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ATT Customer Disservice

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:24:26 +0000

I agree with those mystery charges - these people should be jailed for such crimes...they are no different than street muggers - except they do it with the blessing of the congress and senate who approve all these non-relevant charges on your bill because guess what - part of that goes to pay them off for passing the stinking bills in the first place.
And customer service??? Just try calling ATT customer service sometime and deal with one of these gum chewing smart asses. Thanks ATT for really sticking it to us all.

Modern Dentistry

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:24:39 +0000

1. Get a toothache.
2. Go to dentist.
3. Get filling.
4. Filling doesn't last or doesn't solve the problem.
5. Back to dentist where they suggest root canal to REALLY solve the problem.
6. While there and captive in chair, you get to see a movie on their "new" teeth whitening system. You are also visited by the "finance" person who will discuss with you and help you finance the "root canal" and impending custom crown that you will need. It is also recommended that you get all your previous fillings redone with a better and more cosmetically appealing technique.
7. Sometime after the root canal is done, the tooth splits. You go back in and get a new estimate for structural repair and at this time, if you haven't gotten the very expensive crown, you are admonished to do so immediately.
8. The tooth is repaired and the crown is custom made to fit and installed.
9. The crown falls out while you are flossing.
10. You go back in for more damage control estimates.
11. You are revisited by the "finance" lady.
12. You ask the dentist about just extracting the tooth.
13. You find out they don't do that anymore at this dental office.
14. You are referred to another "professional" who specializes in extractions.
15. You call the extractor.
16. You are told they will need cash up front for this procedure since you do not have a history with them.

Total cost for all of the above (1 tooth) which ended up getting extracted- $8,473.55

Total cost in 1985 for a tooth extraction - $65
Today you are told, that isn't done anymore, the goal is to "save" the tooth.

Yup.

National Fuel - heartless scoundrels!

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 12:39:39 +0000

Just hours before a record-setting snowstorm hit last November, a serviceman from National Fuel Gas Co. showed up at Theresa Camp's Lackawanna home to shut off her gas.

The mother of four called the utility and pleaded for more time to come up with $300 to keep the heat on. But her time was up, blizzard or no blizzard.

"The heat was turned off for about four days," Camp said. "We all slept on the floor together, with only an electric heater plugged in. That's how we spent the days before Thanksgiving."

Like the Camps, thousands of Western New Yorkers have had to face days without home heating.

National Fuel shuts off service to its delinquent customers at twice the rate as the region's other natural gas provider, New York State Electric & Gas Corp. National Fuel is 76 percent more likely to do so than the three other major utilities in upstate New York as a group, a Buffalo News analysis shows.

The Buffalo-based utility stopped service for more customers in the first eight months of this year - 28,756 - than it did for all of 2000 - 27,400.

That increase, National Fuel said, reflects Western New York's weak economy and last winter's record-high gas prices.

"We've administered a fair and consistent collections policy," said Julie Coppola Cox, a National Fuel spokeswoman. "It was a very difficult winter for our customers. Customer bills were nearly doubled during the peak of the winter heating season."

National Fuel already is under scrutiny by the state Public Service Commission, which said last month that the utility appears to have "directly contributed" to the death of a 58-year-old Buffalo woman when it refused her repeated pleas to turn on her gas. Velma Fordham was found frozen to death in her unheated Buffalo apartment last February.

The commission wants National Fuel to review its records of the last six years and contact and pay penalties to customers improperly denied service under certain conditions. The commission has asked the utility to explain why it should not make payments to those people.

Nobody knows how many there may be.

So far this year, National Fuel has shut off service to 6.3 percent of its residential customers who fell behind in paying their bills.

The other major upstate utilities, which provide electricity as well as natural gas, have posted lower shut-off rates this year:

New York State Electric & Gas, which provides gas service to parts of Niagara, Orleans and Cattaraugus counties, has about a 2.8 percent shut-off rate.

Rochester Gas & Electric has shut off 2.9 percent of its customers for being delinquent.

Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. has a 3.4 percent rate.

Source:http://archive.pulp.tc/html/dire_outcomes_put_gas_shut-off.html

The Public Service Commission, which regulates electric and gas utilities, does not find National Fuel's shut-off rates troubling. This should not be surprising as the Public Service Commission in recent years is thought to side on the companies and utilities best interest. Is there payola involved? Well, one can certainly guess that is the case - as we all know, in NY anything goes as long as you pay the "politicians".

Cell Phone Scam

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:16:16 +0000

Oh, please....all the mysterious and unexplainable fees the cell phone companies sneak into your bill every month - fcc fees, government surcharges, usage charges, contract ins and outs, forced data plans, "other charges" and all the despicable skulldudgery done by ATT and Verizon...
If this isn't corporate thievery of the highest degree, I don't know what is...and you can rest assured your senators and congressman were paid under the table to pass the friendly legislation that allows these bandits to thrive.
By the way:
source:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/030209-verizon-ceo-compensation.html
Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ), took home roughly $20.2 million in compensation - including pay, vested stock and exercised option awards - in 2008, according to documents filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

His compensation includes a $2.1 million salary, $3.7 million bonus, $13.1 million in stock and option awards, $946,754 in perks (including $143,489 for personal use of a company aircraft), and $322,862 in deferred compensation earnings.

Overall, Seidenberg’s $20.2 million compensation is down slightly from 2007, when he took home nearly $20.4 million. His $2.1 million salary is unchanged from 2007, and the value of stock and option awards is almost equal. His bonus fell 12% from $4.2 million.
-----------------------------------------------
source:http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031110-att-ceo-pay.html
AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson was awarded a compensation package valued at $20.3 million in 2009, according to documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

His total compensation increased 35% compared to 2008, when his pay package was valued at $15 million.
Client Health Score Solution Brief: Download now

Stephenson's 2009 salary was $1.45 million, which is up slightly from $1.42 million in 2008. He earned a $5.85 million performance-based cash bonus in 2009. The year before, Stephenson turned down a cash bonus -- which the board determined he had earned -- "in light of the economic environment and the workforce reductions," AT&T disclosed in last year's proxy statement.

The bulk of his 2009 pay package came in the form of performance-based stock awards, which were valued at $12.1 million at the time they were granted (down 8% from $13.2 million in 2008).

Stephenson also received $864,632 in perks and other compensation (up from $376,248 in 2008). His perks included $215,954 for club memberships, $86,045 for personal use of company aircraft, $76,253 for home security, $27,350 for communications, $26,591 for auto benefits and $14,000 for financial counseling.

As a company, AT&T reported revenue of $123 billion in 2009, a decline of less than 1% compared to $124 billion in 2008. Net income came in at $12.8 billion, a decline of 2% compared to $13.1 billion in 2008.

Stephenson's total pay is calculated using data supplied in a proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 11. The following figures are taken from the summary compensation table: salary, non-equity incentive plan compensation, nonqualified compensation earnings and all other compensation (perks). Added to those figures is the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year; that figure is taken from the table that summarizes grants of plan-based awards. The calculations don't include changes in the value of pension benefits or changes in retention plan value.

Obama's comments on the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:47:40 +0000

President Obama on the Cambridge Police Department for saying they acted stupidly in last week's arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
My gut feeling is that this guy Gates was a little oversensitive to the cops showing up at the house as he was acting peculiar trying to "break in" and got all loud and belligerent at which point he was probably told to cool it or go to jail and he didn't heed the warning.
So Obama - if that guy was WHITE, would you have made that comment on the prime time tv that you have carte blanche access to?
I demand that you apologize to that officer in Cambridge for doing his job and outclassing both you and your friend Gates by a mile.

nys thruway

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:09:18 +0000

This is the playground of the nys police - between buffalo and rochester and rochester and syracuse they are hiding in almost every turnaround - its not uncommon to see 6-8 state police vehicles hiding in the bushes between rochester and syracuse on I-90 and the same thing between buffalo and rochester.
Overkill? Well, you be the judge, but the nys police love to write a lot of tickets - they like to publicize the yearly numbers of citations written, it helps them in the budget process.
Personally, I think we'd be fine with half of that force, the sheer number of cruisers you see on the nys thruway borders on the ridiculous, particularly in times of tight budgets. I heard once it cost new york taxpayers $300,000 per year/per cruiser.

Speed trap in Gates NY

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:50:07 +0000

Just before the 65mph sign on the 490 heading west out of Rochester - easy pickins for the States' finest. Got me for speeding in a 55 mph zone there, even though the 65 mph sign was clearly in view. Guess what happened in court - yup - pleaded down to disobeying a traffic device - $155 and 2 points, along with about 150 others there that day.
Gotta love this crooked state : \

The Pleading Down Scam

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:21:47 +0000

Latest and greatest revenue tool for municipal prosecutors. Offer a plea deal to marginal speeding ticket recipients from speeding 1-15mph over the speed limit, to "Disobeyed a Traffic Control Device" which carries a penalty of 2 points on your license plus a hefty fine as opposed to taking your chances in trial. Most opt for this deal because it's seemingly safer than taking the chance on getting a larger fine and more points.
Why are they doing this?
If you are charged with speeding - the state gets the bulk of the revenue from the fine. If you are charged with "Disobeyed a Traffic Control Device" the municipality gets the bulk of the revenue. Put 2 and 2 together and figure out why these prosecutors are so eager to plea down from speeding.
Some municipalities are pulling in as much $500,000 and up yearly on this type of scheme.
Outrageous, but true - this is the world we live in.
Don't like it? Move to a state with an honest government and that's not in financial trouble...if you can find one.

When you hit a home run...

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:57:22 +0000

for "pro" players mostly -

After you hit a home run -
Don't be a hot dog and stand at the plate with the bat in your hand and watch the ball sail out like barry bonds...
Get off your ass and run the bases - have a little class and put a little effort into it, since you're making millions per year, while most of us can't afford to go watch you in person - we have to watch on tv - you've priced yourself out of the reach of most of america - your fans in the stands are now corporate/wall street slobs living off the money scammed from hard working investors - those would be the ones now unable to afford tickets to see you arrogant prima-donnas "play".
To the owners - kma - hope you choke on the sushi you serve now in the restaurants serving your "corporate" clientel - hey, you know its wrong too - nice to see the wall street gluttony and greed has even ruined the game of baseball - and all pro sports for that matter.
sigh...used to be so much fun to go to a game...

Morning Radio

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:20:48 +0000

Morning DJ's.
Ok - here's the thing. You're not funny. You're generally not clever. I don't really find the innuendo between you and the token woman dj titillating.
Just play the music and shhhhh, k?

NYS is in a MESS

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:56:00 +0000

New York State citizens who pay the highest property and gas taxes in the nation, now get to look forward to 2010 were there is estimated to be a 17.6 billion deficit. How does this happen? We're already being bleed dry and there just isn't any more to give!

http://www.walletpop.com/taxes/article/6...252F542530

Open Book New York

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:03:06 +0000

Use this tool to see what your state is up to - I can't guarantee its accuracy, but its a step in the right direction.
http://www.openbooknewyork.com/

Unthinkably Gruesome Murder in Lockport NY.

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:36:46 +0000

This is beyond any comprehension as to what would possess these two despicable murderers to do such a heinous act.
I would hope they are both tried as adults and receive the absolute maximum sentence allowed by law and hopefully that would be the death penalty if NYS re-enacts it by then...if not, I hope they make an exception for these two pieces of garbage.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/arti.../1002/NEWS
http://www.rnews.com/content/top_stories...ookie=2004
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/crime/loc...74452.html

Record Gas Prices equal Record Oil Company Profits

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:50:44 +0000

So, here we are again, at the point in the year where we wait for the gluttonous oil companies to raise prices out of control so the downtrodden American public has to think twice about every little automobile ride they make.
The companies say it's market forces at work...and they can't control the prices...but who among us believe that? Possibly the Senators or Congressman they are paying off to get away with this travesty can get behind that stupidity, but your average middle class working mule - nah, we ain't buying it - lets examine the facts:
In 2005 Exxon made record profits of 36 BILLION dollars - that year, their CEO, Lee Raymond made over $51 million dollars. That's nearly $1 million dollars a week. Where does this obscene money come from??? Well, dear consumer, you are paying it at the gas pump - (uncontrollable market forces, remember?) Guess what Mr. Raymonds retirement package was valued at the following year? How about $400 million DOLLARS!
How about Exxon's 2008 profit: A record $45 billion!
Folks - enough is enough....its time to punish these greedy, gluttonous slobs and some are even calling for trying them for treason against the United States of America. I'd have to agree. It has to stop.
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/30/news/com...tm?cnn=yes
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/PainAtThePump/...id=1841989
http://www.companypay.com/executive/comp...sp?yr=2008

Executive Compensation

Sat, 23 May 2009 14:09:54 +0000

Warning: the following information will disgust you, especially in light of the fact these are corporations that have asked for and received taxpayer bailout money.
I am calling on every one of these CEO's to return every cent of this "compensation", as it belongs to the shareholders and taxpayers.
What is going on in the SEC? Where is the oversight on Wall Street? It is time for the SEC to dismantle itself as a viable entity and rebuild from the ground up with the number one priority to safeguard shareholder interests. No former SEC employees should be allowed in the new organization. You have failed the country and mainstream investors miserably.

CEO Pay of the Top Corporate Bailout Recipients:
Here is the top of the heap...

Citigroup
US Bailout money received: $50 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: Charles O. Prince $25,520,621
Bank of America
US Bailout money received: $45 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: Kenneth D. Lewis $23,646,455
American International Group
US Bailout money received: $40 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: Martin J. Sullivan $13,960,382
JPMorgan Chase
US Bailout money received: $25 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: James Dimon $28,887,532
Wells Fargo
US Bailout money received: $25 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: John Stumpf $14,797,458
General Motors
US Bailout money received: $14.3 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: G. Richard Wagoner $19,761,874
Goldman Sachs
US Bailout money received: $10 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: Lloyd C. Blankfein $53,966,198
Morgan Stanley
US Bailout money received: $10 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: John J. Mack $41,790,854
PNC Financial Services Group
US Bailout money received: $7.6 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: James E. Rohr $18,623,679
U.S. Bancorp
US Bailout money received: $6.7 Billion
CEO and 2007 Pay: Richard K. Davis $6,473,874

*additional resources:
http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/pa ... /index.cfm
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

Corporate names on stadiums

Sat, 23 May 2009 13:02:16 +0000

One thing that pisses me off is to see corporations naming stadiums - today, I see a lot of stadiums named for corporations that were bailed out with taxpayer money, how can they afford that kind of advertising plum?
Another thing - what about the long suffering fans that pay out outrageous sums of money to watch sporting and entertainment events at these stadiums?
Do the right thing. Name every stadium after the fans that support it, not the corporate slugs you design those obnoxious luxury boxes for.

lawyer politicians

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:55:13 +0000

Since when was it a prerequisite that politicians had to be lawyers? Its becoming harder and harder for non-politicians to enter the field of politics - partly because of "the club" in which all lawyers and judges belong where they take care of each other to the exclusion of all others.
Todays' modern politician is usually an attorney - which automatically excludes him from having any patriotism, his/her service is to themselves, not the country or the greater good. This is the reason the lobbyists have such easy access to politicans - (the club) - they understand and communicate the common language - the politician has votes for sale, and the lobbyists, backed by every filthy, gluttonous, greedy corporation in the country are more than happy to buy those votes at nearly any cost...money is literally no object, since the corporations are flush with shareholder funds for such a purpose.

Toll Trolls?

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:43:25 +0000

Almost every day I'm seeing a black state trooper hiding behind the toll booth on the depew exit (49) on the NY State Thruway...whats up with that?

NY State Roads

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:37:33 +0000

What happened to all the stimulus money for road repair - better yet, what happened to the toll money collected that was supposed to be earmarked for road maintenance - oh, wait - it couldn't be that money ended up in one of our stellar politicians' pockets did it???? Hm...business as usual in the most corrupt state in the nation.
Need proof?
Now many lobbyists are in Albany? Over 8,000 and counting. Their job? Bottom line is buying votes - the old adage that your politician is elected to serve the constituency is false - today, the modern politician is elected to serve themselves and collect as much green as possible from the vote buyers, special interests and lobbyists.
This state needs an overhaul from the bottom up. Get rid of all the garbage currently in Albany.

too many are silent - nothing changes

Sat, 23 May 2009 12:29:40 +0000

Don't be led around like sheep and let the bastards get you down - fight back. Here is your chance!