successstories

Mohamed made a mistake, forgetting to use his Priceline bonus cash on a transaction. He contacted Priceline through their online help interface and was stunned at the quick and helpful response he received. His request was forwarded straight to the executive customer service team, and taken care of immediately.  More »

At first he thought it was an earthquake, being in California and all. Then Eric realized, no, it was his Mini Cooper that was violently shaking.  More »

Reader Y0himba was a loyal and happy customer of AT&T Wireless. But then the iPhone 3Gs became cheaper and proliferated, and he told both Consumerist and AT&T that his family's phones became completely non-functional. But this is not a complaint--it is a tale of victory.   More »

After the wedding has passed and gifts are all opened, married couples who has registered at Target receives a coupon for 10% off any items on their registry that they didn't receive. It's a nice promotion that gives happy couples a break on that eighth place setting, and maybe the Kitchenaid mixer no one wanted to drag into the reception.   More »

Ryan in North Dakota bought a very nice HP laptop in 2007. This particular model, he DV6000, has a certain flaw, and HP extended the warranty to cover inevitable repairs. But when the computer broke down for the second time at the tender age of two and a half years, and HP wouldn't repair it for free, he was angry. He had expected to get at least four years' use out of the laptop.  More »

While we don't recommend doing this on a large scale, one woman's YouTube debt revolt has succeeded. Ann MInch, a YouTube sensation and then-unemployed credit card rebel, has been offered a lower interest rate on her card.  More »

Wait a minute...that headline sounds familiar. It doesn't have the desolate ring that "stranded in Siberia" has, but Josiah recently found himself without available credit in Mumbai. He recently had made a large payment on his American Express balance, see, and AmEx cut his credit limit accordingly—down to his current balance. Stranded without money in Mumbai?  More »

Seth had what should have been a fairly simple problem. His son's radio control car broke after only a few weeks of use. The toy was purchased at and manufactured by Toys R Us, and an e-mail to the support address included with the toy bounced. No one in the company's usual customer service channels could resolve his problem, and the people whose job it was to help customers in this situation never managed to contact him.  More »

Thanks to their own determination and a tip from a fellow Consumerist reader, Tavie and Gina have finally found someone at Funai willing to not only answer the phone, but grant them a refund for their Sylvania television that died after only a few months of use. The amount of effort needed to get this result is a little disheartening, but we're thrilled at the happy ending, and we now have helpful information for other customers who encounter problems with Funai.  More »

Here's an example of a great EECB that worked: even though Joe's generator was out of warranty and the first two levels of customer service refused to help him, he was able to convince the company's execs to make good on a defective starter.  More »

It took an Executive Email Carpet Bomb to convince Best Buy to replace Bryan's Panasonic LiFi LCD Projection TV after it ate through four lamps. Bryan had purchased Best Buy's extended warranty, which contains a no lemon clause that promises a replacement after three failed repairs. Best Buy conveniently insisted that replacing the broken lamp did not count as a "qualified repair." Bryan first escalated his complaint through normal channels; when he had no other choice, he launched the mighty EECB.  More »

Score one for the consumer over unfair arbitration. Just last week, Minnesota's Attorney General sued the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) for fraud, false advertising, and deceptive trade practices—and now the company has agreed to pull out of the credit card business entirely. According to the settlement reached on July 17th, "The only business NAF can now be involved with is in arbitrating Internet domain disputes, a business it has long been in."  More »

Reader Tyler started 344pounds.com to document his weight loss journey. We've checked in with him before when he lost 32 and then 54.6 pounds. Now that he's hit the hundred-pound-loss mark, Tyler wrote this feature for us to share his methods.  More »

Corey admits that he messed up. He was the one who didn't keep as close track of his transactions as he should have, and overdrafted his account. It was Bank of America's policies, however, that resulted in his being hit with fifteen overdraft fees at $35 each, for a total of $525 over the course of a weekend. Corey knew that he was in the wrong, but thought that these fees were unfair, and also more than he could afford. So what did he do? He used what he's learned from reading Consumerist to make his case to the people in charge.  More »