A check was placed in the wrong envelope and Sprint cashed a $3000 check made out to someone else. The problem is they won’t refund it and want her to earn it down. Ridiculous! Of course there there is probably a case against the back for cashing a check to someone other than the payee too.

See the sprint sucks site for more info.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Most people only buy a furnace or air conditioner with the house they buy, or when the old one breaks. As a result consumers don’t get much experience hiring HVAC contractors and even less negotiating for the best deal. Heating and cooling contractors know this and use this to their advantage.

Since as home repairs go, replacing the furnace or the air conditioning system is a big cost, and since summer’s warm weather is almost here, we thought we’d share a detailed article from Furnace Compare about how the HVAC market really works and how to choose a heating / cooling contractor.

Additionally there is a second article on how to negotiate for the best deal, because HVAC quotes are extremely difficult to compare, even when the models are the “same”.

Here are some highlights on picking a Heating or Cooling Contractor

(See the article for more the details)

• Ask for recommendations.
• Find out how long they have been in business.
• Check References.
• Contact the Better Business Bureau.
• Ask how they will determine the correct size of the new furnace.
• Make sure you contractor properly licensed.
• Find out if you need a permit and if the contractor will get it for you.

How to Negotiate with Heating Contractors

Once you pick a contractor you’ll want to negotiate for the best deal. After all, if you are spending $5000 a saving of just 5% is $250! The problem is that it is often impossible for a home owner to make a fair comparison, between two bids. Furnace compare has just added a new article to help consumers negotiate with their heating contractor.

Their ideas include:

• Explaining that you are a referral source friends and colleagues and that when you get a particularly good deal you are extra anxious to share the news.
• Negotiating lower prices by being flexible on install date and payment terms.
• Negotiating for a year of free service.

Good luck keeping cool this summer, and think about energy efficient units because engery costs are not likely to decline anytime soon.

It is not often that we at Joe Consumer find ourselves as fans of lawyers and businesses, but we’d like to tip our hat to Kurt Denke, CEO of Blue Jeans Cable, for his corporate “Little guy” tenacity. The folks at Monster Cable charged his organization, Blue Jeans Cable, with infringing there intellectual property. The very short summary is that Monster thinks that their Tartan cables look too much like Monster’s cables. How do I say this simply… It is an RCA plug — It has pins on each end and wire in the middle. I am just waiting for them to find a string with cups on each end to be infringing.

It seems like Monsters IP bully tactics were directed at the wrong guy this time. Kurt Denke was q lawyer litigating for insurance companies for 19 years before becoming CEO. He fired back as only a wronged lawyer itching for battle can, in an insanely long, over the top letter that left use crying at its awesome in your face style, mastery of facts and law, and its absurdly long length.

See the whole letter here at gizmodo.