Category Archives: Consumer activism

National Grid gets 66.666% confused with 99.999%

You’ve probably heard the expression “five nine reliability,” which is shorthand for saying that a product, Web site, service, application, or whatever is fully functional 99.999% of the time, the equivalent of less than six minutes of downtime per year. Most Web sites don’t need to achieve that level of reliability. However, when you’re in… Read More: National Grid gets 66.666% confused with 99.999% »

Virgin Mobile Auto-Topup broken for months

My wife still uses a Virgin Mobile prepaid phone, despite our previous run-in with their rampant stupidity (we stuck with them because they solved our problem in the end). Unfortunately, their stupidity is on parade again. My wife’s account is configured to auto-topup, i.e., every time her balance drops below $5, they’re supposed to automatically… Read More: Virgin Mobile Auto-Topup broken for months »

Bye Bye, Citizens Bank

Last July, when we were preparing for our trip to Israel, I called Citizens Bank and asked this simple question: “What is the least expensive way for me to get Israeli sheqels out of my Citizens Bank checking account?” In response, the customer service representative told me the following: The fee for withdrawing currency from… Read More: Bye Bye, Citizens Bank »

FedEx follies

FedEx tried three times over the past week to make a delivery of two packages to our house. Two times, no one was home, and the third, my wife didn’t get to the door fast enough and the courier left. The door tag left after each attempt said someone had to be home to sign… Read More: FedEx follies »