The Best Buy where Toni bought a laptop earlier this month has no record of the sale, and it won’t collect the funds that have already been released from her account. This sounds like a fun problem to have—$1500 extra dollars, free laptop, woo hoo!—but it’s actually pretty annoying. Toni doesn’t want this phantom $1500 messing up her balance indefinitely, and she doesn’t want to feel like she’s stolen a laptop.
laptops
![Office Depot To Employees: "Don't Lie About Inventory"](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/031309-005-officedepotnotice158.jpg?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
Office Depot To Employees: "Don't Lie About Inventory"
An anonymous Office Depot employee sent us this internal reminder from HQ that addresses this week’s allegations that associates and managers lie about inventory depending on the customer. Now the next time you’re told by an Office Depot associate that the laptop you want is out of stock, you can say, “Are you absolutely sure? Because I know you had a Sales Practices Reminder on March 12th about lying to customers.” And if a manager tries to get all up in, uhm, your grill area, you can say, “Don’t you have some tasks to go check off in your Task Manager?”
![Watch Out For Payment Date Errors—And Related Finance Charges—From Chase](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/030309-005-chase158.jpg?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
Watch Out For Payment Date Errors—And Related Finance Charges—From Chase
Mike used an Office Depot Visa card issued through Chase to take advantage of a pay-no-interest deal through 2008. He paid off the remaining balance a couple of days before the offer period ended, but Chase still slapped him with a nearly $40 interest charge. Why? Because they’ve been “having problems like that” with Office Depot cards.
![After Massive Runaround, HP Sends Your Laptop Back Filled With Viruses](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hpvirus.jpg?w=158&h=185&crop=1)
After Massive Runaround, HP Sends Your Laptop Back Filled With Viruses
HP is known for its incompetent repair process, but what makes Aaron’s case special is that at the end they decide to kick it up a notch. When he sends his computer in and gets it back from the repair center, HP has so ever so graciously filled it with free spyware and viruses.
![AT&T Mobility And RadioShack Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $5,000 Overage Bill](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/022709-006-netbook158.jpeg?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
AT&T Mobility And RadioShack Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over $5,000 Overage Bill
A woman in Oklahoma bought a 3G netbook from RadioShack for $100, subsidized by a two-year data plan from AT&T Mobility. That plan comes with a 5GB monthly data cap, which she exceeded, and as a result her first monthly bill was over $5,000. Now the two companies are facing a class action lawsuit that alleges they are not clearly disclosing to purchasers that overage fees could be “astronomical.”
![Dell Takes Four Months To Replace Broken Trackpad](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/custom_1233781627484_trackpadfail_01.jpg?w=158&h=105&crop=1)
Dell Takes Four Months To Replace Broken Trackpad
The trackpad on Jim’s Dell laptop hasn’t worked since September despite a new motherboard, new hard drive, and four replacement trackpads. One Dell technician managed to dent the laptop’s speaker grill. Another, dispatched to replace the hard drive, brought a drive that was slower than the model in Jim’s laptop. Dell promised to send the speedier drive, but instead they sent a box labeled “hard drive” containing only a screwdriver.
![Reach Hewlett-Packard Executivce Customer Service](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/hplogo1.jpg?w=158&h=116&crop=1)
Reach Hewlett-Packard Executivce Customer Service
Expedite a quagmired Hewlett-Packard issue by calling their executive customer service at 1-800-756-0608 option 7. A guy named Tim Metcalf might be the one who helps you, or Dan or Yunsil. Their lines open at 8am, PST. (Photo: orangegeeky)
![“Dell No Longer Believes In Compensation For The Purpose Of Customer Satisfaction”](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/custom_1232269056945_burn_baby_burn.jpg?w=300&h=225&crop=1)
“Dell No Longer Believes In Compensation For The Purpose Of Customer Satisfaction”
After waiting 56 days for his Dell Mini 9 to ship, reader WantMyDellMini asked Dell for a little compensation, only to be told: “Dell no longer believes in compensation for the purpose of customer satisfaction.” The Mini 9’s shipping status has already changed at least ten times, but Dell claims that our poor reader has no choice but to keep waiting.
![Acer's Secret Business Model Somehow Involves Envelopes](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/010509-005-acerenvelopes158.jpg?w=158&h=158&crop=1)
Acer's Secret Business Model Somehow Involves Envelopes
To date I’ve received one batch of five flat pacs [and] one batch of seventeen flat pacs. Each flat pac has three restoration discs (for a total of 66 discs), none of the flat pacs I’ve received has contained the promised system disc.
![Staples: Give Us $80, We've Already "Set Up" All The Laptops In Stock…](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/staples.jpg?w=158&h=118&crop=1)
Staples: Give Us $80, We've Already "Set Up" All The Laptops In Stock…
Here’s a “set up fee” or “optimization” complaint we’re seeing more and more involving a wide range of retailers.
![Apple's Customer Service Kick Dell's Ass, Empirical Evidence Shows](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/amazingtotallycool.jpg?w=300&h=192&crop=1)
Apple's Customer Service Kick Dell's Ass, Empirical Evidence Shows
Are you a PC or a Mac? If you’re enjoying great customer service, chances are you’re a Mac, based on some new data released by VocaLabs.
![Email Michael Dell](../../../../consumermediallc.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/mikedell.jpg?w=158&h=213&crop=1)
Email Michael Dell
If you would like to contact the CEO of Dell to tell him how much you enjoy his company’s products and services, his direct email address is Michael@dell.com. We’ve previously posted michael_dell@dell.com, and that, while it arrives at his office, does not go to him personally.