Yesterday, we wrote about a mother whose five-year-old child had diarrhea and was refused bathroom access by a local Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. She emailed us today to say she received a call from the Chief Operating Officer of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.
complaints
Chase Shrinks Credit Due Dates Without Warning, Profiting Off Fees
By 6.23.08
Got a Chase credit card? Check your bill to see if the due date shrunk. For the past ten months, the due date on reader NDphoxylady’s four Chase credit card due date was the fifteenth. Then, without warning or notice, it became the tenth. NDphoxylady only noticed when she was charged a $39 late fee and a $20 finance charge. When she complained to Chase, they told her that simply changing the due date on the bill was adequate notice. Nu-uh
AA Lies About Bad Weather To Deny Reader Compensation
By 6.23.08
Reader S knows his stuff when it comes to his rights as an airline passenger. He was flying on American Airlines (AA) and takeoff was delayed. AA said it was because of thunderstorms in Dallas. He called a friend in Dallas and they said “there isn’t a cloud in the sky.” AA later revealed the flight was actually delayed because they were waiting for a fax. It’s understandable why AA lied. Since this was something they had control over, it meant they owed several things to the delayed passengers. By lying and saying it was due to the weather, they could escape their obligation. The flight finally took off but reader S missed his connection and had to stay overnight in a hotel, a hotel room that American should have paid for. Inside, the letter S executive email carpet bombed after two customer service reps refused to listen to his story on the phone and an online form sent back a robotic received reply with no real results.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Refuses Bathroom Access to 5-Year-Old, Who Then Has Diarrhea In Front Of Them
By 6.23.08
A reader writes: “Last night we were out with friends and went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Bella Terra/Huntington Beach. We were eating outside as my 5 year old daughter got an uncontrollable urge to use the bathroom and began crying and screaming ‘diarrhea, diarrhea.’ I ran into the store with her in my arms, begging to use the bathroom and they refused multiple times.”
Men's Warehouse Thinks You've Lost Too Much Weight
By 6.23.08
Kudos to Travis! He lost 35 pounds recently, just in time for swimsuit season. Happy with his weight loss, he took his Men’s Wearhouse suits in for the free alterations for life he was promised at the time of purchase. Unfortunately, Men’s Wearhouse wasn’t as thrilled with Travis shedding his college beer belly. They called his weight loss too extreme for their free alteration program, and demanded $50 per pair of pants. See what Travis has to say about this, inside.
Dear New York Philharmonic: Please Don't Call Me In The Middle Of Performances To Ask For Money
By 6.21.08
As I enjoyed the New York Philharmonic’s production of Tosca this past Tuesday, I received a solicitation call. From the New York Philharmonic.
Allen's Bribes Customers Who Find Dead Rat Heads In Their Italian Green Beans
By 6.21.08
Texas wedding caterer Dale Cane found a dead rat’s head in one of the twenty cans of Allen’s Italian Green Beans he bought at Walmart. Allen’s quickly offered Cane $200 if he agreed to keep quiet, and assured him that “the Pasteurization process renders the product sterile and completely safe for consumption.” Even worse, this isn’t the first time a dead rat’s head popped up in a can of Allen’s Green Beans…
This Repaired Acer Laptop Needs More Screen Smudge
By 6.21.08
Joelle expected Acer to repair her chronically overheating laptop, not coat the inside of its screen with “a sort of brown dripping.” Acer insists that their shipping company caused the internal screen damage, and won’t repair the laptop unless Joelle pays up.
Listen Time Warner, The 60-Year-Old English Teacher Didn't Order $1,400 Of Porn
By 6.21.08
Time Warner wants reader Nancy, a 60-year-old English teacher, to pay $1,400 for ordering porn—including 17 flicks supposedly viewed on a single day. Nancy didn’t order the porn, and has no clue how the charges were associated with her cable box, but one useless Time Warner representative suggested: “maybe your dog ordered them.”
Powerpoint By Pissed Comcast Employee Reveals They Know Exactly How Much They Suck
By 6.20.08
It’s no secret to Consumerist readers that Comcast’s outsourced techs are often late, rude and incompetent, and that calling customer service is more akin to improving dialogue in a Beckett play, but as this exclusively obtained powerpoint made by a Comcast employee shows, it’s no secret to the cable company either. (I know the damn thing wasn’t officially created by Comcast corp. C’mon, give us more credit than that. It’s pretty obvious that it’s too funny to be official. I just meant to describe how it was created by a Comcast employee and passed around to other Comcast employees and came from inside Comcast. I realize now that “internal” makes it sound official, and that wasn’t my intention. I apologize for the confusion.) Watch and/or download the powerpoint, inside…
Angry U-Haul Manager Says You Stole A Truck
By 6.20.08
Now that it’s summer, many people are doing the moving thing. For some, this might mean renting a truck or trailer from U-Haul, like reader Ryan. He reserved a truck from U-Haul online well in advance of his move, but when he went in for pickup was told none were available. Ryan called corporate, who called the store and convinced the surly manager to give Ryan a truck. Three days after Ryan returned the truck, he got this voicemail from from U-Haul: “This is Alexandria U-Haul Rentals. Your rental truck was due three days ago and you haven’t returned it. If you don’t return our truck today I will call the police.” See how Ryan handled the situation, inside.
Closure For NYMag Sub Never Ordered, Collections Threatened
By 6.18.08
How would you feel to learn that not only had your household become subscribed to a magazine against its will, you were not getting threats that your account was overdue and was about to be sent to a debt-collection agency? That’s exactly what happened to husband and wife Keith and Stacy with New York Magazine. After our post went up about them, NYmag, wanting to defend what Communications Manager Lauren Starke called, “the good name of our circulation department—one of the most solid in the industry.” We put them in contact with Keith. After a flurry of testy emails between the two, here’s what happened.
Sears Replaces Your Dishwasher With A Defective One, Then Says "See You In July!"
By 6.18.08
As part of a full kitchen upgrade, reader Sean purchased a $1300 dishwasher from Sears. Shortly after he received the unit, he realized it was defective. Sears directed him to an outsourced service company called OneSource. During the phone call to OneSource, Sean logged over 3 hours of hold time and was bounced around to 11 different CSRs, but they did nothing to help. Eventually, he got with Sears Executive customer service who said that they couldn’t replace the washer until July. Now, Sean can’t even wash his dishes because his hot water isn’t connected and his garbage disposal leaks water. Sean’s letter, inside…
CVS Doesn't Like Kids
By 6.18.08
Lisa sent us a short angry email about her local CVS, and how it treats local teens. Her local store separates customers into two lines, and the line containing the 18 and under crowd is only allowed into the store two at a time. The store employees say it’s to keep down shoplifting. Lisa thinks it’s blatant ageism, and she’s avoiding the store from now on. Teens can be annoying, but did CVS cross the line in punishing all for the bad actions of a few? Read her letter and leave your comments, inside.
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Garden Salsa Sun Chips
By 6.17.08
These Sun Chips have shrunk from 11.5 oz to 10.5 oz and are still being sold at the same price. “Not even healthy foods that normally are already sold in smaller portions are safe,” says tipster MasonTwo who spotted these on the shelves at Walmart. CNN says the products most vulnerable to the Grocery Shrink Ray are paper towels, potato chips, sticks of gum, toilet paper, detergent and candy bars. Hey, look at the bright side, maybe the Grocery Shrink Ray is just what we need to fight the obesity crisis.
Tony Roma Corporate Responds To Shrinking Beer Complaint
By 6.17.08
Tony Roma corporate sent Alex the following response to his complaint over being sold a 16 oz beer and getting a 14 oz beer instead:
