Warranty and Repair

—>Unless you've just arrived in 2009 on a time machine, you know that smoking isn't good for you. Did you know, that smoking isn't good for your computer, either? It's true, at least according to Apple. Two readers in different parts of the country claim that their Applecare warranties were voided due to secondhand smoke. Both readers appealed their cases up to the office of God Steve Jobs himself. Both lost.  More »

—>Here's a lovely story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A unnamed 75-year-old widow says AT&T called her to offer their new U-Verse service with bundled TV, Internet and phone. She signed up, only to receive a phone call letting her know that the TV service wasn't available in her area yet, but would she like to sign up with DirecTV instead? She agreed, but DirecTV started doublebilling her as soon as her service started. After a few months of the runaround from DirecTV she called to cancel.  More »

—>Sounds like that Verizon guy is too busy making commercials to show up and install your DSL. Reader John-Paul just wants Verizon to keep their appointments... is that so much to ask?  More »

—>John ordered a washer and a dryer from Best Buy. First, he says Best Buy showed up early for the delivery, so naturally, John wasn't home. Then they assembled the pedestals for the washer and dryer on some gravel in front of his house, damaging them. After that, they left the appliances with his neighbor.   More »

—>For more than a year, says the Baltimore Sun, there were Comcast cables laying in the gutters, and across the driveways of a neighborhood in Hanover, MD. Why were they laying there? Because that's where Comcast installed them.  More »

—>Reader Bill was getting the run around from Verizon— but he wasn't even a customer yet! His dramatic ordeal started on October 9th, and by the 16th he'd taken a full day off of work, called Verizon nine times and still he was without FiOS.  More »

—>Amy, a student at UC Davis, has just learned one of the lessons that one inevitably learns at college. Cable companies are simply not very good at what they do. Take, for example, the "finished" installation of some cable outlets in her apartment.  More »

—>Reader Belinda's iPod and a few accessories were smashed by some delivery guys contracted by IKEA. When she tried to file a claim for the $500 worth of damage they did, she got the runaround until she eventually gave up and wrote to us.  More »

—>Reader Jeff writes in to let us know that Comcast Frank and the Twitter team swooped in and rescued him from Comcast tech hell.   More »

—>Reader Kyle, like so many of us, would rather Comcast not dig up his property without asking, especially when they are a) running cable for his neighbor b) mysteriously avoiding an area near the curb where they could have run the cable without disturbing his yard. To add insult to (landscaping) injury, when he asked the Comcast workers to stop digging they refused, and when he called Comcast to ask them to tell the workers to stop, they also refused, then hung up on him.  More »

—>The Washington Post is the latest paper to attempt the problem of just why and how Comcast is able to suck as hard and as consistently as they do. They run through the usual suspects (too much emphasis on growth, Brian "Comcatastophe" Roberts makes $20 million a year, too much competition, not enough competition, people watch videos, it's Wednesday, I love lamp, etc.). Whatever the reason for Comcast's suckage, its not accidental, and we're thoroughly bored with the excuses, but we did enjoy the article for its obligatory "bad customer experience" anecdote — in which Comcast characterizes itself as going "above and beyond" for the consumer.  More »

—>Reader Scott really wanted to give Lowe's some money to install a new door in his house, but, sadly they were just too incompetent to actually do it. After a month and a half of incorrect orders, botched installations, and having to cancel his credit card because an employee from Lowe's called him up to ask for his mother's maiden name, Scott finally got a refund and vowed never to do business with Lowe's again.   More »

—>Reader Brandon took his recently purchased 1996 BMW M3 to a car stereo installation company to have a stereo, speaker set, and GPS system installed. When he got his car back, he noticed that the climate control system was no longer functioning the way it used to. Hot air was leaking from his air ducts when he selected cold air. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get the car stereo installation shop to repair the damage they caused, Brandon took the car to some BMW experts and found out that the botched installation had caused over $10,000 in damage to his car. Brandon then tried to get the car stereo shop's insurance company to pay for the repairs, but they denied his claim on the basis that procedures used for the installation were typical. Brandon says he then took the car stereo shop to small claims court. but the judge ruled against him because the car stereo shop employees claimed that he entered into a oral contract to release them from liability in exchange for a partial refund. Brandon claims he never entered into such a contract. Read his story inside.  More »

—>Reader Shannon has been without a working phone in her home office for the past 16 days thanks to Comcast. This has her in a bad mood, but she's also a little ticked off because they sent over a bunch of guys who didn't understand her when she told them not to dig up her patio.   More »

—>Tiffany Byrd hired Circuit City's Firedog to install her 40-inch Samsung TV over her (fake) fireplace. When she told the Firedog rep that she wanted the TV above a "fireplace," Firedog told her it would cost an extra $169 because fireplaces were often made of brick and other substances that make it difficult to attach TVs. Tiffany told them that her fireplace was fake and the wall above it was normal drywall. Firedog said that if the tech got to her house and found that the fireplace was indeed fake, her extra $169 would be refunded. The tech installed the TV with no problems and noted on her receipt "Basic wall installation. Waive Charge." Now Circuit City is refusing to refund the money and not even a call from her local TV news station could compel Circuit City to change its mind.  More »

—>If you can't free up any time from 9-5 on a weekday to have your Verizon DSL installed, the company will still bill you for the "service" you're not receiving says reader Joshua. If you'd like them to stop doing this, they'll charge you a $79 disconnect fee.   More »

—> Reader David writes in to contrast the Sears Ultimate Appliance Promise ("a promise only Sears can make") with reality. He notes that although there's a cute graphic on the "promise" that implies that Sears will deliver every day of the week... he had a hard time getting Sears to deliver no matter what day of the week it was:  More »

—>Reader Jennifer wanted a new stove so she could cook delicious vittles for noshing during the SuperBowl. Sadly, she bought her stove from Best Buy, so instead of having a new stove for her party, she had a new stove delivered during the SuperBowl while she had a house full of guests. She launched an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on them and CC'd us so we could listen in.   More »

—> In April of 2006, Deborah replaced her daughter's DirecTV receiver. When the technician was installing the line to her daughter's bedroom, he accidentally shoved his foot through the Deborah's ceiling.  More »

—>David and Jenn were sick of Comcast's unreliable service and decided to switch to Verizon FiOS. It only took 5 appointments and nearly two months.  More »

—>It has now been 72 hours since Verizon took control of reader Matt's phone, according to his new website www.verizon-fios-sucks.com. He originally tried to order FiOS way back in November, but when no one called to schedule an installation, he was told that his order didn't exist and would need to reorder.   More »

—>On Sept. 1 2006, I purchased a Kenmore HE2 Washer and Dryer from a Sears store located in Richmond, VA. These were full-sized units with the dryer stacked on top, and it was installed inside a utility closet in my kitchen by Sears technicians. I paid an additional $233 for a 5-year warranty for the washing machine.

As I will document below, Sears failed to live up to its warranty on multiple occasions, and because of this negligence my home has experienced considerable water damage.  More »

—>One day after work I pull into my apartment complex and notice that there are quite a few Verizon trucks and vans parked outside of our apartment office accompanied with "SIGN UP FOR FiOS TODAY" signs plastered just about everywhere you can see. At first I shrugged this off because I am not, and have never been, a fan of Verizon. Then my girlfriend gets home and suggests we at least check it out. So we go over to the little reception they are having and talked to a nice girl about the speeds of their FiOS internet (which is what I was interested in) and the HD TV (what my girlfriend was interested in).   More »

—>Bob Garfield usually writes a blog about advertising and marketing for Advertising Age. Yesterday's post was a change of pace for Bob. It's called: "Comcast Must Die."  More »

—>Rebecca was sick of her old wall-to-wall carpet and hired Lowe's to remove the old stuff and install some new laminate flooring and some new carpet as well.   More »

—>Here are the facts of the case as we know them:  More »

—>We're feeling philosophical this morning after being confronted with two very different accounts of what went on at a small house on Pine Grove Street in Needham, Mass. Was there a fire? Was there not a fire? What is the definition of fire, anyway?  More »

—>What's worse than Verizon not showing up for you appointment? Verizon techs showing up for you appointment, only to set fire to your home.  More »

—>Christy is having the best time getting DirecTV installed in her home. Highlights of her hilariously tragic email include:  More »