Customers

Lawmakers and consumer advocates have heaped accolades on Bank of America for its announcement that it will stop hitting customers with $35 overdraft fees any time they don't have enough cash to cover a debit-card purchase. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who has spearheaded efforts in Congress to crack down on abusive bank practices, was typical of those showering BofA with love. She declared, "Let me now praise Bank of America!" It's understandable that folks who regularly criticize banks would want to hand out milk and cookies when they see something beneficial for consumers.

Power was knocked out Monday afternoon to 4,200 residential and commercial customers in Oxnard, according to Southern California Edison officials. The cause of the outage was still unknown late Monday, but company spokesman Rudy Gonzales said power had been restored to all customers by 7:15 p.m. The affected area was south of Gonzales Road, north of Wooley Road, west of Oxnard Boulevard and east of Victoria Avenue. The power first failed about 3:12 p.m.

Cable companies are notorious for making promises to win particular franchises and then not fulfilling their contractual obligations ("Market Competition Will Keep Rates Down for Consumers," Commentary by Mark P. Petracca, April 25). The exclusivity of their agreements with the city encourages the cable companies to increase the rates due to the lack of city intervention once the franchises are procured. Even though the franchise agreements expire, only a small minority of cities exercise the option to change cable companies.

William Zuendt will leave with his pockets stuffed ("Wells Fargo President, 50, Says He Will Retire," May 22) and his ego inflated. And what has he left behind? In our case, it's one less pair of customers. Small ones to be sure, but from the sound of the article we're joining a group. In our case, Wells Fargo closed our branch. So as of the end of the month, when all checks have cleared, we'll take our savings account and our checking account out of a bank branch where we've gone for more than 20 years.

Solvent borrowers are leaving the system in droves for other lenders because of its failure to cut interest rates, an expert told a congressional hearing. But a director of the Farm Credit Administration told the hearing that the high rates are necessary because the system borrowed heavily in the late 1970s and early 1980s and must pay off those loans.

BlackBerry's Research in Motion insists it's not in a "death spiral," but that isn't stopping many companies from preparing - just in case. Most analysts who have been following the Canadian smartphone maker don't think the company will go out of business soon. Still, some companies that have relied on the BlackBerry for years are starting to hand out other smartphones to their employees. Suffolk Construction Co. in Boston has been a RIM customer for more than a decade, but now it is looking to switch most of its 700 BlackBerry-equipped employees to iPhones by the end of the year.

No more missing inches: Subway says that never again will a Footlong sandwich meet a ruler it can't match. In the company's own words: “We regret any instance where we did not fully deliver on our promise to our customers. We freshly bake our bread throughout the day in our more than 38,000 restaurants in 100 countries worldwide, and we have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve. Our commitment remains steadfast to ensure that every Subway Footlong sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide.” This after an outcry when an Australian customer posted a photo of a Footlong sub on Subway's Facebook page.

Wells Fargo is finally realizing that they can't fool the people with notices like, "Beginning June 1, to improve customer service, no over-the-counter transactions will be accepted that can be done on ATM machines" ("Merger Woes Take Toll on Wells Fargo," July 10). Who were they kidding? That's a decrease in customer service, not an improvement! That's the sort of action Wells has been taking, and that's why customers are leaving. STEVEN B. OPPENHEIMER Northridge

Nike Inc. is giving customers a shot at being the next Michael Jordan--not a chance to play pro basketball, but to design their own sneakers. The company on Monday launched a new division called NIKEiD that will let buyers customize two shoe models on Nike's Internet site (http://www.nike .com), the footwear and apparel giant said.

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson proposed Tuesday that the Police Department be allowed to publicize the names of people who patronize prostitutes and that the city broadcast their pictures on its cable television station. Bernson's motion notes that prostitution has been "a continual plague" not only for the LAPD but for retail business areas and even residential neighborhoods.