Jamcracker, I hate SWBell too. I pay my bill at HEB the day before it's due each month, and then I call SWBell to report the payment. And three days later, I have a late notice in my mailbox.
Next time fly with us (Continental). We can get you from Bush Intercontinental to Paris with only a stopover in Newark for refueling. If weather is an issue, we give you meal vouchers, a hotel voucher, and even first class seats on the next mornings flight if we have it! Just thought I'd let you know. American does suck. ------------------
My worst consumer story involves my college. I remember I dropped some classes and I had payed for most of the tuition. Two of the assistants at the business center told me I didn't owe anything. A month later, I get a delinquent notice saying I was late on a payment and I have to pay a $30 late charge fee on top of the payment. Bastards. ------------------
I try to boycott Papa John's pizza because their motto is "Better Ingredients, Better Pizza", and they then have the nerve to put CANNED mushrooms on their pizza. Huh? Sorry, gotta have fresh mushrooms. The thing is, if they didn't make such a big deal about their "ingredients", I wouldn't care--I'd just order without mushrooms. Now, I won't order anything from them. 1-800-Flowers.com because the last time I ordered from them, they delivered the flowers, but the card with my personalized message somehow didn't make it. See ya. I ditched by Best Buy credit card because, well--try to decipher one of their financial statements. If they screw up on one (which they did all the time), good luck getting it changed.
I've got one other. For the first time in my life (believe it or not), I went shopping at a Wal-Mart yesterday. Got there at 4PM. Not only was the place packed with screaming kids and worker who couldn't tell you where anything was, all of the checkout lines were at least 20 people deep. Only half of the checkout lines were open, and they refused to open any more despite pleading from those of us standing in line. Never again. ------------------ "Blues is a Healer" --John Lee Hooker
...had "friends" who worked for First USA/Bank One credit cards AND YES, they are trying to screw you everything is based on you paying more fees, they actuallt have procedures in place to insure that you do not pay on time so that fees (late fees, overlimit, etc.) can be asessed. THEY ARE THE DEVIL [REPEAT] THE DEVIL>>>>>>>> ------------------ C-son
My terrible customer service story involves AT&T. I had been a loyal AT&T customer for almost 10 years when this happened. What happened was AT&T came up with this new local phone service. I thought, "hey cool, i can get one phone bill with long distance and local phone service" and at the time I was considering going with their dial up service. So I though it would be convenient. Well it wasn't. AT&T told me there would be no disruption of my phone service. They lied. A few days after I placed my phone service order, they cut my phone off! Then 2 days later they cut my second phone line (computer line) I was without a phone for 2 weeks during this screw up. I was so pissed that I cancelled my AT&T order, I dropped them as my long distance carrier and haven't looked back since. I have told alot of people about this including this newsgroup about their crappy service. They just out and out lied to me. "oh there will be no interruption of service" yeah right... When I went to cancel my order, no one cared that I was a loyal customer for 9+ years, I even spoke to the "manager" she didn't care either. Oh well, I now use Sprint for my LD and just kept SWB. I also use Sprint for my cell service and will never, ever use AT&T again. rH ------------------ Homecourt will always be 'The Summit' to me!! Until we move downtown!! The Psychedelic Groove House of Rockets Basketball Love! Come and chat with us on game nights in CC.net chat!
I can't stand 1-800-Flowers.Com. Just pray you do not have a problem on Valentines. I ordered a basket and they delivered the wrong basket. Ok, Thats fine, I can understand the mistake and its all cool. Not only that, but they got the name wrong. I told the lady Michelle and she wrote down Micheal. It so happens her dads name was Micheal and she worked with her dad in the same building. After calling them and telling them that they put the wrong name down on the form and delivered it wrong, they wanted me to get her to go get the flowers from her dad. I told them that he thought they were from him, as I did not put my name on the card. They told me they would try to send another basket to her. Instead, they called up her dad and told him the mistake and asked if he would deliver them to her, which he did. Sad. ------------------ Nice guys finish last ... and im surely not going to finish last!
Apparently such problems with AT&T local service are common, rockHEAD. A friend of mine in McKinney tried to sign up for their service and was told the same thing (no interruptions, etc). I tried to call him one day, and his phone was disconnected. I sent him an email (he has cable modem service) thinking that he just forgot to pay his bill. Turns out that the phone had been off for a couple of days already (he hadn't tried to call anyone so he didn't notice that the thing wasn't working). AT&T decided that they couldn't offer the local service where he lived but they didn't bother to communicate that to my friend. And they didn't bother to cancel the cancellation order with SWB (disconnecting the current telephone service). So, they just left him to figure it all out for himself (and ended up having to pay a fee to go back to SWB). ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page
I didn't even see this thread and was about to post a "tips for pre-ordering DVDs online". Two things I've learned. buy.com is fantastic for pre-ordering a new DVD release. They generally send it to your door 2 days before the release date and it's just cool having the thing before it has come out. I only realize how cool they are because recently I got some free Flooz and a coupon so I ordered from Barnes and Noble online. Talk about BLOWING CHUNKS. I pre-ordered "Meet the Parents" and the damn thing came out yesterday in stores and those bastards still haven't sent it out. I've been calling for three days and i just hung up with them.... should go out in 24 hours. Great, thanks a lot. Fortunately they're now overnighting it for free but I'm done with them. ------------------ NOTHING BUT .NET CLUTCHCITY.NET
buy.com is awesome! amazon.com has been pretty good to me too. My worst consumer experience (I can't get into it or my blood pressure will go through the roof): CompUSA My worst business service provider experience: Avaya ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
The prolem I've run into with online DVD orders is that no one is consistent. I ordered a couple of DVDs from DVDPlanet once, and it was great. Had the DVDs in my hand in two days. Inpressed with my first experience, I order from them again. This time, they sit on my order for eight days before shipping (my theory is that they were waiting until their new shipping prices went into effect, but I can't prove that) and ship regular mail instead of the Priority Mail I paid for when I ordered. I ordered on February 19th and finally received the DVDs today (March 7th). That's horrible. On the other hand, I've ordered twice from buy.com, and both times have been excellent (I ordered a DVD from them on Feb. 20th. I had it in my hands that Saturday). I've never preordered a title, so I don't have experience with that, but buy.com is great for regular, non-pre-order orders, too. Speaking of Barnes & Noble online, a friend of mine and I both wanted a copy of the same book. We decided that one of us would place the order with Amazon.com and one with bn.com. I lucked out and got Amazon. My book was to me within three or four days of ordering it. My friend waited about two weeks and finally got an email saying they couldn't ship the book to him because they didn't have any in stock and didn't know if they ever would again (the thing had just been released, too. I think we ordered two days after the release date of the book). So, I've not been too impressed with bn.com, either. ------------------ Houston Sports Board The Anti-Bud Adams Page [This message has been edited by mrpaige (edited March 07, 2001).]
It's now 3:50 PM, and I am still waiting for AT&T to disconnect phone service in my old apartment. That's two days later than when they promised me on Monday, and 4 hours past when they promised they'd do it today! ------------------ "Blues is a Healer" --John Lee Hooker
In July of 1998 I signed a 2-year contract with a local gym. I had it set up to where the gym owner would draw $30 out of my bank account the 1st of each month. Well, in January of 2000, about 6 months before my contract would have expired the gym was shut down by the IRS due to tax evasion or something to do with back-taxes. I called the customer service # on the back of my gym card and was told that I would be contacted very soon and that there would be another location set up for their clients to train. I waited a week and still had no response from the gym. About this time, the beginning of February was coming up and I was not going to allow the gym to draw any more money out of my checking account because their service was no longer available to me. I called the bank and set up a stop-payment on the deduction. It wasn't long before the gym's billing department called and wanted to know where my payment was. I explained to them why I was not going to make payment and she had the nerve to tell me that I was going to be turned in to a collection agency and that I had breached my contract. I was pissed and ended up hanging up on her. By this time, I still hadn't received any calls about the re-opening of the gym or an alternate gym that was supposed to have been set up weeks earlier. Two days, later I got a call from an internal collection agency and this guy was very rude and basically demanded that I send a money order or personal check to make payment. We got into a shouting match. I eventually asked him how his supervisor would feel if I reported this asenine activity to the IRS who they were already in trouble with. I basically threatened to report their collection strategies to the IRS and I quickly received an apology and he promised to no longer bother me. I was so relieved. ------------------
A Story : I was going to Ireland after I graduated from high school. To do so I was going to fly Northwest, and not being a frequent flyer, I had no knowledge of their complete, total and frightening incompetence when it comes to Air travel. The trip was to start in Houston, where I would board and fly up to Detroit(apparently a big Northwestern hub) and then catch a flight to London. There was a 2-hr layover in Detroit between the projected arrival time from Houston and departure from Detroit. From London its a bus ride and a ferry ride and Bam! I'm chilling in the Emerald Isle. But things never are that simple. The plane was fifteen minutes late taking off, a bad omen. But its no big deal, I had plenty of time to spare. Then thirty seconds into the flight there's an annoying sound coming from the rear of the plane - its the fire alarm. So the plane lands and spends at least an hour and a half on the ground while they fixed the fire alarm. Then the plane took off again, and not thirty seconds into this flight the fire alarm went off again. So they turned the fire alarm off. The plane arrived in Detroit too late for me to catch my flight to London. The Northwestern people did put me up in a good hotel, but they had to get me a ticket on British Airways b/c Northwestern couldn't get me a NWestern flight until almost day and a half later, and I had a tight schedule. BA wasn't so bad, the in-flight movie was like eight Simpson's in a row, among other stuff I didn't watch. Then comes the return flight on Northwestern. A tip - on transatlantic flights, do not sit by the window, cause it's fvcking cold. And the food sucks. And they're very stingy with the soft drinks. The plane was 15 minutes late into Detroit, but there was plenty of time to catch a connecting flight to Houston - except for the torrential downpour and enormous thunderstorm in the Detroit metro area. The flight was delayed, but the storms actually cleared up in an hour. Time to go to Houston? Not so fast - they had no pilots for the plane. Huh? Right. They also misplaced my luggage. If I hadn't noticed them when I did, my bags would have gone to scenic New Jersey. And this time they wouldn't even put me up in a hotel, because they said it was a cancellation because of weather - even though the weather had cleared up and the real reason was that they had no pilots - which seems to be the fault of the airline. So I spent the night in the Detroit airport - but NWestern was kind enough to give me a small blanket and a tiny pillow. Thanks. I didn't sleep at all but in the morning I had some nasty residue on the outside of my shorts from the seat where I had to sleep, which ended up ruining my favorite shorts. The flight to Houston was relatively uneventful, though I did steal the blanket the Northwestern people as a small token of payback. A very small token of payback, because it was a sucky blanket. I'm not flying Northwestern again. I have another bad story that happened last month, but I'll post it later. ------------------ The Rockets will be the NBA champions. Believe.
One thing that really, I'm mean REALLY gets me fired up is when a company tries to put one over on me. I become their worst nightmare. Two summers ago, I was shopping for a small swimming pool...one of those 12ft diameter by 3 ft deep ones...and found one on sale in a Toys-r-Us flyer for $109. Perfect. So I cruise to my local T-r-U store the morning the ad breaks. They say "Oops, we're out." Huh? It's the first day of the ad? So they say the truck will be in tonight and to come back in the morning, which I do. They say "Oops, none came in". So I go up to customer service and speak to the customer service manager (a girl who looked so pale, I swear she had Buffy chasing her.) I ask her "Could you call around to see if anyone else has one?" That's when the fun begins. She calls all the stores in Houston....no pool. She starts calling all the stores in Texas...no pool. By this time I have the store manager involved, and I'm making sure everyone hears my complaints of false advertisements. So he asks if I want a discount on the next size larger pool, a 15 ft by 3.5ft one for $219. I say "Sure, I'll take that one for $109" He says no way, but I can have it for $199. Riiight....um, what's your supervisors name and phone number? So I call his boss, a condensending b!tch who just wants me off the phone. She gives me some sob story about the manufacturer having problems, all of which was pure BS. I spend about 2 minutes with her before asking for her boss's name and phone number. Meanwhile, the CSM has found me a pool...in MICHIGAN! What? Yes, Michigan, where there is still snow on the ground (It was April). A lot of freaking good it will do those guys. (She was pretty cool about it for being one of the undead.) Now I'm three levels up into Toys-R-Us management (All of this was from the phone at the service desk) and I'm mad as hell. Meanwhile the store manager has dropped his price on the upgrade to $169. No way, I say, I'm not stopping now. So I make it all the way to the secretery of the president of the Houston division, who tells me to go home (they wanted me out of that store BAD) and wait for his call. So I go home, awaiting for the president's call. An hour later, I get a call from some warehouse guy who says I can come pick up my pool. I ask "Where did you find it?" Ready for this? He says "I was told to piece together a pool for you from reject packages or broken items." I hit the roof!!!! I called the president back and told him "WTF is this?" He says he did not ask anyone to do it, and that he will get me a pool within the hour. Exactly one hour later, a hot shot delivery shows up at my door with a pool, free of charge, with his apologies. Moral of the story? Don't EVER try to cheat me! I've never been back to Toys-r-Us since. ------------------ Behad Sergeant at Arms of the Clutch BBS [This message has been edited by Behad (edited March 07, 2001).]
Behad. You are the ultimate badass. That story was so damn cool. carry on. ------------------ The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why i didn't get more meat, ill just say, "Oh, you mean this?" and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where ive hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?
I want to start this thread so everyone can share their bad consumer stories. Tell me what companies you despise doing business with and why. The reason I'm starting this thread is because I'm having one hell of a time getting AT&T local to shut off my old phone number and crank up a recording referring callers to my new number. You had to use AT&T in my old apartment complex (rather than SW Bell). Last night I received 3 calls for a guy named Greg. Turns out they turned off his phone service instead! So, my vote goes to AT&T, who I will never do business with again! Vent, people! Vent your hatred of the bloated corporate monster! ------------------ "Blues is a Healer" --John Lee Hooker [This message has been edited by RocketMan Tex (edited March 07, 2001).] [This message has been edited by RocketMan Tex (edited March 07, 2001).]
Mine is my apartment complex, owned by Summit Properties. They put a letter on everyone's door last Wednesday stating that they were having problems with upgrades with the system they use to generate the water bills. They weren't going to let that interrupt business though. So, we were supposed to call them, find out what our bill was last month, and pay that. Then if the current bill was higher, they'd bill us for that (no mention of what they'd do if the bill was lower). Then, they threatened us by saying that the water bill was taken out first, then the rent, so if we just paid the rent without paying the water bill, we'd be charged late fees because our rent would technically be late. Riiiight. Of course, any smart tenant would take a look at their lease, especially the part that said the water bill was due no more than 7 days after receiving the bill. Since we didn't receive the bill, it can't be late. Of course, I did not pay the water bill portion, and they have yet to do anything about it (late fees). I hate apartment complexes in general. ------------------ www.swirve.com...The reason Al Gore invented the internet.
