After getting blogo-lambasted for a gaping security hole that allowed anyone to call up and snag your name and home address by punching in your Sprint cellphone number into an automated system, Sprint has closed that selfsame privacy aperture.
telephony
HOWTO: Join The Cingular Lawsuit
By 7.10.06
If you were an AT&T customer as of October 26, 2004 and, following the switchover to Cingular
Cingular Lowers Bar On AT&T Customer’s Necks
By 7.10.06
Cingular duped and overcharged AT&T customers ported over following their merger, contends a lawsuit filed last Thursday.
Ask The Consumerists: Defeat T-Mobile’s Fascist Billing Unlogic?
By 7.6.06
A seasoned traveler and journalist, Mike knows how to juggle his cellphones and avoid usurious charges while abroad. Before he leaves for international locales, he records a message on his phone instructing people to only call him on a second, pay-as-you-go mobile. Somehow he still ends up getting dinged.
Can You Hear Me Whisper Now?
By 7.5.06
n marquee boldface, a revised Verizon customer agreement arrived in customer’s email boxes last night, screamed that contract language was changed as part of settling a class-action lawsuit and that, “UNLESS YOU TELL US THAT YOU PREFER YOUR EXISTING CONTRACT LANGUAGE, HOWEVER, THIS NEW CUSTOMER AGREEMENT WILL REPLACE YOUR EXISTING CONTRACT LANGUAGE.”
Verizon To Loosen Grip on Fees, Balls
By 6.29.06
Saying goodbye need only be as proportionally painful as the depth of the relationship, Verizon Wireless announced Wednesday. Starting this fall, the termination fee charged on its two-year contracts will be pro-rated. This is a further goodwill gesture in addition to Verizon’s lower cancellation fee, $175 versus a standard $200 or even $250.
HowTo: Record Phone Calls
By 6.28.06
Spurred by our query, Lifehacker posed that very question to their readers.
The Secret World of Packaged Goods Hotlines
By 6.27.06
The nice thing about packaged goods is, you never have to call for help. Boil 6-8 minutes. Apply liberally. Just add water. Still, you can, if you want, call these companies. The numbers are right there on the products. We guess, once in a while, you’d lodge a complaint or a compliment. But what else on earth would you call about? What is unclear about candy or toothpaste that warrants a call to a professional?
Reduce….Recycle, Wasn’t There Another R?
By 6.26.06
Being an environmentally conscious good Samaritan, Erika Anders recycled her cell phone after she was done with it at a local Best Buy. The next month, she received a bill for $20,590.67. Many of the calls originated from Brazil.
AT&T Owns Your Booty
By 6.23.06
In a followup to “AT&T: All Your Phone Are Belong to Us“, the SF Gate interviewed some privacy wonks who say:
T-Mobile Hopes You Forget Your Security Deposit
By 6.22.06
Shh, no one must know we have their deposits…
Sidekick Return From Thief, After Mass Internet Shaming
By 6.21.06
All it took was the force of thousands of people around the world shaming them, and a trip to the police station, but a girl has finally been reunited with her stolen Sidekick.
AT&T No Longer Exists
By 6.21.06
Some people just are gluttons for punishment. Ed Horrell gets his fill by calling up customer support lines and recording the results.
HOWTO: Get Your Phone Fixed Quick
By 6.19.06
If your phone is out of service or you need a line installed, the wait can be interminable. Not to mention the difficulty of calling the telephone company without a phone. What if there was an emergency?
HOWTO: Fix DSL Fast Like Ninja
By 6.19.06
A DSL call center manager emailed in some nifty tricks for getting at the top of the fix list. Many of them are quite sneaky. We like that. Thank you, sneaky Phil.
Verizon Wants to Chat About -$1000 Bill
By 6.19.06
Back in mid-may, we decided that the best way to protest the phone companies selling our records to the NSA was to send our cell phone company a bill for $1000. What we did is take our Verizon bill, deduct $1000 from it, and enclose a copy of 18 USC 2701 with relevant secitons highlighted. Specifically, those parts saying that if anyone gives up your phone records, they can get fined $1000. Obviously, this is in jest. But Verizon’s taking it seriously enough to want to schedule a conference call with us.
Telemarketers Target Homeland Security
By 6.16.06
Maybe now they’ll crack down on the telemarketers. After all that’s the hotline, the hotline for the Department of Homeland Security. Gotta secure the homeland from the Space Invaders and the Centipedes. Not a moment to waste for time-share condominiums.
HOWTO: Cancel Anything
By 6.15.06
Courtesy of an anonymous reader and telcom worker, BoingBoing has some advice for cancelling any kind of service over the phone, which we’ve distilled here:
