Dancing Deer wasted no time responding to yesterday’s post featuring a two-inch metal spear in a package of blondies. Trish Karter, Dancing Deer’s President, Chief Deer, and Floor Sweeper sent tipster Helen a wonderfully detailed apology and promised to conduct an investigation. Read her excellent mea culpa, after the jump.
followups
Barnes & Noble Limited Receipt Policy Won't Go National Until October?
By 2.12.08
A Barnes & Noble insider tell us the new policy limiting returns to 14 days with receipts won’t go in effect nationally until October, according to CEO Steve Riggio’s internal blog.. The policy is currently in testing in New York, New Jersey, California, and Virginia. “The point is to eliminate “customers” who empty their bookshelves of books they’ve owned for years and get store credit. The company line is “to bring our policy in line with other national retailers,” the insider tells The Consumerist. However, “the ability to “extend” the policy beyond the 14 days will be up to the compassion of the store/manager you encounter.” Looks like all you non-VA-CA-NY-NJ shysters have until October to ply your fiendish book return schemes.
Picked A Laser Eye Doctor
By 2.11.08
Last month I asked the readers for help finding a laser eye surgeon, and to make up for the slight abuse of editorial privilege by letting you know how I picked him. I believe I have settled on one that was suggested by several of the readers, Dr. Koplin with Laserone. His name was mentioned by several of the readers. I wanted someone close by because of the followup visits. I felt comfortable with the staff when I went in for an evaluation. He’s with the esteemed New York Eye and Ear hospital. The job will only cost around $3,000. Sweet. I just gotta schedule the surgery and then I’m going under the laser. Pew pew!
FiOS Damage Control Swoops In After Man Blogs Privacy Concerns
By 2.7.08
After Andru’s story about Verizon not taking his privacy concerns seriously hit our pages and the front page of Digg, the Verizon Damage Control team swung into action. Andru had this problem where whenever he logged into his Verizon FiOS account, he saw the personal information on some other guy’s account. When he contacted the guy, the other guy said he saw Andru’s info as well. Over eight months of broken promises by Verizon and the problem wasn’t solved. So Andru blogged it. Once it started getting internet attention, Andru got two calls and several emails from Verizon people and a Verizon exec ended up having a tech stay on the line with Andru for an hour getting it fixed. Andru then asked for compensation for his three quarters of a year of hassle. Verizon gave him 10 months free FiOS, a $1500 value. Ii think it’s actually good thing when the customers can force the big corps to do right,” Andru tells The Consumerist.
By 2.4.08
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A consumer who received a collections notice that began, “DEAR SHITFACE,” will sue the collections agency next week. [Caveat Emptor]
Intelius Says They'll Stop Selling Your Cellphone Number
By 2.1.08
“In response to consumer feedback,” Inteliius says it will discontinue selling your private cellphone number in its searchable online database. Liz Murray, Communications Manager at Intelius in a press release that, besides trying to explain away their actions, also spent half of its time touting the company’s Cell Phone Caller ID program, said, “As a company, we have strived to be at the forefront of innovation…We realize that in this instance we may have been ahead of our time.” That’s right, it was a notion from some future time where mankind has evolved into a more advanced being that doesn’t care about its privacy. Despite the press release, as of this writing, the company is still advertising the cell phone directory on its site.
Happy Ending To Best Buy Refuses To Honor 2 for $25 DVD Sale Story
By 1.31.08
A few days ago Jason’s story about Best Buy’s bait-and-switch shot to internet prominence (137,166 pageviews on Consumerist and 4668 diggs), and now he’s happy, has a $200 gift card to Best Buy, and a free copy of Saw IV. Let’s recap: Jason went to Best Buy and saw a tag in-store advertising 2 DVDs for $25. He chose to buy two copies of 3:10 to Yuma. At checkout, it rang up for $19.99 a piece. When contested, the clerk pulled out a different circular that said “Buy Saw IV with any of these 3 movies for $25.” Jason and a series of store employees disagreed for a long time about whether the circular applied to the tag, and Jason left the store with a $19.99 copy of 3:10 to Yuma, and a story, which he sent to The Consumerist. Then the internets happened. How did he go from screwed to elated? Find out in the exciting conclusion to his customer service misadventure, inside…
Consumerist Reader's Story Featured On NBC Nightly News
By 1.30.08
One of our readers appeared on NBC Nightly News the other night after his story was featured on The Consumerist. Bob Loncaric paid extra to fly direct on United and when he checked his reservation, he found it had been mysteriously changed to one with stopovers. He called customer service, but was barely able to understand the outsourced call center employee’s version of English, except for the list of cities he didn’t want to stay in spouting out of the guy’s mouth….
How Intelius Bought Your Cellphone Number From The Pizza Guy
By 1.30.08
How did Intelius compile its directory of people’s private cellphone numbers it now has for sale online? Laws on the books forbid telelphone companies from amassing cell phone directories without customer’s consent, but the laws don’t mention third parties. Instead, Intelius buys them from your friendly, local pizza delivery place. Here’s what the CEO said when asked how people end up in their system: “Geez, [there are] tons of ways — everything from going out to a Web site and buying a ring tone for your phone to putting your phone number down at anything [like] ordering a pizza…There are literally dozens and dozens of ways that a user or a consumer could opt in to a database.” See, it’s legal for businesses to contact you you have business relationship. But companies are turning around and selling these customer databases to places like Intelius, and transferring the right to use the database to these third parties as well. While you’re taking a bite out of that deep-dish, they’re taking a bite out of your privacy.
Canadian No Longer Has To Pay More For AppleCare
By 1.29.08
Zachariah no longer has to wonder about why AppleCare costs more in Canada ($199) than in the US ($169), he found a deal at L.A. Computer Company where he could get it for $119. They emailed him the agreement number, he registered the number online at Apple, and received his official AppleCare Protection Plan Certificate in the mail. So what’s the solution to the mystery of why there was a pricing disparity even though there’s parity between the dollar and the loony? We don’t know for sure, but we’re placing our money on that the prices were figured out when the dollar was worth more and they just haven’t been readjusted since.
(Product) Red Responds To Dell Pricing Controversy
By 1.28.08
Responding to a Dell pricing controversy that boiled over last week, a spokesperson for (Product) Red, an initiative whereby company color some of their products red and donate a portion of the profits to an AIDS fighting charity, left a comment on our blog to try dispel some of the confusion they felt had arisen over the issue. At stake was a computer Dell sells for $1,299 that you can get in the (Product) Red version for $1,599, with $80 of it going to the Global Fund. What about the other $220, asked gizmo blog Engadget? Well, we could tell them that it’s because you’re getting Windows Vista Ultimate and Microsoft Office and Student 2007 instead of Windows XP and Microsoft Works, but we’ll let the comment from Bich Ngoc Cao of (Product) Red do the talking…
Toy Maker Reluctantly Agrees To Recall Leadly "Jammin Jenna" Dolls
By 1.24.08
A toy-maker who refused to issue a recall for its lead-tainted toys has reversed its position. TY made some “Jammin Jenna” dolls with that were found to have more lead than 600 parts per million Illinois state limit. In response to recall requests, TY said it didn’t have to because they said federal law supersedes state law. However, the state AG and federal CPSC responded that states are allowed to adopt more restrictive laws in the absence of federal regulation. TY will pull the Jammin Jena dolls and replace their leadly shiny red vinyl shoes with cloth ones.
Best Takes In-Store Display Cashing In On Heath Ledger's Death Very Seriously
By 1.24.08
THE QUOTE: “Please be certain Best Buy takes matters of this nature very seriously. In reviewing your concerns with the management team at our Mission Valley store, they have concluded that the display was inappropriate in light of Mr. Ledger’s recent passing and have removed it from the sales floor.”
McDonald's Stops Advertising On Elementary School Report Cards
By 1.18.08
McDonald’s has decided to stop branding report card envelopes in a program that gave kids in Florida free food as a reward for good grades after a backlash from parents concerned about exploitive marketing. Teport cards came in an envelope (pictured, click to enlarge) telling kids to check their grades and redeem a free Happy Meal if they got all A’s and B’s or got good marks in “Citizenship” or attendance. The jacket also showed a smiling Ronald McDonald and mentioned McDonald’s several times.
By 1.15.08
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Banks lost the paperwork and checks of a Maryland taxi driver who never missed a mortgage payment, and now, his his fourth appeal and stands to still lose his house to foreclosure. His lawyers have vowed to file more appeals. [Baltimore Sun]
Here Is What This Pillow Is Made Of
By 1.14.08
Unable to stand the mystery any longer, Matt caved and cut open his pillow that sports a tag saying it contains 100% of “TEXTILE FABRICS OF AN UNKOWN KIND.” Now we know what’s inside these pillows: a heterogeneous mixture of shredded clothing and fabric factory leftovers. Mmm, downy soft sweet dreams. Don’t worry, this isn’t some scam, “Textile fibers of unknown kind” are a legally accepted industry label meaning, “new material consisting of a variety of fibers that has been reduced to a fibrous state.” Still, it’s crazy to think that’s what you might be sleeping on. More pics, inside.
By 1.11.08
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Here’s a twist you didn’t see coming: I was talking to Lona again, she who gave us the material in “How To Mind Control Customer Service Reps“, and she happened to mention that she actually has a done a lot of work as a customer service rep herself.
By 1.8.08
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Oh, by the way, KamberEdelson, the law firm that filed the class action against Sears over its website exposing customer’s purchase histories? They’re the same folks who successfully sued Sony BMG for selling all those DRM-riddled music CDs. Sears could be in trouble. [Washington Post]
