Retail Services
Sellers Growing Increasingly Unhappy With Lack Of Professionalism At Etsy
By 2.26.08
Etsy.com calls itself “your place to buy and sell things handmade” and is a pretty cool website that we personally enjoy. The sellers who use the site, however, are getting all riled up after several stores were shut down without notice due to simple, easily-resolved complaints from buyers.
Email To BoA Exec Reduces APR In Face Of Rude CSRs
By 2.25.08
Donald writes:
First and foremost i would like to thank you for the wonderful site. The information found here has been extremely useful. With that said i just want to share with you a success story i had with getting Bank Of America to lower the interest rate on my Apple GoldReserve Line of Credit. This story does not start out so nicely though.
When "FireDogs" And "Geeks" Don't Know What's Wrong, You Pay
By 2.25.08
Channel 10 out of Columbus, Ohio recently conducted a sting operation in which they equipped themselves with an easily repaired laptop and took it to Geek Squad, FireDog and Micro Center to see who could figure out what was wrong.
Dear Sprint: "Die In A Fire"
By 2.25.08
Sprint. Hilary’s boyfriend wanted one phone. You signed him up for, like, a bazillon and took all of his money, plus an extra $400 from his bank account.
Morning Deals
By 2.25.08
Bank Of America Won't Let You Access Your Money
By 2.24.08
Silly Bill. He thought Bank of America would let him spend $5,800 on a home theater system just because he had over $10,000 in the bank. He tried to charge the system to his Bank of America Visa Platinum Check Card but was declined. Confused, Bill called Bank of America customer support for an explanation and had the sort of conversation that makes you want to drive a fork through your ear.
"Made In Italy" Is Italian For "Made In Sweatshops"
By 2.23.08
That $1,500 Prada bag may have been stitched by an illegal Chinese immigrant slaving away in a Tuscan factory. The tentacles of globalization are starting to snake dirt-cheap foreign laborers into once-protected enclaves known for their quality swag.
You Can't Discount The Past, Apple
By 2.23.08
A reader noticed that Apple is selling refurbished 8gb iPhones for $349, and they’re listing the original price as $599. “Save 42% off the original price,” says the Apple Store. Gosh, that’s a huge savings! Wait… well sure, the original original price was $599, but we all know that Apple knocked that down fairly quickly, and now a brand new 8 gb model sells for $399—which means actually you’re only saving 12.5% off the Real World Price Right Now of a brand new iPhone, if you went and bought it today.
By 2.23.08
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Not to be outdone by the national players, regional cellphone company U.S. Cellular has announced a $99 unlimited calling plan “for a limited time.” $15 more adds unlimited text messaging, and $10 more adds unlimited data usage. [IntoMobile]
Best Buy Overlaps Their Product Service Plans With Manufacturer's Warranty
By 2.22.08
Wiliam writes in to point out something he noticed in the fine print of Best Buy’s Product Service Plan: it begins as soon as you purchase the item, and doesn’t cover anything covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
T-Mobile CSR Lies About Making Changes To Account, Causes $75 In Overage Fees
By 2.22.08
Ric L. is having problems with T-Mobile’s CSRs—specifically, they don’t seem capable of actually making any changes to his account or recording anything about his calls, and when that leads to $75 in extra fees, they say they can’t fix it and offer him “free” text messages. Ric says he suspects the CSR he talked to “takes the responsibilities of his job about as seriously as a cat with a ball of yarn,” but we all know that’s incredibly disrespectful to cats everywhere, who take their various activities quite seriously. Read Ric’s email to T-Mobile after the jump.
Inside The Sprint Customer Service Meltdown
By 2.22.08
BusinessWeek has a truly excellent article about the customer service meltdown that lead to Sprint’s current notorious reputation for poor customer service. The article sums up what we’ve been reporting over the past year: After the Sprint/Nextel merger, “customer service” was essentially destroyed as a concept at the new company. The CSRs were rigidly timed and judged only on how short their calls were and how many contract extensions they were able to bring in. Even bathroom breaks were monitored, one ex-Sprint CSR told BusinessWeek.
Morning Deals
By 2.22.08
Woot!: Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick for $39.99Discovery.com: Moon Wall Projector for $15.98 ShippedAmazon: Super Paper Mario for Nintendo Wii for $29.99Fry’s: 30 HD-DVD Titles for $14.99 each Highlights From DealhackLinens ‘N Things: Save $16 off: Get Two Serta Pillows for only $10Backcountry.com:…
Afternoon Deals
By 2.21.08
Woot!: Amcor 3.5″ Touchscreen Portable GPS for $99.99Newegg.com: HP LaserJet P1006 Laser Printer for $49.99 ShippedBest Deal Magazine: Every Day With Rachael Ray Magazine – $6.30 for 1 Year Highlights From DealhackDell Home: Save 25% off Inspiron Notebook PCs of $999+Buy.com: Refurb Navigon Pocket…
CPSC Recalled Play Stove For Tipping, Ignored Real Ones?
By 2.21.08
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) did not protect consumers from the hazardous stoves because existing agency regulations require a prolonged dialogue with manufacturers of hazardous products, the consumer groups said.
Latest ACSI Survey Is Out: You Really Like Dollar General
By 2.21.08
The American Customer Satisfaction Index has released its latest scores of retail businesses, so we thought we’d take a look at the department store rankings by constructing a handy graph. When it comes to customer satisfaction, apparently Dollar General is doing something right—and Wal-Mart, as usual, is doing lots of things wrong.
