Are you a PC or a Mac? If you’re enjoying great customer service, chances are you’re a Mac, based on some new data released by VocaLabs.
computers
Email Michael Dell
By 11.18.08
If you would like to contact the CEO of Dell to tell him how much you enjoy his company’s products and services, his direct email address is Michael@dell.com. We’ve previously posted michael_dell@dell.com, and that, while it arrives at his office, does not go to him personally.
Apple Repair Center Doesn't Repair Your Laptop, But Does Replace Your Keyboard With German Layout
By 11.17.08
So when you take your Mac to get repaired and they have to send it to their repair center, politely request that a service technician with the ID 31514 at the “CTS, Apple Authorized Repair Center” in Houston, Texas does not fix your Mac.
500,000+ Banking Passwords Stolen By Sinowal Trojan Horse, So Far
By 11.1.08
Security researchers uncovered over half a million bank account logins stolen via a sophisticated trojan horse known as Sinowal. The data goes back to 2006, an unusual longevity for a trojan horse. Not mentioned in the news reports: who’s to say this is the only cache? [NYT] (Photo: Darcy McCarty)
Shipping Delays For Dell's New Mini Laptop?
By 10.23.08
Reader Steven wrote in to let us know that his Dell Mini’s ship date keeps getting pushed back and he’s starting to become annoyed.
As Airlines Become More Efficient, Cheap Seats Become Harder To Find
By 10.21.08
Scott McCartney, who writes the WSJ’s Middle Seat column, says that airlines are starting to use these newfangled things called “computers” to work out all their scheduling demons — and while it’s good for business, travelers should expect fewer “off peak” cheap seats.
Reach Apple Executive Customer Service
By 10.7.08
Two guys who can help you out with escalated Apple issues:
Is This Computer Water Damaged? Circuit City Says Yes
By 9.25.08
Robert bought an extended warranty from Circuit City, but they won’t honor it to repair his broken computer because they claim it has water damage. Robert writes, “As God is my witness, this computer has never seen water,” and he sent us the photos Circuit City sent him.
Dell: We Can Only Send You The Wrong Kind Of Battery
By 9.23.08
Dell charged this guy’s daughter over $200 for replacement batteries that don’t even match her laptop. When her battery died, Dell sent her the wrong battery. Since she was out of warranty, Dell insisted that they could only continue to send her the wrong battery. When she asked why, Bill says the a supervisor repeatedly said, “I don’t know ma’am, that’s not my problem.”
Amazon Pulls Negative Reviews Of 'Spore,' Then Reinstates Them
By 9.12.08
Earlier today, about 2200 reviews of the game Spore disappeared from the product page on Amazon.com, almost all of them negative. Did Amazon censor the reviews because of their anti-DRM nature? Amazon says no, that it was a technical glitch, and they restored the reviews by the end of today. An Amazon spokesperson told Ars Technica, “Amazon doesn’t censor or edit customer reviews based [on their content] and we’d only remove a review if it fell outside our guidelines.” Spore’s rating is back to a single star, and it’s #5 on Amazon’s video games chart.
Dell Downgraded From "Evil" To "Bumbling"
By 9.11.08
“They’ve been downgraded from evil to bumbling.” – Me in FORTUNE about Dell’s online thrusts that attempt to repair their image and listen to their customers more. What do you think? Do you feel any better about them than you did two years ago, or are do their customers still writhe in the eternal flames of “Dell Hell?” Would you add Dell to your Facebook?
Why I Quit Staples Easy Tech
By 9.11.08
Sick of seeing customers screwed over and billed for unnecessary repairs by undertrained technicians, a Staples tech writes in to tell the incident that made him quit. See this picture? This is the floor model computer where he was told to copy all of a customer’s hard drive data as part of their diagnostic process, then he had to leave the area and leave all the data up on the screen for any customer to see or snag with a thumb drive. The full story, inside…
"The Computer" At AT&T Is All Powerful And Humans Have Lost Control!
By 9.3.08
Attention citizens: A machine known only as “the computer” has taken control of AT&T. The humans are powerless to control it — or even to negotiate with it. If it decides that you should be triple billed for phone numbers you don’t need or use, there’s nothing AT&T can do. Gather your children and all the salmonella-free peanut butter you own and report to your basement. Dunk your cellphones, DVRs, Apples and XBOXes into cold water before they rise up and destroy you like they’re destroying reader Patrick.
Circuit City Says Rogue Firedog Was Wrong, Refunds $40 'Repair' Fee
By 8.28.08
Last week we wrote about a Circuit City customer who was charged $40 without warning for “repairs” to a brand new computer. We received several explanations from Circuit City insiders, both in the comments and through email, that the repair was mandatory—Acer and Circuit City had agreed that instead of pulling the PCs, the retailer’s Firedog techs would flash the BIOS in-store upon purchase. What was unclear was how or why this would fall under the Firedog “Quickstart” service, which is optional and includes things like removing shortcuts from your desktop and setting up your background. (Seriously, check it out here.) Yesterday we received the following interesting email from Circuit City HQ.
Update: EEEPC Return A Recursive Hellhole
By 8.28.08
Mike writes in with an update on what he’s doing to get his Asus EEPC fixed. We think his number one way to solve the problem is to activate the extended warranty protection on his credit card. His reply to that is, “My credit card has an extended warranty but since it is still in warranty with Asus, that can’t help.” Not that we want to embarrass Mike, but since this can help other people, I need to point out that this isn’t true.
By 8.25.08
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This Best Buy coupon for free Apple software for students isn’t a very good deal after all—you can get educational discounts at the Apple store, and through September 15th you can get a free iPod Touch or Nano with your computer purchase. Our advice: skip Best Buy and go directly through Apple. (Thanks to Matt and yasth!)
Computer Glitch Renders Thousands Of HSBC Accounts Inaccessible
By 8.25.08
HSBC’s core banking system has been hosed for almost a week, preventing thousands of customers from knowing how much money is stashed in their accounts. The widespread problem is limiting access to HSBCDirect accounts, and at least 8,000 Catholic Health System employees up in Buffalo are still waiting for their direct deposit payments to materialize.
Circuit City Firedog Charges $40 To 'Fix' Computer You Just Bought
By 8.22.08
Update: Circuit City says the repair should have been free. Here’s their response. Travis writes that a friend of his just bought a new computer from Circuit City, and after turning down all of the Firedog’s “it won’t work unless you also buy this” offers, he noticed a $40 fee on his receipt. Turns out the associate claims he had to flash the computer’s BIOS or Vista wouldn’t work. Travis writes, “Regardless of the fact that Vista booted up just fine with out the update, he was more disturbed with the fact that Circuit City would sell him a computer that they knew didn’t work, or so they say.” So does Circuit City sell computers that don’t work without a preliminary repair, or do they lie in order to generate extra fees?
