April 20, 2011 Kimberly Earle, CEO Mothers Against Drunk Driving Fax: (972) 869-2206 To whom it may concern: My efforts to get MADD to stop sending me junk mail commenced almost exactly a year ago, on April 21, 2010, with a message sent to you through your web site. I received a response the same… Read More: MADD enters the junk mail hall of shame »
I previously reported about a safety issue with a risk of collapsing ladders on the Pulaski Build-A-Bear loft bed sold by Jordan’s Furniture and other retailers. I’m sorry to say that I’ve encountered another safety issue with this same bed.
Two years ago, I told the story of US Airways essentially holding my wife and children hostage in Georgia, demanding that we pay hundreds of dollars in change fees so that they could fly home a day later than originally planned. They couldn’t fly on the original date because my wife had a serious illness… Read More: US Airways: Another awful change-fee extortion story »
I try to make a habit of giving out “tagged” email addresses to web sites when I sign up for accounts / mailing lists / whatever. For example, when creating an account at widgets.com, instead of just signing up as “jik@kamens.us”, I might sign up as “jik+widgets@kamens.us”. It ends up in the same mailbox regardless,… Read More: A study in contrasts: handling stolen email lists »
Back when I was doing my week-long Shave a Redhead for Israel fundraiser, Google’s search index was taking an unusually long time to index the fundraiser page. This was a problem because I was publicizing the fundraiser and telling people they could find it easily by searching for “Shave a Redhead for Israel”, but they… Read More: Google AdWords is staffed by poorly trained monkeys »
Dear AT&T, Some people don’t pay for their own cell phones. There’s a reason why account emails about my 12-year-old daughter’s cell phone go to me instead of her. Thanks for screwing that up! Sincerely, An unimpressed customer In reference to: Dear AT&T GoPhone® Customer: We want to alert you that future notifications regarding payments… Read More: AT&T GoPhone disservice »
Today, I received a second letter from HSBC, claiming once again that they sent me a Statement Available Alert on January 13, despite my twice providing proof that they did not. They also claimed that they were not in violation of the Truth in Lending Act because the Act only requires them to make statements… Read More: HSBC gets it wrong a second time »
Recently, I wrote about BNY Mellon’s inept handling of 2010 1099-OIDs for Israel bonds, my relief that the State of Israel had decided to replace BNY Mellon with Computershare as the fiscal agent for Israel Bonds purchased in the U.S., and my hope that Computershare would be better than BNY Mellon. Less than 12 hours… Read More: Computershare is WAY better than BNY Mellon »
I’m not going to bother to reprint the response I received from HSBC to my recent complaint. Instead, I will reproduce the response I just sent them: February 26, 2010 [name elided] Executive Liaison Office of the President HSBC Card and Retail Services P.O. Box 80026 Salinas, CA 93912 Dear Ms. [name elided], I have… Read More: HSBC takes its cue from the “we’re a large corporation… »
My wife and I own a number of Israeli Bonds purchased over the course of many years (typically after annual High Holiday appeals). Many of these bonds are Original Issue Discount (OID) bonds. Dispensing with all the technical details, the general idea of an OID bond is that you get a 1099-OID statement every year… Read More: Thank God Israel Bonds kicked BNY Mellon to the curb »