United is already one of our more entertaining airlines when it comes to stories—they’ve rerouted direct flights without telling ticket holders, given us duct tape heroics, and hire Disney executives to improve customer service (we hope that means pilots dressed up as giant huggable pilots). Now comes news that they’re pledging to reduce waiting times for baggage from nigh-infinity to 25 minutes, as part of a comprehensive new “Customer Commitment” pledge to improve customer service and avoid Federal intervention.
complaints
Get Your Complaint Resolved By Posting It To The Company's Stock Forums
By 9.7.07
Another of Ron Burley’s techniques for getting large businesses to fix his complaints is to post it in the message boards devoted to discussing that company and its stock price.
British Airways Sued For Chronically Losing Luggage
By 9.7.07
Three travelers claim British Airways acted recklessly in losing their luggage, and have filed a class action lawsuit against the airline, Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. [More]
Delta Partner "Atlantic Southeast Airlines" On-Time Only 54.2% Of The Time
By 9.6.07
US Airways managed to hold on to something as the floor dropped out of a few other airlines’ on-time percentages… so let us introduce our new punching bag: Atlantic Southeast Airlines!
Opt Out Of USAA's Arbitration Clause
By 9.4.07
USAA dropped a goose-egg in my mailbox today, a letter informing that there’s a new arbitration agreement being added to my AMEX contract. Lovely, I just love being stripped of my rights to a trial with due process.
Verizon Keep Spraying Our Sidewalks With The Same, Three, Permanent, Dots
By 9.4.07
David would like to know if Verizon Fios techs can’t afford glasses. Otherwise, why would it be necessary to spray paint their sidewalk three times within the past year? The dots are supposed to indicate where to dig up to install the vaunted “last mile” of information HOV lane, but it really seems like overkill. After all, it’s not like they need to be concerned about the dots deteriorating. “It never goes away,” David writes us. “Brushes, power washing, passage of time — nothing.”
EECB Forces US Air To Help Stranded Marine With Dying Grandmother, But Not In Time To Say Goodbye
By 9.4.07
subject Distressing travel not yet completed
At Least Nine Cases Of Walmart Flipflops Burning Customers, Here's The Latest
By 8.30.07
A woman by the name of Ginger Edwards from Walmart headquarters in Bentonville called me initially back in July and wanted the shoes so they could test them and informed me that I was the 9th case reported, note that was in JULY. I emailed her pictures of my feet but I did not mail the shoes. I chose instead to use my better judgment and held on to the flip flops as EVERYONE at Walmart has given me the impression that they are completely apathetic to my problem. I or my son, visited Walmart daily after having complained IN PERSON after visiting the doctor the first time back in July and having showed them my feet, and the shoes remained on the shelf until last week!!
British Airways Leaves Luggage To Rot Outside Heathrow
By 8.30.07
I was flying [British Airways] from Amsterdam to London Heathrow to Denver on July 28th. When I landed I waited by the luggage carousel for my bag, well as you can sure guess, it never turned up. I was told by BA, that they found my bag they apologized and assured me it would be delivered to my home the following day. Seven days later the luggage finally showed up. [More]
Dell Tech Chatbot Tries His Best
By 8.29.07
April’s Dell said it couldn’t find “systems 32 config” and after going through a series of troubleshooting steps with a Dell tech in chat, he said it was due to a bad sector on the hard drive and it would need to be replaced. While that very well may have been the case, we were amused by how the conversation wrapped up, as shown in the logs April posted to the RolePlay Gateway message board…
Washington Mutual Fraud Department Doesn't Feel Like Reimbursing Elderly Parents Defrauded For $1,100
By 8.28.07
I am writing this note today on behalf of my 80 year old parents who have been banking with Washington Mutual. My parents account has had 10 forged checks passed on their 3 of their bank accounts. The fraud department has reimbursed one of the accounts for 2 checks after faxing a copy of the police report. However, today, after 20 days now, the fraud department has not reimbursed the other accounts. I have called fraud department many times now in an effort to recapture these funds in the amount of $1,100.00. Quite frankly the department was very rude and has been giving my parents the run around!
Don't Go To LasikPLUS Consultations Looking For A Free Prescription
By 8.28.07
On Friday, August 17th, we posted a Morning Deal for a free eye exam and Lasik laser corrective eye surgery consultation. Reader Andrew’s boyfriend tried the deal out and was disappointed.
Kroger Illegally Charging Tax On Food Stamps When Used With Coupons
By 8.27.07
“I do the grocery shopping for my partner who is totally disabled. He is paralyzed on the right side and suffers from quite a few other health related issues. When we moved to Savannah, Georgia two years ago, I noticed that when I used his EBT (food stamp) card at a Kroger store that I was being charged tax on food coupons. While Georgia is a state that does charge tax on grocery store food, and some grocery coupons state that it is the customer’s responsibility to pay any tax, it is illegal to charge food stamp recipients tax no matter what.”
UPDATE: Hey Geek Squad, I Haven't Seen My Laptop In A Month
By 8.27.07
As of July 25, Lorraine still didn’t have her original laptop back from Best Buy. It seems to have vanished into the nether of a 3rd party repair center. Inside, you can read the update to her story posted on July 13th
TigerDirect Apologizes For Unlawfully Detaining Customer For Refusing To Show Receipt
By 8.24.07
The manager of the TigerDirect that unlawfully detained reader Shaneal Manek for his refusal to show a receipt called him this afternoon and apologized for his store’s behavior. Shaneal told The Consumerist by phone that Tony, the store manager, pledged to retrain his staff on proper procedures and that they wouldn’t retain the services of the security guard involved in the dispute.
Chase Penalizes Customers For Saving Money Too Long
By 8.24.07
Savings accounts, they’re where you save money. You put money in and leave it there. That’s the whole point, right? Well, at Chase, if don’t deposit or withdraw money into it for 3 months, it becomes “inactive,” blogs Tom Drapeau. That means you can’t make a wire transfer out of it. Annoying, but you can change to “active” by depositing or withdrawing money, and if you want to avoid “inactive” status, you could set up an automated transfer to put in $1 and take out $1 of it.
Geek Choice Technician Steals Customer's Computer, Company Refuses To Refund
By 8.23.07
Geek Choice computer technician disappears along with school principal’s computer. Turns out he couldn’t be found because he was in jail.
