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Consumer Revolt Spurred Via the Internet

sas-dot writes "UK's newspaper Independent outlines the brewing consumer revolt being fomented on the web. 'Consumer militancy' is becoming ever more common, as individuals join forces on the internet to fight back against the state and big business. Businesses from banks to soccer clubs have been the target of these groups, in each case facing the fury of consumers who feel they have been wronged. For example, 'A mass revolt has left the high street banks facing thousands of claims from customers seeking to claw back some of the £4.75bn levied annually on charges for overdrafts and bounced cheques. More than one million forms demanding refunds have been downloaded from a number of consumer websites. The banks are settling out of court, often paying £1,000 a time.' Are these kinds of organized 'advocate mobs' going to be the future of internet activism?"

5 of 309 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Soccer.. arggggggh! by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 0, Troll
    The United States, it seems, is the only country in the world that prefers to use the name football to refer to a game that doesn't actually use the feet.

    The Football is called so in USA because the ball used is exactly 12 inches long. The name Football is already taken, sorry you have to call it soccer in USA. You can make bubbly wine, but you cant call it champaigne. Google is talking to some small German email provider over the name gmail, because it is already taken in Germany. Cisco took the name iPhone before Apple did. So they talked and came to an understanding. You want to call it football in your country. Do so. But dont expect the land of the free and home of the brave to follow you like sheep.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  2. American sports are for pussies/retards by MicrosoftRepresentit · · Score: -1, Troll

    American football? Rugby with armour on because you might get a black eye otherwise. Ice hockey? A bit like regular hockey, but with armour on because the puck might hit your elbow and it may sting a bit. Pool? Like snooker but made with enormous pockets designed for the physically and mentally handicapped American sportsman.

  3. Re:Must just be in England... by UbuntuDupe · · Score: 1, Troll

    I thought the main complaint about immigrants was that they don't give anything back.

    Well, when it comes to big businesses, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't:

    -Bank of America gives CC's to illegals.:

    "OMG j00 are teh violatign teh immigration rulzorz!"

    -Bank of America refuses to give CC's illegals.:

    "OMG y wont j00 extend tehm credit just bcuz tehy are from teh DIFFREN COUNTRY!!!!!!111"

    Oh, and just a nitpick: from what I read here, they're not *specifically* giving cards to illegals, just to people without a SSN. (I know, I know, "Yeah, and let me guess: you're not a mail-order bride pimp, you're a foreign romance counselor, right?")

  4. Re:Consider my mountain bike... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    No, sorry, I got the terminology wrong. I meant the metal rod that connects the saddle to the rest of the frame, because I normally take the saddles off my bikes, and replace them with sex aids of various kinds, and then ride my bikes along cobbled streets and such. Unfortunately this time, when afixing the aid, the powertool I was using was too strong and sheared the metal, so I had to go and get it fixed.

  5. Re:Banks have it coming to them by geekoid · · Score: -1, Troll

    So you screwed up, the bank implimented it's published policy, and it's there fault somehow?

    You are truly managment material.

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