Jon says someone called him earlier this month and claimed to be from a company called Target Point Consulting, and asked Jon to answer a survey. When Jon said no and asked how the caller got his number, which is on the Do Not Call list, things got interesting. [More]
telephone
Don't Believe The Phone Call That Says Your Card Has Been Deactivated
By 3.22.10
Nick received an automated call from some scammy outfit this morning that told him his debit card had been deactivated. The scam looks simple enough, but it’s probably worth looking at as a reminder to others. [More]
Crazy Cruise Line Telemarketer Pulls Out Every Trick In The Book
By 3.8.10
John Tedesco of the San Antonio Express-News was badgered last week by a telemarketer who wouldn’t take no for an answer. He decided to keep her talking for a while to see how many ways she’d try to get him to hand over his credit card number for a “free” cruise. Here were all the tricks she used during her sales pitch. [More]
2 Rules That Will Help You Beat Telephone Scammers
By 1.13.10
Recently, someone I know was scammed on the telephone. This person said to me, “But the scam was very convincing.” I replied, “Yes, that is how scams are.” They don’t ride up to you on a giant horse with SCAM painted on it, wearing a huge cowboy hat and shooting six-guns into the air. [More]
Wells Fargo Keeps Hanging Up On Your Deaf Grandmother
By 6.16.09 — Updated: 2.24.14
Rachel’s 86-year-old grandmother was a loyal Wells Fargo customer for more than thirty years. She’s been forced to take her business to a new bank because Wells Fargo representatives refuse to talk to her.
Amex: "We're Gonna Text Message Your Cellphone And You're Gonna Pay For It"
By 2.17.09
Several readers have pointed out that American Express has made some changes to its contract “in response to the challenging environment” — the most offensive of which seems to be a new clause that gives them the right to call — or text message — any phone you use to contact them including cellphones, for the purposes of offering you American Express products and services.
ATT Chatbots (People?) Don't Even Pretend To Help Anymore
By 9.3.08
This unedited transcript from a recent “customer support” chat is pure, undiluted idiocy. Do not be surprised if after reading it, you feel a little dead inside, or a little stupider. That’s how you know the customer service chatbot—or person, which is kind of sad—is doing its job.
By 2.9.08
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A ‘computer glitch’ has left 740,000 Verizon customers in California without access to their voicemail for the past two days. Messages left for affected customers after February 4 are gone forever. [Bloomberg]
Apple Shares Plummet On News Of Disappointing iPhone Sales
By 7.25.07
Analysts had estimated that AT&T and Apple would sell and activate 500,000 iPhones before AT&T’s earnings report was released yesterday.
Sprint Encourages Its Retail Stores To Lie
By 10.18.06
If you’re a current Sprint customer, watch out when you buy a new phone in a retail store. The store may try to trick you into signing up for a new contract, and Sprint, Inc, says it’s totally cool.
Cavalier Telephone Is Stoop-Sitting Hell
By 10.13.06
You know, sometimes, you practically need to diagram out the labyrinth of a customer-company horror story. It’s a maze of dead ends and twisted passages.
Consumers Get Refund For Moribund Telephone Tax
By 9.1.06
Next April, you can get $30-$60 in drinking money and whoop it up on Uncle Sam. The IRS announced a new deduction for consumers following the May repeal of a moribund long-distance telephone tax.
Call An RIAA Slug on Friday!
By 6.21.06
Our friends at Defective Design aren’t just cramming their pallid flesh into hazmat suits and getting into stand-offs with bemused Cambridge cops in their fight against DRM. Now they are organizing a massive telephone campaign, coordinating on their site an effort to have as many consumers as they can call up the RIAA and tell them that DRM just plain blows. Although hopefully a hell of a lot more eloquently than that.
Spanish-American War Telephone Tax Revoked
By 5.25.06
You’ll never ever ever get that cool G refund from the telephone company, but here’s one refund you can count on: an obsolete long-distance tax that telephone customers have been paying for 108 years has finally been revoked by the US Treasury.
How To Use The Telephone
By 5.17.06
A 1927 film by the genius Fleischer brothers on the trials and travails of using that new-fangled bananamaphone doodad. Also starring Mr. Natural! Don’t check your speakers, it’s silent. Warning to PC types unable to put this in the context of history and enjoy it anyway: at one point, a gratuitous black stereotype is almost eaten by a lion. Simply roll your eyes and move on: the Fleischers are probably rotting in hell for their insensitivity as we speak.
