That time I wrote my State Rep.
I know I dont post on here very often right now, work has gotten super busy, but I
figured I would share this one with you. I just sent a letter to my state rep. I cant wait to get my form letter back from her tellling me how important my issues are and how she will consider them in the future
Hello Ms. Bachmann,
I am curious if anything can be done to require companies to be held accountable for the statements by their “customer service” departments. On more then one occasion I have been given information that is simply false.
When trying to set up a computer this is frustrating, but when it comes to financial institutions this can end up in costly late fees, interest rate hikes, and extensive credit damage.
I know that part of President Obama’s economic plans included some credit card reform (http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/index.php#credit-cards), but I think that this should be extended to require financial institutions, and companies in general to have some type accountability when it comes to the statements that their representatives make.
I realize the burden of proof in these cases lies solely on accuser, but in a world where “calls maybe recorded to improve customer service” there must be some sort of way for companies to be held to what they tell their customers.
You can ask just about any person on the street if they have ever had a bad customer service experience, and you will be met with an extremely detailed description of a time when they were wronged by some faceless company, it’s bad enough that you need a PHD in numerology to decipher the correct sequence of digits to even get to speak to live person. When you do finally speak to a person, you should be able to trust that the information they give you is accurate.
I am sure that given the economic situation the entire country is currently facing that an issue as simple as this can easily be over looked, but I hope that you will consider the impact that this type of deception has.
Consider this;
according to USA today (7-11-2007 “Banks make billions more on overdrafts”)
*the average overdraft fee is $34 dollars,
*in 2007 that contributed to 17.5 BILLION dollars (how much are they asking for in bail outs?)
*That 17.5 Billion was to cover an estimated 15.8 Billion that was over drafted Essentially banks charged more then a Billion dollars MORE then the actual cost of the overdrafts!
*Bank fees jumped 70% from 2004-2007
*Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that would require banks to gain approval before clearing charges that would overdraft an account.
*Checks are cleared from highest dollar amount to lowest (allowing more fees to be charged if the account DOES become over drawn.)
Given all that information, try this. Call your bank (or one of your staff members banks who may not have the security that you do given your political position) and ask them to explain their “Funds availability” policy to you. Ask them about when deposits become available, if they are deposited on a weekend, or at an ATM, if your “direct deposit” is available at 12:00.01 on the day your paid. Then call back and get a different person, see if the answers are the same….. If their employees have a hard time answering the questions, how are consumers supposed to comply?
Thanks for your time,
Super Bowl and the Bail out
So This year the Super Bowl ads are going to run around 3 Million dollars for a 30 second spot….
I say any company that spends THAT much for 30 seconds (not to mention the production costs etc.) automaticly is NOT elligible for any type of govt bail out…
YOU HEAR ME DETROIT … I”M TALKING TO YOU !
Unsatisfied….again
Brad Childress does not have the talent to be a head football coach in
the NFL. I say this not as a knee jerk reaction to a poorly coached game
last night, but as a reflection on a 3 year body of work. The following
comments are in no particular order:
*
We entered this 08 season in the same situation as 07, with no
realistic back up plan if T-Jack didn’t pan out. This was pure arrogance
on the part of Childress.
*
Brad Childress has consistently made terrible game decisions.
His clock management is unforgivable, peewee football coaches make
better “clutch” decisions then Brad for example A) Yesterday, T-Jack
throws an interception that is returned for a touchdown (I’ll talk more
on this later). THEN He marches the Vikings 80 some odd yards and caps
the drive off with a 3 yard Peterson Touch down. It was a TOP quality
NFL QB move, Clearly this is the talent that the coaching staff has seen
in T-Jack…He was a field General. After scoring The Vikings force a
punt from the Eagles, The Vikings have 100% of the momentum. With 1 min
left in the first half (and the Vikings getting the ball in the 2nd
half) Childress decides to run the ball, my thought is “ok run the clock
out go into half down by 2″ I was ok with this decision, I would like to
see him take a stab, but I understand the conservative play here….
THEN for some GOD Awful reason he decides to throw a 6 yd pass on 2nd
down, this is incomplete. Now the clock is stopped with 40 seconds left
in the half … The Vikings Run on third down, the Eagles call time out
and get the ball back with .30 left in the half. This is NOT NFL quality
decision making. If your going to take your shot, do it on first down.
do a hitch and go or something, make a stab at getting an field goal
before the half, if you miss, THEN run 2 times and run the clock
out….this was a just a DUMB Call!!!!!! B) To start the 2nd half the
Vikings get the ball, two plays in a row T-Jack rolls to his right and
hits Klinesaucer for 13-17 yards give or take. This was a great call it
gave T-jack space it forced the Eagles to consider the run, and the play
gained yards…. the never did it again! The Childress era is flushed
with poor clock management, bad decisions (remember the game a few weeks
ago when the Vikings were down by 5 pending an extra point ? Rather then
go for 2 and bring the game to within a Field Goal we elect to kick the
1pt extra?!?! Leaving us 4pts behind, Again A terrible coaching
decision! I am DONE with Childress, I think he has assembled a great
team, but he can NOT coach them and should not be given that opportunity
again!
*
Offense last night was anemic…Again, the play calling was
Vanilla and with out creativity. We have the best running back tandem in
football, why the F are they never on the field at the same time?! If
Miami can run the Wild Cat, College can run the Spread, and High School
can run the A-11 offense we could at lest try a wishbone, or split
Adrian out in the slot with Taylor in the backfield (or visa versa)
Again I put this on Coaching there is just NO excuse for the bland
offence we have on a week in and week out basis
*
Speaking of offense, how many shots down the field did we take
last night? What was our longest pass play ? (30 yards to Berian, in the
2nd qtr, but it was just a 10 yard slant that he broke). What happened
to the 30 yard shanko hit, or a hitch and go from berian… with the way
the eagles jumped that out rout (the int for a TD) you run that play
again with a pump fake, and no safety help over the top (the free had
rolled to berians side) and that goes for 6 all day !
*
I agree Taylor has been CLUTCH last night and has been a NUMBER
of times this year.
*
I disagree with Peterson, I didn’t notice the play your talking
about. By that I mean I saw both of Petersons TD’s and I don’t remember
him excessively gloating. the 40 yard td he was tackled as he crossed
the line so it must have been the 3 yard TD and as I said I didn’t
notice anything there it was the culmination of an 80 yard dominant
performance by the offence…
*
Petersons fumbleitis, it happens, WR’s get the drops, linemen
miss assignments, running backs fumble… Peterson had 2 bad games, He
still is the BEST running back in the NFL. I don’t care what people say
about the 1,0,-2,60 yard performance, the fact is, when EVERY defense in
the NFL knows we have no realistic pass threat, AND that Peterson is our
number 1 running back, he still busts plays for LONG touch down runs,
and that MORE then makes up for a couple fumbles. For the 2nd year in a
row Adrian Peterson LED the league in rushing (regular season) with 1760
yards, He also had 10 Touch downs he only lost 4 fumbles all year (it
just seems higher because of the way it was “highlighted” being at key
times. Oh and for the record he had the 2nd most rushing yards in the
wild card round…. the Negativity towards AD is a little premature if
you ask me!
*
Our special teams was terrible….again….there is NO excuse
for this … we are the worst kick coverage team in the NFL …
*
Over all the Vikings for the 2nd year in a row ended up about
where I thought they would at the beginning of the season, its just
frustrating because they do it in such a uninspired fashion….
*
Key injury … EJ Henderson…He was the 1 player on the VKS for
the first 3 weeks prior to the injury ….
*
Jared Allen, He is my new hero ! 14.5 sacks in the regular
season 3 forced fumbles, 2 safety’s… Plus 2 more sacks last night and
1 more forced fumble… He is electric to watch… You tube some of the
game, and check out how many times he actually rush’s the passer, then
is the 2nd guy 10 yards down field making tackles… he has a motor that
just doesn’t quit…. This guy is amazing and I am excited to watch him
next year….
*
Benching T-Jack at the beginning of the season in hind sight I
think was a mistake (But I was for it at the time). Shanko doesn’t drop
the TD pass in week 3 and the viks win, T-jack doesn’t get benched, and
the season is VERY different.
I am frustrated because I feel the same way about the team as I did at
the end of last season, I am unsatisfied. The Vikings don’t sell hope,
because the team already has all the pieces in my mind, there are no
GLARING gaps, special teams needs work, but that’s scheming, and
execution. We need a legit person to compete for the starting QB job,
but I still think there is a strong chance T-Jack is the guy, I think he
finally “got it” in these last few games….. But I am still frustrated
by Childress, and the coaching in general, which is why I am
unsatisfied, and frustrated.
Vikings game
Fire Childress! I say that as not a knee jerk reaction to a playoff loss, but as a introspective review of his 3 years as the Minnesota Vikings head coach.
Coach Childress has been given every oppertunity to succeed. The last three years the Vikings have spent the money to assemble one of the most tallented teams in the NFL. Names like Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen, Antwan Winfield, Steve Hutchenson and Bernard Berrian stack an all star roster.
The defense is number one in the NFL the defensive coordinator leslie fraiser is being considered for prestigious head coaching jobs like the Dallas cowboys.
The Vikings offense is pathetic, gutless and uninspired.
Customer Service
I really hate the new trend of “user based tech support” the message boards and wiki’s great for the average end user. Questions like “how do I lock my wireless internet” or “I cant get the program to install”
But once you get past that 1st level of basic questions the usefulness of those options drops off dramaticly.
I say the same goes for “call center’ support
1) The secret pin code you have to enter once you call an 800 number to get to the right person to help you with your problem. “oh prima en espanial diga espanial”
1a) Why is EVERY COMPANY ALWAYS Expiriencing “heavier then usual call volume”. If that is your outgoing message more then 50% of the time your open…. THE HEAVY CALL VOLUME IS [I]USUAL [/I][B]HIRE MORE PEOPLE!!!![/B]
2) You finaly get through to somebody 9 times out of 10 they are not the “right” person so again you get transfered. less then 5 minutes ALWAYS means more then 30……
3) Very true in the tech world, but other places as well. I finaly get to somebody, my guess this person does NOT actually speak english they are just parroting a script (this is why everytime you get transfered you have to start all over again “please verify the cable is pluged in securly to the back of the device…” I KNOW ITS FUCKING PLUGLED IN!”)
Dont get me wrong they speak english better then I speak Hindi or Spanish or what ever their native tongue is, but its still frustrating when I have to constantly try and find the most basic way to convey my message something is ALWAYS lost in the transation
4) After 30 min on hold, and another hr trying in vain to clarify my problem, you finaly get transfered to a manager…. I am rarly in a bad mood when I start one of these calls, but the process is so painful, that I am usualy in one by this point…. Having worked as a customer svc agent before I do my best to maintain my politness, but somtimes its just impossible….
I dont know if there are any studies to back this up, but I would hope that as more and more companies rely on outsourced customer service, and more and more consumers become dissenfranchised and frustrated. I HOPE this causes some form of backlash that forces companies to make their Customers a priority again ….
Eh but what do I know?
The end
Well, Christmas is over I am in the las vegas airport waiting for my flight to take off.
What an amazing trip I have had more fun this Christmas then ever before. How privlaged I am to have all the people I love the most near me over the holidays. What an incredible time, Christmas morning was beautiful the presents were fantastic and everybody had a great time.
Limo
Kimbo
Bitches!!!!
Worlds largest slot machine
Paintball
The hockey game
Thank you all for making this so special!!
All my bags are packed
Well it’s 6:50 and I am sitting on the Tarmac waiting for my flight to las vegas to take off. This is the second flight to vegas this month for me and let me tell you what a pleasure airport security is. I am not talking about the people they are just doing their job. I am talking about the process.
More in that later tray tables locked seats in there up right position and cross check; what ever that means!!!!
Wish me luck.
WoW What a week
Quick Recap
Major Shake up at work (More later)
Stock Market goes kerplunk!
And The Holidays Wont slow down for me !
I’ll write more but thats a quick update 
I’m sure it could apply to just about anybody reading this …
On the plus side I did fill up my car the other day for 31 dollars! YAY
Greed is Good….. (pt. 1)
This is the beginning of an ongoing story, diary, education of me and my stock market expirience. (*Small disclaimer, I am buying and selling stocks with my own money, I have no formal training in any financial field, and anything I write here should not be taken as advice, instructions or even as a good idea. I started this venture considering it an education, and am fully prepared to lose every penny as the cost of the education I am trying to obtain… So basically I am not trying to portray myself as any sort of expert, and if you do what I do and lose all your money, don’t blame me!
Greed works.
Those are the two most famous lines from the 1980’s movie “Wall Street”. If you haven’t seen it, go rent it, one of the best moves to come out of the 1980’s. The reason I bring this up is because many years ago when I first saw that movie I knew back then, that the Stock Market is where fortunes are made (and lost). I knew that I wanted to figure it out.
When I was in my teens I remember reading an article in “Maxium” magazine about investment bankers, these twenty something Harvord, Yale, Ivy league grads that were living in NYC making 6 figure salaries and living this crazy 24/7 life; they were “Investment Bankers” what ever that means.
Well I never made it to Harvard, Yale, or even Vassar! Hell at this point in my life I haven’t even finished college (although I am close, and getting closer). What I am is 31 years old, I have a small 401K an even smaller IRA, and quite frankly like just about everybody else out there they are getting SMALLER (which is not the intent).
For the past 6 months I have been seriously considering making the leap from Mutual funds and just letting my money sit there and hope for the best, into out right purchases of stock in companies. Now understand me I do not have any grand fantasy’s of being the next Warren Buffet (Although I love Margaritavill!). I do know that this (the stock market) is where the truly wealthy play, or rather hire people to play for them. They take their money and make it “work” for them, they earn fortunes; penny’s at a time.
That was 6 months ago, about 3 months ago there was a key change in my IRA. ING Direct changed all their “investment” accounts over to “ShareBuilder” accounts, essentialy I now had an online brokerage account. After some initial laziness for lack of a better term I called ING’s customer service number and asked if I could do as I suspected, and “buy” stock with the funds in my IRA. I found out that is exactly what I can do. Now I had just want I wanted (or feared) money to play with in the stock market.
So now I have this money that isn’t really money, because it locked in this IRA and it was just a 401K roll over to begin with, so its not REAL money, its play money and if I lose it no big deal, it was never REALLY mine (or that’s how I have rationalized this so far).
Since I am trying to be transparent and open about this entire project I will start with my personal finances (as they pertain to this venture) 2 years ago when I left my former company I had about $5000.00 in my 401k, I rolled those funds in to an IRA with ING direct. Over the first few months it bounced up and down but stayed between 4500 and 6000 dollars. Then the bottom fell out of the market and like everybody else the value of my IRA fell too. When I started this venture it was worth about 2500 dollars. I owned 2 different mutual funds and my money was split about 50/50 between them:
- IDROX: one year ago = aprox $17.00 As of market close yesterday 7.61
- IDSGX: one year ago = aprox $14.00 As of market close yesterday 6.92
So after some fear, some uncertainty and confusion I decided to jump in. Having NO idea what I was doing, I started by liquidating (see big broker dealer word for SELLING) $500 dollars worth of IDROX. I chose IDROX …Because….Thats about as much thought as I put into it…This is the education from my first sale:
- Mutual Fund transactions post at the END of the day
- There is no fee to sell Mutual Funds with ING’s ShareBuilder
So that night after the market closed I learned that I now had 1000 dollars in IDROX, 1200 of IDSGX and 500 dollars in a “Money market” account that I could use to buy and sell stocks.
I dont know if anybody other then my friends who have listened to me babble about this endlessly, will read this, but here comes the “fun” part. For my first stock I chose to buy Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS). Now I can’t read all those fancy charts or really follow what the numbers mean (I’m trying to learn), but what I did know is:
- Casinos make LOTS of money
- LVS has HUGE expansion projects in place that will may COULD be online in the next year
- My brother works there (So I can tell him I’m now his boss)
- the stock price was at almost 150 a year ago, and now is trading at less then 10
- Sheldon Anderson has invested over 1 Billion dollars in the last 6 weeks; he believes in this company and I think I can trust him with my $500 dollars.
With that knowledge in hand I decided to place my first trade. So here is my first educational piece. I placed the trade after hours, my assumption was that when the market opened the next morning I would get the “closing” price (which was about 8.50 a share). I calculated how many shares to buy so that I could cover the cost of the shares as well as the 9.95 transaction fee. I was wrong…
- The Market close price is NOT the same as the market open price
- If you place an order for MORE then the funds you have it will go through
- There are no “overdraft” fees on a brokerage account at ING (Provided you pay them back at the next close.
Well when the sale went through I owned 55 shares of LVS, I paid 11.00 per share, more then I wanted, BUT less then the value I believe them to be.
Recap:
- IDROX: Buy = Unknown, Current =7.61
- IDSGX: Buy = Unknown, Current = 6.92
- LVS: Buy = 11.00, Current = 5.36
My next buy was TiVo. Everybody who knows me knows that I am a HUGE fan of this company, I think that TiVo is one of the greatest inventions of all time. I also read that they are working with DirectTV again. That was enough for me to try TiVo Next. So I sold $300 of IDSGX and bought 40 shares of TiVo so now:
- IDROX: Buy = Unknown, Current =7.61
- IDSGX: Buy = Unknow, Current = 6.92
- LVS: Buy = 11.00, Current = 5.36
- TiVo; Buy = 6.75, Current = 6.28
My most recent purches was Pfizer, cause well I figured everybody loves Viagra, who doesn’t to buy a product for your penis endorsed by former presidential hopefull (or maybe still hopeful) Bob Dole? So as I leave you untill next time here is my current portfolio (See I’m learning the terms!):
- IDROX: Buy = Unknown, Current =7.61
- IDSGX: Buy = Unknow, Current = 6.92
- LVS: Buy = 11.00, Current = 5.36
- TiVo; Buy = 6.75, Current = 6.28
- PFE: Buy = 16.30 Current = 16.73
So… Ive started, that much is clear…. but whats the score here? Whats next?
