Brian writes us, enraged at Popular Science for sending him to a debt collector in an attempt to get him to renew his subscription. We were unsurprised to learn that Brian had received a notice from the “National Credit Audit Corporation” of lovely Peoria, IL.
shady
Verizon Retail Salespeople Randomly Access Your Account, Add Features
By 5.30.07
Christy is upset. She got a call from a strange Verizon sales rep who claimed he had sold her a phone. (He didn’t.) The stranger told her that she could have VCast free for one month. She declined.
Comcast Triple Play, Now With 24 Month Contract And ETF
By 5.7.07
You might want to think twice before agreeing to an Comcast CSR’s offer to “extend the price for 2 years,” because Comcast’s Triple Play comes with a contract and an ETF.
Home Depot Apologizes After Yet Another TV Report About Their Crappy Contractors
By 5.4.07
NewsCenter 5’s Sean Kelly reported that six years ago, [Diane] Turk hired Home Depot to install her new windows, but after shelling out thousands of dollars, she claims the job was never done right. “I don’t think if you have a reputable contractor they would have left the window looking like this,” she said.
Coming Soon: Wrinkle-Reducing Coke
By 3.29.07
‘s grow back? Either way, we don’t need to buy our tea-based drinks at Saks.—MEGHANN MARCO
UPDATE: Best Buy Still Using Its Secret Website
By 3.19.07
I have read on your website about deceptive practices involving Best Buy where they advertise one thing on their website for a price, and then it is different when you go in the store.
Faked/Altered Customer Satisfaction Suveys: Marriott
By 3.9.07
(Corporate hotels have little to worry about because if they foul up, Marriott will just send in a glut of extra labor to fix the problem.) So how to keep labor costs way down and keep the scores way up? Easy.
Sports Illustrated Refuses To Send Swimsuit Issue To Libraries
By 3.8.07
It should be up to the institution to decide whether or not they choose to make the issue available to patrons. The publisher should send the issues we’ve paid for. If we throw them in the trash, that’s our prerogative.
Who knew librarians were so down with the swimsuit issue? That’s very cool, somehow.
PayPal Restricts Eligibility For $15 Off $30 Rebate
By 2.19.07
PayPal has instituted new restrictions on its $15 off $30 rebate introduced two weeks ago. At first we thought the offer, $5 less than the rebate offered last winter, meant PayPal hated spring. We were wrong. PayPal hates you.
GameStop: No Solicitation Calls = No Reservation Calls
By 2.16.07
I called my local Gamestop, where I know most of the employees by name, and asked what to do. They said they couldn’t help me directly, but to call customer service at (800) 883-8895. I called that number, waited on hold for a few minutes, got a CSR and asked that my name be removed from the solicitation list. I said that I don’t mind the calls telling me my reserved games are in, but that the solicitations needed to stop. He said that the two systems are linked, and that I couldn’t be removed from one without being removed from the other. I said that was acceptable, since I really didn’t want the solicitations. He asked for my phone number, I gave it to him, and he said he’d “put in a request” to have me removed from the system.
Connecticut State's Attorney's Office Launches Investigation Into Best Buy's Secret Intranet Site
By 2.12.07
The state attorney general’s office has started an investigation into whether Best Buy maintains a secret intranet site that may have been used by some salesmen to deny customers discounts that appear on the company’s public Internet site.
We applaud the CT State’s Attorney for moving so quickly on this, but wonder if the investigation will have any teeth. As commenter something_amazing pointed out, Best Buy’s price matching guidelines explicitly state that the website does not match store pricing, and the store only matches “a lower advertised price offered by a local retail competitor on the same available brand and model.”
Autozone: Free After Mail-In Rebate (Except Not Really, Just Kidding)
By 1.25.07
I asked whether I needed a rebate form, I was told no, and went home.
Spoke.com Sells Your Friends’ Contact Info
By 1.10.07
If, for example, I pressed the button for Spoke’s free service, the Spoke toolbar would install and then copy the roughly 2100 names, phone numbers, and email addresses out of my Outlook Contact database and then add them to Spoke’s database. Spoke would then be able to sell those names, titles, companies, addresses, and email addresses to direct marketing organizations.
It’s probably best to avoid Spoke.com.—MEGHANN MARCO
CompUSA PS3 Bundle Turns Out to Be A Scam
By 11.21.06
Did Mary get her TV or her PS3? Nope. The staff told her there was a priority list for the PS3, but couldn’t tell her if she was on it. Then, after Mary left the store TV-less and PS3-less she got a telephone call from the store manager, who informed her:
CompUSA’s Shady PS3 Ad
By 11.13.06
CompUSA has a potentially misleading advertisement this week that reader Daniel has alerted us to.
Built-In Gypping: Auto Mechanics Paid On Commission
By 11.6.06
Auto mechanics are always finding extra things wrong with your car is because they work on commission.
