Cricket is perfectly capable of selling reader skokieguy a smartphone for several hundred dollars, but when it comes time to replace his defective battery for free under warranty, all of a sudden they become powerless. [More]
readers
$250 Laptop Turns Out To Be Made Of Paper
By 9.2.11
Two women bought what they thought was a laptop for $250. Upon opening, it it turned out to be a packet of paper wrapped in black tape. [More]
BP Thinks People Should Go 90 MPH On Main Street?
By 9.2.11
This is odd. Reader Kevin spotted a sign on top of a BP gas pump that has an image of a GPS device on it. In the GPS screen, it shows whoever is driving as going 90 MPH while going down “Main Street.” An attempt to subliminally encourage people to use more gas, perhaps? [More]
When Asked If They Care About The Customer, AT&T Rep Allegedly Curses Customer Off
By 9.1.11
After trying several times to get through to customer service to get her bill adjusted, reader C was finally connected to the right department. Problem was that no one was talking to her, but she could hear their personal conversations in the background. She then asked loudly through the receiver “Does anyone at AT&T care about the customer?” Allegedly, she heard back “**** you,” a laugh, and someone saying, “she can call all she wants, she’ll never get through.” [More]
Orlando Shell Station Charges $5.59/Gallon, Shocking Drivers
By 8.31.11
Gas prices are high, but $5.59 a gallon? That’s what drivers pulling up to a Shell station at in Orlando, FL are paying. They say they don’t find out what the price is until they get their receipt. Talk about Shell-shock. [More]
Irene Knocked My Neighbor's Tree On My Deck, But He's Run Away From His Foreclosure
By 8.31.11
Irene blew a listing tree onto Brian’s property from his neighbor’s yard, smashing both his deck and fence. A seeming wrinkle is that his neighbor has long ago skipped town, leaving behind his foreclosed house with its drowsy trees untended. Brian wants to know how he can track the guy down, private eye style, and get reimbursed for the tree removal. [More]
Discover Ends Disposable Credit Card Number Program
By 8.31.11
Discover sent around an email last night informing customers that it would be ending the “Secure Online Account Numbers” service. This feature helped you mitigate the potential for online fraud by letting you generate unique credit card numbers you could use per online retailer or even per transaction. A few Consumerist readers were bummed to see it go. [More]
Blue Plate Mayo Proudly Says "No Shrink Ray Here"
By 8.30.11
Blue Plate Mayo wants everyone to know that it’s still rocking the 32 oz. [More]
Getting Through The Post-Irene Insurance Claim Process
By 8.30.11
The first floor of a friend’s house in Vermont was completely flooded by Hurricane Irene, forcing the family with two kids to evacuate to a nearby church. But braving the storm may look like blowing bubbles in the park after they start the insurance claims process. Here’s some tips they, and you, can use to make it easier. [More]
Beware Solar Panel Scams
By 8.18.11
Contractors are banging on homeowners doors, promising huge savings for installing solar panels on their roofs. But after they’re installed and the customer has paid out big money, the panels have failed to produce a single kilowatt of energy and the salesmen have evaporated. [More]
Check Out This Nearly Undetectable ATM Skimmer
By 8.18.11
Reader Andrew noticed this picture of an an incredibly high-end professional ATM skimmer that is virtually undetectable. [More]
The Letter That Got My Homeowner's Insurance Company To Pay Up
By 8.17.11
Reader S finally got his homeowner’s insurance company to pay up for the rebuilding of the glass railings around his condo, thanks to a well-crafted and scary letter he wrote them. Here is his story, and his ass-kicking letter. [More]
Consumerist Techniques Land Reader Free Home Depot Tools
By 8.17.11
Andrew stared at the row of tools on the shelf at Home Depot and sighed. He had a big new job to do, but after getting all his tools from Home Depot for the past 20 years, there was but a paltry selection. No open stock items and the sets were incomplete. He wouldn’t be able to get all the tools he needed. So, drawing on what he’d learned from reading Consumerist, rather than an EECB, he crafted an email to a specific person at Home Depot corporate he thought might help. [More]
Brian Ulrich's Fluorescent Consumer Hellscapes
By 8.17.11
I’m a sucker for artistically rendered photographs of consumer behavior, which is why I was so excited to hear that Brian Ulrich has a new series up called Retail. Hi-gloss shops populated by dystopic consumers drenched in fluorescence, framed by an expert hand? Count me in, especially if there’s a BOGO! [More]
Man Finds Camera Hidden In Starbucks Bathroom, Doesn't Even Get A Free Coffee For It
By 8.12.11
A plumber is pissed after finding a camera hidden inside a Starbucks men’s room. First it was the camera, then it was the employees’ blase attitude, then it was the police seizing his laptop. And he didn’t get a thank you from Starbucks for his deed, not even a free coffee. [More]
After 10 Years Of Selling, Why I Swore Off eBay
By 8.12.11
After having used eBay for 10 years, Daniel has vowed to never do it again. “If I have something I know I can sell on eBay,” he wrote in a letter to eBay executives, “I’ll give it away before listing it.” Why is Daniel so steamed? [More]
Figure Out Which Model This Maytag Oven Is
By 8.11.11
Timothy, as he describes it, is in a pickle. His Maytag oven started flashing “F5” and turning itself off whenever he turned it on. When the Maytag guy came over, he couldn’t figure out which model number it was and so he couldn’t repair it. “He asked for $130 for this useful piece of service, which I refused,” writes Timothy. Can you, dear Consumerist reader, identify which model this Maytag oven is? UPDATE: 13 minutes later, one reader thinks she has the answer. [More]
Wedding Photographer Convicted For Not Turning Over Photos To Couple
By 8.11.11
This story is sweet justice for anyone out there who’s gotten married and had to beg and plead just to get their photos back: a South Carolina wedding photographer was sentenced to two years of house arrest for not turning over the photos he took of a couple’s wedding, even though they had already paid him $2,450. [More]
