Stop Silverleaf Resorts – call Mark Guenther
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!
Why you should sign up for websites with a throwaway email address
Whenever I sign up for a website, I sign up with the name of the website at pintmaster dot com. This is so I can track who sells my information on by the addresses I get spam to. Well, let this be a lesson to ye. Recently broke "Performancing" seems to have sold their email list. I just got some spam sent to that name at pintmaster dot com. Had I given them my personal address, I would likely have to change emails to prevent the spam coming in. Now I can just make performancing at pintmaster dot com a black hole email. Here's the spam email for reference:
SINOSTEEL CORPORATION
17B Xichang'an Street,
West District,
Beijing P.
R.CHINA.430074
Tel: +86-13-710107624
Fax: +852-301-62379
Email:mrleechen007@yahoo.com.cnDear Sir/Madam,
REF/SINOS/299U
I am Mr.Lee Chen, Managinig Director of Sinosteel Corporation.
We deal on the following Products listed below:
-Baosteel -Wuhan Iron & Steel Corp
-Anshan Iron & Steel Corp
-Taiyuan Iron & Steel Corp and so on.We export these Raw Materials into America,Africa, Canada, Asia and
Europe. We are currently running this Business from Beijing, China
(H/OFFICE) where I am located for now.We are searching for Representatives who can help us establish a medium
of getting to our Customers in Canada, America,Asia,Africa and Europe
as well as making payments through you to us.Please, if you are interested in transacting business with us,
we will be glad to have you as our Partner. Your area of
Specialisation or Occupation is of no relevance in respect of
resolving to assist us.Note that subject to your satisfaction,you will be given the
opportunity to negotiate your mode of which we will pay for
your services rendered (as our Representative in Canada,
Africa, America, Asia and Europe).We often give out 10% to
our Company Representative (each) that works with us.Please, if you are interested, acknowledge the receipt of this email
for further instuctions from Board of SINOSTEEL CORPORATION by
forwarding
to us your Particulars:
Name:
Title:
Company:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Country:
Tel Number:
Fax Number:
E-Mail:Thanks in advance, Representative Inquiry
Mr.Lee Chen
Managing Director.
Email: mrleechen007@yahoo.com.cn
.
Jesus Camp
Im kinda scared. This seems very cultish. I wonder what type of parent promotes this kind of activity.
Stop trying to send me a fax you bloody idiot!
T-mobile doesnt let you block phone numbers from calling. Im not sure if Verizon, Sprint, Cingular etc... do. So, basically, I just have to sit and listen to my phone ring 10 times a day as some idiot from france tries to send me a fax on my phone. I know they are from france because it is country code +33 - well that is what the caller ID says anyway.
So, after being awoken by the phone ringing this morning, I looked over and it was the same damn number! So, being completely sick of this crap, I called up T-mobile waited on hold for only 5 mins or so after the stupid machine couldnt understand that I wanted to block a phone number, not check how many minutes I had used. I then talked to a rep who proceeded to tell me that they are not able to block a number, they can only change mine. That is ridiculous! That's like the doctor saying - sorry, we cant treat individual cuts, we can only amputate limbs!?!?!
One would think that in this day and age, a company like t-mobile would be able to block individual numbers that are harassing their customers. Get your shit together tmo! You are on notice!
Crome in Houston: What the hell is the deal with the bitchy bartenders?
So, I went to Crome on Sunday evening. It's a nice place and they charge $10 cover to get in (surprising for a sunday!). When you get there it is pretty packed. A lot of people migrate from La Strada around 5 - 6 o'clock. The bar was cool - very nice with white "VIP" couches outside - reminded me a lot of Pangia in Marbella. Now here is the part where I bitch and moan 
. There was a bar at the far side of the outside where there were these two 30-something women (they could have been 20-something with too much sun, cigs and alcohol I suppose) working the bar. I went up there and asked them for a club soda since I am no longer drinking. They poured it and said "$3". I said "you're not gonna make me pay for that are you?". They just said "leave us a nice tip" and I said "keep being nice to me and I will". So, I grabbed me drink without paying and walked away.
Fair enough, I had to talk my way out of paying with these bitches. So I walked inside and hung out for a bit and then my drink was empty. So, I figured... I want to give these bitches a tip & I went back out. I said, "could I get another club soda please". She poured the drink, rang it up and looked at me deadpan and said "$3". I said "that's not very nice" and she said "$3". I said "you guys are horrible" and handed over $5. She rang me up and said "do you want to stay here?". I said "what?". She said "if you want to stay here, you had better not call us horrible". I said nothing and walked away.
So I guess I cant be that pissed - I didnt get kicked out. Frankly I would have been surprised to be kicked out for calling the horrible bartenders "horrible" for charging me for soda water.
The blonde (short w/ bad face) and brunette (taller w/ bad face) behind the counter have such a small circle of influence that pretty much extends to the four corners of Crome and in reality, they probably dont even have all of that. It's just sad when people try and abuse what little power they have.
All in all, it is a nice place. They just need to fix their policy on non-alcoholic drinks. I have never been charged for Soda Water more than one glass, and I dont expect to be - especially by somewhere that charges cover on a sunday! Crome - if you want to be seen with other people posing as rich and trendy, it's the place to be.
ESPN2-HD on Time Warner Cable – Watch the World Cup in HD!
Most of the games are being played on ESPN2-HD. Why do I have time warner cable when they dont have ESPN2-HD? I have an HDTV, but I am unable to use it for 32 world cup games. This is bullshit. I just called up Time Warner Cable to yell at the person on the other end. I am even thinking about switching to dish, but I wont. We have ESPN2 and ESPN2 at work - it just doesnt seem worth it since I am thinking of getting rid of subscription tv COMPLETELY.
Answerstop Voicemail Monthly Fee – voicemail you didnt sign up for!
My colleague in my office started getting this on her phone bill and I have to sit across from her. I've heard her yelling her head off at these people trying to get this service removed.
The number for these people is +1-866-928-1093 and apparently, the people in charge are Mike and Christina.
Services they illegally put on your phone bill include:
- Answerstop Voicemail
- Privacy Plus Voice Mail
- Voice Express
- VoiceXpress
- Antivirus Email
It's hard to pinpoint who is perpetrating the crime here, but the companies involved and allowing it to happen are below. If you know any other names, please post them in the comments, and I will add them here when I can:
- Enhanced Services Billing, Inc.
- ESBI
- Billing Concepts
- BSG Clearing Solutions Gmbh (why is a company in germany getting away with screwing americans?)
- Zero Plus Dialing, Inc.a
- ZPDI
- USBI
- OAN
- HBS
- ESBI Spec Serv & Prod
Various addresses for these people include:
PO BOX 15624
CLEARWATER FL 33766
PHONE 1-888-523-3724
Enhanced Services Billing, Inc.
7411 John Smith Drive, Suite 200
San Antonio, TX 78229-4898
HBS Billing Services
4242 Medical Drive, Suite 2100
San Antonio, TX 78229
Other Resources
- FTC Website mentions ESBI
- ESBI Website - to submit a complaint!
- ZPDI - Behind the screen
- A little self-promotion from Billing concepts
I hope this little blog helps someone. I hate scams & if anyone has any information on how to deal with these scumbags, please share it with the rest of us to help get rid of this scourge on society.
Zesthost is not first class
I signed up for zesthost hosting for my project windows XP on an Intel Mac and I have to say that I am really really disappointed with how poor the hosting is. As I write this, the site is currently down. Since I signed up it has been down at least 10 times that I noticed - and who knows how many more times. It is constantly slow to load when there is not significant traffic and the host hasnt done anything to make it better. They told me they would move it to a new server, but I can say that if this is their new server I am on now, that it sucks.
Update : After receiving a lot of traffic last night my 125gb per month account is suspended? I have been getting around 8000 hits a day prior to yesterday when it spiked to 30,000. That does not generate 125gb of traffic in half a month considering that there is nothing but images to download on the site. This is quite ridiculous.
Update: Some have pointed out that it is more likely due to the processor demands rather than the bandwidth.
Update: winxponmac.com is up on a different server - windowsxp.onmac.net, forum.onmac.net and windows.onmac.net are not. I have been trying since 9:30 pm CST last night to get in touch with Zesthost but have had no luck until now - 12:30 pm CST the next day. Im going to try and pay them more to put me on a better server to get the site back up - I know it looks bad and Im sorry for the downtime.
Rackspace saved the day. We are now hosted on a 5-node cluster with true professionals at the helm. I have to say that my experience with rackspace has been top notch since we moved there 2 days ago. It sure beats mediocre virtual hosts.
Are you betting on the games? Johnny DeMarco exposed
We've been getting some phone calls at the office on one of our lines from Johnny Demarco - not this guy - at first it is a recorded call with some high energy guy saying that Johnny DeMarco predicted last weeks game perfectly blah blah blah. Well, it's annoying.
The way this guy does it is he has a bunch of screeners who answer the calls after the recorded message (if you press 0) and then they ask you "are you betting on the games" and you say something like "I've been know to place bets occasionally, what do you guys have to offer" and then they say - please hold because you look like a potential sucker.
Well John L. Edens of Atlanta, GA aka Johnny DeMarco - email is john@johnedens.com - Here are all your forum posts on bettorsworld.com one of your haunts
An article I've found exposes the scam (mirror):
Atlanta's John L. Edens alias Johnny DeMarco, the Babe Ruth of 900 sales pitchers, will make you wish Alexander Graham Bell had never been born. According to published ads and taped phone calls, Edens:
Got on his 800 line and told listeners to call his 900 line for $25, "and if the game loses, there'll be no charge." That, of course, is a lie. Once a call is made on a 900 line, the charge is automatic. Told customers of one of his phone services that his special guest-selector that day was "a former six-time NBA basketball All-Star who wishes to remain anonymous due to security matters." The anonymous "All-Star" then got on the line and offered his inside information on "three big plays, tonight." Told his customers on another occasion, "Sporting Illustrated magazine calls the Handicapping Hotline the Number One value in sports." Remarkably, there is no Sporting Illustrated. Wrote in a print ad, which appeared in the schedule of games he sent out to customers in early 1991, that his service was rated "the very best available by the Interstate Sports Commission, the nation's only legitimate monitoring service." The ad failed to mention that the ISC is owned by a company with which, DeMarco acknowledges, he is "affiliated." Got on his 800 line in March 1989 and said he had spoken with then N.C. State coach Jim Valvano and had "key" information on the Final Four. Valvano says he has never spoken to DeMarco.
Some other links
http://forums.therx.com/showthread.php?p=1171734
If you've had experience with this scourge on society, I'd love to hear from you!
Debit Cards leave you more susceptible to paying for fraud
I just saw on CNBC that Debit Cards are not afforded the same protection by the federal government as are Credit Cards. For example, if you use your debit card at Best Buy and the company that processes Best Buy's transactions loses a laptop with 10 million names, addresses and card numbers, the people who used credit cards are safer. If you use a debit card, it is more difficult to put a hold on your account, and also more difficult to reclaim the money from fraudulent activity. The legislation was passed through the government prior to the widespread use of Visa / Mastercard branded debit cards. Unfortunately, this legislation does not cover these cards. Just remember - if your credit card gets stolen, you are not liable; if your debit card gets stolen, you might be!
Westgate Resorts – Is it a scam?
I recently reported about Silverleaf Resorts and was amazed at the response that I got to it. These guys are definitely scumbags. Googling for them brings up a epinions on the second link. What about Westgate Resorts? They are on the first floor of my building with an office on the second. When I leave work at around 6:30, they are getting started with their day. I can smell the fresh baking cookies as I leave for my car and all the lower middle income people streaming in for some free food, and dreams of sitting by the pool sipping a margarita. Is this a scam? Westgate Resorts is the third largest timeshare company in the U.S. Can a company grow to this size playing it fair. Do they use the same high-pressure sales tactics that timeshares are so well known for. Watch this space as I try and find the answers.
- Westgate Resorts made the Rip off report
- Get a Job at Westgate Resorts - im sure there are great benefits
