DO NOT buy from Capital Kia in Austin, TX

So Josh's mom on her final attempt to get a van decides she wants to go check out the Kia Sedona's in North Austin. They do have a 5 star crash rating and have front and rear A/C controls standard. I called up Kia and spoke to Chris Coker the Internet Sales manager. Chris tells me to come on out at 5pm on Saturday night. I had to go because Josh's mom did not want to get the shaft so I tagged along. We get there and they ran numbers on a 2006 Kia Sedona. Chris tried and tried but told us the payments would be over $500 and we wanted them around $350 to $375. I then asked if they had any demo models or certified preowned. He looks and tells me his Used location at IH35 and St. Johns has 2 2004s starting at $14k. He offers to meet us over there. We drive over there and were met by Matt who showed us the two Kia Sedona's. Both were basic models with power windows, locks and CD player. There was a green Sedona and a blue Sedona. Both Sedonas looked in rough shape. In fact, the detailer left wax streaks all over that van. I could have done a better job. We walk inside and they start running numbers. They start to present us with a deal when I tell Josh's mom that I am not getting good vibes from this and we should leave. She tells me she wants the van and wants to see what they can do. I come back and Matt pulls up their version of a "CarFax". He tells me there has been no repair work done to this car. Josh's mom decides she wants to go ahead and signs the paperwork. She has a "blank" check from USAA that she can use that had a better rate than they were offering but they were trying to get her financed that night because they get a kick back from finance places that use their service. Their rate they offered her was almost 3% higher in APR than she had but they worked on the numbers to eat the over $6000 in negative equity in her Honda CRV up. They get her payments a few dollars below what she is paying and they close the deal. It takes them forever to get this thing situated. You would think that you could just go in, buy a car and be in and out in less than 2 hours. Not this place.

She gets the van home and the next day she tells me, "I am spooked about this van. I should have listened to you." I figured they had a 48 hour return policy, she takes Monday off to go drop off this van at 9am when they open. She calls me from the parking lot and tells me one of the sales persons is refusing to help her that Matt or the Manager would have to assist her. She leaves to take the van over to the main Kia Dealership off 183 and Anderson Mill to get serviced because the van was making a noise which was coming from the suspension. I had hear the noise she was talking about. Chris Coker promised us a full detail for the van and promised to take care of the noise since it was under warranty. She leaves and calls Matt and the Manager from the used car start 3 and 4 times only to be told they were in "meetings". She even had Chris call him and he told Chris that he knew of the situation and he would "talk to him later". How ironic that over 3 days later, still no phone call from Matt or the Manager from the used store and its past the 48 hour turn in time.

I decide to poke my head under the hood of this beast to find out what the deal is because I am mechanically inclined and been working on cars for over 20 years. I do not have my own shop but folks tell me all the time that I should open one. I decided to change the oil and transmission fluid to straight synthetic. I also drained and replaced the power steering fluid with synthetic. I even ran fuel injection cleaner through the fuel system. Given, it is probably overkill on all that but you figure for a van that is 2 years old, it should have been in better shape that it was. I am impressed that www.kia.com has TSB's and technical repair data on their site for free. I have access to diagrams and tear down diagrams for any part of that Sedona. They even show you how to diagnose particular problems as well as list recalls. Ironically, the noise has since gone away. The Sedona shifts much better and runs quieter.

I am amazed at service we got from the used car department of Captial Kia. You would think they would stand behind every product they sold, but they do not. Once you buy a car or truck from them, you are on your own. I give Chris Coker praise for putting up with our ranting and trying to do whatever he could to try to fix the situation. He could not do anything about the whole returning the van business but tried to do what he could to make us happy. I plan to file a complain with the Better Business Bureau with these guys as well as the Attorney General. I also plan to contact the owner of Capital Kia who apparently owns the Auto Mall here in Kyle as well a few other dealerships in Texas. I am sure that it probably will not go fa, but what they do not realize is that word of mouth travels far. In fact, I asked a fellow co worker who is a Honda/Toyota fanatic and is from Japan what they thought of Kias and he was like, "I do not trust them. They are crap." I myself will never buy a Kia. I will also stick to either Honda or Toyotas. My 2004 Accord has over 85K on it and is still running strong. I will probably drive it until the wheels fall off.

If you are in the market for a new or used Kia, Do not goto Capital Kia. Do not listen to their tv ad about if they can not beat a Kia deal, they will probably just give it to you. That is a bold faced lie. They might "woo" you with great numbers but after the sale, you are on your own.

Car Shopping!

So Josh's mom has talked me into going to help her buy a new van since I used to work in the banking industry. I ran the numbers and know basically she can get her new van at $350 a month for a 2006 Mazda MPV LX since they have tons of rebates. She had me call one dealer in North Austin. I spoke to the internet manager who was very nice and friendly. I told him I would have my 8 year old son with me, so if he needed anything he would need to get that so everything would be ready when we rolled in today. I call the guy today and he is at lunch. We fight 5 0'clock traffic to get up there. He calls me and he is back from lunch and tells me to come out. We roll into the dealership and he tells me they have this demo 2006 Mazda LX with DVD player and he can get me out the door for $350 a month. We go back into the showroom and he goes to talk to his manager twice. He tells me he can get $390. I told him basically that we would do $365 tops. I told him to meet me in the middle and give me more money for my trade. For every $1000 dollars its an extra $20 payment. I tell him to put $2000 somewhere so we can leave. He proceeds to tell me that all the paperwork is locked in his boss' office and he would have to call me on Monday so we can work the deal.

First of all, I am amazed that this dude would even consider me coming back on a Monday even after telling him that I was bringing my 8 year old son and I did not want a long, drawn out car purchasing process because Josh would not go for that. Secondly, he told me at first that the demo had more room to play with numbers and would work out for Josh's mom. He then tells me that perhaps another model might be better. Another model? Didnt you tell me on the phone that everything was ready to go? Why make me come back to go through MORE hassles? I left pissed off and went over to the other Mazda dealer in South Austin, thinking that they would work out a deal for me. I walk in and was told that all salesmen had gone home. I told the lady, "Most car sales are done when a dealership is closing." I then spoke to the Internet Manager. I explain my situation to him. He tells me that their deal is a better deal than the other Mazda place was offering and show it to me on paper. The one dealer had an SV model and they offer an LX model. Josh's mom picks out a color and they get to working the deal. I started playing dealers against each other when I told them the one dealer was offering me $1500 more than they were offering me. This guy would not budge. They wanted to offer her $420 a month. I was amazed that they did not want to budge on their price. I had thought that it being the end of the month that they would give me some sort of break, especially since they are not going to be offering that model any more since they are going to the CX7 and CX9. He suggested I go over to Carmax and see if they will give me more for my trade and then bring that over to them so they could work something out with that. I told him I was NOT going to goto Carmax. He could either earn my business or I will wait for the first bone head to call me on Monday.

My first mistake was offering to help Josh's mom buy this new van since I was in the banking industry at one time. It is exhausting. It would be nice to be able to walk in to a place and have them give you a fair price without trying to poke your eyes out. I thought I was avoiding all that by contacting the dealer first, providing him my information and then going into the dealer a few days later.

Michael Richards Rant

I recently saw on the news that Michael Richards during a comedy show went off some hecklers and said some racial things. Given, I will agree he did step outside the bounds and should not have gone off like that. No one should ever say racial slurs like that. What is interesting is the 3 gentlemen from the audience is now coming forward and wanting to sue Micheal Richards.

What is this world coming to? Just because a comic makes a bad judgement or goes on a rant, you are going to sue? If thats the case, I am calling my lawyer and and George Lopez and Carlos Mencia are going DOWN! Now you wonder why we need tort reform in the US Justice system. Why tie up the courts with a stupid case like that? You goto a comedy show and expect some sort of off color humor and now you want to run and sue someone because you are offended?

The Canadian Fraudsters are BACK!!!

o after playing around with Canadian fraudsters. I get and email from the fraudsters again. Apparently they want to do business with me again. This time they want to wire me money. Of course, I am too smart to fall for that one. I will probably have them try to send me something to prove they are not trying to scam me. I have tried them to get them to send cash as a token that they are serious. They never fall for that. Perhaps I should ask for something material, like a GPS? hehehe Here is the email stay tuned for more Canadian Fraudster fun.

Subject: GET BACK TO ME
From: "ALEX WALTER"
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 03:07:33 -0500 (EST)

Dear Willie Brilliant,


Long time, this is Mr. Alex Walter of REXCO GLOBAL IMPORT AND EXPORT CO UK, I believe you remember me.

My dear, how are you doing lately, hope fine?

You remembered that we had some business issue before, you have not hear from me for long because I have tried reaching all our clients to ask them to always make sure that their mode of payment will always work to make you happy.

I plead to ask you back to business with us as our pay collection representative as it was before, the good news is that things are better now, as our clients will be paying through you to us using a more simpler process and your percentage has also improved to 15% of every payment made through you to us.

The process our clients told us that they would like to use in paying through you to us is via their LINE OF CREDIT or their EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT, I believe you understand what I meant.

If you accept this proposal do get back to me in 48 hours and I will tell you what next and business continues, we for sure like to remian in business with you.

Whatever be the case my friend, do get back to me. Have a nice day.

Alex Walter

Austin's Red Light Cameras

There has been a recent story here in Austin, TX that they want to put in Red Light Cameras to take pictures of vehicles that run red lights. I heard one guy on the radio say that it was an "invasion of his privacy". The DJ on the radio replied, "If you did not run red lights, we would not need cameras."

I have seen countless people run red lights all over the city of Austin just to beat the light. I have been hit by one guy who ran the red light because he thought he "had the right of way" then proceeded to tell me that he would appreciate it if I would not call his insurance, that he would pay for my damages out of pocket. I am all for these Cameras. I get tired of seeing people run red lights just to make up for extra time and think the fine should be at least $100. The max amount is $200 that can be fined but $100 would probably keep more people from running the red light. These cameras have been in Germany for over 20+ years.

Now, if they could just put spike strips for those morons who decide at the last minute to jet over on Mopac when their lane is either ending or exiting because they are too impatient to wait in traffic. (Which causes more of a traffic headache during rush hour.) I would be a happy man. :)

Mom of the year!

These are pics of a girl who has her pictures of her kids online. I had to laugh. Here are her kids holding up a gun showing they look "tough". I am amazed at what would go through a parent's head to even consider having their kids do this. With all of the violence in this world going on and problems at school, you wonder where the common sense of these folks are.

The mom of the year award goes to the mom of these girls. Sister, get a freaking CLUE! I am surprised CPS has not knock down the door of this lady's house.

Circuit City's Credit Card

My computer died and I figured I would get a new one. Circuit City had no interest but minimum payments for 15 months, which takes the bite out of having to buy a computer. I had asked the kid who rang me up, to make sure he put in 15 months no interest and he said, "Oh yeah. I have to request that." I have had this machine for almost a month and just get statement which says I have 6 months no payments or interest. I had a slight problem at Sams Club when I bought tires and called Customer Service and they took care of it. I call up Circuit City's credit card deparment which is handled by Chase. As getting through the menus, I get an Indian customer service rep who has a heavy accent. I explain the situation and she tells me I am not eligible for this special financing deal. I had explained I had the ad that I could fax it to her. She became very arguementive and started yelling at me to go into the store where I bought it. I ended up hanging up on her.

When I went into the store to get it situated and mentioned my rude customer service rep. The lady working customer service smiled and said, "Oh yeah. They will yell at you. They are not very friend nor provide great customer service." This goes to show that if companies continue to outsource customer service to companies in India who provide reps who have a hard time understanding simple English and are rude and inconsiderate, I will start to not to business with those companies. I had dumped Sprint because you would call and the Indian customer service rep would say, "Sir, you owe $25 on your bill." Yet you would call in the next day and they would tell you, "No, that guy was incorrect. You owe $250."

I do not blame Circuit City. Given, if the guy who rang me up would have correctly rang it up I would have not had to go through all of this. I seriously think that Circuit should force Chase bank to bring back those Customer Service jobs to the US just like AT&T has started to do.

Smoking

I was coming back from lunch and I ran into a Speedy Stop off Duval and 183 before heading back to work for some chips and a drink. As I walk in, there is a sign that says "This is a NON smoking store." Ironically the manager and another employee were outside that place smoking. There have been times that I have been in that store and have smelled someone smoking in the back.

Now, if there is a sign that says, "NON smoking" and you are not supposed to smoke 50 feet from the gas pumps, why do people still do it? It makes you wonder where people's common sense is. I dont mind people that smoke. I just have a problem with it when its too close to the gas pumps and in my face as I walk into the store. I just think its hillarious that you see something that says "DONT DO THIS" and you see someone do it. Kinda made me want to go, "Here is your sign!"

Ran into an old friend

So I the other day I run into an old friend of mine that I had met when I was working at another job. She and I had never met but she used to call me all the time. Our schedules never could mesh to where we could meet. We lost touch and I never heard from her again. Over 2 years later, I get an email from this same girl. She happens to work at my work. We start talking again and apparently her whole attitude has changed. She is not the sweet woman she once was. I suggest we meet up since we are finally in the same place at work and she tells me she is not going to talk to me or meet up with me unless I start sending flowers to her at work. (Apparently she is this type of woman that likes the attention she gets when something gets delivered and all the co-workers want to know who its from, etc.) So basically I come right out and ask her, "So you wont talk to me or meet me or get to know me unless I start sending stuff to work" Isnt that a little materialistic?" She response (and I quote), "Yeah. I am a Bitch now and if you do not give me anything then I want nothing to do with you."

Excuse me, but WTF? Here I am happy to run into an old friend and she is trying to act like a gold digger to see what kind of crap I will send her to her work. I dont mind the whole flower sending or bringing flowers to someone, but at least let me get to know you first. I had asked her on more than one occasion to allow me to get reacquianted with her again before we start the whole sending flowers to work business. She refused that. I guess it is all well and good that I found out early on that she had issues before it came out later on.

Vonage and VoIP

I finally broke down and got a home phone with Vonage, figuring it would not hurt having a home phone so I would not have to use my cell phone when I call into conference calls for work. I had heard good things about Vonage so I figured what the heck? I tried calling 3 times in order to get service. Each time I got some Indian representative who was trying to sound American but could not understand normal English. The third time was a charm and got an Indian guy who acutely spoke GOOD English and was able to place my order. I received the package with the IP phone router and instructions on how to install it. It was fairly easy to set up and POOF! I was up and running. My big complaint with Vonage is they recycle their phone numbers because on a daily basis, I get phone calls from some girl who skipped town on her creditors and they think I am hiding her in my house. I asked one lady who called for this woman, "Does she owe you money? Because if she does she is LONG gone." My second complain with Vonage is their customer service reps are totally clueless. I had a minor issue with my voice mail and I had to call once again 3 times to finally get someone who had a clue what he or she were doing to get my voice mail situated. Ironically, that last guy was an Indian guy. The other problem with Vonage is they outsource much of their customer service people. It is very frustrating to call in and get some Indian person who does not understand you and you sit there for over 20 minutes trying to explain to the person what you are trying to do, repeating yourself 3 and 4 times. It has gotten to the point where if I ever have to call to speak to a rep and I get an Indian rep, I hang up and dial again until I finally get a US rep. When I had to call to speak about my voicemail problem, the rep would pick up the phone and I would say, "I have a question about my voicemail." They would respond, "You have a question with your voicemail?" Gee is there an echo in here? Please do not repeat my question. Secondly if you are going to answer my question, do not sit there and go, "Ahh... ah....mmm... ahhh." If you do not know, tell me "Sir, let me take a look at that for you." and then put me on hold.


I am amazed at home many companies out there that are moving to outsourcing because it’s more cost effective. I am all about saving the company money but if people hang up and keep dialing in to finally get a person that has a clue what is going on, how much money are you really saving? Secondly, please do not have some Indian representative trying to "sound" American. To me, that is a slap in my face. Perhaps I should start responding sounding like an Indian person when I get these people on the phone. I have seen too many people lose their jobs to outsourcing. What is ironic about it is that these outsourcing people think if a person loses their job in America, they can easily get another one and that is just not the case. I am not trying to single out anyone. It is not just Indian people. Its any company who outsources to another country and you get a rep on the phone that tries to sound like they are from here, yet can not understand words like "right" and "correct".

I will say with my bad experience with Vonage I am considering canceling my service with them. I would almost be willing to pay the extra $10 a month to Time Warner Cable for VoIP phone service because I know I am going to get a rep that is not outsourced and know that if I have a problem, they will respond quickly instead of having no idea what I am talking about when I ask a simple question about voicemail.

Cell Phone Jammers

If you are like me, you get sick and tired of seeing people driving in their cars on the highway, not paying attention. There are some I have almost had accidents with. A study released in April 2006 found that almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event. The study, The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), breaks new ground. (Earlier research found that driver inattention was responsible for 25 to 30 percent of crashes.) The new study found that the most common distraction is the use of cell phones, followed by drowsiness. However, cell-phone use is far less likely to be the cause of a crash or near-miss than other distractions, according to the study. For example, while reaching for a moving object such as a falling cup increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by 9 times, talking or listening on a hand-held cell phone only increased the risk by 1.3 times. The study tracked the behavior of the 241 drivers of 100 vehicles for more than one year. The drivers were involved in 82 crashes, 761 near crashes and 8,295 critical incidents.


My problem is these drivers cause traffic to clog up during rush hour. I use to joke, "Gee, just buy a $10 headset." I have run into people who tell me they refuse to use it because they can not hear and have admitted to talking on their phone while driving and almost getting into an accident. There is a company that sells a Cell Phone jammer that will cause these people to have "No Service" with a 10 meter radius. It would be great to get behind someone who is on the phone and have their service go out. Meanwhile, what if there is an emergency? You would not be constantly jamming their service. Besides, once you passed them in your car they would have service again. I have heard movie theaters starting to install these. In fact, Every sunday at church there is always someone's cell phone that goes off in the middle of the service. On pastor said to someone whose cell phone was ringing, "Better answer it, might be God calling you." The down side to these jammers is the price. I found a portable one for $249. There is a UK company that sells them too. I am sure the FCC would probably step in if a bunch of people came in and started jamming cell phones. Its a nice thought to be able to go, "Gee Mister, stop being so rude and inconsiderate and HANG UP AND DRIVE!" and have people have to start paying more attention to their driving, rather then being on the cell phone causing accidents.

iPod repair

I finally broke down and purchased an iPod 2 gig. I have only had it a month when the docking cable go stuck and when I tried to wiggle it out the cable became frayed and came apart. I requested service from Apple who sent me a nice box within 48 hours of my request. I shipped it back to them and was told they would not fix it because the casing was damaged. They stated, "This type of damage is excluded from coverage under the Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty or extended service contract, such as the AppleCare Protection Plan. The repair is pending your approval of the following quote for repair costs: 205.95 USD plus tax." Yikes! $209.95? Thats more than I paid for my iPod Nano. I declinded the repair and having them ship it back to me. I found a few places on the web that would sell me the back casing for $20 if I needed it. Apparently its fairly simple to replace. That will volid my warranty with the Nano, but if I need to replace the casing, I am willing to take that chance. The other downside to that is that I will lose my engraving.. C'est La Vie. I will give Apple props for being on the ball and sending me a box to ship it to them and getting to looking at it soo quickly. It is a little disheartening that they will not fix the case because it was damaged before I got it. The upside is that is an easy fix and I can do it myself for 1/10th what Apple wants to fix it for.

Not on my side

I got in an accident on 07/06/06 with some young kid that thought he had a protected left green arrow and plowed into my car as I was entering the intersection. He called his mom who showed up with her neighbor. She was very nice and told me, "I appreciate you being such a gentleman with these kids." Ironically, I had not said a word to either one of them. What is even more ironic is that it is not the first time this moron had pulled the same stunt. On two other occasions, he had done the same thing. The cop that showed up at tha accident tried to be smart and say, "Oh, your car just needs a little buffing to get that out." I replied, "Sir, my car's bumper is on the ground. It needs a little more than buffing." The mom of the kid that hit me tried to offer to pay for my damages directly without getting insurance involved. I told her I would consider it. (Knowing that it would cost more money than they wanted to pay.)

I called the kid's insurance company that morning. (I will not mention names but I will say this, they are NOT on my side.) I immediately spoke to an adjuster who took my information and told me she would call me back once she spoke to the insured. I got a call back in 30 minutes and she told me I could take it to any body shop I wished. I had called my insurance company too when I got home after 1 AM that night. I decided to take my car to a place where my insurance and his insurance considers it a "5 star" body shop. I brought it in that day and got a rental. At first his insurance told me that they were not going to pay for a rental car over the weekend because my car was drivable. I was told by the Server Manager at the body shop that my car was NOT drivable. Since I drove a 2004 Honda Accord, the rental place gives me a Buick La Crosse. Nice car. Gas millage is awful in it. I can assure you, I did not get 30 miles per gallion highway. In fact, every other day I put $20 more in gas. I was going to fill it up by the fear was if I got my car back, then I would have a full tank in the rental. I made a few more calls to the insurance adjuster, who was great in getting back with me that day I dropped my car off, but then she dropped the ball.

I pick up my car about 3 weeks later because there was damage to the airbag sensor. Airbags did not deploy but had to get airbag service on it. The car looks great. You can not even tell anything had happend. The body shop did awesome work. I was thankful to get my car back finally. I was then told by the car rental that the insurance company had not approved the rental for the Buick. They gave me a compact rate. The car rental place had all along said that I am entitled to an equal car for whatever I orginally drove. I made the offer to bring the Buick back and they could have given me a compact but the car rental manager told me not to. I have called the adjuster 4 more times, left messanges and even went as far as calling her manager and left him a message. On top of that, the car rental place sent this company 4 messages through their system.

I am amazed at this insurance company's handling of my claim. They started off great but after the 2nd day, customer service went out the window. This insurance company is NOT on my side and if they are on your side, then I would seriously considering dumping them because they are worthless.

Use your freaking turn signals!

The 57 percent of American drivers who say they don't use their turn signals for changing lanes.
In a survey commissioned by Response Insurance, these were the reasons given:

· 42 percent said they don't have time.
· 23 percent said they are too lazy.
· 17 percent said they don't because they forget to turn it off.
· 12 percent said they change lanes to frequently to bother.
· 11 percent said it's not important.
· 8 percent said they don't because others don't.
· 7 percent said not doing it adds to excitement.

The survey also found 62 percent of men leave the turn signal alone when changing lanes; the number was 53 percent for women. Seventy-one percent of drivers ages 18-24 don't signal, but 51 percent of those 55 to 64 do.



I can assure you on my way to work and my way home I see countless people who drift into lanes, will cut through 3 lanes of traffic without staying in each lane for 3 seconds and do not use their turn signals. I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Turn Signals are NOT a factory option". I just wish people would be courteous enough to let people know you are going to change lanes instead of just jetting over with no warning and having me slam on my breaks because you are being impatient.

Sams Club to buy tires

So I just got my car out of the shop and its like 3 days later. I am driving to work and I got a flat. The front driver side tire shreded at the sidewall. I pulled over, changed the tire and headed back to work. I called around looking for the best possible tire deal. Sam's had the best deal on tires, so I called to make sure they could get my car in and out without it being too busy. They told me it would be after 1pm, so I took it to them after 1pm.

I get there at 1pm and there is a guy behind the counter who has NO clue what he is doing. I wait for almost 20 minutes for him to assist me. When it is my turn, I tell him I need tires for my car and he rings me up. He tells me it will be about 45 minutes and they will page me when I am done. I cruise around Sam's Club, checking out stuff I can buy, sit in the massage chair, go visit the Vision center about new glasses, swing by to get a drink and a pretzel. An hour and a half passes by and I roll over to the tire place to check to see if my car is ready. It is not in the garage, so I go to the counter to ask about it. There is the Loss Prevention Manager and this moron who cant figure out what he is doing refunding money to this guy who apparently they screwed up his tire purchase a few weeks ago. I noticed a Honda key just sitting there next to the computer. About 20 minutes passes and he looks down, "What the heck is this?" I respond, "If its a Honda key it is probably mine." He looks for my paper work and then gives me my key. No "Thank You" no NOTHING. I was like "Can I get a receipt?" Its in the car sir!" Now Mr. Moron has to raise his voice to me like I am the dumbass. I grabbed my key and walked out. The tires were on and my car drives great. The spare tire had been on it. Did they bother to put it in the trunk where it was? NO. It was just laid in the truck. I should have threw it through their window like that old Discount Tire commercial.

I am starting to realize that maybe Sam's Club isnt the best place for tires. I should have gone to Discount Tire or even NTB. They all price match and I sure they would have given me installation as cheap as Sams Club. Personally, I think Walmart makes it a habit of hiring morons so they can get some sort of Goverment deal on taxes because this is not the first time I had a run in with a moron at Walmart or Sam's, nor will it be my last.


Note to Sam's Club: Start giving intelligence tests before you hire stupid people. That would weed out much of the bad employees you have giving "wonderful" customer service.

Ahh thought SO!

No response from the fraudsters. The got nervous. Ironically, I got another email from some Russian guy who wanted me to accept payments for him and said in his email that it was safe from the FBI. Sure sure.. I believe that like I believe I need a hole in my head.

Playing their game

So I have not heard from our fraudsters. I figured I would stir up the pot by telling these morons that I was arrested because of their "fake" check. Once again, the check is sitting on my coffee table and I was not arrested. I figured two can play the same game since they are playing head games with me. We will see what they say. I am sure they will leave alone now. Of course, if I get an email from their "attorney" from an @excite.com email domain, then you will know its totally fake.


Alex,

Forgive me for getting back to you so late. I was arrested and jailed for trying to commit fraud. The cops said the check I was trying to deposit from you was fake and now are charging me with this crime. I need to know what your company is going to do to assist me in my legal situation since I was acting as an agent on your behalf.

Your attention would be greatly appreciate.
Sincerely,
Willie Brilliant

We'll see how this goes. Its getting funnier and funnier by the moment. :)

Bad Breath

So I meet this girl a while back. She is very sweet and lives a little bit aways from me. She is older than me, but I figured what the heck? We talk on the phone and have quite a bit in common, so we meet. I will say that if I ever go to meet someone I at least have cologne on or have my teeth brushed and my clothes are clean. This woman's breath was SOO nasty. She could have at least brushed her teeth. It was GROSS! I did not have the gall to tell her that she needed to floss and brush. What is even more strange is that she is going to nursing school. You would think that she would have an idea about good dental hygene. That is one thing that will make a good meeting go sour in a hurry if you meet someone and they have stinky breath or they smell like they need to hop in the shower.

Mr. Moron wont give up.

OK, So Mr. Moron is going at it again. He expects me to just give him my account information and sends me this letter:

Dear Willie,

Thanks for your prompt response, I indeed appreciate.

While I was discussing this issue with our managers here, we have agreed to increase your commission by 3% if you agree to give this deal a chance. This will make your percentage on any payment made through you sum up to 13%. Please manage this offer because I can't send you cash now, but you will get the cash in good terms after this deal.

I urge you to us this a chance, because a customer was ready to payin some money by next week, at the end we will all be happy as friends.

I promise you that all your private information given to me are safe, I hope you will send your bank information today to enable them pay in next week.

Trust me everything will be just fine, thanks as I wait to receive your bank information.

Alex Walter

I explain to Mr. Moron that I am not comfortable giving out my account information and insist that he sends me my "commission" in CASH only. Of course, I know he is not going to do so. He sends me this reply:

Dear Willie,

How are you doing today, I believe fine?

Well I understand your plight and your concern, but I most let you know that I have heard those stories before now and I asure you that your personal information are sure safe with us.

I really don't know how to convince you at this point, but the truth is that our business is real and you will get to know this for sure soon. I did made some promises to you concerning this new development. I believe in trying, give it a try. Once you give us your Bank information within a week customers will be crediting your account and you then have the opportunity to deduct your commission and forward us the balance.

If you will ask me, I will honestly tell you to us this one more chance to proval our business real to you. I don't know how to play around with people's information, so I will not start with you.

I believe I have spoken in all simplicity, you have a choice to make. You know is not possible to send you cash.

Waiting to hear from you if you changed your mind, stay well and stay away from trouble.

Regards

Alex Walter

Gee.. He is trying to claim my nerves. He has spoken in all simplicity. Give me your account information and we will rob you blind Mister! hehehe

I am waiting a few days to respond to him. I am accutally considering on letting him in on my little secret that I have been blogging about him all this time, warning everyone else about his little scam. He makes no mention in his last email when I tried to call him out on the fact that his company or the other company he was representing was not even listed at all. There was no traces of his organization. Ironically, there is nothing listed on the return envelope. Wonder what he would say if I told him his check he sent me and all of his emails are being forwarded to the FBI. Maybe I will make some story up that My house was ransacked by the cops and they need to provide me an attorney because of some sort of trouble. See what he says. hehehe ;)

This guy REALLY wants my bank info

SORRY FOR HIS RUDE ACTION, BUT I KNOW FOR SURE EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY.

IF YOU GIVE THE WIRE TRANSFER OFFER A CHANCE, THAT WILL COMPENSATE ALL
EFFORTS SO FAR. AND THE WIRE TRANSFER WILL NOT CAUSE ANY TROUBLE, IS
SIMPLY AND AUTHENTIC.

JUST GIVE ME THIS CHANCE SO I CAN GET THIS FUND FROM MY CUSTOMER AND
YOU PERCENTAGE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU ONCE THE TRANSFER IS MADE.

PLEASE SEND US YOU BANK INFORMATION.

WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU.

ALEX WALTER

_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.


Once again, he is asking for my bank information. NO thanks. I responded with this:

Alex,

I appreciate your sincerity. After this check fiasco, I would feel much better if you could just send me cash before I give you my bank information for you to wire in the money. I think if you send me cash, it would make me feel more comfortable giving my bank information out to a total stranger. Please send my commission, cash only to my address.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Willie Brilliant

Stay tuned for more...

Make My Way  your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com

Gee, my brother is SUCH a cheapo

I get a call from my middle brother John that my nephew Travis' birthday is going to be celebrated this weekend at Mr. Gattis. No problem. We have done these kinda of family party/get togethers before. In fact, my son had his party there. My brother tells me that we are all going to go "Dutch" and he is just going to get tokens for the kids. Geesh, talk about pinching pennies.

I understand my brother does not have alot of money and he and his wife do not make much money. What drives me insane is that he expects everything to be handed to him. He decided he wanted to move to La Vernia because they liked it in the country. Instead of saving money up to put down on the land, my mother let him "borrow" $25K for his land which he was supposed to pay back and never did. He tells my mom, "Mom, I will start paying you back when I get a better job." My mom has maybe seen $100 of this money. She tried to keep it secret from me because she thought I would blow my top. I am not angry. It just pisses me off that she would let my brother borrow money like that, only never to see it again. One time I asked my mom, "Mom, can I borrow $25K to start my own Blimpee franchise?" My mom replied with, "I dont have $25K." I responded, "Sure you do. John's trailer is sitting on top of it."

On the other hand, I have worked for everything I have owned. My grandmother died years ago and my parents gave all of us $6000. My two brothers both bought cars. I slapped that money in a Money Market account and let it grow. To this day, I still have part of that money left. Dont get me wrong, I am not mad because my mom helped my brother out. I just think my mom should cut the purse strings and let me brother fend for himself.

Gosh.. this is getting GOOD!!!

I have told these fraudsters their check is no good, that my bank said they were holding it for further instigation. Of course, this is all false. Their check is sitting on my coffee table and I NEVER went to the bank. Here is the one guy's response:

Dear Willie,

Thanks for you effort so far, just to remind you quickly that I was not
the sender of the cheque. But it was sent to you by one of my customers
who intended to make payment through you to my company as I told you
initially.

I contacted him and he said was very sorry about the situation at hand,
he also said they have a little problem with that account lately. He
further ask me to tell you to discard the cheque.

However; business continues, our customer are suggesting that they
should be paying through you to us via bank wire transfer, which is easy
and more authentic. And we have agreed to this, but we don't know how you
will see this new development.

At this point we most thank you for your understanding, for customers
to pay through you via this means, you will need to help us with the
following information:

YOUR BANK NAME
YOUR BANK ADDRESS
ACCOUNT NAME
ACCOUNT NUMBER
SWIFT/ROUTING CODE
YOUR PHONE NUMBER (S), to enable them reach you with payment.

Remember that when ever they make any payment through you will be
entitled to 10% of the total sum, we did hope understand this mail in good
faith.

Thanks, as we wait to hear from you.

Alex Walter

_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.



Who does this guy think he is kidding? Let me GIVE you my account number and routing number? Why? So you can wire money out of my account? Are you INSANE?

So then I get email from the manager guy who supposidly sent the check:

"HOLDER Co.Ltd"  wrote:  

Willie:


I must say that i am very disappointed with your way of work.So you
mean to tell me that Mr Taylor had made out payment to you since and
you did not notify us and you took the liberty of depositing the
funds.I remember instructing you to inform us on any proceedings and
you failed to do so.Now i am not in the position of telling you that
the check is real or not because i was not aware when the payment was
drawn but what i can tell you at this moment is that our customers are
very reliable people and they would not do anything to jeopardise their
name so i dont think they would send you a fraudulent check.

Now
i suggest you go back to your bank and have them inform you on when the
funds will be available for transfer because we need this funds
urgently and get back to me with full information.

I expect update soonest.

Aaron brooks
Chief Accountant
HOLDER COMPANY LIMITED.



So I got to call his bluff and send him this response:

Excse me? I am very disppointed in your own business practices. I have
gone to my branch at least 3 times to talk about this stupid check. You
basically made me look like an ass for even inquiring about a check
which was would have bounced aocording to my branch if they had not
caught it in time. I have wasted over 3 hours of my lunch hours as well
as countless phone calls to my local branch trying to chase this check
down.

You dont have to tell me if the check is good or not? I
strongly advise you to change your business practices if you wish to
stay in business for any lengnth of time.

By the way, I DID
follow instructions EXACTLY as ask by you and Alex. Now you can send me
another check that is GOOD this time or pay me for my time in trouble
after chasing this little fisaco down for you and your so called
"company". This time, you pay in cash.. no checks.. no wire transfers.

I am awaiting your response.

Willie Brilliant
  

 
We'll see if they accutally follow through. I am sure they wont do it, telling me I need to wire the money back to them. Would be funny if indeed they sent cash over for my "Commission". :)

Stay tuned for more details. 

More morons trying to commit fraud

So I get this email:



Good day Mr Brilliant:

How are you doing today,I write you upon receipt of the instruction you were given to collect payment from our customer.Please inform me on the situation of things on your end ASAP.

I await yur update.

thanks
Aaron Brooks
Chief Accountant,
HOLDER COMPANYLIMITED.


Whats funny is its from the same email the guy who is asking me to give them my "status" emails me from.. once again, a PUBLIC email address thats free. By now, I am laughing because they think I have this check in the bank and going to send them money once my bank clears it. I never went to the bank. I am sure if I did deposit the check it would bounce big time! Then I would be screwed.


I then get an email with the subject line: "CONFIRM YOUR STATUS!" from these morons.



Hello Mr Brilliant:

How are you doing today,Please i would like you to update me as regards the customer you were to contact for payment last week.May i have you know that your utmost seriousness is needed at this juncture.So please get back to us as soon as possible with information because we are arelly in need of this money.

I await your update.

thanks
Aaron Brooks
Chief Accountant,
HOLDER COMPANYLIMITED. -



Gee.. funny.. thats the same email address you used with the other MORON emailed me the check with the instructions to send them check to this other company. Whats is soo crazy is that they are stupid enough to use the same email for the same person.

So I email them this response:

Thank you for your message. I went into the branch myself and spoke with a personal banker. He told me my bank is holding the check because of some sort of invesitigation. They are stating the check is no good. Are you sure the check that was send is valid and not fraudlent?

Thank you
Willie Brilliant

Here is the last email I have recceived from Mr. Moron and my response:

Alex,

I have spoken to my bank. They are holding the check because they are stating this check is bad. They told me to contact you to find out what is going on with your bank?

take care
Willie Brillian

ALEX WALTER wrote:
Dear Willie,

How are you doing, hope fine?

As you promised to check on your Bank yesterday to get back to me, I was actually waiting to hear from you to get update if the cash is now ready.

Please update me, I believe your Bank is ready with the money by now.

Alex Walter

_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.
Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com


I am sure they will disappear after I mention the word "FRAUD". This is getting even more funnier by the minute.. stay tuned for details. :)

Wow.. It makes me wonder why some women play head games.

So I am cruising the net today and I stumble across a blog from some stupid girl I tried to meet back in May of this year. She has this "transcript" of our IM converstation. Needless to say, she has edited it and added a few things to make me look like an ass. Of course, she has two of three girls who have left derogatory comments towards me (of course). I wonder how the crazy women in the world find their way onto the internet. I was amazed that she would even edit what I said to her to make me look bad then parades it around like she has been victimized by my words.

I tell you, I am going to start a website for crazy women on the internet to warn all men. Women have one already. Why not guys? Someone suggested I call it, "Yeah, I F***ed Her" but I would rather have it something more classy. I would rather have something educational than something derogatory and stoop myself down to her level. Trust me, I can fight fire with fire if that what she wants; but, I am a believer in karma.. what goes around, comes around. She will get hers in the end.

Dang, I thought I smelled bacon.

So after my kiddo was whinning that he wanted to shoot some fireworks off, we go outside in the rain to do so. We light off a few things and low and behold Kyle's finest comes marching down the street and proceeds to tell me he is working a house fire right now and if he was on duty, he would write me at ticket for popping fireworks inside the city limits. Now, thats funny.. if you look on the map, I dont think I am in the city limits at all. I thanked him and got up all my garbage that we had popped and put it in the trash. Of course, my son was not very happy at all and of course was upset that he had to go back inside. What is also funny is all around my neighborhood, fireworks are going off. Of course, you do not see Mr. Kyle Police man marching over to those streets. Nope. I feel bad that the people who live around the corner from had to have the fire department out. I just think Mr. Kyle Police man could have been a little more professional about it rather than being a jerk about it in front of my kiddo.

Another dumb scammer.

So I get another email address for this guy who wants me to accept payments for him. Here is the email I received:

Dear Willie Brilliant,
Good Day, how you doing today, I want to thank you a lot for your time and support on this this project,I have just been informed this morning there has been a confirmation from our accounting department about some customers who are ready to make payment so please act accordingly as you receive this information.Please we want you to contact this CUSTOMER for mode of payment, so that you can inform us on how and when he is willing to release payment through you to us.

HERE IS MY CUSTOMER'S INFORMATION:
Customer Name : Mr. Paul Taylor
Tel :+1-403-708-3582
Email: taylorpaul100@yahoo.ca
Amount:$350.000.00

Now we would appreciate honesty and trustwothiness at this medium like we always tell all our agents because this is a huge amount being entrusted in your care.I would also appreciate if you contacted him as soon as possible and make him understand that you are Mr Aaron Brooks company assigned agent from HOLDER Co.Ltd that you were instructed to collect payment from him to our company.

Lastly, we want constant update on what goes on between the both of you from time to time so please do not fail to let me know.

Note that he is to pay you installmentally.

I hope you understand have a nice day and God bless.
I expect your reply soonest.

Regards
Aaron Brooks
Chief Accountant,
HOLDER COMPANYLIMITED.

-

Copyright � 2000-2006 Holder Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

---

Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!


The guy's email address is: holderco_ltd@excite.com. Now, if you want me to accept monies for your client, why not use your own email domain instead of a "public" one. I play along witht this guy and email his "customer" taylorpaul100@yahoo.ca

Here is Mr. Taylor's response:

thanx for your contack, kindly forward me your mailling address and your physical phone number where you can be reached

Paul,

I will be out of the office my secetary will contact you as well

paul

Bill Brilliant wrote:

Good Afternoon,
I am a Mr Aaron Brooks company assigned agent from HOLDER Co.Ltd that you were instructed to collect payment from him to our company.
take care
Willie Brilliant


And he responses again with his point of contact:

THANKS FOR YOUR CONTACT, MY ACCOUNT OFFICER WILL GET ACROSS TO YOU, YOU MAY CONTACT HER AS WELL

NAME : DENISE THOMPSOM
EMAIL: denisethompson100@yahoo.com
Tel: 403-708-3582

keep me posted

Paul

Bill Brilliant wrote:

Good Afternoon,
I am a Mr Aaron Brooks company assigned agent from HOLDER Co.Ltd that you were instructed to collect payment from him to our company.
take care
Willie Brilliant
How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger�s low PC-to-Phone call rates.

Funny, The lady with denisethompson100@yahoo.com Yahoo profile was created 06/19/2006. Once again, two more "public emails". What is interesting is that now they have another party int he loop for these "payments". Perhaps they are trying to cover their tracks. The phone number listed is a Candian phone number. Interestingly enough, I have a hard enough time fighting Candian fraud.

Here is her response.

Dear Mr. Brilliant

I have been trying to reach you on the phone without luck.

My name is Denise Thompson. I have been contacted by Aaron Brooks who has instructed me to send payments to you.

Please kindly confirm the following to enable me to expedite action accordingly.

Bill Brilliant

202 Teasley

Kyle TX 78640

512-405-3560 - this number is not in service - please provide update

NAME: --------------------------------------

HOME ADDRESS:--------------------------------

PHONE: ------------------------------------------

EMAIL: -------------------------------------------

I await your response at your very earliest convenience.

REGARDS

Denise Thompson

403-708-3582

Dang! I cant put a fake number in there for her to call me. :) I guess I am glad the number is still disconnected.

Beware of phony offers like these. These morons are only after getting your money and disappearing into the night.

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Scammers of the world!!!!

I get at least one of these emails every day where someone overseas is looking for people in the US to accept payments for them. All you have to do is take the check they send you and deposit it in your account and then mail the customer a check for the amount minus your 10% commission. Sounds easy enough right?

What these morons do not realize is that I work in Data fraud. I see scams like this on a daily basis. I signed up for one of thse deals and got an email from some guy in the UK using a @myway.com email domain. First of all, if you have a legit business, why not use a your own company name? This guy wanted to make sure I responded to his emails in a timely manner, which I did. This guy sends me a check in the amount of $79K and wants me to deposit this check. I have way ahead of this scam. These guys take a person who thinks, "Gee, easy money just making a deposit." Once the person makes the deposit in their bank and the bank realizes the check is fake, the check bounces and then the person is out the money they sent the customer as well as any bank fees and other monies owed to the bank since the check was fake. So I have the check sitting on my coffee table and I am not stupid enough to deposit it. The guy who send me the check emails me and asks to update him. I told him I had deposited the check but the bank was holding the check because it was a foreign check and they would not tell me when they would release the funds. (Of course, the check is still sitting on my coffee table.) A few days later he asks again about what is going on. I tell him the bank is investigating his customer because of fraud and they will not give me any more information. Ironically enough after I tell him this, I never heard from him again.

First of all, the company this check was supposed to come from does not exist. There is no contact information on the check so if anything goes wrong, you are screwed. Secondly, the guy who is is trying to get me to cash the check emails me from a "Public" email account ("@myway.com"). This is a BIG sign this is big time fraud. Thirdly, any talk of making easy money by accepting packages and resending them to someone else is big time fraud. (Its what I deal with on a daily basis at my work.) The talk of easy money should be a sign that you should run for cover. What is even more ironic is the guy's name, and phone number he wanted me to call him on as well as his email info was all updated in my database to block any order that tries to come through my company. Thank you Mr. Fraudster for trying to be slick, you just allowed me to protect my company against fraud from your moronic self.

I think I will definately have to post a copy of the check just so people can see how crazy some of these morons are.