Mary S.

I recently purchased a new phone and a plan from Consumer Cellular. I will admit that I appreciated being able to talk to an American and was not subjected to excessive phone robots before being connected to an actual person. My problem was that it took literally all day to activate my new phone and transfer the SIM because the first rep I spoke with, and who walked me through the process, omitted the last step, telling me everything was finished and my phone was ready to use. After she disconnected the call, I found my new phone didnt work, my old phone no longer had service, and I used my laptop to use the chat feature, where the chat rep helped me with the last step - the previous rep didn't tell me I had to scan the square on my welcome letter to start the SIM transfer. Voila! After an afternoon of this, finally my new phone works. I can't help it, I'm so tired of customer service reps who don't care; the rep I spoke to the first time seemed tired and was not listening to me, and omitting the last step was possibly just human error. What's good about this company is that they don't keep you on hold, it's based entirely in the US (and who hasn't struggled to understand the Asian accents of most customer care reps?). The prices and plans are excellent as well.

The mystery was cleared up by the technician Spectrum sent to my apartment because they got tired of dealing with me. After he checked my connections and broke an antique glass dish without telling me, I learned that Spectrum did not offer local channels in that 15-channel package, but that if we wanted them we had to purchase the higher priced package for $64 a month. With the hidden "broadcast fee," whatever that is, the "big savings" I was promised by the landlord amounts to $3 a month.

My daughter used Paypal to send money to me via my Paypal account. Despite trying literally everything including emptying my cache and using a different browser, I was unable to move the money to either my verified debit card or my bank account. Over 3 days I made numerous calls to Paypal because the links that would enable me to do this didn't even appear on my Paypal account pages. I got nothing but nonsense and condescension from customer service agents and supervisors. I'm 65 but not senile, and I've used computers for over 25 years. My Paypal account worked just fine until 3 days ago yet I couln't get my complaint taken seriously. I was able to send the money back to my daughter as a "refund," but I did that on my own because Paypal was no help whatsoever. They are nothing but a headache, a company that is using people without treating them decently. I don't recommend them.

I have bought literally hundreds of books from Thriftbooks and am almost always satisfied with the books and the purchasing experience. I've saved thousands of dollars buying books and DVDs from them. The condition of the used merchandise is almost always accurate as described, and on the 2 occasions when there was a problem, my money was refunded straightaway. As a bibliophile, I visit the site almost daily and enjoy the experience.

On 2 occasions in this past month I ordered shipments of wine, and the merchant shipped them via Fedex. I am 65 years old and have been buying wine online for years with no problems. Yet suddenly the driver refused to allow me to even sign for the wine because he demanded I show him "valid ID." The only ID i have at the moment is a passport that expired a few months ago, due to the pandemic and my disability I am not able to renew it at this time. On both occasions I called customer service and spoke to several supervisors, some of whom said they'd call me back but never did. After I called and got another set of talking heads, the last one told me that my expired passport is OK to use as ID because they only need my name and date of birth. The woman said she'd send the driver back to my home, just show him your passport, and this won't happen again because he was new and was very strict to follow the rules. So at 5:15 pm the driver shows up, gives me the wine, doesn't ask to see my ID, and says "I was told to tell you this is the last time," meaning no more deliveries unless I get a "valid" ID even though I'm 65 and obviously not under 21. He was belligerent and swaggered off. He did not tell me who allegedly told him to tell me this. It should also be noted that on the occasions I called, Fedex said they had no record of my previous calls or who I spoke with. I feel I've been gaslighted by people who are incompetent and want only to get a paycheck.

Great way to spend a dreary afternoon. Chopin, a glass of wine, and browsing through books!

Their wines are awful, especially the reds, which are either watery, flat, bitter or strangely flavored. The wine is from obscure labels; if you ask a liquor distributor about any of them, they'll give you a blank stare. These are wines distributors don't want, and Wine Insiders buys them at low prices and resells them at a profit. I stopped buying from them after many unsatisfactory wines. They promise a refund, but if you complain more than they like, they give you a store credit instead. After awhile we realized we were simply being sold more bad wine, so we stopped buying from them.