Why Should Consumers Settle For Crappy Concert Sound?

Back during our comments outage, reader Chris wrote to us about an incredibly disappointing concert that he attended. The show wasn't terrible because the artists weren't any good: even if you don't like country music, you have to grant that Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw are hard-working, talented, and very attractive entertainers. No, Chris's problem was that up in his seats on the upper level of the arena, the Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the sound quality was terrible, song lyrics impossible to decipher, and even spoken words in between songs impossible to understand.

He writes:

Last Saturday, I wen to the Kenny Chesney/Tim McGraw concert in Anaheim, California. My family and I sat in the upper level high above the stage to the left. The audio quality was horrible up there. For thousands of us, the audio was muddy and you couldn't understand the lyrics to songs or to what the singers would say between songs. With the amount of speakers and sophistication of the shows and high celebrity status of the singers, you would think that the audio quality would be at least decent for everyone. It wasn't and I'm having trouble finding a contact person within the two bands to ask about the audio set-up and if there was a known problem or the crews didn't bother to check around the stadium before the show to ensure decent audio quality.

When someone buys something at a store or gets a service, they can go back to the merchant and ask for a refund or a credit. But when you go to a large concert, the product delivered to the customer is a bit intangible. How does one communicate with the people providing the service to tell them that the delivered product was subpar? I've tried finding the bands' management people but I've had no luck. How else can I find out who to talk to about a poor product within such a large scale operation? I'm sure there are other Consumerist readers who have felt the same way about concerts.

An LA Times review of the concert points out that it's not the sound quality that drew many of the fans in the Anaheim Stadium that night, so maybe other purchasers of upper-level seats weren't about to complain. Maybe.

[W]hen some of the biggest ovations of the evening are generated by projected images of the show's star without his shirt, you know that it's more than catchy turns of phrase and hummable melodies that pull nearly 45,000 people to the show.

Why bother going to a concert if you can't understand anything, though? Should less expensive tickets come with a warning that you won't be able to hear a darn thing, or is it understood that you need to buy the $300 primo seats if you want to understand every word in a big venue like a major-league baseball stadium?

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Amazon To Annoy Even More Book Stores With Textbook Rental Plan

Now Amazon just seems to be toying with the retail book stores of America. The online behemoth has long been hated by many bricks-and-mortar booksellers for the hugely discounted prices it charges on books and other items traditionally sold in book stores. And then there's Amazon's Kindle e-book reader which some stores blame for dropping sales. Now Amazon is getting into one business still dominated by college book stores: textbook rentals.

For example, this accounting textbook retails for $195, but can be rented for a semester (130 days) for around $54.

It's an inversion of the standard textbook buying procedure many of us experienced in college. Back in my day, you'd pray you could find a used book at the store, then hope you could get a fraction of that cost back when you returned it at the end of the semester.

With the Amazon model, you never pay that full price. The website's FAQ says your rental may be a used book, but what do you expect for only a fraction of the bloated retail price?

Users can track books' due dates on Amazon and will receive alerts when the time is drawing nigh for the books to be returned. A one-time 15-day extension can be granted for that time when your History of Landscape Architecture professor allows you to re-write your paper on something something or other (it's been a while since I took the class and it obviously didn't sink in).

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Sears Recalls Dehumidifiers Because Fire Is Not A Safe Dehumidification Method

Yes, it's a story about a Sears appliance, but not about its misdelivery or problems with getting it repaired. Well, sort of. If you bought a Kenmore-branded dehumidifier from Sears or from Kmart between 2003 or 2009, unplug it right away and get in touch with the company. More than a hundred overheating units have been reported to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, and some have caught fire or melted.

Here are the recalled model numbers:

35-pint (2004) - 580.54351400

50-pint (2003) - 580.53509300

70-pint (2003) - 580.53701300

70-pint (2004) - 580.54701400

70-pint (2005) - 580.54701500

If you have an affected model, you'll get a gift card to Sears or to Kmart and a coupon for $25 off another dehumidifier. You know, because you'll be so keen to buy another dehumidifier from Kenmore right away.

Sears Recalls Kenmore® Dehumidifiers Due to Fire and Burn Hazards [CPSC]

Sears Kenmore® Dehumidifier Recall [Official Site] (Thanks, SirWired!)

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Six Flags Superman Roller Coaster Apparently Cursed By Kryptonite, Gets Stuck Yet Again

After shutting down and stranding passengers for about two hours, it took almost week for Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. to tinker around with its Superman Ultimate Flight roller coaster and get it back in operation. There must not have been enough tinkering going on, however, as the ride stalled again shortly after reopening yesterday.

The coaster had been cleared by safety inspectors after the previous incident and was going through its usual routine early on Sunday, a park spokeswoman told CBS San Francisco, before it stopped in its tracks with passengers stuck in their seats.

Unlike last week's incident, this time passengers were escorted quickly from the ride. They were given passes to skip to the front of the line — a line that may or may not have gotten considerably shorter after parkgoers realized it had gotten stuck yet again.

We can imagine it now...

"Hey, since we just got stuck on that ride, whaddya say we jump back in line and see if we can get stuck again? Here's to hoping!"

Officials believe the problem has been related to a computer glitch both times. Or maaaaybe someone put kryptonite on the tracks! That's gotta be it.

Six Flags Roller Coaster Reopens, Strands Passengers Again In Vallejo [CBS San Francisco]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist

How Can Amazon Not Understand The Actual Purpose Of A Gift Receipt?

Justin really likes Amazon. He does. He's a big fan and frequent customer. When his employer gave out Kindle Fires (Kindles Fire?) as a gift to employees, though, his boss told Justin that it would be okay to return his for store credit, since he already owned one. Cool. Armed with a gift receipt, Justin set out to do that. He was met with impenetrable corporate logic: he couldn't use the gift receipt to return just one kindle. Since his boss had bought them all in one purchase, he had to return all of them.

I have to preface all of this by saying that I am a loyal Amazon customer. I love Amazon. My girlfriend and I both have Kindles and I have a Kindle fire. I have an Amazon credit card. I subscribe to Amazon Prime. I have even previously wrote to you folks back in 2010 I think about how great Amazon had been to me with some customer service experience. However, I think it's all changed over at Amazon. The operators no longer seem to speak English and they all seem to be unhelpful. Here's what happened:

Our office bought everyone Kindle Fires and cases as gifts. I already have a Kindle Fire so the boss asked me to just return mine and get a credit. Seemed straightforward. He handed me a gift receipt and left it in my hands. I called Amazon (or they technically called me through the Website) and I just asked for a return address to send the Kindle Fire and case for a refund. I provided the order number and this is where it all went wrong. When the office bought the Kindles they bought all of them at once and marked that they would all be gifts. Well, from what Amazon tells me, because I wasn't returning all of the gifts I couldn't get a credit. They could credit the original purchaser (my boss) but not me. This didn't make sense to me on a practical level. If I go to Target and I buy a bunch of stuff and I happen to buy a couple gifts with that stuff, I get a gift receipt for those items and the receiver can return the gifts to Target later for a credit if they hate what I got them. How is it that Amazon can't do that? Especially with Christmas right around the corner. Also, she had no idea what address to give me to return the item. So, I called back and spoke to another person and got the same answer. I took a survey after that call and said that I was not helped. This prompted a "Let Us Try Again" type of button and I was connected to another representative who connected me with Kindle support.

I have worked with Kindle support in the past and they have always been really awesome. I wouldn't necessarily say that this person was as awesome as in the past but he was *much* better. He actually understood what happened and found a way to get the outcome I wanted. Both items were returned. I had to pay for shipping (normally Amazon would credit me for any shipping costs but I wasn't going to complain) but they got returned and I got my credit. It was a little weird, though, because when the Kindle Fire was received, I received 5 confirmation emails and no credit for a long time but finally I got the credit a while later. So, it took about 2 hours in phone calls to work it all out and maybe an hour to get the supplies and go to UPS for the return but it did work out. It just seemed like an awful lot of time to spend on something that should be easy ... and for a gift. I thought I may be the only one but someone else in the office came to me and told me she also already has a Kindle Fire and has been having a heck of a time trying to return it.

This return policy Amazon has with gifts seems like a total nightmare. If I order a bunch of stuff from Amazon and a couple of the items happen to be gifts and I mark them as gifts and the person I send them to doesn't like any of the items, he or she should be able to return any of them (or all of them) for a credit. It doesn't make sense. I can't imagine what it will be like at Christmas if this is still Amazon's policy.

Well, Justin could have always had the credit go back to his boss, and then his boss could give him cash. That doesn't really help people trying to return gifts purchased for occasions requiring more social finesse, though.

...Wait a second. Christmas is right around the corner? Justin, you don't work for Costco, do you?

by Laura Northrup via The Consumerist

Wedding Venue Refuses Refund For Canceled Ceremony, Even Though It Books Replacement Event

Cancelling wedding plans can be a huge financial nightmare, especially if you're already locked into big-ticket, non-refundable purchases. But if one of your non-refundable buys -- the venue, for example -- is able to fill the spot your cancellation leaves vacant, could you make an argument that you deserve some of your cash back?

That's the question a former bride-to-be in California is asking after she cancelled her wedding only a week after signing the contract -- and paying $5,750 -- for her wedding venue.

The woman feels that she should get at least a partial refund, given that she cancelled her wedding a full ten months before she was supposed to walk down the aisle and the venue had already booked another wedding in the space she'd reserved.

But the venue's owner refused, citing a strict non-refundable policy.

Under California law, one attorney explains to CBS News, if a vendor re-books the space and recoups its money, the woman should get her money back.

“The law would say that he was unjustly enriched to be paid twice for the same thing,” says the lawyer.

However, the owner says that while he did book another wedding in the space, it was only at half the price of the cancelled event.

The woman says she has asked if some of her $5,750 could be put toward a smaller event, like a birthday party, at the venue, but the owner says no.

She's now mulling over small claims court, but the legal expert advises that they could have a hard time of it if the venue's owner can prove he has not recouped the full cost.

While a wedding planner suggests to CBS that people look into wedding insurance, we think there are more creative ways to get one's deposit back.

For example, back in 2010 we told you about a woman in Brooklyn who, rather than lose the $3,500 non-refundable payment she had paid to the reception hall, turned the event into a fundraiser for a local soup kitchen.

by Chris Morran via The Consumerist

Teen Learns That Cutting Southwest’s Boarding Line Means Apologizing To The Entire Plane

Learning how to conduct yourself as a responsible adult is something we all (well, mostly all) experience at certain times in life. To wit: One Texas high school lacrosse player was served a very valuable lesson recently about remaining considerate even during the often frustrating experience of boarding a plane. After the teen used Southwest Airlines' first come, first served open seating boarding process to try and jump the line, his coaches made him pay for it in a very public manner.

The high school junior was caught trying to skip the line to angle for a better seat while the team was flying to a lacrosse tournament. His coaches and the flight crew then decided the best punishment befitting his crime was to stand up in front of not only his teammates, but the entire plane full of people and apologize for being so inconsiderate.

At first he tried to get away with a curt, "I apologize," but the flight attendants weren't about to let him go so easy, and handed him a handwritten letter to read from. As shown in a video from CBS News, he read:

"My fellow travelers: Today, I come to you with great remorse. During the boarding process, I took advantage of this airline's kindness. While some of my teammates were called to the front of the line, I was not. And yet, I cut in line and took a seat that rightfully belonged to one of you good people. This is not how my coaches, teammates or parents expect me to behave, and for all of this I apologize. I hope you will all find it in your hearts to forgive me, for I am just a young man that thinks I am smarter than I am. Enjoy your flight, and remember to fly Southwest, because they let my coach do this to me."

The best part? All the knowing snickers from adults on the plane who probably got caught doing something similar back in the day and now relish seeing a teen take responsibility for behaving badly.

His coaches tell CBS News that for all of his line-jumping antics, he's actually a pretty good kid, overall.

Teen's public apology for cutting in line [CBS News]

by Mary Beth Quirk via The Consumerist