Chris Leckness - Latest Comments

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

samanthakennedy_2000 — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:42:43 -0000

Amen to that. And you can have commen sense and still get screwed. A year ago I choose Directtv verses Dish because it had nothing whatsowever in the set up process about a contract. Dish did which is why I went with Direct. Upon telling the "great" customer service reps this, I was told that it was a verbal agreement and there wasn't a little box to check saying I agreed to it. I just had to know that by signing up I was going to be put into a contract. So yeah I commen sense and have read the fine print. Nothing about a contract whatsoever.

Re: Altering Windows Live Writer Themes

JLT — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:22:43 -0000

I've seen a couple similar posts, but yours is very clear... thanks!

My problem is that I have not been able to set up my site styles in WLW... and when I navigate to C:\Users\User_Nam\AppData\Roaming\Windows Live Writer\ I see the Dictionaries, Keywords and LinkGlossary folders, but Blogtemplates does not exist!

Seems like a catch-22... can't refresh the styles from my site, but don't have the local styles so I can't even change them. Any ideas?

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Russ Holmes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:52:26 -0000

Ok, thanks Chris. I'll let you know if I see anything.

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Chris Leckness — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:54:28 -0000

Hmmm. Weird. I added them. Let me do it again.

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Russ Holmes — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:50:04 -0000

Hey Chris. I don't know about anyone else but I never did see that Wave invite. Are they still available and do you need my Gmail address?

Re: Topps Exclusive MLB Deal – Good or Bad?

eqq — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:17:37 -0000

To me this is very BS and smells like anti-trust (but remember, the leagues have an exemption from anti-trust law). Consumers always benefit from choices, even if it is too many.

Point in case. Best card ever - the Ken Griffey Jr. Upper Deck rookie. The Fleer, Topps, and Donruss versions where trash in comparision. Us kids knew the top line "Griffey" was the UD card. We where very certain that if we could keep it in mint condition, and I did as it got the thick case with screws in the corners for it, I would someday be able to sell it for a fortune!! As a kid, having that Griffey was huge and in a funny way I will never forget it. And I also liked Topps, there was the great mistake card of Joey Bell with the (fuck you) written on the bottom of the bat.

Re: Who the hell is reading this blog?

eqq — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:34:27 -0000

My first post, but a constant reader. I follow because it is tech orientated and yet also quite random. But overall, this has a very genuine and honest feel. Also I am from Seattle and while living in China for past 2 years this helps me say in touch with whats going on in the real world.

p.s. i stumpled on your site when researching Zune HD and trying to figure out when WM would finally get their act together and stop sucking so bad (v7 where are you w/ Zune preinstalled?).

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

ccanady — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:49:09 -0000

I know this is late but are you still giving out invites? I just came across your blog looking up infomation about HTC fuze and android.

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

sammyjod — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:17:19 -0000

Direct TV is conning elderly people by telling them they are offering free specials on movie channels then they throw in NFL or NHL or whatever ball is played at the time then charging them $60 a month for 5 months without telling them. When they go to disconnect the trial offer, they are told they can't disconnect it because they still have 2 to 3 more months they have to pay on these ball programs! It's sad when an elderly woman who raised four sons is roped into this kind of predatory sales practices then it takes a daughter-in-law calling a half a dozen to a dozen calls (all with supervisors hanging up on me) to find out what the heck happened and demanding to get it taken off even under threat of the class action lawsuit that's going on now. The supervisors don't care about the class-action lawsuits. They claim the customers knew then they argue the point of, "Well, were YOU on the PHONE when the customer agreed to the terms?" I asked her if SHE was on the phone when the offer was pawned off on the customer...' this pissed her off to the point where she hung up on me.

It finally took a kind service rep to remove the charges on the bill to get it back to where it was before. It is difficult to believe I ended up with countless robots then countless a$$holes only to finally get to the likely ONLY decent person with the company to get this straightened out. All I can think of now is that I hope this poor guy doesn't get into any trouble for his taking these services off the bill.

I did have them add a "do not call with special offers" on the account. If they do call, I will make an appointment with my state's Attorney General to discuss this problem over tea, coffee, or a couple of stiff drinks to find out how we can stop practices like this because in the end, it ruins all companies, not just Direct TV. It makes everyone suspect of a business whether that business is on the up and up or down and dirty as Direct TV has become. That's sad...

BTW, my husband & I have been customers since PrimeStar some 14+ years ago. His mother's been a customer for about 4 +/- years now. We get no respect from DTV when I call on my MIL's acct or on our acct at times. I even threatened tonight to cancel both services, her acct & ours if this wasn't handled properly. It didn't seem to bother the a-holes I dealt with but it did concern the one decent fellow I got. I wish I could send a kudos to this man b/c he was polite. In fact, he was the most polite person out of everyone I spoke with over a 2+hour series of conversations after call-backs after being hung up on by SUPERVISORS no less.

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

Casey — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:25:04 -0000

Hi, I am having problems with dish network. I have had them now for 9 months and if not every month then every other month I have had to call and go round and round with this co. I think I have everyone's ID# that works at dish network. In the nine months I have not received a bill with the same amount on it and on almost every bill has an ID# on it that belongs to someone who tells me they work for dish network, I also have not paid the amount that the bill reflected either, so go figure. When I first signed on with dish network someone contacted me and said they were from dish network and I have to pay $50 for a processing fee I thought it was a little fishy but they made it sound pretty good at the time. Well when i was contacted for the install, I asked about the $50 and they said they don't charge a fee and I had been contacted by a third party co. for dish network. They said to call the third party co. and request they return my money, well that didn't happen. I also had to pay $168 for the install. Anyway the third party told me when I first signed on with dish network that my bill would be $32.99 for the first 6 months and that included some premium stations free for 3 months. After the 6 months it was to go up to $62.95 per month. That never happen and I have been fighting with dish network every since. On 11/15/09 I called because as you can guess my bill was wrong still, I talked to ID# 56w first and then to Noah ID#KD6 and after going round and round for about what seemed longer then 30 min's he finally gave me an reasonable offer of $44.99 until 3/2010, I said to him now my bill will reflect this amount on my next bill right, he said with confidence yes it will I am entering it into the computer as we speak. Well, as you can guess by now that didn't happen either, the following month my bill reflects still another amount lower then then I was told and I paid it. then comes Jan.2010 bill and it was much more then I was told And whats worse Noah ID#KD6 was not entering in the computer what he said he was entering. My bill this month reflected 80 something dollars last week and this week it is $76.86 I think, no matter it's a far cry from $44.99. Here we go again, I called and talked to a Jean ID#V2G she said my bill was 76 something and I told her about Noah and that the info should be in the computer but it wasn't. I also told her I was recording our conversation she was ok with that, I told her that I would pay the 44.99 and if that was a problem she needed to take it up with Noah, so she switched me to the corp. office so she said, I talked to Aliene we went round I also told her she was being recorded she wasn't happy about that and it was not ok. with her. By the time we finished I said I wanted to cancel my service and she came back at me saying I would have to pay $225 fee to cancel, but when I first signed on I was told it would be $150 to cancel. I told her that's just another lie I've been told by dish network. I truly do not understand why the FCC or whoever governs these co.'s why they do not do something about this type of business. What are we to do now, are we to just sit back and submit to the bad business ethics of these co.'s who not only lie to us but who feel that they are well with in there rights to take any amount they see fit out of your bank account and or out of your pocket. So please stay clear of dish network too they are just as bad as direct tv just different names that's all. I think it's time we started fighting back.

Re: CES Day 4 – Gambling Report

Name Susie — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:40:26 -0000

Keep it positve!

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

madashell — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:47:06 -0000

I hear you Direct tv SUCKS with a capitol F'n all they do is screw people over. I have been a customer for over three years and they offer nothing other than to take my money. I tell you I called talk to three different guys and they were all rude and were no help at all. If you call and have a few questions I seems to be a bother for them. Well excuse me for making them work while they are at work. All I wish is that they would remember that without us they don't have a check. Why not make some good offers to customers like us who have been loyal and pay our bill on time. What I see is that they make great offers to get people to switch over and once they have then they don't care afer that your money is theirs at least for two years and like you said even if you try to get out of it early they will take as much as they can before you switch to someone else.

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Matt Lee — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:20:12 -0000

I want one please : )

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Thomas Franzese — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:38:32 -0000

Happy New Years Chris.

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

inspiration13 — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:32:16 -0000

i love the wave. i'm trying to get the new phone, Nexus. and ideas? when the public can buy it?

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Russ Holmes — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:13:42 -0000

Awesome Chris! I too would love to catch a wave. Thanks for the opportunity and happy holidays to you and yours!! 'holmesrs'

Re: Merry Christmas from Chris… My humble Gift = Google Wave Invites.

Jake_Speed — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:45:16 -0000

Merry Christmas Chris!

An invite to Google wave sounds great!
Thank you.

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

jj — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:21:50 -0000

1. Written by j. Jones, on 23-12-2009 13:06

:cry I just got off the phone with these people who were no help at all!I moved in to a place for 3 months and had direct tv,was supposed to get a 100 $ visa card i never got and was charged 200$ of the bat for installation. All that was ok but now I paid my account up to date and wanted to cancel and they would not let me the women told me to suspend the account and not to send in the receivers.I did not want to do this but I did because she talked me into freezing my account.Anyway here it is 2 days before Christmas and they took $346.00 out of my account which put me $86 in the negative.(They Have no Heart at All)CLARKHOWARD.COM please is there anything we can do? this is the corperate phone# (310)964-500(310)535-5000 at least call and bug them.They wanted to know how I got the phone #

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

namejohnsmith — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:41:17 -0000

Direct TV stinks. Every once in a while they charge me for two months instead of one. This happened twice. I'm switching to FIOS.

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

Robert — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:04:03 -0000

Interesting, I am/was considering directv but this is one of many stories of unethical business practices (yes unethical fine print or not) ... Its similar to the fine print in credit card contracts that hit you when you try to leave or they adjust their rates/policies ... seems business people don't get it that word spreads and reputations matter. For Direct TV Inc folks ... go back to your business professors and ask them about ethics and reputations over the long term. If customers suspect your unethical (even if you think your not) we won't be inclined to take any deal. No we can't all be bought give us and the Internet word of mouth some credit.

As a guy from Detroit I know how much corporate reputations and quality count .. believe me everyone in Michigan gets it. Sorry that Direct TV doesn't get it, guess I'm glad they aren't in Michigan too.

I also think you missed Circut City's responsiblity here ... oh that's right they went out of business and had lots of customer reputation issues.

Thanks for you note online here, you can count me in as taking your advice and ignoring this customer and telling my friends. That just cost them more than your lease costs.

Re: Am I doing it right? (Twitter)

Chris Leckness — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:03:55 -0000

Thanks guys. I am enjoying twitter and I am trying to keep a balance of personal and self promo. I have accounts for all my sites too, but I can't imagine trying to interact between them all efficiently.

Hey Jeff. I remember. I still haven't see a Velocity Mobile device yet. :)

Re: Am I doing it right? (Twitter)

Jeff Gordon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:58:05 -0000

Thanks for the frank and honest question. Me, I like your personal posts and tweets. I don't know you personally, though we've talked (in my PR life, on the phone and in person at CTIA), so it's cool that I can keep up with that you have going on. It takes less than a millisecond to stream past any post I'm not interested in. So I say, keep it up!

And by the way, Go Dawgs! (Georgia grad here!)

Re: Am I doing it right? (Twitter)

cybertactix — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:49:03 -0000

I don't know what "right" is, and I'm not sure anyone truly does when it comes to Twitter, but I certainly don't see what you tweet/retweet as wrong. I don't see retweeting of your sites (or self promotion as some call it) as wrong since it allows me to just follow you and not all your sites. If I really didn't like what you tweeted I could just unfollow you as I've done with others.

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

ray — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:22:51 -0000

direct tv has got me too. I've been with them since 1995 and have had same pkg. now their taking channels from me and still charging me the same price. was told "Direct tv reserves the right to change or do what they like with our programing pkgs" and customer relation dept. started their email reply with JUST SO YOU KNOW. I will be switch to either dish network or fios if it ever comes to town

Re: Open Letter to Direct TV – Warning to Consumers

ElSegundo — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:02:59 -0000

No, You read the contract.