Check out a 30-second promo of the episode here (mp3 file).

"Enforcers" [This American Life] (Thanks to Shannon!)
(Bear trap image: Getty)

Just tell them that ASUS voided your warranty, they didn't honor your warranty. They made you run around in circles to get an RMA, then simply shipped you the device back unfixed. That will be enough.

In the letter that follows, Mike makes it clear that he would rather ASUS pay for it, rather than any of the transaction partners, to teach the computer-maker a lesson. If ASUS was an entity capable of learning, they probably wouldn't have done this to you in the first place. As savvy consumers involved in a transaction dispute, it's important to stay rational and focused on the bottom line: getting what you paid for, in the form of a refund or a replacement, the quickest way possible. Getting what you deserve without wasting any more of your time is the best revenge possible.

So, definitely give your credit card company a call and ask them. You've spent this much time working on it, one phone call can't hurt, and it has a high likelihood of fixing your problem outright!

Here's Mike's followup letter:

I just wanted to reply to let you know that I REALLY appreciate your
time you took to respond and look up some info for me.

I called Amazon and they can only give me a refund within 30 days (I haven't tried their ECS yet, I might at some point but really Asus is the problem, not Amazon). My credit card has an extended warranty but since it is still in warranty with Asus, that can't help. However I am also out of the 3 month period in which I can dispute it via phone apparently, and I have to write to them to perform a dispute. This is not a terrible option but I am always worried in these cases that my credit card might eat the cost which isn't what I want at all; I like my credit card company and don't want them to pay for my misfortunes if they haven't done anything wrong, and I DO want Asus to be the one paying.

I copied you on my email to Eric Chen (the address you provided me with), and if that doesn't go anywhere I am wondering if my next best step isn't small claims court. I saw Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy and the linked article, and it sounds like a decent option which would allow me to sue for the price of my non-working laptop and the shipping back to them, plus a small reasonable amount for all my time as well.

The only thing I have to figure out is what would or would not make Asus a business/corporate/sueable entity in New York or my specific region, to ensure I can proceed. I imagine a clerk can help me with this. Sounds like if I don't hear back from Eric I have a trip to court to make!

We asked ASUS whether Mike's experience was standard practice or if their warranty department is experiencing some kind of malfunction, and await their response.

PREVIOUSLY: EEEPC Return A Recursive Hellhole

(Photo: Getty)

UPDATE: 9/02/08 Mike says Asus' RMA department contacted him and is Fedexing him a return label. He writes, "Let's hope it comes back working this time. If not I guess I'll see what MasterCard has to say."

When I asked for more details, the representative (who sounded like he was from India), took vengeance on my account and told me he was closing the account and that there was nothing I could do. When I asked for his manager, he said “There is nothing he can do, the account is closed.” —CLICK— And that was the sound of him hanging up the telephone.

Chris says the CSR didn't even read him any account closure notice first.

All Chris was trying to do was find out why his account still showed $0.00 available credit when he'd recently paid off his balance in full—and why he can't get a credit line increase when he's had an excellent history of repayment.

I waited until about 8:40 AM to check the online account status and noticed that the available credit was still $0.00, despite what the representatives have told me. Frustrated with the vitriolic representative and the available credit still $0.00, I called the Capital One corporate offices and spoke with the executive resolution team and had them remove the account closure notice. I was also informed that the reason that I still had an available credit of $0.00 was that there was a “ten-day hold on the funds.” Angered that the funds had already been withdrawn from my bank account and not disbursed into my account, the executive team was able to override the hold and disburse the funds into the account, but only after calling the executive team a second time as the first person would not do it.

Chris points out that he's been an "excellent" customer for Capital One, particularly because he pays off his balance in full every month. We hate to dampen your spirits, Chris, but that may not put you in the prime customer category—credit card companies love people who carry high balances and generate lots of revenue in interest rates and assorted late/overlimit/cash advance fees. You might be better off just looking for another offer elsewhere that promises you a greater limit up front.

(Photo: Getty)

A representative for a Sonic restaurant in Eunice, Louisiana has admitted that two of their employees were spitting in customers' drinks. "It was brought to my attention by the manager of the store that the incident was brought to his attention that an employee had spit in a drink of a customer," said the rep. Oh, good. So long as something was brought to someone's attention.

Several customers at the restaurant said their drinks were spiked with saliva.

"(My daughter) came up here and got a soda and come to find out some girls spit in the drink" father Joe Lawrence said.

A Sonic representative told KFLY-TV that the incident has been investigated and action has been taken.

How can you tell if someone spit in your cherry lime? Beats us. It might be best to just request no spit the next time your order from the Eunice Sonic.

"Fast-Food Workers Spit In Customer Drinks" [Local6.com] (Thanks to Jian!)
(Photo: trekkyandy )

The Wall Street Journal has an article that we could barely finish about absolutely disgusting behavior that air travelers are exhibiting on airplanes. The article details the foul, rude and unsanitary things that you all are doing out of some sort of misguided aggression towards the airline. We have news for you, pig pen, you're only hurting yourselves... or, more specifically, the next guy to sit in that seat.

From the WSJ:

Patrick Kerr, who like Mr. Cuzzone participated in a FlyerTalk.com online discussion among frequent travelers of disgusting things people do aboard airplanes, was flying from Reno, Nev., to Dallas when a nearby passenger put a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth and spit juice into a plastic cup throughout the flight.

As passengers left the plane, Mr. Kerr, a technology manager in St. Louis, said, the man made one last deposit then tucked the cup deep into the seat pocket.

"I said, 'Hey, you left that.' And he said, 'It's OK. They'll get it,' " said Mr. Kerr, who then alerted a flight attendant.

Flight attendants often say that the biggest messes they have to deal with are dirty diapers left in seat-back pockets or worse, handed to them while they are serving beverages and snacks. "Would you hand that off to your server at a restaurant?" said Corey Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, a union representing workers at several big airlines. "It's amazing how people treat the inside of aircraft cabins as opposed to other public spaces."

My god, were you people raised by wolves? Clean up after yourselves.

"Putting a melting chocolate bar in a seatback is a way of punishing the airline for shoddy treatment," said Robert Bor, a clinical aviation psychologist in London.

We disagree. Evil behavior such as this is actually a way to punish nice people who just happen to be on the airplane after you, and who would really rather not be covered in what appears to be baby vomit, the possible origin of which will plague them for days afterward.

Can you think of some more constructive ways to punish an airline for poor service? Department of Transportation complaint? Nasty letter to your mutual fund manager about excessive airline CEO pay? Amtrak?

Flying Foul: Passengers Behaving Badly [Yahoo!]

(Photo: JohnKit )

The virus isn't usually dangerous to healthy people, but can pose a threat to those with weak or suppressed immune systems—and, according to Wikipedia, Cylons.

At first we wondered why the hospital wasn't to blame (if anyone is) for not screening the organs properly before shoving them into people. But a 2005 article (also from MSNBC) on a very similar case—no names are given, but the timeline and details match up—indicates that the donor and her organs were screened and didn't show any sign of infection. In that article, a Centers for Disease Control official indicates that pretty much everyone was taken by surprise:

Though there's no evidence that the deaths are anything but rare, recent discoveries that rabies and West Nile virus can spread through donated organs has officials worried that the latest virus might have gone undetected before now.
 
"We don't know how commonly it occurs," said Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, assistant director of blood safety for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We're learning as we go here. This is a new phenomenon."

After telling the father that his son was involved in illegal activities and it would result in their internet getting shut off for a week, Mark writes on the halo3forums he heard "the father began to yell at his son, i then heard a loud smack, and then sobbing, and then cracking noise as if something was breaking..it then occured to me that the father had just beat the sh.t out of his kid, and the cracking noise was the sound of a hammer on an xbox." Comcast says it has identified the employee who violated the users privacy to an epic level and told Convergys to fire him. As anyone who read our insider post, "Convergys Call Center Sucks Because Agents Are Stabbing Each Other And Making Out In The Halls," Comcast and Covergys are renowned discerning employers of classy lads. As an added bonus, here's a picture DSL Reports acquired of Mark toking on a bong:

**(UPDATED)To Those of YOU who packet flood...be aware [halo3forums]
Outsourced Comcast Tech Gets Vengeance On Xbox Cheaters - But in the process abuses Comcast support systems, violating user privacy... [DSLReports]

The stucco subdivisions of Las Vegas are caught up in the nation's foreclosure crisis. These days, bankers and mortgage companies often find that by the time they get the keys back, embittered homeowners have stripped out appliances, punched holes in walls, dumped paint on carpets and, as a parting gift, locked their pets inside to wreak further havoc. Real-estate agents estimate that about half of foreclosed properties to be sold by mortgage companies nationwide have "substantial" damage, according to a new survey by Campbell Communications, a marketing and research firm based in Washington, D.C.

The most practical way to ensure the houses are returned in decent shape, lenders and their agents say, is to pay homeowners hundreds or even thousands of dollars to put their anger in escrow and leave quietly. A ransom? A bribe? "Yeah, somewhat," says John Carver, an agent specializing in foreclosed homes for Prudential Americana Group in Las Vegas. But "you lose a house, and then you get some financial help — it's a good thing...It's a win-win for both parties."

Late last month, Mr. Carver left a letter on the door of a house with a red-tiled roof in Henderson, abutting Las Vegas. "I may be able to offer you cash to vacate the property," the note said.

The owner, a 43-year-old man with two children who spoke on the condition that his name not be used, says he bought the property in 1993 for $140,000. Three years ago, he says he had the house appraised for $440,000 and took out a $207,000 home-equity loan to pay off credit-card bills and buy his wife a new van. His initial payments were an affordable $1,800 a month.

He fell behind, however, after he went through a divorce and his landscaping business faltered, just as his interest rate was rising. The man worked out a payment plan with the bank and borrowed heavily from his father, but, including penalties, his monthly payments rose to $4,000, he says. After two months, he says, he ran out of money, and the bank foreclosed.

He called Mr. Carver after receiving the cash-for-keys note, but was left cold by the bank's initial $500 offer to leave the house soon, intact and broom-swept. "If I stay here it will cost them a lot more money," both men remember the former owner saying.

The man says he was just pointing out that eviction is expensive for the bank and says he had no intention of damaging the house. But he had "pushed the right buttons" for Mr. Carver. "He didn't actually come out and threaten the property in any way," Mr. Carver says. "But I assumed that he probably wouldn't be too happy if he got evicted and locked out."

Mr. Carver consulted with the bank and upped the offer to $2,800.

"Better than nothing," the owner responded.

Last week, Mr. Carver went to the house, found it clean and whole, and handed the man a check. "Everybody walks away somewhat happy," Mr. Carver said. "I guess."

Buyers' Revenge: Trash the House After Foreclosure [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo:gruntzooki)

I was on Jetblue flight 324 that left Las Vegas Christmas night and arrived in Washington DC this morning.

I fell asleep and slept through most of the flight. I remember waking up as I heard the captain announce that we were close to Washington DC.

Around then a short blonde female crewmember with a nasal voice (didn't catch her name) began loudly arguing with a lady in the row across from me. The crewmember kept yelling at the lady to put up her young son's seat, and the lady was trying, but the seat wouldn't budge. The crewmember repeated her request to put the seat up several times, and the woman struggled with her seat, arguing that it wouldn't move.

The crewmember said that she was putting in a "warning card" and that the woman and her kids would be met by airport security on the ground.

The crewmember went to the front of the plane, then came back and started yelling at the woman again. At this point, the woman asked the crewmember to try putting up the seat herself. The crewmember struggled with it, admitted that the spring was broken, but said that since the woman was so rude, security would still be meeting her.

About then, the plane touched down. I looked down and noticed I wasn't wearing a seatbelt and that none of my stuff was stowed. I had swapped seats with someone so I could have an empty seat next to me and my carry on bag was on that seat.

I was really confused. The crewmember seemed to have really overreacted to that woman's kid's seat being back an inch or so, but she hadn't even noticed that my stuff wasn't stowed. (I would have stowed it if she'd reminded me about it, I just went from being asleep to watching the argument to feeling the plane set down.)

As I left the plane, I was mentioning my confusion to a man who had been sitting near me. I couldn't imagine why the crewmember was so quick to get the woman in trouble while not even noticing me. He supplied the answer. Apparently, the crewmember had been loudly talking during the night and her voice kept waking up the woman's kids. (The woman, her kids and I were in the last row of the plane, and the blonde crewmember was in the back.)

So the woman had complained about the crewmember making so much noise. Twice.

As I left the plane, I saw airport security interrogating the woman as her freaked-out children watched. That image is still bothering me.

I get that air safety is really important and the unruly passengers can cause a lot of problems. But from my perspective, this really looked like the blonde crewmember called the police not because the woman was creating a disturbance, but because the woman had gotten her in trouble earlier in the flight.

I love your airline and have recommended it to my friends. I get that this was an isolated incident and I will fly Jetblue again. Your customer service has been awesome literally every time I've flown with you, except for today.

All that said, I really think this crew member is, to put it bluntly, a whackjob who is better suited to working for one of your more sadistic competitors.

At the very least, she needs a talking to.

Thanks

(Photo: Getty Images)

One of Blasberg's gentleman callers told her he'd found her number on Craigslist after she started crying (that must have been an awkward conversation).

Blasberg hired attorney Leah Mayersohn and private investigator Robert Crispin, who worked with Craigslist to take the ads down — though they kept reappearing.

The ads had been completed using a Yahoo e-mail created in Blasberg's name.

Crispin quickly narrowed suspects to Isenberg. He began covertly digging through Isenberg's trash, usually about 4 a.m.

The key evidence, Crispin said, was a calender [sic] page with an IP address that matched one used to create the Yahoo account.

Business hasn't recovered since the crazed judge put up defamatory fliers around their neighborhood, despite winning the initial case. Just goes to show that sometimes proactive consumers go too far, way too far, though the reality is most of the times they don't go far enough.

Not that we're saying "Fancy Pants" Pearson was justified in what he did. Far from it. He's a jerk. This story has a "bad consumer" tag. Beyond the simple fact that he was WRONG to begin with, he violated a cardinal rule of good consumerism. The amount of time and money he poured into trying to "get what he deserved" far outweighed the initial cost of whatever offense he felt the drycleaner had caused.

[Washington Post] (Thanks to Garry!)
(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin)

The AG seeks the money returned, and the company officers fined $25,000 for each violation.

We have little to add here except maybe, "word up." — BEN POPKEN

Ohio suing Norwood company [The Enquirer] (Thanks to Jason!)

When it came time to pick it up on November 19, FYE wanted to make him buy two additional games and a $25 gift card. These additional purchases, to the sum of $400, were not disclosed when filed the pre-order.

He complained to the manager who said, "you're just one person, you won't make a difference."

Now the gamer made a YouTube video that's catching buzz. The video calls for a boycott of FYE.

Last year Best Buy tried a similar sales strategy and got an attorney general investigation for their efforts. The AG forced Best Buy to rescind the tied deal and take purchases back from customers.

We'll see just how much difference one disgruntled consumer can make. — BEN POPKEN

(Thanks to Ian!)

Bank of America's errors trashed Clay's credit rating and refused to fix their mistakes. So he put up an ever-burning totem pole of shame, Ruinedcredit.com.

It details how first BofA entered the contract as starting in 1996, instead of 1997. Then when Clay returned his vehicle after four years and making all payments, BofA reported it as repossessed. Clay's FICO dropped from 720 to 521, inversely proportional to his rage.

Now BofA says they will clear up the record, if Clay pays $8342.47. He's opting for litigation and good ol' fashioned public humiliation. His full story along with many supporting documents are on the site.

Congrats, Clay, you're our jilted consumer of the week!

This is ancient, but we've been so entertained by The Broken Laptop I Sold on Ebay stories that we thought it was time to reread another eBay revenge classic: P-P-P-Powerbook!

If you don't remember or don't know this famous eBay revenge story, here's the summary: after Jeff over at the Something Awful forums tried to sell a new Powerbook on eBay, he found the auction won by a London scammer who wanted him to pay through a shady escrow service. eBay buyers use escrow services to guarantee payment on high-priced items. It's great in theory, but they are a favorite ploy of eBay scammers to rip-off sellers by convincing them to use fake ones set up in Nigeria specifically for the purpose.

So what did Jeff do? He pulled out a three-ring binder and created a hysterical simulacrum of a Powerbook, which he proceeded to send to the scammer. He marked the value for $2000 dollars so the scammer would be nailed with substantial VAT charges. Then he sent out his nefarious Internet agents to film the Internet cafe where the package was set to be delivered.

The result? He got every aspect of the saga documented, including delivery of the package to the scammer himself. A classic tale of consumerist revenge, well worth reading again... for the very first time!

P-P-P-Powerbook!