Joanna writes, “Here’s my tip for using Cellular Abroad: don’t. They totally charged me tax on a ‘security deposit’ and then refused to refund my tax on the returned portion of the deposit.” When she wrote to Cellular Abroad to dispute the tax, she was told that technically it wasn’t a security deposit but a purchase, and that when they refunded her the difference after she returned the phone, that wasn’t a refund—they were buying it back from her, and because they have a reseller’s license they don’t have to pay taxes on their “re-purchase.” Whaaa?
refunds
Executive Email Carpet Bomb Against Vonage Results In $450 Credit
By 11.2.07
Score another point for consumers making it over the unyielding wall of “customer service.” Keith writes in about his recent struggles with Vonage, over an account he thought had been completely canceled six months earlier, “The carpet bomb instructions were inspired and within 3 weeks of sending my carpet bomb I got my resolve… The great part is I got my credit from the same person who stone walled me the months previous. Oh success is sweet.”
IRS Struggles To Give Away $8 Billion
By 10.13.07
Free money! Free money! We shouted, begged, implored you to take the free money that was rightfully yours, but no, you would have none of it. The free money was too good for you. Too much effort, you said, to fill out a simple line on your tax return to celebrate phone ownership and our victory in the Spanish-American War. And now, $8 billion beautiful bucks lie cluttering our treasury, taking up valuable space needed for Social Security IOUs.
New York Times To Discontinue Times Select
By 9.18.07
Yay! Free New York Times! The NYT will discontinue its pay wall tomorrow, freeing the opinions of various smart people to roam the internet unchecked by that pesky $7.95 per month subscription fee. Oh, happy day.
Netflix Restores Confidence, Bank Account
By 9.16.07
Reader Josh sent us an account of Netflix’s pro-consumer, ‘just-say-yes’ customer service that we have lauded in the past. Josh had asked to suspend his account until September 18, but Netflix unexpectedly reactivated his account on September 11, sending his bank account into overdraft. Josh called customer service to ask for an explanation and a refund. He writes:
Vonage Destroys Router, Refuses To Issue Refund
By 9.15.07 — Updated: 10.11.16
I have been a loyal Vonage customer for 3 years. Within the last year (I can’t remember when) I purchased a new Linksys WRTP54G router to replace my existing router. This router has built-in Vonage voice ports. What Vonage and Linksys do not tell you when you purchase this router is that Vonage has 100% full access to your router and can do with it what they choose.
5 Options If You Got Shafted By Yesterday's iPhone Price Cut
By 9.6.07
Early Adopter Syndrome can strike anyone—our fancy N95 is less than six months old and has just been kicked to the curb by Nokia for a new version that works with US 3G—so we sympathize with all of you who just shelled out $600 for that great iPod/so-so phone combo from Apple. The Unofficial Apple Weblog offers the following five suggestions on how to fix your little $200 problem.
Blue Hippo Angers Florida's Attorney General
By 8.31.07
Blue Hippo, the notoriously scammy computer layaway service, has annoyed Florida’s attorney general.
Get What You Want By Asking For It
By 8.23.07
I use and love Zipcar, a New York area car-share rental service, but our last bill had an unexpected $50 late return fee. Whiskey tango foxtrot, I wondered aloud, I know for sure I returned that car on time. After calling, Dawn told me it turned out I hadn’t swiped out (to get into the cars you use a RFID enabled card) after dropping off the car. She said:
Google Is Sorry, Will Offer Full Refunds To Video Customers
By 8.22.07
Google has admitted to making a mistake with its poorly conceived (and received) plan to offer Google check out credits to customers who had purchased videos on its recently discontinued video download service.
Circuit City Rep Offers Refund Of $389, Now Is "No Longer In The Dept" And Won't Help
By 8.8.07
Josh realized he forgot to click a “web only special” link when ordering something from CircuitCity.com, so he suspected that his order was not processed correctly. He called customer service as a precaution and sure enough, because he didn’t click the link they said he wouldn’t be getting the the deal and there was nothing they could do about it.
Apple Debits Money From The Wrong Account, Now You Can't Pay Your Mortgage
By 8.6.07
Julie would really like to pay her mortgage, but she can’t. Why not? Because when she tried to help her son buy a MacBook, Apple decided to debit $1517.27 from her account without permission. When she called to tell them they’d pulled the money from the wrong card, causing her account to over draft, they apologized and told her they’d fix it. Instead, they debited another $186 from Julie’s account, and another $1517.27 from her son’s account.
Forgot To Claim The Telephone Tax Refund? File An Amended Return.
By 8.1.07
We know it’s summer and you don’t want to think about taxes, but the IRS really wants to make sure you got that telephone tax refund, so they’re asking you to file an amended return if you forgot to claim it. With the money you’ll get you can buy lots of baseball hat cup sundaes!
Read Before You Click: Spirit Airlines Signs You Up For Club Membership and Travel Insurance
By 7.31.07
If you buy a ticket on Spirit Airlines’ website, the purchase screen has the nasty habit of prefilling options to buy travel insurance and join the Spirit Airlines fare club. And those fees? Nonrefundable, even if you cancel your membership. How nice.
Apple: We'll Only Help You With Your iPhone After It's Too Late To Return It
By 7.2.07
Darin’s iPhone was defective, so he tried to return it to the AT&T store where he purchased it. No dice. AT&T told him that Apple was responsible for the device. When Darin tried to exchange the phone with Apple, they told him he’d have to deal with AT&T for the first 14 days.
Some Belkin Wireless Owners May Be Entitled To Full Refunds
By 6.22.07
If you bought one of 37 Belkin wireless products between October 13, 2002 and February 5, 2007, you may be entitled to a full refund.
If You Paid To Expedite Your Passport Application, You May Be Eligible For A Refund
By 6.16.07
The State Department will issue refunds to people who paid to expedite their passport application, but didn’t receive their passport within fourteen days. Expediting a passport costs $60 on top of the standard $97 application fee. The move comes after the State Department admitted they could not handle a spike in passport applications caused by new rules that prevent citizens from traveling to neighboring nations without a passport.
