Tiremax Livingston, TX (Get it while it's hot!)

It's been a while since I had a good consumer adventure that I had to do battle over, but it's good to know that my sword is still sharp.

I'll post the full story later, but suffice it for now to say: They took my money for merchandise, which I never accepted or received, failed or refused a refund, so I filed a consumer complaint and mymymy looky here... the CEO sends me private emails threatening to sue me for exercising my first amendment right to let other consumers know of this rip off. That folks, would be called a SLAPP, and it might come under the guise of another form of litigation. As of the time I am writing this, they claim to have processed my refund nearly a week ago, and more than two weeks after the "purchase" BUT it still has not shown up in my account. So the big bad guy can huff and puff all he wants tom but that's the truth and I am not afraid of the truth. Are you? Why is the CEO of Tiremax afraid of the truth? hmmm.

Would you do business with a company that coerces it's online customer reviews by silencing dissent by litigation? Do they really think they can shut me up? hahaha. Nobody has succeeded in shutting me up yet. Ever. And the more he threatens me and tries to intimidate me the more I want to talk about it.

He just doesn't "get" that if they had refunded my money during one of my first three trips to the store to obtain a refund that I never would have had a complaint in the first place.

He writes "We will defend our brand." Cool. Why don't you try defending your brand with excellent customer service instead of coercive tactics?

(I'll be back later with more.)

Complaint ID#: 8018329 Business Name: Adventure RV Center

Complaint ID#: 8018329
Business Name: Adventure RV Center

Thank you for contacting the BBB of Greater East Tennessee. Your complaint was received by the Bureau on May 7, 2009 and has been assigned case# 8018329in our files. Please make a note of this number for future reference.

Your complaint has been applied to the following business:
Adventure RV Center
2910 Newport Highway
Sevierville, TN 37876

The case has been reviewed and has now been forwarded to the business for their response. This business has until May 22, 2009 to respond to your complaint. You may contact our office after May 22, 2009 to check the status of your complaint.

Complaint filed against: Adventure RV Center
Business Info
NAME:

Adventure RV Center
BBB MEMBER:
NO


CONTACT:


ADDRESS:

2910 Newport Highway
Sevierville, TN 37876
PHONE:

865 429-3698
FAX:

--None--
Website:

http://www.adventurerv.net
(Less)
Complaint status: Inform Business of Complaint (More)
Activity
Date

Activity

Description
05/07/2009 Inform Business of Complaint
05/07/2009 Send Acknowledgement to Consumer
05/07/2009 Complaint Validated by BBB Operator
05/07/2009 Complaint Received by BBB
(Less)
Case Description: Paid on Apr-15-09 via PayPal


FANTASTIC FAN-TASTIC RV CAMPER POWER ROOF VENT 4000
eBay item number 400043255718 -

Subtotal:
US $118.19
Shipping & handling:
US $19.75
Total:
US $137.94

Item has not been received. Seller claims to have shipped the item twice and said the item has been refused and returned twice. This is simply not true. The item was not received here. Period. Bottom line, the seller has my money AND the merchandise and I want my money back.
Category: Delivery Issues
Case opened date: 05/07/2009
Case closed date:
Desired Resolution: US $137.94 refunded to my PayPal account immediately....

Dopey actions on the part of a CRA

The Experian decision perhaps complies with the letter of the law, but I daresay many in here and elsewhere are of the opinion it's not in compliance with the spirit of the law.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcrajump.shtm
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fcradoc.pdf

Rather than attempting to examine the FCRA in a lawyerly fashion, I daresay the most immediately productive action would be to contact one's Congressional rep, two U.S. Senators, and file a complaint with the FTC. Let their attornies bang on this and let's see what's shakes out.

Dopey actions on the part of a CRA might bring about Congressional sanctions on the CRAs, Experian in particular. That wouldn't be an entirely bad thing, now would it?

Here's a few places where you can complain.

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/08/01/eveningnews/main15216.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3068843
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/

Experian won’t tell consumers their credit

Squabble with creator of popular scoring model leads to a lawsuit and lack of information.

Effective Saturday – Valentine’s Day – you will no longer be able to get your FICO credit score from Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus.

The company notified Fair Isaac Corp., the firm that created the credit-scoring model most used by lenders, that it is terminating its relationship with myFICO.com, a Web site that sold FICO credit scores and other information directly to consumers. This means generally that Experian customers will not be able to see the FICO scores lenders are using in determining their credit levels.

Although there are a number of credit-scoring models available, it’s the Fair Isaac technology that is most used by lenders to make millions of credit decisions each year. According to data from Fair Isaac, more than 90 of the 100 largest financial institutions use FICO scores. The 25 largest card issuers use it, as do the 25 largest auto lenders.

Credit-scoring models apply a mathematical formula to a consumer’s credit history. For the most part they all use the same range of factors – most importantly, late payments and the amount of debt owed – to produce a three-digit score that is supposed to judge a person’s likelihood of repaying debt.

This issue isn’t about which scoring model is better. It comes down to consumers having access to what most lenders are using to grade them – and that is usually a FICO score.

“Experian’s Valentine’s Day present to 200 million American adults is to make sure they have no access at all to any Experianbased credit score that is widely used by lenders,” said Craig Watts, public relations director for Fair Isaac. “Goodbye, transparency.”

Consumers will still be able to obtain FICO scores based on data from their files at Equifax or TransUnion, the other legs of the Big Three credit bureaus.

The squabble between Experian and Fair Isaac follows a lawsuit Fair Isaac filed in 2006 against Experian, Equifax and TransUnion after the three developed a competing model called VantageScore, which uses a different scale than FICO.

VantageScore’s scale ranges from a low of 501 to a high of 990. In the case of the FICO score, it runs from a low of 300 to a high of 850.

Since filing the lawsuit, Fair Isaac has dropped Equifax from the litigation. The suit is still ongoing, alleging that the VantageScore joint venture created unfair competition and violated antitrust laws.

“We were working hard to develop a positive business relationship with Fair Isaac and the litigation has not helped in that effort,” said Experian spokesperson Susan Henson.

In defending Experian’s decision, Henson said consumers will still be able to buy credit scores from Experian based on information in their Experian credit file. In addition to offering VantageScore, the agency sells its own proprietary PLUS score, which ranges from 330 (higher credit risk) to 830 (lower credit risk).

“We did not feel this will harm consumers in the least,” she said. “There is no one credit score that all financial institutions use to make decisions and there is also no one credit score that consumers must use to help them understand and manage their credit. All of these credit scores provide prediction of a consumer’s credit risk.”

Henson’s right. The various credit-scoring models can give you an idea of how you’re viewed credit-wise. But if the other models were so great and just as useful, why did Experian renew its contract with Fair Isaac to continue selling FICO scores to its business customers?

“We value our client relationship,” Henson said. “There are clients that have Fair Isaac’s FICO built into their underwriting system and that is the score they are using.”

This only leaves me to conclude that Experian doesn’t value its individual consumers enough to work out its differences with Fair Isaac to continue allowing the same valuable access to their individual FICO scores.

So where does this all leave Experian customers?

You may still be able to get a look at your Experian FICO score by simply asking your lender. In some mortgage transactions, you are entitled to the credit score without charge.

You can also complain to the company. And you can complain to Congress, which has in its power to force transparency and make the most widely used credit-scoring system available to the public for free.

Congress has stepped in before. It amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act to open up the credit monitoring process by forcing each bureau to provide all its customers upon request a free credit report once every 12 months. (You can get your reports by calling 877-322-8228 or at www.annualcreditreport.com.)

Here’s how I see this FICO fracas. If the market has widely embraced the FICO credit score, Congress shouldn’t allow business quarrels – not now when credit is hard to get – to result in shutting down access to information that is essential to obtaining the best loan, insurance rate or even a job.

Following the progress on the Verizon case...

Today my service on both my cell phone and internet access was interrupted. I informed Verizon that this constituted breach of contract. My cell phone bill was undisputed and paid in full on time. My dispute is only with the internet access line, which is a separate line and a separate device.

Within a few hours access was restored.

I received a phone call from Karen Milbrodt and a technician named Josh who want to blame my access overages on outdated VZ Access Manager software. So I complied with their request to install the updated version, which required a download of 17.6 MB at their request. The modified VZ Access Manager conceals from the user the daily and per connection upload and download monitoring. I also learned that Verizon has total access to be able to modify the amount of usage that is displayed, in accordance with whatever suits their billing needs. In my case, I watched as my usage was modified from 1.76MB at 8:05 a.m. to 1.61MB at 5:05 p.m.

Does anybody else see anything wrong with this picture?

Yes, my reflected usage was reduced, but the fact that they can modify the reflected usage at will is a little big brotherish, wouldn't you say? They claim to not be able to monitor the specific sites a user is browsing, but they probably can and do.

Later I would receive the following email:

Your Verizon Wireless Account Number ending with 9485-00001

This email is to confirm that your requested credit/adjustment has been processed. Your current balance is $1547.58, which includes credits/adjustments totaling $190.00.

Thank you for using Verizon Wireless.

I feel like I am winning the battle but losing the war.

Taking Verizon Wireless to Texas Small Claims Court

When you file a suit on a corporation in Texas, you need to call your Secretary of State office (512-463-5555) or State Comptroller (1-800-252-5555) and find out the name and address of the Registered Agent, President or Vice President of the corporation before you begin your suit. You will be filing suit against the corporation and having the notice or citation served on the officer of the corporation.

This is how I learned that Verizon Wireless is not a corporation in good standing in the State of Texas, and has failed to maintain a registered agent in the State of Texas. Good news is, I can perform service of process on the Secretary of State in Texas and they will handle getting it to the correct registered party/address. Cost: $55.00 + the cost of certified mail to the SOS.

Here is a copy of the demand notice I sent:

Office of the Secretary of State
Statutory Documents Section - Citations Unit
P. O. Box 12079
Austin, Texas 78711-2079

Monday, February 02, 2009

To Whom It May Concern:

After due diligence, I have determined that Verizon Wireless has failed to maintain a registered agent within the state of Texas. Therefore, I am serving this demand notice on the Texas Secretary of State Office pursuant to the Texas Business Corporation Act - Article 2.11., paragraph B, Service Of Process On Corporation, which states:

“Whenever a corporation shall fail to appoint or maintain a
registered agent in this State, or whenever its registered agent
cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office,
then the Secretary of State shall be an agent of such corporation
upon whom any such process, notice, or demand may be served.
Service on the Secretary of State of any process, notice, or demand
shall be made by delivering to and leaving with him, or with the
Assistant Secretary of State, or with any clerk having charge of the
corporation department of his office, duplicate copies of such
process, notice, or demand. In the event any such process, notice,
or demand is served on the Secretary of State, he shall immediately
cause one of the copies thereof to be forwarded by registered mail,
addressed to the corporation at its registered office. Any service
so had on the Secretary of State shall be returnable in not less
than thirty (30) days.”

Enclosed you will find my check payable to the Secretary of State in the amount of $55.00 for maintaining a record and for forwarding the demand and for issuance of a Certificate of Service. Duplicate copies of the demand are provided for service upon the known registered office of the defendant corporation.

The Corporation Trust Company
F/B/O Verizon Wireless, LLC and/or D/B/A Verizon Wireless (“Verizon Wireless”)
Corporation Trust Center
1209 Orange St
Wilmington, DE 19801


Regards,



==============================================
==============================================
Follows is a copy of the actual demand letter:


Verizon Communications, Inc. and/or
Verizon Wireless (VAW) LLC
D/B/A Verizon Wireless (“Verizon Wireless”)
c/o The Corporation Trust Company
Corporation Trust Center
1209 Orange St
Wilmington, DE 19801

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Reference account number: xxxxxxxxx-00001
Invoice number: xxxxxxxxxx

DEMAND and NOTICE OF INTENT TO SUE

To Whom It May Concern,

As you were previously notified, I fully intend to litigate the disputed unpaid balance on this account in my local small claims court. Despite my efforts to work with Karen Milbrodt (Verizon Wireless Executive Relations 1-800-760-4658 x5941) to resolve this matter, it remains unresolved. The “previous unpaid balance” remains disputed, yet now I have received another outrageous bill from Verizon Wireless, and it is starting to look like you think this is some kind of joke.

I am writing to formally dispute the $1,279.20 overcharge for data usage on my broadband service account for the period from 12/27/08 to 01/26/09, as well as late fees ($5.00) and excessive taxes and fees charged corresponding to the disputed amount.

I was arbitrarily billed $1,279.20 for 10,236 megabytes of usage for the billing period when, in fact I only used 1,798.7 megabytes, which is less than the allowance covered by my monthly access fee.

For the period from 11/27/08 through 12/26/08, I was billed $190.00 for 10,427 MB of data usage when in fact I only used 1,447.8 MB of data usage during that time period.

For the period from 10/27/08 through 11/26/08 I was billed $23.50 for 5,214 MB of data usage when in fact I only used 1,331.1 MB of data usage.

I have printed the logs of my account usage from the VZAccess Manager usage meter that proves the amount is an overcharge, and I would appreciate very much if the disputed amount would be credited to my account.

I am prepared to pay the approximate undisputed amount of $140.42 before the due date, however unless you make adjustment to my total bill in the amount of $1,597.16 within the next 10 days, I will simply be forced to litigate this matter in my local small claims court in Polk County, Texas. This is my final demand.


Regards,



Cc: Verizon Wireless
Customer Service Department
Post Office Box 105378
Atlanta, GA 30348

Cc: Lowell C. McAdam, President & CEO
Verizon Wireless - Corporate Office
133 Calkins Road
Rochester, NY 14623

Cc: CT Corporation Systems
For the benefit of Verizon Wireless, LLC
350 N. St Paul St
Dallas, TX. 75201

CC: The Corporation Trust Company (certified mail)
For the benefit of Verizon Wireless, LLC
Corporation Trust Center
1209 Orange St
Wilmington, DE 19801

Cc: Donald Clark, Secretary
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.
Washington D.C. 20580

Cc: Kevin J. Martin, Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554

(It should be noted that I have an allowance of 5120 MB of data usage under my current $59.99 Data Access plan, and that amount is prepaid monthly on my cell phone bill.)





Click here to get automated online help with your small claims case.

In Control?

Want to lead a happier, healthier and wealthier life? Start by practicing self-control.
By Robert Kiyosaki
Entrepreneur Magazine - October 2006
(exerpted)

Most of us have heard the phrase “health, wealth and happiness.” But what actually brings health, wealth and happiness? Is it success, and success alone?

So, my thought for you this month: Are you becoming healthy, wealthy and happy? Or are you sacrificing these ideals for success?

Most of us know what to do when it comes to our health and our wealth. Health is primarily about diet and exercise, and wealth is about earning and investing. But happiness is a bit more mysterious. We know to think positively, but thinking positively instead of realistically can have tragic consequences. For example, positive thinking won’t prevent you from going bust if you’re foolish with money, and it won’t reduce your percentage of body fat.

In fact, it’s often the pursuit of happiness that causes the most problems with health and wealth. Many people are obese because they eat and drink to feel happy. And others shop to feel happy, even if it means maxing out credit cards.

Many books discuss the subject of being happy and the factors that affect happiness. One factor in particular helps entrepreneurs lead happier, healthier and wealthier lives: self-control. I’m happier if I have the self-control to do the right things even if I don’t want to do them.

...hopefully, I have the tenacity to do what I know I need to do. That’s the only way we won’t forfeit our health, wealth or happiness in our pursuit of success.

=========

Best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki explains why many commonly held truths about managing money are obsolete. In their place, he offers financial solutions anyone can follow.

=========

Rich Woman $18.95

A book on investing-for women who insist on being financially independent and not depending on a man, family, company or government to take care of them.

==========

Rich Dad Poor Dad $16.95

STILL THE NEW YORK TIMES
#1 BEST-SELLER - OVER 6 YEARS ON THE LIST AND COUNTING!
- October 2006 -

What the rich teach their kids about money that the poor and middle class do not. Learn how to have your money work for you and why you don't need to earn a high income to be rich.