(Photo: Wayne Gunn)

Dear Dash,

As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we're going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don't need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

Price change for access to Blu-ray movies [The Official Netflix Blog] (Thanks to Dash!) (Photo: corsec67)

bruce.churchhill@directv.com, bbchurchhill@directv.com: EVP
john.murphy@directv.com, jfmurphy@directv.com: SVP, Controller, CAO
patrick.doyle@directv.com, ptdoyle@directv.com: SVP, CFO
HZBitew@directv.com: Heywot Bitew, Business Operation Analyst - 310-964-6508
eafilipiak@directv.com: Ellen Filipiak, Senior Vice President of Customer Relations

To send a valentine to DirecTV's CEO, Chase Carey, email chase.carey@directv.com.

The corporate switchboard is 310-964-5000. You might be able to get to his secretary by calling that number and saying, "Carey's office, please," in a professional and composed tone.

(Photo: (A3R) angelrravelor (A3R))

From CBS13:

Right away, he got on the phone with DirecTV.

"They told me there was nothing they could do and I had to write a letter and mail it off to the billing disputes," says Brandon.

Brandon wrote two letters to DirecTV and also disputed the charges with his bank. The bank credited him back the charges, but...

"Unfortunately DirecTV still had my account number and once they saw the money go back to me, they then a week later, took back the money again," says Brandon.

He again disputed the charges with his bank and they ruled in his favor. This time, Brandon changed his account number so DirecTV couldn't withdraw the money again.

The company then sent him to collections.

"Very outraged, very furious with the way they are trying to make me go every route possible in order to get my money back when it's their fault," says Brandon.

We contacted DirecTV. They told us Brandon called them again on April 9th to extend his service until the 10th, and that the cancellation fee is valid. We asked them if that made sense. Why would Brandon call to extend his service only to cancel again the next day?

Ultimately, it took the local news team's intervention to get DirecTV to fix their mistake. Boo.

Call Kurtis: Tug Of War Over Cancelled Service [cbs13] (Thanks, R.B.!)
(Photo: scentzilla )

[YouTube via The Soup Blog]

• Apple: Refurbished iPod touches on sale, 8GB for $180, 16GB for $240, 32GB for $320
• Amazon: Rewards points upgrade for existing Amazon.com Visa holders
• Apple: Free Select iTunes TV Shows in HD (requires iTunes 8

• Travelocity: United Airlines Sale: Round-trip flights from $108
• Amazon.com: Amazon.com Men's Watch Deals: Timex, Marc Ecko, more from $40 + free shipping
• Sears: Seven7 Women's Jeans for $18 + $6 s&h, more

• Budget Truck Rental: $50 Gift card when paying w/American Express
• Reverie: T-Shirt Sale: Buy 1 TEE get 1 free TEE
• BestBuy: Westinghouse 42" 1080p LCD HDTV and portable DVD Player for $749.99 + shipping

• Drugstore.com: New Customers: Save $5 or $10 off First Order
• Vann's: Panasonic FZ28 10.2MP Digital Camera $340 Shipped
• Amazon: Get Savings of up to 75% off Bargain Books

Complaints litter the internet about this company and its ilk. Some say that if you're lucky, you end up with a stack of shoddily-made DVDs, a documentary that never airs at all, and none of the promised PR.

And after one blogger, Leslie Richards, a small eco-fashion business owner, wrote about an attempted shakedown by Vision Media Television, they sued her for $20 million, saying the blog post cost them $5 million in lost business and seeking $15 million in punitive damages.

The lawsuit is filed in the Southern District of Florida, a bit of a problem for her as she's based in North Carolina and doesn't have a car or much money. Leslie told the Mountain Xpress, “Who has $20 million? At $20 million, legal-aid organizations generally won’t help you. Since it’s filed in the Southern District of Florida, not a lot of lawyers here are licensed to practice there...I don’t have a car, I don’t have money, so we’re trying to get it transferred here so I can find someone to represent me pro bono."

Any pro-bono lawyers out there who want to help Leslie out can contact her at info@theokobox.com.

Vision Media Television defends its actions, saying that it only distributes the programs to public television stations, which air them at their "discretion," and blames its "customers" for confusing public television with PBS. Judging by the fact that PBS has an explicit disclaimer on its website denying any relationship between itself and Vision Media Television and other similar groups, this appears to be a confusion that Vision Media Television is not, shall we say, working very hard to erase.

Other production groups to watch out for: New Line Media TV, New Line Media, Platinum Television Group, PTG Studios, Paradigm Media Group, PMG, PMGTV, Infinity Media Group, Roadshow Productions, Family Television Studios, United Media Communications Group, American Review TV, Business Break TV, Event Media TV, and Global Television Studios.

I wonder if Vision Media Television, based in Boca Raton, Florida, a known haven for spammers, scammers, telemarketers,identity thieves, and other various ne're-do-wellers, will also be suing the New York Times, which just ran an article exposing the company and its brethren.

Scam Taking Advantage of Green Businesses [The Öko Box]
Company Pitches a Television Production, and Nonprofit Groups Are Wary [NYT]
Local Business Owner Sued For 20 Million Over Blog Post [Mountainx]
Blogger Sued 20 Million [Blogher]
Eco Clothing Store Owner Sued For 20m After Exposing Scam [Earthfirst]
Platinum Television Group Complaints [Ripoff Report]
New Line Media Complaints [Ripoff Report]

As MSNBC puts it, "It kind of makes us pine for that irritating, but light-hearted, Energizer bunny." Plus, you can use the bunny to point out where the bad man touched you.

"Trust Duracell to Scare the *$#%! Out of You" [MSNBC]

• A) Connect the internet service and leave.
• B) Connect the internet service and check to see if the 74-year-old man has a separate account for the cable service.
• C) Accuse the 74-year-old man of stealing cable, and declare "I don't want to see your fucking bill" when the granddaughter tries to explain the situation.

So here's my story with Comcast:

My girlfriend and I were living in an apartment where we had Comcast Internet, Phone, and Digital Cable service. After our lease was up, we decided to move into my grandpa's house for a year or so to save some money to put down on a house. Anyways - I called Comcast and set a disconnect date at our apartment. My grandpa has basic extended cable through comcast, and for us, that's good enough. So I asked them to cancel the cable and phone line for us, and asked if they could just transfer the internet service and set an appointment for a tech to come out and hook up the internet at my Grandpa's. All went well. I was told a tech would be at my Grandpa's the following Tuesday between 10 and 1pm.

As most of us know, Comcast techs don't normally show up until about 2 minutes until that window is over, but this time - the guy actually showed up at about 10:05am. Great, I thought. I don't have to sit at home all day waiting for someone to show up. He pulls his truck into the alleyway and comes into the house to see where we want the line hooked up. I proceed to show him the spare bedroom where I'll be connecting the router. He obviously noticed my Grandfather watching cable tv in the living room.

He then tells me he's going outside to check the line on the poll. I go upstairs and about 5 minutes later, I come outside to witness my grandpa and the Comcast guy in a screaming match. The Comcast tech is threatening to leave and I ask "What the heck is going on?!" Well, my Grandpa starts telling me that he disconnected his cable and says we do not have a cable account with Comcast and basically accuses my Grandpa of hijacking cable. Okay, last time I checked, most 74 years old probably don't know how to hijack cable. So my Grandpa gets really upset and starts back for the house. I'm trying to find out from the Comcast tech what is going on and my Grandpa comes back out 2 seconds later with a Comcast bill in his hand. He goes to hand it to the Comcast tech and he rudely replies "Sir, I don't want to see your fucking bill. If you don't go back in your house and quit disrespecting me, I'm going to just leave."

Meanwhile, I ask my Grandpa to try and let me straighten it out and go inside for a minute because I could tell at this point he was getting really upset. So I continue to ask the guy what the hell is going on all the while he is telling me he isn't going back in the house to hook up my internet because he doesn't appreciate my Grandpa "disrespecting him". Well, from what I saw, my Grandpa didn't really deserve to get his cable turned off and treated in such a way. I finally talk him into hooking up the internet (I needed it for school as my homework is submitted online). But the issue still remains with my Grandpa's service. So I ask the tech why he thinks we don't have cable. He replies "When I look up the phone number on the account, it only shows internet, no cable television. That's a red flag mam."

So I immediately figure out what's going on. I tell him calmly "Okay, well you are looking under MY phone number. And yes, I only have internet service in my name seeing as I cancelled the phone and cable service. My grandfather has a SEPARATE Comcast account from me, on which he only has extended cable. If you would have let him show you the bill, maybe you would have noticed it is two separate account numbers!" I wanted it that way so then the internet bill comes in my name. It's just easier that way when paying bills.

He then rudely replies with "Mam, I don't really care. I'm doing my job, and I'm not stupid. Comcast will not allow two different accounts at the same address so I already know you are blatantly lying to me." Well obviously this was news to me. And he proceeds to just leave without turning back on my Grandpa's cable, which he PAYS for.

We have a Comcast center about 2 minutes from our house, so we drive over there. The lady proceeds to tell me she can't turn back on the cable because the account was flagged.

Alright, well obviously he saw 2 accounts if he specifically flagged my Grandpa's.

About six calls to Comcast later, and I finally get someone on the line willing to fix the situation. He tells me he has no idea what he was talking about and there isn't anything saying 2 Comcast accounts can't be at the same house. He turns my Grandpa's cable back on and gives him a $10 credit, which in all honesty, is kind of insulting for the crap the rep and the center gave us. Not only was the tech wrong, but he treated my Grandfather like crap.

Who the hell is Comcast hiring these days?

Update: Ally writes:

The Comcast Corporate office called me this morning, and I'm more than happy with the way they are resolving the issue. They have credited or accounts for a period of time, and I have received a verbal apology from every single person I have spoken with.

Then a little while ago, I also got another call from the local Comcast branch apologizing as well as stating they are interviewing the tech about the situation.

To those telling me to switch - this is the ONLY issue I have ever had with Comcast. I've never had an issue with their service other than a few outages here and there, and last time I checked, you'll get that with any service provider from time to time. Any other tech I've ever had come to my house has always been more than polite and did the job they were there to do. The way the situation is being handled is fine with me. It was more an issue with a specific tech than with Comcast service. As of right now, I'm giving Comcast the benefit of the doubt and trusting they handle the situation.

Several of the people from Comcast I spoke with openly stated there are things that need improvement. They didn't question me, and did what needed to be done to resolve the issue. As of now, that's really all I wanted.

(Photo: Getty)

Umar writes:

I purchased a new DLP-HDTV w/ an extra paid-for 4-year extended service/warranty plan (additional $400) from Best Buy on May 28, 2005. The total amount spent: $3,285.61!

The TV keeps blowing up it's expensive bulbs (DLP-lamps). At first, a service-call was placed and a week and a half later, a tech' came to replace the bulb/lamp. He stated that in the future, I should just call the 800-number and order a bulb and install it myself (he showed me how to do it, a simple 5-10 minute procedure). This would avoid down-time.

Well, since then another 6 bulbs have been replaced in about 2 1/2 years. This is uncharacteristic for any TV.

The paid-for additional extended service/warranty has a policy to buy-back/exchange the TV if more than 3 services are performed. However, they are now stating that bulb-replacement isn't grounds for return/'lemon-law' because I didn't report each bulb-replacement as a service-call. Uhh, their own service tech' told me not to call in the future and instead order the bulbs directly. Also, it takes at least 1 to 2 weeks (quite often longer) for a service tech' to come to your residence. So, go w/o TV for 1-2+ weeks? Yea, ok...

They realize that there is something wrong w/ the TV, causing it to blow the bulbs so rapidly (each bulb costing $275+).

The Best Buy store manager (Brian) repeatedly stated initially that the TV should be bought-back by Best Buy because I have purchased a service plan and that there is an inherent fault w/ the TV. Corporate has thus far refused to buy-back/exchange. And the Best Buy store manager is now refusing to do a store buy-back saying he doesn't want the loss in profit/final-numbers. The local Best Buy is capable of doing a buy-back if the product is defective.

I purchased the expensive service-plan to be protected. Instead, I got a lemon for a TV.

Because it's been a few years since you purchased this TV your options are slightly limited. We think you might want to consider filing a small claims lawsuit against Best Buy. You have the receipts for the bulbs that were replaced under the protection plan, so a court may rule in your favor. Better yet, Best Buy might not even show up to court and you'll get a default judgment. You mentioned in your letter that you were in Texas, which has a $10,000 small claims limit, so you should be able to ask for a refund.

If you're intimidated by the process, check out this story from a reader who took Best Buy to small claims court over a washing machine and won.

And, not to be jerks, but this is the part where we remind you not to purchase "extended warranties" or "protection plans" from retailers. Get a credit card with extended warranty protection instead!

Small Claims Court In Your State [NOLO]

(915) 298-5975 - David Hernandez, Customer Resolution Specialist - Executive Resolution Team
(915) 298-5976 - Joey Selik, Customer Resolution Supervisor - Executive Resolution Team

Call 303-723-1000. Wait for a reception to answer. Ask to be transferred to Executive Resolutions
Or Call Mindy at 720-514-7746.
Or email ceo@echostar.com.

Be sure to first read our guide on how to deal with the executive customer service department. Remember to try to be civil, professional and concise.

(Photo: JohnKit)

Two More Extreme Makeover Home Edition Homes in Trouble [FreeMoneyFinance] (Photo: Newtownia)

Comcast is a horrible tangled mess of utter crapitutde, as reader Andrew's story aptly, if not concisely, illustrates...

I'm sending this mail as a last resort. Comcast has been giving my wife and I the runaround concerning our bill since we moved our service from one apartment to another around May 18th. In that time we've been on the line with Customer Support, sent e-mails to Executive Customer Support, and talked on the phone with representatives of Executive Customer Support, and none of it has helped. I'm going to try this last attempt to contact someone who can help at Comcast, and I'm also forwarding this to Consumerist as the level of support that we've gotten from Comcast up to this point has been atrocious.

My wife and I were married last October, and we'd been living together and enjoying our Comcast cable tv with no trouble since June of '07. We sent in a request to change my wife's name from her maiden name to her married name in early November after getting back from our honeymoon and it was never processed. I finally went in to the local office a few days ago and they changed it on the spot there, but we had asked via phone several times for the name change to go through and it never happened. This isn't something that I should have had to go down to the local office to address.

We recently signed up for a new two-year contract so that we could continue to pay a special rate rather than the full price for the premium package we're signed up for. Comcast told us that they would send out a new contract for us to sign and send in. It's been almost a month since we went with this new contract and we still haven't received anything to sign and send in, though we have been billed at the new rate at least. Eventually, after receiving a call every few days from a Customer Service Representative asking if we'd received the contract, she called back to tell me that we were on a one year plan rather than a two year plan and didn't need to sign any sort of contract. It would have been nice if we'd been told this the thousand other times that we dealt with Customer Service and they told us that we were going to be locked in for two years at this special rate.

Our cable television was recently screwed up to the point that it couldn't be watched for two weeks. It started on May 22 and wasn't resolved until June 3. This was nearly two weeks where we couldn't watch cable in our living room because of this service disruption. I tried to get someone out to look at the service, but we were going to be out of town on the only day they could get someone out and we ended up having to set a date two weeks ahead. Like I said, the problem eventually fixed itself. A comcast repairman called me the morning that he was supposed to come out for a service call and asked if we were still having the problem, explaining that there had been an issue with the apartment complex that he had fixed. Since we were no longer having the issue I told him that he didn't have to stop by.

The last time we had a service disruption of several weeks we were given a credit of $50. I complained about this service disruption while I was in the local office and was stonewalled. First the lady told me that we couldn't be compensated for that time unless we made a call as soon as the disruption took place. I told her to check her records as I had called the day that the trouble started, and after looking again she admitted it was the case. She then said that we'd only had a service disruption for a few days, and I counted up the days and pointed out that it was closer to two weeks than a few days. Finally she said we couldn't get a refund for lost time because the service technician hadn't actually come to our house. I explained to her that we had someone scheduled to come to the house, but I had told him not to come out because the problem was with the apartment complex and that it had been fixed. It seemed silly to waste the technician's time and my time when the problem was already solved.

Eventually they agreed to give us a $20 credit, which doesn't seem like nearly enough given all the trouble that I had to go through, all the hours that were spent on the phone with technical support, and that I had to finally go down to the local office to get all of these problems addressed.

We started having trouble with the box again towards the end of the month. I contacted Customer Service and they said it was most likely a problem with the set top box and not with the line going into the apartment. By this time we had done our patriotic duty as Americans and spent our tax rebate on a new HD television, so I told them that on a service call they could just switch us out for an HD box to replace the old malfunctioning box. Comcast scheduled a service call to have someone check the connection at our apartment just to make sure there wasn't a problem there and to bring the HD box at the same time.

Two days later I got a call from the technician and he told me that he was ahead of schedule and would be at our apartment in a few minutes. An hour passed and I got a confused call from the technician asking if I was at home. It turns out that Comcast sent the technician to our old apartment's address instead of the new apartment we'd moved into a month before. I asked if he could come to the new address and he said he would have to call me back. Another twenty minutes passed and he called me back and told me that he couldn't come to the new address because the account that he was on a service call for wasn't the account that we had at the new apartment. Evidently when we moved they closed the account at the old address and opened a new one at our new address that used the same account number but had a different phone number associated with it. It made no sense to me, but the Customer Service Representative I talked to seemed to think that it was business as usual.

After another hour on the phone with a CSR we discovered the problem. The phone that I used to call in was still associated with the old account, our new account was associated with our Comcast phone number and not my cell phone despite me giving my cell phone number as the primary contact for the new account, and the CSR who scheduled the service call never bothered to verify the address and instead decided it would be a good idea to send a service technician to a vacated apartment to add a new HD set top box to an account that had been closed for a month. Then I discovered that it wasn't actually a service call at all, they were just sending the truck out to swap the boxes and they were going to charge us $30 for this. When I called it was to set up a service call to see what was wrong with our service, and the HD box was being brought out as a convenience. At this point, disgusted, I told them that I was perfectly capable of connecting a cable box to my home theater system without a technician coming out and charging for it, and I just picked up the box at the local office myself. It turns out that the problem was a faulty box and not a problem with our connection, which is a good thing since Comcast seems incapable of actually sending someone out on a service call.

At this point I figured that our troubles with Comcast were over, but I was wrong.

When we switched to the new plan, supposedly two years (later changed to one year) at $160/month, we were told that our account would be credited $50 and the customer service representative gave us a different amount to pay that was $50 less than the amount on our bill. Then at the next billing cycle that $50 showed up on our bill again buried deep in a bill so confusing that we had to sit on the line with a CSR looking into our account for about twenty minutes before they realized what the problem was. Evidently our account was credited the $50, but that credit was supposed to be applied to our next bill and the original CSR shouldn't have told us to pay the lesser amount. Due to this confusion and since the CSR we were talking with had to spend a half hour digging through the billing system before figuring out what was wrong, she offered to give us a $30 credit to our account for all the trouble. We said that was fine. She told my wife to make a payment of $158.69 for our June bill and everything would be okay. At this point we thought that we were in the clear.

That is until this month when we received a bill for $267.30. Evidently none of the credits that we were promised went through, and the amount that the CSR told us to pay was flagged by the system as incorrect despite the fact that she claimed she was making a note on our account and adding a credit. In addition to this the billing system added a $10 late charge.

Now at this point we are being charged a late fee and told that we were in the wrong for doing what a CSR told us to do back in June. We paid the amount that she told us to pay, supposedly because our account was to be credited for that amount, and now we're being slapped with late fees and treated like delinquent customers. We have been with Comcast for over a year now and have never made a late payment, but now we're getting the runaround. My wife is on the phone with Customer Support right now trying to resolve this problem, but so far she's talked to a very rude CSR who told her there was never a $30 credit, transferred to someone in Internet Technical Support when she asked to talk to a supervisor, and sent back to the main menu to listen to your lovely on hold music and start from square one.

Needless to say we are not happy with the level of service at Comcast. At the moment your company is the only option for cable television and broadband internet in our apartment complex, but Verizon should be coming to our area in the next few months and we will be looking into giving our money to them or just cancelling our service outright if you don't fix these problems.

-Andrew

Andrew blasted off the email to about 25 Comcast executives. He used the Comcast email addresses we posted here, and a technique known as the Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Another technique for specifically escalating things with Comcast is to send a note to the customer service czar, Frank Eliason, at We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com. He actually fixes stuff. We wish Andrew luck and godspeed to his missive missile exploding in the email boxes of Comcast executives right now.

(Photo: Getty)

One page illustrates the difference between standard definition 480p and HD 1080p by asking the reader to "take your crayon and draw 480 dots inside this TV," then "take a different color crayon and draw 1,080 dots inside this HDTV." Aha! Also included is a Blu-Ray maze; it took us a few tries to complete it, but we feel like we now have a better understanding of HDTV, 1080p versus 1080i, and upconverting.

Free Coloring Book - HD for Kids! [NonToxicReviews]

Reader Eric was having some problems with his Samsung TV, so when he found Samsung had a firmware update for his LCD TV he did what any reasonable person might and applied the update. Bad move, Eric! Samsung is claiming that the update, which he got off their website, voided the warranty on his TV. Now they won't fix it. Read his story, inside.

I have been a long time reader of consumerist and I sadly enough need help with a product that I own. I have a Samsung LN-T4061F LCD TV, I have been trying to hook up my laptop to the TV through the HDMI port. I was able to get a picture but unable to get a sound from the TV.

Seeing this problem I went to my Olivia TV and tried hooking my laptop through the HDMI port. The laptop worked on the HDMI port on the Olivia TV so I figured something was wrong with the Samsung TV. I went to Samsung's website and I noticed that they had a updated firmware available, so I downloaded the update and the instructions. I have flashed the firmware on my Olivia TV and other electronic devices so I figured it wouldn't be a bad thing to do. I followed the instructions, let the TV do its thing, and when it came back up the picture was messed up.

At this point I called Samsung's tech support and told them what happened and why I was flashing the firmware. After placing me hold a couple of times, they came back and told me that because I flashed the TV for a reason that is not approved by Samsung, they considered this physical damage thus voiding the warranty. I asked to speak to a manager and they told me the same story and that because I did this, there was nothing that they could do to help me other than to arrange a service call at my expense.

Like I said earlier, I have flashed many devices, and I have done done a bad firmware update before and know to follow the instructions step by step. The firmware update did complete successfully and I did not see anything that specifically said what the firmware fixed.

I will try calling the executive support number I found on the site when they are open. But does anyone have any advice on what I can do to get my TV fixed? I don't think a company should offer firmware updates on their website if they don't intend to have customers running these updates.

Please Help!

A quick perusal of Samsung's website didn't seem to have much in the way of giant warning signs informing you that installing the update will void your warranty. In fact, the little disclaimer at the top of the page informing you that Samsung isn't liable if you install the wrong software or install it incorrectly seems to indicate that if you do it right, your warranty remains intact. Try calling Samsung Customer Care at 1-800-747-5618, and if that doesn't work it's time for the dreaded Executive Email Carpet Bomb.

Dear Consumerist,

I signed up for DirecTV in September of last year and have, until today, loved the service. Unfortunately, my girlfriend and I are moving to an apartment without a balcony or access to the roof and are prohibited from bringing our dish with us. Consequently, I'm forced to leave DirecTV's best-of-breed HDTV for Comcast's worst-of-breed YouTube-quality mush.

When I first spoke with a representative (ID #410930) about the service and its two year commitment, I was told that if I eventually moved to a place where I was unable to use the service the early termination fee (ETF) would be waived. About two months ago I again called DirecTV and, while making a minor change to my account, verbally confirmed with a service representative (ID #413117) that the ETF would be waived if that happened to be the case.

Yesterday, after double checking with my landlord that there was no chance I could install the dish, I reluctantly called DirecTV to cancel... only to find out that they won't waive the ETF. "Robby" (ID #402875) claimed to be the account supervisor despite being a first line representative and insisted that his own supervisor (ID #U2985) "doesn't get on the phones." He claimed that he could find no record in either of the previous call logs that I been offered a waived ETF. Another call this morning to DirecTV customer service found them in agreement: my ETF would not be waived. And, sure enough, the DirecTV Service Agreement makes no mention of moving to an apartment or area incapable of properly positioning the dish.

However, since I had already been lied to twice by DirecTV representatives I figured that I should call their sales department. So, this morning I called their sales number pretending to order new service and inquired as to whether or not there would be an ETF if I eventually moved to an area without service. Essentially, I replicated my initial sales call with DirecTV from seven months ago, but this time with a recording device.

Sure enough, the sales representative I spoke with repeatedly assured me that the fee would be waived if I were to move to a home that I could not get service at. So, at least DirecTV sales is consistent about giving false information. It should be noted that this representative was the rule, not the exception: all four times I have asked DirecTV sales people about the ETF waiver and all four times I have received the same incorrect response.

When I called retentions back and pointed out that I'd been told this repeatedly and had a recording, I was told that there was nothing that could be done except that a note would be made in my account and a higher up emailed.

If DirecTV's customer service representatives had simply been honest with me I wouldn't really have anything to complain about— I'd just pay my ETF without complaint. But the fact that sales and retention tell customers starkly different things about the service commitment is troubling, to say the least. I would have switched back to DirecTV the moment that I moved to an accommodating home, but why would I choose to do further business with a company whose representatives are apparently coached to lie?

Hopefully your readers won't make the same mistake I made: make sure anything that any DirecTV representative tells you is backed up in writing. Because even if you record them promising something they won't honor it. And if you do post anything about this, please remove my personal information.

Sincerely,

Ian
DirecTV Account #[redacted]

P.S. Neither representative could tell me exactly how much my final bill would be, even after I gave them a firm cancellation date. I was told "around $200", but at this point I have no reason to believe that this is the actual amount I'll be charged.

P.P.S. The ID numbers were given to me over the phone by "Robby".

Also, my service appears to have just been turned off— five days early (termination date was April 29). I confirmed that it was set for the 29th with two representatives. I can't even access my recorded shows on my DVR since they are dependent upon an active service. I'm calling DirecTV again now.

"We really do literally have five or six major corporations in this country that determine for the most part what Americans see, hear and read every day," said Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.), the lead sponsor of the resolution. "I don't think that's healthy for our country."

Dorgan has 25 senators behind his bill, including Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, and is confident it will pass the Senate. A similar bill has been proposed in the House.

The Bush administration has threatened a veto, but Dorgan could try to attach the resolution to a must-pass bill to make it harder for the White House to block.

Senate panel moves against FCC media-ownership rules [L.A. Times]
S.J. 28 - A Joint Resolution Disapproving The Rule Submitted By The Federal Communications Commission With Respect To Broadcast Media Ownership [THOMAS]
Write Your Senator
Write Your Representative
PREVIOUSLY: How To Write To Congress
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

"philippe23" writes:

I want to get off Directv. Time Warner is the local cable company, so I called them and asked if we could get service.

They said that our address wasn't in their system (the house is only about 3 or 4 years old and has always been serviced by Directv) and they'd have to do a survey and get back to us in a few days. After a few days, they called to say that our house was not serviceable.

That was about a year and a half ago. About every six months I'd call up after getting sick of my Directv signal going out when it would snow or rain and ask again if I could get service from Time Warner — the answer always being "no.

Until last week. Last week they called back and left me a message saying I could get service as long as I paid for the build-out. The build-out would cost $10,860 of which Time Warner would cover $1,800, leaving my portion of the costs at $9,060.

Now, if I lived back on a private road and was asking them to lay cable back for a few miles, I could understand this, but I live on a State Route and my house is all of 70 feet from the road. Furthermore, I've seen TW trucks parked just down the street, less than a 1/4 mile.

(Photo: Getty)

I just wanted to provide some clarification regarding Daniel's situation. The technician parked in front of Daniel's house did not disconnect the connection in any way. But we did want to try to resolve the issue for Daniel as quickly as possible. We received the initial call regarding the outage at 11:00 AM. We had a technician at his location by 3:00. The technician verified the connection and identified a network problem that could not be rectified (or caused) on the Customer's premises. We escalated the situation to have this looked into. We also promised to have this resolved within 1 business day. The next afternoon we called Daniel to inform him the network issue was resolved. We have also apologized to him for the problem occurring in the first place. The initial outage occurred on April 8 and it was resolved on April 9. We have also followed up with Daniel to make sure that he has not had further problems.

It is certainly our goal to avoid outages, but at times they do occur. When this happens we want to resolve it as quickly as possible. This was not related to wiring or connections, so this was not the doing of the technician in question.

We do apologize that the van was blocking his driveway and for the inconvenience of the outage!

PREVIOUSLY: Ask Comcast Tech To Move His Van, Mysteriously Lose Signal

(photo: Spidra Webster)

Score another one for The Consumerist!
 
This morning I contacted Sears' Executive Customer Service Department. They attempted to contact the store manager on my behalf. I stress "attempted" because they were hung up on too.

Nothing is more satisfying than witnessing Executive Customer Service being treated as crappy (crappily?) as the rest of the world. From what I could gather, they were forced to submit a company e-mail to the manager...you know, the manager that doesn't have voicemail.
 
Just a few minutes ago I was contacted by gentleman from CitiBank (which runs Sears Card). His name was Mark Ennis. He informed me that he called the store and was blown off just like everyone else. It wasn't until he told them that he was with the Presidential Offices for CitiBank that people started jumping through hoops.
 
Mark saw the story on Consumerist (he mentioned it by name). Since he saw the article on your site, he didn't know my last name or address. So he had the store pull every TV purchase on Black Friday that was made by anyone named Tom. (This is like "Law & Order" for retail.) From there he was able to find my contact info and, more importantly, figure out what happened.
 
Apparently after they refunded my first TV, they immediately re-rang it. The prevailing theory is that when I called the store to complain they looked up the transaction, saw the initial refund and stopped looking thereby missing the fact that it was re-rang moments later. Once they saw the refund, they assumed everything was ok and stopped looking.
 
Mark also noticed that in CitiBank's notes it showed that they had asked me to prove that I didn't receive the TV. He seemed genuinely shocked by that because, as those of us that are NOT Tier 1 support can tell you, it's pretty much impossible to prove a negative.
 
I also informed him about the fact that their Dispute Department doesn't have a hold queue. He seemed pretty embarrassed about that fact. So, either Mark was an awesome actor or he was actually "taking this matter seriously".
 
The store has contacted me and it seems that they're actually refunding me the money this time. They were asking me questions that they hadn't before (like my address). So I think I'm finally getting this matter rectified.
 
Oh, and it sounds like Juan and Tanaka might have an awkward conversation with the Presidential Offices of CitiBank in their not to distant futures.
 
Thanks to Mark, Sears customer service and especially The Consumerist. You guys are better than the BBB when it comes to getting stuff like this fixed.
 
Oh, and thanks to the Sears in Chesterfield. I can't tell you how grateful I am that you treated the big wigs at Sears and CitiBank in the same shitty manner that you've been treating me for the last 4 1/2 months. I was afraid that these people would think I was crackpot. But thanks to your consistent substandard job performance you quickly established my legitimacy.
 
Thanks again,
Tom

So up until this moment, I had no issues with Comcast (other than occasionally having to switch out my cablecards). This morning around 8am, I was returning home from the gym and there was a Comcast truck blocking my garage. I was very polite (no horn or anything) and asked him to please move his truck so I can get into my garage. He said something about it being a 1 lane-1 way street and he couldn't park anywhere else. I told him that he can't park in front of my garage, so he moved.

About 10 minutes later I mysteriously lose both my internet and TV signals. I call Comcast who tells me they show no trouble on their end so it must be my equipment. They can have a tech out tomorrow. Unfortunately, I do not have another day off until next Monday. She suggested I go purchase a new Cable Modem and get replacement cable cards. I do just that. I own the cable modem, so I purchase a new one for $80.00 and stop by Comcast in Potrero Hill to get a new cable card.

I get home and install them, call Comcast to fix the issue and of course, they don't work either.

I call Executive Customer Service and explain the situation - some Comcast guy was mad that I asked him to move, so he cut my cable line. I'm not off until next Monday (6 days from now), I explained. She said, "I'll call you back in 15 minutes". It's now 4 hours later, she has not returned my call, so I call her back, she's gone for the day.

I call Comcast Service Center again, now they're telling me I cannot have a tech until Friday.

I am totally shocked at how poorly this company treats it's long time customers! I've been with them for almost 12 years and I'm subscribed to their highest level of cable programming and the new Blast internet service so I spend around $180.00 a month. Now I understand what all of the bad publicity is about.

If it's not fixed by 5:00pm, I'm canceling Comcast and switching to Dish Network and AT&T DSL.

The irony of the situation is, Comcast just called and asked me to sign up for their digital voice service. YEAH RIGHT!

Daniel
San Francisco, CA

It's still not working. Comcast sent a rep who was in my house for maybe 5 minutes and said it's hooked up correctly, so you'll have to call and get a 2nd level tech out here.

(photo: Spidra Webster)

I would like to inform you of a problem that I'm having with Sears. I purchased a TV from Sears on Black Friday. They had a TV with a steep discount and I bought it. Of course, it wasn't in stock but they assured me that they could order it. As I was leaving town in a few days for a week of vacation, this was not a major concern.
 
Upon returning from vacation, I contacted Sears and my TV was still not in. I waited another week and the TV was still not in. So, I complained to the manager and after several terse conversations they agreed to offer a similar discount on a different television. I purchased the new TV and left happy.
 
However, as of Monday, April 14, 2008 this TV still has not been refunded from my Sears Card. I have called the Sears location and Sears Cardmember Services numerous times. I have been consistently met with what can only be described as a systemic and calculated effort to prevent me from resolving this matter. Letters have been ignored or claimed to have been lost. I have been disconnected and/or hung up on repeatedly.
 
Did you know that Sears Cardmember Services dispute department doesn't have a hold queue? Yes, you read that right. If you get transferred to "Disputes" and they don't have an available operator, you get hung up on. But I'm sure they're taking this matter seriously. I've spoken with two people (Juan and Tanaka) that flat out refused to let me speak to their supervisor.
 
I've repeatedly contacted the Sears at Chesterfield Mall where I purchased the television. When you ask for the manager her extension rings repeatedly with no answer and then hangs up on you. Apparently Sears retail frowns on voicemail as much Sears Card does.
 
I've spoken with someone claiming to be the Manager On Duty named Rob. He told me a month ago that he had refunded my money. So imagine my surprise when I received a letter on Friday, April 11 stating that Sears Card had rejected my dispute.
 
I would challenge Sears to produced one piece of evidence that shows that I picked up this television. Personally, I don't think the TV ever shipped to the store. When I went in to buy the TV that ended up with, I inquired about the original model since it was still prominently displayed on the floor with a sale price. I was told that it wasn't in stock. Having a steeply discounted television displayed that is unavailable for purchase sounds dangerously close to "bait and switch" to me, but I'm not a lawyer.
 
All I want is for Sears to refund my $1,070.74 plus any interest and/or late fees that have accumulated and they refuse to do it. I never picked up this TV as it never arrived.
 
Any help you could give me in rectifying this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Best Buy told the Chicago Tribune that they were "extremely disappointed" by the fine because they'd made a good faith effort to pull all analog-only tuners off the sales floor last October. As for some of the other companies, "Wal-Mart did not immediately comment, while a message to Sears was not returned." That's probably because Sears' phone has been disconnected for failure to pay its bill.

"Sears, Wal-Mart, others fined for analog TV labeling" [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to Tim!)
(Photo: Getty)

I am one of the early adopters of Comcast's new TiVo service that is being rolled (see: rushed before ready) out in Massachusetts.

So far, not once but TWICE, the box in my room has crashed on me with the TiVo OS installed. The first time, they couldn't send out a tech until nearly 2 weeks later. Got it fixed...and two weeks later, just like last time, the box crashed (stops showing any programming...and selecting "Restart The DVR" restarts it, over and over and over again. A death-spin of sorts).

So we get the bill today. A nice chunky $195 (3 boxes, two of which are TiVo DVRs, one that crashes, one thats a lil buggy). Enough is enough. Time to get credited for these boxes...

Call Comcast. Explain the situation. My box is dead and I can't watch programming...my dad's box is buggy and OnDemand doesnt work often. I asked for the price of the DVR boxes and TiVo service to be waived for a month and a half ($15.90 x 2 x 1.5 months...said a fair amount to me would be $35). He said the most he could do was credit me for one DVR for one month because signal was still being sent to my home and I could have plugged in the cable directly into my television.

He was being stern, but generally not awful. And I love a good debate.

Insert monologue: "Well if we want to split hairs here...then lets split hairs. I want my DVR service refunded for a month and a half. I want my TiVo service refunded for a month and a half. THEN, I want every channel above 96 refunded..."

CSR: "Why would we do that?"

Me: "Well...plug in your cable directly to your television. You'll get channels 2-96. I don't get the digital package that I pay $12.95 for. I don't get the extended sports programming that I pay for. I don't get my HD programming. All I get are basic and extended basic. So lets split hairs. I think $35 is fair".

He puts me on hold.

10 minutes later, CSR comes back, sounding slightly defeated

CSR: "Hello...?" (in that "I'm trying to see if my angry girlfriend is on the other line voice")

Me: "Hi."

CSR: "OK, all of this aside...did you use a calculator to come up with $35?"

Me: "I failed nearly every year of math in high school. Just did some quick figuring."

CSR: "Well, my supervisor and I just used a calculator and we came up with exactly $35."

Me: "Well then I'm more brilliant than I thought I was! This means I'm getting the credit?"

CSR: "You've got it."

Once again proof that 80% of America only needs 6th-7th grade math skills to survive. I wasn't asking for anything out of line...just asking for a credit for services I was unable to make use of, and I got it. I was a bill collector for a year when I was 18...and although it was by far the worst job I've ever had (and I was the least successful at it...far too nice)...it, along with the Consumerist, makes it pretty easy to talk to CSR's and get some action.

I don't hate Comcast like some people do (in fact, I freelance for one of their television channels)...but having a good argument + Verizon FiOS in the neighborhood makes them a lil' more of a pushover now.

Viva la Consumerist!!

It's very simple. It's just like algebra class.

This is the second time we have posted a story from Shawn. The first time, he got his Seagate harddrive complaint resolved by posting it along with a slew of executive email addressees right in the official Seagate online forums. If he gets a third one, he will qualify for an official consumer vigilante mask.

(Photo: Getty)

Response from Monster Cable on Article in the Consumerist

Monster would like to acknowledge and respond to the publishing of the Monster pricing from an employee at RadioShack in the article titled "Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% markups."

The article can be misread that consumers are paying inappropriate prices charged by our retailers for Monster Cable products. The article misleads the reader in citing retailer markups of 80% as if the retailer makes 80% profit margin on products that they sell. Anyone in retail knows that one does not calculate profit by markups, but by profit margins made on the sale as a ratio of what they paid for it. So in the example of the 19ft. HDMI-DVI cable that was highlighted as Retail $179.95, wholesale of $99.40, that's a profit margin of 44%, which is totally in line with what retailers choose to sell accessory items like Monster Cable. Also the DVI and the S-Video cable cited are both discontinued products using old cable technology. Most of the products listed in the article are 37% to 39% profit margins. This is much less than profit margins on other consumer products like clothing, jewelry, furniture, and accessories to other consumer products.

It's also misleading when the tone of the article alludes to Monster Cable ripping off consumers, when Monster cannot legally set retail pricing. This is clearly up to the retailer. However in defense of retailers of consumer electronics, it is typical that small items warrant higher profit margins, while large items like TV's have small profit margins. The consumer clearly wins in the electronics category.

We would also like to point out that Monster makes the highest quality cables in the world, but always with a variety of price points for the consumer to choose from. For example, with today's most popular digital connection, HDMI, the consumer has a wide range of performance choices with four models of Monster Advanced Speed Rated HDMI Cables, ranging from $49.95 to $99.95. The performance of each of these Speed Rated cables is independently verified by Simplay Labs www.simplayhd.com, so our customers know exactly the performance they are paying for. In addition, these prices are in line or lower than other high performance cables offered by Monster's competitors at retail locations throughout the country.

There is also a comment about digital cables not making a difference and that the only difference in digital cables is the price. This is simply not the case. HDMI Licensing, LLC, the group that develops the HDMI specification, has published two different cable speeds for the current 1.3 specification: Standard Speed at 2.23 Gbps, and High Speed at 4.95 Gbps, which is known as HDMI 1.3 Category 2. For more information, go to www.hdmi.org.

In fact, Steve Venuti, Vice President of Marketing for HDMI Licensing, LLC, stated in a recent Widescreen Review article:
http://www2.widescreenreview.com/127venuti.pdf

"...HDMI evolves as it continues to react to the demands of the marketplace. With the introduction of HDMI 1.3 in 2006, HDMI doubled the bandwidth of the specification, and with that, gave manufacturers the ability to design products that can output and receive signals at unprecedented levels...And where there is increased bandwidth, there is increased demand on the cable to deliver the HDMI signal."

This clearly states that not all HDMI digital cables are the same. Buying the best cables possible will insure that one always gets the best possible digital picture for the components they own.

For those who want to get the real facts on HDMI, please visit www.monstercable.com/HDMI/advancedhdmi.asp for the following videos:

1. The Constant Evolution of HDMI with Steve Venuti, Vice President of Marketing, HDMI Licensing, LLC
2. Certified HDMI Cable Performance with Joseph Lias, President of Simplay Labs, LLC

For those who want technical information on why there are different levels of HDMI Cables, one can reference the white paper on HDMI at http://www.monstercable.com/HDMI/whitepaper.asp, where you will learn about why different HDMI cables are needed.

For those who want to get an inside look on the testing of Monster's HDMI cables, visit www.monstercable.com/HDMI/advancedhdmi.asp for an eye opening video of Monster's quality R&D and testing.

The digital TV revolution is moving fast, as one sees from the introduction of 240Hz displays from TI and Ultra High Definition Displays from Samsung at CES this year. These advanced displays paves the way for vastly improved high definition components that will need even higher speed HDMI cables, all of which are available today from Monster's Advanced Speed Rated cables.

For those who want to know more about higher definition, Monster and Disney have partnered together on a DVD that educates customers on the various levels of higher definition and how to buy and set up for higher definition TV. The DVD is called The Higher Definition Home Theater Experience, and we would like to offer it at no charge to everyone who is visiting this site by sending your shipping address to the following email: pr@monstercable.com.

Monster has always made the highest quality products at reasonable prices. We stand behind the retailers that offer great service and advice to our customers at a fair profit and we hope that this additional information clarifies some of the confusion that the article might have generated.

1. As decided in Leegin v. PSKS, this statement, "Monster cannot legally set retail pricing. This is clearly up to the retailer..." is patently false. See "Supreme Court Allows Manufacturers To Dictate Minimum Prices, Screws Consumers"

2. Their response neatly sidesteps a giant section of the original post, so I'll reproduce it here:

The worst part isn't really the markup. Stereo equipment routinely has markups of 80 to 100 to 200% by the time it hits the shelves. It's the initial inflated price, and how gadget stores try to push the cables so hard, telling people that Monster cables offer superior picture and sound then what you would get with another cable. But that simply isn't the case. Our sister site Gizmodo ran a battery of tests and found Monster cables are for the most part, completely unnecessary. (see The Truth About Monster Cable - Grand Finale (Part III), HDMI Cable Battlemodo Resumes, The Truth About Monster Cable, Part 2 (Verdict: Cheap Cables Keep Up...Usually), and The Truth About Monster Cable).

4. Monoprice.com.

PREVIOUSLY: Monster Cables, Monster Ripoff: 80% Markups

Here are some of the issues with FiOS TV that I've run into over the course of the past year:

• chronic "tiling" and image degradation since Q2/Q3 2007
• audio/video "freezing" and "dropouts" * numerous canceled technician appointments
• complete loss of all three services (POTS, internet, TV) on two separate occasions - services down anywhere from 24-72 hours
• clueless, unresponsive technical support
• "tiling" on HBO video on demand

For the non-techies, "tiling" is a term used to describe when the image becomes distorted and is broken up into little blocks.

(For a detailed history of all the problems I have experienced with FiOS since March 2007, see my full review of the service at dslreports.com: according to technical support, I have 55 unique support tickets under my name, the majority of which are related to problems with FiOS TV.)

Since March 2007, I have been forced to use the "nuclear option" - contacting Verizon's "Presidential Appeals" department - on two separate occasions, as their first-level technical support was unable to resolve anything in a timely manner. So far, the appeals department is 0 for 2 - each time, the problem was not resolved.

I contacted the presidential appeals department because HBO video on demand would not function properly; signs of tiling would appear every few minutes. Numerous technicians were dispatched and were unable to resolve the situation. Several weeks passed before the representative working for the appeals department came across an internal Verizon document stating that this was a "known issue" and a fix would be implemented in August 2007. To this day, this has not yet been fixed; according to a Verizon employee who posts on the FiOS TV message board, a fix is supposedly still being tested.

Weeks later, I was forced to contact presidential appeals for a second time when the normal levels of support were unable to resolve issues with the image quality; once again, several technicians were dispatched but were ultimately unable to resolve the issue. At one point, in an act of desperation, the local group decided to replace most of the components up to and inside the home. The measures were ineffective; the problems continued. A local manager was eventually dispatched out to the home; he claimed that the sub-par image quality was a result of "electrical issues" having to do with the wiring inside the home. End of discussion, case closed. (A visit from an electrician several weeks later would show that this claim was incorrect.)

So, I doubt that contacting the presidential appeals department will help to resolve the chronic issues that I continue to experience with the service.

The quality of the FiOS TV service since October 2007 has been at an all-time low; for the past four months, I have been forced to deal with severe tiling, audio/video "freezing"/"dropouts" and generally sub-par image quality. Verizon's technical support group insisted on dispatching more field technicians out to the home; the technicians were unable to find a cause for the problems. On several occasions, technicians did not show up at the home at all. This continued until mid-January when Verizon's network group eventually discovered a problem with their video distribution equipment in the local central office. This seemed to correct some of the problems with "tiling"; however, image quality continued to be sub-par.

So far, Verizon has wasted time and money replacing:

• 8x optical network terminals ($$$)
• 4x battery backup units
• 4x set top boxes ($$$)
• 3x coaxial cable splitters
• 1x length of fiber and conduit
• 1x length of RG6
• 1x Actiontec MI424-WR router 0x fiber distribution terminal

On January 31, a technician finally diagnosed the problem to be with the fiber distribution terminal - the only piece of equipment yet to be replaced. He informed me that somebody would be out the following day to replace it; par for the course, nobody showed up to replace it. I was eventually informed (after hounding technical support and a supervisor, daily, for any sort of update) that the piece of equipment in question would be replaced sometime next week. We'll see - I don't have high expectations at this point, given how difficult it has been to get Verizon to actually take a look at a problem or fix anything.

Dumping FiOS TV and switching back to Comcast is currently not an option as I am locked into a triple play contract with Big Red until 2009 - I have better and more important things to do with my money than to pay the early termination fee.

(Photo: Getty)

Tivo says that for the fifth year in a row (since the company started tracking viewership data, in fact) the commercials were more watched than the game, with the most popular ads enjoying a 5 to 30% larger audience because they're re-watched repeatedly.

Nielsen disagrees and lists an entirely different set of winners—"Budweiser's horse/Dalmatian spot, Coke's parade balloons, Diet Pepsi's Max, FedEx's pigeons and Pepsi's Timberlake." Their data, however, comes from "200 people who were polled online," so it sounds like typical Nielsen nonsense.

"TiVo: E-Trade Won Super Bowl" [BrandWeek]

RELATED
"How About Those Super Bowl Ads!"<