Some websites make it nearly impossible to find any kind of contact information for reaching a real human. In that case, you can click over to a link that all are required to have but few customers ever read: their privacy policy. [More]
websites
Is This Captcha Code Trying To Tell Us Something?
By 1.21.10
A Consumerist reader writes, “So it’s been a while. I’m starting to get desperate. Why don’t I check out a new dating site I just heard about? My first concern is always, ‘Is it a scam site or is it real? What happens to my credit card info if it is a scam?’ So in the process of signing up, I received this warning.” Look on the bright side, OP, at least it didn’t make you type “Herpes.” [More]
YouTube To Rent Movies
By 1.21.10
Tomorrow, YouTube will start renting online movies at $4 for 48 hours. At launch, the selection will consist of five titles from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, says the Associated Press, but Google hopes to get studios on board in the coming months. Studios will be able to set their own prices and rental periods, however, should they participate. [More]
Prosper.com May Be Riskier Than You Thought
By 1.19.10
The person-to-person loan website Prosper.com has been talked about in mostly positive ways since it launched a few years ago. Mark Gimein at Slate’s The Big Money says it’s a lot less awesome than you’ve been led to believe. In fact, he says it’s just a microcosm of what happened in the real financial world: “Loans to unqualified borrowers; reliance on mathematical models that turn out to be a lot less useful than they seemed; failed hopes that high interest rates could make subprime loans profitable; sky high default rates [of 39%]—Prosper has it all.” [More]
Harrah's Las Vegas Resorts Say No To Resort Fees
By 1.13.10
If you don’t like the idea of paying a resort fee the next time you visit Las Vegas, make sure you check out the various Harrah’s Entertainment resorts. Today they sent a press release to travel blogger and temporary TSA aggravator Chris Elliott in which they state that all of their Vegas resorts “exclude mandatory resort fees.” [More]
Company Introduces Bridal-Style Registry For Paying Off Bills
By 1.8.10
BillPayRegistry is a new website where customers can create a list of bills they need paid off, and then have friends and family members make “gift” payments via the website to be applied to said bills. The site takes 5.9% off the gift amount and sets aside the rest in a fund that the registrant can only apply to the accounts listed–there’s no way to cash out the funds, in other words. [More]
Kill Off Your Online Identities With The Web 2.0 Suicide Machine
By 12.30.09
Supposedly the most depressing day of the year is just a few weeks away, and that sucks. But if you off yourself, you can’t drink, so it’s a conundrum. What you can do is use the website suicidemachine.org to remove yourself from unnecessary social media sites that either you’ve stopped using or don’t really enjoy anymore. [More]
Everything You Wanted To Know About BestBuy.com
By 12.28.09
Someone who says he’s worked with BestBuy.com for a couple of years now sent us an exhaustive list of topics related to buying from the website. Learn about the Satisfaction Matrix that determines how a CSR treats you! Discover the best way to ensure a new shipping address is accepted into the system! Exciting stuff like that follows. [More]
Watch Out For Undisclosed Resort Fees When Using Sites Like Priceline
By 12.28.09
Travel consumer advocate Christopher Elliott has a new post about an undisclosed $15/day “resort fee” that Trump International Hotel Las Vegas plans to tack onto a customer’s bill. The surprise is that the customer reserved the room through Priceline, and thought when he made the reservation that Priceline was telling him the final room rate. [More]
Shoes.com Website Doesn't Want To Ship To Lora
By 12.21.09
Shoes.com doesn’t seem to like Lora. Not the people at Shoes.com, who were helpful enough, but the website itself. Each time Lora places an order, the system cancels it–and naturally, owing to its hatred of this woman, it won’t tell anyone why. Whatever Lora did to hurt Shoes.com’s feelings, it worked.
(Okay, it may have something to do with billing addresses, but nobody is sure.)
Walmart Accidentally Sells All-Nude Beefcake Calendar Online
By 12.15.09
A woman in Phoenix was shopping for travel calendars on Walmart.com when she came upon one called “All About the Boys 2010.” It wasn’t so much about travel as it was about fully nude models of a European porn company, which didn’t sit well with Wendy McNaughton. [More]
Sears Driver Runs Over Customers' Dog, Inspires Website
By 12.11.09
What do you do when a Sears delivery driver runs over one of your dogs and kills it, but all Sears will tell you is that it’s your fault for letting your dog out of the house? You start a website called searskilledmydog.com. Update: There has been a reconciliation between the owners and Sears. I’ve included a statement from Sears below. [More]
Facebook Will Let You Determine Privacy Levels For Each Update
By 12.9.09
The next time you don’t get that job because someone in HR saw your Facebook pics of you at the weekend cosplay orgy, you’ll have only yourself to blame. (But not for the orgy, which sounded like a really good idea at the time.) Starting soonish–it’s being rolled out now–you’ll have the ability to set privacy levels for each status update. That sound you hear is the collective wail of moms everywhere who are about to be shut out of the more salacious aspects of their kids’ lives. [More]
Texas Attorney General Shuts Down Dishonest Price Comparison Sites
By 12.7.09
ConsumerAffairs.com says that the Texas Attorney General has gone after a couple of online price comparison companies. The sites all claim to offer unbiased comparisons of retailers, but in reality the companies have been accepting payments in exchange for preferential listings. The companies, Intercept LLC and Everyprice.com Inc, both operated multiple sites with names like Flyingprices, Diduprice, and Lowpricedigital. All the sites are currently offline. [More]
Robots Play Trick On McDonald's Advertisement
By 11.27.09
This is what happens when you let robots select up-and-coming stories for your banner ad on Digg. Although now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’d ever let a Digg story be assigned to my brand, automatically or otherwise, without looking at it first. (Thanks to Jeff!) [More]
See Which Retailers Offer Free Shipping
By 11.20.09
The website istobe offers a daily free shipping report for over 500 online retailers, where you can quickly see whether there’s a minimum purchase requirement or if the retailer offers free shipping at all. It’s a good resource to use as you compare prices, and istobe says they update it daily.
American Airlines Fires Web Designer For Helping Customer
By 11.17.09
Dustin Curtis complained to American Airlines about its poor website user interface. A designer within the company reached out to him to apologize, say how it was hard sometime to design well at a large company, but that better designs were coming down the pike. American Airlines then fired the designer. Authenticity can be a hazard to your job health.
Customer Says OnTrac Is Ruining His Amazon Prime Membership
By 11.13.09
Brian paid for an Amazon Prime membership in order to expedite shipments. Unfortunately, the company contracted to deliver the goods to him doesn’t seem up to the job.
