Are you a coupon clipper? No? Lots of people like saving money, but don’t really buy the sort of products that have coupons, or don’t have time to waste searching and clipping. These tips are for you.
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More On Minimum Purchases, Surcharges, And Other Credit Card Merchant Agreement Violations, From The Companies Themselves
By 7.30.08
We’ve posted a lot of stories of businesses requiring customers who pay with a credit card to make minimum purchases, or pay a surcharge, or show ID. And as we’ve repeatedly said, the businesses’ merchant agreements with the credit card companies forbids these practices. A reader wrote in to argue that this might not be true, as many businesses contract with third-party credit card processors, and are not bound by the merchant agreement. So we did some investigating.
Countrywide Home Loans Wins Consumerist's Worst Company In America Contest
By 7.28.08
Duhn duhn da duhn! Envelope please… yes, America has voted and… the Worst Company in America award goes to…. Countrywide Home Loans (now owned by Bank of America)! The final vote was…
10 Secrets To Getting Better Tech Support From Asus
By 7.16.08 — Updated: 3.18.13
An Asus technician has stepped forward out the shadows to give us the 10 insider tips for getting through and getting better and faster tech support from the computer and computer parts maker. Some things just can’t be fixed though, but it’s at least to know the soul-crushing math they’re using to destroy the customer experience. Considering how bad their tech support is, you’re definitely going to need these tips…
10 Things You Might Not Know About Your Credit Card
By 7.10.08
You might think that everyone knows that you have to sign your credit card in order for it to be valid — after all — there’s a panel on the back that says “Not Valid Unless Signed,” but you’d be shocked at the number of angry emails we get from people who have tried to use an unsigned credit card with “SEE ID” or “CHECK ID” written on it and were turned away when they refused to sign their card.
Graph: Which Cellphone Company Has The Best Early Termination Fee Policy?
By 6.27.08
Discounting or pro-rating the early termination fees that cellphone companies love to tack on to their contracts is becoming more common, so we thought we’d make some graphs that show the strengths and weaknesses of the different policies. As you can see, T-Mobile 2-year ETF doesn’t make any discounts until fairly late in the contract period — and their ETF of $200 is higher than either of the other two companies that offer discounts. (Sprint does not pro-rate or discount its ETF.) T-Mobile’s ETF does, however, reach a point where their discounts are steeper than Verizon and AT&T’s pro-rating.
Overdraft Fees Are Trapping Consumers On Social Security In A Cycle Of Debt
By 6.24.08
The Center For Responsible Lending has put together a report that examines the disastrous effect of overdraft fees on Americans who depend on Social Security for all or part of their income. Despite the fact that they’ve had checking accounts all their lives (and presumably know what they’re doing), each year older Americans pay 4.5 billion dollars in overdraft fees– and on average they actually pay more in fees than they receive in credit when the overdraft is triggered by a debit card transaction.
5 Things You Should Never Say While Cellphone Shopping
By 6.2.08
We get a lot of questions and complaints about the cellphone shopping process, so we thought we’d put together a list of 5 things consumers say to cellphone sales reps that they really should just keep to themselves. Enjoy.
Cablevision Blatantly Lies To Subscribers As The FCC Twiddles Its Thumbs
By 4.19.08
Update: Cablevision responds.
Announcing The Worst Company In America 2008 Contestants
By 3.11.08
Your votes are in and we have seeded the initial brackets for Worst Company In America 2008. It’s bigger, the companies are badder, and the bloodshed and gore is going to better than ever before. Inside, see the full bracket breakdown. Tomorrow, the first battle begins, Comcast vs Menu Foods!
5 Most Butt-Blimping Fast Food Burgers
By 2.11.08
We took a look at the big three burger joints—McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King to locate the most butt-blimping, ass-widening, delicious-but-probably-not-worth-it fast food burgers we could find from a top national chain.
Why Does My Cable Company Force Me To Subscribe To All These Stupid Channels?
By 1.23.08
If you’re like most people, you look at your “basic” cable line-up and think: “Why do I have all these stupid channels? Wouldn’t it be cheaper if I could just subscribe to the ones I actually like?”
Liveblogging The Media Consolidation Showdown Between The FCC And The Senate Commerce Committee
By 12.13.07
Join us at 10 a.m. for the FCC’s showdown with the Senate Commerce Committee. The hearing comes one day after Democratic Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps pilloried Chairman Kevin Martin’s plan to allow one company to control a newspaper and television or radio station in the same city as: “a mish-mash of half-baked ideas.”
Liveblogging The House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On The Arbitration Fairness Act
By 10.25.07
Consumers may finally escape from the clutches of mandatory binding arbitration if the House Judiciary Committee smiles favorably today upon the Arbitration Fairness Act. Arbitrators rule against consumers in more than 98% of all disputes; the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is currently meeting to consider H.R. 3010, which would restore consumers’ rights to resolve disputes fairly and openly.
Peeping Tom on 5th Ave Shop Windows
By 5.12.06
As promised, the results of our Tuesday stroll down 5th avenue, peeking inside all the windows and seeing what we could see. Not all stores are represented in this set; frankly, we found many of the displays tired and staid. Here’s a few things that caught our eye, in a magic Flickr gallery.
