I saw your article on the Wii shortage and in the spirit of the holiday I want to come clean and confess my consumer sins. I am a reseller.
confessions
5 Confessions Of A Reference Lab Technician
By 12.3.07
He’s the guy whom pieces of your body get sent off to when you go to the doctor’s office, and he’s got some things he’d like to tell you. Like the secret manual covering which tests Medicare will and won’t cover, your rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and can you please, please, write legibly and use a standard version of your name when filling out forms…
28 Confessions Of A GameStop Shift Supervisor
By 11.6.07
Confessions Of A Campus Credit Card Pimp
By 10.3.07
Here are two of the things a former Citibank credit card pusher told college students to get them to sign up:
“Even if you apply, you can always cut up the card,” and “It’s easy to pay off your balance once you graduate and get a great job.”
The ex-app jockey even fell pray to his own patter. One signup shy of a cash bonus, he filled out one for himself. Five years later, he’s $13,000 in credit card debt. We encourage college kids who spot these hucksters, make like Jesus and overturn their tables.
Arbitration Firms Are Godless Bloodsuckers
By 10.2.07
n 2006, Richard Neely, a retired chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, penned an article for The West Virginia Lawyer entitled, “Arbitration and the Godless Bloodsuckers.” The National Arbitration Forum asked him to be an arbitrator one time and Neely described his experience: [More]
5 Confessions Of A Comcast Customer Service Rep
By 9.27.07
“I am writing this because I feel more and more as I work there that I can’t sit back and watch Comcast fall flat on its ass when it comes to customer service. I hate to say it like that but Comcast’s customer service is amazing. I am going to tell you a few things that you may not believe happens in a call center but it does. I am leaking this information in hopes that Comcast will know that their customers are fully aware of what is going on and that their screwed up actions should be stopped in their tracks.”
The Furniture Industry Is A Secret Cabal
By 9.26.07
“Most people do not realize that home furniture has a 200% to 400% markup on it. Some has less, but that is where the majority falls. In fact my friend was a furniture industry insider and at the Highpoint show, a furniture company told him to mark up the price of a wall unit by 400%. One wall unit he came back home with for $1800 had a retail price of $6500. So when these big stores advertise in the local papers with 50% off MSRP sales, they could still be doubling their money. Not only that, many stores advertise their sale prices are 50% off MSRP, yet if you dig a little deeper, you might find that they never sold the pieces at MSRP to begin with, so they are really just dropping their price maybe 5 to 10%. Some stores don’t drop their price at all, because they were already at MAP. This means that store really is not having a sale!”
Former Rep Kvetches About Sprint's Lax Identity Theft Protection
By 8.21.07
“We took pride in shredding all information of the customers and being as mindful as possible to their security. Something that always blew my mind was that right on the computer screen, available for anyone to see (depending on the store layout), was the customer’s social security number, date of birth, license number and more. Incredible! I never understood that. My store had two registers in the front and two in the back. A customer could stand behind us at the front register and get a full peak at everything we were doing. Where is the protection?”
AT&T CEO: $10 DSL "Not A Product That Our Customers Have Clamored For"
By 8.4.07
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that his customer just aren’t interested in ultra-cheap internet service. AT&T is required to offer $10 DSL throughout 22 states, a concession made to the FTC as part of a deal to acquire BellSouth. AT&T has been accused of hiding the $10 DSL option, which, apparently, they did for the sake of their customers. From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Why You Can't Cancel Your Account, An Insider's Perspective
By 7.29.07
It’s easy to forget that despite infuriating scripts and adherence to dogmatic corporate policies, CSRs are real people. A former call center worker wrote in to describe the extraordinary pressure CSRs feel from management to keep customers from canceling their accounts.
You’d think it was so easy: call to cancel service, and it’s cancelled. And yet, it never is. Here’s why.
Convergys Call Center Sucks Because Agents Are Stabbing Each Other And Making Out In The Halls
By 7.26.07
Customer service agents making out in the halls, employee knife fights, and overflowing commodes are just some of the reasons listed in this flameout resignation letter for why customer service seems to suck so much sometimes. The author worked at a Hazlewood, MO call center for Convergys, one of the leading companies for outsourced call center support. Some of their clients include Comcast, Walmart, and SBC. They also used to do AOL’s.
How Geek Squad Steals Your Porn
By 7.16.07
According to an insider, these are the tools, programs, and procedures one Geek Squad precinct exploits to snarf up your porn:
Geek Squad Hatched Plot To Harvest Porn From Pornstar Jasmine Grey's HardDrive, Days Before She Died In Car Crash
By 7.12.07
“I worked for Best Buy 285 several years ago (2003-2005) and was both a Blackshirt and an Agent once the Geek Squad rolled out.
Comcast Customer Service Agents Get Answers To Certification Tests Right Before The Tests
By 7.2.07
Comcast customer service sucks so much because they outsource much of it to Convergys, affectionately called the “sweat shop” of the call center industry. One disgruntled insider has these four unverified confessions about how they run their customer service hellholes:
17 Confessions Of Staples Drones
By 6.27.07
14. Managers have coupons kept in the safe that they can use for dissatisfied customers. If you have a problem ask to speak to a manger and most of the time they will offer you some sort of discount on a product or a free service in the store.
Confessions Of A Starbucks Barista
By 6.22.07
Jesse, who has worked at Starbucks for almost a year, has written a mythbusting “Buyer’s Guide” that will help you in your quest to save money when ordering your favorite Starbucks beverage. Our favorite tips? Frappucinos are a rip off, there’s no free ride at the drive-thru, and ordering a latte with chai syrup is cheaper than a chai with espresso.
Dell Admits Error In Asking Consumerist To Remove Post
By 6.18.07
Dell has said it was wrong for trying to get The Consumerist to remove a “confessions” post from a former Dell worker.
