Just in time for the fourth anniversary of its creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its expanding the type of consumer complaints it accepts to include prepaid cards and other nonbank products. [More]
complaints
Spirit Airlines CEO: Consumers Complain Because They Don’t Understand Us
By 4.18.14
They say you get what you pay for, so if you’re flying cheaply, should you expect a lower level of customer service? That’s the argument made by Spirit Airlines, which has the highest rate of customer complaints of all domestic airlines. And a new promotion and recent comments from Spirit’s CEO don’t give any indication that the carrier’s attitude will be changing. [More]
Yelp’s Controversial Business Tactics Contribute To 2,000 Complaints Received by FTC
By 4.4.14
Consumers head to Yelp to provide and/or peruse the praise and criticism left by other users about local businesses. But the tables have turned a bit with thousands of people taking their complaints about Yelp and its business practices to federal regulators. [More]
Ben & Jerry’s Brings Complaining Customers To The Factory To Talk It Out Over Ice Cream
By 3.12.13
Complain to most food companies and maybe you’ll get an apology or a coupon. But Ben & Jerry’s recently decided it wanted to meet face-to-face with some unhappy customers, so why not just bus them up to the factory for the day? [More]
Man Who Reported Defective Candy 60 Years Ago Finally Gets Replacement Salted Nut Rolls
By 1.25.13
For anyone who’s complained to a company about a faulty product and never had the sweet sense of resolution, just be patient. It might take 60 years, as one Minnesota man found out decades after writing to a candy company about a defective Salted Nut Roll candy bar. There’s a maxim for this and it goes something like, “if at first you don’t succeed in getting replacement candy, try again decades later.” [More]
Can You Get Away With Complaining About Your Job Online? Maybe, Says NLRB
By 1.22.13
Any number of people have gone online to vent their exhaustion after a particularly tough day at work. But where do you draw the line between innocuous, “What a day!” posts and statements that could actually get you fired from your job? And what about valid gripes with working conditions? [More]
Quick-Serve Ads Vs. Reality: Panera Roasted Turkey And Cranberry Sandwich
By 10.9.12
Anderson tried a seasonal offering at Panera, the Roasted Turkey and Cranberry sandwich. The promotional photos made it look appetizing, but the sandwich that ended up on Anderson’s plate wasn’t. We know that speed is really important at Panera, and maybe this is just a hastily-assembled meal. Anderson decided to throw it away, leave the Panera, and then complain online. This plan was somewhat flawed. [More]
Papa John's Really, Really Cares That They Gave Me Wrong Pizza Crust
By 5.24.12
The complaint behind this story was not, at its core, a serious consumer problem. Chris ordered a pizza that was missing a few toppings and on the wrong type of crust. What’s notable is that the regional management of Papa John’s treated it like it was. Well, eventually. After the local store manager insisted that the error was Chris’s fault, he fired off a quick complaint on the website. And that’s when corporate solicitousness and free pizzas rained down upon him. Not literally. That would be kind of scary. [More]
BofA Says "Sorry" For Paying Your Real Estate Taxes Late
By 11.14.11
Banks are happy to jump all over you and ratchet up the fees when you’re late. But when they’re late, not so much. [More]
From FiOS, To Cablevision, To Hell, And Back Again
By 11.11.11
Oliver tried to two-time FiOS after he got burned on a bad install. But Cablevision didn’t treat him right either, reneging on its promise to pricematch his old bill. Now he’s back again trying to rekindle a relationship with FiOS but they’re still up to their old ways and not giving him the tender loving he deserves. [More]
Allstate Denied Man's Insurance Claim Because He Went To The Hospital 5 Hours Too Early
By 11.10.11
Usually you’re rewarded for showing up early. How could showing up 5 hours early cost you $10,000? [More]
BofA Charges Man $39.23 On A $0 Balance
By 11.7.11
Bank of America charged Roger $39.23 in interest on his credit card, even though he had a zero balance. How could that be? [More]
While Getting House Financed, TWC Dings Score With Unauthorized Credit Report Pull
By 11.7.11
Shawn is peeved. He’s in the middle of securing financing on a new house and the last thing you need during that time period are any surprise people looking at your credit report. These inquiries can bring your score down. But he got exactly one of those, a “hard” one, thanks to an unauthorized peek-a-boo Time Warner Cable decided to do on his credit report when called them up to ask about reducing his cable package. [More]
Michael Dell Replaces High-End Laptop Previously "Fixed" With Black Marker, Crumbs
By 11.4.11
Jeremy’s 3D Alienware gaming laptop from Dell didn’t work right from its first bootup. It had blue screens of death and the video card needed swapping out. When he sent it in for repair, he got it back with crumbs in the keys, and a crack on the side someone tried to hide with black marker. When we posted his story on Consumerist, we gave him CEO Michael Dell’s email address to go tell his story. Now Jeremy writes that after he emailed Mr. Dell, the CEO intervened and made sure Jeremy got a brand-new laptop, along with a free memory and CPU upgrade. [More]
Paypal Links Account Missing $2,000 To Yours, Demands You Pay
By 11.3.11
Reader Ben awoke to a rude discovery. Somehow another account had been linked to his Paypal account, and the new account was $2,000 in the red. Paypal was knocking on Ben’s door, telling him to pay up, or else. They locked up his account and froze his cash. When he protested, they treated him like a criminal. [More]
Blue Cross Blue Shield Says Man Should Pay $2,306 To Avoid Dying In His Sleep
By 11.3.11
Jason has sleep apnea. When he sleeps, if it can be called that, he stops breathing up to twelve times per hour. His body’s reflexive response is that his jaw shoots around wildly, chipping and grinding his teeth, and then he wakes up for a second. A dozen times every hour, every night, he wakes up to his teeth clanging around his mouth. As if that wasn’t fun enough, of the $2,400 the mouth guard his doctor prescribed prescribed him, his insurance plan is only going to cover a max of $94. [More]
Virgin America Is Pleased With Their New Reservation System
By 11.2.11
Despite experiencing some of the inevitable hiccups from transferring a legacy system to a new one, Virgin America tells me that they’re overall “pleased” with how the reservation system transition they started on Saturday is going. [More]
Virgin America's Brand New Sabre Reservation System Hits Turbulence
By 11.2.11
Virgin America has hit some extreme turbulence ever since they switched to a new Sabre Airline Solutions reservation system on Saturday. Travelers are lighting up the inter-boards with complaints that they can’t make or change their reservations, and call centers are swamped, with customers having to wait over four hours on hold. [More]
