It seems that everything isn’t going so swimmingly during the transition from LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. One reader says that a check he deposited and has a receipt for has mysteriously disappeared…
chicago
Chase Closes Bank Account, Hold Money Hostage
By 5.7.08
What makes the next story about reader Pavel trying to get satisfaction from Chase executive customer service so interesting is that Pavel himself is Executive Assistant to the President of his company. He knows how executive customer service is supposed to work. As he puts in, he has the ability to “walk on water” within in his company. Which makes his experience with Chase, where they closed his account for having a zero-balance for less than a week, and then held his money hostage, all the more frustrating…
9 Foods You're Not Allowed To Buy
By 5.2.08
Fortune magazine has compiled a list of 9 “forbidden’ foods that have been banned (for some reason or another) in the US. Trans fats in NYC, foie gras in Chicago… Here’s the list:
Suburban Chicago Hospital Will Close After Being Crushed By Too Many Uninsured Patients
By 4.3.08
In a stunning development underscoring the plight of non-profit hospitals struggling with the increase in uninsured patients, the Catholic ownership of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center on Wednesday said it will shutter the hospital because nobody would buy it.
By 3.28.08
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Suburban Chicago-based Sears Holding has named John W. Froman as president of tools and lawn operations. This makes Mr. Froman the “Tool and Lawn King of Chicago.” [BusinessWeek]
Nasty Spring Snowstorm Affecting Flights In And Out Of Chicago
By 3.21.08
Just thought I’d get the word out… Chicago is getting smacked with a spring snowstorm. I just went outside and it’s nearly white-out conditions outside.
The FAA says:
Mugger Used Our Credit Card, Now CapitalOne Sued Us Without Us Knowing For $1200 And Won
By 3.20.08
Andrew’s wife got mugged, the thief rand up purchases on her credit card, and now CapitalOne has sued them for $1200 and won. How can this be? Andrew writes:
In May of 2005 my wife was mugged at one of the elevated train stations in Chicago. After calling the police and filing a police report, she started calling each credit card company to cancel each account. Except she forgot about one card, her CapitalOne card. A card hardly ever used and only had a $500.00 limit…
Chicago Hospital Freaks, Nearly Bans Visitor For Taking Photo From Window
By 3.6.08
Kurt was at Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago yesterday, where his father is in rehab after a recent stroke, and he was nearly kicked out because he took a photo of the setting sun out the window from a hallway.
Before even reviewing the picture, I heard a woman yell, “What do you think you’re doing?!” I looked up, seeing an angry looking woman briskly coming down the hall at me.
“Taking a photo of the sun,” I replied.
“You’re in a hospital!” she shrilly declared.
“Yes, obviously.”
“I’ve called security, you stay here!”
How Companies Make Money Pissing You Off
By 1.28.08
A story in Bob Sullivan’s new book Gotcha Capitalism shows one of the first points when companies realized they could make more money by getting rid of their customers. The year was 1995, and First National Bank of Chicago decided to charge customers a $3 fee for talking to a teller. The move was lambasted in the press and by comedians, and analysts predicted a severe decline in profits as customers fled in protest. Instead, First National Bank’s percentage of customers producing an “adequate return” went from 33% to 45%, and profit went up 28%. How does this work? Bob writes:
…satisfying the right customers is the goal, but pissing off the wrong customers is equally important…[D]epositors with large accounts were exempt from such fees…Only irritating customers with tiny bank accounts who asked a lot of questions went elsewhere….Chasing away undesirable customers with outrageous fees has been an important element of the banking business ever since.
And every other service industry as well.
Owner Still Has To Pay For Dead Cat's Banfield Health Plan
By 1.16.08
Sarah Harper was surprised to learn she would have to keep making payments on her cat’s “wellness plan” even after the cat was dead. She was told that she had signed a one-year contract and would have to honor it. Though the service sold by Banfield pet hospitals is packaged like and sounds like insurance, it’s not, it’s a payment plan. The media kit Banfield sends to reporters explicitly says “wellness plans are not insurance policies.” The contract does say that owners will still have to make payments even if the animal has passed away. However, brochures provided to consumers don’t say anything like that, instead saying things like it’s, “”the best preventive care your pet needs to maximize its life,” and that after you enroll, “your pet is on its way to a happier, healthier and longer life!” Catveat emptor.
Passengers Claim They Were "Held Hostage" For 33 Hours On United Airlines
By 1.9.08
Passengers on a flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago claim that they were delayed for 33 hours while United Airlines loaded them on and off two broken planes. One passenger compared the ordeal to being “held hostage,” says FOX Chicago.
Continental Strands You In Newark With Your Cat, Offers $75 Voucher
By 12.26.07
I just received about the lamest answer from Continental after presenting them with my complaint, a $75 coupon. I was flying into Ponce, through Newark on the 11th of December. Due to weather, supposedly, I missed my connection in Newark and I was left at 1AM, with no bags or vouchers, or apologies, or upgrades of any sort. The next flight was 24 hours away, only one flight a day. I’m attaching the emails I’ve exchanged with them in hope that you’ll publish them and perhaps cause them some well-deserved shame and bad publicity. I can’t believe they boast of ‘best in customer satisfaction.’
Comcast Installers Save 2 From Burning Building
By 12.14.07
Comcast gets a lot of knocks around here but you gotta give a thumbs up to these three Comcast installers who saved two people from a burning building building in Chicago. The contractors were on their way to install when they saw flames coming from a building with a pharmacy downstairs and residences upstairs. They turned around, got a ladder off their truck, and started banging on the windows. “If it weren’t for the cable workers, I’d probably be burnt up,” said one of the tenants. The fire department says the fire was started by a thrown Moltov cocktail, but perhaps they should also check if any FiOs trucks were in the nearby vicinity.
Countrywide Subpoenaed by Illinois Attorney General
By 12.14.07
Lisa Madigan, the attorney general of Illinois, is investigating subprime mortgage lender Countrywide “as part of the state’s expanding inquiry into dubious lending practices that have trapped borrowers in high-cost mortgages they can no longer afford,” says the New York Times.
DirecTV Screws Reader Six Ways From Sunday Night Football
By 12.10.07
About six months ago I moved into my apartment in Chicago to learn that the only service available was with DirecTV. Not only that, but we were forced to use MDU communications, a DirecTV reseller. With no options for television, I reluctantly purchased my own HD receiver off eBay (The HR-20) to avoid entering into a contract with them for two years. When I received my unit, I called MDU to sign up and the CSR at MDU told me that since I had my own receiver, I could sign directly up with DirecTV. Awesome I thought, I can cut out the middle man. The CSR at MDU even transferred me to DirecTV account set up line himself.
American Airlines Avoids Fines For Chronically Late Flights
By 12.10.07
The Associated Press is taking the Transportation Department to task over data that seems to contradict its own findings. American Airlines operated two flights that have been late over 70% of the time for 3 consecutive quarters, making AA eligible for a total of $50,000 in fines, says the AP, but the DOT has failed to act.
Bank Of America Uses Outdated Photo Of Chicago In Ad Touting "Local Commitment"
By 11.28.07
Now that the LaSalle Bank merger is complete, Bank of America is looking to win over the notoriously neophobic population of America’s 3rd largest city. To that end they’ve taken out a full page ad in Crain’s touting Bank of America’s “local commitment” and ability to provide “global capabilities” to businesses that want “every competitive advantage.”
Great Moments In Commercial History: Lincoln Insurance
By 11.28.07
Eagle Insurance started it, but when Lincoln Insurance put our 16th president in a prison outfit complete with striped top hat, we knew they had something special.
