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Late post, so this will likely never see the light of day. But nevertheless...

The Consumerist offers 3 options that seem to work well:
1) Chargeback on your Credit Card.
2) Launch an Executive Email Carpet Bomb (EECB) to get their attention and get a response. They even offer information on Michael Dell's email address.
3) File a suit in small claims court. This probably doesn't work if you're still stationed overseas.

Good luck fighting the evil corporate overlords!

I've heard of many great success stories from people employing a new consumer tactical weapon: the EECB, executive email carpet bomb.

But it's only to be used as a last resort, no matter how justified or important you think you are. After you've tried everything else, dig up the email addresses of Dell executives (which are generally not hard to find, surprisingly) and send *all* of them a well-written, rational letter explaining why you are dissatisfied with their service and what they can do to set things straight if they want to keep you as a customer.

For bonus points, mention tactfully that you have a blog. Good luck, soldier.

It was my understanding that a store does not have the right to demand to see a customer's receipt much less detain them.

The only real exception to this that I know of is Sam's club, they will always check your receipt on the way out, but in order to be in their store you have to have a membership and therefore have signed your life away. But I think even then all they can really do is take away your membership.

Receipts

But I doubt
it.
  Their prices and selection always sucked in my experience, and it does not look like the liquidation will change that.

They can take a beating in the short term.

By me, wherever there's a BestBuy a CircuitCity isn't far away. In fact they're usually just a couple of miles down the same road.

As of this weekend I already see employees with signs this weekend with their "up to 20% off all merchandise" messages. I'm sure that "discount" will start to go up sharply as time goes on. If the CompUSA dive is any indicator, it will hit 50% some time soon.

So really, if you're driving down the road to BestBuy and see signs stating "20%-50% off all Circuit City merchandise" you might visit the store to buy some of your product there.

However once they're gone, local BestBuys will have one less contender to deal with.

But I doubt
it.
  Their prices and selection always sucked in my experience, and it does not look like the liquidation will change that.

They can take a beating in the short term.

By me, wherever there's a BestBuy a CircuitCity isn't far away. In fact they're usually just a couple of miles down the same road.

As of this weekend I already see employees with signs this weekend with their "up to 20% off all merchandise" messages. I'm sure that "discount" will start to go up sharply as time goes on. If the CompUSA dive is any indicator, it will hit 50% some time soon.

So really, if you're driving down the road to BestBuy and see signs stating "20%-50% off all Circuit City merchandise" you might visit the store to buy some of your product there.

However once they're gone, local BestBuys will have one less contender to deal with.

But I doubt it.
Their prices and selection always sucked in my experience, and it does not look like the liquidation will change that.

But I doubt it.
Their prices and selection always sucked in my experience, and it does not look like the liquidation will change that.

I'd call the FBI and the telephone company again. Be firm but polite when asking for help. Get names and phone numbers of everyone you talk to. If that person says no, ask for the next person up in the chain of command.

Oftentimes, people just don't know how to ask for help correctly when contacting an agency such as the FBI or telephone company. If she can't clearly articulate the problem to the person on the other end of the phone they simply might not be aware of the issue or its ramifications.

I definitely agree with this sentiment. I'd also suggest you read the Comsumerist article, How To Mind Control Customer Service Reps. It details tactics you can use over the phone to get them to solve problems for you. It seems the trick is to simply tell them right off the bat that they are going to help you solve your issue.

Well Obama's a lawyer that took the RIAA's "free money" while senator.

He's a lawyer people. The RIAA regularly gives him a couple grand "for the kids".

*sigh* I liked Obama for his "get out of Iraq" talk. He backtracked all those statements, now wants to remain there and spend even more than McCain (does he think that's a popular position ?). For every single other point I like McCain. *sigh*

I'm gonna go McCain. Yes he's Bush's successor, but at least he doesn't take "free money" from the devil.

The followings is a short list of where Barack stands on technology issues.

Ensure net neutrality: no corporate-tiered Internet. (Jan 2007)

Create online database of science & math scholarships. (Dec 2007)

Website for competitive federal awards. (Jun 2008)

Overturn FCC approval of media consolidation. (Mar 2008)

The last one -- overturning FCC approval of media consolidation -- is the most telling. To me, that "free money" $2,000 from the RIAA means practically nothing if he's voting to destroy the foundation of what makes the RIAA's influence so powerful. The RIAA couldn't throw $$ at politicians if it didn't have some serious power.

And where does the RIAA get that power? From consolidated media, of course. Most musical superstars become superstars not because of their talent, but because of the *distribution* of their work via media hype which is only aggrandized by media consolidation.

McCain's record:

Voted NO on disallowing FCC approval of larger media conglomerates. (Sep 2003)

Voted NO on telecomm deregulation. (Feb 1996)

You sure about that, OeLeWaPpErKe? I would venture it's pretty obvious that a vote for McCain is a vote for . . . well, the devil. :)

Well Obama's a lawyer that took the RIAA's "free money" while senator.

He's a lawyer people. The RIAA regularly gives him a couple grand "for the kids". Let's not kid ourselves on his real positions. He's an enemy of fair use, an enemy of free speech on the web.

While McCain has Lawrence Lessig's blessing and has worked to enhance fair use in the past according to Lessig, he's probably not a candidate that will make fair use a government priority either. But he may try and improve the situation a little.

Heh given Lessig's site, it's no wonder only Obama gets paid by the RIAA.

*sigh* I liked Obama for his "get out of Iraq" talk. He backtracked all those statements, now wants to remain there and spend even more than McCain (does he think that's a popular position ?). For every single other point I like McCain. *sigh*

I'm gonna go McCain. Yes he's Bush's successor, but at least he doesn't take "free money" from the devil. And it's becoming increasingly unclear on just what point Obama differs from Bush.

So, the State's Attorney actually understands and wants to do something about scareware. A judge recently ruled that under Washington law Cingular's forced arbitration concept was unconsionable.

A state with a clue!

It may be convenient, but Valve having the ability to kill it whenever they want isn't worth it.

Just stumbled across this today: http://consumerist.com/5050054/ex+best-buy-employee-regrets-selling-warranties-now-that-hes-a-customer

Honestly, I've had various problems with warranties from Best Buy, Circuit City, and CompUSA. At first for me buying my own stuff, but then for helping other people try to get things covered under warranty.

If you're lucky, they'll just stall and delay and you'll eventually get something repaired. But pretty often, they'll lie to you about the coverage, and then, somehow or another, it ends with them flatly refusing to repair the item. I've once seen it end with the store refusing to repair the item, and then subsequently informing the customer that they would not be returning the broken item (apparently they lost it).

I've never seen or even heard of an actual case where anybody was happy with the coverage, but like I said, I've been lied to by these stores' employees first-hand.

http://consumerist.com/5045443/consumerists-4-most-frequently-given-ways-to-kick-ass

The Consumerist's 4 Most Frequently Given Ways To Kick Ass. An Executive Email Carpet Bomb usually works best by sending mail to as many executive accounts as you can get a hold of.

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyOfficers?symbol=ERTS.O&WTmodLOC=C4-Officers-5

Here is a list of executives from Electronic Arts. It's untested, but if the first.last@ea.com nomenclature holds true, it may be a good place to start for a list of addresses.

short of the difficulty of offline play, I don't know too many people with genuine complaints about Steam.

My biggest beef with Steam is that Valve has a kill switch that they could use if they want to. That's far more control over my purchase than they should have.

http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquirer/news/2007/08/20/att-contract-is-ruled-unconscionable

Maybe Comcast also got hosed. Likely.

Oh look, we're both right.

First hit from google.

http://consumerist.com/consumer/class-action/comcasts-class-action-waiver-ruled-unconscionable-297653.php :-D

--
BMO

I'm pretty sure that they do have to stop calling you if you request it. You can find the relevant info at the Consumerist. Just try a search on "debt collector" or "collection agency". I'm sorry but I don't have time to look it up for you today.

And you wondered why your credit card charged 22% interest.

*Cough*Ahem* excuse me.

Maybe it is different in Canada, but you can get out of a contract if the provider creates a materially adverse change in the contract, such as this. Maybe it varies whether you have a texting plan, but I would be surprised if most people really can't get out of their contracts. Those of you who read http://consumerist.com/ know this already. If you search "cellphone contract" you can find out a lot about your rights with regard to your cellphone provider.

I called HP and, after convincing the tech support guy that removing Vista and installing XP on the laptop did NOT cause the problem, sent it off for repairs in the middle of June. I was given a 2 week time period for it to be finished.

After a week and a half they sent me an e-mail saying that parts were on order and it might be another week. So July 8th was the new date.

After the 9th I called HP again and again was told parts were still on order. I was given a new date of July 22nd! I e-mailed HP's CEO and was contacted a few days later. HP said that they had been authorized to replace this series of laptop and asked me to fax in the specs from the broken one, which I did. About 2 weeks later a laptop was shipped to my old address (after having given HP the new one on 3 occasions: when I first called tech support, when I e-mailed the CEO, and when the case manager contacted me).

The laptop arrived and so far the only thing that doesn't work is DVD burning. Sure, it gets about 92% done, then dies. I've given up though and decided to just not buy HP products anymore.

To those who are having the problems mentioned for HP I strongly suggest sending an e-mail to Mark Hurd, the CEO. He doesn't write back personally obviously but someone contacted me just a day or two later.

It's just too bad HP has come to this (whether it's nVidia's fault or not is open to debate) but after an issue arises it is up to the manufacturer to take responsibility for their products. Man, I remember the days of HP meaning quality, the 2, 3, 4, and 5 series of laser printers were slow, sure, but they were steel and lasted forever. Now they sell these plastic pieces of crap that die after a year and, when contacted, all HP will do is give you $50 off of a new one. Wow, did Carly destroy HP or what?

Sprint, very frequently, changed rates for various services under the contract. Contract law in most states allows one party to terminate the agreement without penalty when the other imposes material changes. In this situation, they have been known to lie, which I experienced personally (specifically regarding their text message rate hikes). Glad to see both the market and now the courts punishing them for this ridiculous behavior.

The Consumerist is chock full of incidents and complaints reported by Comscat victims, I mean customers. The Consumerist recently had their "Worst company in America" contest to which Comscat is winning 2nd place.

Anyway, I read the Consumerist and I thank them. When I moved from Scottsdale Arizona to San Francisco 3 months ago Comscat was one of my choices for Internet service and cable. If it wasn't for the Consumerist I would've ended up using their crappy soul-sucking service.

I ended up going with DSL Extreme, which I'd just like to add are absolutely wonderful.

Actually if the changes they make are "materially adverse" to you, then you can get out of the contract without an ETF.

Check out more here.

http://consumerist.com/5008441/watch-for-baloney-reservation-rewards-charges-on-your-credit-card

http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/ecommerce-investigation-webloyalty.cfm

http://adam.rosi-kessel.org/weblog/2004/12/24/webloyalty_aka_wli_reservations_is_a_scam

http://ask.metafilter.com/76535/Scammed-by-WLI-Reservation-Rewards

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search!&q5=WLI

could reasonably be passed on to the customer.

Most people never read their bills, so it will slip by unnoticed. It'll be posted on Consumerist, eventually, but it'll be too late to do anything about it.

SSDD.

are the lawyers. The lawyers don't care if everyone get pennies, because they get their millions. And if there is a settlement or verdict, it should always be in monetary form distributed automatically to every class member. Members shouldn't have to fill any paperwork. The corporations should calculate it for them. Two examples:

1. Bank of America privacy lawsuit.

Fees waived for deposited items getting returned!
Fees returned for calling customer service!
12 months free subscription to a credit card protection service (a $30 value)!
90 free days of Privacy Assist Identity Theft Protection Service (a $17.85 value)!

Hell no. Basically, they get free marketing. OUCH.

2. Visa MasterCard Discovery Currency lawsuit.

They want you to calculate your foreign purchases yourself and document them for your reimbursement. Hell no. They should pay us $400/hr as they do their lawyers for the time we spend sorting through years worth of credit card statements. Some companies even charge a fee for requesting older records.

Settling should not be an option for class action lawsuits. The client/s should decide whether to settle, not the lawyer/s. A settlement should always be an opt-in, not an opt-out.

Sure you can. They even come in fruity flavors.

I'll leave out really common feeds and a few that won't interest many people, but here are the top 25% or so of my feeds:

A Gentleman's C http://gentlemansc.blogspot.com/rss.xml
An Angry Professor gripes about stuff

Armchair Generalist http://armchairgeneralist.typepad.com/my_weblog/index.rdf
Blog by a moderate-left military analyst

Arts & Letters Daily http://aldaily.com/rss/rss.xml
Three interesting links every day (actually usually one or two INTERESTING ones)

Breaking News (History News Network) http://hnn.us/roundup/rss_full/41.xml
Stories about History with a slight conservative bias

Consumerist http://consumerist.com/excerpts.xml
Shoppers bite back.

indexed http://indexed.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Note card humor, usually featuring Venn diagrams

Inside Higher Ed http://feeds.feedburner.com/insidehighered/OxmP
Stories from academe, with fairly grumpy comments

Junk Charts http://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/rss.xml
Redraws charts to make data analysis easier

Obscure Store and Reading Room http://obscurestore.typepad.com/obscure_store_and_reading/index.rdf
Well-known wierd news site with comments

PostSecret http://postsecret.blogspot.com/rss.xml
Secrets on postcards, every Sunday. Fascinating.

ReelViews New Reviews http://feeds.feedburner.com/ReelviewsNewReviews
My favorite currently-active film reviewer

SCOTUSblog http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/index.xml
Get the skinny on the latest Supreme Court actions

Slashfood http://www.slashfood.com/rss.xml
Because I love food

Slate Magazine http://www.slate.com/rss/
The best of the online political mags; lefty bias

Spluch http://spluch.blogspot.com/rss.xml
Always something interesting. Similar material to the extremely popular Boing Boing, but with fewer posts per day.

The Monkey Cage http://www.themonkeycage.org/atom.xml
Analysis from political scientists. Much better than the usual partisan approach.

The Onion http://feeds.theonion.com/theonion/daily
Most of the humor is usually contained in the headlines, so I seldom read more

i bet The Consumerist http://consumerist.com/ has caused enough executive headaches that they are begging to have it taken down. i don't know how they will justify it, but they will probably try to convince with a slew of $15 rebate cards

Actually, the advertisement says, "Just like we have with mine, LifeLock will make your personal information useless to a criminal. And it's GUARANTEED." (Emphasis theirs.)

So if what you say is correct, then they're at least guilty of false advertising.

According to The Consumerist, "...the CEO's personal information is currently being misused by at least 20 different identity thieves"

While I'm concerned about the privacy-invading plan outlined in the article, I have to say that I don't trust The Consumerist to get the story right, after seeing their article on Overstock and Wikipedia. It presents an anti-Overstock line, that Overstock tried to whitewash its Wikipedia page, got reverted by noble-minded neutral Wikipedia editors, and then tried to get their way with sockpuppetry and harassment. Now, apparently Overstock.com has plenty of real problems, and lots of unhappy customers. In this case, however, what they were charging turned out to be true: that a financial journalist named Gary Weiss was using his own secret Wikipedia identity (Mantanmoreland) and sockpuppets (Tom Stoner, Samiharris) to not only "blackwash" the Overstock page, but to create his own puffed-up Wikipedia biography and advance his own opinions in favor of "naked short selling." And that Weiss had manipulated Wikipedia's top brass into taking his side on how those articles should read. This claim was finally investigated a couple of months ago, and found to be true. (Another Wikipedia page connected to the unraveling of the scandal: here. The investigation only covered misbehavior on Wikipedia; according to Weiss' maybe-not-reliable Encyclopedia Dramatica entry, he also posted fake Amazon reviews for his book and sockpuppeted Usenet and bulletin boards.)

To bring this back to The Consumerist, this Wikiscandal had come out more than a month before their article. This leaves me with little faith in their ability to get all the facts. So I'm not sure they're presenting the full story in this case. (In their defense, the mainstream media apparently didn't want to cover this misbehavior by one of their own, either, instead preferring to cover Jimbo Wales' titillating tryst with Rachel Marsden.)

A representative will be with you shortly. You have been connected to TTM Mike .

TTM Mike : Hi this is Mike from Charter. How may I help you today?

Robert Hafner: I read an article online, and the followed it to the Charter webpage, which states that Charter is going to be monitoring my surfing habits and placing ads into pages I'm viewing. I am wondering how soon this will happen to me personally.
Robert Hafner: http://connect.charter.com/landing/op1.html

TTM Mike : I do apologize but let me transfer you over toour internet support line.
TTM Mike has left the session.

Please wait while we find an agent from the CHAT - DUMA - HSD Support department to assist you.

You have been connected to TTD Grah .

TTD Grah : Hi, this is Grah. Thank you for contacting Charter's High Speed Internet support. How may I be of assistance to you today?

Robert Hafner: I read an article online, and the followed it to the Charter webpage, which states that Charter is going to be monitoring my surfing habits and placing ads into pages I'm viewing. I am wondering how soon this will happen to me personally.

TTD Grah : One moment please.

Robert Hafner: http://connect.charter.com/landing/op1.html Contains the information
Robert Hafner: that I am basing this question off of.
Robert Hafner: As well as http://consumerist.com/5008801/charter-to-begin-tracking-users-searches-and-inserting-targeted-ads

TTD Grah : Yes, that is our new update.
TTD Grah : One moment please as I download the document.
TTD Grah : Charter has formed a partnership with an industry-leader in online advertising, NebuAd (www.nebuad.com). NebuAd, through their advertising network, will display targeted advertisements to Charter High-Speed® Internet customers while they are surfing the Web. NebuAd does not collect and use personally identifiable information to deliver advertising. Customers will not see more ads - just ads that are more relevant to their interests that have been expressed through their web-surfing activity.
TTD Grah : The feature will be activated automatically for Charter HSI customers beginning in June 2008 in the following four Charter markets:
Newtown, Connecticut
Fort Worth, Texas
San Luis Obispo, California
Oxford, Massachusetts

Robert Hafner: So the ads are placed directly into websites I would normally view?
Robert Hafner: How do I opt-out for an entire household, with multiple computers and browsers?
Robert Hafner: Currently the only way to opt-out is by placing a cookie under each browser of each account of each computer, which is absolutely insane.

TTD Grah : The technology can actually often distinguish between different users on a shared computer and, therefore, can serve different ads to different users. Only a portion of the ads you see will be a function of the enhanced service - you will still see some ads that are served based on other criteria.

Robert Hafner: The question was were are those ads being placed- are they replacing other ads on websites, for instance?
Robert Hafner: And if so, how is the owner of the actual website going to be compensated?

TTD Grah : This site may appear depending on what are you trying to view online.
TTD Grah : This site will give you options on what to have according to what you need.

Robert Hafner: What site are you referring to?

TTD Grah : Say for example, you are surfing because you wish to purchase shoes online, this site will pop up and give you options to chose from.
TTD Grah : That is how it works.
TTD Grah : That is how it works.
TTD Grah : The site will not pop up everytime you go online.

Robert Hafner: So this only affects my traffic to

The difference is, of course, that we're on to them now. Although the scenario you describe may have used to work, the 'net is putting a crimp in such plans. The web allows "regular people" to interact and organize at almost no cost. We can share information via blogs like Slashdot, p2pnet and Recording Industry vs. the People. The article says that Anderson "searched the Net for a case like hers." Her lawyer can use the 'net to find and communicate with other lawyers who are fighting the same fight to share advice and strategy.

The 'net helps even the playing field. Think about Sony, still recovering from getting their asses handed to them over the rootkit debacle, backing off on their plan to charge extra for a crapware-free PC http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/03/sony-pay-an-ext.html within a day of the news hitting the intertubes.

Go read the stories on the Consumerist http://consumerist.com/ about customers using the 'net to get refunds on bad deals and real service from fake "service departments" from the likes of Sears, Citibank, and Comcast. (Well, maybe not Comcast.)

The Internet, like the printing press, is a transformative technology. That means nothing is ever going to be the same. You and I already know it and sooner or later Big Business will, too. For an excellent book on the power that the 'net brings us, check out Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.

I agree web design has become a horrendous mess. Unfortunately, it isn't going to get any better with companies trying to shove more advertising and content in our face.

Working in design I face this constantly. Clients predictably insist they want a clean, minimalist design then over the course of the project proceed to cram as much as they possibly can onto the page. And of course every last shred of content is so important that it needs to land above the cutoff for the browser window.

The problem is that nobody takes interface design seriously, particularly not on the web. Companies are already cheap enough as it is, but they're certainly not going to pay for the kind of consulting and guidance required to make a page function as it should. And designers certainly aren't helping things. Most design something with little thought other than because it looks good. They may know how to design something aesthetically pleasing and visually impressive but once they have to handle real content they're lost and the design falls apart.

But here's my impression whether or not the blind deserve more effort on the web, and it's probably considered insensitive by some: I say no. I don't mean that efforts shouldn't be made to aid the blind, I mean that they shouldn't be forced on us through legislation.

The internet is a very visual medium. That's a very basic fact. These people can't realistically expect that everyone else should have to accommodate their disability. If a company decides they want to be sensitive to the needs of the blind on their website, that's great. If other companies decide to develop software to assist the blind with browsing the internet, that's good too.

However, to force more accommmodation through lawsuits and legislation is just nonsense. And unfortunately, it's already happened.

Mod me redundant if you want (I seen this on an earlier post) but use a coat hangar instead... http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables

Monster Cable vs. Coat hangers...

http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables

No, they did it with a coat hanger (At the consumerist)

For more proof that Monster has nothing special, see the Consumerist's comparison of Monster Cable versus wire coat hangers. Nobody could tell the difference.

Don't forget to vote!

At california prices you'd be paying at minimum about .20 an hour to use it

I can make *anything* work if I want to but I don't have to put in the effort with the Mac

It's about to get worse, now that United Airlines plans to start charging a fee for people whom have more than 1 checked bag.

OK. You "offer a good value". Let's ignore how tough it is to offer good value compared to something really cheap, how do you compete with free? Consumers can't judge "free" properly, the Consumerist just posted about that the other day. Wouldn't that make competing with Linux even tougher? As it gets closer and closer to acceptable for most people (and it's WAY better than it was 2/4/6+ years ago) the free thing makes it even worse for MS.

Belive it or not it is a bit more sinister than that. Basically, the chip an pin scheme was not implemented to make the transactions more secure as much as to place a burden of responsibility on the customer. You pick the PIN, you are suposed to keep it safe, if you allow it to be stolen or share it then it is your fault. Just ask the lady who had to eat a loss because she admitted that her mother may have know her pin. Story

Now, if you think that is bad just substitute chip and pin with any biometric scheme. Once the "man in the middle attack" is perpetrated... how are you going to revoke your eyes, fingers, vein patterns?

Sony has a long history of behaving badly.

Here is a way to get out of your Verizon contract without fees and get your hands on a new iphone. Basically because Verizon is raising the cost of text messaging from $0.10 to $0.20 you can claim financial hardship and get out of your contract. Keep in mind that this only works if you do not currently subscribe to a text messaging plan and pay individually for each message. Also you have to opt-out by March 1st 2008. This can be done in about an hour, you may have to go through two or three customer dis-service agents, but it works. http://consumerist.com/342706/cancel-verizon-without-termination-fee-based-on-new-text-message-rate-increases http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=187118&t=427435