Victim pays double MSRP for G1 phone, still no refund from T-Mobile?

After she realized she'd been taken for a major ride -- amazingly, Internet access and texting were sold to her as "add-ons" -- she went back to the store asking for an explanation. Instead, she says six clerks began circling her and her friends, screaming and cursing and threatening to "break" their "faces," albeit with choice language. Her friend was tossed against a wall and another clerk tried to smash her camera, she writes.

The contributor tried six different ways of solving the problem, from filing complaints at several different places to trying to track down the elusive store owner to even having 25 TONY staffers come into the store and confront staff. She also tried calling the T-Mobile media relations line and getting an investigation launched.

Nothing worked, according to the article.

T-Mobile did end up "terminating its relationship with the store," but the victim still presumably has the G1...sans refund.

Lesson learned: If you're in the market for a smartphone and you haven't done your homework, make sure you do.