As soon as Pete Townshend weighed in on the subject, we knew it was coming: a Louisiana man has sued Apple, not for an iPod actually damaging his hearing, but because they potentially could. The story’s over at Consumer Affairs:
complaints
Consumers Speak (Update: Again): Sprint Cancels Previously Happy Customer
By 2.6.06
Update: Good lord, it’s our first dupe. We’re going to leave it up here for posterity’s sake, but our apologies. Got our email inboxes crossed.
Staples’ Purported New Image Submission Program
By 2.6.06
An anonymous Staples employee updates us with information about Staples’s new image conversion program, which likely stems from the kerfuffle that occurred when people thought Staples was charging a per-file ‘setup’ fee to print files from disks.
Consumers Speak: H&R Block’s Free Offer, Only $5.95
By 2.3.06
Dan F. writes in with this chat log from H&R Block’s online support system.
Here is the IM exchange I just had with H&R Block after attempting to use the “free” 1040 return service they pitched to me via e-mail. I own to some early crankiness but keep in mind their “fast” online response had kept me waiting a lot longer than it would have taken to do my taxes the old fashioned way:
BobSandler.com: Kicking Ass and Taking Names
By 2.3.06
This is certainly one way to garner the attention of an insurance company: Register a domain with the name of the company’s Chairman. BobSandler.com is the home of “21st Century Claim #286788,” where the story of a Jaguar S-Type, practically ruined by the penetrating front end of a Hummer H2, is told. Rather than total the car as requested, 21st Century chose to repair the vehicle.
Consumers Speak: 9 Month Wait For Amazon Phone Rebate
By 2.1.06
We rarely link to the Amazon phone rebates, but we have from time to time, and lots of other sites flog the hell out them. For good reason, apparently. Reader John R. — who in an amazing coincidence has the same first name and middle initial as myself — wrote in to admit his foolishness in buying a rebated phone through Amazon.com. A rebate, it should be mentioned, that doesn’t turn around for 9 months.
Hard Drives Should Come in Two Packs
By 2.1.06
Thomas Hawk got burnt by a LaCie Big Disk external hard drive—let his experience be a lesson to you. While LaCie’s products may be a middling quality, hard disks, as built with modern manufacturing techniques, should be presumed to be disposable. There was a time not that long ago that a hard disk would last many years, but those days are almost certainly over. We’re not sure exactly what has changed, but there’s a reason that hard disk manufacturers don’t offer five year warranties anymore.
Consumers Speak: iSold Your Stuff on eBay, But All You Got Was This Lousy Experience
By 1.31.06
Reader Ben P. writes with his horrible experiences with the Southern California ‘we sell your stuff on eBay’ chain, iSold.
I’ve sold items on eBay several times before, and while it’s a bit of a hassle, it never overwhelmed me. Late last year though, during a move, I had multiple items I thought would sell well on eBay that I couldn’t justify loading into the Uhaul, and having plenty on my plate with the move, thought I could just drop off at iSold it and wash my hands of the transaction. Their motto is after all: “The Easy Way to Sell on Ebay.”
Consumers Speak: Paying Twice for One Phone Number
By 1.30.06
Fun with number portability! You read Robert N’s and offer any advice, if you can. Our take? Sounds like he needs to escalate the issue with Earthlink. We don’t see how they can refuse to turn off his service if we requests it.
I have a story I would like to share regarding local number portability, and would like to solicit advice regarding an apparent black-hole for customer service:
Consumers Speak: “Poison Street Sushi”
By 1.27.06
e to dinner at Bond Street Sushi in Manhattan. He’d patronized the place a few times, and noted that it was cool and swanky. Aside from going to Nobu, I’m not sure if swanky is the best advert for sushi – but we went nonetheless.
Commentors Point / Counterpoint: Attitude Relevance in Good Customer Service
In response to a recent post in which we posited that a customer’s attitude when dealing with a CSR was important when trying to guarantee good service from the pallid, hateful peons of your local call service center, our comments section experienced a flurry of seven responses, arguing whether or not it made a lick of difference. Here’s a couple of the more interesting ones.