Consumerist

complaints

Man Jailed For Threatening To Rob BofA After They Robbed Him

By Ben Popken 2.1.10

An unemployed 40-year old mechanic is in the clink after he threatened to rob Bank of America as revenge for an erroneous service fee. He’s in jail on $75,000 bond, which neither he or his 72-year old frequent surgery recipient mother can afford. The man he was arrested after he called a local news channel and told them to show up tomorrow as he was going to rob the bank. It was unclear how he planned on pulling off the heist. Maybe he was going to raise their APR without notice?

Man Infuriated By Overdraft Fee Jailed After Threatening To Rob Bank [Huffington Post]

airlines

Check Out The Department Of Transportation's New Site For Airline Passengers

By cwalters 1.29.10

If you’ve got a complaint about an airline, or you want to find out more about whether your complaint is valid, oh boy is there a treat in store for you! Earlier this month, the DOT launched a redesigned consumer aviation website at airconsumer.dot.gov. The goal of the site is “to make it as easy as possible for consumers to find the information they need to make their air travel experience as smooth and hassle-free as possible.” [More]

readers

Every Time VW Fixes My Car, They Break Something Else

By Ben Popken 1.27.10

Amy’s ’06 VW Passat has been in the shop 106 of the past 141 days. After the engine broke down on a road trip and needed replacing, VW replaced it, but broke the transmission. When they replaced the transmission, they broke an axle. When they fixed the axle, the car started leaking oil worse than the Valdez. All Amy and her family want to be able to do is drive their car around like normal. So far, that’s not happening, and VW’s only offer of contrition has been to waive one car payment and $250 in services. So Amy launched her EECB, complete with a graph of how long VW has held her car hostage: [More]

complaints

Twitter Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed

By Meg Marco 1.21.10

The burgeoning Twitter libel defense industry was dealt a blow recently when the infamous Twitter defamation lawsuit was dismissed. Apparently, it is quite difficult to craft a Tweet that fits the legal requirements for defamation in this country. [More]

readers

UPS Insists On Chucking My Packages Over The Fence

By Ben Popken 1.15.10

UPDATE: UPS Promises To Stop Catapulting Your Packages [More]

business strategies

Transforming Online Kvetchers Into Brand Boosters

By Ben Popken 12.15.09

Researchers announced that consumers who kvetch using social media are more likely than others to also spread positive word of mouth online. [More]

Review Fraud

Apple Bans 1,000+ Apps After Developer Is Caught Faking Reviews

By cwalters 12.8.09

Apple just swung the banhammer pretty hard at Molinker, a development company, after a customer named Patrick Timney pointed out that the majority of reviews on Molinker apps were fake. Until yesterday, the company had 1,011 apps on the App Store, mostly easy-to-knock-out travel guides for 99 cents each. Now they’re all gone, and Apple’s VP Phil Schiller told iPhoneography, “Yes, this developer’s apps have been removed from the App Store and their ratings no longer appear either.” [More]

loyalty programs

Senator Wants Investigation Of Frequent Flyer Programs

By cwalters 11.23.09

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is calling for a probe of frequent flyer programs to determine whether they deliver the value that they promise. In particular, he wants the Department of Transportation to look into the issue of evaporating miles, a relatively new phenomenon brought introduced via expiration dates in recent years.

creditreport.com

Mint Upselling To "Free"CreditReport.com

By Ben Popken 11.23.09

It didn’t take long for Intuit to start ruining a great product. They’ve begun upselling Mint.com customers to two “free” credit report sites that are anything but. UPDATE: Turns out Mint was already doing this pre-Intuit. Bully for them.

fast-food

Wow, Wendy's Really Does Take It Seriously

By cwalters 11.17.09

We’re always making fun of companies who overuse the phrase “taking it seriously,” but it looks like Wendy’s isn’t playing around. An anonymous tipster found a chicken bone in his Wendy’s sandwich, and got taken very seriously when he reported it.

base jumping

United Loses $12,418.28 Of Famous Rock Climber Steph Davis's Gear

By Ben Popken 10.30.09

Pro rock climber and base jumper Steph Davis is always superstitious about her last “flight.” On any trip, the last jump off the cliff in her wing suit, she’s sure something will go wrong. Recently, her fears came true, but not while hurtling herself off the Eiger. It was her flight on United, who lost $12,418.28 of her gear, including parachute.

cable

Reach Comcast Corporate Escalations

By Ben Popken 10.28.09

Frank Eliason is a great pointman for escalating Comcast customer service issues, but what if he dies, gets promoted, a new job, or decides we’re all just too annoying? Then you might want to have some backup executive customer service info:

readers

TD Bank: Man's $100,000 Misplaced

By Ben Popken 10.15.09

Zach’s $100,000 CD with TD Bank he took out on 10/5 was mysteriously showing a $0 balance and no one seemed able to fix it until we told him what to do. TD Bank PR says it wasn’t related to their clusterfunk of delays that started Sep 28. Zach’s experience says otherwise.

readers

Verizon Snatches Away Divorced Man's Unlimited Broadband Plan

By Ben Popken 10.13.09

They say that for people going through a divorce it can feel like you’re losing half of yourself. As if it that wasn’t bad enough, Verizon Wireless has taken away William’s unlimited broadband plan on the account he used to share with his wife.

CPUC

PG&E Charges $1000/Month For Electricity Used In The 70's

By Ben Popken 10.9.09

PG&E has decided to start billing Josh’s parents for electricity from the 1970’s, to the tune of nearly $1000 per month.

credit scores

Freescore.com Sues Yahoo To Reveal Blogger's Identity

By cwalters 9.28.09

Freescore.com is one of those online companies that offers a free trial, and then attempts to enroll its customers in a $30/month subscription service. Now they’re suing Yahoo in an attempt to reveal an anonymous blogger who quoted a Reuters article when criticizing the service, and who pointed out that Freescore is owned by a company with a reputation for billing customers without permission.

fees

Reverse Sneaky Fees With These Free Complaint Letters

By Ben Popken 9.21.09

Want to claim a missing rebate, or reverse sneaky cable, bank, cellphone or hotel fee? These free complaint letter templates posted by Gotcha Capitalism and Red Tape Chronicles author Bob Sullivan are a godsend. It’s like Madlibs for money.

lawsuits

So You Want To Sue The Company That's Screwing You Over

By cwalters 9.18.09

Jon wants us to recommend a good lawyer to sue HP for screwing him over on laptop repairs. We do not offer legal advice like that. We do, however, believe strongly in the power of small claims court.

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complaints