Erica and her family are Sprint customers who are eligible to upgrade their phones in a few months, but they have a dilemma. In the market where they live, Sprint’s 4G service is the older WiMax network. An upgrade to LTE is coming…sometime in the next year. They have their choice of phones that can use one network or the other, but not both. Yes, this is the very definition of a first world problem, but it’s a gamble. Do they choose faster data now and being forced to use 3G after the upgrade comes, or the other way around? [More]
ask the consumerists
Is This 9/11 Casino Promotion A Nice Tribute, Or Just Tacky?
By 9.10.12
Reader Bearcat44 spotted this ad in the Spokane, Wash. Spokesman-Review. It’s from an Idaho casino running a promotion tomorrow, September 11th. To honor the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, they’re offering special rates to law enforcement, medical personnel, and other first responders in order to honor “heroes who protect and serve our community.” [More]
Save Me From The Supermarket Light Pollution Menace
By 8.30.12
Until a few months ago, Chris didn’t mind sharing a fence with a grocery store. Being able to scoot next door to pick up a few items would be pretty convenient. Then the lights came on. Two terrible, bright, glaring parking lot lights. They shine in his windows, illuminating his bedroom to an extent that even the thickest curtains can’t block. The lights are, of course, on 24/7. The store manager promises to solve the situation, but no solution is in sight. The only things in sight are those parking lot lights. Those bright, bright parking lot lights. What would the Consumerists do? [More]
Vacation Condo Charges Me For Causing Internet Outage, But It Wasn’t Me
By 7.30.12
Visiting a beach town on business, Dontel stayed in a condo building that’s oriented more toward tourists. When he checked in, he learned that some guests were having intermittent Internet connection issues, and was told to report any problems he had to the front desk. Okay. He didn’t have any problems. When he returned home, he learned that the condo management had conducted an investigation, and blamed the outage on…Dontel. They claim that he tampered with his unit’s access point, messing up Internet access for that whole part of the building. They’ve billed him $120 for their trouble. He says that he didn’t touch the access point, and didn’t even know that there was one in the room. He asks the Consumerist Hive Mind for help: is there any way that he can prove he’s not behind the fateful hard reset? [More]
Trapped In A Tollbooth Without Money: What Do You Do?
By 7.10.12
Visiting Orlando, Sarah ended up in a Florida Turnpike toll booth that only accepted change or EZ-Pass. The booth apparently wasn’t set up to capture her rental’s license plate and automatically charge her. It was unmanned. She had no change. She found a solution to the problem that was practical, but violated some traffic laws. She wonders: what would others have done? [More]
My Parents’ House Was Struck By Lightning And Burned Down. What’s Next?
By 7.9.12
When you’ve escaped from a late-night fire and lost your home and all of your belongings with it, what do you do next? That’s what Rudy wants to know, on behalf of his parents. Last week, their house caught fire hours after being hit by lightning. They got out alive, and are about to begin rebuilding their lives. But first: the insurance claim. An adjuster from Allstate is coming today. Rudy wonders whether the Consumerist Hive Mind have experienced this kind of catastrophic loss and massive insurance claim, and have any advice for his family. [More]
Realtor Rents You Construction Zone Vacation Condo, Shrugs
By 6.28.12
Alex and his brother have been on vacation this week, renting a condo at the beach. Sounds fun and relaxing. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the construction workers re-siding the condo building. They’re tossing debris everywhere, including near cars, leaving tools and construction materials around off hours, and hammering at 8 A.M. It’s making these vacationers cranky, and the real estate agency that rented them the condo said that they would contact the owners, but hasn’t contacted them. The vacation is nearly over. What should they do? [More]
