Jake couldn’t place an order for an Xbox 360 deal on Black Friday—yes, we’re talking about a failed transaction from two and half months ago—but he got surprisingly helpful customer service from Office Depot. Margaret at the Office of the Chairman even gave him her personal number and promised him a raincheck of sorts in the form of a gift card for a future purchase. Her offer sounded almost too good to be true, and maybe it was, because as of February he still hasn’t seen a gift card. And Margaret won’t return his voicemail messages, not even to say the deal is off. Update: Office Depot saw this post, and they contacted Jake.
broken promises
Office Depot Comes Through With Stellar Customer Service, But Then Doesn't Deliver On Promise
By 2.5.09
Confirmed: Sirius Radio Raising Rates March 11
By 1.21.09
Sirius Radio customer service reps are now telling subscribers that the rumored rate hike is indeed going to happen. This means, at the very least:
Is Sirius XM About To Raise Rates On Its Customers?
By 1.20.09
Ryan pointed us to an article on Orbitcast about a rumored fee hike by Sirius XM. The increases appear to be for services that aren’t strictly protected by the FCC agreement, which is why they would legally be able to do this despite promises that they wouldn’t raise rates for 36 months after the merger.
How Do You Reach Hasbro's CEO Brian Goldner?
By 12.24.08
Hasbro promised to replace a Nerf product that broke within minutes of being removed from its package, but that was back in October and Ed still hasn’t received anything.
20% Of Citigroup Cardholders Can Expect Rate Increases For 2009
By 11.17.08
If you have a Citigroup-issued credit card and you haven’t had a rate increase over the last two years, expect to be notified of a 2-3% rate increase on your November statement. Congratulations! You’re going to help Citigroup offset its losses in the global credit card division, whether you were directly part of those losses or not. As the New York Times points out, by doing this Citigroup is breaking the promise they made to Congress in 2007 that they would not arbitrarily raise rates on accounts—which may be why they’re offering a fairly lenient opt-out policy.
Citigroup May Reinstate Universal Default
By 6.25.08
Last year Citigroup pledged to abandon the customer-screwing policy of universal default, where an unrelated late payment or credit score change can trigger an interest rate increase on your Citibank card. They even used a marketing phrase to promote their promise: “a deal is a deal.” According to the New York Times, Citigroup is “quietly reconsidering its pledge” and may decide to reinstate universal default as early as this week.
Marriott Ruined My Wedding Night!
By 9.8.07
“I got married over Labor Day weekend in North Chicago, Illinois. We did a lot of advance legwork to set up a hotel for our guests that was close to the venue and convenient. Our wedding venue recommended the Marriott Courtyard in Waukegan/Gurnee. It was more expensive then the other hotels in the area and a bit further away, but they offered something irresistible– a free shuttle to and from the wedding venue for all of our guests staying there. Since we had been contemplating hiring vans to shuttle our guests around so no one would drive drunk, this was a no-brainer. Plus, the Marriott has a good brand name and we felt confident things would go smoothly.
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:
