Author: Meg Marco

Reader Kelsea’s flight was delayed getting to O’Hare and when she got there for her connection to LA she encountered rudeness and general crappy service from American Airlines. One of the employees even went so far as to suggest she not request to be moved up the stand-by list because they would probably move her down “out of frustration.” Hey, that may be true but you probably shouldn’t tell the customers you’re going to try to spite them. Don’t worry though, the story has a happy ending.

Kelsea writes (to American Airlines):

To Whom It May Concern:

On Wednesday, December 30, 2009, I was a ticketed and confirmed passenger on American Airlines flight 4147, which was scheduled to travel from Indianapolis to Chicago O’Hare at 7:15 am and served as my layover to Los Angeles LAX [redacted]. I was to arrive in Los Angeles in the morning, then drive to San Francisco that afternoon, where I had already booked a hotel room for that evening.

Once all passengers had boarded the plane in Indianapolis, the pilot announced that it would be necessary to perform maintenance due to “technical difficulties”. Several failed attempts of powering the off aircraft the aircraft were made, and then an outside maintenance crew was called in. After sitting at the gate for almost 2 hours, the plane finally took off. Once the plane was in the air, it was announced that everyone who would miss their connecting flights due to the maintenance delay had already been rebooked by the agents in Indianapolis. I asked the flight attendant how passengers should get information about their new flights. He bluntly answered that he had “no idea” and no way to help me.

After I arrived in O’Hare, I spoke with [redacted], a gate agent who was extremely helpful, but informed me that I had not been rebooked, like I had been previously told. The earliest flight she was able to confirm me on was at 4 pm. I arrived at ORD at 9 am. I was extremely disappointed and discouraged that I had not been rebooked on another flight after the announcement had been made on my Indianapolis flight. I was clearly overlooked, and would have probably been confirmed on an earlier flight had I been rebooked 2 hours prior, as promised.

[redacted] told me that I would be put on standby for the 3 other American flights that departed to Los Angeles before my confirmed 4 pm flight. During my 7 hour wait, I spoke to numerous gate agents and the Rebooking Center to try to find another connection or flight to Los Angeles or to my ultimate destination, San Francisco, San Jose, or Oakland. Every American agent that I spoke to was clearly bombarded by the huge amount of upset travelers, and had no patience or desire to improve the situation. At one point, I asked an agent over the Rebooking Center phone if I could be moved up on the standby list because I missed my connection through no fault of my own. She told me that if I asked the gate agents, they would probably move me down the list out of sheer frustration. She lacked any sign of professionalism or maturity.

Once it was clear that the 3 flights I was put on standby for were grossly overbooked (there were at least 50 people on standby for every flight), I spoke to a supervisor, who told me his hands were completely tied, and that I would have to call customer service. However, when I called customer service, the agent on the phone told me she could do nothing, and only agents at the airport could rectify my situation. I was pushed back and forth from the supervisor at the airport to customer service 4 more times before the customer service representative informed me that I would have to write a letter to aa.com to receive any type of compensation. I was further inconvenienced by the fact that neither person knew American Airlines’ policies.

I missed an entire day of my vacation, was stranded in O’Hare for 7 hours, was unable to cancel my hotel room, and received very poor customer service by American Airlines. I am truly disgusted by this situation and will think twice before traveling with American again. As a person who flies and travels frequently, I have never been treated so unfairly and with such disregard. Compensation is in order for the cost of my flight and the waste of my time. Please contact me using the information below. I look forward to hearing back from American Airlines.

Sincerely,

Kelsea

Good complaint letter, right? It’s direct and provides (in the first paragraph) the necessary information for the company to easily look up her issue. She then calmly explains why she was disappointed and that she will be hesitant to fly American Airlines again.

We followed up with her and she told us that for her trouble, she received a $150 voucher. Good work!

Rip Torn, who plays the fictional CEO of GE on 30 Rock, was arrested after being found drunk and armed in a bank in his hometown. He has pleaded not guilty, says the New York Post. This sort of behavior is apparently not altogether unexpected.

From the NYP:

Torn, 78, was armed with a loaded gun when he broke a window and entered the Litchfield Bancorp in Salisbury on Friday, officials said.

The actor was so drunk he had no idea he was in a bank, the sources said.

Bank President Mark Macomber told TMZ.com that no one was in the bank during the break-in and that the only damage was the smashed window in the back of the building that Torn apparently thought was his front door.

Yikes. We wonder if he was upset about the Comcast merger.

Actor Rip Torn arraigned in drunken bank incident; pleads not guilty [NYP]

2.3 million Toyotas will need to be repaired and the kits to do so are being shipped to dealers this week, says Bloomberg. The repair should take about 30 minutes and Toyota says they are “confident” the problem isn’t electronic.

From Bloomberg:

Pedal assemblies in models that were recalled have a gap that the steel plate is designed to fill, Hanson said. The new piece relieves friction that can develop in some pedals as a result of wear and tear and condensation, and allows the pedal to spring back without sticking, he said.

If you have one of these cars, you’re going to need to take to your dealer for repair. Your dealer is likely to be quite busy.

“Some of our dealers have said they’ll stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get this done,” Toyota’s rep told reporters.

Bonus points to the first person who figures out how many days it’s going to take them to repair 2.3 million Toyotas at 30 minutes per Toyota. Go! It’s just like grade school!

Toyota Sends Repair Kits to Dealers, Plans to Resume Production [BusinessWeek]

Zipcar is concerned about the runaway stuck pedal Toyotas of doom, and so they have pulled all the recalled models from their fleet until Toyota gets their #@$% together.

Behold Zipcar’s press release:

Zipcar, Inc., the world’s largest car-sharing service, announced that, “The safety of our Zipsters is our top priority.”

The Company will not allow reservations for the recall-affected Toyota vehicles in the Zipcar fleet until the accelerator malfunction has been appropriately resolved by Toyota.

This recall impacts approximately 5 percent of the Zipcar fleet, specifically the 2009 and 2010 Toyota Matrix.

We will continue to monitor the recall closely and follow Toyota’s recommendations.

If Zipsters have questions about upcoming Zipcar reservations, they should contact Member Services at 1-866-4ZIPCAR (1-866-494-7227).

Sucks for the availability of Zipcars, but good for remaining alive.

Zipcar Pulls Recalled Toyotas from Fleet, Awaits Fix from Toyota [PR Newswire]

A mysterious email from someone claiming to be a Best Buy employee has emerged from the mist of our inbox. In it, the sender claims that Best Buy is threatening termination for employees that try to force the optimization fee on unwilling customers…

X says:

I work for Best Buy and thought you might want to know the Best Buy internal response to the recent article criticizing optimization. The items stated here were discussed on the employee Best Buy news.

To start of with, the policy how many computers should undergo optimization was restated: 40% is the guideline. This should be altered as per demand. So stores offering customers only optimized models are not being properly managed. The article continued to say if demand for optimization is only 15%, then only 15% should be optimized. This is not in the store’s interest, I should note. Best Buy does not make a significant profit on computer sales (less than $50 per unit, typically), instead relying on ‘services’ such as the optimization for a major source of profits. The more optimized computers sold, the more profits.

The article stated plainly, in large, bold letters, that a customer cannot be forced to pay for optimization if they do not want it and that is all that is available. Anyone who forces a customer to pay for it is subject to, and I quote, termination. I should say they did not state to make it easy to get out of paying for optimization, the article encourages salespersons to explain why it is worth the money before not charging it. Management can waive the fee if the customer declines. Optimization software, if any was installed, should then be removed before giving the computer to the customer. Anyone forced to pay should contact the store’s management or someone higher up the ladder.

Best Buy considers optimization an important service, and believes it has great value to many customers. I, personally, believe most people can take care of such things on their own with minimal time and would never pay for it. Judging by comments posted below the article, many other employees believe so too, but just as many fervently believe that optimization is the best thing to ever happen since the wheel.

I feel I should stress that it is not a salespersons fault to push optimization and other services strongly on customers. Hours (and this pay, we are not commission) are often determined by the amount of sales made. Someone who isn’t selling any optimization will see reduced hours as compared to someone who is. Especially given this economy, many just need a job and this is all they could find, myself included. So just be polite and remember you’re giving people a job.

Optimization does just consist of booting up the computer and and putting in a disc that does some random stuff. Some GeekSquad agents may do more manually, some may not. I personally would suggest downloading free software to cleans up registry errors, broken and unused shortcuts, and defrags.

As one final note, the article initially refused to link to the Consumerists for fear of giving more hits. It was later added after complaints in the comments section stated they couldn’t respond to customers citing the Consumerist without having read the article.

Our investigation, “Best Buy Optimization Is A Big Stupid Annoying Waste of Money,” can be read here.

Target has announced that, due to love of the planet, they have decided to stop selling farmed salmon. Salmon farms, according to Target’s press release, produce “pollution, chemicals, parasites and non-native farmed fish that escape from salmon farms all affect the natural habitat and the native salmon in the surrounding areas.” They’re switching to “sustainable” wild salmon.

Target says:

“Target strives to be a responsible steward of the environment, while also providing our guests with the highest-quality food choices,” said Greg Duppler, senior vice president, merchandising, Target. “Our guests now have an array of sustainable seafood choices at great prices.”

In unrelated news, sometimes when I’m shopping at the world’s worst Target,

I see random meat-type-products just sitting in the middle of the flip flops and stuff for no reason. That’s why I don’t buy perishable goods at that Target. Your Target is probably a lot nicer, however.

Target Eliminates Farmed Salmon From All Target Stores [PR Newswire]

A McDonald’s worker from the Netherlands was fired after she gave a cheeseburger to a colleague who only paid for a hamburger. A court has found that this is not a good enough reason to fire someone.

The AFP reports:

“The dismissal was too severe a measure,” the district court in Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands said in a written judgment.

“It is just a slice of cheese.”

It then ordered the company to pay $6,006.69, the salary she would have earned during the last 5 months of her contract.

McDonald’s maintains that she broke the rules by giving free gifts to friends, family or coworkers.

McDonald’s in a pickle over cheese slice firing [AFP]

Newsday is a Long Island newspaper. Some people bought it for $650 million and put it behind a pay wall. Three months later, they’ve got 35 subscribers. Yes, 35.

From the Observer:

“I heard you say 35 people,” he said, from Newsday’s auditorium in Melville. “Is that number correct?”

Mr. Jimenez nodded.

Hellville, indeed.

The web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million, according to Mr. Jimenez. With those 35 people, they’ve grossed about $9,000.

In that time, without question, web traffic has begun to plummet, and, certainly, advertising will follow as well.

Of course if you have a newspaper subscription you are allowed free access, and anyone who has Optimum Cable, which is owned by the same people, also gets in for free.

“We’re the freebie newsletter that comes with your HBO,” one reporter said.

After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday’s Web Site [Observer]

Spyker, a specialty car maker that makes only a dozen cars a year, has actually managed to come to a deal to buy Saab from GM, says Dow Jones.

Spyker, which only makes a few dozen cars a year, agreed to pay GM at least $74 million in cash, while the European Investment Bank will provide a 400 million-euro loan guaranteed by the Swedish government, said GM Vice President John Smith, who led Saab talks.

Upon completion of the transaction, GM will retain redeemable preference shares of $326 million in Saab. The preference shares represent less than 1% of the voting rights in the capital of Saab.

“The company has a sustainable business plan and GM is receiving fair value for Saab,” Smith said in a conference call with reporters.

The Spyker CEO says he intends to restore the “saabish” qualities that people are fond of, though we’re not sure what those are.

The company also plans to change its name to Saab Spyker Automobiles.

UPDATE: GM Reaches Deal To Sell Saab To Spyker [WSJ]

This list, compiled by BuzzFeed, features not one but two variations on the snuggie — the “poshAir” sleeping bag, which is sort of a reverse snuggie, and the “saimese slanket,” which is a snuggie for two.

Our favorite, however, is the wine glass holder.

35 Most Ridiculous SkyMall Items [BuzzFeed]

Borders CEO Ron Marshall has decided to move on to better things after only a year. The troubled bookseller is currently in the process of closing 182 of its Waldenbooks stores (more than half of them), and is generally being frowned upon due to its lack of initiative in getting into the e-reader market. (Amazon has the Kindle, B&N has the Nook, and Borders has um…hmmm…) Now they’ll have to find a new CEO to turn things around.

From Reuters:

Marshall was brought in last year to replace George Jones, who had been CEO since July 2006, after a dismal 2008 holiday season when comparable sales at Borders’ superstores fell 14.4 percent.

Marshall’s departure comes on the heels of another weak holiday season. Comparable sales at Borders superstores fell 14.6 percent during the 11 weeks ended January 16.

Borders’ troubles led it to put itself up for sale in 2008, but the Ann Arbor, Michigan, retailer did not find a buyer.

We’ve had that certain special “death watch” feeling since November, when they announced the store closings.

Back in March we started getting tips that the stores were shrinking their CD and DVD sections and that suppliers were having trouble getting paid.

The company also did a reverse stock split in order to avoid being delisted from the NYSE. That’s always a great sign.

What do you think? Is Borders doomed?

Borders Boss Quits After Just Over a Year at Helm [ABCNews] (Thanks, Erin!)

This demonstration of couch napping took place at the IKEA in Brooklyn. Must be comfy.

IKEAs Newest Product Roll Out [Gothamist]

Good news for the clumsy, if you stagger into a rare Picasso painting and rip a 6″ hole in it — you will not be charged for the painting. On Friday a woman fell into just such a painting while taking a class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

The Met’s conservation studio says they can fix it, and that it will be back on display for a Picasso retrospective they are having.

The museum was kind enough not to identify the woman, who is apparently unhurt.

This scenario plays through my mind often when visiting museums, it’s good to know that they don’t have you shot right there in the gallery as an example to others.

Woman Collides With a Picasso [NYT via BuzzFeed]

The company that paid the most ever for a single residential property in the US is giving up and giving the development back to its lenders, says the WSJ.

From the WSJ:

The property’s owners signaled they would be unable to reach a deal with lenders and instead decided to allow creditors to proceed with what amounts to an orderly deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, which means a borrower voluntarily gives the property back to lenders to avoid a foreclosure proceeding.

“It has become clear to us through this process that the only viable alternative to bankruptcy would be to transfer control and operation of the property, in an orderly manner, to the lenders and their representatives,” the venture said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. “We make this decision as we feel a battle over the property or a contested bankruptcy proceeding is not in the long-term interest of the property, its residents, our partnership or the city.”

The company paid $5.4 billion in 2006, and the complex is currently valued as low as $1.8 billion.

Tishman Venture Gives Up Stuyvesant Project [WSJ]

Dumping your mortgage and just walking away from your house seems like a morally crappy thing to do, but the NYT has an article pointing out that in some states, people actually pay more in fees for the right to just walk away. So, in that case, is it still morally wrong to do it?

From the NYT:

The morality argument is especially weak in a state like California or Arizona, where mortgages are so-called nonrecourse loans. That means the mortgage is secured by the home itself; in a default, the lender has no claim on a borrower’s other possessions. Nonrecourse mortgages may be viewed as financial transactions in which the borrower has the explicit option of giving the lender the keys to the house and walking away. Under these circumstances, deciding whether to default might be no more controversial than deciding whether to claim insurance after your house burns down.

In fact, borrowers in nonrecourse states pay extra for the right to default without recourse. In a report prepared for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Susan Woodward, an economist, estimated that home buyers in such states paid an extra $800 in closing costs for each $100,000 they borrowed. These fees are not made explicit to the borrower, but if they were, more people might be willing to default, figuring that they had paid for the right to do so.

Still seems “wrong,” but if you paid for the right to do it, isn’t it a business decision? Or are individuals held to higher standards than the banks they do business with?

A provocative paper by Brent White, a law professor at the University of Arizona, makes the case that borrowers are actually suffering from a “norm asymmetry.” In other words, they think they are obligated to repay their loans even if it is not in their financial interest to do so, while their lenders are free to do whatever maximizes profits. It’s as if borrowers are playing in a poker game in which they are the only ones who think bluffing is unethical.

Discuss.

Parents apparently don’t do a great job choosing lower-calorie options for themselves when faced with calorie information on menu boards — but they do make low cal choices for their kids, says a new study.

From Reuters:

On average, parents whose menus did not list calories chose a meal of about 670 calories, while those who did have that information chose a meal of 570 calories.

“One hundred calories may seem like a small amount, but over time it could make a significant difference,” said Dr. Pooja Tandon, a pediatrician at the University of Washington, who led the study. For example, she said, an extra 100 calories per day in adults can lead to 10 extra pounds in a year.

Do you do this? Why?

Parents Cut Kids’ Calories When Menus are Labeled [Fox News]