So my review of HSBC Direct is fairly positive, but if you’ve actually read it and had experiences like those below, then you would think that I’m full of doggie doo-doo.

• Savvy Saver’s problem w/ opening a joint HSBC account.
• lpkitten’s problems w/ opening an individual HSBC account.

It seems when you have anything to deal with the words customer service and bank, results will greatly vary.

I’ve opened my account quite awhile ago, before HSBC flung out their advertising ogre, so I think I’ll update my review when I get a chance to. Perhaps like many other banks out there, they’re too busy marketing their product and not spending enough time servicing the actual product?

Nahh. That can’t possibly be it.

From CNN:

Airbus in discussion with Asian airlines to offer padded backboards to have flyers stand, increasing capacity of the largest jet to 853 passengers.

Yeah, the standing room option will only be available for short trips, like island-hopping in Japan. But uh, this is seriously stupid. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to feel awfully ridiculous paying for an airfare—even if it’s cheaper—just so I can stand in an airplane against a padded backboard, while strapped in place by a harness.

The standing room space would be only 25 inches front to back, instead of only 30 inches now for the thinnest seats on commercial jets.

Now you can really feel like you’re being shipped in a box!

I’m pretty sure the airlines aren’t crazy enough to go with Airbus’ idea. Yup. Pretty sure.

Let’s not kid ourselves Wal-Mart. There’s no way self check-out is fun.

It may be fast (sometimes), and it may be easy (sometimes)… but I never had a blast standing there, fumbling around looking for the product’s UPC code, scanning it 50 times, or enjoyed hearing the machine telling me: “Weight in basket is incorrect.”

You can also find these “fun” self check-out stations at many supermarket chains across the country. They’re a bad idea to use if you have a bunch of produce with you.

I do use self check-out occasionally, if the lines at the cashier is long and especially if I have a small quantity of items. But it was never fun. It can be a convenience, but it should never replace real cashiers.

Just look at the helper staff at the self check-out station. They sure as hell aren’t having any fun.

Related Post:

• USPS: Sorry We Mauled Your Mail
• The Motley Fool Won’t Leave Me Alone!

I usually ignore emails from companies pitching their products or service, but the guys at Consumer Union (Publisher of Consumer Reports), are an okay bunch with me.

So here’s a plug for HearUsNow.org, a consumer advocacy website which focuses on the media and telecommunications service industry. The website contains a very nifty database of consumer stories. For example, here’s an all too common story on how AOL won’t let you cancel their service because AOL was created by the devil (emphasis mine).

Searching the database is easy enough. You can either go read each individual category, or find consumer stories regarding each specific company at specific states. It’s a handy tool to see which of the lesser evil service provider you should go with (provided you have the option to even choose).

So if your cable company is screwing you over again and you feel like ranting (but don’t feel like making a whiny blog like this), you can head over to the database and share your woes to the world.

Nicely done, Consumer Union.

Although they’re now all owned by the same company (Expedia Inc.), I still prefer TripAdvisor over the others as a source for hotel reviews.

The reviews at TripAdvisor are submitted by people that have actually stayed at the hotel, so they’re a lot more relevant than some arbitrary star-based review from Hotels.com (or HotWire, or Expedia).

Sure, it takes about ten years to read through all the reviews, but if you’re planning some special vacation and you really want to get it right, TripAdvisor is worth a visit.

Remember how I got that baseball hat from Emigrant Direct?

In it, they enclosed a nice letter telling me about their “commitment in delivering outstanding value and providing exemplary customer service.” They enclosed the hat as a “token of their appreciate for my business.”

Remember how my account was closed without warning by Emigrant Direct?

I guess they didn’t really care for my business after all.

So I figure I’ll send the hat back, along with a badly written complaint letter.

The gist of the complaint letter is: closing accounts without warning sucks and not disclosing your policy sucks. I didn’t really ask for a resolution, it’s been much too long and I’ve tried too many times already.

1. The Baseball Hat

2. The Whiny Letter

3. The Shipping Label

4. The Delivery Confirmation

The package’s delivery confirmation is 9101805213907103706638.

Let’s see how long it takes for it to reach New York from California :)

Update:

Woah, it took only 1 business day? USPS must be on steroid this weekend. Strangely, the item still hasn’t been delivered yet. No one home? A Notice was left, so now someone from Emigrant Direct will have to go pick it up at the postal office. I should have just sent the hat to Emigrant’s address in NYC instead of the supposedly brand new, “state-of-the-art” Customer Service Center.

Neato tracking map provided by isnoop.net!

1. Ordered Stuff at BestBuy.com
2. Called to cancel order at BestBuy.com
3. Received Follow-Up Email Regarding Customer Service:

And that was the entire email.

It’s blank. No links, no survey questions. Nada.

I couldn’t even tell them that their Customer Care hotline sucks.

Remember that IVR Cheat Sheet from awhile back? Well the handy database (on how to reach a live operator) can now be found at gethuman.com.

So I had to cancel a pre-order from BestBuy.com today. After spending over 8 minutes fiddling through the menu of Best Buy’s “Customer Care” phone system, I gave up trying to reach a live operator. This is when I remembered the IVR cheat sheet.

A quick Google search brought me to gethuman.com, and a quick scroll-down lead me to the direct-to-human telephone number for Best Buy (800‑591‑3126).

One and a half minute later, my order was cancelled without a hassle. Woot!

Gethuman.com is definitely worth a bookmark.

Funny thing, the Best Buy rep was wondering how I got the number.

“Were you transfered here from a supervisor?” asked the Best Buy CSR.

“Ah, I’m not sure how I got transfered here.”

*tehee*

_________

1. For the win