July 26, 2007

Extreme Pizza Sucks

Went to Extreme Pizza for lunch today. They advertise a lunch with a pizza with 2 toppings so I ordered a pizza with canadain bacon and pineapple. The told me that the canadian bacon counted as 2 toppings and had a list posted as to how many topping each topping counted as.

I was going to suggest that one of my dollars counted as 2 dollars but instead I decided to walk out and go to Taco Bell. I really hate it when companies try to screw you by doing things like claiming that some of their topping counts as two toppings. Sorry Extreme Pizza, you lost a customer today.

Never pick a fight with a blogger who buys data by the terabyte.

Posted by marc at 12:09 PM | Comments (1)

August 30, 2006

Comcast Sucks - Technical Incompetence

You would think that a company as big as Comcast could run an email server correctly but they can't. Even simple things that any network engineer knows is beyond their ability to comprhend. And there's no way to get feedback to the as their support staff is hidden and unresponsive. Which probably explains why they are unaware that they have severe email problem.

So - maybe by posting on my blog the message will eventually get to them and they can fix their problems.

If you are a Comcast customer and wondering why your email isn't being delivered, it might have to do with the fact that Comcast's mail servers are severely misconfigured. The main problem they have is that the reverse DNS lookup on their servers have an IP mismatch between what host they say they are and what the host name resolves to. When the server reverse DNS is looked up it returns a name. When the name is looked up it resolves to a different IP. What does the mean? it means the reverse DNS has failed.

So - if you are a Comcast employee or customer or stockholder - or have any Comcast commections - please tell them to FIX THEIR EMAIL SERVERS. I'm getting tired of having to take the blame for Comcast email not reaching my servers.

Posted by marc at 02:40 PM | Comments (4)

August 20, 2006

Asus M2NPV-VM Motherboard - Seriously Broken

I'm usually an Asus fan and I've bought several of their mother boards so when they came out with the M2NPV-VM for the new AM2 socket AMD processors I thought it would be a great board. Boy was I wrong. I think it's a bios problem but this is at least the third bios and the current version 0303 is very broken. It won't run the current 2.6.18rc4 Linux kernel and it is very picky about memory.

I bought the OCZ Gold Edition high performance ram and it's clear that this memory is incompatible. It's supposed to run at DDR2 800 speeds but even at DDR2 400 it still has memory errors. I'm hoping a future bios will fix this. Asus - you disappoint me. Fix your product!

Posted by marc at 09:45 AM | Comments (1)

August 11, 2006

Verizon Trying to Screw Me on Cell Phone Service

I suppose all cell phone compaines suck and Verizon is no different. Now they are trying to screw me on service. I have a two phone plan that I've had for over 2 years and the phones are more than paid for. Last december I changed the terms of the plan which extended my service for another year.

So - the second phone was for a friend and it costs $20/month extra to be on my plan. However she reciently had to move to Wheeling West Virginia to care for a sick aunt. We would be more than happy to keep the service except for one problem. Verizon has no coverage in Wheeling West Virginia. Not even with roaming. Zero coverage.

So - not needing the second phone anymore I contacted Verizon to cancel the second line and now they want to charge me $175 penalty for early termination. Even though the cost of keeping it is far less.

So - several issues here.

My position is that the contract is a fee for service contract and I'm paying the fee but they aren't providing the service. Wheeling WV is not some small town out in the boondocks. Wheeling is the 3rd largest city in WV with a population of 30,000 or so. Since Verizon is the nations largest cell phone provider and that AT&T has voverage there, Verizon could provide coverage as well. But they don't - so since they don't they are in breach of contract - not me.

Second - I extended the main contract but I see the add on line as an additional feature and that is a separate contract. Since the original contract is over two years old Verizon has already got enogh money to cover the cost of the phone. Since the terms of the contract would be the same regardless of if I had a second phone I don't see the obligation as applying to the second phone.

Verizon said that they would agree to drop the second line but the conditions for doing so didn't apply to our situation. They asked for a copy of the utility bill in her name. But there is no bill in her name because she is living with her dying aunt and the home and the bills are in her aunt's name. I suggested other documentation but they are not cooperating. The are insisting on the utility bill.

Furthermore I read an article where the president of Verizon has said that they were going to stop these termination charges because they were pissing off customers liike me.

I don't know if I'll win this but I will make sure Verizon loses. There are some people you fuck with and some you do't and I am a professional asshole and when someone screws with me I ensure that they lose money doing so. So because of this block Verizon will lose customers. I always make sure that corporate stupidity is never rewarded.

Several years ago MCI burned me. And I ended up doing This Interview on the CBS evening news.

Posted by marc at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2006

Wells Fargo Charges Fee for No Fee Credit Card - Part 2

A few days ago I wrote about Wells Fargo charging me a $29 fee for a no fee credit card. I called them about it and they said they would remove the fre. They said it was for a "Rewards Program" that I didn't sign up for. So a few days go by and the $29 is still there. I call again. The persom appologized and said that it would be taken off this time. So - I wait over the weekend and today it's still there. So I call a third time and they say that they cancelled the rewards program, but didn't remove the charge from my bill. They claim that this time they are going to get it right.

I haven't used this card but they already made three mistakes and all in their favor. That's what I call - fraud.

06-23-2003 update
Looks like they finally reversed the charge - twice. Now my balance is -$29.!

Posted by marc at 12:50 PM | Comments (2)

June 13, 2006

Wells Fargo charges fee for No Fee credit card

So Wells Fargo Bank talks me into a no fee credit card and I get the thing and without having ever used the credit card I see a $29 fee on it called the "Rewards Anual Program Fee". I called them up and told them that the bank had told me it was a "no fee" card and they did take the fee off. But I think that it is unethical that they offer a no fee card, add a fee, and then you have to call them to remove the fee from their no fee card,

I do no believe this was an honest mistake so watch out when gettig a "no fee" card from Wells Fargo Bank or any other bank.

Posted by marc at 06:46 PM | Comments (9)

June 04, 2006

AAA Auto Insurance Sucks - What a bunch of morons!

Thinking about getting AAA Auto Insurance? Don't! These guys are a bucnh of morons.

I has AAA Auto insutance for 4 years from 2002 to 2005. Usually you would think an insurance company would want a customer's business but not these guys. Never had an accident, never was late on any payment, but they decided to silently cancel my auto insurance.

I pay by the year and normally whenever my policy comes due I get a notification by phone or a call by an agent who says, "hey Marc, you're insurance is due. Want to buy another year?" And I say sure and give them my credit card number. Easy mony for them you would think, but no. They don't call, they just canceled me leaving me without insurance for 5 months.

Luckilly I wasn't pulled over, had an accident, or had my car stolen. Had anything happened I would have been totally screwed. They put me at extreme risk without even a call. I have not points on my drivers license and never made a claim. I was a pure profit customer.

After spending over an hour on the phone getting transferred everywhere and talking to morons they said the cancelled me because my AAA membership dues weren't paid, something else I had given them a credit card for and they didn't renew. And they said that I didn't send them back some form they send me about some ex-roommate I was living with about her driving my car. But that was over a year ago and she's not living with me anymore and quite frankly it's none of their god damn business who I'm living with and who else might drive my car. I thpught it was rather Nazi of them to expect that I have to get their permission as to who I might loan my car to.

So - I went online and got a Geico policy because I needed immediate coverage and I'm definitely not doing business with those nazi AAA Auto Insurance bastards again. So if you feel link I do, tell AAA to go fuck themselves. And let them know that I sent you.

Posted by marc at 08:40 AM | Comments (7)

April 25, 2006

Concerns about Clam Antivirus droping the ball

I've been a big fan of Clamav as an anti-virus solution for server side spam filtering under Linux. But I'm running a 64 bit server and the server daemon hasbeen dying with segment faults a few times an hour. I set up a process to check and restart it every 5 minutes and with 3 servers I'm never down at the same time, but it was a real annoyance.

I finally found a solution that was a one like patch that fixed the problem. I am however concerned that the folks at Clam AV are not taking it seriously and have yet to offer an official fix. I don't think they get it that reliability is important.

To fic the problem go to the file:

libclamav/zziplib/zzip-zip.c

After the lines:

#include sys/stat.h
#include unistd.h

Add this line and recompile.

#include "others.h"

http://bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=84509

Posted by marc at 07:15 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2006

GoDaddy.com sucks big time - takes down an entire data center

The domain registrar GoDaddy.com took down an entire data center nectartech.com where I do my hosting. They are back online now but it got pretty scary for a few hours. I'm a friend of the owner and being a professional asshole I managed to help him get back online.

What happened was that last week a customer at his data center got hacked into and the hacker started sending PayPal fraud spam. Nectartech shut the server down and fixed the problem however GoDaddy who was the registrar for nectartech.com shut down the domin of the data center. That not only killed their domain cutting them off from their customers since all email went away, but all the domain names that used nectartech name servers went offline as well. Fortunately I run my own name servers and my domains were not affected.

These people at GoDaddy are serious morons and there tech support is somewhat less that 24x7. I have better support than this and I'm a one man operation. This registrar shuts down an entire data center over one machine being hacked. I don't use GoDaddy myself, and I sure as hell wouldn't recommend them to anyone. If you don't want the risk of being arbetrarilly shut down, I'd use someone else

Here are 2 actual phone calls to GoDaddy support.. The first is a phone call at midnight. to try to get them to turn the data center back on. The second call was made the next morning after there 24x7 abuse department came to work.

The bottom line is - do you want your domains in the hands of people like this?

Posted by marc at 12:42 AM | Comments (35)

October 27, 2005

Federal Express Screws up 4 times in a row

You would think a delivery service like Federal Express would have their shit together but they don't. In the last 2 week they have screwed up 4 times in a row.

It started with my HP laptop that had the screen die. HP sent Fedex out to pick it up. Scheduled for before 10:30 they didn't show till 3:00. Two days later they were supposed to deliver the computer before 10:30 - but they waited till 2:30. I wasn't home at the time so I had to pick it up.

No I have another package of computer parts and for the second day in a row the Federal Express truck just drives by without stopping. The tracking system indicates that I wasn't home - but the truth is I sat here and watch the truck drive by without stopping.

I sit here in amazement that these people actually manage to stay in business. I called them up and they say they are going to contact the driver in his truck and get back to me. That was about an hour ago and they haven't called yet. Let's see what it takes to actually get my package delivered. - Time 3:23 pm.

Watch this delivery process live. Tracking number is: 091993412703473


Time: 4:24 - Called again. Now they are telling me that they messaged the terminal but that there isn't always anyone at the terminal. I recorded the phone call. We got disconnected. Waiting for them to call back.

Time: 5:05 - No call back after disconnect. I call again. I get some guy on the phone who also says he's going to call the driver and call me back in 10 minutes. Recorded the call again.

Time: 5:36 - Fedex calls me back. They say they left a message on the driver's cell phone. They are also giving me a story that it wasn't on the regular driver's truck and that a second truck was delivering my package with some temp driver. The guy I talk to claimed to be the manager down there and he seems to be trying to get it delivered. He told the driver to call me but no one called and the woman I talked to earlier said she called the driver too.

Time 6:10: It finally arives. Driver almost drove by again.

Posted by marc at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2005

Wendy's gives customer "The Finger"

A customer in a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose was eating chili when she chomped down on a human finger in her food. At this time they don't know where the finger came from.

Posted by marc at 06:13 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 30, 2004

A Victoy against PayPal

I found a trick that worked for me to get my account closed and get my money back. I filed a complaint with TrustE and they acted - and it worked!

As you know - PayPal doesn't close accounts. They "Limit" the account forever. They steal your money for at least 180 days and often forever based on stories we have all heard. And by keeping the account open they still have access to your bank account, credit cards, and you are subject to their changing user agreement. I deciced to put and end to it.

Here's the link:

http://truste.org

Here is my complaint:

I have asked paypal to close my account and they have refused to do so. I want to close my account and terminate my user agreement with them. I have called them and I recorded the phone call of them refusing to close the account and terminate the user agreement.

Here is a link to the recording:

http://marc.perkel.com/archives/000394.html

I am not done with PayPal yet. It's not over until they change in a permant way. But for those of you with frozen and limited accounts - I suggest you do what I did - it worked for me. Victories come one step at a time. This is a step forward.

Posted by marc at 05:40 PM | Comments (29) | TrackBack

September 15, 2004

PayPal to start fining their customers

If you buy a Playboy with your paypal debit card - PayPal might steal $500 from you.

PayPal to Levy Fines for Gambling, Porn

By Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - PayPal, the online payments arm of eBay Inc. on Friday said it will soon fine people up to $500 for uses related to gambling, adult content or services, and buying or selling prescription drugs from noncertified sellers.

The new policy, which takes effect Sept. 24 and applies to both buyers and sellers, marks the first time PayPal has imposed fines for violations of its use policy, spokeswoman Amanda Pires said.

In addition to fines that could be applied to each violation, PayPal may take legal action to recover losses in excess of the fines, Pires said in an interview.

Posted by marc at 03:56 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

PayPal refuses to close my PayPal Account

In my continuing battle with PayPal I have sent them several emails demanding that they close my account and terminate the user agreement I have with them. They refuse to do so.

They have placed my account in a "Limited Status" which does not close the account. It gives them the ability to share my information according to their user agreement and to take money out of my account should they choose to do so.

Since they admit that they don't want to do business with me then they should close the account - but they worn't do that. They want to keep me under their user agreement and they want to maintain access to my checking account even after it's clear they won't do business with me.

After several emails from them I called them on the phone at their service center in Nebraska and talked to Dave and I recorded the phone call (1mb 9 minutes) so that everyone out there who has access to the Internet can listen to PayPal and experience what doing business is like in their own words.

After the phone call at the above link I got a call back from another person named Michele at PayPal - and - I recorded that phone call as well (3mb 25 minutes). This person is some higher up. In this phone call she admits that PayPal can still access my checking account. She admits that PayPal will retain access to my checking account forever - and she admits that PayPal still have access to all checking accounts that they have ever opened whether they were closed, linited, or locked.


This alll started on June 13th 2004 when Paypal limited my account and told me they were seizing my money for 180 days and that there was no appeal and that there was nothing I could do about it. However - they underestimated me and I had my money out in less that 2 weeks. Since then I've decided it's my mission to expose what scumbags PayPal is and to warn consumers about using them. I also intend to bring whatever heat I can on them to stop their unethical business practices.

For those of you who have questions about if it's legal to record this phone call, I will point out several things that make it legal.

First - They are in Nebraska - I am in California - so federal jurisdiction applies. That makes it one party consent.

Second - on the first phone call - the automated voice states clearly "This phone call may be recorded".

Third - I was talking to PayPal - not to individual persons at paypal. All the conversation is in the context of business.

Fourth - on the second conversation - they were recording me without giving me any type of verbal warning or otherwise that the call was being recorded. When I asked THEM if they were recording the call - they admitted that it might be. So on the basis that they record calls that they initiate without warning people they call that the call may be recorded they are consenting through their conduct and waiving any rights to notification themselves.

Fifth - They already know I record phone calls with them because I have already done it in the past and they have notes about this sort of thing in their computers on me.

Sixth - even if it were illegal - it's wrong for them to commit fraud - it's right for me to expose it - and if it turned out I were legally wrong I would appeal to a jury to override the law and find me innocent anyhow. They call it jury nullification - I call it jury empowerment. Besides - such a charge would give this issue the attention it needs to stop paypal from ripping people off.

Posted by marc at 03:01 PM | Comments (45) | TrackBack

September 05, 2004

Screwed by PayPal in small claims court

I got the decision in small claims court in the mail and I got screwed. The judge - who really wasn't a judge but a fill in lawyer - complained that the case was too complex for small claims court and recommended I hire a lawyer.

The decision: Defendant (PayPal) acted within the scope of contrace and no legislation was presented to override.

This was a dispute arising from PayPal not liking what I posted on my web site and deciding to cut me off and seize my money for 180 days. I did get my money back after recording a conversation I had with them and posting it on the internet.

Details are at this link.

The battle isn't over yet however. The problem is that PayPal is acting like a financial institution without the responsibilities of a bank. They are playing a game of legal fiction playinf fast and loose with people's money. I want to see what I can do to bring PayPal under the same rules as other financial institutions so they can't just decide to arbetrarilly decide to grab someon'e money just for any reason they want.

Posted by marc at 11:47 AM | Comments (10) | TrackBack

August 18, 2004

Perkel vs PayPal

I went to the hearing yesterday. No decision was made at that time. The judge took it under submission. I have no idea if I will win or not. I do think the judge believed everything I said - but he complained it was a complex case for small claims court.

But - this is win/win for me because it will actually be harder on paypal if they lose. PayPal asserted policies in court that they can terminate anyone for any reason whatsoever. And that's going to bite them someday. Winning this case will cost PayPal more money than if they lose it.

Posted by marc at 10:52 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

August 17, 2004

Off to court with PayPal today

Well - today is the day I go to cmall claims court against PayPal. It's at 1:00 in Santa Clara County. It should be interesting. My first experience in California small claims court.

This incident is about PayPal cutting me off and siezing my money because they didn't like the content of my web site. Since then I have got my money back - but I'm suing them for additional damages.

If you have been following this - I made a Recording of the conversation I had on the phone with PayPal. If you don't want to listed to the whole 25 minutes - here a 2 minute exerpt of the conversation.

The exerpt is very good. It explains in PayPal's own words why the user agreement with them says and how they actually enforce it. Something that every PayPal user should know. I don't see where PayPal sould have a problem with this because isn't it better for everyone if people really understands what the agreement means? I sure think so!

Posted by marc at 09:55 AM | Comments (13) | TrackBack

July 30, 2004

Dropping AT&T for Verizon cell phone service

I'm tired of the poor service and the dropped phone calls and audio so choppy that you can't make out what was said. After many many complaints I just decided that I can't take it anymore and need real cell phone service that works.

I don't know about other areas but in San Francisco AT&Y sucks. The are merging with Cingular which also sucks and they are already sharing relay towers. I had hoped the service would get better - but it's worse.

AT7T wants to try to confuse me claiming it might be my phone(s) and other things. But - I'm a tech and I know how this works. The problem occurrs mostly at peak hours - and it's clearly an overload problem.

Here's how it works. There is a limit to how much information that can be transmitted down a data pipe and AT7T's pipe is too small. This results in "packet loss" which means that chunks of words are just plain dropped or lost. That creates the "choppy" effect.

Signal strength is plenty good and the problem isn't related to my location. And I have two phones and they are both doing the same thing. The problem is that the service is oversold.

What AT&T is doing is probably illegal and certianly immoral. What they are doing is selling something they don't have. Here's an analogy. Suppose that a movie theather sold more tickets than they had seats. If enough people didn't show up - no one would notice. But - when the overselling gets to a severe point then people who pay for the movie don't get to see it.

In my case I'm paying for service 24 hours a day - but during peak hours I can't make or receive phone calls. I'm not getting what I'm paying for.

I have heard good things about Verizon - I'm hoping that they will be better. We will see. I would warn everyone though that AT&T - in the San Francisco area - is cheating their customers and if you are considering AT&T you might want to go elsewhere.

But not to Sprint - they are even worse!

Posted by marc at 11:25 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack

July 28, 2004

PayPal Class Action and Proposed Settlement

PayPal sent me this about their class action lawsuit.

IF YOU OPENED A PAYPAL ACCOUNT BETWEEN OCTOBER 1999 AND JANUARY 2004, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO A PAYMENT FROM A CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT.


PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.


UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN JOSE DIVISION

In re PayPal litigation
Case No. CV-02-01227-JF (PVT)

NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT


1. WHY DID I GET THIS NOTICE?
You have been sent this Notice because the records of PayPal, Inc. indicate you are a current or former PayPal account holder. This means you may be eligible to receive a payment from the proposed class action settlement in the lawsuit In re PayPal Litigation, Case No. 02 1227 JF PVT, pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose. This Notice provides a summary of the terms of the proposed settlement. It also explains the lawsuit, your legal rights under the settlement, what benefits are available to you under the settlement, and how to get them.


2. WHAT IS A CLASS ACTION?
In a class action, one or more people, called Class Representatives (in this case Roberta Toher and Jeffrey Resnick), sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All of these people are members of the Class. One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class. United States District Judge Jeremy Fogel is in charge of this class action.


3. WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT?
In early 2002, Plaintiffs Roberta Toher and Jeffrey Resnick filed separate lawsuits against PayPal, Inc. These two cases were later consolidated into one lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, entitled In re PayPal Litigation, Case No. CV 02 01227-JF (PVT). The lawsuit alleges that PayPal violated the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act ("EFTA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq., including provisions requiring PayPal to supply customers with information about dispute resolution procedures and to follow certain procedures when investigating complaints of unauthorized or incorrect electronic fund transfers. For example, the lawsuit claims that PayPal did not provide account statements in the manner required by the EFTA. The lawsuit further alleges that PayPal has placed inappropriate restrictions or other limits on customers' accounts and engaged in other improper practices. Based on these practices, the lawsuit asserts claims under California state law for conversion, money had and received, negligence, and violations of consumer protection statutes.

PayPal does not believe that it did anything wrong. In fact, PayPal disputes that the EFTA, originally passed in 1978, applies to its business. PayPal denies any and all liability for the claims alleged in the lawsuit. The Court did not decide in favor of the Plaintiffs or PayPal. Instead, beginning in the fall of 2003, the parties began a series of settlement negotiation sessions mediated by United States Magistrate Judge Edward Infante. Eventually, in November 2003, both sides agreed to a settlement in principle. By settling their claims, both parties avoided the uncertainty and cost of a trial. The settlement provides money and other benefits to the Class. On June 11, 2004, the parties entered into a formal, written Settlement Agreement, which is on file with the Court and available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/. By entering into the Settlement Agreement, PayPal is not admitting any wrongdoing. PayPal continues to believe that it did not do anything wrong. The Representative Plaintiffs and the attorneys appointed by the Court to represent the Class believe that the settlement is fair to Class Members. By this notice, the Court is not expressing any view on the merits of the lawsuit.


4. HOW DO I KNOW IF I AM PART OF THE SETTLEMENT?
On July 12, 2004, Judge Fogel entered an order granting preliminary approval of the settlement and certifying the following class for purposes of the settlement: All Persons who opened a PayPal account during the period from October 1, 1999 through January 31, 2004. Excluded from the class are any judicial officer to whom the lawsuit is assigned; PayPal and any of its affiliates; any current or former employee, officer, or director of PayPal; anyone who resides in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, or United Kingdom; and all persons who timely and validly request exclusion from the class pursuant to this notice.

Thus, if you opened a PayPal account between October 1, 1999 and January 31, 2004, and are not one of the excluded persons listed above, you are a member of the class.


5. WHO REPRESENTS ME IN THIS CASE?
To represent the class, the Court has appointed Plaintiffs Roberta Toher and Jeffrey Resnick as Representative Plaintiffs and their counsel of record as Class Counsel. The Court has also appointed the following attorneys and law firms as Co-Lead Counsel:

A. J. De Bartolomeo
Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo LLP
601 California Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, California 94108

Robert C. Finkel
Wolf Popper LLP
845 Third Avenue
New York, New York 10022


6. WHAT DOES THE SETTLEMENT PROVIDE?

A. Injunctive Relief
The settlement requires that PayPal consent to the entry of an order, called an injunction, that mandates various changes to PayPal's business practices. PayPal has already implemented these changes. The injunction includes PayPal's agreement to comply with certain notice and error resolution procedures of the EFTA, and to follow certain procedures for limiting accounts and responding to and returning funds to customers whose accounts have been limited. A copy of this injunction can be found as Exhibit D to the Settlement Agreement, entitled "Form of Injunctive Order."

B. Monetary Relief
Under the settlement, PayPal will pay $9.25 million into a settlement fund, to be held in an interest-bearing account. The fund will be used (1) to make payments to class members who submit valid claims before the claims deadline; (2) to pay certain costs of giving notice to the Class and of settlement administration, as approved by the Court; and (3) to pay attorneys' fees and expenses to Class Counsel in the amount awarded by the Court. Class Counsel have proposed that, after deduction of notice and administrative costs and Class Counsel's attorneys' fees and expenses, the balance of the fund ("Net Settlement Fund") be applied in accordance with a written plan of allocation. (The following explanation is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Plan of Allocation attached to the Settlement Agreement as Exhibit C, a copy of which is on file with the Court and available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/.)

1. Certain Definitions
Certain capitalized words are used in this part of the Notice to describe the way in which the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated. These capitalized words have the following meanings:

(a) "Released Persons" means PayPal and its past and present partners, affiliates, predecessors, successors, assigns, parents, subsidiaries, officers, directors, attorneys, and employees.

(b) "Fund Claimants" are class members who submit timely, valid claims in accordance with the procedures described in this notice.

(c) "Dispute Resolution Claimants" are Fund Claimants who contend that, prior to February 1, 2004, they:

(i) experienced or reported to PayPal an unauthorized or incorrect electronic transfer to or from their PayPal account including, without limitation, electronic transfers initiated by (a) the Fund Claimant; (b) PayPal in connection with, among other things, chargebacks, refunds, buyer complaints, PayPal's Seller Protection Policy, Buyer Complaint Process and/or Buyer Protection Policy; or (c) any third party;

(ii) had access to their PayPal account improperly, incorrectly or erroneously limited or restricted, in whole or in part;

(iii) made a request for information in connection with PayPal's restriction or limitation of the Fund Claimant's PayPal account or regarding an incorrect or unauthorized electronic transfer to which PayPal did not respond at all or did not respond to the Fund Claimant's satisfaction.

(d) "Statutory Damage Fund Claimants" are all Fund Claimants who are not Dispute Resolution Claimants.


2. Statutory Damage Fund Claimants
The plan of allocation designates $1 million of the Net Settlement Fund to a "Statutory Damage Fund," to be distributed equally among all Fund Claimants who are not Dispute Resolution Claimants. This means that if you are a member of the Class and do not fall within the definition of a "Dispute Resolution Claimant," as set out above, you can make a claim for a payment from the Statutory Damage Fund. The Statutory Damage Fund provides compensation for potential statutory damages under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act ("EFTA"), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq. Statutory damages under the EFTA are limited by law to no more than $500,000 for any class of individuals claiming "the same failure to comply." Plaintiffs' counsel contended in the litigation and for purposes of settlement that PayPal was potentially liable for multiple failures to comply, a position PayPal vigorously opposed.

The Statutory Damage Fund Claim Form requires you to provide certain identifying information and sign a statement under penalty of perjury authenticating your claim, which may be subject to verification by PayPal's records. To make a claim for payment from this fund, please complete and submit the Statutory Damage Fund Claim Form available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/ in accordance with the instructions on the form.

3. Dispute Resolution Claimants
The balance of the Net Settlement Fund will be allocated for distribution to Dispute Resolution Claimants. If you fall within the definition of a "Dispute Resolution Claimant," as set out above, you have the right to make a Dispute Resolution Claim. You can choose to submit either the Short Claim Form or the Long Claim Form available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/. If the Court awards attorneys' fees and costs in the amount requested, Class Counsel estimate that there will be approximately $4.3 million to pay the claims of Dispute Resolution Claimants. Half of the money allocated to Dispute Resolution Claimants will be allocated to pay Short Form Claimants (the "Short Form Fund"). The other half will be allocated to pay Long Form Claimants (the "Long Form Fund").

a. Short Form Claimants
The Short Claim Form requires you to provide certain identifying information and sign a statement under penalty of perjury, which may be verified using PayPal's records, that you experienced an unauthorized or incorrect electronic transfer or an account limitation or denial of access to your account. If you make a timely, valid claim using the Short Claim Form, you will receive a payment of $50, unless the amount needed to pay all of the Short Form claims exceeds the Short Form Fund. In that case, the Short Form Fund will be divided equally among all Short Form Claimants. If the amount needed to pay all of the Short Form claims is less than the amount of the Short Form Fund, the money left over will be added to the Long Form Fund.

b. Long Form Claimants
The Long Claim Form requires you to provide certain identifying information; give the details of the account restriction(s) and/or unauthorized electronic fund transfer(s) you experienced; state the amount of your claim, and sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, which may be subject to verification by PayPal's records, that you actually suffered the claimed damages. You should also provide any documentation you have that will support your claim, as explained in more detail on the Long Form.

If you make a timely, valid claim using the Long Claim Form, an independent, court-approved claims administrator will evaluate your claim and determine the amount you should receive. In making this determination, the claims administrator will take into account the amount of damages you claim; the nature of your complaint; the quality of the supporting documentation you provide; your recoverable damages; the probability that you would be successful on your complaint; and such other factors that the claims administrator considers relevant. If the amount needed to pay all of the Long Form claims is less than the amount of the Long Form Fund, the money left over will be added to the Short Form Fund.

c. Balance after payment of Long Form and Short Form Claimants
If there are sufficient funds to pay all Short Form and Long Form Claimants in full in accordance with the written plan of allocation, any remaining funds will be divided equally among all Dispute Resolution Claimants to supplement their recoveries.


7. HOW DO I MAKE A CLAIM AND GET A PAYMENT?
To make a claim for payment, please complete one of the claim forms (Statutory Damage Claim Form, Short Claim Form, or Long Claim Form) available on the Internet at https://www.paypal.com/settlement/. To make a valid claim, you will need to (1) fill out the claim form electronically and (2) print the signature page of your claim form, sign it and return it by mail to the address provided on the claim form. You must complete the claims procedure no later than October 23, 2004. Your payment will be transferred electronically to your PayPal account. If you do not have a current, unrestricted PayPal account or you indicate on the claim form that you prefer to receive a check, payment will be made in the form of a check, sent by first class mail to the address provided on the claim form. If you are paid by check, a $1.00 charge will be deducted from your payment to cover the cost of issuing and mailing the check. The claims administrator will not issue checks for less than $1.00. Such amounts will instead be reallocated to those claimants who are entitled to receive distributions.


8. WHAT AM I GIVING UP IF I PARTICIPATE IN THE SETTLEMENT?
If you do not exclude yourself from the class and the settlement is granted final approval, the judgment entered upon approval of the settlement will dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, and will release any and all claims, demands, rights, liabilities, and causes of action of every nature and description whatsoever, known or unknown, matured or unmatured, at law or in equity, existing under federal or state law, that were or could have been asserted in the Litigation against the Released Persons, including without limitation, claims under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, California Business and Professions Code §§ 17200 et seq.; the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1750 et seq.; and for PayPal's alleged conversion, breach of the User Agreement or other contract, money had and received, unjust enrichment, and negligence under California law or any other state or federal law arising out of, among other things, PayPal's restriction or limitation of accounts; PayPal's dispute resolution policies, practices and procedures; PayPal's debit of accounts following the receipt of chargebacks, buyer complaints, reports of unauthorized access or in connection with its Seller Protection Policy, Buyer Complaint Process or Buyer Protection Policy; PayPal's alleged conversion of funds; and PayPal's compliance with the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1693 et seq., or any similar legislation arising under the laws of any state. You will be permanently barred from bringing any such claims that arose prior to February 1, 2004. With regard to accounts that were limited prior to February 1, 2004, however, you will not be releasing claims to recover any balance that remained in the account 180 days after the account was initially limited.

In summary, if you do not exclude yourself, you will not be able to sue, continue to sue, or be part of another lawsuit against PayPal relating to the legal issues in this case. You will be bound by all proceedings, orders, and judgments entered in connection with the settlement, whether favorable or unfavorable, and will be represented by the Representative Plaintiffs and Class Counsel for purposes of the settlement. If you do not exclude yourself from the class, and the settlement is granted final approval, your claims against PayPal and its affiliates will be released as described above. If you are a class member, you may, if you wish, appear in this lawsuit through your own attorney at your own expense. You need not do so to participate in the settlement, however.


9. WHAT IF I WANT TO EXCLUDE MYSELF (OPT-OUT) FROM THE SETTLEMENT?
If you do not want to remain a member of the class and participate in the settlement, then you must mail or deliver (email is not considered adequate), such that it is RECEIVED on or before September 7, 2004, (1) an original written, signed request for exclusion to Co-Lead Counsel at the following address:

Co Lead Counsel:
PayPal Class Action Settlement
A. J. De Bartolomeo
Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo LLP
601 California Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, California 94108

and (2) a copy of the written signed request to PayPal's counsel at the following address:

PayPal's counsel:
PayPal Class Action Settlement
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
One Market
Spear Street Tower
San Francisco, California 94105

This request for exclusion must contain your name and address; be signed by you; and include the reference "In re PayPal Litigation, Case No. CV-02-1227-JF (PVT)."

If you exclude yourself from the class, you will not participate in the settlement and cannot receive any payment from the settlement. Your claims will not be released.


10. HOW WILL THE LAWYERS FOR THE CLASS BE PAID?
>From the inception of the litigation in early 2002 to the present, Class Counsel have not received any payment for their services in prosecuting the case, nor have they been reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses. If the Court approves the proposed settlement, Class Counsel will make a motion to the Court for an award of attorneys' fees of up to $3,332,500 and reimbursement of expenses of up to $135,000, to be paid from the $9.25 million settlement fund. Class Counsel will also seek reimbursement from the settlement fund on behalf of certain of the named plaintiffs in the litigation for reimbursement of their expenses related to their service as class representatives in the litigation, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $15,000. The motion will be heard at the settlement hearing described below in Section 11.

Class Counsel's motion for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses is based on various factors that include the benefits obtained for the class through litigation. These benefits include the $9.25 million cash settlement and PayPal's agreement to the injunctive relief requirements. In addition, certain changes to PayPal's business practices are attributable in part to this litigation, including PayPal's decision to undertake to return to its customers approximately $5.1 million in those accounts to which access was limited for 180 days or more; modifications to PayPal's arbitration provision in its User Agreement and its replacement with a clause that limits PayPal's ability to compel arbitration where the total amount of the award sought is $10,000 or greater; and various other changes in PayPal's business practices during the pendency of the litigation.

Class Counsel submitted their proposed request for attorneys' fees to the Magistrate Judge who had previously presided over discovery and settlement discussions. Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees is equal to the amount recommended by the Magistrate Judge.


11. WHEN AND HOW WILL THE COURT DECIDE WHETHER TO APPROVE THE SETTLEMENT?
The Court will hold a hearing on September 24, 2004, at 9:00 a.m., before the Honorable Jeremy Fogel, United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Courtroom 3, 5th Floor, 280 South First Street, San Jose, California 95113. The purpose of the hearing will be to determine (a) whether the proposed settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, and adequate; (b) whether the application by Class Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees and expenses should be granted; and (c) whether the lawsuit and class members' claims should be dismissed with prejudice pursuant to the settlement. The Court reserves the right to adjourn or continue the hearing without further notice to the class.

You may attend the hearing if you wish, but are not required to do so to participate in the settlement.

If the settlement is not approved by the Court, the lawsuit will proceed. If there are further actions taken in the case that affect your rights, you will receive notice as determined by the Court.


12. CAN I COMMENT ON THE SETTLEMENT?
If you decide to remain in the class, and you wish to comment in support of or in opposition to the settlement or Class Counsel's motion for attorneys' fees and expenses, you may do so by mailing or delivering your written (non-email) comments, such that they are RECEIVED on or before September 3, 2004, as follows: (1) the original must be sent to the Court at the following address:

Clerk of the Court
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
280 South First Street
San Jose, California 95113

and (2) copies must be sent to Co Lead Counsel and PayPal's counsel at the addresses listed in Section 9, above.

Your written comments must contain your name and address; be signed by you; and include the reference In re PayPal Litigation, Case No. CV-02-1227-JF (PVT). If you wish to appear and present your comments orally at the hearing, your written comments must contain a notice that you intend to appear and be heard, a statement of the position you intend to present at the hearing, and any supporting arguments.

If you do not comply with the foregoing procedures and deadlines for submitting written comments or appearing at the hearing, you will not be entitled to be heard at the hearing; contest or appeal from approval of the settlement or any award of attorneys' fees or expenses; or contest or appeal from any other orders or judgments of the Court entered in connection with the settlement.


13. HOW CAN I GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT?
You can get more information by writing Plaintiffs' Co-Lead Counsel electronically or by first class mail at:

paypalsettlement@settlement4onlinepayments.com

Girard Gibbs & De Bartolomeo LLP
601 California Street, Suite 1400
San Francisco, California 94108

Wolf Popper LLP
845 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022

This notice is a summary and does not describe all details of the settlement. For full details of the matters discussed in this notice, you may wish to review the Settlement Agreement dated June 11, 2004 and on file with the Court or visit https://www.paypal.com/settlement/. Complete copies of the Settlement Agreement and all other pleadings and papers filed in the lawsuit are also available for inspection and copying during regular business hours, at the Office of the Clerk of the Court, United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 280 South First Street, San Jose, California 95113.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

DATED: July 12, 2004

BY ORDER OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA


Posted by marc at 05:28 PM | Comments (30) | TrackBack

July 07, 2004

Suing PayPal

Update on the PayPal situation. On June 13th PayPal closed my account because they didn't like the material on my web sites. Yesterday I filed a small claims court case against them for $5000 - the mex you can sue for in California. Here's the details of my encounter with them and there's a recording of my phone conversation about their policies.

My suit is based on the fact that I have 50000 web pages that I need to change - and that I was actually in compliance with their policies, and that 10 cents a web page is reasonable consequential demages that should be awarded to me.

Like I said in my phone recording - I did get my money back that they froze for 180 days. I put the pressure on and they caved in. Got my refund check a few days ago.

What PayPal did was very slimy and I'm not done punishing them. I want to file another lawsuit for injunctive relief forcing them to reinstate my account and to force them to alter their User Agreement to something that's legal. I live in the next county over from San Jose and I'm looking for a free lawyer to represent me and put PayPal in it's place.


Posted by marc at 09:27 AM | Comments (25) | TrackBack

June 13, 2004

PayPal Sucks - Closed my Account - Keeping my Money

I'm in the process of building my PayPal sucks site and this blog entry is the first step. It's the art of being an asshole. I'm sure I'm not the only one that PayPal has ripped off and probably won't be the last - but I will be the one they remember the most.

I got an email today from PayPal that they are closing my account. The reason for closing my account is that they claim they don't like the content of my web site - specifically my site on Sexual Issues where I have my Men's Guide to Escort Services - a guide to interacting with hookers, The Nerd's Guide to Sex - a guide teaching men how to properly have sex with women, and The Shy Girl's Guide to Becoming a Whore - a women's guide to surviving the Bush Ecomony.

So - because they didn't like my web site content they not only decided to cancel my PayPal account - but to also keep my money for 180 days. And - I had transfered my money out of PayPal yesterday - but after closing my account today they reversed yesterday's transaction and are going to steal my money.

The people at PayPay are real mother fuckers. But I to am an asshole and I don't get mad - I get even. Whenever I get screwed by someone I use my talents of being a real prick to turn the tables on them and make them feel the heat.

PayPal claims that according to their End User Agreement that they have the right to close down my account for any reason whatsoever - without any form of recourse - keep my money for 180 days - and there's nothing that I can do about it. Well Paypal you on wrong about that because there's a lot to do about it.

I am a person who values free speech and fights hard against censorship and the Corparations like eBay who owns PayPay who think they can come in and tell ME what I can say on the Internet. Well I say - fuck you PayPal! I will not only keep my right to FREE SPEECH but I will use that right to expose you for what you really are.

Now - for those of you who are reading this - you probably don't entirely grasp the details of what I'm talking about. You think - this is PayPal - they have to be more ethical than that don't they? I say - yes they do. So I called them on the phone about it to get them to explain it to me in their own words. And I RECORDED THE CONVERSTATION IN THIS MP3 FILE SO YOU ALL CAN HERE IT FOR YOURSELF!

First things first. The file you are listening to is edited. But the important content is unaltered. I removed about 20 minutes of on hold messages so that you wouldn't have to sit through the wait time. The rest of it is everything that was said between me and PayPal.

What really fun about this is that I got them to say just exactly what they did to me and how they ripped me off and how they aren't going to do anything to fix it. What you hear is a real life detailed experience that I had and what PayPal's end user agreement really means to you - so that if you are thinking about doing business with PayPal - or you are already a PayPal or eBay customer - you might want to reread that user agreement and see if this is really what you want to be agreeing to.

In the recorded conversation - after getting them to plainly explain how they are screwing me - I anounce to them that I have recorded this phone call - and that I'm going to put it on the Internet. All of a sudden it is them flipping out and screaming about their rights - but - there's nothing they can do about it. You see - I'm not the only one who has no choice. When I dialed up PayPal - the very first thing their machine said was, "This call may be recorded." So - I recorded it. Listen to the squeal about their rights - but I don't give a fuck about their rights because they don't give a fuck about my rights.

The big corps think they hold all the cards - but there are things that we consumers can do to fight back. After all 0 this is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not of big corporation who think they can enslave us and walk over us any time they want to. I want this web site to be a turtorial about how people like you and me can stand up to these motherfuckers and show them that the People rule. And we do that by taking money out of their pockets.

Now - there are plenty of other people out there with similar stories of being censored or otherwise ripped off be PayPal and the comment section is open for you to tell your PayPal story. Go ahead and put in links to other PayPay sucks sites and tell us who is better. It's time that the online community organized to move away from unethical corporations like eBay who owns PayPal and find services who will play ball with us on OUR TERMS.

And - I want you to let PayPal know that you saw this web site and let them know what you think aboiut it. Here is an Email Form to tell them - you saw it hear - you listened to the recording - and what you think about it.

One think to keep in mind is - PayPal is not a bank - nor do you have the protection that banks offer. They are also not a credit card company. They act like they are a fiscal instution but Master Card and Visa aren't playing moral police with me. And as you can see - if they decide to take your money - they just take it. Even if you transfer your money out of paypal the day before they close your account.

Also - if you are going to link to this page - don't use the blog url. Use this URL instead:

http://paypal.ctyme.com/paypal/paypalsucks.htm

Here's another PayPal Warning Site I found.

Other PayPal Sucks Sites:

http://www.paypalsucks.com/
http://www.internationalterrorist.com/paypal.html
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/04/05/18/0128201.shtml?tid=126&tid=153&tid=172&tid=93&tid=95&tid=99
http://www.gnutellanews.com/article/12148
http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubb/Forum1/HTML/007500.html
http://seclists.org/lists/politech/2003/Mar/0040.html
http://dir.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/02/23/pay_pal/index.html
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/paypal.html
http://www.aboutpaypal.org/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paypalperil/
http://www.outofthedark.com/CorporateWars/PayPal/index.html
http://www.ygoodman.com/paypal.asp

What is PayPal?

PayPal is an online service that allows you to email money to other people.

----------------------

Why is my account access limited?

Your account access has been limited for the following reason(s):
# Jun. 13, 2004: In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy, we have closed your account. Your funds may be held for 180 days from the date of your last transaction. After 180 days, you will be able to access your funds by requesting an online bank transfer or, if applicable, a check from PayPal. Please update your address or bank information as we cannot be held responsible for checks issued to an incorrect address. We do ask that you please remove reference(s) to PayPal from your site.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-040-853-646.)

Posted by marc at 07:59 PM | Comments (200) | TrackBack

April 22, 2004

E-Loan Sucks - Beware!!!

I've been seeing a lot of E-Load commercials lately and it's rather disturbing. In 2000 I got a loan through E-Loan and it was not a pretty process. It started out fairly well, except that they offered me one rate - but approved me at a signicantly higher rather than advertised. They said it was due to my credit - but my credit was perfect at that point having finally scraped my ex-wife off my credit report.

I agreed to the higher rate and got a "check" for the new Honda CR-V I was buying. I went to the dealer and he sold me the car. So far - so good.

Then - I started getting calls from E-Loan to get more information to qualify me for the loan. I pointed out that I was already qualified and that they had send me a check and that the car was bought 3 weeks prior. It was a done deal - so what's the qualifying about?

They tried to tell me that the check they sent me wasn't a final approval - even though the paperwork they send claimed otherwise and the auto dealer had already cashed the check.

I forget all the details - but the check bounced - then very soon after that they made it clear somehow.

The loan wasn't through E-Laon - it was through Bank of America. So E-Loan wasn't the actual lender - they brokered it.

Even though everything came out OK in the end - the process was very spooky and dishonest on the part of E-Loan. The bottom line is - I'll never do business with them again - and I would advise my friends to avoid them as well. The idea that they write checks that are convincing enough for auto dealers to take and then claim that the loan wasn't yet approved is what I would call fraud.

Posted by marc at 02:24 PM | Comments (30) | TrackBack

March 17, 2004

Honolulu Star-Bulletin Threatens Me over Letters to the Editor

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is a newspaper that really sucks. A right wing rag that is now threatening to publish my phone number and encourge people harrass me. Their letter to the editor employee - Nancy Christenson - has gone balistic on me. She doesn't like my letters and rather than being a good journalist - she feels the need to threaten people who don't agree with her narrow point of view.

She called my phone number and hung up. But she wasn't bright enough to block the caller ID which came up 808-529-4700 which is the main phone number for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin

She's also made several attempts to break into my news list by sending email to the list using my email address as her identity - essentially trying to impersonate me and hack into my server to send email to my list of newspapers. And - if she really wanted off my list there is instructions at the bottom of each message to be removed - and the instructions actually work.

Here's some of the email we've exchanged. Her comments are in Red.

> Yes - you can publish my email address with the letter - but not the
> phone number.

If you ever send us your spam again, we will publish your address and
telephone number so you can enjoy being hassled the way you hassle others.

Its not spam - it is a letter to the editor. You are a newspaper aren't you?

I was not engaging you in conversation. You are not one of our readers, and
that is not a letter to the editor. You send us hundreds of these messages
each month, which makes is spam, whether you admit it or not.

Remove the Star-Bulletin from your spam list at once.

I am about to send you another letter. I do not give you permission to publish my phone number. If you publish it - it will be an act of malice. If you don't know what the means you should consult a lawyer.


You are laughably naive. Do whatever you want, little boy -- we'll never see it.

You're pathetic.

Are you really an employee of the Star Bullitin? How is it that you are getting my letters in the first place? (Turns out she really is!)

So - you're calling me up and hanging up on me? Geez - that's really mature of you.

-----------

I'm probably the most published letter to the editor writer in America. I send out a few letters a week to my list of newspapers and papers like USA Today run my letters on a regular basis. So do New York Newsday - Time Magazine - Chicago Sun Times - Kansas City Star - and the Dallas Morning News to name a few.

Normally I ignore threats. I get right wingers threatening me all the time and I just look at it as a sigh of success. If I'm not pissing off Bush supporters then I'm not doing my job. But this is a newspaper threatening to use its power to try to harrass me out of my free speech rights and it pisses me off. In the online world - I control more readers than they do - and one of the things I enjoy doing is exposing corporate and government misbehavior. So - screw you Honolulu Star-Bulletin! You're just another Bush Family Evil Empire publication.

Posted by marc at 05:14 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

February 29, 2004

Network Solutions Sucks

You would think that a big company like Network Solutions would have their act together enough to be functional - but they aren't. For those who don't know - Network Solutions is a company where people go to register domain names. Their tech support is so bad and their system is so bad that I actually REQUIRE my customers to move their domain from Network Solutions to ANYONE ELSE before I will host them.

Six months ago I was working for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and used one of their servers for secondary dns. When I left there I changed my secondary to a different computer - yet for some reason they are still returning EFFs IP address for one of my secondary name servers. And - they shouldn't be resolving this from their own database in the first place.

Rather than explain how bad they are - I recorded This Conversation with their tech support staff. There's nothing like hearing it for yourself.

The conversation is slightly edited. I took out personal information about the customer - and - I cut out about 10 minuted of music on hold. So - the pauses there I'm put on hold are actually much longer.

After listening to the conversation - keep this in mind. Network Solutions did not fix the problem. Engineering did not call me back. I got an emial survey that I filled out stating how dissatisfied I was and I put in a link to my blog. So - if any of you out there are thinking of using Network Solutions to register your domain - ask yourself this - do you want to be in the phone having a conversation like this?

I just built my official Network Solutions Sucks site to warn other customers about them. I've noticed that online punishment of evildoers has been very effective and I'll bet that I get their attention with this. But - they have caused me and a lot of other hard and the deserve punishment. And - I'm an asshole - and it allows me to express that in a constructive manner.

Posted by marc at 06:45 AM | Comments (27) | TrackBack

February 21, 2004

Google Adsense = Censorship - Bartcop Declined!

I was trying to help Bartcop make a little extra money on his site with Google AdSense. Google pays sites by the click to advertise their stuff and since Bartcop reaches hundreds of thousands of people - I figured it was a good match. Since Bartcop is technologically challenged - I applied to google for him. This is their response:

------

From: "Google AdSense"
Subject: Google AdSense Account Status

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in Google AdSense. After reviewing your
application, our program specialists have found that the website
currently associated with your account does not comply with our
policies. Therefore, we're unable to accept you into Google AdSense at
this time.

We did not approve your application for the reasons listed below. If
you are able to resolve these issues, please feel free to reply to
this email for reconsideration when you have made the changes.

Issues:

- Sensitive content
- Inappropriate language

---------------------

Further detail:

Sensitive content: Google believes strongly in freedom of expression
and offers broad access to content across the web without censoring
search results. At the same time, we reserve the right to exercise
discretion when reviewing sites for AdSense. We've found that your
website contains content that we don't allow at this time. AdSense
policy doesn't currently accept sites that advocate against any
individual, group, or organization. Please review our policies
(https://www.google.com/adsense/policies for a complete list of site
content not allowed on web pages.

Inappropriate language: We've found that your website contains content
that isn't in compliance with our program policies. We don't allow
websites with excessive profanity or potentially offensive content to
participate in Google AdSense. Please review our policies
(https://www.google.com/adsense/policies) for a complete list of site
content not allowed on web pages.

---------------------

For a complete list of AdSense criteria, please visit:
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies
https://www.google.com/adsense/terms

If you would like to submit another website for consideration, simply
reply to this email and provide us with the URL. If this new website
complies with our program policies, we will help you start delivering
AdWords ads in minutes.

Please contact us at adsense-support@google.com if you have any
questions.

Regards,

The Google Team

--------

I strongly encourage Bartcop readers to email adsense-support@google.com and protest this. Basically - what Google is saying here is that they don't consider the type of people who read Bartcop to be worth reaching for advertizing purposes. That no one they represent has a product that Bartcop readers would be interested in.

They claim this isn't cencorship - but come on! It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on here.

Posted by marc at 06:43 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

January 07, 2004

Exposing SpyzoneUSA - Consumer Fraud

One of my callings in life it to expose crooked companies. I have several web pages dedicated to compaines who have fucked me over and I believe in getting even - making sure the crooks don't profit from their fraudulent conduct.

The lastest rip off I encountered is a company calld Spy Zone USA at spyzoneusa.com. I tried buying what they advertized as a "Cell Phone Mic" which turned out not to be a microphone at all. After several entertaining email exchanges - which I published - I decided to build This Web Page. It's not as good as my MCI Sucks or my Sprint Sucks pages. But I think you'll find it entertaining.

Posted by marc at 09:25 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

December 10, 2003

My AT&T Complaint to the Attorney General

To the Attorney General of California

I have a problem with AT&T wireless cell phones in the San Francisco area. I am an electronic and computer professional and communications specialist and I know what I'm talking about here.

I own 2 AT&T cell phones and they both have the same problems.

The audio is very choppy even with good signal strength and the calls drop all the time. Knowing what I know about electronics the type of distortion sounds like digital packet loss - in short - AT&T is oversold and running in excess of their capacity.

Additionally - my cell phone turns off by itself even with a full battery. I seems as though AT&T is turning off phones to save bandwidth. And this results in missed calls. When it comes down to it - I'm not getting what I'm paying for.

There are several issues here. I am not just one customer who is and isolated incident. AT&T is oversold in the bay area and doesn't have the network capacity to handle the number of subscribers it has. This results in packet loss distortions, disconnected calls, and I believe the they are remotely turning off my cell phone to conserve bandwidth.

To explain this in simple terms - it would be like a hotel who was renting more rooms than it actually had to the point where when people showed up - there were no rooms. AT&T does not have the ability to provide service to the number of phones it has sold in the Bay Area.

Because the service is oversold, during busy times I get what is known as packet loss distortion where words or parts of words are dropped. When it gets more overloaded it becomes unintelligible, then - they will drop the call. Sort of like kicking people off an over crowded bus to take on more passengers. Calls that should have been received are not received - phone never rings - but have voice mail.

The system works fine on off hours. If I make calls in the middle of the night I don't have these problems. And - if this were happening for short periods of time I could understand that. But - this is happening throughout most of the day to the extent that the service is unusable. I am not getting the service I am paying for. I am paying for cell phone service - and I am not getting it.

I have made numerous calls to their customer support department and I just get the run around. I have had them do tests on my phones and according to their tests - the phones are fine. Yet they can not solve the problem. It seem to me that they actually want me to go away so they can collect $350 in termination fees and reduce the load on their overloaded system.

What needs to happen is that AT&T should be required to install enough equipment and capacity to handle the load. And - until they do - they should be prohibited from accepting new customers in the Bay Area.

Furthermore - because their service is unusable - they should not be allowed to collect and additional $175 per line for me to move to a different cell phone service.

This is not something that is happening only to me. I have talked about this with other AT&T users and it's happening to a lot of people. It would be appropriate for the Attorney General to step in and take serious steps to correct this.

Sincerely,

Marc Perkel

Here's what communicating with AT&T customer Service is like

Dear Mr. Perkel:

Thank you for contacting AT&T Wireless regarding our previous response. We apologize that you were not completely satisfied with the information offered regarding your current situation. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer any different options or information than have already been presented. We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We value your business and are always looking for ways to improve our service to you! Let us know your thoughts by taking a short survey about your AT&T Wireless email Customer Care experience. Please click on the link below to begin. If you are unable to click on the link, simply copy the link and paste it into your browser where you enter web addresses, and press "ENTER".

http://66.162.6.220/idce/start.asp?SID=AWS2323

If you need to respond to this message, we suggest you reply directly to this email for the best service. Please remember to leave all documents attached for reference. A complete listing of options for contacting AT&T Wireless can be located on our web site at:
attwireless.com/ocs/contactus/ContactUs.jhtml

Thanks for choosing AT&T Wireless. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
David D.
AT&T Wireless
email Customer Care
attwireless.com


TRACKING NUMBER: A00000009319-00000049527

-----Original Message-----


From: marc@perkel.com
Sent: 28 Oct 03 09:48:18
To:
Cc:
Subject: Re: BW0009319

I am unsatisfied. I was however satisfied for the first 30 days when
things were working properly. Now your service is oversold and it is no
longer working properly.

Under the contract you are obligated to provide me with service of a
reasonable quality and you are not doing so. Because you have failed to
provide reasonable quality of service - you are in breach of the terms
of the contract. You service is so oversold that it is all but useless.
I am therefore giving you notice that you are in breach.

customer_service@attws.com wrote:

> Dear Mr. Perkel:
>
> Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the AT&T Wireless
> cancellation policy on service. When you activate new service with
> AT&T Wireless, we are confident that you will be pleased with your
> purchase. However, if you are not, and you purchased your phone
> directly from AT&T Wireless, your phone and accessories can be
> returned to the original place of purchase within 30 days. Because
> your service is over the 30 day trial period, we cannot waive the
> cancellation fee. Your other option may be to switch back to digital
> service if you still have your old digital phone and use your service
> until the end of the current contract.
>
> We hope this information resolves your request to your satisfaction!
> We value your business and are always looking for ways to improve our
> service to you! Let us know your thoughts by taking a short survey
> about your AT&T Wireless email Customer Care experience. Please click
> on the link below to begin. If you are unable to click on the link,
> simply copy the link and paste it into your browser where you enter
> web addresses, and press "ENTER".
>
> http://66.162.6.220/idce/start.asp?SID=AWS2323
>
> If you need to respond to this message, we suggest you reply directly
> to this email for the best service. Please remember to leave all
> documents attached for reference. A complete listing of options for
> contacting AT&T Wireless can be located on our web site at:
> attwireless.com/ocs/contactus/ContactUs.jhtml
>
> Thanks for choosing AT&T Wireless. We appreciate your business.
>
> Sincerely,
> Elaine
> AT&T Wireless
> email Customer Care
> attwireless.com
>
>
>
>
> TRACKING NUMBER: A00000009319-00000042930
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
>
> From: marc@perkel.com
> Sent: 27 Oct 03 21:11:19
> To:
> Cc:
> Subject: Re: BW0009319
>
> I've already conacted your customer service and your service determined
> that my equipment was fine. The problem is that your network is
> overloaded and you are not providing the service we contracted for.
> Because you seem to be unable to resolve the network congestion issue -
> I have to declare you in breach of the contract and unless yu resolve
> your network congestion issues in the next 30 days I will move my cell
> phone service to a new provider.
>
> customer_service@attws.com wrote:
>
> > Dear Mr. Perkel:
> >
> > Thank you for contacting AT&T Wireless regarding coverage reception.
> > Wireless service is normally available to your telephone, when it is
> > within the operating range of our system and it may be available
> > outside of that area in other carrier service areas. However, the
> > quality of your service is subject to transmission limitation or
> > interruption caused by natural conditions such as atmosphere and
> > topography. Also, there may be other limitations such as capacity
> > limitations, system repairs/modifications, and/or other conditions.
> >
> > Please note that coverage concerns or equipment related inquires are
> > not currently supported via e-mail inquiry due to the number of
> > factors that can affect your service. We apologize for any
> > inconvenience this may cause.
> >
> > In order to troubleshoot the issues you are experiencing with your
> > equipment and/or service in the most effective manner possible, we
> > will need to have you contact one of our Customer Care representatives
> > by calling 1-800-888-7600 between the hours of 6:00AM and 1:00AM CST,
> > 7 days a week.
> >
> > We hope this information resolves your request to your satisfaction!
> > We value your business and are always looking for ways to improve our
> > service to you! Let us know your thoughts by taking a short survey
> > about your AT&T Wireless email Customer Care experience. Please click
> > on the link below to begin. If you are unable to click on the link,
> > simply copy the link and paste it into your browser where you enter
> > web addresses, and press "ENTER".
> >
> > http://66.162.6.220/idce/start.asp?SID=AWS2323
> >
> > If you need to respond to this message, we suggest you reply directly
> > to this email for the best service. Please remember to leave all
> > documents attached for reference. A complete listing of options for
> > contacting AT&T Wireless can be located on our web site at:
> > attwireless.com/ocs/contactus/ContactUs.jhtml
> >
> > Thanks for choosing AT&T Wireless. We appreciate your business.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Daniel M.
> > AT&T Wireless
> > email Customer Care
> > attwireless.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > TRACKING NUMBER: A00000009319-00000034887
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> >
> >
> > From: marc@perkel.com
> > Sent: 27 Oct 03 10:42:18
> > To:
> > Cc:
> > Subject: OCS25G Application Response - Next Generation Wireless - Next
> > Generation Wireless
> >
> > Message From: Marc Perkel
> > Account Number:
> > Contact Number:
> > SSN Last Four Numbers:
> > Message:
> > Add this to my record. I am hereby giving you notice that I intend to
> > move my service in the next two months to anyone else who can provide
> > me clear cell phone service in the San Francisco / San Bruno area. I
> > have complained numerous times about the quality of service and
> > nothing has been done. I have 2 cell phones and both of them are in
> > proler working order. The problem is that you have oversold your
> > services in this area and it is causing packey loss - choppy audio to
> > the point of being unusable - and connections continously dropped. The
> > service is so bad that I can not use it. I am an electronic tech and I
> > know what packet loss from an overloaded system sounds like. In our
> > agreement I agreed to a plan and you agreed to provide me with cell
> > phone service. You have failed to uphold your end of the bargain. I am
> > therefore giving you notification that you are in breah of our service
> > agreement and that I intend to terminate the plan within 60 days based
> > on the breach. Please enter this email as part of your record on my
> > account. And - pass this on to your customer support managers. Marc
> > Perkel

Posted by marc at 07:47 AM | Comments (12) | TrackBack

December 09, 2003

AT&T Cell Phone Service in San Fran Sucks

I used to really like AT&T but in the last several months their service has really gone to hell. The audio is very choppy even with good signal strength and the calls drop all the time. Knowing what I know about electronics the type of distortion souns like digital packet loss - in short - AT&T is oversold and running in excess of their capacity.

Additionally - my cell phone turns off by itself even with a full battery. I seems as though AT&T is turning off phones to save bandwidth. And this results in missed calls. When it comes down to it - I'm not getting what I'm paying for.

I'm thinking about switching. Verizon is on my short list. Definitely not going with Sprint because they have a bad habit of fraudulently billing customers and I'm not going there.

But - I'm sure I'll have a fight with AT&T over the commitment thing - but the way I see it - they committed to providing me with cell phone service and they aren't keeping their end of the bargain. So - I will at least get even by publicly documenting my experiences on the net for all to see.

Posted by marc at 12:32 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack