Pintmaster

I get a lot of people on here who have problems dealing with Silverleaf Resorts, a timeshare company that does a lot of direct marketing. I would encourage unhappy customers to band together and organize. Mark Guenther posted a comment on a previous post.

My name is Mark Guenther and I have been hounded by this company for the last year. I live in the atlanta area and I have been getting these calls about cars and money. I did some research and I have traced what I think is back to chicago. The man I usually get is Bill Carson at 773 465 5370. The reason I am writing is if anyone has recieved one of these blue cards or any address to meet a representitive please email me or call me at 404 579 8189 this is my office line. I would like to put a stop to this. I am not a lawyer but I have the time and the energy to do something

Check out my previous articles about silverleaf: article 1, article 2
Or read about Westgate Resorts, a slightly better behaved version.

Good luck! If you want me to set up a more organized effort / forum, let me know!

Well, according to one of its employees, it isnt. Since we have an obligation to be fair and balanced (we dont), I thought I would post the comment received from an irate silverleaf employee on another post on this site about the numerous “idiots” whom they solicit for timeshares. Please note, this comment has been transcribed verbatim. I apologize for the author yelling in caps:

JUST TO LET YOU KIDS KNOW WE ARE REGISTERED WITH THE “BBB�….NO IT DOES NOT SAY ON THE LETTER OR POSTCARD YOU RECEIVE IN THE MAIL THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN QUALIFICATIONS YOU HAVE TO MEET THATS WHY BEFORE YOU DRIVE OUT THERE THESE PEOPLE CALLED “VACATION COORDINATORS� AS YOU PEOPLE CALL THEM (THE EMPLOYEES AT SILVERLEAF CALL THEM VERIFIERS) GET ON THE PHONE AND QUALIFY YOU BROKE ASS PEOPLE BEFORE YOU WASTE YOUR TIME DRIVING SOMEWHERE YOU WOULDNT EVEN BELONG IN THE FIRST PLACE. THE ONLY GOD FORSAKEN REASON WHY PEOPLE CALL THIS A “SCAM� IS SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE LIARS THEMSELVES. THE ONE AND THE ONLY REASON ANYONE WOULD BE TURNED DOWN AT THE RESORT IS BECAUSE THEY SIMPLY DO NOT QUALIFY FOR THE PROMOTION. DO YOU IDIOTS EVEN KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE SAY “NOW PLEASE BE AWARE YOU WILL BE ASKED TO PRESENT 2 FORMS OF I.D. , ONE BEING A DRIVERS LICENSE AND 2 BEING A MAJOR CREDIT CARD, MARRIED COUPLES MUST TOUR TOGETHER (EVEN IF YOU ARE LEGALLY SEPERATED THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE LEGALLY DIVORCED AND STILL MARRIED COUPLES TOUR TOGETHER GENIOUS) AND DEPENDING ON WHAT STATE YOU LIVE IN AND WHETHER YOU ARE SINGLE OR MARRIED THE INCOME REQUIREMENTS RANGE FROM TX- MARRIED 40K …SINGLE 45K
GEORGIA-MARRIED-45K SINGLE 50K…IL & NY/MA-MARRIED-50K SINGLE 55K….YOU GO THROUGHT 3-4 PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT SAME SHIT BEFORE YOU EVEN GO OUT TO THE RESORT SO MAYBE SOME OF YOU SHOULD OPEN YOUR EARS DOUCHE BAGS…SO ANYONE THAT WRITES A COMMENT BASHING THE “AWARDS VERIFICATION CENTER� WHICH YOU PEOPLE REALLY DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE THE 2ND CALL CENTER IS REALLY LOCATED CAN GO SCREW YOURSELF…I HAVE WORKED HERE FOR OVER A YEAR NOW THE COMPANY HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR ALMOST 30 AT THAT. NOW ANSWER ME THIS…IF WE ARE REGISTERED WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND HAVE BEEN IN BUSINESS THIS LONG AND ARE ALSO STILL OWNING OPERATING AND ALSO OPENING RESORTS ALL AROUND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DO YOU REALLY THINK WE ARE LOSING OUT ON THE 100 PEOPLE ON THIS PAGE WHO SAY “OH I DONT GIVE A SHIT� BUT YET GAVE SHIT ENOUGH TO WRITE COMMENTS ABOUT HOW ANGRY THEY WERE? UHH NO! YOU PEOPLE ARE IGNORANT FOR EVEN THINKING YOU COULD PUT SUSAN MURRAY BEHIND BARS…DO YOU PEOPLE EVEN KNOW WHO SHE IS? NO. WHEN YOU CALL THE AWARDS VERIFICATION CENTER AND ASK FOR SANDRA OR KIM OR TRAVIS THOMAS DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO THEY ARE? NO. BECAUSE YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL MORONS FOR NOT SPENDING AN HOUR OF YOUR WORTHLESS LIFE GETTING AT THE LEAST A VACATION FOR 2 PEOPLE PAID FOR. WHAT KIND OF MORON DOES THAT? YOU PEOPLE ARE RIGHT WHEN YOU SAY OH NOTHING IS FREE IN LIFE. WELL NO SH*T NEITHER IS YOUR TIME THATS WHY TO THANK YOU FOR COMING AND SPENDING 90 MINUTES OF YOUR USELESS NON-PRODUCTIVE POOR LIVES OUT HERE WE GIVE YOU 2 PRIZES FOR NOTHING…YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTIC USELESS AND DUH EVERY D*MN BUSINESS IN THE WHOLE F***ING COUNTRY HAS BAD THINGS WRITTEN ABOUT THEM SOMEWHERE BUT HOW LONG DO SCAMS REALLY LAST? 30 YEARS…UHHH COMMON SENSE PEOPLE NO…ESPECIALLY SINCE EVERY COUPLE MONTHS OUR LAWYERS AND JUDGES GO OVER THE SCRIPTS WE READ AND SAY “OH YES THATS PERFECTLY LEGAL� ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THINKING YOU PEOPLE WHO DONT HAVE A MIND OF YOU OWN BELIEVING THESE CLOSED MINDED�OH I DONT HAVE TIME FOR ANYTHING EXCEPT MY GAY MARRAIGE� PEOPLE AND WHAT THEY SAY TO KEEP YOU FROM SEEING A GORGEOUS RESORT AND RECEIVING 2 PRIZES FOR NOTHING????? I WENT OUT TO THE PINEY SHORES RESORT WHICH IS LOCATED OFF 45 ABOUT 45 MINUTES TO AN HOUR NORTH OF HOUSTON…GOT BOTH MY PRIZES AND LEFT HAPPY…I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED MY VACATION PACKAGE AND WENT ON THE TRIP TO VEGAS…OH WAIT YOU KNOW WHY I ACTUALLY RECEIVED MINE? FIRST OF ALL I SET THE APPOINTMENT AND ACTUALLY SHOWED AND DIDNT LIE LIKE A FILTHY RAT SECONDLY I DIDNT F***ING LIE TO 3-4 DIFFERENT PEOPLE SAYING OH YES I MEET ALL OF THOSE QUALIFICATIONS AND THEN GO TO THE RESORT LIKE A MORON AND CHANGE MY MIND ALL OF A SUDDEN AND SAY “OH WELL I GUESS I DONT MAKE 40K A YEAR LIKE I SAID 4 DAYS AGO� MORONS YOU PEOPLE ARE WORTH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AND YOU MEAN NOTHING TO THE IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD. GOD HATES YOU AND YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GO PLAY IN TRAFFIC
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME
*A LOYAL CITIZEN AND SILVERLEAF RESORT INC. EMPLOYEE*

So there you have it folks, Silverleaf is not the problem - YOU ARE! The car would be yours if only you werent a liar and an idiot

Allofmp3.com has been making a lot of noise in the news lately. I heard about it several years ago when they were just starting out, but discounted the service because of the lack of good (subjective) music. I took a look again after hearing how Russia’s entry into the WTO was being blocked because of Allofmp3.com. Im an iPod and iTunes Music Store user so that will be my baseline comparison.

Interface

Allofmp3.com is your standard website interface. It’s not overly fancy with Ajax etc… it just works. You can preview songs without having an account and they have their bestseller lists organized by region. Though the site is based in Russia, they have spent the time to make it seem like it could be an American owned site. It’s not as nice as the iTunes Music Store interface, but it does its job.

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Worried about getting busted using Bittorrent? You probably should be since it doesnt hide your identity. It seems that downloading movies is more likely to get you busted than other content. I have several friends who got notices from their internet provider after downloading movies. You may be able to do that safely too!

What you have to do is run a piece of software in the background called “PeerGuardian 2“. The way it works is by blocking IP addresses. Your list is updated based on a master list, and you can choose if you want to block corporations, educational institutions, governments, etc.

In non-technical terms, internet addresses, just like physical addresses can be traced to their owners. By blocking addresses that are more likely to be tracking copyright infringement or sending bad data, it enables you to sneak under the radar and continue to download.

As always, be careful where you get your torrents from and use a reputable source like piratebay or tvrss. While I am on the subject, I’ll give a plug for ¬µTorrent too! It’s a great windows based bittorrent client. If you are on a mac, Bitrocket is increasing in quality at a really fast pace. The built in search is awesome.

Worried about getting busted for music? allofmp3 is still up and running, and according to them is legal! I dont know about that, but $2 an album is the price music should be!

I am a big fan of paying for code. You may have seen my successful contest to get Windows XP installed on the Intel Mac. Well, google is now running a contest for their Google Desktop product which will award money for the best gadgets - 5000 for first prize, 2000 for second and 1000 for third.