Recently, I wrote about trying to figure out what to do about my gutters. Ned Stevens says three of them needed to be replaced at a cost of $600. New England Gutter Kings says that they can be repaired for only $400, and for $1,360 I could install gutter covers that will be warrantied against… Read More: Gutters and gutter covers — a third opinion »
I’ve just encountered a new (at least for me) scam in the ongoing quest by retailers and manufacturers to make rebates more and more onerous to apply for and therefore less likely to cost them any money. While applying on-line for a $10 rebate on an ASUS motherboard I purchased recently at Micro Center, I… Read More: New scam: pay a usurious fee to get your rebate… »
I’m hoping that someone out there who knows more than I about rain gutters, who has done work on their own gutters similar to what I’m considering, or who has used one of the companies I’m considering, will be able to provide some helpful insight and advice… We use Ned Stevens (NS) to clean our… Read More: Advice needed: What to do about our gutters? »
I’ve just sent the following letter, with minor variations, to Sen. Kerry, Rep. Capuano, State Sen. Tolman, State Rep. Honan, and Martha Coakley (who will almost certainly soon be Sen. Coakley). If you’re as fed up as I am with this state of affairs (the incident described below is not the first time we’ve been… Read More: ER copayments put lives at risk »
Today, I received a commercial email message from Sears Home Services, a.k.a., Sears Holdings Corporation. They got my email address when I made a service appointment through their Web site, which I subsequently canceled when it became clear that they were going to charge me more than a local repair man. The email message contained… Read More: Sears violates CAN-SPAM act »
I just sent the following email message to Mark G. Ackermann, the President and CEO of Lighthouse International: Dear Mr. Ackermann, I am taking the unusual step of writing to you because my efforts to get this issue resolved “through channels” for over two years have failed. In a nutshell, I have asked Lighthouse International… Read More: Lighthouse International: Yet another 2+ years of mailings after the… »
November 26, 2009 Jack Swartz, President The Vilna Shul 18 Phillips Street Boston, MA 02114 Dear Mr. Swartz, I am writing to you because my efforts over the past two years to resolve this matter through The Vilna Shul’s executive director, Steven Greenberg, have been unsuccessful. Over two years ago, I embarked upon an ambitious… Read More: The Vilna Shul: We just don’t feel like removing you… »
In response to my recent letter to Comcast, I received a call from a friendly woman named Nancy in Comcast’s New England executive customer care office. The call went pretty much how I expected. She had read my letter and understood what I was upset about, but she let me vent at her about the… Read More: Bye bye Comcast, hello RCN! »
November 22, 2009 Store Manager Stop & Shop 60 Everett Street Allston, MA 02134 Dear Sir or Madam, I like your store for several reasons: it is the closest supermarket to my house; I like the “Scan It!” system; and you give five cents back for reused bags. Unfortunately, these positives only go so far,… Read More: Is it just my imagination, or does the selection at… »
Recall my recent letter to Chase, which ended: As I see it, you have three options for what to do now: You can throw my letter in the trash. Result: I close my Chase account and get a new card from someone else. You can send me a useless, boilerplate response that does not address… Read More: Bye bye Chase! »