Is it a man or a robot? A robot impersonating a man? A man impersonating a robot? Such are the questions that flitted through bobbymac’s head as he engaged in text-based dialogue with a Comcast customer service rep. [More]
readers
Best Buy Replaces Deaf Bed-Bound Girl's Laptop After Holding It Hostage
By 7.22.11
After the story of a deaf and bed-bound girl whose laptop had been bouncing back and forth between Best Buy Geek Squad repair for 3 months went up on Consumerist, the ambassador for Geek Squad City, Randy Ratliff, reached out to help. “The buck stops here!” he said in his email. And of all the many who say that, he’s one of the few to mean it. He investigated the issue and now Jenni’s sister has a new laptop. [More]
Upset At Being Sold A Lemon, Man Crashes It Into Six Cars At Dealership
By 7.21.11
A man who upset over getting sold a lemon by a dealership decided to vent his rage in an unusual fashion. After the salesman wouldn’t accept a return, the man waited until midnight and then drove back to the dealership. Then he revved the engine and began smashing it into the cars on the lot. [More]
Audio: Fan Begs Comcast "Executive Customer Relations" For Fox Soccer HD
By 7.21.11
The clock is running out. English Premier League soccer kicks off on August 12th. Many satellite and cable providers have added the Fox Soccer Channel in HD, but Comcast still has not in the Bay Area. Soccer fans who want to see the beautiful game in HD are looking to switch providers if Comcast doesn’t add FSCHD pronto. This is an audio recording one of the fans made to Comcast “executive customer relations.” My favorite part is how at first the rep says one of the holdups is bandwidth issues and then after the fan proves that wrong and says “The bandwidth argument doesn’t hold up either,” the rep agrees and says, “I know, I know.” [More]
Steakhouse Compensates For Initially Crappy Service With Stellar Service, Free Meal
By 7.21.11
Jeff and his wife had been sitting for 20 minutes, waiting for their order to be taken at their local steakhouse. Nauseated on eating only peanuts and only having their drink orders filled, they finally got up to pay for their drinks and skedaddle. But when they threatened to walk off, probably never to return again, all of a sudden the restaurant swung the pendulum and started giving them incredible customer service. [More]
Applebee's Gives Free Meal To Man With Terminal Brain Cancer
By 7.20.11
Tashi has an incredible above and beyond letter of accolades for Applebee’s. Her husband has terminal brain cancer and they don’t have much money. How would they celebrate him being alive 500 days after being diagnosed? A 3rd party who knew about their situation contacted the local Applebee’s and arranged for part of their meal to be comped. But then the manager went above and beyond even this fantastic gesture and really made their night special. Here’s the letter she sent Applebee’s headquarters: [More]
Man Fined $2,000 For Not Watering His Beehive
By 7.20.11
While New York may be trying to raise revenue by cracking down on city beekeepers, this looks like one sting operation that got its stinger broken off in the wound: inspectors fined a Queens man $2,000 for “not watering his beehive.” [More]
SouperSalad Store Shuts Down After Blade Found In Salad
By 7.20.11
Waiter, there’s a blade in my salad. Albuquerque health inspectors slapped a red dot of shame on a SouperSalad restaurant after they followed up complaints from a diner who said he found blades in his greens. [More]
Completely Fake Apple Stores Found In China
By 7.20.11
An American blogger living in the middle of China was amazed to stumble across a fake Apple store in her town. It was a complete counterfeit of a real Apple store, designed to look like the real thing. It had signage, and employees walking around in the iconic blue shirts with those lanyard nametags. It had the big long wooden tables with Apple products on them and the typical Apple store winding staircase. But certain details were off. [More]
Supermarkets Manipulating Multiples To Get You To Buy More
By 7.19.11
Supermarkets are rolling out the apparent discounts more than ever. Ten for $10! Five for $5! And shoppers, thinking they’re getting a deal, are gobbling it up. Never mind that you can get the same price if you just bought one of the items. [More]
Expedia Denies Refund Even Though Hotel Was Closed
By 7.15.11
This summer, Abe went on a trip through Europe this summer with his wife and kids. One night, he made a hotel reservation using the Expedia iPhone app. But when he arrived at the place, it was already past check-in time and no one was around. When he called Expedia for a refund, they said no, because the check-in time was disclosed on their website, even though that information was not available through the iPhone app at all. [More]
After Colbert Mocks, Gas Driller Stops Making "Friendly Fracosaurus" Coloring Book
By 7.15.11
After the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette highlighted a coloring book made by natural gas driller Talisman Energy for pushing propaganda on kids, and Colbert ripped it a new one, the gas company announced it will stop making “Talisman Terry’s Energy Adventure.” [More]
Purdy's Chocolate Finds Stuffed Rabbit, Saves Childhood
By 7.15.11
Geordie’s five-year old daughter had fallen in love with a stuffed bunny she got from Purdy’s Chocolates during Easter. Then it recently went missing during a trip to the beach. Her daughter missed the bunny terribly, even keeping the bunny’s empty bed next to hers at night. Revisiting the store, they were told there were no more bunnies left. Then, emboldened by reading success stories from other Consumerist readers, Geordie emailed Purdy’s to see if anything could be done. And indeed something could be… [More]
The Slum Lord Garbage Tree
By 7.15.11
Greg was pretty ticked off. After two weeks of complaining to management, the tall tree outside his apartment complex still had garbage hanging from its branches. It looked like some sort of foul Christmas Tree for hobos. He couldn’t use the parking spot he pays $94 a month for because the building staff had removed all the “Tenant Only” parking signs and not put up the new ones. People who didn’t live in the building were parking in his spot. Only after sending a string of admonishing emails to the building manager, his bosses, and the board of directors did Greg finally get The Tree Of Garbage cleaned up. Here’s the chain of emails: [More]
How Price Guarantees, Aren't
By 7.14.11
Reader Ziemowit has a good point. Some big box stores loudly proclaim their “PRICE GUARANTEE” signs but then actually do some stuff that make them irrelevant. The guarantee is supposed to be that they will match any competitor’s price. But when you have a number of manufacturers making products with packaging and SKUs just for that one retailer, then you can’t do a price guarantee because no one else carries that specific model. If you can’t find the same product at another store, you can’t match the price. Zing! [More]
How To Check Your Stats If Your Comcast Bandwidth Meter Is Broken
By 7.14.11
After reading the story about the guy whose internet was shut off for a year by Comcast as punishment for breaching their data cap, reader Brian tried to check out his Comcast bandwidth meter. He did not want to have the same fate befall him. However, when he got to the screen, all the data and graphs that had been there months before were gone. Comcast told him that the bandwidth meter isn’t working for some customers but gave him a number to call if he needed to check on his data consumption. [More]
50% Off Amazon Prime Renewals For Students
By 7.14.11
Students who signed up last year for a free year of Amazon Prime are getting close to their expiration date. So, Amazon is offering them a renewal for $39, 50% off the regular price of $79. [More]
Guy Arrested For Saggy Pants Plans To Sue US Airways
By 7.14.11
Yesterday, all charges were dropped against a University of New Mexico football player who was thrown off a plane and arrested by a US Airways pilot last month for wearing pj’s that sagged off his posterior. Today his attorney says that Deshon plans on suing US Airways over how he was treated. [More]
