After stranding reader Shannon in Siberia with no functioning ATM card, Bank of America has reached out to her and made up for the situation. Sort of. A new card was immediately dispatched, but the corresponding PIN didn’t show up until five days later. She did, however, receive a $100 Amazon gift card for her inconvenience.
international
Guy Who Protested Mortgage Denial And Took Out $190,000 In Twenties Ends Up Putting It All Back In Very Same Bank
By 7.24.09
withdrew $190,000 in $20 bills. Take THAT! Then he and his bag o’loot were all over the internet, and he received hundreds of supportive emails. But what to do with $190,000 in $20 bills??? Well, he decided to deposit it at NBS, a rival bank. Good move! Except that… NBS sends its cash to Westpac for safekeeping. Which means poor old Roger’s money is back with the beast.
Man Withdraws $190,000 in $20 Bills After Being Denied A Mortgage
By 7.23.09
A New Zealand bank irritated the wrong customer by declining his application for a mortgage. After hearing the reason for his rejection, Roger Griffiths decided to make life difficult for the bank and withdrew his savings — $190,000 in $20 bills.
Surprise! Fees And Taxes Are More Than The Cost Of The Hotel Room!
By 6.26.09
Over at Elliott.org a reader has sent in a screenshot from a recent attempt to book a discounted hotel room in Venice. The price was supposed to be $375 a night marked down from $537. It seemed like a good deal until he saw the taxes and fees…
Vonage No Longer Charging International Rates For Transferred Domestic Calls
By 6.20.09
Vonage apparently rustled up a map and is now apologizing to customers who were accidentally charged international rates for their domestic calls. Reader J.R., who in April received a $38 bill after Vonage billed a call to Los Angeles as a call to Algeria, sent us the telecom’s apology note…
Man Downloads Movie While In Mexico, Receives $62,000 Wireless Bill
By 4.28.09
If you’re going out of the country for more than 15 seconds, don’t forget to turn off, remove, leave at home, freeze in a block of ice, disable, or otherwise render unusable your wireless card. Above all, do not download Wall-E for your nephew to watch on your computer. Unfortunately, we do not have any more details about what was going on here, because Clark Howard apparently has to get back to his NASCAR pit.
Why Is Vonage Billing Domestic Calls At International Rates
By 4.12.09
Vonage charged J.R. $38.94 for a three-hour call transferred from Texas to Los Angeles because Vonage apparently thinks L.A. is somewhere in Algeria. After some digging, J.R. learned that if you transfer a call without adding +1 to the number, Vonage will mistake area codes for country codes and bill at the international rate, even though the calls are domestic.
AT&T Supervisor Takes Back Refund Offer Because You Dared To Question Her
By 3.31.09
Claire was told the wrong thing by an AT&T Wireless rep regarding international long distance, but when she called back to sort things out, she came up against the Nurse Ratched of the AT&T call center—a woman who refused to give in, or offer any help at all. In fact, when Claire finally admitted defeat and said she’d accept the credit that had been offered to her, the supervisor refused. Apparently Claire only had one chance to accept that and since she said no, it was off the table.
Dear HSBC, I Promise I'm In Norway
By 2.8.09
Listen, HSBC Fraud Department, we need to talk. We know it sounds like a joke, but Phil is actually in Norway. We’re sure people call all the time and navigate your byzantine series of computer menus just to tell you hilariously absurd lies like “I’m leaving the country, here’s my forwarding contact information.” We’re sure labeling every foreign transaction as potential fraud isn’t nearly as fun as caring about the part of Phil’s account notes where it says “Travel advisory: In Norway.” The one joy of this endless runaround, the one nugget worth sharing, is that every time you flag a transaction, Phil gets to call you collect, and calling international collect makes a huge difference…
Circuit City Puts The Source Up For Sale
By 1.22.09
With the demise of Circuit City, several of you wondered what’s going to happen to The Source (that’s how you say Circuit City in Canadian). The answer is that they’re on the auction block. [Canoe.Money] (Thanks to Mario Pants!)
By 1.21.09
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A woman in Sweden has been granted the right to seek inpatient treatment for her Coke addiction — no, not that kind. Coca-Cola. [MomLogic]
Desperate Debtor Cuts Off Finger In Court
By 1.21.09
A Lisbon man cut off his finger in the middle of court after a judge refused his offer to settle his 170,000 euro ($219,436) debt. “My intention was to tear up all the case papers and splatter them with blood so I could prevent the expropriation order for my land,” said Orico Silva…
Let Them Eat Organs! Tripe, Liver And Kidney Sales Are Booming In The UK
By 12.9.08
British people suddenly love eating liver and kidneys? Well, probably not. The global recession is causing a spike in “offal” or “variety meat” sales in the UK, says Time.
By 10.24.08
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A man in the UK has been sued by an eBay seller for leaving negative feedback. [Daily Mail] (Thanks, Everyone!)
By 9.18.08
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We’re not the only ones with a credit crunch. HBOS, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, is going under.
Backlash: United Drops Plan To Ax Hot Meals On International Flights
By 9.2.08
United Airlines said it would listen to feedback from customers about its proposed plan to ax hot meals for coach passengers on international flights… and it did. The company has decided not to go ahead with the plan. Reader Jason forwarded us the following email from Graham Atkinson, United’s Chief Customer Officer.
Airlines Have Bumped 343,000 Passengers This Year
By 8.23.08
Over a quarter-million passengers were bumped from flights in the past eight months, a number that is set to grow as airlines try to boost anemic profits by slashing fleets. The Department of Transportation requires airlines to compensate bumped passengers with cash or vouchers, but savvy passengers can leverage their situation to negotiate heftier payments…
Burger King Tray Liners In Germany Feature Cartoon Veggies With Boobs
By 8.15.08
Maybe Burger King in Germany isn’t the same sort of “kid centric” destination that it is over here? Idea Sandbox has made some um, interesting observations about their “Veg City” tray liners. This one is employs the “airport screening” metaphor to suggest that BK doesn’t let any shady veggies into their food.
