Mike blogs that Fry’s advertised a good deal for a printer, but when he ordered it and tried to pick it up, the electronics store told him it was out of stock. Mike discovered that Fry’s did have the printer, but says customer service lied to him, and even admitted doing so. [More]
ELECTRONICS
Consumer Reports Tests 3D Televisions, Goofy Glasses
By 3.12.10
We might have all of the cat pictures here at Consumerist, but our sibling publication, Consumer Reports, gets to play with very cool toys. Right now, the folks in the TV-testing lab have some of the exciting new 3D televisions from Panasonic and Samsung, and they made a preliminary video to show them off and weigh the pros and cons of being an early 3D TV adopter. Sorry, the video is only in 2D. [More]
iPad Pre-Orders Now Open
By 3.12.10
Apple opened the doors on iPad pre-orders as of a few minutes ago. Git ’em while they’re hot! Or not, and wait for the inevitable first-generation bugs to get worked out and feeding frenzy to fade. Should you buy? Which kind do you get? Sister Consumer Reports Electronics Blog has the breakdown. Take our poll as to whether you’re getting with the craze or staying out of the race. [More]
Brookstone Replaces Broken Electronic Thingy, Delights Skeptical Customer
By 2.14.10
Reader Deejmer had a lovely experience at Brookstone that he couldn’t help but share. He writes that he received a wireless speaker as a gift and grew to love it. When the device died, he couldn’t produce the receipt, but his local store was happy to exchange it out for him. Yay! [More]
Man Who Pledged To Never Buy Another Vizio Gets Help
By 2.11.10
The man who said he’ll never buy another Vizio after his crapped out just a few months after his warranty ran out and would cost nearly half the purchase price to repair, says that after our post went up a gal in their customer service department called him and is “doing their best to rectify the situation.” He Jeremy writes on his blog, “This entire situation has taken an unexpected turn, which I will keep you abreast of in the days to come.” [More]
Why I Won't Be Buying Another Vizio
By 2.9.10
Jeremy won’t be buying any more Vizio TVs. He bought an HD one for $650 , then after 18 months of use, it began flickering on and off and then wouldn’t turn it on. The CSR told him it would cost him ~$300 to send it in to repair the power supply, nearly half the purchase price, as the warranty expired. Jeremy thinks a TV should last longer than a year and a half, and so he wrote an open letter on his blog to William Wang, CEO of Vizio TV. [More]
Another Reason To Avoid Giant Megapixel Point-And-Shoot Cameras
By 1.19.10
By now you hopefully know that more megapixels don’t necessarily make a better camera. For one thing, you can almost double the megapixels of a camera while only gaining about a 40% increase in resolution. For another thing, it takes a lot more than just sheer number of pixels to produce a decent image. Nevertheless, point-and-shoot cameras with ginormous megapixel stats (now topping 12 MP) continue to hit the market. But Ross at Petavoxel says there’s another reason to avoid huge MP point-and-shoot cameras: something called the Airy disk. [More]
Toys R Us: No Exchange On That Gift Without A Receipt
By 1.12.10
Apparently Toys R Us has a policy that says that even unopened video games that still have the Toys R Us price tag on them cannot be exchanged without a receipt. No exceptions. [More]
Sony Asks Customer For Her Reader, Breaks It, Then Sends It Back
By 12.28.09
I’m not usually amused at the customer service horror stories that arrive in our in box, but this one is just so over the top that I can’t help but laugh incredulously. The lesson here, which Kate sadly learned for all of us, is if Sony ever asks you out of nowhere to send in your Reader for an update, run away. [More]
Everything You Wanted To Know About BestBuy.com
By 12.28.09
Someone who says he’s worked with BestBuy.com for a couple of years now sent us an exhaustive list of topics related to buying from the website. Learn about the Satisfaction Matrix that determines how a CSR treats you! Discover the best way to ensure a new shipping address is accepted into the system! Exciting stuff like that follows. [More]
Recycle Those Electronics The Right Way With These Tips
By 12.24.09
The holiday influx of shiny new gadgets pushes your old devices out of your hands, creating a number of potential pitfalls, such as possible identity theft fueled by info on abandoned hard drives. [More]
Barnes & Noble Will Send You $100 If Nook Doesn't Show Up By Christmas
By 12.19.09
Barnes & Noble keeps pushing the delivery date for pre-ordered Nooks back. Realizing that many of the e-readers were purchased as Christmas gifts, they’re sending a $100 bribe gift card to the delivery addresses for pre-ordered Nooks that aren’t slated to arrive by December 24th. [More]
Firmware Update Borks Man's Samsung Blu-ray Player, Samsung Says Too Bad
By 12.18.09
Maybe manufacturers need to rethink how warranties work when it comes to firmware updates. Justin’s Samsung Blu-ray player recently alerted him that there was an update available, so he told it to proceed. What he ended up with was a dead player. Now Samsung says because it’s out of warranty for repairs he has to pay them $90 to get it working again. [More]
Which Notebook Brands Are The Best?
By 12.14.09
The website Laptop has launched a new series of posts about notebooks and netbooks. This time, they’re grouping the models by brand and asking readers to weigh in. Up first: HP, which generally has good aesthetics and keyboards as well as multitouch technology, but bad touchpads and heat issues. They also note that customer service is pretty bad for HP products. [More]
Fry's Says It Will Give HDTVs To Stiffed Black Friday Customers
By 12.2.09
Jeff, who tried to buy a Samsung HDTV from Fry’s on Black Friday but was turned away after already paying for it, has written back to us with an update: [More]
Fry's Sells Magical Disappearing HDTVs To Customers
By 11.27.09
The Fry’s store in Renton, Washington, just played a mean trick on at least half a dozen customers. This morning, Jeff successfully navigated through the crowd outside, the crowds inside, and no less than five different lines in order to purchase a 52″ TV. Everything went remarkably smoothly. Well, until the very end. [More]
What To Consider Before Buying An Extended Warranty
By 11.9.09
The New York Times has an article about why consumers buy extended warranties for electronic products and other appliances, especially since we rarely have enough information at the moment of sale to make an informed decision. Here are three things to watch out for the next time you’re buying some fun electronic device.
