Without telling him there would be a fee, Comcast charged Tom $30 to fix the cable wiring going to his house. By simply questioning the charge and expressing his disappointment he wasn’t notified about it, Tom was able to get $20 back. Here is the chat transcript of his success, which is also enjoyable for the inane interjected advertisements that try to sound like human conversation. [More]
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Would Adding CBS To HuluPlus Make It Worth The Price?
By 8.3.10
Right now, CBS is the only major U.S. broadcaster without any of its shows appearing on popular streaming video site Hulu.com. But that may all change, as the network’s CEO says the two companies are currently having chats about providing CBS content to the site’s HuluPlus subscribers. [More]
Basketball Championships To Be Vuvuzela-Free
By 8.2.10
Kobe and Lebron won’t be at the World Basketball Championships, which start on August 28th in Turkey. Neither will any of the other NBA players who helped Team USA win the Gold at the 2008 Olympics. But if you’re still going to watch the tournament, here’s one consolation: No vuvuzelas. The organizers have banned the horns, saying that they’re “not appropriate in a confined space such as a basketball arena.” [More]
Nickelodeon Keeps Its Broadcast Schedule Secret For "Competitive Reasons"?
By 7.23.10
Consumerist reader Frank noticed that the shows on Nickelodeon didn’t match what was showing up on his TiVo schedule. He’d try to record Dora the Explorer and end up with Spongebob. Thinking it must be an issue with TiVo, he checked against what was on TVguide.com and found that they also had incorrect info. [More]
Soup Nazi Back In Business, But Not Actually Around To Yell At You
By 7.22.10
Al Yeganeh, the man who inspired Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi character, closed up shop six years ago, but this week he re-opened his business at the same location on 55th Street in NYC under the name “The Original Soup Man.” The company is now a franchise with locations in nine states and Washington, D.C., and unfortunately (for us, but probably not for him) Yeganeh doesn’t actually do any counterwork–he’s just the brand at this point. [More]
Want To Watch 'Damages'? You'll Need DirecTV
By 7.20.10
Even after three seasons and 19 Emmy nominations, F/X still decided to pull the plug on the Glenn Close-starring legal drama Damages. But all is not lost for anyone hoping to see another season of Ted Danson co-starring as an amoral, whoring, coke-snorting, F-bomb dropping billionaire. Unfortunately, if you don’t have DirecTV, you’ll have to go watch it on the TV of someone who does. [More]
Bid On 'Lost' Props So You Can Make A Series Finale Worth Watching
By 7.19.10
I, like many people who spent too many hours attempting to solve the 6-season puzzle that was Lost, was more than a tad bit disappointed in the show’s final episode. But now we all have the chance to recreate our own versions of how the finale should have gone — and do it with actual props from the show. [More]
F*ck Yeah! Court Strikes Down FCC Rule Against Unscripted Expletives
By 7.13.10
The next time Bono drops the F-bomb while accepting an award or Janet Jackson’s nipple makes a cameo appearance at the Super Bowl, broadcasters won’t have to worry about facing mammoth fines from the FCC. A federal appeals court has said “f@ck this sh&t” to the controversial ban. [More]
Hulu Plus Reviewed: Is It Worth Your Money?
By 7.12.10
Staci D. Kramer at mocoNews tested Hulu Plus, the forthcoming “pay us $10 a month to watch commercials” subscription offering from Hulu, and reports that it’s okay-to-disappointing depending on your needs: “Given that I’m a subscription addict, I was fairly sure I’d wind up keeping it after my free review month. One week in, not so much.” [More]
"This Is Why I Canceled Cable," As Told In Collage Form
By 7.2.10
Redditor Lambboy got an email from his cable company asking him why, oh god why, had he canceled cable? Doesn’t he know that without it life is but a cheap oat paste? Lambboy struggled with the best way to communicate his innermost thoughts. The radio buttons on the survey, and, yes, even the optional comment boxes, were insufficient tools with which to express himself. So, he sent them this collage. [More]
DirecTV Promised Me It Wouldn't Charge Early Termination Fee, Then Guess What Happened
By 6.30.10
Rich had to part ways with DirecTV because he was moving, and was careful to verify he wouldn’t owe an early termination fee. Sure enough, his next bank statement showed an unexpected $180 charge from the satellite provider. The company quickly admitted the error, but Rich says it’s been three weeks and DirecTV has yet to cough up the cash. Even worse, DirecTV tells him it will be another 6 to 8 weeks before he can hope for his long-lost money to return to him. [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]
Kill The Cable Bill, Keep The Shows
By 6.21.10
Bryan over at Consumerism Commentary says he “felt a little dirty paying a monthly bill and watching advertisements at the same time.” So he canceled his cable TV and put together a Mac Mini-based system to watch “99%” of all the shows he and his wife liked, online, for free. This is video describing how he did. Like with all good nerdy projects, it begins with a spreadsheet. [More]
ABC Doubling The Commercials On iPad App, Online Streams
By 6.16.10
If you watch ABC’s shows online or with an iPad, your limited commercial interruptions are about to get a little less limited. So far, most of ABC’s streaming shows contain 5 to 6 ads of 30 seconds each, but mocoNews says one of ABC’s executives just confirmed that the network is going to double that ad load, perhaps leading the way for other networks to do the same. [More]
BillShrink Shows You How To Save On Cable Bills
By 5.26.10
This morning, BillShrink delivered a karate chop to the cable cabal with a new service, currently in beta, that shows you how to get the best cable/tv/satellite/dish package for the best price. [More]
Should I Assume All HDTVs Self-Destruct And Just Buy Something Crappy?
By 5.26.10
Brendan has a question for the Consumerist hive mind. He wants to buy a large-ish HDTV, but isn’t sure that his usual method of buying technology–buy the cheapest thing he can get his hands on, and count on it not to break for a year or two–will work at these price points. [More]
HBO To Start Gouging PS3 Owners As Well As Pay TV Customers
By 5.25.10
HBO is putting its shows up for download on the PlayStation 3, NASDAQ reports, but its $3-per-hourlong episode pricing is even nastier than its monthly charge for cable and satellite subscribers — about $20 on Comcast in my neck of the woods. [More]
