Reader Mary says that she ordered Verizon FiOS during the “free LCD TV” promotion they were running, but she still hasn’t received the letter she needs in order to start the rebate process.
complaints
Asking For Lower APR Gets Juniper iTunes Rewards VISA Card Closed Against Man's Will
By 3.3.08
Thomas writes:
If you don’t use your Juniper iTunes Rewards VISA (issued by Barclay’s) for an entire year, they close the card and report to the credit agencies that you requested to close it. I’ve learned that when I called to inquire about a lower rate on 2/26, the agent canceled my account.
Dear HP: It Has Been Three Months Since I Last Saw My Laptop
By 3.2.08
For three months, HP has promised to return reader N’s laptop within the next ten days. N sent his HP Pavillion for repairs in December after his screen became a blurry mess incapable of displaying anything as basic as say, oh, a tracking page. HP insists that they fixed the laptop, but they won’t ship it back to N. Conveniently, the one-year warranty expired last month.
Bank Of America Stranded Me In Japan Without Cash On My Honeymoon
By 3.1.08
Before leaving for his honeymoon, Derek called Bank of America to make sure he could rely on his debit card while he was in Japan. Bank of America assured him that he would have no problem accessing money. Yet on the third day of his honeymoon, neither he nor his wife could draw cash from their cards, stranding them with only $15 in cash.
Complain Like A Nice Old Man
By 2.29.08
If you want to have a successful complaint, it helps to complain like Gerald. That’s the father-in-the law of this WSJ writer, and he’s able to perform daring feats of consumer action, like the time he got the hardware store to replace the $800 grill that stopped working a year after he bought it. Here’s how he does it:
Microsoft Doesn't Know Why You Can't Access Any Of Your Saved Games
By 2.28.08
Reader Brad took his XBOX Live Gamertag to a friend’s house. When he got home, he realized that he’d forgotten his memory card (with the Gamertag on it) at his friend’s place.
"For Security Purposes, This Card Is Not Active" Is A Lie
By 2.28.08
When you get a new or replacement credit card in the mail, you have to call the number on the back to activate it, or else you can’t use it, right? Wrong. Despite the sticker on the back that says, “For security purposes, this card is not active,” credit card companies are mailing out cards that can be used without phone activation. This is a problem if the letter containing your credit card is intercepted by an identity thief, like what happened to reader PC Guy. The kicker? He didn’t even request the card, it was a forcible reissue when his store-branded card switched from Visa to Mastercard. His story, inside.
ING Direct Doesn't Care You Never Got Your $1400
By 2.27.08
Rob writes:
I was the recipient of an international wire transfer into my Netbank Checking Account for $1000 EUR (about $1400 US) on 2007-08-08. After I noticed the amount didn’t post to my account, I contacted Netbank and the sending bank in Spain. The sending bank generated a multi-page “proof of transfer” document and indicated the money had been transfered. Netbank never got back to me. This began the 7 month nightmare of dealing with an inattentive bank in the middle of it’s being seized by the FDIC that continues to this day.
Pictured: CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann perched atop his Harley-Davidson in the ING-Direct company lobby.
3 Months, 21 Customer Service Calls, 1 Tech Visit And No Working Verizon DSL
By 2.26.08
Starting in November, reader Roberta has called Verizon 21 times about her lack of DSL, and has yet to reach a resolution. She also launched two EECBs, both of which were ignored.
UPS Heaps 25 Boxes At Your Door In Messy Pile
By 2.26.08
There’s no better way to say “we don’t give a damn about your business” than to deliver 25 boxes stacked against your door in a slovenly pile. A reader writes:
Very Strange Circuit City iPod Touch Bait And Switch
By 2.26.08
Ian writes:
Last Thursday 2/14, I ordered a 32GB iPod touch from CircuitCity.com at $474 + tax for a total of about $514. After thinking about it for a bit, I logged back in and canceled the order – just a bit too steep for an iPod, you know? I figured I’d have to wait a while for the price to drop, and left it at that. Well, believe it or not, I received a call at work today from a Circuit City sales rep at corporate telling me he’d offer me the iPod at a discount, so CC could keep my business. I was baffled – nothing like this has ever happened to me before, but the price he gave me $420 + tax… was too good to pass up.
Email To BoA Exec Reduces APR In Face Of Rude CSRs
By 2.25.08
Donald writes:
First and foremost i would like to thank you for the wonderful site. The information found here has been extremely useful. With that said i just want to share with you a success story i had with getting Bank Of America to lower the interest rate on my Apple GoldReserve Line of Credit. This story does not start out so nicely though.
Help Me Cancel My ESCO
By 2.25.08
Kathyrn writes:
A friend of sent me your article on ESCOS [Energy Service Companies]. My father is a senior citizen and he signed up, and his energy bill has sky rocketed, we have called his energy resell co. three different times asking them to cancel his contract every time they say we will it will take about 30 days, but nothing is happening, can you advise me how to get him out of this contract?
United Flight Attendant Says Call Button Is For Emergencies Only
By 2.19.08
Christine learned an interesting bit of in-flight trivia on her recent United flight: those little call buttons are for emergencies only. What’s more, the flight attendants can psychically sense when it’s an emergency and when you’re just foolin’ with them, and they’ll ignore you if they suspect you’re just going to ask for water. And no, needing to take sinus medicine to prevent clusters of needle-explosions going off in your skull during descent is not an emergency, so go back to your seat.
HSBC Won't Tell You Someone In Bulgaria Is Stealing $2,000 From You
By 2.18.08
Keith writes:
On Friday February 15th I called HSBC customer service. I explained that there was a $1,000 difference between my “Bank Balance” and I was concerned because I hadn’t used my ATM card. They said that the money was “on hold.” They could give no further explanation. I pressed them and said “How is it possible that $1,000 of my money is out in space” They had no reply. I asked to speak to a supervisor to which the person I was speaking to refused and said “They have the same information I do and they are not available.” I was talking to outsourced “customer service reps” from the Philippines so I hung up and dialed 716.841.7212 again. I kindly explained my store from scratch to Helga REP # 6124, also in the Philippines, not Buffalo, NY. She said the same thing as the guy before (at least they were consistent), and refused to let me speak to a supervisor.
US Bank Doesn't Read Its Own Memos Leaked On Consumerist
By 2.14.08
Just because we posted the internal US Bank memo saying that customers could turn off courtesy overdraft protection doesn’t mean that the rest of the US Bank employees got it, or read it. Here’s what happened to Jason when he tried to get it turned off:
