Consumerist
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repair
The Tale Of Lowe's And The Refrigerator From Hell
Reader Buddy has a lemon of a fridge that he purchased from Lowe's with an Extended Warranty. The store keeps sending people out to fix the appliance, but nothing seems to work. More » -
frustrating
Best Buy: All The Appliances In Your House Must Break 4 Times Before We Replace Them
James Lileks bought some fancy-ass Electrolux appliances from Best Buy. Unfortunately. they've turned out to be a bit of a headache. Mr. Lileks thought perhaps since he was a valuable customer who bought fancy-ass items, Best Buy would help him out and swap the problematic dishwasher for a more reliable cheaper brand (turns out that that the washer's control panel is susceptible to moisture, of all things.) He was wrong. They'd rather keep fixing it. Over. And Over. And Over. More » -
tales from the crypt
Sony And The Mystery Of The Missing Assassin's Creed Disc
Reader Martin sent his PS3 in to Sony because a game was stuck in the drive. When he got it back, the game was missing. Where did it go? Sony says there was nothing the drive when they received the unit. Martin is wondering why he would have sent his console in to Sony in the first place if it didn't have a game stuck in it. It is a mystery. More » -
above and beyond
V-Moda Replaces Headphones After Wear Leads To Static
Xavier bought a pair of nice quality headphones from V-Moda, and liked them so much that he carried them along everywhere he went. When he started having problems with the device, he inquired about repairing the earbuds, but V-Moda had a better idea. More » -
microsoft
Microsoft Deep-Sixes Red Ring Of Death Coffins, Makes Customers Supply Their Own Boxes
Although we received an indication in March that Microsoft was phasing out its Xbox 360 return policy of sending customers padded boxes with prepaid return envelopes, gaming blog Joystiq confirmed that Microsoft quietly made it official in late May. More » -
appliances
Maytag Refers You To Sears Repair, Then Claims Sears Repair Isn't Authorized
Consumer affairs columnist (and my former colleague) Dan Higgins stumbled upon a well-guarded secret—the real reason the Maytag repairman has nothing to do. It isn't because the appliances are so reliable. No, apparently it's because Maytag dispatches Sears repairmen to make warranty repairs, then refuses to reimburse customers because Sears isn't an authorized repair provider. At least that's what happened to this nice elderly lady. More » -
computers
HP Overdrafts Your Checking Account After 4-Day-Old Laptop Breaks
The hard drive of Chris's HP laptop failed within its warranty period. Technically, it was four days after he bought the brand-new computer, but who's counting?
He was willing to give the company the benefit of the doubt. HP sent him a replacement hard drive, without including the prepaid shipping label he needed to send the hard drive back. Then...well, that's when things sort of all went to hell. More »
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sears
Sears Guy Doesn't Fix Your TV, Drives On Your Lawn, Runs Into Things
Reader Joel isn't too happy with the service he got from Sears. He was looking to get an older TV fixed and, rather than make sure that they could fix it, Sears sent a guy to drive on Joel's lawn. More » -
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dell
Every Time Dell Touches My Laptop It Gets A Little More Broken
Reader tking says his laptop started out with a bad power jack — but has slowly escalated in brokenness with each Dell intervention. More » -
auto bailout
Sad Email From Saturn Reassuring You That GM Will Still Make Parts For Your Car
Reader James forwarded us a sad email he got from Saturn, in which they admit that GM is probably going to give them the ax. In it, they emphasize that their warranties feature the "industry's best overall coverage" and that no matter what "GM will support the continued availability of Saturn parts and service as needed." More » -
frustration
Fixing Your iPhone Requires 3 Visits To Apple Store And 3 Visits To AT&T
Whose problem is it when your iPhone needs to be activated? Nobody seems to know. It is a mystery. More » -
best buy
Best Buy Refuses To Replace Your Defective TV Because You Followed Their Instructions
Umar bought a DLP in 2005 with a $400 Best Buy Performance Service Plan. The TV keeps blowing through expensive bulbs (Umar has replaced 7 $275 bulbs in 3 years,) and rather than wait 2 weeks for a technician every time this happens, Best Buy provided a telephone number and told him to order and replace the bulbs himself. Now, because he followed their directions, Best Buy is refusing to cover the TV under the "lemon" provision of the service agreement. More » -
cars
Demystify Car Repair Prices With RepairPal.com
Now you never have to wonder if the mechanic is scamming you on repairs. RepairPal.com lets you punch in your make, model, year zip, and repair and then they'll tell you the normal range of prices for it are. A graph shows the range of costs, broken down to whether you are going to an independent shop or a dealer. The source data, which the site has never been publicly available before now, goes back to 1990. A good resource for getting general numbers for what you can expect to pay for basic auto repairs.
RepairPal [Official Site]
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repair
First Air Conditioner Guy Says Replace It For $5,000, Second Air Conditioner Guy Fixes It For $250
Reader F.'s air conditioner was broken, so he called the company that installed it when the house was built. They came out, charged him $100, and told him that he could repair the unit for $3,000 or replace it for $5,000. It's a good thing he got a second opinion, because the second repair guy fixed the problem for $250. More » -
xbox 360
Microsoft Left A Sheet Of Stickers Inside My XBOX 360
Of all the good places to store a sheet of stickers, "inside someone else's refurbished XBOX 360" is fairly low on the list. Maybe even at the very bottom. Unfortunately for reader Nick, Microsoft appears to be using his XBOX as sticker storage. Read Nick's letter inside. More » -
ask the consumerists
3 Questions To Ask Yourself When Thinking Of Replacing Your Old Car
Reader Brenden says: More »
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rumors
Wal-Mart Planning Its Own "Geek Squad"?
MarketWatch says that Wal-Mart is "very interested in expanding into installation and repair services in its fast-growing electronics segment." More » -
difficult
Dell Offers To Repair Your Broken Monitor Over The Internet For $40
Reader Robin is wondering what sort of new technology Dell has invented that will let them physically repair a broken monitor over the internet. Must be some serious science. More »
repair
New York, 5:23 PM
Mon Nov 9
15 posts in the last 24 hours
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