It’s bad enough when a glitch on a retailer’s side screws up your method of payment, but Barnes & Noble took so long to investigate and respond to one customer’s emails that by the time they acknowledged they’d made a mistake, they said it was too late to do anything about it.
internet
Zappos: We Want To Be "Known As A Customer Service Company, Not A Marketing Company"
By 2.20.08
Reader Matt forwarded this email exchange he had with Zappos.com over their recent decision to stop promoting their price guarantee and free overnight shipping.
The Great eBay Boycott Is Officially On, Will Anyone Notice?
By 2.20.08
Here we are a few days into a week-long eBay boycott over policy and fee changes and no one is sure if it is having any effect. It appears that listings are down 3%, but no one is sure if the drop is the result of the boycott.
Comcast Recommends That You Switch To Verizon, Then Apologizes
By 2.18.08
Reader Brian sent us this transcript of a conversation that he had with a Comcast rep. He was considering switching to Verizon and was wondering if Comcast could come up with any reason why he should stay. They couldn’t. In fact, Comcast’s CSR “Mike” said: “my advice is to go ahead and switch, and if you find Comacst provides a fast and more reliable service we will welcome you back.”
"HughesNet is Absolutely, Without A Doubt, The Worst Company I Have Ever Had The Misfortune of Relying On"
By 2.11.08
Reader Jeff isn’t pleased with HughesNet and has cc’d us on his email so that we can listen in. It’s more of a warning than a specific complaint that can be resolved:
I would just like to take this opportunity to reiterate, for the hundredth time, how much I loathe HughesNet. I have just been FAPed again. No one here is downloading any movies, music, books, or much of anything — just using the Internet. I have a guest visiting, and I’m assuming their additional drain on the ridiculously small 375 MB cap we’re afforded is what’s knocked us over the limit…so now I’m stuck at sub-dialup speeds for the next 24 hours.
By 2.4.08
../../../..//2008/02/04/yahoo-is-re-opening-talks/
Yahoo is re-opening talks with Google about a possible business alliance in an effort to rebuff Microsoft’s takeover proposal, which Yahoo says undervalues the company at $31 a share.
Tired Of Your Entrenched Service Provider? Consider A Local Alternative
By 2.3.08
Few consumers realize they can ditch their monopolistic service providers in favor of local, independent telecoms that often offer similar services at competitive rates. These smaller outfits depend on service, not size, as reader Sharpstick recently discovered:
In the Charleston SC area we are fortunate to have local a internet / phone / cable provider called Knology that has made customer service an art form.
By 2.1.08
../../../..//2008/02/01/microsoft-is-interested-in-buying/
Microsoft is interested in buying Yahoo! [Ars Technica]
Domino's Announces Online Pizza Tracking That's Accurate To 40 Seconds
By 1.30.08
We are living in the future!
“We’re filling that black box of uncertainty — ‘Has my pizza been forgotten?’ — with information and entertainment,” says Chris McGlothlin, technology chief at Domino’s.
Dreamhost Billing Apocalypse Refuses To End
By 1.30.08
I need help—or at least, just to kvetch. You remember that big $7.5 million snafu Dreamhost made? Well, I received an invoice the day before and trustingly paid it with my credit card. Then, I learned—from Consumerist, no less, not from Dreamhost—about the billing mistake. Nowhere did Dreamhost mention that legitimate invoices were *also* sent out. I looked at the invoice they sent me and noted the error in the date:
Continental To Offer Free WiFi, Satellite TV For $6
By 1.29.08
Continental Airlines has announced that it will be offering Wi-Fi and satellite TV in some of its planes, thanks to a partner ship with LiveTV (owned by JetBlue.)
Study Says Shoppers "Save" Money On eBay
By 1.29.08
EBay doesn’t share data on bidders’ maximum bid amounts, so it’s always been difficult to quantify whether or not buyers are actually saving money, but a new study has attempted to put hard numbers behind the transactions. The study’s authors use data from bidders who used a specific sniping agent—by measuring what those bidders were willing to pay versus actual winning amounts, they’ve determined that the average winning bid comes in about 30% lower than the maximum amount the buyer was willing to spend.
EA To Release "Free" Video Game In U.S. This Summer
By 1.29.08
Electronic Arts saw crazy profits in South Korea over the past two years from distributing its FIFA soccer title online for free, then charging an average of $1.60 per transaction for character clothing and accessories. Now EA has announced it will release a free online version of Battlefield Heroes in the U.S. and Europe this summer. If it proves successful, more titles will follow. Unfortunately, in addition to micro-transactions EA will also include in-game advertising to support the business model. Suddenly we’re picturing a surreal NASCAR battlefield… hey, that sounds like a new game idea! Pay up, EA!
Charter: Sorry We Deleted Your Email, Want $50?
By 1.25.08
There is no way to retrieve the messages, photos and other attachments that were erased from inboxes and archive folders across the country on Monday, said Anita Lamont, a spokeswoman for the suburban St. Louis-based company.
Great Idea: Website To Let You Share The Cost Of Fad Gadgets
By 1.25.08
David Pogue thinks the Pleo dinosaur is meh. He’s seen it all before with Aibo, and despite all the “it’s so lifelike!” ad and editorial copy devoted to it, the charm wears off pretty much the same day you buy it: “My surprise, though, was my kids’ reaction. They thought it was really, really cool—for the first half-hour.” He’s proposed a new website idea where you’d sign up for the latest Hot New Thing coming out of CES, Toy Fair, Macworld, etc., then pay an ever-shrinking percentage of the original sales price to own it when your turn came in line.
The Fakery Behind Amazon's "Top 10 Reviewers"
By 1.24.08
Amazon reviews, especially the effusive ones, have always been suspect—you never know when a five-star review came from an employee, publicist, or marketing type. Slate describes the dishonest world of Amazon’s “Top 10 Reviewers,” where a small group of writers churn out purple-prosed blurbs and jacket-ready compliments at an astounding rate, sometimes for a fee. In turn, these reviewers are inundated with a sort of fame as well as free merchandise—mostly books in the past, but now electronics and other goods. Because good reviews sell more books, Amazon has no incentive to weed out the reviewers who have turned the system into a cottage industry. We suggest you disregard any review with a “Top 10 Reviewer” label on it.
Best Internet, TV, Phone Service Providers
By 1.23.08
Lots of companies are pushing deals for their bundled internet, tv and phone plans, but which are best? Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and here’s how they ranked the service providers:
MPAA Takes Unfairly Blaming College Students For Illegal Downloading Very Seriously
By 1.23.08
BONUS QUOTE:“Illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing is a society-wide problem. Some of it occurs at college s and universities but it is a small portion of the total,” [Terry Hartle ,vice president of the American Council on Education] said, adding colleges will continue to take the problem seriously, but more regulation isn’t necessary.
