Chris L. writes in to let us know that the EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) is probably the only way you’re going to get Comcast to fix a network problem that affects your entire neighborhood. Calling and talking to the “zombies” at the call center will just result in yet another “truck roll” (where Comcast comes to your house and says everything is fine.)
success stories
Reader Gets Sleep Number To Exchange Moldy Mattress
By 7.15.08
Like all those people who joined the class-action suit, Consumerist reader Russ has a moldy Select Comfort mattress. Unlike many of them, he was able to use it to get a new bed, and the old bed taken away, for free. Here’s how he negotiated with customer service:
Two Out Of Three Of My iPhones Were Defective And The Third Won't Receive Calls
By 7.15.08
Reader Michael is having a rough time with the iPhone. He says that two out of three of the iPhones purchased by his family were defective, and the third one wouldn’t receive calls. Weirdly, this story has a happy ending, because Michael found some contact information on Consumerist that got his problem solved in 5 minutes.
Man Threatens To Sue Extortionist HVAC Company In Small Claims, Wins
By 7.14.08
Last winter, David’s old furnace broke down. But things got really heated up when the incompetent HVAC repairmen he hired threatened to report him to collection agencies and put a lien on his condo when they wanted him to pay up for a repair they never finished. Just to give a little atmosphere, this takes place in Chicago, famed for its merciless winters. David’s story, and how fought back, inside…
EECB Scores Direct Hit On United Heathcare, Corrects $700 Billing Error
By 7.8.08
Nick was tired of getting the run around from his insurance company, part of United Heathcare, over frequent (and pricey) billing errors.
UPDATE: Adobe Comes Through, Makes Dreamweaver Software Available To Customer Who Wants To Buy It
By 7.7.08
After we posted about a reader’s frustrated attempts to buy Adobe’s Dreamweaver, Adobe sent us an email, which we passed along to the reader. Over the weekend, she wrote in and said Adobe helped her solve her problems.
Warn Comcast You're Moving, Lose Your Internet Access
By 6.16.08
Chris gave Comcast a heads up that he was moving and wanted to arrange a transfer date ahead of time, and they disconnected his present internet access instead. Gahhhhhhh! Ahhhh!!! When he made various calls to various Comcast departments, various employees agreed it was messed up, but all refused to actually solve the problem. So Chris, using some email addresses we posted, sent out a well-crafted executive email carpet bomb…
Simplehuman's Excellent Customer Service Makes Other Companies Look Like Garbage
By 6.12.08
Pani just had an astoundingly good bit of customer service from aptly-named simplehuman—makers of those elegant-but-expensive trash cans—and wrote to let us know about it. Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and every cable, cellular, and telephone company, you might want to print this out and pass it around your CSR executive offices.
Mother Saves Family From WaMu Foreclosure With Consumerist's Executive Contact Info
By 6.10.08
Arlene got behind on her mortgage payments and had been trying for 6 months to contact her lender, Washington Mutual, to see if they could work out a deal. All she found was disconnections, non-returned phone calls, contradictory information, and no answers. After reading my article in Reader’s Digest about ways to get customer satisfaction she sent me an email. She was ready to try the “town crier” method, where you stand outside the business passing out copies of your complaint letter, but we gave her some executive contact info to try first before wasting any money at Kinko’s. Arlene says that thanks to the phone numbers we gave her, “They are going to suspend the foreclosure for 60 days and work with me on the payments for a set period of time which is all I ever wanted them to do.” Once again, the almighty power of executive customer service has been revealed. Arlene’s original email, inside…
Success Stories: Verizon's DSL Is No Longer "Full"
By 6.9.08
Verizon contacted us looking to solve the mystery of the “full” DSL and now reader Laurel has an update:
BBB Complaint Gets LA Fitness To Refund $5620 They Stole From You 3 Years Ago
By 6.9.08
I was ripped off to the tune of $5620. They refused for 3 years to refund my money. Then they told me I have I have no recourse. It was electronic funds transfer for personal training that I never authorized. The people who did it were fired shortly after. It had happened to several other members, and most of the cases were settled. Except mine.
Don't Get Charged An Occupancy Tax For A Hotel Room You Never Occupied
By 6.4.08
Michael canceled his Hilton Hotel reservation with less than 24 hour notice and got charged the full-room rate of $189. This post is not about that. Michael knows and accepts that this is the policy. Rather, this is about $25. The $25 “occupancy tax” the Hilton tacked on. Michael wasn’t about to be charged an occupancy tax for a room he never occupied. After talking to three different people for two days, he finally got Hilton refund the charge. “I thought other readers may like to know about this story and to be on the look out for stupid taxes that aren’t valid when you cancel a hotel room,” Michael writes.
Emailing The CEO Of DirecTV Solves All Your Installation Problems
By 5.30.08
Reader Mark ordered DirecTV and waited patently for the installer. And waited. And rescheduled. And waited. Luckily, Mark knew that he might want to order DirecTV in the future, and he’d made a note of CEO Chase Carey’s email address when we posted it.
Another EECB Scores Direct Hit On Best Buy And HSBC, Saves You $180
By 5.29.08
EECBs are scoring direct hits on HSBC and Best Buy. Reader Chad was having the same problem with his Best Buy credit card that reader Jason wrote in about. After he saw Jason’s successful EECB he launched one of his own. Reade Chad’s letter and Best Buy’s response inside.
UPDATE: Sears Changes Its Mind About The Definition Of "All"
By 5.28.08
If you read our story from this morning “Sears Kicks Off Holiday Weekend With False Advertising” you should remember Nazar who couldn’t get the advertised discount on his garage storage. He wrote to us with the following update:
BBB Works Against Sprint
By 5.28.08
Some people think the BBB doesn’t work. They do, but only if the company cares about keeping a clean record. See when you look up a company in the BBB database it shows you how many complaints have been filed against the company, how many were answered, how many did the consumer report as being satisfactorily resolved, etc. So if you have a valid complaint, file it with the BBB, and the company cares about its BBB record, you have a decent chance of getting a solution. You might not believe it, but it turns out Sprint is one of those companies. Here’s Kevin’s story of how the BBB got his erroneous text message charges refunded and let him leave contract early without early termination fee…
Home Depot's Extraordinary Service Leads To Free $800 Appliance Upgrade
By 5.25.08
Michael launched an Executive Email Carpet Bomb after Home Depot twice failed to deliver an undamaged washer and dryer. Home Depot’s CEO Frank Blake quickly thanked Michael for his even-handed letter, and promised that the local store manager would make him a happy customer…
UPS Can't Find Your Lost Computer, So They'll Honor Their Insurance Policy
By 5.25.08
Remember Nick? UPS smashed up his insured computer and then refused to provide any compensation, even after mysteriously shipping it to a stranger. UPS’ public relations folks reached out to us after we posted his story and recently sent us an update: “…after a search of all UPS’s facilities we were not able to recover his computer.” Bummer, but all is not lost.
