Current lottery winners in Illinois might have to delay their joyful reactions for a little while. The state hasn’t passed a new budget, which means that they’re unable to pay lottery winners whose prizes are $25,000 or more. That’s a total of 29 lottery winners still waiting for their money since the current fiscal year started on July 1st. [More]
waiting
Netflix Customers Waiting A Very Long Time For Baffling Array Of DVDs
By 9.22.14
Our readers have confirmed: they are, indeed, waiting for-freaking-ever to get some discs from Netflix. These include classic films, animated movies, television series, and new DVD releases. Is there some kind of nationwide DVD shortage, or is Netflix trying to strangle its DVD business? [More]
Waitress Disses Customers On Facebook, Gets Fired
By 5.18.10
Brixx Pizza in North Carolina takes social media pretty seriously, because it fired a waitress after she complained on her Facebook page about a stingy couple who occupied a table for three hours and only left a $5 tip. [More]
FedEx: Here We Are On Day 16 Of A 2 Day Delivery
By 1.5.10
Reader Chad would like his 2 day delivery to be delivered. Nobody at FedEx can seem to do this, or explain to him why it cannot be done. [More]
Dell Lies About Repairs, Ruins Vacation
By 10.20.09
Michael emailed us, and Dell, from a loaner computer while he’s on a trip. His own laptop isn’t working, and thanks to a steady stream of broken promises and incorrect information, now he’s stuck without access to the software and development files he needs for his work.
Comcast Guarantees You Will Have Your Entire Day Wasted
By 9.1.09
We’re happy for Comcast that it’s a giant company and all, but is it really that impossible to have someone in Connecticut talk on the phone with a Connecticut-based customer about a no-show installation tech who we presume should also be in Connecticut? Maybe that’s the problem—maybe the technician was accidentally outsourced and is presently driving around Mexico or the Antarctic looking for Karah’s address.
Walmart Doesn't Want 7-Year-Old's Birthday Money
By 7.20.09
The parents of a seven-year-old took him to Walmart this weekend to spend his saved birthday and allowance money on a pretty awesome looking swimming pool & slide combo. They’d checked online first to make sure the item was in stock—and Walmart said it was, at three different locations in fact.
The Mystery Of the 8-Hour RCN Hold Time
By 9.29.08
Last Friday we posted that a customer in D.C. was on hold with RCN’s tech support for over 7 hours. (And no, she didn’t sit next to the phone that entire time—she periodically checked in to see whether she’d been disconnected, but always heard the same hold music and message.) We received several comments—one from the Senior Director of Operations at RCN—saying that her call had likely been dropped from the system. But Meredith says someone finally did answer her call. Here’s her story and the RCN Director’s version.
RCN Tech Support Keeps Customer On Hold For Seven Hours And Counting
By 9.27.08
Meredith has been on hold with RCN’s tech support line for over seven hours now. She’s put down the phone and keeps doing other things, but whenever she goes back to see if they’ve finally disconnected her, she hears their “please hold” message and music. Apparently RCN doesn’t think you need tech support over the weekend.
50 Ways To Get Through Phone Systems
By 3.6.08
VOIP-News has a list of 50 ways to get through to a real, live, not necessarily well-trained CSR on phone systems. We’re posting this not just because their first tip is “Read the Consumerist,” but because there are some really good ideas here, like hitting up EDGAR to search for contact info on public companies.
The Worst Times And Places To Fly: Stay The $%# Away From Orlando Airport At 10pm
By 10.4.07
Attention World: Stay the $%#@ away from Orlando International Airport at 10pm! According to the brand new numbers from the Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, flights scheduled to depart from 10pm-11pm at Orlando’s airport are on-time only 33.3% of the time. Yes, if you leave Orlando International Airport from 10-11pm, you have a 2 out 3 chance of being late. Don’t risk it.
US Postal Service Solves Long Waits By Removing Clocks From Post Offices
By 3.2.07
This sounds like a joke, but it’s being reported by the Houston Chronicle: The USPS is removing clocks from post offices in order to allow customers to better “focus on the postal service.”
“We want people to focus on postal service and not the clock,” said Stephen Seewoester, Dallas spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.
The USPS has removed clocks from 37,000 post offices as part of a “retail standardization program.” Um, correct us if we’re wrong here but:
The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
By 1.27.06
Lest you think that we get pleasure out of bad service at restaurants, let’s get one thing straight: There’s nothing that pleases us more than to be able to immediately reward someone for doing a great job. Gratuity-based jobs are not without their faults, but as a customer it’s got a lot going for it.
