention of Adobe actually engaging with customers. It's all very "Put on a sweater, I'm cold", very Larry Craig, very Eliot Spitzer.

3. I finally got a call from Stephanie, in customer service, who actually has both a last name *and* a phone extension. Turns out that Dawn did ship me the Mac version... to my fourth-most-recent address. (Keep in mind that Jim, the front-line sales rep, managed to ship the Windows version to my current residence.) Someone out there just got a free Master Collection.

4. Stephanie has shipped another copy - to me, this time - which I should receive on Tuesday.

The updated list below:

—-—

1. [We got your letter! Please send it.]
Although I sent a Letter of Destruction, and received an acknowledgement of that LoD from Adobe, Adobe's database didn't think I had sent an LoD. So I called, and

2. ["Que?"]
I got a rep who barely spoke English, whose name I didn't catch, who

3. ["One definition of insanity..."]
told me that I should just send the LoD again. When I pointed out that this didn't work so well the first time, he

4. [Somebody Else's Problem]
said he'd have to transfer me to pre-sales. Only then he asked what product, and I told him CS3, and he said with surprise

5. [I may have been mistaken]
"Oh! Wait, we handle that here! What's your customer number?" So I told him, and

6. [Somebody Else's Problem]
he said "Oh, yes, we have to transfer you to pre-sales, as I said." So

7. [He may have been mistaken]
he did, where I got a woman named "Kareen" [?] who said that, of course, he shouldn't have transferred me. So she transferred me back, but

8. [Telephones are complicated]
my call went into the abyss, and after a few minutes of silence I hung up. I called back, and, and got "Ali", who

9. [One definition of insanity...]
again tried to just talk me into sending it again. Because surely that'd help. When I pointed out, again, that this didn't work the first time, she

10. [Somebody Else's Problem]
tried to transfer me to "the department that handles that". But then she came back a few minutes later, sounding confused, and said

11. [Make something up]
"I think it would be best if you called them directly." So she gave me the number to call, 800-955-1610. Which of course

12. [Remember fax machines?]
is a very loud fax number. That smarted a little. Fed up, I called back, and got "Christopher", whose

13. ["Que?"]
name clearly wasn't Christopher. He told me the number for "executive customer service" is 800-866-8006, which

14. [Make something up]
is really just the automated switchboard. I tried dialing-by-name, and Bruce Chizen was listed, but he's not CEO anymore. And your new CEO, Shantanu Narayen, is

15. [Engage, but without talking]
not in the phone directory. I looked on the web site for an executive in charge of customer service, but

16. [Designed by committee]
you don't even have one. Resigned, I pressed 0 for the operator, and got Veronica. I asked for the number to executive customer service, but she said

17. [It's policy. You understand.]
she can't give that out - "it's an internal line". She could transfer me, though, so she did, and then

18. [Telephones are complicated]
after four minutes of silence, I again gave up and hung up. I called back and got "Ash-a-lee", who

19. [Your call is important to us]
put me on hold as soon as she answered the phone, without giving her name first. When she came back, I asked for executive customer service, and she

20. [I do not think it means what you think it means]
transferred me to the main customer service phone tree. I hung up and called back, and got Ash-a-lee again. Instead of just transferring me, she

21. [I heard what you asked for; let me tell you what you want]
asked for my customer number. Then, instead of transferring me, she

22. [I heard what you asked for; let me tell you what you want]
asked me what product I was having trouble with. So I told her I had trouble with the customer service staff and the operator. She put me on hold and... I was now talking to Dawn, who says she's a manager in customer care. I gave her the info, and she logged into the computer

23. [Computers are complicated]
for the next ten minutes, because she

24. [Mostly I just golf]
"hadn't used this part of it in a while." Meanwhile, Dawn, how do I get back to you if we get disconnected?

25. [Telephones are complicated]
"I don't have a direct line." [She did take my phone number so she could call me.] Eventually, she dug my letter out of the inbox and re-attached it to the ticket. So how long will it take now?

26. [It's policy. You understand.]
"Up to 48 hours for the warehouse to process." Well, can't I just download it?

27. [Tell me more about this "Internet".]
"No, you'd still need a serial number." [you don't have any around? You didn't write the program that generates them?] Can't you call the warehouse?

28. ["YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER"]
"No, they don't work 24 hours a day." [It's noon in California.] OK, can you

29. [You want me to think of everything?]
at least ship it overnight? [why didn't she suggest this herself?] "Yes, I can do that. But I

30. [You can't rush perfection.]
"can't promise it'll ship today, because it's already 3 o'clock in Georgia." Fine, fine, I give up. So now let's talk about why it took me an hour to get to you where you can help me. What happened with JD, with Edgar, with Ali and Kareen and Veronica and Ash-a-lee? Why did it take me half an hour just to get to you?

31. [Tell me more about this "closing the loop".]
"I apologize." [Not "I'll look into it". Not "we're working on training"] Yes, I appreciate your apology, but don't you guys have systems in place? How do we prevent this from happening again? What went wrong?

32. [Stuff happens.]
"User error, probably". I understand; don't you have some sort of feedback loop? Does Adobe not have an executive customer service department? "Yes, and I'm in that. We have a 'very small group' that deals with these issues." OK, what's your title?

33. [I'm Ted Stryker, and I'm facing forward.]
"...like I said, manager of.. customer care and sales in North America." [I can't remember anyone, ever, when asked for their title, not rattling it off. I frankly don't think this is her title.] So

34. [Tell me more about this "closing the loop".]
isn't there someone who wants to look into why problems happened? You're in charge of all of this, right? "Yes." OK, and I have no way to contact you?

35. [Telephones are complicated / Accountability is for suckers]
"No, as I said, it's an internal line." So I can't dial your extension from that main phone directory?

36. [Telephones are complicated / Accountability is for suckers]
"No, you can only get it if you're physically inside this building." [If I can get to Bruce Chizen, I find that hard to believe.] Really? Are you considering a new phone system?

37. [Telephones are complicated / Accountability is for suckers]
"I have no idea." [I don't believe you. If you are in charge of customer care, and Shantar can't reach you from his cell phone, you're talking about that problem every single day until it's fixed.] OK, and there's no accountability? You can't give me your extension, you can't give me a last name for the operators to transfer me to?

38. [It's policy. You understand.]
"No, we have a policy, I can't give you my last name." [I have never heard of such policy at the executive level, only the call center level. I again find it hard to believe.] "But I'm the only Dawn here. But you should

39. [Accountability is for suckers]
"just ask to speak to our group; one of us will handle it." But that didn't work! It took me three tries to get to you! "Well, they've

40. [Accountability is for suckers]
"been receptionists for years, and this has

41. [There's no record of that. We don't keep records.]
"never happened before."

I gave up, resigned to hoping that the product would actually ship Monday as promised. Oh, but Dawn called back a few hours later, asking

42. [Mostly I just golf]
"Wait, I just looked at this - you're ordering the Mac version? I can't find any record of that." [I walked her through what Jim had done, and she figured it out.] "Oh, OK. Bye!"

43. [Engage, but without talking]
I know that the PR department always knows who the "fixers" are, so I left voicemail for Holly Campbell. She never called back.

44. [Engage, but without talking]
Likewise, I've been impressed with John Nack's forthrightness on his blog, so I sent him an e-mail. No response.

45. [Engage, but without talking / Accountability is for suckers / It depends on your definition of "is"]
A quick Googling revealed that plenty of Adobe employees have both phone extensions *and* last names. Dawn lied.

...time passes...

On Tuesday, when I still hadn't received the package, I called the switchboard and got "Vasty". I asked for Dawn; Vasty said

46. [Accountability is for suckers]
she had no way to transfer me to her. But she could transfer me to [some sort of call queue], and "let's see where it takes us". So

47. [Your call is important to us]
I waited ten minutes in silence before I hung up. I called back, got Lamar. This time, I asked for the "office of the CEO".

48. [I heard what you asked for; let me tell you what you want]
"Which software is this in reference to?" Adobe. "Is it a software issue?" No, it's a corporate issue. [long silence] "Hold please." So

49. [Your call is important to us]
I waited seven minutes in silence before I hung up. I called back, got "Lissette". Maybe we can get some accountability within the switchboard operators group, and work up from there. First, let me make this clear; I do not want to be placed on hold again. Now: Are Adobe operators outsourced, or are they employees?

50. ["YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER"]
"That information is not provided to us." ... OK, I'll ask slower. Are you an Adobe employee? "Yes". OK, so who's the manager of the switchboard operators?

51. ["YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER"]
"Unfortunately, we show only first and last names, not that information." ... OK, I'll ask slower. You know who your supervisor is, right? "Yes." What is their name?

52. [It's policy. You understand. / Accountability is for suckers]
"Names are considered confidential." ... OK, just transfer me to the office of the CEO. "Here's the line."

53. [Your call is important to us.]
I waited five minutes in silence before I hung up. I called back, and got Lissette again. Was I clear that I didn't want to be placed on hold? "Yes." Did I ask for the office of the CEO? "Yes." Who did you transfer me to? "Level 2 escalations." Why did you place me on hold?

54. [Telephones are complicated]
"That's how our telephones work." No, that's called a blind transfer. Your PBX, like everyone else's in the past 25 years, allows you to stay on the line until the other person answers. "My telephone doesn't have that feature." OK, just transfer me to the office of the CEO. "Here's the line."

55. [Your call is important to us.]
I waited five minutes in silence before I hung up. I called back, and got Ash-a-lee (who today is just Ashlee). I'd like to speak to someone who works in the office of the CEO, please.

56. [I heard what you asked for; let me tell you what you want]
The whole song-and-dance with customer number, what product are you calling about, I need some more information first, etc. [I didn't cooperate very well, I'm afraid.] This is not about software; this is about your corporation. Let me speak to someone who handles the CEO's schedule. I'm thinking of stopping by, and I want to make sure he's in town. "Can you hold the line?" No! Just put the phone down. "OK, one moment."

57. [Your call is important to us.]
I waited ten minutes in silence before I hung up. I called back, and got Ashlee again. Please transfer me, you know the drill. Finally, I got a real person's voicemail! Melissa something. I left a message. I admit, it was snarky. (I think I implied that a media circus was coming to town.) I'd just been poorly treated 56 times, so *I* forgive me, and that's what really counts. Anyway...

58. [Your call is important to us.]
She never called back.

59. [Shipping a box is complicated.]
Although Jim in sales (who, I repeat, is extremely competent and helpful) was able to overnight the Windows version - on Friday, for Monday - to my *current* address, Dawn somehow managed to "overnight" the Mac version - on Friday, for Tuesday, under protest - to the house I sold before I moved to the apartment before the apartment before the apartment I live in now.

60. [To be continued?]
On Thursday, I navigated the phone system myself, and left voicemail for John Loiacono. He hasn't called back, but it hasn't been very long. Yet.

Mr. Dotson,

Although I'm sure you get many e-mails on a daily basis from customers that are less than pleased with the service that your company provides I'd like to give you some idea of my recent dealings with t-mobile customer care.

I am a SmartAccess customer with a 1000 minutes family plan for two lines. On January 22nd I paid my balance in full of $220.00 online. This balance included several dollars in overages related to txt messages in excess of my plan. After paying my balance I attempted to change my text messaging bundle on the t-mobile website. It stated that "due to the status of my account" I couldn't make any changes. Not wanting to incur more charges in the future I contacted customer support by dialing 611 on my blackberry and asking customer care to make the changes to my account.

Two days ago I received a text from t-mobile stating that I was nearing my spending limit. A bit taken aback that I'd be anywhere near the limit I logged in and checked my balance. There were in excess of $75 in text messaging fees on my account. I e-mailed customer support online to get the issue cleared up.

Tonight at 11pm EST a telephone call that I was on got disconnected and my service suspended. Not having received any reply from t-mobile support by e-mail I attempted to call customer care to get the issue resolved.

Apparently (and this isn't the first time I've encountered this) the call center agent that I spoke with on the 22nd not only didn't make the changes to my account, didn't place any notes on my account but also failed to even pull my account up to look at it. I can only assume that he takes the responsibilities of his job about as seriously as a cat with a ball of yarn.

Due to your customer call agent's pure incompetence my account is suspended. Had your employee done his job I wouldn't have incurred the over $75 in text messaging charges that put my account over it's limit. I find that unacceptable.

I'll be the first to admit that I got a bit short with your call agents tonight. That might have something to do with their absolutely infuriating habit of cutting a customer off in midsentence and interrupting at every possible opportunity. You customer call agents are not only incompetent, they're immensely rude. I don't like being told that nothing can be done to remedy an error on the part of your company. According to your agents my only option is paying off these charges. The sheer idea of offering me "bonus text messages" as a remedy for my "inconvenience" is nothing more than an insult.

Although I may be a SmartAccess customer I'm also a governmental customer and a customer with a long standing clean record with your company. As such I expect, no I demand, that something be done about your company's complete lack of customer service. The whole point in having customer care and billing agents is to provide your customers with resolution to service problems. The fact that your call agents have no way to bring remedy to a situation is absolutely assinine, what is it exactly you pay them for?

Cordially,

Ric

(Photo: gumuz)

The employee is a kid who looks to be about 16 or 17. He keeps flipping open his Sidekick to check messages and respond. He does not want to be working in the UPS store this afternoon—he won't make eye contact with any customers and gives sullen, single-word answers to questions.

A guy in his 20s comes in.

He hands the kid his receipt—the kid stares at it, turns away and mutters out loud in a strangely offended tone:

The kid stands in front of the closet area muttering that phrase over and over for the next two minutes, and when we leave the store he still hasn't started looking for the customer's box.

Probably the only thing worse than this story is that the first thing we thought when the kid refused to look for the box is, "What is this, the post office?"

I wanted to tell you of a good resolution I had at the Seattle, Rainier Ave. Rite Aid pharmacy in Seattle, WA.

First, little background. I have Celiac Disease. It's an immune response to wheat, specifically the wheat protein gluten. This is an issue for prescriptions because some medications use wheat products to bind the pills. Even a spec of gluten can make a celiac sick for a few days. It's not a terribly rare condition because 1 in 130 people in the USA have it.

I went to go get a prescription filled at the closest pharmacy, which was the Rite Aid on Ranier Ave, in Seattle, WA. As I was filling out paperwork to get in their system, I told them I had celiac disease, and could they double check to make sure my medication was gluten free. This is a pretty run of the mill request. I have been a nurse since 1998, and I have had to call in this kind of prescription before I even knew I had celiac disease myself. It's a very basic.

The gal at the counter had to have me repeat myself multiple times, which is okay, it was early morning. However, she still doesn't even understand my request, and starts asking the pharmacist if this medication has "glubellium". The pharmacist looks annoyed, and says he doesn't know. I put on the brakes, and tell her that I can't get that medication then, because I can't have gluten in me. The pharmacist just shrugs, and the gal takes my filled out paperwork and starts putting me in the computer, ignoring me.

I ask again, that there has to be a way to check. Celiac is not that unusual a condition. They continue to show me the bottle, and say there isn't any way to check. Then, the gal asks to help the folks behind me, ignoring the fact that I can't even get the medication if I can't be sure it's gluten free. The pharmacist starts filling my prescription, and I am exasperated.

I tell them don't fill the prescription because if they can't tell me if it's gluten free, I don't want it. The pharmacist looks really irritated by now, and says, "I suppose I could call the manufacturer. That could take a few days." I just start walking out, and tell him I will go to a pharmacy that can deal with celiac disease. There are places that know if there is wheat products in my meds.

I then go home, and call the Kelley-Ross Pharmacy in downtown Seattle. They are flabbergasted that a pharmacist would not look this up for me, and laugh at the Rite Aid guy. Needless to say, I go get my prescription filled down there. They even show me the medication insert to make sure it all looks safe. The nice insert that accompanies most medications, and shows all the inactive ingredients. (When I work in facilities as a floor nurse, often those insert papers come attached on bulk meds we get, so I knew they existed, while at Rite Aid.)

When I get home I write an angry but polite email, containing pretty much what I wrote here.

Flash forward to today.

I just got a call from Billy who is the pharmacy district manager for Seattle. He wanted to contact me to make sure I knew that not being able to tell if a medication was gluten free, is not acceptable. They have a Clinical Service Line, that contains that information, as well as all sorts of other stuff. He was especially hard on the pharmacist for not wanting to even initially look it up. He said he thought only "blind stupidity" could be the reason this happened. The pharmacist in question is out for vacation, but he is going to talk to him when he comes back in. Billy agreed this is a pretty common request, and over all seemed stunned that his pharmacist could have done this.

He was also very cool, and said he understands that I get my medications elsewhere now, but if I ever decided to come back, they will be able to handle gluten free medication. He also talked about some of the PDA supported software that you can use to check the gluten free status of meds and foods.

Overall, I am very happy at this. Billy didn't make any excuses, and took credit for the situation. The pharmacist involved will be retrained, so the next celiac that comes in won't have to deal with what I did. That's the kind of apology, that makes me think I will keep shopping at Rite Aid, although my meds are still set up at Kelley-Ross. My husband still has his medications at Rite Aid, and I am no longer in any big hurry to change that.

It made me very happy to know that the corporation does care that its customers are taken care of.

He also shared some advice with the customer on how she can be better prepared to deal with similar situations in the future—so if she runs into another couple of ignorant pharmacy employees, she can answer her own questions about gluten. And finally, he invited her back. Result: he may not get her business in the future, but he effectively cauterized the wound, and can be certain she won't bad-mouth Rite Aid to other potential customers.

Maybe it's too expensive to train employees to have that much emotional intelligence, but it would be nice if businesses would at least screen for that natural ability in customer-facing new hires.

What do you think—still not enough? Or did Billy handle this the right way?

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Here's a unique twist on lost airline luggage:

I'm on travel for work at a nuclear site, waiting to get security clearance to start work. This involves a background check and a drug test for me, which can usually be done in about 8 to 24 hrs.

24 hrs - No word.

48 hrs - No word.

72 hrs - I'm told that Delta Airlines lost a shipment of urine samples, and mine was among them.

(Note, I'm on night shift, so I was woken up at 7am after 2 hrs of sleep and told to come back in to re-test. By the time I arrived at the plant, they had found the samples... Something's wrong with the notification timeline there...)

These are usually couriered directly from the plant to the lab - so I'm guessing that the courier had to check them since the box of samples was over 3 oz :)

(Thanks to Scott!)
(Photo: Getty)

According to Financial Times newspaper's Alphaville website, the trader's name is Jerome Kerviel, a 31-year-old trader who worked in the bank's Delta One products team in Paris.

Societe Generale declined to comment on the report.

But the bank did confirm that the trader was a Frenchman in his 30s who joined the bank in 2000 and earned a salary and bonus of less than 100,000 euros.

He was responsible for betting on the markets' future performance, bank executives said.

However, some in the financial world aren't buying the current story:

"I think there's much more to be told here," said one senior figure at a rival bank. "My personal view is that it is nigh on impossible for this to have happened as it has been told."

"Rogue trader to cost SocGen $7bn" [BBC News via Metafilter]

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From Ars Technica:

The web site was hosted on a commercial domain by a contractor and did not use SSL encryption for submission forms that transmit sensitive identification information. The few pages of the site that did use SSL used an expired certificate that had been self-signed by the contractor.

the TSA was completely unaware of the security issues while the site was in operation. During that time, thousands of travelers submitted personal information through the website and a TSA administrator claimed in congressional testimony that the agency had assured "the privacy of users and the security of the system."

As of now, fortunately, there's no indication that any data was stolen during the four-month-long gap in security.

"TSA security flaws exposed users to risk of identity theft" [Ars Technica]

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Target and Circuit City, on the other hand, were acting almost as if they're in the business of consumer electronics and looking forward to the transition as a selling opportunity. Weird.

Executives with Circuit City and Target agreed the digital TV transition is fraught with challenges.

But the transition presents opportunities as well, says Steve Eastman, vice president and general merchandising manager for consumer electronics at Target. The analog-to-digital switch will get people thinking about high definition and what technology is in their homes, he says.

Target plans to have converter boxes in stores by April.

When Bill noticed the card had been removed from his order, he contacted Gamestop's customer service. Their response:

Unfortunately, the MOH 400 XB Points Card was cancelled from your order due to product cancellation.

The 400 point card was cancelled from all MOH: Airborne orders; however, we were previously mistaken as to the reason.  The card was removed as all 400 point MS codes are being emailed out to customers digitally in