Apple has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle a class action suit brought by owners of the notoriously scratchy first-generation iPod Nanos. Under the agreement, owners of the scratch magnets will be entitled to either a $25 or $15 cash refund, depending on whether or not their Nano included a carrying case.
refunds
Carbonmade Quickly Responds To Error, Fixes It In Less Than 4 Hours
By 1.23.09
As the economy tanks, we keep seeing examples of companies cutting more corners on customer service, and especially becoming less cooperative when it comes to resolving a problem that involves billing. That’s why it’s nice to see a business not only respond quickly, but in favor of the customer. (It’s probably no surprise to you that it’s a small business and not a corporation.)
By 1.22.09
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Vonage has settled a class action lawsuit over its flaky fax service, but participants can only expect to see between $4-19 repayment. You have until March 2, 2009 to file a claim or an objection. [Bustos Fax Settlement] (Thanks to Klay!)
Understanding Circuit City's "End Of Days" Return Policy
By 1.19.09
Returning something to Circuit City? All sales are final during the liquidation, but if you bought it between January 1st and the 16th, you have a 14-day return window. However, if you bought it before January 1st, the original 30-day policy still applies. Your cashier might not know this, though, and try to deny the return. That’s what happened to Jason today when he tried to return a hard drive.
12 Confessions Of A U.S. Bank CSR
By 1.13.09
A customer service rep (CSR) for U.S. Bank’s 24-hour banking hotline has stepped forward from the shadows to reveal 12 tips that can save customers money and time. Insider tips on how to get fees refunded, how “available balance” is a lie, and why you should demand the Portland call center when you have a fraud problem, inside…
Is Silicon Solar Ripping Off Its Customers, Or Is It Just Incompetent?
By 1.12.09
Update: company co-founder Matt addresses some of the accusations in a comment below. Why are there so many complaints online about Silicon Solar? One customer, Dennis, told us how he was lied to by a salesman, then strung along by a woman in customer support until the 14-day return period had expired. A quick Google search turns up dozens of similar stories about being treated badly by customer service, receiving products that don’t work as advertised, and never being given the RMAs necessary to send items back. Writes one reviewer on DavesGarden.com, “I can’t express the anger and frustration I felt when dealing with this company.”
ALDO Refunds My Sunglass Money
By 1.8.09
A few weeks ago I wrote a peeved post about how I was mad that ALDO wasn’t refunding my money after sending me the wrong pair of sunglasses, broken. Instead, they seemed to be giving a sucker’s prize of only free shipping. My finger was quivering on the chargeback button, I said. But thanks to a few of your comments, I realized that while their wording was unclear about what the next action was supposed to be, ALDO had approved my return, I just needed to either ship it back to them or take it into a store. I did the latter, and they processed my refund promptly. Hooray.
49 Banks That Refund All ATM Fees
By 12.22.08
Why pay people for your own money? Via FatWallet, here’s a big daddy list of all the banks that refund your ATM fees, regardless of who owns the ATM.
Putting The Wrong Name On An Airline Ticket Is An $800 Mistake?
By 12.15.08
Here’s an odd problem. Reader Austin bought some airline tickets for a business trip and wasn’t sure who was going to go, so he booked an extra ticket with his name on it — thinking that the name could be changed later. Whoops.
Ann Taylor Changes Terms Of Sale After Purchase?
By 11.18.08
Update: Several readers have pointed out that Ann Taylor’s return policy says items with prices ending in .44 or .88 are automatically deemed “Final Sale” items. Colleen is stuck with four extra dresses because Ann Taylor marked the items “Final Sale.” The problem is, they did this after she ordered and paid for them. As she notes in her email below, she has proof on her order confirmation that the dresses were not marked “Final Sale” when she bought them. She also has previous order confirmations where items have been clearly marked “Final Sale.” Now she wants to know how to get Ann Taylor to do the right thing.
Comcast Gives Reader Hurricane Ike Refund
By 10.10.08
Reader Josh is a Comcast customer says he was without power for 7 days due to Hurricane Ike, and by calling 1-800-COMCAST he was able to get a service credit for the whole time he couldn’t watch TV.
Delta Creative Settles With Artist Over Defective Paint Products
By 10.8.08
Remember Vickie and her defective Delta Creative PermEnamel experience? It ruined several of her pieces, not because she applied it incorrectly but because something was wrong with the product. It happens sometimes with products, no big deal. What was a big deal was the company’s CEO, Bill George, refused to approve a compensation payment that his employees had already agreed to with Vickie, leaving her with no choice but to contact a lawyer and write to us. It looks like Delta Creative and the artist have now resolved the issue, and she’s sent us a statement saying everything has been resolved to her “complete satisfaction.”
Delta Creative Prez Denies Refund: "We're Not In The Business Of Reimbursement"
By 10.2.08
I have used the Delta PermEnamel Products for several years with marvelous results. This was an isolated incident which I would not expect to recur. This isolated incident has been resolved to my complete satisfaction. Thank you, Delta Creative, Inc.
Pottery Barn Delivers 2/3 Of Your Couch, Then Gives You 2/3 Of Your Refund
By 9.26.08
Here’s a situation that sucks. Reader Joshua ordered a slip-covered sectional couch from Pottery Barn. It arrived with only one slipcover. When he called Pottery Barn to ask for the rest of his order, they told him that they’d run out of that fabric and asked if he would he like another color. He agreed and picked a color. They sent another slip-cover section. Not three sections. One section. Joshua called them back. They said they were sorry, but they’d run out of that color…
Timberland Offering Up To $150 To Recipients Of Its Text Message Spam
By 9.24.08
Under the terms of a preliminary settlement agreement, [Timberland and e-commerce company GSI] will pay $7 million into a cash fund to reimburse those who received the messages, according to KamberEdelson LLC, one of the law firms that helped bring the suit.
Guitar Center Corrects Prices On iPods, Gives Refunds Plus $10 Gift Cards
By 9.12.08
We received an email from Guitar Center’s Chief Marketing Officer this afternoon letting us know that the $100 markup on their iPods was a pricing mistake, and that they’re automatically refunding the difference to anyone who bought at the wrong price as well as giving them $10 gift cards.
Citibank Must Pay Back The $14 Million It Stole From Customers Over A Decade
By 9.4.08
Between 1992 and 2003, Citibank operated an “automatic sweeping” program that would without notice remove positive balances from customers’ credit card accounts—mainly those of the poor and the recently deceased—and pocket the money. Now it’s paying back $14 million dollars to the affected customers, plus another $3.5 million in penalties to California, thanks to that state’s Attorney General.
Amazon Ends Post-Order Price Guarantee
By 9.3.08
Amazon ended its post order price guarantee this Monday, according to an email a reader and deal forum members received from the online retailer.
