An Apple store insider has leaked to us what they say will be some limitations and barriers on buying the iPhone Apple and AT&T stores will apply to the new iPhone 3g that goes on sale this Friday:
leaks
Powerpoint By Pissed Comcast Employee Reveals They Know Exactly How Much They Suck
By 6.20.08
It’s no secret to Consumerist readers that Comcast’s outsourced techs are often late, rude and incompetent, and that calling customer service is more akin to improving dialogue in a Beckett play, but as this exclusively obtained powerpoint made by a Comcast employee shows, it’s no secret to the cable company either. (I know the damn thing wasn’t officially created by Comcast corp. C’mon, give us more credit than that. It’s pretty obvious that it’s too funny to be official. I just meant to describe how it was created by a Comcast employee and passed around to other Comcast employees and came from inside Comcast. I realize now that “internal” makes it sound official, and that wasn’t my intention. I apologize for the confusion.) Watch and/or download the powerpoint, inside…
WaMu Banker Confessions, Part Two
By 6.11.08
Another Washington Mutual insider has stepped forward with a slew of tips to help save your ass from overdraft fees, check deposit holds, and talking to Filipino bankers. Details, inside…
Better Return Policy, Customer Service Available To Best Buy Customers Who Spend $2,500 Per Year
By 6.9.08
Like shopping at Best Buy but don’t like their lack of customer service and crappy return policy? They’ve got an offer for you. Spend $2,500 per calendar year and you’ll be considered a “Reward Zone Program Premier Silver Member.” The benefits of this membership are immediately apparent. You’ll get your own dedicated customer service line that’s only for Premier Silver Members, and a more generous return policy as well. Why should good customer service be available to bad customers? We’ve got the text of a Best Buy Reward Zone Silver Training Document, inside.
Insurance Insider Tells How To Appeal Coverage Denial
By 5.22.08
We’ve heard plenty of horror stories about people’s coverage being denied for situations where they’re darn sure that they were covered, and now, an insurance industry insider has come forward with some tips on how best to make an appeal.
"Series Of Tubes," Mario Reference, Found In ATT Manual
By 5.14.08
A testament to the “Series of Tubes” meme’s pervasiveness is its inclusion in an AT&T FastAccess business DSL tech support manual. According to a former employee, her bosses who made the manual were big nerds and read BoingBoing, Gizmodo, and The Consumerist. She also says in one of the the tech support training videos for the new customer Yahoo portal that’s rolling out later this month, it shows how to create a feed for The Consumerist. Note too that the internet is depicted as a giant fluffy cloud.
Tmobile Call Center Bans Kleenex
By 5.9.08
Update on that outsourced Tmobile call center that banned paper and pens earlier this week: our insider reports that Kleenex is now verboten as well. He furthermore notes that, “paper and pens, if they are to be used, have to be signed out from a supervisor. When signed back in, the paper is shredded by the supervisor.” Any reps feeling the need to cry about their vaporizing dignity can use the back of their sleeve, after their request form is approved. A comment from our previous post explains why this might be a bad idea…
2nd Insider Says Comcast Indeed Decentralizing Network Operations Centers
By 5.1.08
Another Comcast insider says that the cable…
Circuit City Denies Its In-Home TV Calibration Is A Total Scam
By 4.30.08
Speaking on behalf of Circuit City in regards to…
Insiders: Circuit City's In-Home TV Calibration Is A Total Scam
By 4.29.08
According to a Circuit City employee, their…
7 Confessions Of An Apple Macintosh Specialist
By 4.28.08
It was a dark and stormy night, and the Consumerist team was hunkered down at HQ poring over leads. Suddenly, we heard a ruckus coming from the alley. Footsteps, followed by the sound of breaking glass and a cat crying out as if to say, “OMGWTF?”
Comcast Decentralizing Network Support Groups?
By 4.24.08
A Comcast insider part of a network operations group tells me that Comcast is doing some behind the scenes reorganization and decentralization so as not to suck as much. The insider says:
Sprint Reps No Longer Allowed To Quote Customer In Quotes In Case Of Subpoena?
By 4.23.08
Interesting, completely unverified, tidbit from an anonymous Sprint employee: “We’re no longer allowed to quote the customer in our notes [on the account] because if they’re subpoenaed by a judge then they’ll be evidence proving they’re telling the truth regarding their situation.” Any Sprint insiders care to comment?
5 Confessions Of An Apple Tech Support Supervisor
By 4.18.08
A tech support supervisor, from what we figure to be Apple, has stepped forward to break down some behind-the-scenes workings with his underlings who sometimes make both his and consumer’s lives difficult. For instance, one of the reasons you might be on hold so long is agents using fake work codes to avoid taking calls. Also, we know that metrics rule the call centers, but, in one of the confessions, he talks about how not only is it important to not go over your average handle time, you also can’t go too far under. Just strive to be perfectly average, and you’ll go far…
Internal Documents Show Why Verizon Isn't Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands
By 4.18.08
These internal Verizon emails, sent by the same insider and as a a followup to “LEAKS: Insider Says Verizon Isn’t Fulfilling Advertised Discounts For Tens Of Thousands,” shows why some of our readers have complained about Verizon offering them one price and billing them another, and then being inflexible in offering service credits. It appears to show that Verizon mailed out a half a million “Blitz” promotional rate cards, then decided it was an error and pulled the offer from the computers. Then Verizon let people get the advertised offers, but only if the customer specifically asked for it. Around the same time, on March 3rd, management cuts the discounts reps can give to $150. Two weeks later, it’s $50. Two weeks after that, it’s zero. Even if a customer was overbilled and legitimately deserved a credit, tough titties, Texas, you weren’t going to get it. Verizon insider’s explanation, rebuttal to the response by Verizon PR pointman John Bonomo, and the internal emails, inside…
Merck Ghostwrote Vioxx Studies For Doctors
By 4.16.08
Newly unearthed documents may reveal that Merck Pharmaceuticals ghostwrote dozens of Vioxx studies and then paid well-known doctors to put their name on them as if they wrote them, according to a new article to be published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). In one instance, a draft version of an article to be published listed the lead author as “External author?” Dr. Steven H. Ferris, one of the doctors whose research was questioned, call the article “simply false”, its allegations “egregious.” Let’s see what the JAMA article has to say about the study Ferris supposedly worked on:
