Chris gave Comcast a heads up that he was moving and wanted to arrange a transfer date ahead of time, and they disconnected his present internet access instead. Gahhhhhhh! Ahhhh!!! When he made various calls to various Comcast departments, various employees agreed it was messed up, but all refused to actually solve the problem. So Chris, using some email addresses we posted, sent out a well-crafted executive email carpet bomb…
complaints
Domino's Litters Your Driveway With Coupons, Rocks And Ziplocs
By 6.16.08
Not content with contaminating your mailbox or using your windshield wiper as coupon clip, Domino’s has found a new hi-tech method of distributing coupons using the concept of inertial mass combined with a transparent weatherproof barrier. Ok, it’s actually just a Ziploc filled with coupons and rocks. Reader Will arrived home to discover the baggies littering his driveway and those of his neighbors’. We assume that the rocks allow the lazy Domino’s employees to easily fling the bundles out of their car windows and help keep the baggie weighted down. Will’s letter, inside…
25 Reasons Why Cable Technicians Hate You
By 6.13.08
It is no secret that we dole out criticism of the cable companies, perhaps, on a daily basis. We thought it might be fair and equitable to learn what cable technicians hate about the customers. We found out about this post written by a cable tech who isn’t afraid to let it fly, “And every once in a while, we get the one customer, and we just fucking hate you,” says “InstallerTechJeff” on Cable Rant Forums. The 25 reasons, inside…
Pour Some Hate Juice On This Obnoxious Diamond Ad
By 6.11.08
Apropos of today’s Worst Company In America matchup between DeBeers and Exxon, Wesa Anderson sends us this EE Robbins diamond ad seen on the side of a Seattle bus. See, the way it works is the more you spend, the more man you are. No girl can resist a big rock. Hey, maybe I should make extra cash drafting taglines for EE Robbins.
Check Serial Numbers On Used Service Gadgets Before Buying
By 6.11.08
Reader Mike reports he got screwed buying a used TiVo off eBay. It turned out 1) It would need a new $20 access card for DirecTV to activate it and 2) DirecTV wouldn’t authorize sending a new access card because the box was linked to a defaulted account. The lesson Mike says he learned is that, “If anyone plans on buying any used DirectTV equipment make sure you call DirectTV with the Serial Number and RID number off the unit BEFORE you purchase it to make sure it’s not coming from a defaulted account. If not, you chance buying an electronic brick.” This is true when buying other used electronic service items with service contracts linked to them, like cellphones.
Why Is The Cheesecake Factory Kitchen Being Run By A Drill Sergeant?
By 6.10.08
Reader T is wondering why the Cheesecake Factory’s kitchen is being run by a drill sergeant. He says his meal was ruined by the “unrelenting, verbal assaults” that were wafting from the open kitchen into the dining room where he and the restaurant’s other customers were trying to eat.
Mother Saves Family From WaMu Foreclosure With Consumerist's Executive Contact Info
By 6.10.08
Arlene got behind on her mortgage payments and had been trying for 6 months to contact her lender, Washington Mutual, to see if they could work out a deal. All she found was disconnections, non-returned phone calls, contradictory information, and no answers. After reading my article in Reader’s Digest about ways to get customer satisfaction she sent me an email. She was ready to try the “town crier” method, where you stand outside the business passing out copies of your complaint letter, but we gave her some executive contact info to try first before wasting any money at Kinko’s. Arlene says that thanks to the phone numbers we gave her, “They are going to suspend the foreclosure for 60 days and work with me on the payments for a set period of time which is all I ever wanted them to do.” Once again, the almighty power of executive customer service has been revealed. Arlene’s original email, inside…
Sears Auto Sucks As Hard As Sears Repair
By 6.10.08
While Sears Auto may not be the division of Sears that leaves you without hot water for three weeks, or refuses to refund the money on the TV they never delivered, they are the division that magnificently screws up changing a tire then tries to bill you for the labor it took them to fix their mistake. Reader R writes in to tell us when he needed to replace a damaged tire, Sears Auto had the cheapest price. After three hours and two different tires, he left Sears Auto with the damaged tire he drove in with. Sears botched the first attempt at a tire change by giving him a tire in the wrong size, then presented him with a bill for the additional labor it took them to get it right. When R balked at paying to fix their mistake, the manager on duty put the busted tire back on the car. Classy! Read his story, inside.
BBB Complaint Gets LA Fitness To Refund $5620 They Stole From You 3 Years Ago
By 6.9.08
I was ripped off to the tune of $5620. They refused for 3 years to refund my money. Then they told me I have I have no recourse. It was electronic funds transfer for personal training that I never authorized. The people who did it were fired shortly after. It had happened to several other members, and most of the cases were settled. Except mine.
Subway's Gift Card Machine Is Indefinitely Broken
By 6.9.08
Reader Kristina was hungry and ready to make use of her Subway $20 gift card, however, when she tried to redeem it at the Subway store at Water and Wall St. in Manhattan, the transaction unfolded like this:
Ten-Hour Greyhound Bus Trip Turns Into 26-Hour Odyssey For Teenager
By 6.9.08
WAFF reports that Greg Moore, age 15, took a Greyhound bus from Opelika, Alabama to Athens, Georgia which is normally a 10 hour trip. But because of unannounced re-reroutes, the trip was extended to a brutal 26 hours. Greg’s family was alarmed because they didn’t know where he was during that time, and only received scant information from Greyhound. To make matters worse, $900 worth of belongings had been stolen from his lost luggage which he didn’t receive until a week later. More, inside…
Bank of America Loses Customer When CSR Doesn't Get Her Morning Coffee
By 6.9.08
Here’s yet another reason to avoid Bank of America, from reader Alison. She received a call on a Saturday at 8:30 in the morning from Bank of America, to deal with an issue she resolved the previous night. She was not pleased with being roused so early on the weekend, so she called BOA to request they disturb her no earlier than 9:00 am, especially on the weekends. The cranky CSR answering her call not only told her such a request was impossible, but added “Well, I have to be at work at 7 in the morning, ma’am.” Alison didn’t feel that was adequate justification for waking her up, and is closing her account. She told her story in an EECB to Bank of America, and let us listen in. Read her email, inside.
Meet The Coupon-Throwing Papa John's Owner From Hell
By 6.8.08
Papa John’s wouldn’t let reader Adi redeem her coupon for a $9.99 extra-large pizza online, so she trekked over to the nearest store in Weymouth, Massachusetts, where she met the franchise owner from hell. The owner insisted that the coupon didn’t apply to online orders, so Adi asked to cancel her online order and re-order her pizza in person to get the discount. This prompted the owner to angrily throw the coupon at Adi, before throwing away her ready-made pizza. And was just the start of the fun…
Northwest's Coach Choice Seats Are A Complete Waste Of Money
By 6.5.08
Reader Chris wrote in to warn us off Northwest’s “Coach Choice” seat upgrade. On a recent trip, he was offered the opportunity to upgrade to a “Coach Choice” seat for an extra $30 per seat. He eagerly forked over $60 for two upgrades, and was shocked and angry at what that Northwest gave him in return. See what a “Coach Choice” seat means to NWA, inside.
Greg's Office Max Freakout
By 6.5.08
This guy on San Fran’s “Woody Show” goes into Office Max, twice, and loses his shit after every item he brings up to the counter rings up higher than its shelf-price. Not only does no one seem to care, one employee even insinuates that the complainant might be partially at fault for Office Max’s inability to shelve things in the right place. Neither disc jockey, producer, crazed customer, Office Max employees number 1 and 2, nor Office Max Manager seem to realize that if the item is found on the store shelves under a certain price, as long as the description matches the product, the store has to honor the price. It’s the law. In addition to a an amusing radio clip and animation, The Woody Show also has material here for a complaint to their state’s Attorney General. Video, inside…
BCBS Double Copay On Thyroid Meds
By 6.5.08
Mary is freaking out because BCBS of Maryland just doubled the copay on her thyroid meds. Times are tight, and Mary doesn’t have a thyroid. The insurance companies have been telling her for years that Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs is a generic, now BCBS has classified it as not being generic. She’s pretty ticked, and considering getting married to her fiance early just to get on his insurance. Her letter, and how she might save $200.32 a year, inside.
115F Degree Ice-Cold Coca-Cola
By 6.5.08
Reader Stevenson was doing some grocery shopping in the heat of the afternoon, one summer’s day. Feeling parched, he located a Coca-Cola machine which appeared to him as a merciful desert oasis, or maybe it was just a mirage. Eager to quench his thirst, he hastily fed a dollar bill into the machine. He reached into the machine with the expectation of cool tasty relief, but what he retrieved from the bowels of the mechanical hell-beast was a bottle of Coke that was so f’ng hot he could barely maintain his grip. Shocked and confused, he looked around and caught a glimpse of the machine’s digital readout that mockingly read “ICE COLD COCA COLA 115F.” Stevenson’s letter, inside…
