Some really pathetic people!

(Posted Wednesday 7-25-01/Updated Thursday 8-30-01) Below are the responses that I've had from people regarding my story about Washington Mutual and Associated Credit and their violation to ‘your rights to privacy.' As time goes on I hope to hear from more of you on this subject. If you would like to add to this page, just email me or make an entry into my guest book. Both of these options are listed below.

Hoora for you Johnny, and I'm with you all the fucking way on this one. It makes me fucking sick for the same reasons you state. Its a farce, and our civil rights as human beings are slowly being stripped away one by one, not only by government, but mostly by the corporations that are controlling the government, but no one seems to give a shit, because we are a society of fucking sheep. I guarantee that if even 1% of customers made a fuss they would be overwhelmed and would have to change their policy. I'll tell you what my man, you have the kind of spirit that America was founded on, but that now is a forgotten memory. It was Thomas Jefferson that stated (and I'm paraphrasing a bit, I should look up the exact words): "Any man that is willing to give up a fundamental liberty in exchange for a temporary comfort deserves neither the liberty nor the comfort." If we're willing to give in to a corporation's greed and oppression (of the very people that provide it with money!) because its a hassle, then we deserve what we get. If we as a society shut somebody up because their "speech is offensive" (as with the whole political correctness movement) then we are doing ourselves the disservice of exchanging a comfort for a liberty. I for one would rather be offended then to live in a society where I am afraid to speak my mind for fear of retribution. Johnny, did I fall asleep and wake up in some other country?!?!?!? What the fuck is going on???? Now I've got a battle to fight. Again! I got my tax refund check with everything correct on it (SS #, address, etc.) but with my mother's name on it. AGAIN! After I've dealt with this the last time I got a refund. You think dealing with a bank is bad (there at least you have a choice of banks), I've got to deal with the fucking I.R.S. Wish me luck.

Hey I read the story and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Steve and I have one credit card now, in between us, and one of the first things we did was sign that statement saying they couldn't sell our info. It's pretty ridiculous. Also read your credit card statements very thoroughly, and anything the company sends you. We used to have a Discover card, and one day the company sent us a flyer for "credit insurance" (supposed to pay your credit card bills if you are injured and can't work). They said it was $5 a month and they'd charge it to our credit card. We didn't want it so we threw away the flyer. Wrong! We didn't read the fine print, which said that if we DIDN'T want the insurance, we had to mark it on the card and mail it back to them. If they didn't hear from us, they would assume we wanted the insurance and begin billing us immediately! When the charge showed up on our next bill, Steve called the company to chew them out, and was told very sweetly that we had, indeed, signed up for the insurance by not doing anything! This is a fairly common tactic, we've discovered, with credit card companies. Be sure and read everything the company sends you, very thoroughly, because otherwise you'll get nailed. It took us two months to get that charge taken off our bill. Cost us $10, which admittedly isn't much but it's the principal of the thing, you know?

I have to agree that unless you tell anyone that you don't want your information given out they will. 2. Often times the person answering the phone does not have the tools to change things on your bill. They are basically very low paid phone people. 3. So when you lay into them remember they are making probably $6 an hour and are basically hired to answer the phone, bring up basic info on a screen. they don't have the tools to do it. It is just the way it is. I have only found on place I have called and ask not to be record that the person had the option to do that. It is not the person who answers the phone fault. they are just trying to make a living like the rest of us. Sad, wrong but true. The only way this will change is people getting involve with the government not by arguing with a person who took the call or some supervisor and getting that person fired.

I have adopted a new approach to the phone callers which, though I haven't received a response yet, at least I make a statement... literally... When I receive a call I tell them before they continue I'll need a name and billing address so that I might send them a bill for advertising on my phone... this usually causes a bit of confusion and I explain that it will cost them $50.00 to advertise on my private phone line. I will either get a supervisor or the caller will see the humor in the situation and will give me the information I've requested. I've even begun mailing out bills, so far.. no payments. but I'll keep trying. another point I've begun to recognize, that your stories and outrage have hellped re-afirm..is as follows... I beleive we, as a society, believe we are very advanced. we expect to get what we request, or what we feel is right. we expect things to be easy and immediate. I've come to think that we aren't as advanced as we think we are, and that by the end of our lives (assuming we live to ripe old ages) we'll look back at the fact that we had to push buttons to run our computers and actually comunicated with text... (how archaic), and that we'll realize we weren't as smart as we thought we were at the time... I admit we're better off than we've ever been as a race human), but we've taken 5 million years to get here... imagine what we can do in another million or so... The best way to begin a trip is to recognize where you stand at the beginning.

i have a small story about banks. I’ve never had credit and when I hurt my back and was off work for along time and so money was getting tight. For years the bank has tried to get me to take an overdraft which I have always declined but when things were tight I phoned up and asked for one. They said I could have £1500 which i said was too much but I would take £1000 to see me through. As things went Iwas off longer than expected and phoned them up to get the other £500 which they offered me in the first place only to be told cos I was overdrawn that my credit rating had gone down and I couldn’t have any more money. WANKERS. They left me right in the shit and I had to sort things out myself.

Hey Man, I was just thinking of you because you are one of the few people I know who doesn't quietly take having his civil liberties stripped like the rest of the sheep around us. You have more "American spirit" in your pinky than most of the ignorant fucks that make up our present society have in their whole flabby and ignorant bodies. They are a bunch of pigs in cages on antibiotics. (a Radiohead lyric). As long as the gas is cheap, and they don't have to think for themselves, they're just fucking dandy. They are content to be nothing more than a number in a database with a dollar value associated with it. I was just thinking about how we are essentially "forced" by the browser/online industry and corporate dictatorships to accept cookies. They can be totally fine if they are used to conduct legitimate technical transactions such as for authentication or for online "shopping carts", but cookies are fucking bullshit when they are used to track where you are going, or if you looked at another fucking useless banner ad(which I not only ignore, but boycott products that bombard me with them). However, if we want to do business say with a bank like Wells Fargo, or with just about anybody out there these days, we have to set our browsers to accept cookies, otherwise we have to click "cancel" twenty fucking times per web page for every cookie that every online tracking service is trying to set onto our system. Maybe 10% (and I think I'm being generous here) of all the cookies are for legitimate reasons, the other fucking 90% are for advertisement trackers. If even 2% of people called up their bank for example and said "Oh, in that case please close my account because I don't want you to shove ads down my throat continuously, and I don't want you to make any money from the ad tracking agencies which pay *YOU* a fee for information gathered at *MY* expense and *WITHOUT* my permission. Just FUCKING FUCK YOU!!!!!". I bet they would have to listen, but how about if 10% or 20% started not to take this shit lying down! It would be a revolution! (I hate to use the term "consumer revolt" because that's part of what's wrong with our society. Unless someone can get some money or information worth money out of you, you are a piece of useless shit to be disposed of) I think I may be feeling the same kind of "rage against the machine" that sparked the punk movement. (by the way, I borrowed the phrase "rage against the machine" from the band that among other things did that song from "The Matrix" which runs during the closing credits. Anyway, I feel better because I know you understand what I'm saying. Ya knowwhatimean? Take care, and I hope you guys are doing great. I'm gonna go on a hike tomorrow, and will be someplace I hope with no fucking advertisements (well you can't even look at your own watch without seeing a Casio logo, but at least it doesn't flash at me) and will probably spend the night at some friends, so I may not check my mail for a couple of days, but I'll talk to you later.

Yes , we are with you on the credit scam. It also pisses us off. The whole thing is really f----d up.

Exactly the reason i wish to not own one. A company will sell your personal info for mere pennies and I have decided to avoid that shit.

What a buncha a(*&holes BUT we as society allow them to treat us this way! We're a lazy bunch!

thanks 4your email regarding the story - does it really surprise you, and do you believe that it will ever get better in a classist capitalist society, no - but one can live in hope. crap situation are devised to keep the pawns busy not thinking about real issues.

When you get those pre-approved letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and junk like that, most of them come with postage paid return envelopes, right? Well, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little envelopes!

Just wanted to let everyone know who hasn't already heard, the four major credit bureaus in the US. will be allowed, starting July 1, to release your credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers..... to anyone who requests it, with or without your permission. If you would like to 'opt out' of this release of info, you can call 1-888-567-8688. It only takes a couple of minutes to do, and you can take care of anyone else in the household while making only one call, you'll just need to know their social security number. Be sure to listen closely, the first opt out is only for two years, make sure you wait until they prompt you to press '3' on your keypad to opt out for good.

Any comments please email me or make an entry into the guestbook thanks.