Uh oh! Looks like one popular games retailer may be getting a lump of coal in its stocking this Christmas.
Consumer Reports has released its 2011 Naughty & Nice Holiday List. First introduced last year, the list examines various companies’ shopping policies and gives them a thumbs up or thumbs down depending on how consumer friendly they are. Consumer Reports notes that the list merely comments on specific policies, not “everything else the company does or how it treats its customers.”
Xbox 360 manufacturer Microsoft managed to make the Nice list. “If someone buys and installs software on his or her computer, most retailers won’t give out a refund, no matter how much the customer hates it. Not so with Microsoft. Consumers dissatisfied with a Microsoft software or hardware purchase from any retailer can send it back to the company within 45 days for a refund and reimbursement of shipping costs up to $7.”
Meanwhile, video game retailer GameStop landed smack dab on the Naughty list. “A Fortune 500 company with more than 6,500 stores worldwide, this video game software and hardware merchant has a laundry list of conditions governing returns and exchanges. And in the end, GameStop proclaims, ‘We reserve the right to refuse any return.’”
The full list is below. You can watch the embedded video or check out the report for more details.
Nice:
Bi-Lo supermarkets
Cablevision
Live Nation
American Express
Orvis
Crutchfield
Costco
Amazon.com
Microsoft
REI
Naughty:
AirTran
RadioShack
American Apparel
Verizon Wireless
Liberty Travel
The Swiss Colony
Southwest Airlines
SiriusXM satellite radio
GameStop
Source: Consumer Reports
-Reporting from San Diego, GamePolitics Contributing Editor Andrew Eisen has been extra specially good this year...
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Consumer Reports: Microsoft is Nice, GameStop is Naughty
November 22, 2011
Shout box
Zen: http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130614/OFFDUTY02/306140030/New-Xbox-sin-against-all-service-members-06/18/2013 - 7:33pm
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Zen: Been out for a few days, but has anyone brought up the possible ban on Xbox One on military bases because of security concerns that it could be a listening device by Commanders?06/18/2013 - 7:33pm
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Andrew Eisen: Sleaker - Fixed.06/18/2013 - 6:34pm
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MechaTama31: CMiner: Another issue is that every camera/webcam combination is going to be pretty different, in terms of the software/hardware exploits available. A homogenous hardware/software combo like a console, in millions of homes, will be a much juicier target.06/18/2013 - 6:31pm
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Sleaker: Vox pay what you want link is busted.06/18/2013 - 6:27pm
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ZippyDSMlee: Mics have to breath put tape over it.06/18/2013 - 6:25pm
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NyuRena: You nailed it James! Yikes..06/18/2013 - 1:56pm
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james_fudge: With MS willing to share with the government, an always listening device should give everyone pause.06/18/2013 - 1:37pm
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james_fudge: you can't turn off the Microphone on the Kinect and it has to be plugged in. It's not rocket science.06/18/2013 - 1:35pm
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E. Zachary Knight: The Humble Bundle Guys just don't like me having money in my pocket do they? https://www.humblebundle.com/06/18/2013 - 1:12pm
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E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, I know that my Android camera is off unless I am using an application that turns it on. Same with the microphone.06/18/2013 - 12:38pm
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CMiner: Can you turn off the camera on an iPhone? Like, -really- turn it off, not just change a setting that -tells- you the camera is off?06/18/2013 - 12:13pm
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james_fudge: when they make it a requirement, yes they are06/18/2013 - 12:10pm
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CMiner: I just don't think Microsoft bears any more (or less) responsibility for privacy with its Kinect camera than do the makers of laptops or smartphones with integrated cameras.06/18/2013 - 12:00pm
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Imautobot: The ability to operate the console without the camera is key. It's a peripheral, not directly integrated into the console, and yet it behaves as if it is. Thankfully I don't have kids, and won't have an Xbone either.06/18/2013 - 11:49am
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CMiner: Oh, I agree that the decision to make the kinect mandatory/always listening is terrible.06/18/2013 - 11:48am
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E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, and the easier the provider makes to do such things, the better. The fact that the XBone will not even funtion without it plugged in and turned on in some fashion makes a world of difference from a PC Webcam.06/18/2013 - 11:38am
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CMiner: It takes steps on the user's part to ensure 100% privacy (unplugging, uninstalling, putting tape over it, not putting it in the kid's rooms, etc)06/18/2013 - 11:29am
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CMiner: My point is that no webcam producing company can guarantee that no one will ever ever ever be able to access video from that webcam without your knowledge and permission06/18/2013 - 11:28am
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E. Zachary Knight: Of course at that point, you are still opening up yourself to Windows zero day vulnerabilities and back doors that they are happy to share with the government before Windows users.06/18/2013 - 11:26am
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