Olivia recently wrote in to share her story of success in sending an executive e-mail carpet bomb to Sirius/XM Sattelite Radio. She writes that the company has been billing her credit card for $44.79 every three months since the middle of 2008, even though her original subscription came from a gift card, and she never authorized payments from her credit card. Should she have noticed this? Yes. Should Sirius have billed her when she made it clear that they were not to charge her? Uh, no. [More]
success stories
Virgin Mobile Jolted Into Action By Executive E-Mail Carpet Bomb
By 7.8.10
Nancy tells Consumerist that she and her husband recently bought shiny new phones from Virgin Mobile, and were quite happy with their service. Well, until Nancy’s phone stopped working entirely. She tried the normal technical support channels, but encountered a run-around that lasted for almost two weeks. Two weeks during which Nancy lacked a functioning phone. She gave up on the normal channels, read our guide to sending an executive e-mail carpet bomb, and sent us a copy of her original missive. [More]
Emailing Logitech VP Gets Out-Of-Warranty Remote Fixed
By 6.21.10
Chuck was stuck with a broke remote. Out of warranty, it was a joke, its LCD screen croaked, its buttons he blindly poked. Customer service offered him reimbursement, 50%, on his next purchase. Not good enough, he puffed! He did not want to fill a landfill with more stuff! So he leapt over the minions and emailed a man who had hand, like pinions he spun gears and he won Chuck a repair and now Chuck no longer rips out his hair, no longer stuck with a joke of a broken remote, his tale I now share: [More]
Reach Citi's Executive Response Unit
By 5.14.10
They say you can only bang your head against a wall for so long. If that describes where you’re at with a stuck Citi customer service issue, and you’ve tried and failed with customer service reps and supervisors, consider dialing this secret phone number for their executive response unit. Warning: Break Glass Only In Case Of Emergency. [More]
Man Gets 9 Ridiculous Wells Fargo Overdrafts Reversed
By 5.12.10
John got his account back in black after Wells Fargo had him paying for his rent twice and hit him with nine overdraft fees. He put a stop payment on his electronic check and wrote a paper one instead, but both went through and he was in the red. When he went to customer service, they would only refund some of the fees. Quivering with rage, he steeled himself and emailed the CEO and CFO. The next time he called back customer service, they reversed all the charges. Shazam! [More]
Now This Is How You Tell A Zombie Debt Collector To Buzz Off!
By 5.5.10
“RJM Acquisitions” mailed Mark a funny notice asking him to pay up $4,448.23. The address they had associated with it was indeed Mark’s, 20 years ago, that is. Not only was the debt invalid, but even if it hadn’t, the statute of limitations was well expired. Mark got to work and drafted a kickass letter to dispute the debt and tell them not to contact him again unless they wanted to be sued $1,000 each time. Here is his letter, which can serve as a good model for any other readers fighting off invalid debt collection attempts, and his story: [More]
Email To Wellpoint CEO Gets Account Issue Fixed
By 5.3.10
I don’t know what health insurer Wellpoint’s problem is but it seems, judging from the stories our readers keep sending in, that lately you have to email the CEO to get simple account problems fixed. What’s going on in your call centers, Wellpoint? Maybe all the workers have rebelled and decided the best way to promote health care reform is to get all your customers to hate you. Zach was able to get his deductible rolled over, but only after he emailed the very top of the Wellpoint power pyramid, Angela Braly. Here’s his story: [More]
Verizon Won't Install FiOS Until You Email The CEO
By 4.24.10
This is actually a happy story, despite my inability to write cheerful-sounding headlines, so pay attention if you’ve ever been told that your whole apartment complex can get cable/FiOS/whatever, but you can’t because you are special and not allowed to be happy. You’d be surprised at how many letters we get from people who have this problem. One such person, Andrew, Consumerist Reader, decided to email the CEO. [More]
Email To IKEA Results In Free Delivery Of Functioning Closet Doors
By 4.13.10
The ever-popular EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) scored another direct hit with reader “Generic_Username.” He and his wife bought some closet doors from IKEA, but didn’t install them until some renovations were complete. When it turned out the doors were defective, G.U. and his wife were told they’d have to pay to have new doors shipped to their house. Ugh! [More]
Judge Forces Comcast To Pay Customer $5,087
By 4.9.10
“I have researched his issues and based on our records the case is without merit,” wrote a Comcast spokesperson to local news investigator Amy Davis. She was looking into the case of Wayne, whose credit was damaged by Comcast just before he was going to refinance his house. This meant that on top of what he had already paid to lock in a lower interest rate, he had to pay several thousand dollars more. [More]
EECB Gets United Healthcare To Cough Up $1,100
By 3.29.10
Reader Monica used a trick she learned on Consumerist and got her health insurance company to pay her more than 11 big fat Benjamins. [More]
Dell EECB Results In Free Replacement Motherboard And AC Adapter
By 3.24.10
How long should an AC adapter for a laptop last? Michael writes that the adapter for his Dell Inspiron laptop stopped functioning after less than two years of use. He finds this unacceptable. While most people would have shrugged and ordered a new adapter, not Michael. He found the situation unacceptable, and deployed the fearsome power of the executive e-mail carpet bomb. [More]
Family With Shattered TV Takes Best Buy To Court, Wins
By 3.21.10
Remember the Florida family whose sad story of a smashed TV we shared on Super Bowl Sunday? When they unboxed their 50-inch plasma screen HDTV, they found a cracked screen and a world of sadness. They took a page from the Consumerist playbook and sued Best Buy in small claims court. When the mega-retailer failed to send a representative, they won a default judgment. [More]
Microsoft EECB Saves The Day When Zune Leaks Battery Acid
By 3.14.10
Tristan tells Consumerist that his Zune was about two years old and out of warranty when it began leaking battery acid on his hand. Appalled at the options that regular customer service offered, he used techniques from the Consumerist toolbox and empowered himself. He used our guide to crafting an Executive E-mail Carpet Bomb, and found contact information for Microsoft executives on the site as well. Getting his case in front of a person with actual authority earned Tristan a free repair of his obviously defective Zune. [More]
Sallie Mae's Customer Advocate Unit Makes Up For Regular Customer Service
By 3.10.10
Jen wrote to Consumerist to let us know that the number we posted in August for student loan servier Sallie Mae’s Customer Advocate Unit is still valid and staffed with extremely helpful people.. She cut through the nonsense of regular customer service who were unable to help, then hung up on her. [More]
I Got Verizon To Fix My Internet With An Executive E-Mail Carpet Bomb
By 2.19.10
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: A well-executed Executive E-Mail Carpet Bomb is your best bet when you’ve exhausted all the regular customer service avenues. In this latest example, Serena tells Consumerist how, after weeks of phone calls, missed appointments and general hair-pulling and screaming at walls, she employed a strongly worded EECB that had Verizon out to fix her Internet connection the next day. [More]
Steve Jobs Doesn't Trust Consumerist
By 2.16.10
Rob emailed Steve Jobs to tell him that until Apple fixed reader Joel’s account that had been billed $50,000 for iTunes purchases, he wouldn’t buy another Apple product. Replying via iPad, Steve Jobs told him, “I wouldn’t believe everything you read from places like this.” Ohhhh snap! But it wouldn’t be Jobs who had the last laugh… [More]
Facebook And Twitter Complaint Gets Dead Whirlpool Oven Fixed
By 2.10.10
When Adam’s oven died in the middle of baking a batch of cookies, he did what most modern, hyper-connected people would do: he complained about it on Facebook and Twitter, asking his friends for help. Help instead came from a new friend: a Whirlpool employee monitoring the social media, looking for unhappy customers. [More]
