Consumerist’s Guide to the New Money Sanitization Industry The New York Times recently provided details about how foreign banks send their clients’ funds to American banks for money laundering: “The list of global banks… accused…of laundering foreign transactions totaling billions of dollars has been growing—Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Barclays, ING, HSBC—and now Standard Chartered.”* Is this […]
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Jamie Dimon’s Newest Title
JP Morgan Board Reaffirms Faith In Jamie In addition being CEO, President and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon has been named God by the Board of Directors. The new title is aimed at restoring public confidence in JPMorgan Chase after its $2 billion credit derivative “bad bet” loss, which analysts now estimate […]
Comcast’s Protection Racket
Beat the Hidden-and-Delayed Fee Remember how The Mob once sold “protection”? Offered deals “too good” to refuse? Comcast has modernized the old protection racket: The Comcast Protection Plan replaces rough stuff with the hidden-and-delayed fee: If a non-protected consumer has a problem with Comcast cable TV reception, a techie visit starts with a $28 fee. […]
Bank of America’s New Sensitivity
Bailout Reminder Leads To Fee Cancellation My wife says please call Bank of America’s toll-free number to reorder her checks. System starts with “English or Spanish” query. Next I get by a 12-digit code with no hyphens between numerals. But her Social Security number undoes me, even though I get 8 of the 9 numerals […]
Comcast Asks Me To Risk My Life
COMCAST Better At Detecting Than Correcting To fix its latest pixilation problem, COMCAST wants me to climb a two-storey ladder, find a way up a steep slate roof and check the third floor COMCAST cable connection. Last week two COMCAST technicians were needed to install the connection. (One held the ladder steady.) On Friday this […]
Outstanding Techno-Scammer Award (Part 1)
Mutual Benefits Ties For First Place Techno-scammers* seek privacy and avoid publicity. Why would they want attention to the good thing they have going? They like the scant law enforcement by federal and state consumer abuse regulators. They have perfected the art of offering “near-scams.” They are a growth industry. So many scams to choose […]
Outstanding Customer Disservice Award
¤ CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT RULES¤ Before entry, you must: Prove you tried to use our website first. Speak softly and carry no sticks. Make no threats. Abandon all hope. After exit, you will cooperate: […]
Need Better Service from CVS/Caremark?
Guess who decides whether you get your prescriptions… Why did my 2 prescription refills not arrive? The CVS/Caremark system’s Auto-Voice promised the RXs would arrive in 7-10 days. 14 days later, CVS Auto-Voice said both were cancelled. CVS/Caremark toll-free systems push […]
Mango Mystery Solved
In Ecuador, they take mangoes seriously Last week, a mango, labeled as “sweet,” had had enough time to ripen. It felt right and looked right. Yet when I cut a slice for breakfast, it was sour. I reacted the way any self-respecting consumerist would: After coffee, I sent an email to the Ecuador Mango Foundation […]
Remote Customer Disservice* for my Remote
Comcast knows the value of outsourcing The Caribbean Comcast telemarketing operator confirmed my Comcast remote device (made in China) was dead because fresh batteries did not light it up. Service solution: Bring it to and swap it at a local Comcast center. I asked “Which NJ Comcast is near Montclair?” Starting with the A’s, he […]
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Dr. Seuss Turned Down Ronald Reagan
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Mutual Benefits Joins GCC of C
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Citi Is Mad at Judge Rakoff
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Questions For Melania
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What Is God Telling Todd Akin?
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Romney: Yachts For The Navy
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United’s Possibly Priority Luggage and Lesser-First Class Services
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Hype Will Upset Pharma
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Gary Nelson: I just wonder what will be taking place on these "...
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Joseph Ting: e: Fleeced by fees when you travel by Stephanie Ro...
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Nadia K. Faulkner: http://www.johnythegame78r2.com...
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Ellie Esposito: Same thing happened to us. Would be nice to know d...
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Josh Saintperle: Hmmm -- last time I called Comcast for a problem, ...
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E.A. Blair: If I claimed to be in a constant conversation with...
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Charles Selden: Hope my post was helpful....
Why This Blog?
My name is Charles Selden. I write this blog for consumers who have been abused by corporations. Like you.
Me?…abused?
That’s right. Abuse is not confined to children, spouses, the elderly, or baseball umpires. The most regularly abused person is the American consumer. It has gone on so long that most people accept it as “just the way things are” and are sure nothing can be done about it. You have been abused as a consumer--unless within the last 12 months you have not shopped for food, called a toll-free number for technical assistance, tried to find “your question” in a list of FAQs, bought an appliance or computer, eaten out, booked a flight, watched cable TV, taken a vacation, used a credit card, paid a medical bill, bought an item on the Internet or purchased a cashmere sweater. If all of your purchases and calls for help ended happily, you are either exceptionally lucky or a wee bit delusional. The fact is abuse of consumers is profitable for corporations, although abuse is not a word they would use.
There’s no shame in being a consumer abused by a corporation. The shame is that more consumers do not fight back when abused. That’s where this blog comes in.
I’ve been a consumerist for more than four decades. I look forward to corporate abuses, especially the compensation and fun parts. The corporations do their part and I do mine. This blog chooses a few of the “better” episodes to amuse and instruct consumers. The blog will not urge you to join a movement or contribute to a cause. Indeed, it is absolutely not about trying to change what corporations do to consumers. Why spoil a good thing?
As for my Manifesto, it owes a lot to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. He used the word abuses to describe what King George and his cohorts were doing: “a long train of abuses…to reduce them under absolute Despotism.” Corporations treat consumers that way.
To see how I fight back, try my blog for a while. Laughter is good for your spirit and getting compensation for abuses is good for your bottom line.
Portraits by Mike Peters
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