Last week, HD Guru pointed out that Best Buy was advertising 3D glasses syncing as part of a $150 installation service for people buying 3D TVs. The problem with the offer is it’s not necessary (or even possible) to manually “sync” your 3D glasses with a 3D TV. Now Best Buy has responded to the post, partly by explaining that some customers might not know that the glasses sync up automatically and that they can depend on Geek Squad to educate them. [More]
responses
Staples Wants To Know If They're Freaking You Out With Their All-Knowing Emails
By 11.10.09
Apparently Staples is worried that their emails might be too accurate when it comes to marketing office supplies to people—accurate enough to make potential customers paranoid.
Chipotle Says Their Food Does Not Cause Underwear Blood
By 10.9.09
South Park managed to combine the late Billy Mays, the unfortunately still around Ghost Hunters, and the beloved Chipotle chain in their latest episode, with surprising results.
Walmart Responds, Fixes Ruined Transmission
By 9.2.09
We’re not entirely sure Consumerist is responsible for Walmart finally getting back to Jeff on his ruined transmission—and frankly, because of the length of time between the incident and his complaint, as well as Walmart’s reputation for silence on consumer complaints like this, we didn’t expect much to happen at all. We were wrong, and we tip our hats to Walmart for making good on a very expensive mistake. Read Jeff’s update below.
Zipcar Apologizes For Terrible Experience
By 8.19.09
Jen, who was left stranded in another city recently when her Zipcar lost its zip, managed to get through to the New York area general manager for Zipcar this morning:
Mindy Is Not A Beanbag
By 6.19.09
The founder of Sumolounge.com, an online beanbag company known for high quality products and good prices but not necessarily great follow-through on the shipping/delivery side of things, responded personally to our post yesterday on Eric’s troubles with them. Among other things, he says our theory about Mindy is incorrect: “She is not a bean bag.”
Hotwire Partially Refunds Cost Of Non-Suite Hotel Room
By 6.5.09
Yesterday we mentioned that you might not want to take the “S” icon—it stands for “suite”—too seriously on a Hotwire hotel room listing, because Jeff did and ended up in a room that was definitely not a suite. When he called Hotwire, they told him that the icons only show what’s offered at the hotel, not what he’s actually getting.
Man Sends Silly Complaint Letters To Companies, Receives Silly Responses
By 4.30.09
“Chad Bradley” likes to write letters to companies. Unlike a normal crank, however, his letters are filled with complaints about surreal or nonsensical things, or they offer useless ideas for product improvements. (To the makers of Connect 4, for example, he suggests a new game called Connect 1.) The letters are entertaining enough on their own, but what’s even better is sometimes the companies write back.
Facebook Clarifies Terms Of Service: "We Do Not Own Your Stuff Forever"
By 2.16.09
Well, yesterday’s Facebook post certainly blew up today, and it looks like Facebook is currently preparing an official response. In the meantime, a Facebook rep has written to the Industry Standard to emphasize that all rights are subject to your privacy settings, so even if they don’t expire when you close your account, they’ll still be subject to whatever restrictions you had when the account was active. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has also posted a more philosophical response on the Facebook blog saying that while the new Terms of Service are “overly formal,” they’re only meant to give Facebook the legal ability to enable content sharing among users.
Musician's Friend Responds To Guitar Center Shipping Mix-Up
By 2.13.09
Bob Weibel at Musician’s Friend contacted us only a few hours after we posted Mitch’s story of the used guitar shipping screw up. He writes, “This kind of thing simply can’t happen, ever. We’ve tracked down Mitch’s order information and have been attempting to reach him on the phone to make things right.”
Office Depot Comes Through On Promised Gift Card
By 2.9.09
Last week, Jake wrote to us wondering why Office Depot hadn’t mailed the gift card they promised back in November. Someone from the company contacted Jake, and they all made up, and hugs, and happy Monday morning there’s a gift card in the mail heading Jake’s way now.
Sprint Clears Up 'Unlimited Messaging' Confusion
By 1.20.09
We got an email today from a Sprint representative addressing the confusion over just what “unlimited” means in their unlimited messaging package. If you recall, Erica says Sprint told her she would still be billed per message when sending pics or video, which runs contrary to the offer she signed up for. Now Sprint has officially responded that unlimited means no additional charges, and they’re investigating the matter. Below is their statement.
Wireless Carriers Tell Senate: "Text Messaging Rates Have Dropped, And Your Queries Have Led To Lawsuits Against Us!"
By 10.14.08
The national wireless carriers have responded to the Senate’s request for information on why its text-messaging fees have doubled over the past three years. Their collective response: they haven’t gotten more expensive, they’ve gotten cheaper—and your public suspicion of our business practices has led to lots of class action lawsuits!
Update: USAA Posts Notice On Website Regarding Technical Issues
By 10.1.08
Last week we raised the ire of plenty of USAA fans by posting a story about a woman’s IRA that went missing for nearly a day. We were as surprised as many of you that she’d received such poor customer service from the first CSR she spoke with, considering USAA’s usually stellar reputation. But the next day someone from USAA contacted Travis and his wife to find out what went wrong. Here’s Travis’ update.
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.
Chairman Of Advantage Rent-A-Car Investigates 49-Day Repair Claim, Waives It
By 9.11.08
Earlier this summer, we wrote about how Paul was being gouged by Advantage Rent-A-Car on repairs that had to be made after his rental was damaged in a hit and run. Paul was willing to pay the repairs on the vehicle, but Advantage wanted almost double the amount. After we posted his story, Paul was able to get in touch with a higher-up at Advantage who passed him along directly to the Chairman. Here’s what happened.
Qwest Updates Contact Page To Explain Why They Don't Accept Emails
By 9.4.08
Yesterday we noted that Qwest has done away with their “email us” option on their contact page, and in a comical example of corporate doublespeak they’d printed, “Your questions and concerns are very important to us, however we are no longer able to respond to email.” Today it looks like Qwest has changed that pop-up window to provide a little more information.
