Those wily Xbox 360 gremlins are at it again, and this time they’re cracking Michael’s game discs in little spokes along the inner ring of each disc. His customer service call went nowhere, naturally, so someone on the Penny Arcade forum where he posted his story suggested an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. The only problem is, it keeps getting sent back as spam.
defects
Newegg Shocks The Hell Out Of You By Replacing Your Defective Keyboard
By 1.27.09
Reader Patty is shocked that Newegg would send her another keyboard because the one she bought was defective. She’s stunned. She can’t believe it.
Samsung Stalls And Lies For A Year Over Broken Photo Frame
By 1.22.09
Dave bought his mother a Samsung digital photo frame for Christmas—Christmas a year ago, and it stopped working after just a few weeks. Since then, Dave has tried regular customer service and executive customer service, he’s waited on hold for up to 2 hours at a time, and he’s waited patiently for RMAs that are promised but never sent. Now it looks like he’s throwing in the towel: “I no longer have the time or energy to waste with them.” You win this battle, Samsung! But you do realize that Dave—a small business owner who has made large Samsung purchases in the past—will never buy another one of your products, right?
Aliph Quickly Replaces Melted Jawbone
By 11.26.08
Marc is happy to report that Aliph really came through for him after he complained about Jawbone smoking and melting after he plugged it into his computer:
What Hell Must You Go Through To Return A Defective Running Shoe?
By 11.13.08
Neal Templin at the Wall Street Journal had a defective running shoe. Within 4 months of buying the shoes, an eyelet failed, so he took the defective shoes back to the store. This is where his tragic tale of rejection begins.
Happy Endings: Adidas Upgrades Your Tragically Leaky Backpack
By 10.22.08
Here’s a nice story from reader Aaron. His Adidas backpack soaked up a ton of water and ruined his books and papers, so he complained to Adidas. They referred him to their backpack manufacturer, and they replaced the backpack with a better one for free.
Retailers Recall Death Bassinets Because The Manufacturer Won't
By 9.2.08
The CPSC says that several retailers have agreed to recall some bassinets with a deadly flaw that has resulted in the strangulation deaths of two infants. The parent company that now owns the manufacturer of the bassinets is refusing to recall the product, claiming that they are not responsible for items that the old company, Simplicity, made before they bought its assets.
GM Recalls Nearly 1 Million Vehicles With Defective Windshield Wiper Systems
By 8.30.08
Can your late-model GM vehicle melt snow and ice with a blast of heated windshield wiper fluid? It might be one of 944,000 vehicles with a faulty heating system that can cause odors, smoke, or even a surprise car fire.
CPSC Says Company Refuses To Recall Bassinets That Strangled Two Infants
By 8.29.08
The CPSC has issued a consumer alert, urging you to stop using Simplicity Inc.’s “close-sleeper/bedside sleeper” bassinets after two infants died after being strangled by the product’s metal bars. The company is refusing to cooperate with the CPSC and will not recall the product.
My White iPhone Is Cracked, But Not In A Good Way
By 7.31.08
Reader Zach says that he heard that white iPhones were cracking, but he got one anyway because there was a longer wait for the black ones. When he got home, he noticed two small cracks in the back of the phone.
Two Out Of Three Of My iPhones Were Defective And The Third Won't Receive Calls
By 7.15.08
Reader Michael is having a rough time with the iPhone. He says that two out of three of the iPhones purchased by his family were defective, and the third one wouldn’t receive calls. Weirdly, this story has a happy ending, because Michael found some contact information on Consumerist that got his problem solved in 5 minutes.
Exchanging A Defective iPhone 3G Is A Huge Pain In The Butt
By 7.14.08
Reader Joshua wants to warn everyone that exchanging your defective-out-of-the-box iPhone 3G is a huge pain the butt. His girlfriend got her iPhone on launch day but quickly discovered that the speaker was broken. She brought it into the Apple store to have it checked out and an employee accidentally dropped it. At that point, Apple told them they’d just replace to the phone. That’s where things got complicated.
HP Offers To Fix Your Defective Laptop For Free, Then Changes Its Mind. Twice.
By 7.8.08
Reader Amy’s HP laptop is defective and HP offered to fix it for free–then changed its mind and wanted $800. Amy asked them to return the laptop, and when she got it back, she found that it was even more broken than when she sent it in. She contacted HP again and again they offered to fix it for free. This time, they let the laptop sit around for 3 weeks before calling her to let her know that they were voiding her warranty because of “liquid damage.” Amy says the first repair ticket has no mention of this mysterious liquid damage…
T-Mobile: We Can't Help You, Sell Your Brand New Defective Phone On eBay
By 5.12.08
A link to the following letter to T-Mobile’s president just popped into our inbox. It seems that if you receive a T-Mobile Sidekick for Christmas and it’s defective… your options are fairly limited. T-Mobile’s best solution to your broken phone? Sell it on eBay.
1 Year Later: Feet Scarred From "Chemical Flip Flops," Walmart Still Not Talking
By 5.6.08
It’s been about a year since Kelly Stiles’ feet were (somehow) injured by a $3 pair of Walmart flip flops. In that time, Kelly says her feet haven’t fully healed and she still can’t wear sandals or flip flops. She says she still has pain where she was injured.
Why Does It Take IKEA Four Months To Replace A Defective Couch Cover?
By 4.26.08
Joyce has been waiting since December for IKEA to send her a replacement couch cover. IKEA admitted that the cover had a known defect, but since they were out replacements at the time, they promised to call Joyce a month later when new covers arrived. Joyce gave her information and asked for a reference number, but was told that one wouldn’t be necessary. Wouldn’t that have been nice?
Protesting Honda Civic SI Get Transmission TSB
By 4.25.08
Those Honda Civic SI owners who were holding protests in front of dealerships about the widespread transmission problem (where the 3rd gear kept grinding, popping out and randomly going into neutral), finally have their day. Honda issued a TSB (technical service bulletin) on the issue, so now owners experiencing the problem can go their dealership and get it repaired for free, provided they are still under warranty. It’s not quite the recall owners were hoping for, but it’s something. Guess Honda has now heard of the problem they previously said they “never heard of before.” Must have been all that negative news coverage. Here’s links to the TSB (for Honda dealers, for Acura dealers (PDF)) so you can print it out and bring with you. Inside, one of the original newscasts covering the uproar.
