Consumerist
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paranoid
Ulta Manager: "Take Your Pen To Your Car, You're Not Allowed To Write Anything Down"
In a world where smartphones can shoot video, snap photos, record audio, scan barcodes, and let you make price comparisons via text message, it's almost funny to run into a paranoid manager like the one at an Ulta makeup store in Seattle. Well, funny except for that petty tyrant part where she tells you that you'll have to take your old-school pen and papers out to the car and come back empty handed before she'll sell you any makeup. More » -
customer service
What To Do When The AT&T Rep Won't Help You
Last week we wrote that AT&T charged Spoco's Amex card twice for the same payment, but their CSRs refused to investigate the issue for him. After we posted his story, AT&T took notice and reversed the charge. That raises the question these stories always raise, which is, "How do I get the same result if my problem isn't published on Consumerist?" More » -
above and beyond, kind of
Sears Customer Service Runaround Results In New Sander
Can we tag a story "above and beyond" if the customer service cycle is so screwed up that it eventually works out in the customer's favor? When jpodbuild tried to get his Craftsman sander repaired or replaced, he couldn't get anyone on the phone who could actually help him—eventually he would end up back at the first number he'd called. He decided to show up in person and let the store manager handle the phone calls. New sander! More » -
The Buca di Beppo manager whose firing sparked a staff walkout and community outrage last October has opened his own restaurant and hired his former employees.
Fired in October, Restaurant Manager Opens His Own Place [AZ Central]
(Thanks Mark!)
(Photo: freerangestock) MORE » -
above and beyond
Reader Has Amazing Best Buy Experience
Our reader The_Lone_Gunman just had a great experience with the Best Buy in Irving, Texas. Snark fails us at a time like this, so we'll just humbly print his email. More » -
Pretend Policies
Walmart Violates Company Policy, Pretends Not To Accept Bike Returns
The Walmart in Norman, Oklahoma refused to accept bike returns until a district manager, acting on a reader tip, reminded the store that they were violating company policy. Reader Keia tried to return the "shoddily constructed," "dangerous piece of garbage" for a bike that Walmart sold him, but an employee, backed by the store manager, explained that since Walmart could repair the bike, their return policy didn't apply. That didn't sound right, so Keia went over their heads... More » -
best buy
Best Buy Sells You Backup Plan, Fails To Backup Your Data, Then Replaces Your Hard Drive
Best Buy charged Nicole $99 to backup her data but then replaced her hard drive without backing up a single byte. Nicole's service contract clearly stated that Best Buy would perform the backup before any other service. Now Best Buy is claiming that her old hard drive is their property and that she has no right to the data that they failed to backup or restore. More » -
coupons
Kmart Assistant Manager Hates Your Coupons, Will Not Process Your Transaction
If you're one of those really smart coupon hoarders, you know to save up for double-coupon offers, because then you can get things for next-to-nothing. Nicole has used this strategy at Kmart in the past without problems, but this time she ran into an assistant manager who refused to honor the promotion, saying, "It's not our policy. It's not written down, but that's the policy." More » -
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Sleepy's
Sleepy's Promises To Help Deliver Your Mattress As Long As You Do All The Work
Sleepy's just won't help Ashley pick up her new mattress. The store promised to have rope on hand to strap the mattress to her car, but when Ashley arrived she was told that Sleepy's had "run out of rope." To apologize, a sales rep instead promised her free delivery, but called later to explain that he wasn't authorized to offer any freebies. He did, though, promise that Sleepy's would have rope the next time Ashley came by. Of course, they didn't have rope when she returned, and when she complained to a manager, the manager explained that Sleepy's had no obligation to provide Ashley with rope or free delivery, and that she better find a way to take her mattress because they weren't going to refund her money either. More » -
customer service
Staples: "It Would Be A Disaster To Compensate Customers Based On The Amount Of Problems We Cause"
Staples took over a month to deliver an order for business cards that they promised to fill in under seven days. The office megastore somehow misplaced reader Brett's payment confirmation and never sent his order along to their supplier. When Brett asked Staples to fix their mistake and deliver the cards, he was told to pay for a second order and trust that Staples would eventually issue a refund. When he explained that he deserved compensation, not another charge, a manager told him "it would be a disaster to compensate customers based on the amount of problems we cause." More » -
geek squad
Geek Squad Decides Your Clearly Broken iPod Is Fine, Dares You To Pay 3rd Party To Prove Them Wrong
Geek Squad told reader Dave that he didn't have the "technical expertise" to diagnose his clearly-broken iPod. The 30 GB unit wouldn't play when docked or connected by USB cord, something Dave though might be covered by Best Buy's Product Service Plan. Geek Squad first tried replacing the hard drive. This solved nothing. Dave brought the still-broken iPod back and asked the agent to write into the notes a request to call him if the problem was misunderstood. Without calling, Geek Squad again returned the iPod with a note saying that the agent "could not duplicate the problem." With this firm diagnosis in hand, Geek Squad decided they were done and wouldn't perform any additional work. When Dave objected, he was told that his 'only option was to pay for a third-party to test the iPod and prove the Geek Squad technician wrong.' More » -
macy's
That Baby Outfit Macy Is Selling For $19.98? You Can Return It For $2.50
Benny wanted to return a baby gift worth $19.98, but Macy's refused to offer more $2.50. Benny didn't have a gift receipt so Macy's understandably refused to give him more than the product's lowest advertised price—but when Benny tracked the item down on the shelf, it was selling for $19.98. When he asked where the product was selling for $2.50, he was told: "its not, the managers put in the lowest selling price, thats Macy's policy!" More » -
kroger
Kroger Apologizes For Calling You A Thief, Banning You From Store For Buying And Eating Their Donuts
Every Saturday morning, Beth's father walks to the neighborhood Kroger, eats some donuts, pays, and walks home. Two weekends ago, a security guard stopped Beth's father, accused him of shoplifting, and banned him from the store. More » -
Hampton Inn
Hampton Inn Bans Customer For Parking In Their Garage
Hampton Inn general manager Jennifer Stahler banned reader Jack from staying at her Inn again because he dared to park his car in the Inn's garage. Jack wasn't sure he could park there in the first place, even though there weren't any signs warning "private" or "employees only," so after parking, he checked in with Jennifer who told him he was fine and even wrote him a parking slip. The next morning she changed her mind and demanded $38 in valet charges. When Jack reminded her that she never mentioned any fees and had given him a parking slip, she agreed to remove the charges but then explained that he was "no longer welcome to stay." More » -
frys
Fry's Price Matches, But Only If You Pay "Overnight Shipping" For Item In Your Hand
This Fry's in Texas apparently wants you to pay for them to replace their inventory. Or they think their customers are idiots. Maybe both? More » -
walmart
Walmart Refuses To Take Back Air Mattress, Makes Up New Return Policy On The Spot
Jacob writes, "I have been trying to make Walmart take back an air mattress for two months now, and they refuse." The store manager at the Walmart on South Duff Avenue in Ames, Iowa (shout out to Leslie Hall!) has started making up new rules on when an air mattress can be returned—including that the federal government limits returns to 15 days "because of the bed bugs, you know." No, we didn't know that, Walmart manager. In fact, after thinking about it, we're still not sure we know it. Because it sounds like you made it up. More » -
best buy
Best Buy Cancels Your Order As You Stand There Shouting "Stop!"
Best Buy didn't want to honor the sale price of the 2GB flash drive Matt ordered through their website, so when Matt arrived to pick-up his purchase, the store's assistant manager called customer service and, pretending to be Matt, asked to cancel the order. Let's read Matt's story and see how it violates Massachusetts law, inside...
More »
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ikea
IKEA Delivers Couch With Missing Cushion, Insists On Replacing Entire Couch
We've all received IKEA furniture missing screws, but Marc received a couch missing an entire seat cushion. He figured IKEA would quickly hand over a replacement once he pointed out their obvious mistake. Nope! Several employees helpfully explained that the cushion "comes with the couch," and that finding a replacement was "impossible." A resourcefully inept manager finally resolved the situation by insisting that they replace the entire couch. More »
managers
New York, 12:33 AM
Wed Nov 11
22 posts in the last 24 hours
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