Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with customer

A wordpress site where customers can log in to their account.

brenton — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:13:01 -0800

A wordpress plugin to make a "customer login" section. Ok, I know it's weird to ask this on mefi, but after failing elsewhere on the net, I thought I'd give it a try.

My wordpress site sells one and only one product, which is renewed weekly (aka a subscription).

I want the customer to fill out some data that I want, then they're taken to paypal to pay (and they have to fill out some new data [like credit card info] which I don't care about seeing, though some of it is redundant [name] so it'd be nice if that was pre-polulated in the paypal page). (By the way, this is a small operation so I can't afford to "upgrade" paypal beyond "website payments standard.")

Then later, customers can come back, log into their "my account" section, and make changes: like updates to their name or address, or canceling their subscription.

Also, I want access to all the data about all my customers.

There has to be a wordpress plugin that does something like this. I've tried a few e-commerce plugins, but they all failed in one way or another... what advice does metafilter have for me?

How do I deal with Dell Inc. customer service hell?

Twinedog — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:41:02 -0800

How can I get any service from Dell Inc. Help they seem to have lost my order and won't give me any answers etc. I know Dell's customer service is so bad its legendary but is there any way to bypass the phone menu which doesn't seem to understand me?

They seem to have lost my order. it says it was shipped on 6/26/09 3-5 day Fed Ex but it has not arrived. I keep getting the run around and am spending hours on the phone just trying to find out what happened and if not have them replace the order. This is ridiculous.

I keep getting hung up on by surly indian customer service reps who seem to lie to me ( claim they have no employee id no etc.) and then tell me conflicting things.

Any advice would be appreciated.

As if you had to guess I will never ever buy a Dell again.

Need more tips, please

amicamentis — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:21:56 -0800

What is the appropriate response to a customer who left me a note at work? I work in a movie theater concession stand, and we have a tip jar. A few days ago, one of our regular customers told me to "keep the change", around $17.00 (an enormous tip, compared to the quarters I usually see). He is in his fifties and the caregiver of a rich man who sees movies often. I am twenty-three and not interested in any kind of a relationship.

He lingered around the stand for awhile and showed me and my coworker pictures of his beach house, tennis courts in California, et cetera. We smiled and looked at them and made polite conversation. After awhile he went back into the theater.

I came into work this morning, and my manager told me that this customer had been back and left me a note. Inside was a business card that said that it was nice to have met me and that I should send him an email.

Now what? My instinct was to ignore it, but this gentleman is at the cinema all of the time and I'm afraid it will be awkward the next time I see him and I have to acknowledge that I received the note. Would a polite, non-personal "great pictures, thanks for coming to our theater!" email be appropriate? If so, how would one word such a thing? If not, what should I say the next time he approaches the concession stand?

I'm irritated that this is a problem for me, and would appreciate suggestions as to the most socially frictionless course of action.

Gave cell phone to fire victim

Muirwylde — Sun, 24 May 2009 11:26:09 -0800

I gave my cell phone to a badly burned fire victim and she took it with her to the hospital in the ambulance. It was covered in blood. I dont want it back. I have no phone insurance. I'm with Sprint. Any provision for a replacement if the phone is lost in in a life saving circumstance? WARNING: graphic details inside. A woman crashed her truck into a house, hit the propane tank and it exploded in a huge fireball. I found the lady. This happened second house down from us. She had somehow got out of the burning truck. The truck, propane tank and house EXPLODED in a huge, I mean huge fireball. I mean massive it was like one of those movie scenes.She was toasted. Her skin was hanging off her in huge sheets nearly all of her skin was burnt off and her dress was all burnt away. 39, pretty. She kept asking me,"... is my face burnt, is my face burnt?" When I found her she was trapped between the fire and a 10 foot rock wall. She climbed up the fucking wall to me. I dont know how she did that. Her hands were all burnt and bloody. We called 911 and her dad. Some other people stopped to try and help: it was a war zone. Then we almost got hit by falling power lines that were on fire! She has my phone. I'm not sure if she is going to live. I dont want my phone back. I'm going to try to get a new one today.

Any approach or provisions on getting a replacement phone from Sprint at zero or low cost in this sort of circumstance?

Apple Sours

numberstation — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:29:13 -0800

Apple Genius Bar not so Genius - I bought my macbook back in 2004 and recently took it into the London Apple store for help with a software problem. This has happened once before and the helper did the usual checks, then said an archive & install would solve the problem and he did it for me there and then and it resolved the problem. This time, similar problem but the helper refused to do an archive & install - asked me if I had the original disc and I said I think I do thought not sure where it is. He said they are under time restraints, whittled off some bullshit answer about what he was doing even though I told him I understood tech so didn't need my hand held, and then ignored me to flirt with a female customer. Whilst this was happening the helper next to this one performed an archive & install from an external hd for the customer next to me. He said there was no one else waiting in the que and her problem was resolved there and then. My helper ignored me until someone else stepped in and offered to print out the instructions on how to undertake an A&I. Being English I didn't want to kick up a fuss though but as I am now struggling to find the original disc (i did buy this 5 years ago!) want to know if it is reasonable to ask them to perform an A&I for me? There doesn't seem to be a set rule but the first time I went the helper, well, helped and this time my helper didn't but the one next to mine did help (someone else that is).

What are my options if I can't find the disc?
Is it unreasonable to ask apple to sort this or send me a new disc or perform it in store?
Is it worth complaining about the helper who ignored me to flirt with a customer and then walked off?
Finally, if you say they should do it for me and I go back what if it is the same guy from last time who refused to help?

Why don't bar managers interact with customers?

RobinFiveWords — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:34:06 -0800

Why do I never see bar managers/owners meet-and-greeting the customers? I live in Chicago and frequent north-side sports bars and reasonably-priced lounges. I know that many of these bars serve hundreds or perhaps thousands of customers in a single night, and no one is going to glad-hand the customers in a jam-packed bar. In some places and on some days, though, there will be just a handful of customers. And when a party starts running up a tab of several hundred dollars, it seems odd that a representative of the venue wouldn't stop by just to show appreciation for the business.

This article lists dozens of responsibilities of a bar manager, and interacting with customers is barely mentioned. In many restaurants, the manager or owner makes a point of visiting every table. Restaurants look to build relationships. Why don't bars take the same approach?

Looking for a great customer management/scheduling solution for a growing IT company

titans13 — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:30:27 -0800

My company is looking for a comprehensive package to manage our IT company, which has grown 1000% over the past 4.5 years. I believe we have outgrown our existing solution. It has to be scalable, user friendly, integrate with Quickbooks, ideally would integrate with Kaseya, and generally be a very full solution. Honestly, Autotask is the best thing we have found, but it is not an option as we cannot host it ourself. Outsourcing all client data to another company means we are beholden to that company for life and that is not an option. We tested Commit but the web interface just wasn't robust. The program itself was very functional, but the interface would lead one to believe that it was intended for smaller shops so we are going to stay away from it. All suggestions and critiques are welcome.

Has a company ever sent you balloons on your birthday?

entropic — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:39:02 -0800

What are some companies that make it fun to be a customer? To clarify: I'm not just looking for examples of companies with great customer service. Something beyond that - going out of their way to make being a customer a really enjoyable experience, well beyond what is expected.

How can I convince the Apple Store to exchange my iPhone for a new one because of a defect?

JuniorBCat — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:47:35 -0800

Brand new iPhone (1 week old ) has a dead pixel! Apple Store says this is within "spec," and therefore doesn't warrant an exchange. I call BS on that. Suggestions to help me persuade them to take the thing back and give me a new one? This isn't what I paid $199 for. It's within the 30-day exchange period and I have Apple Care, in case that's relevant.

I don't need a support system... or maybe I do. Is there a support ticket system for Brick & Mortars?

aristan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:58:51 -0800

I am looking for a client management/help desk/support ticket... thing. Customers come into our stores with items to be repaired and I'd like to be able to allow stores to create ticket for each repair. I'd like for the system to retain information about the customer and the items they bring in... and be able to make notes to the account. What exactly am I looking for? We do luggage & leather goods repairs.

I guess I'm looking for something similar to osTicket, but I'm not sure if it will fit our needs. We'd prefer a flexible, open source, free system. But we're open...

We'd like to be able to:

- Manage client information by keeping their information on file without duplication. Right now, this is all sitting in a database... but if Bob Smith has brought in his suitcase 4 times for repair... all of Bob Smith's information is in that database 4 times. And there's no way to update the status of any of this information. There's really only 'Open/being repaired' or 'Closed/repaired'.

- Manage different items related to the customer. Bob Smith may have 4 bags. We'd like to have notes on Bob Smith and each of his 4 bags without major duplication.

- Update the status of each ticket as it goes thru the system, so that all calls are handled at the location without having to call a certain department and getting an update. Right now, if a customer calls a store to find out what's going on, the store has to hang up, call the repair department, then call the customer back with the information.

- Create accounts and make notes to the account. Some customers try to snow the salespeople, swearing they were never told about shipping, repair costs, extra. We'd like to be able to note things of this nature and have it available to store employees.

- Accessible via the internet by employees in several locations.

Will something like osTicket work for us? Is there another help desk type product that will work for us? Am I looking in the wrong direction entirely?

As a retail customer, why is it rare to receive a thank you after completing a transaction?

jorlando — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:52:43 -0800

As a retail customer, why is it rare to receive a thank you after completing a transaction? When I worked in retail a long time ago, we were trained to thank the customer after a sale.

It seemed like a simple thanks after a sale was standard part of customer service.

In recent years though, its rare to get a thank you. If anything its "have a good day" and often its indifference or outright rudeness.

Is it just me or do others see this too?

Business failure because of poor customer service?

mjger — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:09:50 -0800

Documented business failure because of shoddy customer service? I am looking for documented cases where a business failed because of their poor customer service. The bigger the company the better. I have searched Google without much luck. Any help is greatly appreciated.

My Samsung DLP has required multiple repairs since July

neilkod — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:48:05 -0800

My out-of-warranty Samsung DLP has been plagued with issues for the last 6 weeks. Routine issues, or do I have recourse? Samsung HLR4667WAX/XAA DLP. First week of July, my DLP's bulb died after 6500 hours. Fine. I can handle a bulb-I knew this was inevitable as soon as I bought the set (about 2004). After $129 and a 10-minute DIY, I was up and running.

Two weeks later, the color wheel went out. Cha-ching - Another $125 dollars and a slightly more complicated repair. After I installed the color wheel, I ran into issues where the set's colors would go all wonky and then it would shut itself off after about 5 minutes, with the lamp warning flashing. I went into the service screen and reset the bulb life counter-that seemed to fix the problem. TV worked fine for about another week to ten days.

Then, for whatever reason, the TV wouldn't turn on AGAIN. That, or it took far too long. Then not at all. For a few days, the TV would power on as long as turned the TV on before the Xbox. If the Xbox was already on, the TV wouldn't turn on. Now, the TV is back to not turning on at all. I get a blinking lamp indicator.

Discount-merchant, who I bought the lamp from, wants me to send the lamp back so they can test it and determine if its OK. According to their website, the bulbs have some ungodly failure rate, like 3 out of every 10,000 are DOA.

A call to 1-800-Samsung was no help, they wanted no part of me because it's out of warranty.

I've performed many other checks on the TV-I've ensured that all of the connections are tight, that the inside is clean, and that the lamp-cover-switch is in its proper position. There are no unusual noises coming from the set-I can hear the whirr of the fans and the color wheel.

Audio seems to work OK - I'm just not getting any picture.

I understand routine maintenance-but this many issues within a short timeframe seems unacceptable. Executive Customer Service is closed on the weekend - I'll try Monday, but can I expect them to lend a sympathetic ear?

How Can I Help You?

netbros — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:19:35 -0800

How can I be a better retail employee who is helpful, but does not annoy you? As back-to-school season approaches during these uncertain economic times, useful customer service becomes more important than ever. I want to be the type of retail employee you like to encounter. What are the things retail employees do that most turn you off, and what do you most appreciate?

We did not make the bed, but we must lay in it.

oflinkey — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:02:40 -0800

Our mattress was damaged in a (self) move and we have reason to believe that it is a manufacturing issue. We have to deal with the furniture store first. We do not anticipate this being an easy situation. Advice needed, please. We are just looking for some general advice for getting a fair shake in this situation.

Less than a year ago, we purchased a foam-core pillow-top mattress from a chain furniture store. This was one of the few stores that would deliver to our previous rural address. At the time, the salesman had promised a free frame with delivery, it did not come, he then wanted us to pay for it, we had to complain, etc. etc. Eventually we got it for free but had to drive an hour to get it. So, I am sure the store has record of this.

We moved ourselves a week ago. When we laid the mattress down, it appeared that a layer of material (or foam or interfacing or whatever) below the pillow-top had bunched in the center of the mattress. The outside is spotless. We were careful in the move and did not bend/abuse the mattress.

We are in the process of contacting the store to have a repair person come out to look at this. We are about 1.5 hours from the store we bought it from, although the store has another location about 30 minutes from us. We had an appointment set up, but the store canceled it. Now, we can't seem to get a live person on the phone.

As delicate as a foam core can be, I don't think we should not be expected to move it. Ideally, we would like a replacement. This store is not known for its stellar customer service. We are looking for any and all advice on getting what we think is fair. I just want to be prepared. Especially useful woud be "insider" info on how things work-- for instance, does the manufacturer give credit to the retailer (thus the retailer is not really out any money for a defective product).

We are in Western New York, if that matters.

Help with Yahoo Small Business

seeminglee — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:37:24 -0800

Need help with Yahoo Small Business / Premium Services support: is there a way to update payment information at once? Tried their UI but to no avail. Also seek email to customer service--phone call got dropped after hours on hold. Last year I registered 200+ domain names with Yahoo. It was cheap and efficient, and all is well... until last week.

I had changed my American Express card number and as a result, when the domain names are up for renewal this year, the system alerted me on outdated information. I tried to update my payment information, and to my surprise there is no way to update all the payment methods at once. Domains' payment information can be updated one at a time only, which is a fundamental UI flaw.

To make matters worse, when I clicked on the link to update my information, the site would consistently return a blank page that leads to no where, and I am unable to update anything. I tried refreshing the page but again nothing happens.

In my frustration, I tried contacting support on the phone, and had been on hold for two hours without any assistance, and the call will then be terminated by the system. There are no email support available, and all the meanwhile I am receiving account suspension notices and my domains are failing one by one, a truly frustrating experience.

Here's when the nightmare begin: when I signed up for the service, the domains were 9.95/year. I just received emails telling me that starting on 2008-07-01, the renewals will cost me 34.95/year. If I were unable to cancel my accounts by that date, I will be paying upwards of close to $10,000 for domain names.

Do you have any suggestions as to what I might do? Alternatively, do you know if there is an email where I can reach customer support?

Best online customer service?

tdabbott — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:51:45 -0800

I am looking for examples of websites that provide "best-in-class" customer service capabilities via the online channel. What are those e-commerce websites you think have amazing self-service options and are easy-to-use?

Marriott ruined our wedding night!

natness — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 08:32:59 -0800

Marriott ruined our wedding night! How do we get them to make it right? We got married over Labor Day weekend in North Chicago, Illinois. We did a lot of advance legwork to set up a hotel for our guests that was close to the venue and convenient. Our wedding venue recommended the Marriott Courtyard in Waukegan/Gurnee. It was more expensive then the other hotels in the area and a bit further away, but they offered something irresistible-- a free shuttle to and from the wedding venue for all of our guests staying there. Since we had been contemplating hiring vans to shuttle our guests around so no one would drive drunk, this was a no-brainer. Plus, the Marriott has a good brand name and we felt confident things would go smoothly.

I phoned the sales office and spoke to a lovely, competent sounding woman who told me that yes, the Marriott would provide shuttles to and from the wedding, and not only that, would set up a private meeting room for our "recovery brunch" the next day. She said the Marriott had a brunch buffet (with waffles!) from 9-12, and that we could have the private room from 9-1. In addition, she said our room would be free if 10 rooms were booked, and that the hotel would set us up with champagne and roses for our wedding night. Perfect. We confirmed the details, and reconfirmed several times in the weeks before the wedding. We gleefully urged our guests to stay at the Marriott.

Flash forward to the day of our wedding. I suppose I could have guessed there was a problem with the shuttle when I saw the maid of honor drop off a car full of guests, then turn around to pick up another load. I also might have guessed it at the end of the night when I was urging people to wait for shuttles that were promised to arrive at 11:00 and 11:20, and saw them still waiting at 11:30. Maybe the absence of anything in our room: champagne, flowers or a congratulatory note might have tipped me off. But I was clueless until the next morning when we went to the meeting room that had the sign with our names on it, found it locked, went to the front desk and was informed that they had the brunch and the shuttles for us on Saturday. The day before our wedding. They said these were the dates they had gotten from the sales office, and that their brunch ended at 10:00. The woman at the desk arranged for us to eat at the bar of the restaurant next door-- we scrambled to call everyone we thought might show-- and we descended on the understaffed and unsuspecting waitstaff.

On Thursday, my new husband called the Marriott sales office to let them know all the ways they screwed up. The sales office had all the dates and times correct; they passed the blame to the hotel itself. The sales office called the manager of the hotel and promised we would hear from him. My husband called him directly when we didn't. The manager apologized, asked us what he could do to make things right. We asked for free hotel stays at Marriott hotels anywhere in the US for the rest of our lives. He said he'd get back to us. When he did, he offered us a two-night stay at his Marriott-- the same one that screwed everything up that we will never set foot in again. He basically said we should have asked them to open the room and set up the brunch, that his hotel didn't stock champagne, and that the only thing he'd take responsibility for was the shuttles. We figure this is just the start of our dealings with Marriott, but we am not sure what to do next. We're pretty outraged.

I keep trying not to think about my father in the lobby waiting for a shuttle that never came, or what might have happened to friends and family who decided to drive after drinking because there was no shuttle to the hotel. These thoughts are infringing my memories of our otherwise perfect wedding, and I'm furious! The Marriott wouldn't have had us or ANY of our wedding guests stay there without the promises they made. So my question is, what next? How do we take it to the next level?

3rd TB hard drive failure in 6 weeks. Am I doing something wrong?

4Lnqvv — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:46:09 -0800

3rd TB hard drive failure in 6 weeks. Am I doing something wrong? I purchased 2 1TB exterbal one touch III drives from Seagate in February to the tune of almost $1000.

1. 6 weeks ago my main drive started giving me error messages and got a little noisy. No big deal I know these big drives are a little touchy. Called Seagate got an RMA.The turn around time was quick and I had my backup so I could live with it. Minor inconvenience.

2. Two nights ago the replacement drive gave me an error. I called the support/warranty group in India and they issued another RMA. I am now fairly annoyed with two failurs so quickly back together.

3. Last night the backup gave me an error message and sure enough Seagate says I must replace the drive and they will issue an RMA. I'm livid with anger.

They will send me a replacement fist at a cost of $20 so I can back up beforehand. It costs $10 each to send them back. 45 minutes on the phone with india at a minimum each time this happens. It's not even the money, it's the worry I will lose my data or this will happen again and again.

Usage: I have both drive hooked up through USB. I am transferring all my music losslessly and had them full about 300GB with an estimated 600GB by the time I finish. I run Itunes from the files on the drive almost daily and rip new cd's to them two or three times a week. Some music and files are irreplaceable. Sure I can have them on CDR but that is not the point of a hard drive with a backup. I back up using Synctoy's echo backup software everytime I write a large amout of data to the main drive.

Am I doing something wrong? They sit on my desk and do not get disturbed. The only problem I can see is I have no air conditioning and it's been very hot. Over 80 for the last few days in my office.

I want to talk to one of thier product managers to make sure I am caring for my drives properly. Good luck to me I know. Until I can get ahold of one does anyone here have any info, ideas or comments on my problem? What should I expect customer service wise from Seagate? I don't even know what I can expect or even want out of Seagate other than more warranty replacements. I just want to know my drives will work and my data is safe.

Again, am I doing something wrong?

Pardon my spelling and grammar.

CRM tools?

mamaquita — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 11:16:36 -0800

How can I connect support cases with end user documentation? I manage a tech support team at a small company where we develop software for use by consultants within our company. We receive requests for support by internal users of the software. We have an internally developed ticketing system that we plan on getting rid of soon. I’ve been asked by my boss to research other tools that we can use that would allow us to track tickets adequately as well as post solutions to a searchable documentation database to allow for user self help. He’s recommending Salesforce. I want to know if there other tools that will provide us an all in one solution or if this is my best bet. I’m really just starting to research this and any recommendations would be great.

my health club is a health risk. what should I do?

krautland — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:01:07 -0800

my health club is a health risk. what should I do? temperatures have dropped in chicago. we reached minus three degrees fahrenheit last night. good thing that I have a membership to an indoor health club. or not.

it's so cold in there that I could actually see my breath when I last ran there. after that, I promptly fell sick and missed a week at work. my emails to the health club manager have gone unanswered, the front desk personnel claims there is nothing they can do and the manager's voice mail didn't pick up last time I tried.

I think those gigantic panorama windows are to blame. you can practically feel the icy wind seeping through the cracks. there is no isolation on them whatsoever.

I wonder what I should do. of course I could join another club but this one is by far the closest and thus the most convenient. but it does seem that I need to go to an outside source and make a big stinker out of this in order to get them to move. so what do you recommend, hive mind? alderman, better business bureau or (gasp) an attorney (I did fall sick after all)?

Is there any acceptable way to ask retail staff for a date?

-harlequin- — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 01:13:16 -0800

AttractiveRetailWorkerFilter: If someone would like a date with someone they only see at retail/checkout, is there any acceptable way to communicate this, that doesn't impose on the worker or make their job harder/unpleasant if they're not interested? I'm thinking mainly female retailer workers here, who often get unwelcome advances, potentially even souring the day, but perhaps sometimes also see people who might not be unwelcome. (Or people who wouldn't be unwelcome if the retailer were single, but isn't).

Don't worry, this is a question of long-standing curiosity, no retail worker will be harmed in the making of this thread :)

Other times, I'm pretty sure I've been hit on as a customer, (always a tricky thing given the nature of retailer-customer relationship), so I'm also interested in discussion on the shoe being on the other foot - what kinds of ways might a retailer communicate interest to a customer (assuming the retailer risks getting fired for coming out with it directly while on the clock).

Next week: Strippers. (I kid :-)

How can I stop a cellphone company from screwing me?

Big Fat Tycoon — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:27:13 -0800

How do I get a cellphone company to cancel my account and credit back their charges? I recently moved to Vancouver from Toronto, and decided to get a cellphone in Toronto with a Vancouver area code prior to arriving here. I purchased a cellphone and plan from a reseller of cellular service, with their own plans (they had free long distance to US and Canada and Asia, which was a selling point), and targetted at Chinese-Canadian customers.

Stupidly, I signed a pre-authorized credit card plan with them, and after the fact did some googling on them, to discover this company has a major reputation for not issuing cancellations in a timely manner, screwing up billing and having terrible customer service. As well, my phone's number was not the one that they said they assigned to me (I discovered this when I dialed the number from the phone and got a woman answering the phone, instead of a busy signal) and they charged me for call display/voice mail when I was told it was free for the first three months.

Based on that, I returned within 24 hours to the store, and asked to cancel the contract and return the phone. The same salesguy who sold me it agreed to refund the amount and cancel the contract, and gave me an invoice with all the amounts made negative, like a reverse of the original invoice, but nothing that explicitly speaks about cancellation. I returned the phone as well. I asked why they couldn't process the refund right away, and he said he didn't have the power to, but I could go to their "head office" at a service centre, and speak to someone there to expedite it.

I did that the next day, and managed to speak to a woman who has been variously referred to as a manager of customer service, manager of marketing, i.e. someone that is purportedly high up. She said the refund could not be processed immediately, that she would have it done in 2 weeks, and that I could contact her in 2 weeks time if I didn't see a refund.

Two weeks have passed, and more, and no refund appeared. In addition to that, I've been billed for service up to the end of October, for a service I've never used except for the 5-10 minutes I tested the phone. When I inquired about that, they said that apparently the cancellation notice was never received by the billing department. I can't seem to find anyone now that will put me in touch with the manager woman I spoke to -- they either claim that they don't know how to contact her or that I can leave a message and she'll get back to me (she hasn't). So I'm at the mercy of low-level customer service agents and managers who are always mysteriously not in the office.

I've called my credit card company, and I've also had problems with them, in that I've gotten different stories about what I can and can't do about this problem. Several times I've been told I can start a dispute process and that they would send me some forms pertaining to authorizing an investigation, but today I spoke to someone there who said I'd need a cancellation notice on company letterhead for the card company to act. How, if I accepted the "refund invoice" I was issued by the cell phone company in good faith, can they require anything more? Doesn't the card company have some kind of consumer protection function in this case? What alternatives do I have?

How to start a good "hate" site and not get sued.

b_thinky — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 17:21:16 -0800

I want to start a "hate" site dedicated to my crappy dealings with a major corporation. What do I need to be wary of? I've had it! _______ (insert company name here) is ripping me off and providing me NO service even though I've spent $25,000 YTD with them. Their service is a joke. The account rep is a moron. I firmly believe they are trained to pass the buck so you'll give up and go away.

I want to start a "hate" site about my experiences (i.e. ______sucks.com, or equivelant). I am sure the company would be eager to sue me (a Google search shows that they don't mind filing frivilous suits). What kinds of things would be considered out of bounds if I want to create the site and want to stay on firm legal ground?

Amongst the things I'd consider posting: transcripts of conversations, recorded phone calls, images of my bills, the names of people I'm dealing with at the company, etc.

I'm doing this with the purest of intentions - simply as an outlet for my immense frustration. But is there any chance they would pay me to shut up or take it down?

Behind the Scenes at the Supermarket

kmel — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 08:08:32 -0800

Questions for grocery clerks (or people who stand in line at the grocery thinking about people and their purchases). Seeking anecdotes related to grocery clerking: stereotypes ( _____s tend to buy ____ ), or just unusual or funny purchases and the backstories you make up about people based on them. Also, what do customers do to make your job hell? Conversely, what do they do to make it wonderful?

This is to help me develop a half-baked web project idea ...