Here are nine wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Check ’em out!
readers
World Of Warcraft Accounts Canceled Thanks To Rogue Payment Processor
By 7.31.09
Peoples’ World of Warcraft accounts are getting canceled because of some random payment processor they’ve never heard of is filing unauthorized chargebacks on their behalf, against their will. Their name is PaymentOne. What’s their deal? Ars Technica notes that this isn’t the first time allegations of fraud have arisen about the company. I guess this means a bunch of affected customers are left uninentionally doing re-enactments of this famous video:
Facebook Bans Advertisers From Stealing Your Photo To Sell Stuff To Your Friends
By 7.30.09
Facebook has firmly told app developers that it’s not okay for them to steal your wife’s photo from her profile page and use it to entice others into a sexy local singles dating service.
Family Lives Alone In 32-Story Tower
By 7.30.09
Thanks to their bank, Victor Vangelakos and his family live by themselves in a 32-story tower.
Reach Verizon Wireless Northeast Executive Customer Service
By 7.29.09
Got a Verizon Wireless problem that regular customer service won’t fix? Try escalating it to this guy. Just remember to be PP2P: polite, professional, and to the point.
Use Psychological Trick Of "Reciprocity" To Get Better Customer Service
By 7.27.09
It’s one of those customer service calls you get in battle mode for. You set out all your papers and documents, you know exactly what you’re going to ask for, you have a glass of water ready, you take a deep breath, annnnnd – but wait. What if you had one more thing, just a little more edge that might tip the scales in your favor? An article in Pyschology Today talks about the classic customer service technique of “reciprocity.” At the call’s outset,
Subway Worker Wonders Why You Would Eat Their "Disgusting" Food
By 7.26.09
John visited his local Rhode Island Subway every weekday for the past two months to enjoy what he thought was a healthy lunch. That all came to end after he overheard a Subway worker say to her colleague: “I don’t know how anybody could eat this stuff everyday. It’s disgusting and it will make you fat.”
Internet Trolls Trash Tardy, Chest-Thumping, Monitor Shipper
By 7.25.09
If you’re a big jerk on the internet, eventually the internet will be a big jerk to you. That’s the tale of Adam Goldstein, a guy who didn’t ship a monitor promptly, sent aggressive emails to the buyer, got mocked in online forums, started posturing in those forums, and then had a series of harassing actions conducted against his person by numerous strangers. Things like all-black faxes…
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
By 7.24.09
Here are nine wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Check ’em out!
Getting A Bonanza: Pay Off Debt Now Or Over Time?
By 7.24.09
I am going to be coming in to a large amount of money and I should be able to pay off some of my mounting credit card bills, over $15K. Should I pay it off all at once or space out the payments over 3 or 6 months? I would like to buy a house in a year and want to get the biggest gold star on my credit report I can.
ADT: Sign Up Or Thieves Will Kill Your Dogs With Oven Cleaner
By 7.19.09
Leo thought that letting his two dogs greet an approaching ADT salesman would be enough of a hint that he didn’t want their security services. Nope! The well-trained salesman sensitively barked: “You know what they are doing to dogs now, don’t you? They’re spraying oven-cleaner into their face, killing them in 20 seconds!”
Vonage Routing Causes Reader To Miss $1,000 Giveaway
By 7.18.09
Ari’s wife had ten minutes to call into her local Washington D.C. radio station to claim a $1,000 giveaway, but couldn’t connect because Vonage routes all calls to 1-800 numbers through New York, and the radio station was only accepting local calls. For ten anguishing minutes Ari and his wife suffered through busy signals, worried that the radio station was deluged by other callers. After emailing both Vonage and the station producer, Ari and his wife finally realized what happened…
JetAmerica Crashes And Burns (Business Plan-Wise)
By 7.17.09
JetAmerica, the ultra-low-cost airline (think $9 fares), the back-from-the-dead kissing cousin to SkyBus, has ceased to exist before taking a single passenger aloft, reports Jaunted. The carrier was unable to secure landing rights at Newark International Airport, and will be issuing refunds to all customers. Sad. US travelers deserve an American version of RyanAir. Then they’ll really have something to complain about.
Consumerist Friday Flickr Finds
By 7.17.09
Here are seven wonderful photos readers added to The Consumerist Flickr Pool this week, picked for neatness and usability in a Consumerist post. Check ’em out!
It's Free Chocolate Friday From Mars
By 7.17.09
Fork over your personal information and the Mars chocolate company will snail mail you a free coupon for one full-sized Mars candy bar in 6 weeks. We mentioned this in Morning Deals in May, it’s still going on, and will continue on Fridays through September. They’re calling it the “Real Chocolate Relief Act,” a tie-in to two different news stories: 1) Economic bailout plans and 2) Some corner-cutting candymakers not using 100% cocoa butter and putting more oil inside – a basterdization known as “mocklate.”
How Long Before That Debt Falls Off My Credit Report?
By 7.17.09
Is a true that after 7 years your bad credits go away?
$300,000 Credit Card Skim Was "Model Employee" Scam
By 7.16.09
His name was “Erick,” and after earning respect and responsibilities at the Arco gas station he’d been working at for 8 months, he dissapeared, leaving behind only a hidden credit card skimmer that stole $300,000 worth of debit card info from reams of customers. Police believe that “Erick,” pictured, was a low-rank solider in an organized crime ring who had been given the assignment of working his way up the ladder at the gas station until he was in a position to place the credit card skimmer, a type of con known as the “model employee” scam. As a shopper, protect yourself from skimmers by only using cash, credit cards, or swiping your debit card as credit. [More]
Play Consumerist Comments Bingo
Know those Consumerist comments that get repeated and repeated, and disemoveled, over and over again? Don’t flame, play Bingo! Consumerist comments Bingo! All your favorites are there, like “slw nws dy?,” pointing out typos, blame the OP, and more! Reader catastrophe girl has uploaded a series of four delightful Bingo cards to our Flickr Pool so you can play the home version of the game we play in our minds.