Mark has a warning: it’s fine if you want to hand over your money for a venti Java Chip Frappuccino, but don’t buy durable items at Starbucks if you expect them to be, well, durable. He bought a mug back in December, and the mug now has a defect that makes coffee drip on you while you drink. Not liking this feature, he contacted Starbucks and learned that their warranty on mugs lasts only 60 days. “I was shocked that Starbucks would only stand behind their products for 60 days,” Mark writes, “specifically because those same products come at a premium price and sold with overpriced coffee.” [More]
warranties
Busted Swingline Stapler Gets Replaced Without Hassle
By 3.10.11
The other day I was talking to a cab driver who has an air-conditioner that’s still going strong after 18 years. Now when he buys new ones that are from the same brand, they only last four years. He blames it on the company switching manufacturing from Germany to China. Indeed, in this day and age of racing to the bottom of cheap, wherever you look on the shelves, it seems it’s a never-ending seas of “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” But even still, reader Jospeh never expected his metal Swingline stapler to fracture outright. And he was likewise surprised, this time, pleasantly, when they replaced it for him swiftly and painlessly. [More]
Man Gets Pick Of Hyundais After Threatening To Write "LEMON" On His Rear Window
By 3.4.11
Michael leased a 2010 Hyundai Genesis and found that none of the buttons on the steering wheel worked. No horn, no cruise control, no radio volume. It’s been in and out of the shop several times for steering wheel issues. When he called up the regional office to complain they seemed to take his issue a little more seriously after he said he was planning to get a windshield marker and write that he got a $40,000 lemon from Hyundai. Now he’s getting to pick a new Hyundai of his choice. Here’s the timeline: [More]
AT&T: Where Seven Months Equals Two Years
By 1.27.11
AT&T is a powerful company, but we didn’t know that they were powerful enough to interfere with the passage of time. Yet they are! They used their magic to take Mark’s seven-month-old DSL modem, and transform it into a 2-year-old DSL modem. [More]
8 Year Old Snow Boots Crack, Columbia Replaces
By 1.25.11
Most companies don’t even seem to care about you 8 weeks after you buy something from them, so Gabe and his mom were pleasantly surprised when Columbia agreed to replace a pair of cracked snow boots that were 8 years old. [More]
Laptop Borked By Dell Tech Gets Replaced After Consumerist Post
By 12.15.10
Angel is happy to report that after his story went up on Consumerist, Dell reached out to him and will be replacing his laptop. [More]
EECB Gets HP To Replace Laptop They Tried To Pass Off As Water-Damaged
By 12.15.10
Charlie sent in his HP Mini for repair after the keyboard and mouse stopped working. They denied his warranty repair by saying that a loose tape was caused by water damage, which, while not only unlikely on the face of it, seemed impossible to Charlie as he babies his computers like they were Fabergé eggs. So he launched his campaign on HP upper management… [More]
"On-Call" Dell Tech Takes Over 7 Hours To Screw Up Your Laptop, Makes You Miss Your Date
By 12.14.10
Angel’s patience was worn down to the quick after waiting for a on-call Dell tech to come and fix his high-end laptop, only to have the guy bungle the repair, screw up his hardware, and make him miss his date. [More]
Can Only Return Mattresses If Lump Is Bigger Than 1.5"
By 10.18.10
Buying a mattress is a confusing and dark art, but just try to return one. One family got a $2,500 Stearns and Foster mattress that had a hand-width-sized lump running from top to bottom. It was uncomfortable. Initially Sealy refused to accept the return, because the lump was not deeper than 1.5 inches. Their’s was only 1 and a quarter. What a weird rule, right? [More]
GM Voids Warranty On Used Truck, Blames It On Chip Owner Didn't Know Was Installed
By 8.24.10
Ken is facing a $13,000 repair bill on his 2007 Chevy 2500 diesel truck, because the full factory warranty the dealership assured him it had was voided by GM. The reason: GM says at some point in the past, someone put a chip in the truck that doesn’t match the info GM has, so they don’t have to service it. The problem for Ken is that the dealership didn’t check for this chip before it sold the truck to Ken, and Ken didn’t know about this loophole when he bought it. In fact, he says he bought it about a year and a half before GM implemented this rule. [More]
Um, Why Did My Frigidaire Microwave Randomly Catch Fire?
By 7.24.10
Though not advertised as a feature, Matt recently learned that if you turn off a Frigidaire microwave and leave the house, it might spontaneously combust. A service tech blamed a short-circuiting switch for the blaze, which thankfully didn’t cause any serious property damage. [More]
Microsoft Falsely Accuses Me Of Modding Broken Xbox, Wants $100 To Fix It
By 7.9.10
Zach’s Xbox 360 opted to play for Miami rather than Cleveland, but what he expected to be a routine repair has turned into a standoff. He says Microsoft accuses him of modding his console despite Zach’s contention that the unit, which he says is clean, shows no physical signs of being modded. [More]
New Twitter Friend At Sears Helps Reader Get New Dishwasher
By 4.22.10
Remember Bob? He had an extended warranty on his Kenmore dishwasher, and Sears decided that it would much rather send repairman after repairman to fix his defective dishwasher–and reimburse him to pay someone to wash his dishes. Between following Doug Moore, SVP and President of Appliances on Twitter and writing to Consumerist, Bob is getting a new dishwasher. A functioning dishwasher. [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]
How To Protect Your Receipts
By 2.11.10
There’s a slight problem with many receipts these days–they’re printed on thermal paper, and over time they fade. Some readers were discussing this in the Kodak warranty thread from earlier this week, and I thought it might be useful to highlight it here for other readers. [More]
Without Proof Of Purchase, Your Warranty Options May Be Limited
By 2.10.10
Rob’s digital photo frame stopped working a few days ago, so he contacted Kodak to see whether they could help him. He writes that he knew it was at least one month out of warranty because the warranty is for one year, and he’d been given it as a gift a year ago on Christmas. Still, he was hoping Kodak would cut him a deal or do some sort of above-and-beyond thing.
Instead, he found out that as far as Kodak was concerned, it had been out of warranty for over two years
The Apple Store Guy Could Tell I'd Had A Bad Day, So He Pretended My Laptop Was Still Under Warranty
By 2.9.10
Michael says his virtual life was shattered when his out-of-warranty MacBook crapped out, but he lucked into a free replacement at a San Diego Apple Store, where he took his computer and knelt at the altar, hoping for a miracle. [More]
Should Home Depot Tell People This Freezer Has No Warranty?
By 1.28.10
Braxton came across a great deal while shopping for a new freezer. However, being a good Consumerist, he writes that he went home and researched the product before handing over any money. What he learned was that the freezer had no warranty…a fact that Home Depot conveniently forgot to disclose. [More]
