There is a speed trap near where I live in Indiana and it annoys me every time I drive by it and see someone pulled over. I've been considering this article for six months now because of my annoyance with speed traps. What better time to write this article than two hours after receiving a speeding ticket. This is my first ticket in 13 years. The last ticket I received was on a highway late at night the day my Grandmother died and there wasn't a car within sight of me.

Neither 13 years ago nor today was I driving in a reckless manner, nor was I driving in a way that endangered other drivers' lives. In today's case I was driving behind a couple of cars at a slower speed. The tickets issued (13 years ago and today) were not the product of an officer protecting the lives of a tax payer. The tickets were a way for the city to generate revenue, in my opinion. Is that why we have police officers? The officers are paid from our tax money. The officers pull us over to generate revenue. Why do we have officers generating revenue for a job in which they are already paid? It's like he's being paid by me to fine me.

Sidebar: I'm only talking about when officers are instructed to ticket people (speed traps) for money, which is not what they were hired for. I'm not talking about an officer risking his life or protecting mine, which is what they're hired for.

But can you blame the officer? I don't really think we can. As an employee (the officer) of an agency he doesn't own, he can neither make rules or change them. For the most part, he simply follows the rules that have been laid out before him. He and I are alike in the sense that we are working to feed our families. I would think to an officer this would be one part of the job they would find most embarrassing.

The entire incident:
It was noon and I had just left Indian Hills neighborhood in Louisville, KY after doing a support job. Instead of taking a left and heading towards the highway (North East) I thought I would roll down my window and head right on Brownsboro Rd. (South West) towards Zorn Ave. and get a little fresh air because it's 65 degrees and a very nice, sunny day. Less than a quarter mile from Indian Hills I was listening to a podcast and traveling behind a grey van and a black Acura when all of the sudden the Acura slowed down abruptly, I don't remember having to even tap my brakes since I was driving slower and slightly further behind them. After the Acura slowed down I saw a police car parked in the right emergency lane. His car was facing the same direction we were traveling as was the police officer. After all three of us passed the parked police car, he turned his lights on, pulled out right behind me and followed me for about a half block. As he got closer I looked in my review mirror and pointed at myself to see if he wanted me to pull over or get out of the way. His hand gesture indicated he wanted me to pull over, which actually surprised me. I pulled over between a couple mailboxes and put my car in park. My window was already down. As the officer approached my window I asked, "How can I help you?" He said, "May I see your license please?" I said, "Yes." I then removed it from my wallet and handed it to him. He proceeded to ask, "Is the address on your license correct?" I said, "Yes." The officer asked, "Do you know what the speed limit is?" I said, "No, I don't normally go this way." He said, "You were doing 51 in a 35." I didn't respond (it's unlikely that he actually targeted my car at 51 since I didn't even see his car until after the Acura slowed down. Both the van and the Acura blocked my view of the police car. He said, "I'll be right back." I said, "OK." After about 4 or 5 minutes he returned with my license and a piece of paper. I put my license away and looked at the paper. It was a Uniform Citation. I quickly glanced and saw $161. I said to the officer, "Does that say $161?" He said, "Let me see, yes it does." I replied, "I barely made more than that to come over here." He replied "Then it wasn't worth it." He then said, "Thank you." and turned and walked away. As he pulled away from me he did a U-turn; I would assume to return to his position in the emergency lane.

By no means am I saying the officer is lying. I don't know if the officer radared the van or the Acura that were in front of me. However, it's obvious to me that he is mistaken and he did not witness or radar me at any speed.

I kind of picture the whole situation like the officer was The Lion and I was The Gazelle at the back of the herd.

I will be reporting to court at said date. The only thing on my mind will be "Not Guilty." I may have some diagrams as well.

These are some illustrations I'll taking with me to show that the officer would not have been able to get a read off my car. I've done my homework, I hope the judge will see that.

My definition of being ripped off includes those who took my money and didn't provide the promised services, those who should have reimbursed me for something I did on their behalf, those who make a promise to do something then don't and those who quote one thing and the final price doesn't come close.

I've written many articles about being ripped off, sometimes I really feel like I have a target on my back. This by no means a comprehensive list, just some that I gave more time to than I probably should have. The bad thing is I actually look out for being ripped off, but it's always something new.

Here is a list of articles I've written that in some way I was ripped off, each article contains as much information that I'm legally allowed to include.
CompUSA
Cosmo
My former employer
American Service Insurance

Tags: CompUSA, Cosmo, Cosmo Model and Talent, American Service Insurance

This is the letter I mailed Roman Ross CEO of CompUSA today. Will CompUSA reimburse me for my time? We'll have to wait and see.

START:
Dear Roman Ross:

I sent this information to the CompUSA Customer Support website almost two weeks ago and received no response.

I have a client who regularly buys her Mac equipment and software from your Hurstbourne Parkway store #359 in Louisville KY.

She took a 250GB Lacie external firewire drive (purchased from this store) used for editing movies into this store to have it looked at because the fan was making noise. There weren’t any signs that the drive was failing, just the fan. The drive contained 110GB of movie files. She didn't want to lose any files in case the fan failed and the drive overheated.

When she picked up the hard drive the external case was missing. She was told the case had to be broken off and could not be repaired. She was told there were no files on the drive. She was told they could send the drive off to have her files recovered for approximately $800.

She declined their offer because they had already done enough damage and may have caused her to lose the files on the drive.

She asked Rob Jones Tech Support (me) to recover the files from the drive. Rob Jones Tech Support purchased a new drive to recover the files to. The new drive is a My Book 500GB triple interface ($279). Rob Jones Tech Support had to repair the Lacie drive (drive utilities) before being able to recover the files (7 Hours). Rob Jones Tech Support recovered all 110GB of the movie files. Invoice TOTAL including drive $979.

I told my client that she could reimburse me after CompUSA paid her for the recovery; Store #359 declined my Invoice #10061.

I was not with her during the incident in the store so that information is provided by her. There may be a few details not included because I am unaware of them, but I am certain I spent my time recovering those files. I would appreciate CompUSA reimbursing me for the recovery time. It was something they were going to do for her anyway.

Thank you for your time.
STOP:

I went ahead and changed the the name of my client to "her" throughout the letter but Ross knows who "her" is. As for what was done to the drive by CompUSA employees, it had to be an accident or mistake or something like that. I doubt any maliciousness was involved.

Update My client had two separate recent issues relating to CompUSA:
1. Work provided on 8/17/2006, The issue listed above about the external hard drive and the damage they caused to the drive and my recovering the files. My invoice only relates to this issue.
2. Work provided on 11/13/2006, Where her house got hit by lightning and killed the firewire ports on her G5. She called me to look at the problem first. I discovered the damage and suggested installing a new firewire card or taking it to CompUSA for warranty work. She took it to CompUSA for warranty repair and a service person told her she shouldn't have to pay me for my time since it's warranty work. This is not accurate because I charge per hour rate regardless of the work I'm doing. The service person was just confused about my involvement in the process. This second issue has absolutely nothing to do with the letter to Roman Ross and my invoice.

I'll update this post after I receive a response from Ross or CompUSA.

11/4/2006 I sent the first email to CompUSA Customer Service.

11/16/2006 I mailed the first letter today to their President.

12/04/2006 Nearly 3 weeks since I mailed the letter with no response, kinda disappointing.

12/15/2006 Still no response so I'm sending the letter again to a different ZIP Code. It would be nice to get it before Christmas.

1/8/2007 Still no response so I resubmitted the issue through the Customer Service website.

Update

1/12/2007 (1:56 PM EST) I received an email today from CompUSA Customer Service customer_service@compusa.com indicating that the link I included to this article was broken. The link wasn't broken, their email wrapped the link to a second line and they didn't try to copy and paste the whole thing into their web browser. I replied with that information.

1/12/2007 (2:53 PM EST) I received a call today from CompUSA Headquarters (972) 982-4000, Kevin Hain who works out of Roman Ross' office (CompUSA President), another company with an unavailable President. The gentlemen wasn't rude but he wasn't pleasant either. He started by explaining that they were not going to pay the invoice and that they had received my previous letters and emails. It also means that they were just ignoring me for more than a month. So I asked some questions. He said they were in contact with my client but he mentioned the G5 and that wasn't even related to this issue or invoice, my client was confused by their call and was talking about a separate G5 issue not the external hard drive issue. Which means he called me without even getting his facts straight. So he was telling me that they were not legally responsible to pay the invoice because they did not contract with me to do so. You have to remember he didn't even have his facts straight so he was declining something else that wasn't related to work I provided on the invoice.

I don't really even understand their misunderstanding. I never mentioned the G5 in my letter or my invoice and the issues are three months apart. So why was the G5 even being brought up?

This is very disappointing. Yes, I'm completely aware that they have no legal obligation to pay the invoice but sometimes you do something because it's the right thing to do. I did fixed their mistake.

1/13/2007 I'm sending another email to CompUSA customer service. If I'm going to be declined, I at least want it to be from someone who understands the entire situation and not someone just pointing out CompUSA's legal obligations or lack thereof.

Update

1/15/2007 (1:28 PM EST) I received another call from the same gentlemen that called me previously, Kevin Hain who works out of Roman Ross' office (CompUSA President). He started by saying he fully understood the issue and that CompUSA has no legal responsibility to pay my invoice because they did not contract with me. This is completely accurate, I was not contracted by CompUSA for any work. I wanted to make sure he completely understood the situation so I asked a couple questions. His immediate response about the G5 indicated that he still did not understand because he mentioned a separate issue with my client not her external hard drive. But after a few minutes of elaborating I believe that he understood enough of the situation to confidently decline my invoice. Maybe he got up to speed before calling me back. He also indicated that my issue went through their legal department. He mentioned my website, so knew anything he said would be posted online.

So am I satisfied? Yes and No. I'm thankful to you Mr Kevin Hain for returning my call so quickly this time. He also took the time to answer my questions and assure me that he completely understood the situation, albeit slightly reluctantly.

But in the end they stuck with their legal responsibilities. It's probably because if they paid my invoice for fixing a problem they caused then they would be hit by all kinds of yahoos trying to milk them for misc. garbage.

Maybe they just don't have the money.

So instead of there being a post on the internet from my client talking about how CompUSA destroyed more than 10 hours of her personal videos there's just this one.

Tags: CompUSA

Scroll to the bottom of this article for the most recent updates.

12/28/2006 A couple months ago I received an email from someone wanting to know my experience with Cosmo Model & Talent. I gave an honest answer that got me thinking about my own experience with Cosmo. The same person emailed me a few weeks later to let me know they decided not to join after meeting with Tammy, they did not say why.

Below is my honest and factual opinion of Cosmo Model & Talent. It's from my own experiences.

I think we fell into that easy target category because I own my own business and my daughter is home-schooled. Cosmo convinces you that home-schooled kids will have better availability for appointments because their schedules aren't dictated by the school system.

My first impressions of Cosmo Model & Talent. The first thing I noticed was that they are in a small section of a business building. The hallway to Cosmo had an unpleasant odor on more than one occasion. I was surprised that hey didn't have their own dressing rooms, they use the office buildings restrooms. Overall I was very unimpressed. The second thing I noticed was they didn't have computers for communication like email and such. They had a computer or two for printing invoices but no over-all cohesive computer system or network. Mike, the photographer, had an old Mac and a new Mac but their office had no high speed internet. Mike had a laser printer which most comps were printed on at the time. When you were given something to sign it looked like it was a copy of a copy of a copy. Their office was run like they were back in the early 80's. I didn't hold their lack of technology against them because I was not familiar with the modeling world and what they considered acceptable.

Their website was bad. Click this link to see what it looked like through most of 2006. I mocked up a new website for them in 2005 and showed it to the owner, Dona Downing, but she said when she was ready she was going to spent 20K and do it right. That's not the direction the site took but it looks much better. Only a couple months ago did they change the site. Click this link to see the new sites progress.

This is a chronological order of events through the our Cosmo experience.
7/30/2005 My daughter tried to get into an American Girl show in the summer of 2005. She didn't meet some specific height and clothing criteria but Cosmo was waiting outside for anyone who might be interested in modeling. The American Girl show and Cosmo are not related.

8/1/2005 We stopped and got some information. It all seemed harmless and Allyson was interested. Most little girls are. Anyway, we went and met with Tammy Moore who signs up new models for Cosmo. No promises were made about any real work. It was more like we were given the impression that work was a given and it would'nt be long after her classes that she would have her first gig.

8/2/2005 Tammy asked if I was interested. Of course I laughed, but she said they always need men. After letting that sink in for a day I went back and talked with her more. It seemed like since they needed men as she suggested that work would be easier for me to get than Allyson. I decided it was obviously an easy way to earn some extra income so I did it.

Most of the classes were taught by former employees or Cosmo models and some classes are taught by the same person who answers the phone. The employees themselves were very nice and professional at all times.

We paid for Allyson's classes up front and her comp cards later, children are expected to update their comp cards every year. I paid for part of mine and was told the remaining balance would be deducted from the jobs I would get. After a couple months of no calls I received a payment plan from Cosmo for the remainder of my balance. I called and asked why it was sent to me when I hadn't even received any jobs yet. Tammy's response was that they never guaranteed I could get a job soon and that the balance was due. I was obligated to pay the balance because I signed the papers of my own free will. So I paid it.

7/6/2006 Now the wait for a phone call. One year after Allyson signed up she was asked to come in for a preliminary interview. She didn't get it. I have never been called. I've listed the expenses of being associated with Cosmo. It does not take into account all the other expenses like fashion magazines, time out of our schedule, makeup, new clothes for photo shoots, etc.

The photography of the models is great, however the printed comp cards are completely generic. They are printed on a color laser printer not photographic paper, but maybe that's what all model agencies do, I don't know. The comp cards price seemed high for what you were getting, but as I say "It costs what it costs".

From my current point of view (1.5 years after signing with Cosmo) not one penny I spent with Cosmo was worth it. Because they didn't provide services that we paid for.

I don't feel that I'm being impatient. I actually felt like I waited some time after my patients ran out before posting this article.

Does Cosmo actually have models getting jobs? Yes, they do, but I would speculate it's small percent of the total applicants they sign. That means you're probably not getting a call, ever. Consider yourself lucky (I suppose) is you ever heard from Cosmo again.

Do I feel foolish for getting ripped off by Cosmo, Yes. I think everyone feels foolish when they get ripped off and then they don't want to admit it because it's embarrassing. I'm willing to forego my own embarrassment if this information helps others.

List of expenses to Cosmo for Allyson.
$500 8/1/05, modeling classes
$40, 9/12/05, modeling portfolio
$125, 10/28/05, half of the photo shoot payment
$125, 1/20/06, balance of the photo shoot payment
$60, 1/20/06, 25 comp cards and 1 8x10
$850 TOTAL

List of expenses to Cosmo for Rob.
$275 8/2/05, partial payment for modeling classes
$60 11/3/05, 25 comp cards and 1 laser print
$100 1/20/06, payment 1 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 2/14/06, payment 2 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 3/23/06, payment 3 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 4/20/06, payment 4 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$100 5/23/06, payment 5 of 5 for balance of modeling classes
$835 TOTAL

$1685 TOTAL PAID to Cosmo for Allyson and Rob

You can contact Cosmo Model & Talent at:
808 Lyndon Lane, Suite 211
Louisville, KY 40222
502-425-8000

COMPLAINT PROGRESS:
2/7/2007 Today I'm emailing this information to Cosmo per the suggestions of the Better Business Bureau.

2/23/2007 Today I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, my complaint number is 4758922.
I never received a response from Dona or Tammy, both were sent an email about my pending complaint.

My complaint has been received (2/23/2007) and is being handled by my local BBB.
The Better Business Bureau, Inc. (Louisville, KY)
844 S. 4th Street
Louisville , KY 40203-2186
Phone: (502)583-6546
Fax: (502)589-9940
Email: info@ky-in.bbb.org
Web: http://www.ky-in.bbb.org

3/2/2007 I received a call this morning (10 AM) from Craig at Cosmo. I immediately assumed he was calling about my complaint. He said there was a trade show looking to do a spoof on Deal or no Deal. He wanted to know if I was interested in playing the part of the host. I replied "I'm sorry, I'm not available". He mentioned it was $350 per day, I repeated that I wasn't available. Seeing as this is the one and only call from Cosmo I've ever received for work and the fact that it came after I filed a complaint, you can see why I turned it down. And you can't deny the ironic timing of this job offer.

3/3/2007 I received a call from Dona Downing today (1 PM) about my complaint. She wanted to make sure that I understood today (3/3/2007) was the first time she was aware that I had a complaint with Cosmo. She received a letter from the BBB but never received my previous email. She wanted me to be aware that Craig had no knowledge of my complaint when he called me about the job offer the day before. From her point of view she felt as though she need to defend herself. Some of the things she mentioned on the phone about this article I have removed because they were irrelevant to my overall experience. She mentioned repeatedly that they are not some scam company and that she's been doing her job for 30 years. She pointed out that her company has booked "Millions (with and S)" of dollars worth of jobs throughout their history. She pointed out somethings that I would have never known, again I can only give my point of view.

She mentioned that if this article hurts her business she would take legal action. I would expect no less, I would do the same.

She said she didn't think refunding my money would make me happy, actually it would. Like I said earlier they can't make everyone happy and I'm one of those people. But receiving a full refund would actually make me feel good that I wasn't out any money on this whole experience. Dona also pointed out that I wasn't charged the full price in the first place, so apparently I received a discount. My wife and I decided months ago to no longer proceed with modeling for myself or my daughter, so that's not an option.

Dona, I want to thank you for the phone call and I appreciate your professionalism about my complaint. I genuinely felt as though you were hurt by some of the things in this article. And others you knew were lacking in information. The only thing I tried to impress upon you was that this was my actual experience with Cosmo. Running my own company I can understand that you must feel disappointed with my experience as your client. I would never want one of my clients to be disappointed with my service. And if they ever were I would fix it. And if they posted an article about it that would bother me too.

Dona, I apologize for some of the irrelevant items that I had in this article. Being a computer person I tend to over detail things (partly because I have such a good memory) and my point can be lost. I can't change my overall experience with your company but I can make sure this article only represents my experience sans emotion and excessive detail. You will be receiving an email about my changes to this article.

3/3/2007 After speaking with Dona Downing today I felt is was my responsibility to review my entire post and make sure that I have in no way fabricated anything or speculated. If this post previously had my own speculation then I removed it. A few other things were removed because I decided they were irrelevant even thought they were not made up. That's not what this post was suppose to be about. It's simply suppose to represent my experience, nothing more.

3/14/2007 The BBB has yet to receive a response from Cosmo.

3/26/2007 I received a response from BBB today. Apparently Cosmo responded with the same info I've already posted about above. They made no offer to reimburse me. I'm continuing my complaint.

There seems to be some confusion about my complaint. So let be very clear, it has nothing to do with the computers that Cosmo has or their website, those were merely observations.
My complaint is only about the nearly $1700 I spent for services that they did not provide.
As for two jobs Cosmo claims I turned down.
1. The first was not formally offered to me, when I stopped in to get something for Allyson, Craig said that he included my Comp Card for a commercial where I would have to dress up like a fairy. He then said to me "But I didn't think you take it because of you other business" I replied "You are correct". That was the end of that conversation.
2. The Second job Craig called me for is the listed above, after I had already filed my complaint with the BBB.

4/2/2007 I received a response today from the BBB indicating they regret thier efforts were not been successful in resolving the matter to my satisfaction.
I'm seriously confused by this because they didn't really do anything yet they're closing the case.

4/2/2007 I sent an email to the BBB indicating that I don't understand how the case could be closed. I received no response.

4/10/2007 I sent another email to the BBB indicating that I don't understand how the case could be closed. I received no response.

4/30/2007 I sent another email to a different person at the BBB and they replied the case had been closed and there was nothing more the Bureau could do to resolve this complaint. From my point of view this is all the BBB did. I filed a complaint, they sent the complaint to the business, the bsuiness issued a bogus response, the BBB closed the case.

It's no wonder Dona made fun of the fact that I filed a complaint with the BBB. And she called it a silly club that costs her about $500 a year. It's no wonder she gave the response that she did, she must think the BBB is a joke. I don't know if she has settled in the past but I'm guessing she hasn't.

If this is how most of the BBB cases are handled I can't say that I would recommend people even bother with using the BBB. I guess since this is my first use of the BBB I expected more. It's not their fault, my expectations were too high. I figured Cosmo would put more value into a bad or unresolved case. I figured wrong.

7/15/2007 I've been completely ignored by Cosmo and was never offered a refund of any kind. My best recommendation to anyone looking for modeling info for themselves or their kids is to look past Cosmo. I wouldn't be in business If I ever had a disappointed client and treated them the way Cosmo has treated me.

2008/01/28 Today I'm filing a new complaint with the Better Business Bureau (ID 5992301). In my original conversation with Dona Downing (3/3/2007) she informed me that my daughters comp photo would be removed from their website. As of today (nearly 11 months later) her picture remains listed. I'm requesting my daughters picture be removed and a full refund ($1685) for services they never provided.

I think the fact that they never removed my daughters photo (even after my first complaint), goes a long way to show that I was told by Cosmo what I needed to hear to either get my money or shut me up, then they never followed through with the services or the removal. The image below was taken today (2008/01/28) to show that Cosmo has not made good on anything they've said so far. My daughter is the main image holding the sun glasses.



They finally took down her picture but only after the BBB contacted them again. The BBB was again unable to satisfy my request for a refund.

2008/05/25 After receiving a few comments on my article I decided to add back some previous details that I removed.

Tags: Cosmo, Cosmo Model and Talent

Six months after I sent in my resume, I had a job interview in the last week of October 1998 with Kris Anderson (no relation to Doe Anderson), Nick Ray and Matt Mascarish. I started working 11/4/1998 on a part-time (30 hour) basis for evaluation purposes. Between 12/30/1998 and 1/4/1999 Kris offered me a full-time job at Doe Anderson with a salary that I got bumped up before accepting. In my first five years I doubled my salary, which is unusual within the same company, but I busted my ass and made a huge difference.

Doe Anderson has been in business since 1915. Several employees have been working there for more than 20 years and even more have been there for more than 10 years. I don’t think it would have surprised anyone if I had worked there for more than 20 years. I was there for 6.5 very quick years. Kris has been there since he started (16 years), Nick was there, left and came back (8years), Matt (7 years) has been there since he started. Rich Glasser was fired when they lost Winston then later rehired (4 years).

I bragged about my flexibility. I could take the day off with little or no notice. Nobody in the department really cared because they knew if they needed me they could just radio me. No one was surprised when I took the day off when Halo2 came out (11/9/2004). Nor were they surprised when I sent an email saying I wouldn’t be in after seeing the midnight opening of Star Wars Episode 3 (5/19/2005). It had become a habit for employees in the IT Department to send an email at the last minute saying they would be leaving early for one reason or another. Or you would get the early morning email saying they would be out the next day or that day. Nobody cared because everybody did their job.

Allyson (my daughter) has been running around the halls of Doe Anderson since she was 3 years old and a lot of the ladies there would give her candy or gum. Most of the ladies and few men on the fourth floor (where I worked) knew Allyson and were familiar with her running around the hall. Even the cleaning people knew Allyson. Even though I would never let Allyson run around before Doe closed at 5:15pm she got regular chances to run around since I was regularly there after 5:15pm.

In 2000 when the PS2 was released, Toby Hatfield (my brother), Rich, Nick, Matt and I all camped out at Target with about 50 other people from midnight until they opened the next morning to get our PS2’s. I was the first at Target that night and the first inline to get my PS2 the next morning.

In 2003 Rich, Nick and I all ran the Rhodes City Run. They ran other Triple Crown races without me, because I lost interest.

I even spent about 20 hours a few years ago creating a movie for Kris of his trip to Disney World. The last time his wife Carol mentioned it, she said their daughter still watches it. I was constantly being asked to help with personal projects by people in the department.

Rich and Matt were great to work with but Nick was the person that I had the closest relationship with. We lost weight at the same time, and lots of it. We had our Lasik eye surgery done on the same day by the same doctor. I'll miss Nick the most.

I have in my personal digital photo library more than 500 photos and movies of various things that relate to Doe Anderson over the last 6.5 years. X-mas parties, picnics, birthday parties, a cookout at Rich’s house, a cookout at Nick’s house, my 30th birthday party with all co-workers in my department, Allyson at Doe as a toddler, the time Karen kept Rich’s girls for a week, the Halloween contest, the pumpkin carving contest, my brother Toby at Doe, me testing Doe’s new digital camera, all of the work that went into the iPod Xmas and random pics of my office. And most recently was Doe Anderson’s 90th Anniversary picnic.

Here is a list of the people I have invited to Doe Anderson just to show them where I work: Shawn Wright (one of my freelance clients), Toby Hatfield (my brother), Karen and Allyson (my wife and daughter), Jack Stopher (my Dad), Sheila Stopher (my Mom), Brian Jenkins (my brother-in-law) and his sons Phillip and Stephen, and a friend (my childhood friend). My friend, a friend (whom I hadn’t seen in ten years) came to the States to visit me after being in Korea for 7 years. We got together and one of the things I wanted him to see was where I worked (6/2/2005) before he left for Iraq.

Karen would regularly get me candles for my office because knew how much I enjoyed burning them and Allyson would make me things that were just for my office.

The IT Department was a funny group. At one point we all laughed at the fact that we all had the same electric toothbrush. I was very influential when it came to electronics. Rich currently owns a personal digital camera that I picked out for him. Matt asked for a TiVo for X-mas after I bragged about mine so much. Nick owns a personal scanner that I helped him pick out as well as his new TiVo. As a matter of fact employees throughout the entire agency would call me asking for personal advice about electronics, computers or personal projects. In December of 2004 118 Doe Anderson employees were walking around with iPods that I picked out. Doe could have saved $6000 by choosing a different model but I recommended against it and Jim White decided to go with my suggestion.

I was blown away and honored when Jim White came to me last year to handle the purchasing, branding and distribution of what would be considered the best Doe X-mas party ever (12/2/2004). Every employee received an iPod as a X-mas gift but only a handful of people even knew about it before it was announced at the party because it was a huge secret. This is why all of 120 iPods ($33,000 worth) were shipped to my house where they were prepared and stayed until the night of the party.

I was even part of the X-mas party presentation (12/2/2004) where they made fun of me for wearing shorts. Everyone knows I wear shorts even in the winter. I was in the Company Meeting presentation (12/7/2004) where it was pointed out what a good job I did with the iPods. And most recently I was in a Company Meeting presentation early this year where I congratulated for a very good idea about bad weather call-in number.

One aspect of my personality is telling it like I see. I don't hold back and never pull my punches. Anyone who has ever gotten to know me will tell you that I tell the truth.

After six and a half years of cookouts, playing video games, birthdays, PS2 campouts, meetings, Triple Crown races, pictures, movies and parties all those friendships ended the day I was let go (June 2005). Not the typical co-worker friendship taper off, a complete and sudden end. Of all the friends and acquaintances I made in my years at Doe, none that still work there ever contact me. Many former employees have echoed my sentiments exactly. Working in IT I experienced many let-goes and layoffs and it wasn't always this way. What has changed? Has a fear been created that associating with a former employee could make you a former employee? And what would cause such a fear?

You can do your own google searches for Doe Anderson to see all of the business they have lost since 2000, examples such as R.J. Reynolds, National City, Shoney's and Valvoline. As listed on their website they currently have 85 employees. At the end of 2004 they had 118 employees. I always knew the number of employees because of my responsibilities of managing the phone system. They have laid-off nearly half of their employees since 2000 and approximately 30 in 2005 alone. They are also making interesting choices of letting people go then asking them back the same week, sometimes only part-time or freelance.

I was quite naive about the political processes. Especially when it came from the very top. You know that phrase "It's going to get worse before it gets better." I think Doe may continue to decline and may require replacements in it's decision making executives before they see improvements.

I've been running my own tech support business for 10 years and now it's full time. Nothing compares to working for yourself.

I am still doing what I love to do, but now it's on my terms.

By Rob Jones

I reported this accident (11/03/03) to Progressive (my insurance company) within a few hours of it happening and tried to do the same with ASI but they're only open during certain hours. It took my Progressive adjuster (Jeanette whom was extremely helpful) and myself 4 days before either one of us got through to actually report the claim, my Progressive adjuster was hung up on twice then talked to a person who attempted to transfer her at which time she was hung up on again. I don't know if they were having phone trouble that week but their hold times were so unreasonably long that I had to hang up each time and call back later because I was at work and had work to do.

Kelley Blue Book values this vehicle at $2,510 retail. NADA values this vehicle at $2,300 high. And the online sales prices range from $2,488 to $2,999 which are for near identical vehicles with the same options only some of vehicles have nearly 100,000 more miles than mine does. My car was in fantastic condition and everything worked and I went to a lot of trouble to locate it and check it out before buying it. This vehicle ranks high in every category because it was garage kept, lightly driven and well maintained.

You would not believe the amount work I was required to do for ASI just to get them to finalize the claim.

First of all I was told that I would be reimbursed $20 or $25 per day that I paid for a rental vehicle but since they had not contacted the owner of the truck and could still deny the claim, that expense would rest on me and that's not the kind of risk I can afford. Second, they said that until they received information from the owner of the truck (which they did not have a valid phone number) that could still deny the claim if the owner of the vehicle said he did not give the driver permission to drive the vehicle. So I explained to them that the truck had a "Contractor 0300 Parking Permit" sign hanging from the rearview mirror and the gentlemen driving looked as if he recently left a construction site indicating to me that he was driving the company vehicle. I even included pictures of the truck and it's stickers with my own.

1. They required me to supplied photos (I included about 20 hi-res images), a copy of the Vehicle Inspection Report, I also included any repair info and expenses as well as my CarFax report and a copy of what Progressive would pay out on my vehicle ($1800). I included every single piece of information I had.

2. They asked me to include a list of options my car had. Air conditioning, Power Steering, Power Windows, Tilt Wheel, Cruise Control, AM/FM Stereo, Cassette, Fuel Injection 5 Speed manual.

3. They asked me to provide them with two damage estimates, I included one.
I spent countless hours of my own personal time calling (because I can't drive anywhere) every local auto body repair shop asking them if they would go to the car and write me an estimate, they all want to know if it's an insurance job and with which company, and except for the one estimate I have included from a company that is on the same street as the Impound lot they all told me the same thing, I have to bring the car to them for an estimate. This is something they should have sent out an adjuster to do.

United Collision Center valued the damage amount at $3,132.67, and valued a total loss.

All through November and December they were still telling me that until they received information from the owner of the truck they could still deny the claim.

January 6th, 2004 - Two months after the accident
This morning (1/06/04) I signed over my Accord to Kraft Towing & Impound instead of paying the two months worth of storage fees ($10 a day) because ASI refused to pay them.

I received a call from American Service Insurance yesterday (1/05/04) indicating they were ready to write me a check. The catch is they did not pay what my car is worth ($1800 according to Progressive), only what I paid on 9/18/03 ($1200) a difference of $600, they didn't even pay the towing fee ($55). In the seven weeks that I owned it I put more than $200 additional work in the car such as the exhaust not including oil change and tags.

I have to say that I'm probably $375 out of pocket on the whole deal.

I considered pushing to get them to pay over more money but they have drug their feet on this since my accident on 11/03/03 and I'm just tired of messing with them.


The ASI adjuster handling my claim was not unpleasant but at the same time wasn't helpful either and never returned my calls.
Diane Phillips
(800) 897-2551 ASI Main
ext. 56082 Diane
ext. 56702 Supervisor Eunice Daniels
150 Morthwest Point Blvd
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
http://www.asilink.com/

Here is a list of the expenses (above and beyond what I paid for the car and it's taxes) that I have invested into this car in the 7 weeks that I have owned it. I also have every receipt for proof of all things purchased.

$24.99 9-17-03 for the CarFax report on the car.
$31.75 9-18-03 for the 40 point vehicle inspection from Honda Cars of Clarksville.
$7.42 9-18-03 for a duplicate key at Honda Cars of Clarksville.
$?.?? 9-18-03 started insurance policy with progressive.
$22.23 9-22-03 for new wiper blades from Target.
$33.28 9-26-03 for an oil change at VIOC.
$22.90 9-26-03 for rear washer nozzle from Honda Cars of Clarksville.
$2.11 9-29-03 for a tail light from Kmart. cash item
$10.59 10-08-03 for fuel injector cleaner from Target. cash item
$113.01 10-17-03 for repairs to the exhaust system.
$3.17 10-17-03 for a new gas cap from Auto Zone.
$3.59 10-17-03 for a new parking lamp bulb from Advanced Auto Parts.
$45.35 10-17-03 title transfer and tags from New Albany BMV.
$55.00 11-03-03 Kraft towed my un-drivable car to their impound lot.
$375.39 TOTAL additional expenses.

Gas
$6.82 9-18-03 Sav-a-Step.
$10.13 9-31-03 Meijers.
$5.00 9-25-03 Sav-a-Step.
$18.71 10-08-03 Kroger.
$20.36 10-24-03 Kroger.
$61.02 TOTAL fuel expense.

My personal experience of handling a claim with ASI was extremely poor and I feel as thought I was cheated by them and they wasted a lot of my time. I even considered filing a claim with the BBB, but they already had thousands of claims filed.

Tags: American Service Insurance