Blumenthal, also known as the badass who sued Best Buy over their deceptive secret website, said this about our 2008 "Worst Company in America":

"Countrywide was at their side — as an insolvency enabler. Countrywide inflated homeowner incomes to qualify them for loans they couldn't pay back and misled consumers about loan terms.

"Countrywide stacked the deck and the deal against its customers: Our goal is to un-stack the deck — and undo the deals — restoring fairness and fiscal sense to mortgages. I will fight for restitution — money back to homeowners used and abused by Countrywide — as well as fines and forfeitures to the state. Our lawsuit seeks to invalidate loans that violate state law, allowing consumers to shed illegal, unreasonable fees and conditions that leave them at the precipice of foreclosure. We must vigorously fight predatory lending practices that trap consumers on a debt treadmill," Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal has released a list of ways in which Countrywide allegedly violated Connecticut lending laws. Here it is in all its shady glory:

Blumenthal alleges Countrywide violated state consumer protection and banking laws by:

• Encouraging consumers to take out loans the company knew or should have known they could not afford;
• Improperly inflating consumers' incomes to qualify them for loans they otherwise could not have received;
• Providing loans with different and more expensive terms than consumers were promised;
• Pressuring consumers into mortgages with temporary interest only payment options when the company knew or should have known they could not afford the higher payments that would come due later;
• Providing variable rate loans to consumers with the assurance they could refinance before interest rates reset, only to later refuse to do so;
• Sending at least one consumer rejected for a home equity loan at one Countrywide office to another company branch where the loan request was approved;
• Demanding Connecticut consumers facing foreclosure pay excessive and inaccurate legal fees in order to reinstate their loans;
• Promising to help homeowners "in financial difficulty to establish suitable payment plans," but instead demanding loan modifications and repayment plans that were unsustainable, unaffordable or unsuitable.

If you're interested, you can read the entire complaint here (PDF). Bank of America told the Wall Street Journal that they couldn't comment on pending litigation, which is just as well because we had a "taking it seriously" post yesterday and we wouldn't want to bore you or anything.

State Sues Countrywide For Allegedly Deceptive Loans And Loan Renegotiations, Unjustified Legal Fees [State of Connecticut]

Brian Lam over at Gizmodo says that most AT&T stores only had a few dozen of the new phone for sale today, and that you're better off going to an Apple store, as "they always have more." According to commenter camman68, the noon news in Wichita, KS has reported that all the AT&T stores in the area are completely sold out. Fear not, Witchititians, they seem to have some left on eBay. They'll just cost you over $800.

On January 1st, a friend of mine went to visit another friend in CT (I am from NJ), and unfortunately hit black ice, and proceeded into a guardrail. The accident, although at the time did not seem too terrible (even though the front end looked completely shot), and I figured I would be up and driving relatively soon. Little did I know this would not be true at all...

The initial call to Geico was great. Melissa, the operator who received my call was gracious, sweet, and understanding. Upon telling her the story of the accident, she said she would wave the "first 50 miles" clause, and allow me to get my car towed to my shop of choice, All Phase Automotive in Nyack, NY. So, after I thought I would have the car towed the next day, I rented a car (on my own dime, damned lack of rental coverage), and drove back.

For the next two days, Geico refused to find a tow operator to get my car towed to my shop of choice, and said they would only pay to have it towed some where in CT (despite my willingness to pay for the extra miles), and ended up referring me to Durable Radiator and Auto-body in Waterbury, CT.

Now with the car still in front of my friend's house, it took Durable a further two days to pick the car up, and a full three weeks to allow for a Geico adjuster to even get an estimate, which initially came to $6200. Every call placed to either Geico, or Durable yielded no result save for blaming of the other party. It was either a computer problem on Durable's end with concern to submitting the claim, or Geico not receiving the correct info. Either way, my spidey senses were tingling on this one.

With the estimate finally completed it was merely a waiting game. On Feb 13th, I placed a call to Durable to find out when the car would be ready, and was told it was in painting (the same answer I would then get for the next two weeks of calls). Finally, on March 5th, a day shy of the three month mark, I was told my car was ready and could pick it up. So, come that Friday, I schlepped from my home to the shop, picked up my car, and being happy to have my car back, did not give it the thorough examination I should have, at the time trusting an authorized Geico shop. This is where the fun truly begins.

The following day was the first instance of night driving that occurred after I picked up the car. What happened you ask? No odometer and speedometer lights. Now, I'm starting to panic. I'm asking myself what else could be wrong? So, the following Monday, as soon as they open, I bring the car to the shop I wanted to from the very beginning. Mike, ever the great shop owner puts my car on priority, and proceeds to check it as I head back to work. Not an hour later, he finds GLARING repair issues ranging from aftermarket parts that were not installed properly, to shoddy painting, parts that were billed but never replaced, and the best part, a bent frame. Not being one to stand around and watch a friend and customer be taken advantage of, Mike begins the process of getting a claims adjuster back down to his shop to look things over. Upon doing so the next day (now the 11th) Bryan, the new adjuster totals the car. Upon explanation of my bill, he tells me that although the initial amount was $6200, Durable charged an extra $3000!!! for supplement work they did not even do properly.

So, at this point, although I am livid, I feel a bit of justification seeing as the right thing was being done. The next day, I get a call telling me they cannot total the car. My heart sinks. How could Geico total the car one day, and UNTOTAL it the next? This sort of thing would have been inconceivable to me before this moment. Fortunately, the following day they re-totaled the car, and I was told I should get a check within five business days. Sounds all well and good right?

Well, after three separate phone calls to the total loss representative assigned to my case, I have not yet received word back, and I am still left carless, and with no idea when I am to receive my check. Not only was my car not repaired properly, but because Geico steered me to one of their shops illegally, I've been without a car for close to four months, and thus far have no recourse. I just felt that although their commercials appear to allow them to perform small to large miracles, this time around, they failed me as a customer, and as such, the loyal readers of The Consumerist should know to beware.

LVX,
Jonathan Goffan

lsimpson@geico.com, gkalinsky@geico.com, onicely@geico.com, jstewart@geico.com, jreed@geico.com, twells@geico.com, broberts@geic.com, bmiller@geico.com, BoJordan@GEICO.COm, cgarden@geico.com, sabrams@geico.com, dstinson@geico.com, ptate@geico.com, tward@geico.com, contactmarketing@geico.com, ctasher@geico.com, cfernandez@geico.com, jminshall@geico.com

You could also try mailing a complaint letter to Warren Buffet's office (he owns Berkshire Hathaway, which owns GEICO). Poop runs downhill, as they say.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.
1440 Kiewit Plaza
Omaha, NE 68131

And GEICO, if you're reading this, give this man his money!

(Photo: simondhweller)

For four months, James Hastings searched through trash bins outside People's United Bank branches in Fairfield County. He pulled out bags of paperwork with private information, including customers' Social Security numbers and account information.

The bank last month won a restraining order against Hastings, 56, requiring him to not discuss the matter or distribute paperwork. He has since been interviewed by the Connecticut Post.

People's Bank said Hastings is trying to extort money and claims he asked to be hired as a "fraud consultant." Bank officials also are demanding that the information be returned.

Brent DiGiorgio, a spokesman for People's Bank, said its primary concern is protecting the customers' information that Hastings has taken. The bank promises to provide a year of free credit monitoring to customers whose information was taken and has contacted affected customers, he said.

Just wanted to let some of the folks living in or traveling in Southeast CT to avoid any of the Sunoco Stations that are owned by "Chucky's".

My wife and I stopped at the Sunoco that is located on Route 1 in Stonington the other night, because they had their lighted sign showing a price of $3.35 a gallon for premium fuel. It was night time and we did not notice until we were halfway thru pumping that the digital readout on the pump read $3.47 a gallon, which is obviously $.12 cents a gallon different.

When we went to complain to the person in the Kiosk, we encountered a very belligerent clerk who basically tried to tell us he knew nothing about the price that was on the huge, lighted sign. Just another example of someone price gouging, but with definitive, and pre-calculated actions to insure he can rip off the most number of people possible. We will never purchase anything from any of the gas stations owned by the "Chucky's" group again!!! Thanks Dave

Governor Rell's Gasoline Price Hotline: 1-800-842-2649.

If you suspect shenanigans are going on, don't just write to us! Tell the people who can really do something about it.

Energy Information [DCP]
(Photo:Ryan McFarland)

- Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal in a 200160 Minutes interview, and used as preface for Gotcha Capitalism. Blumenthal has sued AT&T and Qwest for slamming. In AT&T's case, they sent bills to people who weren't their customers and in Qwest's, they stole competitors customers by forging the customer's signatures and switching them without their consent.

I quickly informed the cashier of the price mishap and he said, "No this is the right price" (how would he know what the RIGHT price is?). I asked him to have it checked. He quickly walked away from his post to find someone to go check on it. At that moment I had my brother go over and snap a quick picture of the items stocked on the shelf with the incorrect tag. The cashier came back within about 2 minutes and said we would have to wait. I was ok with this. About 5 minutes later, a "Computer Specialist," as his nametag read, came over and asked if I needed some help. I explained the situation and he invited me to come over and check out the products on the shelf and re-verify the price. All of the digital picture frames had been restacked and reorganized with new tags on the shelves and whatnot (Mind you this was about 10 minutes overall). Since all I had was a picture (blurry at best from the iPhone) I couldn't really do much- he either invited me to take a 30$ discount off of the 179.99 price or to please vacate the store. I was infuriated.

I will not be shopping at Best Buy ever again.

- Chris

In his original email, Chris asked for some Best Buy executive email addresses so he could send his complaint off to a senior somebody. We told him that the email address format for Best Buy is firstname.lastname@bestbuy.com and that he should combine that with a list of top company executives and go to town. CC the Connecticut Department of Weights and Measures as well.

Here is the full-size version of the picture:

From kevinq2000's livejournal:

I had read that this happens (Consumerist.com has been following this for a while) but I had never had it happen to me. I had gift certificates, and my eye had recently been drawn to a certain single-serve coffee maker, so I decided to buy one.

I looked up the price online, and sure enough, it was on sale. (About $7.50 cheaper. Not a fortune, but about the cost of extra coffee, so why not.) Knowing that Best Buy pulls these shenanigans, I printed off the page from their website showing the price:

See: $142.49.

I went to Best Buy, looked around for the coffee maker, and couldn't find it. So, I looked it up in their kiosk. Lo and behold:
Back up to the $149.99.

Those sons-of-bitches. So, prepared for battle, I eventually found the one I wanted, stacked near a wall, grabbed one, grabbed the accessories I wanted, and headed to the register.

Sure enough, guy rings me up, the coffee maker comes up at the higher price. I say, "That's on your website at a lower price," he says, "Do you have the website?" I pulled out the printout I had made at home showing the lower price. After scanning the printout and the item's box (trying to find a loophole?), he knocks $7.50 off the price, I pay and go home, happy to have my coffee maker, but slightly upset that they tried to rip me off.

So, lesson for the day: If you are going to buy something from Best Buy, check their website for prices, and print out the item you are looking for, showing the price. Keep that with you, and when they ring out out, watch their scanning, and show them the printout if they try to rip you off, too.

It's a deceptive practice, and they said they were going to stop it, but they haven't. Protect yourself - be an informed consumer.

K

Has Richard Blumenthal, the Attorney General of Connecticut who first sued Best Buy over this deceptive practice finally met his match?


Best Buy Lies - Evidence
(Photos:kevinq2000)

PREVIOUSLY: Best Buy Still Embracing Deceptive In-Store Kiosks

According to our tipster:

Not that anyone should be surprised, but Best Buy is still at it.

My wife spent several hours at home researching digital picture frames online, and Best Buy actually had the best price on one, as well as being the only way to get it in time for Christmas. Last night we went to our local Fairfax, Virginia, Best Buy. They didn't have the frame at first, and I actually have to commend the staff, they searched for about 30 minutes because one of them thought he had seen it somewhere. They finally came up with one, the Kodak EasyShare EX1011. I took it to a different station and asked them to price check it, and it came up at $255.99, well over the $234.49 that was listed online.

We went to one of their public computer terminals and searched it and it came up at the $255.99, no surprise.

iPhone to the rescue. At first it was showing the $255 price on my iPhones browser, then I realized it was connected through WiFi, so they have it blocking the external Best Buy site and feeding the fake one. I disabled WiFi and searched again and bam, there it was, $234.99.

The electronics department said I had to go to customer service for such a thing, and they promptly took care of the price change.

Keep up the great work, Consumerist.

[Sue Busch, a Best Buy spokeswoman] said the kiosks were never intended "for price-match purposes," but admitted that "a small percentage of customers did not receive a price match when they should have due to errors in policy execution."

"Every day we get at least one person asking why he can't find a price he saw online," the salesman replied.

I said I was looking for a DVD player I'd seen online that was selling for $71.99. I said it wasn't on the kiosk site.

"Here," the salesman said, "let me show you a secret."

He switched to a different screen, typed in his employee I.D. number, and the real Bestbuy.com came up. "Try now," the salesman said.

I asked why the real website wasn't available to everyone.

He shrugged. "I wish I knew."

Maybe that's something California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown should also be wondering.

David and Sarah write (to US Airways):

September 25th, 2007

US Airways

Attention: Customer Relations

4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.

Phoenix, AZ 85034

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing to inform you of a thoroughly unpleasant experience we had with your airline.

On July 29, 2007, we were flying back to Connecticut from a vacation to the Bahamas. We flew from Nassau to Philadelphia on flight 1487, and were supposed to get a connecting flight from Philadelphia to Hartford, flight 4097.

First, our flight out of Nassau was delayed. We were told it would be delayed by only half an hour. A half hour came and went, and they still weren't calling anyone to board the plane. We didn't start boarding until 45 minutes had passed and by the time we took off, we were already an hour late.

When we arrived in Philadelphia at around 5:45 pm EST, we found out our flight to Hartford had been canceled. We then had to stand in a customer service line for 2 hours. When we finally got to an attendant, she told us we couldn't get another flight until 2 pm the next day. At this point it was 8 pm. We had expected to be arriving in Hartford at 8:15 pm EST, and had family members there waiting for us.

Your staff made no offer to put us in a hotel for the night. We decided that, rather than stay over, we would rent a car and drive home. We asked to have our ticket to Hartford refunded so we could use the money toward a rental car. The attendant said they couldn't refund our ticket, and that we'd have to call a number to get a refund, which could then take 6+ weeks, (which we still have yet to receive, 8 weeks after making the request.)

We went downstairs to get the bag we checked. Here's where the customer service was really horrible. The baggage attendant told us that, although our bag was sitting in a room in the airport, we could not collect it. We would have to wait for our bag to arrive in Hartford, and then drive to Hartford, over an hour from our home in Connecticut, and pick up our bag there.

The attendant demonstrated a poor attitude through the whole experience, and was unwilling to give us any aid in collecting our bag. The least we would expect is some common courtesy. She even said at one point, "It's not my job to get your bag — it's my job to sit at this desk."

We understand that airlines do not control the weather, but customer service is something you can control. In this experience, we found it to be sorely lacking. We would hope that this is not how you would want your company represented.

[As a side note, we found the service in Hartford to be much better. The US Airways staff were both helpful and courteous to us, after we drove all the way back to the Hartford airport the following day to retrieve the one checked bag that the Philadelphia attendant refused to give us - an extra 130 miles round trip]

We are not wealthy travelers, but two hard-working people who saved for a long time to go on this vacation. We had a choice among many airlines and chose U.S. Airways. However, we will definitely think twice about choosing U.S. Airways on our next vacation, since this last vacation, an otherwise wonderful experience prior to the journey home, ended on a sour note due to your company's horrible customer service. Being inconvenienced by a canceled flight is one thing, but being treated like dirt on top of it was really uncalled for.

We are requesting that you reimburse us for the car we had to rent for our 4 hour journey home from Philadelphia. Attached are the details of our flights, a copy of our tickets, the car rental receipt, and the receipt for gas from the trip home. We feel this is a reasonable request, as our other choice was to stay overnight in a costly hotel. We would expect that you would want to leave your customers happy rather than disgusted with your services.

Sincerely yours,

David & Sarah

Encs.

cc: Richard Blumenthal, Esq., Attorney General, State of CT

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Dept of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Dept of Transportation

The Consumerist, www.consumerist.com

(Photo:meghannmarco)

From the NYT:

Inspectors from the state's Department of Consumer Protection said they seized 430 tubes of a counterfeit Colgate toothpaste reportedly made in South Africa and 275 tubes of Chinese-made Dentakleen and the strawberry and blueberry flavors of Dentakleen Junior from stores in Hartford, West Hartford, Waterbury, Derby and North Branford. The varieties of the counterfeit Colgate brand, including maximum cavity protection, gel and triple action, are listed as tainted.

State officials said inspections would continue this week.

Last month, about 900,000 tubes of tainted toothpaste turned up in prisons and other state institutions, mostly in Georgia and North Carolina, and at some hospitals in South Carolina and Florida. The investigation in Connecticut was prompted by a call from a consumer who reported that the toothpaste was still on the shelves of some stores, despite the recall order.

For pictures of the poison toothpaste, head to the CT Department of Consumer Affairs where they have pictures as well as the names of stores that were caught still stocking the toothpaste.

700 Tubes of Toothpaste Are Seized in Connecticut [NYT]

When we say that we expect contractors to comply with the law we mean it," Commissioner Farrell said in announcing the results of the sting operation, which was conducted with cooperation from the Ridgefield, Redding, Stratford, Fairfield, and Trumbull Police Departments, Trumbull building officials, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation. "Any person who wants to perform work in Connecticut must follow the State's legal requirements associated with the job. This should not come as a surprise to anyone. We intend to pursue appropriate penalties and punishment for these contractors."

The sting operation used an empty house in Ridgefield, CT to lure unsuspecting contractors. Department of Consumer Protection agents, posing as home owners, invited contractors to bid on various projects at the house. The sting operation concentrated on contractors who had been named in consumer complaints, but also included names collected from newspapers, local building officials police departments and business cards placed with local shop keepers. The vast majority of the contractors caught in the sting were from CT, but 44 were from New York.

Why was the sting important? According to the Farrell, it's a good way to remind consumers that there is Home Improvement Guaranty Fund in CT that provides up to $15,000 to victimized consumers, but "the money is only available to homeowners who have used a registered contractor. That is why it is so important to verify your contractor's registration before signing any contract or giving them any money."

That's good advice whether you live in CT or not. —MEGHANN MARCO

160 Home Improvement Contractors Caught in Department's "Operation Spring Sting" (.doc) [CT Department of Consumer Affairs]

The secret website was first revealed by George Gombossy of the Hartford Courant (Way to go, George!). While investigating a tip from a reader, George was shown the internal website. It was identical to BestBuy.com, but showed a higher price for the item he was interested in. George was mislead by Best Buy employees to believe it was the "real" BestBuy.com. Eventually he found some Best Buy employees who admitted to the site's existence and even showed him how it worked.

Now, after initially denying the site existed, Best Buy is cooperating with the investigation. From George's column:

Company spokesman Justin Barber, who in early February denied the existence of the internal website that could be accessed only by employees, says his company is "cooperating fully" with the state attorney general's investigation.

Barber insists that the company never intended to mislead customers.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal ordered the investigation into Best Buy's practices on Feb. 9 after my column disclosed the website and showed how employees at two Connecticut stores used it to deny customers a $150 discount on a computer advertised on BestBuy.com.

Blumenthal said Wednesday that Best Buy has also confirmed to his office the existence of the intranet site, but has so far failed to give clear answers about its purpose and use.

"Their responses seem to raise as many questions as they answer," Blumenthal said in a telephone interview. "Their answers are less than crystal clear."

Best Buy Confirms It Has Secret Website [Hartford Courant]

PREVIOUSLY: Connecticut State's Attorney's Office Launches Investigation Into Best Buy's Secret Intranet Site

Best Buy's Secret "Employee's Only" In-Store Website Shows Different Prices Than Public Website

The could-have-been club boasts a surprisingly large roster, with dozens of hefty jackpots left unclaimed around the country in recent years. There was $14 million in Illinois in 2005. In 2002, $4.6 million went wanting in Massachusetts. That same year, nobody stepped up to take $51.7 million in Indiana — apparently the largest forgone prize on record.

"Mr. Jackson, who lives in Hamden and could not be reached for an interview this week, told local newspapers back then that he had been distracted by caring for his sick father, who owned the floor-cleaning business where he worked. By the time Mr. Jackson realized he had the winning numbers, it was 11:45 p.m. on a Sunday night and he figured lottery headquarters would be closed. The next day was Columbus Day, a holiday, so he thought it was impossible to contact a state official.

Millions in Lottery Prizes Go Unclaimed [NYT]

The state attorney general's office has started an investigation into whether Best Buy maintains a secret intranet site that may have been used by some salesmen to deny customers discounts that appear on the company's public Internet site.

Regardless of current legality, we think maintaining an identical website with different prices is a deceptive practice and should be investigated. The State's Attorney will also be investigating other chain stores to see if the practice is common. Are there any Consumerist readers who would like to take it upon themselves to document these practices in other stores, or at Best Buy? Photos would be helpful.—MEGHANN MARCO

State Begins Investigation Of Best Buy's Sales Practices [Hartford Courant]

PREVIOUSLY: Best Buy's Secret "Employee's Only" In-Store Website Shows Different Prices Than Public Website

Why? As Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wrote: "This site now exposes young people to a perilous cyber environment with people posting sexually explicit materials and looking for sexual relationships. In fact, children can still view pornographic images, links to X-rated web sites, 'clubs' involving adults seeking sexual encounters and webcam sex for sale offers. I ask you to adopt my proposed steps immediately even as you develop new technology offering better protection."

Right, Dick — what you're describing there is called the Internet. Although actually, we're completely on board with Blumenthal's proposal to block the website from minors. Now if only someone would start legislation to block it from adults as well.

Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software [Consumer Affairs]