Bank of America messed up Andy’s credit score by failing to send him credit card statements or giving him online access to an old account he only recently started using again. They also refused to work with him over the phone, telling him each time he called that they had no record of his previous conversations with customer service and therefore no reason to believe him.
websites
Beanbag Chair Website May Actually Be Run By Beanbag Chairs
By 6.18.09
Eric and his girlfriend are trying to acquire a beanbag chair from sumolounge.com, but there have been some hiccups. Eric is a former retail manager, so he’s actually pretty understanding about how things can go wrong with fulfillment. Now that Mindy is just flat out ignoring him, however, he may have lost his patience. Update: The founder of sumolounge.com has responded in the comments below.
TOSBack Keeps Track Of Changes To Terms Of Service Policies Around The Web
By 6.8.09
It’s difficult enough to parse a lengthy TOS for one web-based service, let alone for dozens, or to keep track of when and how they update them. It would be nice if some public-service website out there would keep track of this stuff for all of us, wouldn’t it? Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) did just that with the launch of TOSBAck.org, “the terms-of-service tracker.” It tracks TOS agreements for 44 different services, including Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Twitter, and eBay.
By 6.5.09
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The next time you’re looking at hotels online, try www.biddingfortravel.com and www.betterbidding.com. Our readers recommend both sites for helping you figure out which hotels you’re being offered on Priceline or Hotwire. (Thanks to bohemian and picantel!)
Check For Unredeemed, Matured Government Bonds
By 6.3.09
A PR person just contacted us on behalf of the U.S. Treasury Department to point out that there are $16 billion in unredeemed bonds that are no longer earning interest. “Specifically, there are 40 million Series E savings bonds purchased between 1941 and 1978 that are over 30 years old and therefore have fully matured. They can be cashed out today for at least four times their face value.”
By 6.1.09
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More cheap online eyeglass sources for the focus-challenged among us: Optical4less and Goggles4U. Yeah, they sound like scam sites, but Kevin Kelly vouches for them. [Cool Tools]
Here's A Phishing Site Disguised To Trick Wells Fargo Customers
By 5.13.09
Freddie writes that his friend was tricked by a phishing email. All the warning signs were there to tip off his friend—an email saying he needed to click a link, a suspicious url, a page asking for his login info—but he clicked and entered the info anyway. Please do not be like Freddie’s friend, who is now probably on the phone with the real Wells Fargo trying to get his account number changed.
Pinkberry Apologizes For Website Error By Offering To Shower Your Office With Freebies
By 5.9.09
To thank Kelly for pointing out an error on their website, Pinkberry offered to come to her office bearing “a few yogurts and toppings for some of the hard working people that you work with.” What error could prompt such an over-the-top apology? Kelly tried to visit two separate Pinkberry locations at 11:30 a.m., which Pinkberry’s website lists as the store’s opening time. But! The store’s don’t open until *gasp* noon!
By 5.8.09
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Mars didn’t really think through their “free chocolate” offer and the server stampede it would inevitably cause. If you had rotten luck this morning but still insist on getting a free candy bar coupon via snail mail in six weeks, try the site now; I just did and was able to get a coupon without any delay (less than 2 minutes total time on the site). [realchocolate.com]
Bank of America-Sponsored Poll Shows That Most Americans Don't Trust Banking System
By 5.7.09
It may be a random confluence of sponsorship, but this poll from the front page of CNN.com last night is too funny not to share. Thanks to Douglas for sending it in.
Why Is It So Hard To Cancel Your EFax Account?
By 5.4.09
In Slate today, Timothy Noah describes his hour-long ordeal to cancel the eFax account he never uses anymore. If you’ve ever tried to cancel an online service, you probably already know how this story goes: it was impossible to find a “cancel my account” link anywhere on the site, support numbers were no help, and a scripted service rep tried to shove an extension on him instead of simply providing customer support.
Watch Out For Scammy Swine Flu Email, Websites
By 4.30.09
How can you tell you’ve made it on the Internet? How about if you’re turned into spambait? MSN Money reports that scammers are taking advantage of the sudden interest in swine flu by using it in subject lines to get people to open messages and download attachments. Don’t do it! Tell your friends and relatives not to do it, either!
Facebook Voting Has Ended; New Terms Being Considered Despite Small Turnout
By 4.24.09
When voting ended yesterday on the Facebook terms of service, around 600,000 people had voted, and about 70% of those votes were cast for the new documents drafted over the past couple of months. Although the voting total was nowhere near the 30% of active Facebook users that Facebook said would be required, the site is still considering validating the vote and implementing the new terms after the audit is complete.
By 4.23.09
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If you have an iPhone or a G1, Google has just announced a new version of their Product Search specially formatted for those phones. Here’s a video demonstrating how the mobile version looks and functions. [Google Mobile Blog via IntoMobile]
At Six Flags, You Have To Pay A Fee To Print Your Own Tickets
By 4.22.09
We know Six Flags is desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy, but that’s no reason to go all Ticketmaster on the people who want to have a good time at Magic Mountain in Los Angeles.
This Best Buy Survey Seems Suspiciously Biased
By 4.18.09
Sidd tried to fill out a Best Buy post-purchase survey online, but he suspects it might be skewed toward specific ratings. We know, it’s just a glitch, but this would explain that report that Best Buy is demoting 8,000 senior sales associates.
This Think Geek Sticker Clearly Wouldn't Fit In The Other Box
By 4.17.09
We may have to invent a new tag just to accurately describe how absurd Think Geek’s shipment to Micah in Ontario was. It was bad enough that the shipping was over $30, but that’s a consequence of stupid shipping options from the US to Canada. What really elevates this story to the top of the stupid shipping mountain is how they packed a sticker. But hey, at least the sticker didn’t get broken in transit. Update: Think Geek responds in the comments below (which is awesome because we felt kind of bad talking about a site we like so much).
Amazon Can Ban You From Your Kindle Account Whenever It Likes
By 4.15.09
Amazon recently banned a customer for making what they considered too many returns, and when they did this they also disabled his Kindle account, although the returns were never related to Kindle purchases. So what happens when your Kindle account is taken away? Your Kindle still works, and the books you already bought for it will work, but you can’t download those books ever again (better have made a backup on your PC!), you can’t receive your magazine, blog, or newspaper subscriptions on it anymore, you can’t email documents to Amazon to have them converted and sent to your Kindle, and you can’t buy any new books for the device. That $360 device only works so long as Amazon decides it will work.
