Reader George is having serious trouble with Geek Squad. It started when he bought a laptop from Best Buy a few years ago. He sent it in to get a loose AC jack replaced. They replace it. Two months later, it’s loose again. It’s replaced again, but this time, when his picks it up, the door to the DVD/CD drive is warped and won’t open. George’s in a hurry, so he asked the Geek to make a note about the damage, and he’ll bring it back for repair. From here on out, nothing goes right. First they can’t find his account, then they can’t find the note, then they can’t find his computer, then they can’t work their own computers. His full story, inside.
complaints
Best Buy Calls Cops On You For Telling Fellow Customer Jawbone Headset Is Overpriced, Sucks
By 3.27.08
Best Buy called the cops on Alex because he told another shopper that the Jawbone headset he was considering was poor quality and marked up $30 from the manufacturer’s price. Alex went to Best Buy to purchase a new Bluetooth headset because the Jawbone he recently purchased from Verizon wasn’t cutting it. While browsing the headsets, he struck up a conversation with another customer who was checking out the Jawbone. Alex told his fellow customer that he had been disappointed in the quality of the Jawbone, and that Best Buy was charging $30 more than the manufacturer or Verizon. A sales associate overheard this and told the manager, who asked Alex to leave the store, then threatened to call the police, then did.
eBayed BMW M3 Resolution Hits Pothole
By 3.27.08
The guy who won a BMW for $60k on eBay only to have the dealership back out is chaffing at the conditions the dealership imposed after the two, following an international onslaught of criticism, came to terms. The two conditions the dealership asked for were 1) That Ken not sell the car for a certain number of years after he bought it and 2) That Ken has to go around to all the internet sites that picked up his story and tell them that the dealership worked out the deal. Ken’s lawyer was able to get the first one struck but Ken really doesn’t like the second one, especially after the following quote from the dealership appeared in the Journal-Star, “These bloggers out there, they have lots of time on their hands to do this.” To this, Ken wrote, “I got placed under the impression that the dealership really isn’t sorry for anything they have done here. Their attitude, it seemed was that I am to blame for the firestorm that culminated, implying that I wasn’t being proactive enough in getting the word out…I had no intention of becoming a pawn for this dealer, not after the way they treated me!” For their part, the dealership says they are ready to sell the car at the agreed-upon price once they receive payment from Ken.
CVS Underfills Your Prescription, Treats You Like A Junkie
By 3.26.08
CVS underfilled Shannon’s prescription and then treated her like a junkie when she complained. According to her email, after Shannon picked up her regular monthly batch of 60 Kolonopin pills, an anticonvulsant, she realized CVS only gave her 30. She called CVS and they insisted they gave her 60 pills. Shannon encouraged them to check their inventory, which CVS said was impossible. Shannon then asked them to fill one of the refills for the script. CVS told her that insurance wouldn’t cover more than 60 pills in 30 days. Shannon said that was fine, seeing as it’s dangerous to suddenly stop taking the drug, she would pay out of pocket. CVS then told her they would not do the refill “under any circumstances” and they would note her record for “drug-seeking behavior…”
OverstockDealz.com Thinks A $8 Cable Is A 30gb Zune
By 3.25.08
Reader Eric wants a Zune. He found a great deal on a refurbished one at overstockdealz.com, placed his order, and a few days later received his package. It contained an $8 Zune cable. Here’s his letter:
North Vancouver Comfort Inn's "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" Is More Like 10-15%
By 3.25.08
A man wrote in to travel writer Christopher Elliott to complain about the awful experience he and his wife had with Comfort Inn & Suites in North Vancouver, British Columbia. When they checked in, they were surprised with a “free upgrade,” but found the room was unclean and lacked linens. They asked to be given the room they initially reserved, then discovered the water was lukewarm during their entire visit, and the coffee machine was broken. The hotel’s ice machine was also broken. Richard said in each case he complained to the front desk but only got an apology—and when he contacted Choice Hotels to complain, they told him he should have brought the issues to the attention of the hotel, and consequently they would not honor their 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.
FiOS Is Great, If Verizon Ever Manages To Actually Install It
By 3.25.08
Ben is getting some crappy customer service from Verizon in attempting to get FiOS installed. His phone is disconnected, they made a half-assed install, don’t show up for installs, don’t call, oh, and he still doens’t have FiOS. He writes:
To file amongst other I hate Verizon articles. Typing and summarizing while on hold with Verizon for approximately the 8th time…
Citibank Uses Sneaky Way To Keep Sending You Junk Mail Even After You "Opt Out"
By 3.25.08
After he continued to receive mailings for months from his bank after he thought he opted out of their mailings, reader Perre asked Citibank if they had honored his request. They said, “yes you’re opted out of Balance Transfer offers and Cash Convenience Checks.” Then he cleverly thought to ask which mailing lists he was still opted in. Citibank told him he was still on “Sales and Marketing” and “Third Party Sharing.” They explained this by saying when you call to opt-out, they only take you off “in-statement offers.” We’re not sure what that means, it sounds like they’re just agreeing to not put additional marketing offers in your billing statement envelope, which is definitely not what any normal person would have in mind when they call to opt-out. Sneaky. When you call a company to opt-out of their mailings, be sure to also ask which lists you’re opted in, and then ask to get off those as well.
We Post, SONY Replaces Long-Languishing Laptop
By 3.24.08
After Daniela’s SONY laptop was stuck in a warranty repair purgatory for months and a SONY tech screamed at her over the phone accusing her of warranty fraud, her story appeared on The Consumerist. Now she happily writes:
Almost immediately after my article was posted on the consumerist, I received a friendly and extremely apologetic call from a Sony exec. Before even calling me, he had reviewed my case and agreed fully that they were in the wrong. He apologized and offered to have my notebook repaired immediately!
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…
The 10 Lies A Door-to-Door Alarm Salesman Tells
By 3.19.08
Taylor sells home alarm systems door-to-door, and he is the devil, lying, manipulating, and preying on customer’s fears push a product. Now he has stepped forward to confess/brag about his sins: [More]
United Can't Find A Power Outlet On A Plane For Your Life Saving Medical Device
By 3.17.08
Reader Glenn was traveling to Thailand with a group of friends. Glenn and another member of the group have issues with Sleep Apnea, a potentially life threatening disorder where sufferers stop breathing in their sleep. Fortunately, a simple medical device called a C-Pap machine can be used during sleep to correct the problem. So Glenn, being the informed responsible consumer he is, contacted the airline the group was booked on, United, to make sure that he’d be able to use his C-Pap machine during the god-awfully long trip from Boston to Thailand. United said, sure, no problem, they’d be able to get him an outlet for his machine. Then, they canceled his booking. Without telling him. But wait! It gets worse!
HP Replaces Missing Laptop After 3 Months
By 3.16.08
Remember N? He last saw his laptop in December after shipping it to HP for desperately needed repairs. After posting the story HP reached out to N, who tells us that he just received a spanking new machine. Read N’s reaction and his tips for handling similar situations, after the jump.
New Report Says FCC Fails At Tracking Customer Complaints
By 3.14.08
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report yesterday that says that while the FCC processes about 95% of the complaints that come in, it takes some sort of enforcement action in only about 9% of them. “The GAO said it was unable to determine why the [other] investigations were closed without action because ‘FCC does not systematically collect these data.'” The FCC uses five separate databases and “about 46,000 paper files” to track complaints, and the GAO said “made it difficult to get answers to basic questions like how long it takes the agency to close an investigation and the total dollar amount it assesses in fines.”
Honda Ignores Civic SI Owners' Complaints About Faulty Transmissions
By 3.14.08
A bunch of Honda owners are mad because they think Honda should issue a recall on their cars due to their transmission, things like randomly deciding to pop out of third gear into neutral and not fully engaging. When these owners confront Honda, the car company kept saying “we’ve never heard of the problem before,” despite numerous complaints being sent in, and dealers say they “can’t replicate” the problem. There’s a writeup of the whole problem at AutomotiveTech.org, a list of message board forum members with the problem, and now, Fox 6 San Diego picked up on it after angry owners organized a protest at a local dealership. Suddenly, Honda’s tune has changed, and they’re “aware of the problem” and “investigating.” Video after the jump.
Wanna See The Red Sox Play The Reds? You Must Also Buy Tickets To Three Other Games
By 3.14.08
A Bostonian now living in Cincinnati, reader Patrick was excited to see that this year’s Major League Baseball schedule includes a Red Sox at Reds series. He went to the Reds’ ticket website to buy tickets for his family, friends, and himself. That’s where things got ridiculous.
