For those who don’t obsessively read the bylines at the bottom right of every post, to see who offered up the pro-consumer post of the moment, you may not have noticed an additional name — Mark Ashley — in the roster of Consumerists today. (It’s been a few months since I’ve posted here.) My normal blog home is Upgrade: Travel Better, where the subject is travel, the outlook is always pro-consumer, and the motto is “Living the First Class Life… at Coach Prices.” Consider this your personal invitation.
mark ashley
Above And Beyond: JetBlue Recap Edition
By 2.25.07
(Disclaimer: The author owns JetBlue stock.)
With JetBlue back in the air, we wanted to commend their ability to make the best of a horrible situation. Before we do, Mark Ashley pointed out several weaknesses in JetBlue’s Bill of Rights that we must first address.
Why Are There Taxes On Frequent Flyer Miles?
By 12.14.06
Why are “free” frequent flyer miles taxed, asks Katie.
Firefox: More Errors Than Internet Explorer, But Faster Solutions
By 9.27.06
The Firefox vs. Internet Explorer debates are much like the Mac vs. PC wars. Everyone seems to choose sides, and the Firefox crew proselytizes much like Mac owners do.
Happy Sunshine Fun-Time Magazine Customer Service Happiness
By 9.26.06
Maybe it’s because of the nice sunny weather we’re having after days and days of dreary, grey weather, but we’re in a good mood today. And our good mood means we’re less inclined to take the all-companies-suck-all-the-time perspective that some readers seem to think we need to be employing. Sometimes, believe it or not, companies screw up and then actually fix the problem.
Advertisers Want to Text You
By 9.26.06
The do-not-call list added hurdles to telemarketers trying to cold call to sell you vinyl siding. Then Tivo slowed down television advertising. Spam-filters, as much as they still kinda suck, are constantly being tweaked to limit the influx of marketing to your inbox. That leaves texting, the last great frontier in intrusive advertising.
Car Dealership Bilks Old Man and Steals $2000 With His ATM Card
By 9.26.06
You might think that going after car dealers for shady dealings is just too obvious and easy for the Consumerist. So it’s not just any car dealer story that rises to the top of our hallowed frontpage.
Orbitz Misprices Tickets and Holds Your Credit Hostage
By 9.25.06
Reader Kristin gets the double whammy of poor service from online travel agency Orbitz.com.
Flight Attendants Extort Blanket Sales From Freezing Passengers
By 9.22.06
Every once in a while, there’s a business model that’s so brilliantly evil, you just have to respect it, even while you bemoan its lack of ethics and its blatant disregard for the human spirit.
Put Down the Bag of Chips, and Drink From the Bottle of Oil
By 9.22.06
We’re not sure what’s more horrifying: The fact that half of British schoolchildren eat a pack of potato chips (or crisps, if you prefer) every single day, or the fact that such a rate of chip consumption means you’re ingesting more than a gallon of vegetable oil every year.
