Shoppers Bite Back.
Tip Your Editors:
tips@consumerist.com
Editor:
Ben Popken | Email | AIM
Senior Editor:
Meghann Marco
Email | AIM
Associate Editor:
Chris Walters | Email |AIM
Associate Editor:
Alex Chasick | Email
Associate Editor:
Jay Slatkin | Email
Weekend Editor:
Carey Greenberg-Berger | Email | AIM
Interns:
Rachel Mercer | Email
Alex Jarvis | Email
Comments Moderator: Email
Another update to the Kieffe & Sons "Sit Down and Shut Up" ad fiasco: The quasi-apology issued by the California Ford dealer on Wednesday was mandated by Ford Headquarters. Kieffe & Sons remains unrepentant, so to speak, and blames the imbroglio on "Blog-lo-dites."
More »
On Monday, we wrote about Kieffe & Sons, the California Ford Dealership that ran a pointlessly offensive radio ad attacking non-Christians and supporters of secular government. Today, the owner of Kieffe and sons apologized for the ad.
More »
UPDATE: Kieffe & Sons apologized for the ad
news from the swamp
tech support
Conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh was having problems with his Mac. A program called Time Machine wasn't restoring his emails properly and repeated calls to Apple Support were fruitless. Based on complaints in online forums, he wasn't the only one either. So finally he complained about it on-air and that caught Apple's attention enough to assign an engineer to go fix it (the guy had to delete the "null mail folder" and rebuild it in the internal directory with the terminal command). That's the power of leveraging your voice . But you don't need to have your own radio show, just deploy some of the technique that we described in "The Ultimate Consumerist Guide to Fighting Back" or in our interview with Ron Burley to get real customer satisfaction.
Rush Thanks the Apple People [The Rush Limbaugh Show]
rejected
freedom of information
Radio has moved from being in the business of empowering and educating people to Wall Street, to making money. And that's not the big corporate conglomerates, you know, that's not their fault. They were allowed to do this.More »
if at first you don't succeed
"Currently, a company can own two television stations in the larger markets only if at least one is not among the four largest stations and if there are at least eight local stations. The rules also limit the number of radio stations that a company can own to no more than eight in each of the largest markets.More »
worst company in america
worst company in america
Ignoring all rationality and responding only to the lobbying of the RIAA, an arbitration committee in Washington DC has drastically increased the licensing fees Internet radio sites must pay to stream songs. Pandora's fees will triple, and are retroactive for eighteen months! Left unchanged by Congress, every day will be like today as internet radio sites start shutting down and the music dies.More »
state of the backlash
As you probably know, XM has touted their service as uncensored radio with the ability by the user to block specific channels. A method of self censorship that they constantly promote in their advertisements. These channels are tagged with the "XL" moniker showing the subscriber that they can put parental controls.More »
mario's digital cafe
riaa
Internet radio's low overhead allows for stations to broadcast on a shoestring budget and still access a worldwide audience. For some college stations that only have small transmitters or broadcast in small communities, streaming actually becomes the main source for listeners.More »
riaa
Today, on behalf of the public radio system, NPR filed a motion for rehearing with the Copyright Royalty Board in response to its March 2, 2007 decision on rates for streaming internet music. This action is the first step in NPR's efforts to reverse the decision, and it will be followed by an appeal of the Board's decision to be filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.Yeah! They're bringing the fight! According to Andi Sporkin, Vice President for Communications, NPR: "The Board's decision to dramatically raise public radio stations' rates was based on inaccurate assumptions and lack of understanding of the issues. The new rates inexplicably break with the longstanding tradition of recognizing public radio's non-commercial, non-profit role, while the procedures we're being asked to now undertake for measurement are non-existent, arbitrary and costly." Read the filing inside. More »
xm
I hope you will print my letter on your site. I had some billing trouble with XM Radio. I paid a year's subscription in full. XM acknowledged that I paid my bill in full, but they kept turning off my service for non-payment. They also raised my subscription rate 2 months after I signed up and paid. They then indicated that they would refund my year's subscription when I complained loudly enough. They reneged on the refund. They also did not follow through on getting the billing issue clarified. As I received no help at all, I sent the following letter to the management team and the head of the Customer Service Division. I have not received so much as a form letter in response. I guess they have been too busy discussing merger strategies and keeping Bob Dylan happy...Sure, Pete. We'll print your letter. Read the letter Pete send to XM Radio, inside. More »
Consumerist
