Consumerist
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call centers
10 Confessions Of A Telemarketing Insider
Out of the shadows steps a dark figure, sporting wrinkled khakis, a retractable namebadge, and a headset dangling from his ear. It's the telermarketing insider, and he's going to confess to you how his industry really works and how you can resist and even fight back: More » -
net neutrality
AT&T Asks Employees To Oppose Net Neutrality
A reader sent us a letter that AT&T sent to its employees asking them to tell the FCC they oppose net neutrality. This comes after the FCC announced plans to investigate and enact net neutrality rules that will ensure that internet service providers (like AT&T) treat all content equally. The letter and a rebuttal are inside. More » -
donations
Why You Shouldn't Let Telemarketers Help You Donate
Earlier this week we posted a warning to watch out for calls from people asking for donations on behalf of local police or fire departments. Today an alleged former employee—who says he quit after two days of training and one day of seeing what it was really like on the call center floor—wrote in to tell us a little more about how a company on the other side of that phone call works. More » -
america's most inconvenient bank
Inside The TD Bank Meltdown
Think it sucks to be a TD Bank customer this week, especially if you were formerly a Commerce Bank customer? Try being a TD Bank employee. One insider tells what it what was like yesterday on the other side of all those (still) unprocessed transactions and new fees. More » -
followups
Comcast Says Lightning Caused Emergency Alert System To Show QVC
Remember Jim? His Comcast cable box randomly responded to the emergency alert system (EAS) by tuning in to QVC. According to a source inside Comcast, rogue lightning strikes set off the EAS, even though there wasn't an emergency. Two things happen when the EAS activates: the cable box switches to a local channel, and Comcast replaces the local programming with an alert. In Jim's case, the box switched to the emergency channel—which happened to be QVC—but since there wasn't an emergency, there was no special broadcast. So what can you do next time your cable box independently declares an emergency? More » -
netflix
Inside A Netflix Shipping Center
HackingNetflix was invited to tour a Netflix shipping center where 50 employees process as many as 90,000 discs a day. Pretty cool. More » -
insiders
RadioShack Will Say Anything To Upsell Extended Warranties
An anonymous RadioShack employee sent us what he considers unethical talking points distributed by the corporate office to help employees upsell the RadioShack Replacement Service Plan. According to our tipster, "each example encourages lying." Read the deceptive talking points, inside... More » -
insiders
How Credit Cards Are Getting Meaner
What's going on inside the minds of credit card companies now that the CARD credit card reform act is coming down the pike? A customer service supervisor for a major credit card company emailed us to give us the low-down: reduced grace periods, cutting credit lines, increased fees on balance transfers, and, of course, jacked up APRs. Here's the details:
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timeshares
Alan Thicke Can't Save Tahiti Village Timeshare Company From Going Under
Even the hearty television presence of Alan Thicke couldn't help Consolidated Resorts, Inc., a company owned by Goldman Sachs that sold timeshares, from going belly up. An anonymous tipster emailed us yesterday to say that they "just laid off most of their staff, including all collections, customers service, marketing, information technology departments." And according to this insider, this is good news for consumers. More » -
insiders
More Insider Tips When Buying From Radioshack
There's clearly no love lost between D. and D's former employer, RadioShack. A little over a year ago, D. sent us some insider tips on what to watch out for when you shop at RS. Now here comes a follow-up, with more information on cell phone sales tricks, warranty pitches, and used merchandise. More » -
insiders
Dusty PS3 Inspector Threw Dirt On PS3 So He Wouldn't Have To Repair It
Well well well. New information from an inside source says that the tech threw dirt on the infamous "dusty PS3" to deny the warranty claim because he didn't feel like repairing it. Shocking! His confession, inside.
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repost
Insiders: Countrywide Made Racist Sub-Prime Loans
The Wells Fargo racist sub-prime mortgage lawsuit reminded me of an old post we did where an ex-Countrywide employee alleged that that loan company had racist practices too. Here's the insider email we posted back in February, 08: More » -
insiders
Top 10 Reasons Your Chargeback Will Be Denied
A reader who works in the chargeback section of a major credit card company has just about had enough with people tossing around "chargeback! chargeback!" as the solution to every customer service problem. While it is a great tool, you gotta make sure you use it right. To help you do that, here's our credit card company insider's guide to the top 10 reasons why your chargeback will get rejected. More »
8:00 AM on Wed May 6 2009
By Ben Popken
29,144 views, 116 commentsMost discussed Felix the Cat: I don't recall ever getting declined for any chargeback, but then I don't misuse the system and if I had more »
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insiders
10 Confessions Of A Charter Customer Service Representatives
Did you know there isn't a formal way to report a Charter cable outage, and that you're entitled to a $20 credit if your tech is a single minute late for your appointment? These, and other fantastic tips to get faster, cheaper service from Charter, as told by a former customer service representative, inside... More » -
customer support
Cracked Explains Why Tech Support Sucks
Cracked takes a stab at explaining why your calls to customer support inevitably lead to frustration. You'll probably recognize your own experiences as you read their article, and learn a little about why being a customer service agent sucks so much, too. More » -
skimmers
Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM
A lot of you have been asking to see what a skimmer looks like before it's yanked off an ATM. Are they easy to spot or virtually unnoticeable? Our reader Timeus works for a bank and deals with this sort of thing every day, and he sent in the following photos. Enjoy. More » -
verizon
Got A Verizon Installation Problem? Tell Us Where It Took Place
A Verizon employee read our recent post on the drilled wedding dress and wrote in with some advice for future tipsters, or really for anyone who's trying to solve a Verizon-related problem in the future: More » -
insiders
How To Shut Webloyalty Down For Good
A retail insider tells us why Webloyalty/Reservation Rewards stays in business, and how you can stop them by cutting off their juice at the source: More »
insiders
New York, 4:35 AM
Mon Nov 23
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