Word on the street is that following negative stories in the LA Daily News, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Best Buy interrogated employees at the Santa Clarita store where former Geek Squad agent and Consumerist reader Brett Haddock used to work, and could be gearing up, or at least, wants people to think it’s gearing up, to seek damages against Geeks who spoke out about the porn pilfering.
Retail Services
iPhone Sends Itemized Bill For Every Single Image You Access
By 7.27.07
Unfortunately, Apple’s design gurus didn’t get to lovingly sculpt AT&T’s billing system, so when the first iPhone users opened their bills this month, they got a surprise. Actually, pages upon pages of surprises. Every single image gets assessed a fee based on its kilobytes, and is then painstakingly itemized on your AT&T bill.
Bank of America To Raise ATM Surcharge to $3
By 7.27.07
US PIRG says they’ve obtained legitimate documentation that says Bank of America will be raising their ATM surcharges for non-customers to $3 at most locations. The change will take place on July 31st.
We're On CBS2 Los Angeles Tonight
By 7.26.07
Just did a phone interview with CBS2 in LA. Looks like they’re picking up our Geek Squad sting operation story. The piece might air at 6, but it could be later, too. We know many of you are sick of hearing about it but there’s a whole bunch of America that hasn’t. A still image of monsieur Popken with a crackly phone conversation playing underneath shall be their reward.
Circuit City Refuses To Honor "Unbeatable Price Guarantee" Because Competitor's Price Is Too Low
By 7.26.07
Reader Jeff could not convince Circuit City to honor its “Unbeatable Price Guarantee.” Circuit City’s stated policy is to beat any competitor’s price by 10%. Jeff found the same 19″ Acer monitor retailing for $219 at Circuit City for only $129 at a nearby Best Buy, yet Circuit City: “would not price match this item because the cost was too low.” Jeff writes:
Is Your Shopping Compulsion Just Repressed Anger?
By 7.26.07
Former debt addict Diane Conlinn writes about how she discovered here desire to go shopping was really an expression of emotions she wasn’t dealing with.
ExxonMobil Mails Customer 2,000 Credit Cards
By 7.26.07
ExxonMobil sent a box containing 1,000 credit cards to Frank Van Buren, who had requested two (2) new cards to replace one that was about to expire. The cards contained Frank’s name and account number, and would have worked right out of the box since ExxonMobil saw activation stickers as an unnecessary extravagance. Frank saved the two cards he had requested, and spent three hours shredding the remaining 1,000.
He thought that was that. Until another box arrived this week.
Walmart Instigates Back-To-School Season Price War
By 7.25.07
Walmart will offer 10 to 50 percent discounts on 16,000 items to boost sales during the lucrative back-to-school season. The cuts are part of Walmart’s broader plan to abandon its pursuit of the upscale market, which “confused customers,” and return to its core business of undercutting competition and instigating price wars.
Apple Shares Plummet On News Of Disappointing iPhone Sales
By 7.25.07
Analysts had estimated that AT&T and Apple would sell and activate 500,000 iPhones before AT&T’s earnings report was released yesterday.
Reach Chase Executive Customer Service
By 7.24.07
847-488-6833, or 888-622-7547 x 6833 – Jessica Pozehl
Dear Best Buy, Thank You For Losing My Laptops
By 7.24.07
David brought two laptops to Best Buy for repair; neither was ever seen or heard from again. Best Buy sent David’s first laptop, a Sony Vaio, back to Sony for repairs. Unable to find the laptop after one month, Best Buy declared it irretrievably lost and offered David an upgraded Vaio for $200. One year later, the second laptop broke. Like the first, it disappeared forever after being dispatched to Sony. David writes:
I just recently started reading The Consumerist, and Lorraine’s nightmare with her laptop repair reminded me of my own nightmare of Best Buy completely losing two laptops I sent in for repair, leaving me without any laptop for a total of 4 months, as well as all the data I lost on the first laptop. It all started a little over 3 years ago when a relative bought me a top-of-the-line Sony Vaio at a Best Buy.
Religious Action Figures Are Coming To Walmart
By 7.24.07
Talking Jesus dolls will make their Walmart debut early next month as part of a spiffy new line of religious action figures. Walmart claims it is responding to the needs of kids who want to ditch their G.I. Joe for a Samson, and will only stock the religious toys in stores where the bible is a best-seller. Walmart has always catered to the family values crowd, but that hasn’t stopped some Christian ministers from questioning Walmart’s faith:
“They’ll carry anything that sells,” says David Croyle, president of FamilyLife, a non-denominational ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. “This simply signals intelligent buying within Wal-Mart.”
