NEW YORK, 7:48 PM, SUN MAR 16 | 5 POSTS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS | tips@consumerist.com | TIPS TOOL | RSS
fairness

Credit Card Victims Muzzled, Ordered To Release Financial Histories Before Sharing Their Experiences

The%20Testimony%20Cat%20Testifies.jpg Four credit card victims were ordered to sign waivers allowing their creditors to release their private financial records to the public before they could testify before the House Financial Services Committee. The consumers had flown in from across the country to share their stories at a hearing on the Credit Card Bill of Rights, but credit card companies insisted—and Republicans and Democrats agreed—that it would only be fair to release documents like credit scores and a list of recent purchases in order to rebut the consumer's claims. "Fair is fair," Congressman Spencer Bauchus (R-AL) barked, as he defended the absurd request. Ultimately, the consumers didn't testify, but one invitee, Steven Autrey, released his prepared statement, which slams creditors for their abusive and predatory business practices. More »

Featured Windows Download

FairUse DVD Ripper Free for a Limited Time

FROM LIFEHACKER.COM: Windows only: Grab a free copy of the normally-$20 DVD ripper FairUse Wizard 2, which converts DVDs to video files playable by a slew of devices. More »

Followups

HP Replaces Missing Laptop After 3 Months

caseofthedissapearing.jpg Remember N? He last saw his laptop in December after shipping it to HP for desperately needed repairs. After posting the story HP reached out to N, who tells us that he just received a spanking new machine. Read N's reaction and his tips for handling similar situations, after the jump. More »

Cellphones

9 Confessions Of A Retentions Representative

Dont%20Scream%20Learn%20How%20To%20Game%20Retentions.jpg Retentions representatives are the cellphone company's last line of defense between you and freedom. One brave retentions representative has come forward to teach us how to craft a direct, earnest request that will lead retention reps to do your bidding. Rivaled in effectiveness only by executive customer support, retentions reps are empowered to strike down nuisance fees and bargain liberally, all to keep you as a customer. If you were ever tempted to threaten your cellphone company with cancellation, this one is a must read. More »

Whoops

Passengers Watch With Disbelief As Their Allegiant Air Flight Leaves Without Them

To%20The%20Moon%20Alice.jpg Over 20 passengers watched in horror as their Allegiant Air flight from Huntsville to Fort Lauderdale took off without them. The passengers had lined up at the gate, tickets in hand, when the plane pushed back. Apparently, the single ticketing agent had struggled to handle everyone on time and didn't tell the plane to wait. Passengers called the airline once they realized they were stranded as kids shouted, "We want to go to Disney World!"
"So, everybody calls Allegiant Air," Rigas said. "Three people got hung up on."
More »

Videos

Walmart Takes Phallic "Fun Straws" Seriously

WHO: Walmart
WHAT: A Kentucky mother was outraged that Walmart stocked phallus-shaped fun straws. When she called to complain, "they were very rude with me about it. They acted like I was lying, like I was making it all up. You know, I would never make something up like that, especially about my little girl. But, that's just how they treated me and it's just not right."
WHERE: Questionable Straw Shape Upsets Mother [WSAZ] (Thanks, Mark!)
THE QUOTE: "At Wal-Mart we take customer questions and concerns seriously. After being contacted on this matter, Wal-Mart pulled the product in question from our shelves and is investigating the claim. Of course, our customer is welcome to return the item for a refund, if they would like."
BONUS: WSAZ launched a classy investigation into the incident, which appears after the jump. More »

Stupid Shipping Gang

OfficeMax Ships Spindle Of CD-Rs Without The Spindle

Hey OfficeMax, Bill ordered a spindle of CD-Rs, not a batch of CD-Rs carelessly dumped into a box without the spindle or any protective cushioning. Did you seriously think he wouldn't notice or complain about the pell-mell packing job? Unsurprisingly, the CD-Rs are scratched and ruined. Bill isn't pleased, but he's taking the flub in stride. More »

Polls

Should American Airlines Have Flown Five Overbooked Passengers Across The Atlantic In An Empty Plane?

Empty%20Bird.jpg American Airlines managed to rebook all but five passengers after canceling one of its four daily flights from Chicago to London. The five still needed to get to London, so American rustled up an empty plane and invited everyone up to business class. Seems nice, but Friends of the Earth is outraged that American burned 22,000 gallons of fuel for five passengers. Great customer service or eco-scandal? Vote in our poll, after the jump. More »

taking it seriously

California Hospital Takes Botched Operations Seriously

What%20Are%20You%20Looking%20At.jpg

WHO: St. Joseph Hospital in Orange County.
WHAT: The California Department of Public Health is investigating St. Joseph for conducting three 'wrong site' operations since January 2006. Botched surgeries include operating on a patient's good knee and making an incision on the wrong side of a patient's head.
WHERE: Orange hospital under investigation for operating room error [L.A. Times]
THE QUOTE: "Members of the clinical team involved in these cases have been deeply affected, and as a hospital we take this very seriously and regret that it happened," [Dr. Raymond Casciari, St. Joseph's chief medical officer] said.

More »

Thieves

Recover Stolen Purchases Without Breaking A Sweat

Coat%20Factory.jpg Lars writes:
Something pretty bad happened to me the other week that ended up being pretty cool, and speaks well to the quality of customer service at my local Burlington Coat Factory.
More »

planned obsolescence

HP Won't Issue New Drivers For Leopard, Tells You To Buy A New Printer

HP%20Printer.jpg Matt's Officejet 6110 scans perfectly under Ubuntu, but won't play nice with Leopard. When Matt called HP for support, he was told that the company has no plans to issue new drivers so he should just buy a new printer. To soften the blow, the tech mentioned HP's trade-in program, which would give Matt a whopping $16 for his printer. More »

first impressions

Meet Your New $5 Bill

If you liked Harold And The Purple Crayon, boy are you going to love the new $5 bill. Lincoln's last stand after the penny will inherit the same counterfeiting countermeasures found on more valuable bills, and will come bruised with a large purple five "to help those with visual impairments distinguish the denomination.' That's right, never again will you confuse a $5 bill for a $50 bill.

We match purple ties to green shirts without pause, but does the pairing work for currency? Tell us what you think in our poll, after the jump.

More »

Advice

Tip: Use One Catch-All Email Address To Collect Restaurant Offers

I'm HUNGRY!!! Tracy Ham and Eggs shared a great tip with other readers on our Pizza Hut spam post earlier today:
My last decent sized company had a "food@company" email. They opted into everyone deals and menu emails and when we wanted to order something we hit that email and searched for what we wanted. Worked out so well I set the same thing up for myself with gmail.

More »

subprime meltdown

JP Morgan, Fed To Bail Out Bear Sterns

bail.jpg The New York Times says that JP Morgan and the Fed have reached an agreement to offer Bear Sterns a short-term "financial lifeline."
Bear Stearns, facing a grave liquidity crisis, reached out to JPMorgan on Friday for a short-term financial lifeline and now faces the prospect of the end of its 85-year run as an independent investment bank.
More »

Complaints

New Report Says FCC Fails At Tracking Customer Complaints

con_pilesofboxes.jpg The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report yesterday that says that while the FCC processes about 95% of the complaints that come in, it takes some sort of enforcement action in only about 9% of them. "The GAO said it was unable to determine why the [other] investigations were closed without action because 'FCC does not systematically collect these data.'" The FCC uses five separate databases and "about 46,000 paper files" to track complaints, and the GAO said "made it difficult to get answers to basic questions like how long it takes the agency to close an investigation and the total dollar amount it assesses in fines." More »

Here's the 35 most popular online price-comparison sites. Happy deal-hunting. [ProBargainHunter]

early termination fees

Carriers Promised Congress They'd Pro-Rate ETFs; Senator Asks Them, "When?"

con_calendarquestionmark.jpg In a letter to Sprint, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has asked the companies whether or not they're going to start pro-rating their Early Termination Fee policies as promised, reports RCR Wireless. "Sens. Klobuchar and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) are co-sponsors of a sweeping wireless consumer protection bill" that carriers are against. In her letter, Klobuchar writes, "It is time for the wireless companies to adhere to the assurances they made to the American consumer and start pro-rating these fees." In response, Sprint said by the end of Q2 2008, T-Mobile said the first half of 2008, and AT&T Mobility said nothing at all. (Verizon already pro-rates their ETF.) More »

Ouch

United Airlines Raises Prices As Much As $50

stuck.jpg Get ready to pay more for air travel, United Airlines is raising prices. A lot. As much as $50 for some fares. Continental has already matched the increase. More »