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Can a fashion retailer take a photograph of a celebrity, print it on a t-shirt and sell it without the celebrity’s approval? Yes, but sometimes no – not when the retailer has previously gone out of its way to draw a connection between its products and that celebrity, in this case Robyn Fenty, aka Rihanna. How did this begin?

The post Rihanna, the Court of Appeal, and a Topshop t-shirt appeared first on OUPblog.

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This post is off track for this site, but being a writer I felt compelled to write about Verizon’s misrepresentation and deception. I need to vent.

I have to say at the get go that I’m livid. I’ve just been on the phone for over an hour with two different Verizon reps in regard to a promotion bundle that I entered into back in October 2011. It was for 24 months at $79.99 per month.

At that time, the rep who offered the bundle made an error – it was, I think, supposed to be $89.99 per month. But, after talking with multiple supervisors or managers, it was acknowledged that Verizon made the mistake and would honor the deal.

The details were phone, cable, and internet with life time DVR, 2 boxes free, and one for $5 per month.

At the time I had an order number and a confirmation number. And, all the details were confirmed with a sales rep. All was good.

All was good for a year then the doo-doo hit the fan. My bill increased.

I called Verizon today to explain that I have a 24 month plan and the first rep I got told me I wasn’t in a contract. I was told Verizon never accepted the bundle in October 2011. I was never told. If I didn’t have a plan or contract how did I get an order number and confirmation number? And, why on earth wouldn’t Verizon tell me. This is pure deception.

The rep I spoke with today understood it was misrepresentation and offered me a $20 credit for the next 12 months to compensate for the free DVR. And, she offered an additional $10 credit for one that should have been extended. But, she wanted to see if a manager could do more, so she transferred me. The manager never picked up. I was on the phone 38 minutes.

So, I called back and got rep 2. He put me on hold for around 10 minutes and came back to tell me I don’t have a contract. The free lifetime DVR lifetime isn’t valid, because I now have multi-room DVR. Again, why wasn’t I told? I didn’t order the multi-room DVR, Verizon just did it.

And, he told me an additional $20 credit I was supposed to get for two years (which was confirmed by managers back in 2011) would not continue. He said it's never offered for more that 12 months.

My bill increased around $55 per month – this is a lot of money – it’s $660 per year.

Still recovering from Super Storm Sandy, it’s just extremely aggravating that these huge companies don’t have to honor their word. Verizon outright deceived me.

And, how could one rep understand that this is an injustice and the other not care?

And, as a consumer, there is no recourse.

Since this is an information site, the advice to take away it be careful when entering into plans/contract, especially with mega companies. I don't know what more I could have done to ensure my plan was legitimate, but I was deceived anyway.

Government has its hands in just about everything, why aren't they regulating mega companies like Verizon. Sidetracking a bit, why on earth do we pay such exorbitant prices for cable TV when it's filled (actually jam packed) with paid commercials and paid infomercials.

VERIZON, SHAME ON YOU!

I'd really appreciate your views on this. Are cable companies taking us for a ride?

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Dear Alanna Holt:

Three cheers for sharing your thoughts on how the media (mis)represents woman. We don't know you personally, but your YouTube video for the Miss Representation project was right on, to the point, and will hopefully go viral. Best of luck to you, Alanna!



If you can't see the video above, click here.

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