Reader Kelly wants to let us know that July isn’t too early for a candle store at her local mall to start its Christmas marketing push…
annoying
Dear Home Depot: I Do Not Want To Hear About Your Special Promotion For Home Owners
By 5.28.08
Reader G writes in to let Home Depot know that he’s really, really tired of hearing about their “special promotion for home owners” while he’s trying to shop.
Policy: Blockbuster Debits $1 To Test Your Card, Then Charges You For Your Rental
By 5.21.08
For every debit or credit card transaction at Blockbuster, the company will now debit $1 to “test” your card. If the transaction goes through, they’ll then debit the full amount of your purchase. Blockbuster tells us your dollar will be returned in 3-10 business days. Reader Jason says he rented a game on Thursday and hasn’t gotten the dollar Blockbuster borrowed back yet. Will he get it before the 10 days is up?
Chase Telemarketing Tactics: Try Being Sneaky, Then Launch Vague Threats
By 5.7.08
A reader writes in to share his traumatic experience with a Chase telemarketer who first tried to sneak a sale into the one-way conversation, then launched into scare tactics like asking, “What are you going to do when someone steals your identity?” R. writes, “I feel like I need protection from Chase’s employees.”
United Airlines Will Not Let You Report Your Damaged Baggage For "Security Reasons"
By 5.5.08
Reader Sid is having a hell of a time reporting some damaged luggage to United Airlines.
Dear T-Mobile: Please Stop Sending 5 Text Messages At 5 AM Every Month To Say That My Billing Cycle Has Started
By 4.11.08
WaMu Enrolls You In A Program Without Permission, Then Charges An ETF
By 3.6.08
Reader Michael signed up for a new free checking account with WaMu and the person who opened the account for him (accidentally?) enrolled Michael in some sort of bullshit coupon program that costs $5 a month. Now WaMu has charged him a $10 early termination fee and is refusing to refund it.
Comfort Suite's Shady "Energy Surcharge" Costs You $144
By 3.2.08
Reader ds143 wrote in with a reminder to ask hotels about added fees before reserving a room. He booked a six-night stay at the Comfort Suites in the Bahamas for his family of four without realizing that the hotel levied a $6 per person, per night “energy surcharge.” The financial sucker punch set ds143 back $144.
When Someone With Your 15 Year Old Disconnected Phone Number Orders FiOS, You Get The Bill
By 2.15.08
Reader Joan once had a phone number. 15 years ago, she disconnected it. Now she’s being charged for someone else’s FiOS and she’s not happy about it. For the past 6 months she has called Verizon to ask that the error be fixed and each month she’s been told that the stranger’s FiOS has been removed from her bill and that she’ll be credited for the error. It hasn’t actually happened yet.
Best Buy: Name Your Own Price For This DVD
By 2.11.08
Reader Jared says:I was at Best Buy looking for ‘The Fountain’ on DVD. I found three copies in the drama section, and three different prices. No tricks here, no collector’s / special editions. Just the standard widescreen version at name-your-own-price. Guess they’re trying to emulate Radiohead?
Canceling Your MySpace Account Is F$%!@&*# Impossible
By 1.15.08
Reader Julian can’t figure out how to cancel his MySpace account.
AT&T Will Not Leave You Alone At Your Non-Existent Address
By 1.11.08
Poor Dustin. AT&T won’t stop sending him junk mail at the wrong address. Sounds impossible, but one should never be too quick to judge with AT&T.
There Is A Guy Living In The Paramus, New Jersey IKEA
By 1.9.08
Remember that one guy who decided to visit all the Starbucks in NYC in 24 hours? Yeah, we’d forgotten about it, too. He’s convinced IKEA to let him live in their Paramus, NJ store for a week while his apartment gets fumigated.
Get Rid Of Telemarketers, Debt Collectors, And Other Vermin With Phone Tones
By 1.8.08
Chris recorded a little sound file onto his answering machine that stopped a debt collector robot that kept calling him, seeking people who didn’t live there. This .WAV is the U.S. Special Information Tone signal for “vacant circuit”, which signifies and out-of-service or nonexistant number. You know it better as “boo-boo-BOOP!” Chris recorded a new message on his answering machine with the tones at the beginning and the next time the robot called, it thought it was getting a dead line and dutifully erased the number from its system. Voila, automatons be gone. Some places have autodialers that don’t (or have been tweaked) to respond to SIT tones, but if you’ve got a persistent unwanted robot caller, it’s worth a shot.
Easter Creep: Target Hauls Out The Easter Products On December 26
By 12.27.07
We’d love to tell you exactly what we yelled at our computer screen when we saw the above photograph, but it would probably set off your company’s web filtering software.
"Injected Pork Water" Is Completely Out Of Control At Kroger
By 12.18.07
“At our local supermarket chain (Kroger), it is now impossible to buy any fresh pork product (except sausage and bacon, but what’s in them is a whole other story) that has not been “enhanced” by the injection of “up to 15%” of some kind of saltwater solution. Pork chops, pork loin, everything. And now chicken is getting this way, too – it is getting harder and harder to find any fresh chicken that has not been injected with “up to 15% chicken broth.” Even bone-in legs and thighs, now. When did this happen?“
JCPenney Emails You To Let You Know You Requested They Not Email You
By 12.13.07
If you buy something from the JCPenney website and uncheck the box for receiving email from them, guess what they do? They promptly send you an email in which they point out that you have asked them not to send you an email. And then they ask you to click on a link in the email and participate in a survey. And then, just in case you’re not amused/annoyed yet, the comedy team in their marketing department points out that should you want to receive emails from them in the future, you can visit their site and sign up. They have a lot of emails they need to send to you, you see.
