Monique X. is trying to get a loan to consolidate her debts into a more affordable payment. She writes that she’s been careful with her credit history and knew that her credit score was adequate to get approved at her bank, “even with the economy the way it is.” That’s when she discovered that someone else’s accounts had been folded into hers, and that Experian’s solution to their error was as bad as the problem. [More]
corrections
Zecco Accidentally Increasing Some Customers' Buying Power Was Not Intentional April Fool's Joke
By 4.6.09
On April 1, 2009, one of our vendors provided Zecco Trading with an incorrect data feed which caused some customers to see erroneously high buying power. This error was quickly corrected, but about 1% of our customers were impacted.
People Haven't Returned Hyundais b/c They Weren't Yet Eligible
By 4.1.09
Rather than some secret barometer of the economy’s resilience, the real reason why no one has returned a car yet under the Hyundai Assurance Program is that you have to make at least two payments before you can return a car. Also, you must first miss three payments, so the earliest you would start to see returns is Mayish. Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than the armchair social economics crap I was coming up with. (Thanks to readers kman and Dennis!) (Photo: popofatticus)
By 1.27.09
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Over 71,400 jobs were cut today, bringing the total jobs cut this year to over 200,000. CNN Money has a list of what’s been lost in 2009 so far. [CNN Money] (Thanks to Olevia!)
(Photo: bbaunach)
Village Sends Woman $3600 Water Bill
By 1.13.09
Here’s another good reason to monitor your utility bills. A woman in Illinois saw her quarterly water bill shoot from $150 on average to $3600, after the village where she lives finally fixed a broken outside meter that for 25 years misreported her home’s water usage.
By 1.9.09
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Remember that Norwegian site that was offering Beatles songs for legal download? Yeah, well, not anymore. It turns out their licensing agreement stipulates that the shows they put online have to have been aired within the past 4 weeks, and all the Beatles shows are from 2007. [Exclaim News] (Thanks to elc81!)
World's Most Conscientious Customer Completes Botched Software Purchase Over A Year Later
By 11.19.08
I just wanted to pass along a story of a truly honest customer.
Equifax Double-Reports Student Loan, Still Hasn't Corrected It 12 Attempts Later
By 9.26.08
So what exactly is the problem? After 12 online (and phone) disputes to Equifax and 14 calls (and faxes) to the Direct Loan Servicing Center, each party seems to blame the other.
Sears Takes Customer Account Security 80% Seriously
By 4.10.08
On Wednesday, April 9th you received an email with the subject line “Get $25 From Citibank”. We recently discovered that the email we sent to you incorrectly contained the salutation “Dear Donna Robinson” rather than “Dear MATTHEW F”. We apologize for the confusion this may have caused and want to assure you that the email is a legitimate Sears card email.
Oh Sears. Well, according to Matthew F, at least the account number was his.
Apologies For Poor Photo Choice Exercised In IDT Article
By 4.1.08
Part of our job here as we incorporate The Conglomerist into the fold of Haberdasher Communications (tagline: let’s keep it under our hat, shall we?) is to clean up some of the ethical missteps taken by The Consumerist, particularly with regards to its notoriously corrupt photo selection department. Dipping into the mailbag, Marc writes:
An avid reader of your website, I was a little bit concerned by the choice of picture to illustrate the “IDT Energy Scamming Spreads Past New York City” story.
Granted, the picture shows an IDT building in the background, but in the foreground are catenary wires, which are quite distinctive from power distribution wires…
Credit Card Expert Disputes Erroneous Charge, Frustration Ensues
By 3.29.08
Georgetown law professor and Credit Slips blogger Adam Levitin is having trouble disputing an erroneous $176.96 charge on his Citibank Amex card from PACER, the federal court’s online docket system, which he accesses for free. The professor is a consumer credit expert and should have no problem understanding and fixing the error, right? Fat chance.
Customers Will Get FiOS Optical All The Way To Their Apartments, Verizon Plans
By 3.25.08
The AP made a major correction to a Verizon FiOS story we posted about yesterday. In that story, Verizon’s head of FiOS stuff for apartments said that Verizon wouldn’t be able to run optical cable up to all the apartments in two Manhattan apartment complexes and would use coaxial for the last leg. Verizon said not all apartments have the specs needed to install a necessary wall-mounted box. After the story came out, Verizon now says that it does plan to run optical to all the way up apartments that order FiOS. You may have to give up your medicine cabinent, but hey, you’re blazing with the speed of FiOS, baby!
Newegg Honors Canceled PayPal Promotion Transactions
By 12.11.07
A couple of weeks ago, several online retailers ran a poorly managed PayPal promotion that offered sizable discounts. For Newegg, the three-day sale instead lasted less than a day, at which point Newegg was yanked from the participating retailers list on PayPal’s promotions page. But Newegg is going back and making good on orders that were in process when the deal was pulled, according to a reader who forwarded us Newegg’s email.
Unused Gift Cards Aren't Free Money For Stores
By 11.13.07
While the information in yesterday’s post, “Don’t Let Gift Cards Become Free Money For Stores” was good, the title was erroneous. Actually, depending on the state, unused gift cards may be classified as unclaimed property. The value is then turned over to the state in a process called “escheatment.” It would appear, however, that in some states, the stores do get to keep the money. This PDF gives a breakdown of how the laws generally apply state by state.
Cubic Telecom Lied About Its "Cheap International Calling" SIM Card
By 10.5.07
Last Friday, we published a post about Cubic Telecom, an Irish start-up that sells a SIM card that’s supposed to enable international calling for “50-90%” less than standard carrier rates. The post was in reference to columnist David Pogue’s review of the product, and he was quoting rates that were provided to him directly by Cubic’s CEO. Turns out the CEO was “misleading” him—he provided numbers that were substantially lower than the actual rates, and has been stringing Pogue along with assurances that they’d “update the site” ever since. As of Thursday, October 4th, they still hadn’t.
By 10.4.07
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Previously, Carey posted a photograph of a Geek Squad car on a sidewalk as if it were some sort of problem. We have informed Carey that this is in fact a Best Buy sidewalk, and it’s done to promote Geek Squad services inside the store. This has been so noted this on the original post, and we’ve encouraged him to get out into the countryside more often. The Consumerist regrets the error.
By 9.20.07
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On Monday, we reported that TD Ameritrade knew since May 2007 about data breaches that resulted in thousands of its customers getting penny stock spam, but it turns out the breach could have happened as early as November 2005. [Network World]
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.
