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31 year old Pagan female who lives in Florida with her guy and two cats, loves Disney, reads fanatically, tinkers in photography and believes growing up is overrated.
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MemoryandDream's Journal of Randomness
:: www.giveneyestosee.com ::
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At Love's grandma's bday dinner. His family is crazy but good folk. Crazy though for sure!
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Just figured out how to make a default text post icon so testing!
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At work staring out the windows and its looky nasty out there. A lot of heavy rain lately + more coming
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Help yourself!











(As always, feel free to snag any from my icon gallery. Credit is appreciated.)
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My Car Has Come Home
Well, it took a little longer than originally anticipated (I brought it to him around 8:15am Monday and got it back around 1:30pm Wednesday) but my car is back and fixed. AND it was right on budget. I had haggled for $764.50 from the dealership towards the repair and the total bill (part and labor) was $766.09. The entire repair cost me $1.59 out of pocket. That included the intake manifold gasket replacement, system flush as well as my power steering pressure hose replacement and power steering cut off valve along with new oil, new fuel filter and new antifreeze.

Hopefully, there won't be any problems now and everything will be peachy keen. It's been really stressful waiting these last few days to find out if it was going to all get done and if it was going to get in at budget (because I didn't have anything more than that to put towards it. Nada.) So whew.
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The Definition of Insanity
Isn't it often quoted that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and yet expecting different results? I swear, dealing with the credit bureaus feels like that adage exactly.

April 27, 2009 - Apply for car loan. Bank pulls my TransUnion report. There's some Verizon collection on there from July 2008. I haven't had a Verizon account since I lived in my old apartment almost five years ago.

1st week of May, 2009 -Request copy of report from TransUnion online. It fails because they list my old address of five years ago. Print a form for change off their website and mail it in with copy of my driver's license and water bill for address verification.

Last week of May 2009 - 3 weeks after request, get letter saying they can't verify my address. That the address on file is from five years ago. Please send photocopy of driver's license and utility bill to for address verification.

Send form in a SECOND time with the same information as last time.

Last week of June 2009 - Receive copy of report - FINALLY. I needed a copy before I could dispute the Verizon charge. (Because you need a file number to open a dispute and you can't get a file number without a copy of your report.)

July 7th, 2009 - Go online and try to open a dispute. Hit a dead end when it tells me I need to verify security information by calling some 866 number.

Call the 866 number, explain I'm trying to open a dispute online. Customer service person tells me that because I opened a fraud alert on my account, I can't access it online. I did NOT open any fraud alert. I just changed my old, incorrect and outdated address. She tells me I need to call an 800# for live dispute concerns and to clear up the fraud alert problem. Gives me a file # that's entirely different from the file number on the copy of the credit report I have in my hand.

Call 800#. Talk to a thick-accented Indian man. He has no idea what "fraud alert" the lady was talking about. Says I need to talk to TransUnion about it. I tell him I WAS talking to TransUnion Customer Care about it - the number came right off their website that I got right off my credit report!

Open dispute. But, I still have no way of logging in online to my account. He gave me some entirely different number to call that's the "True Credit" online care people. Then he tries to sell me on some kind of fraud alert service.

At this point, I have to just trust that the dispute is open. And I have to wait 30 days plus 5-10 business days for a letter in the mail with the result of the dispute. I still have no idea why I can't login online and I have no idea who I'd need to talk to about logging in online to view my file since one department says I'm locked out due to fraud alert and another department is telling me there's no such thing on my account.

All I know is that I've been trying to open a dispute since April 27, 2009 and it's now July. It took TWO letters and TWO months just to prove my address to them. Despite the fact I've lived here for almost five years. If they can't even get my address correct over a period of five years, why on earth should ANYTHING they say be taken with ANY expectation of correctness? I mean seriously. Decisions of my worthiness for credit, jobs, insurance - all are based on a system so utterly inept it can't tell it's ass from it's head!

So here starts my 30-day countdown. Hopefully, the dispute will resolve in my favor but who knows? All I know is that it's physically impossible that I owe Verizon money from July 2008 when I didn't have an account with them in July 2008. Or July 2007, 2006, 2005 or 2004 for that matter!

But if this isn't insanity, I seriously don't know what is!
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So I didn't get my car back today because while he got a bunch done, at 4pm, he was still waiting on my power steering hose from his parts supplier. I work tomorrow 3-8pm so if he's not done by then, I'll get a ride into work from my friend Rand and my mechanic will bring the car to me at work.

Either way it's all good and I rather he have it two days and everything is taken care of than have to bring it back another day to do the rest. It's not like I had any pressing plans today.

I'm fact it was my first day to sit around and do nothing in weeks. Of course I wound up doing laundry and unloading and reloading the dishwasher and cleaning the living room so it wasn't really *nothing* afterall but it was nice to take it easy and not have to run around all over the place. Plus I totally took like a two hour nap when I got home from dropping off the car. And naps always rock.

So.... Yeah. That's about my day today. I also made and listed a new Apple Tree of Life pendant plus some items for swaps. So I guess it was a pretty productive day after all.

Ta for now!

Sent from my iPod
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Fresh to the PhoenixFire Designs etsy storefront, may I present my Apple Tree! Featuring green jade gemstone leaves with Czech glass apples, this bright, vivid and summery tree shines with gold wire in a square frame.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
PhoenixFireDesigns.etsy.com


Several new, unique and OOAK (one of a kind) Trees have recently been listed as well including the Bubble Tree and a Tree of Life cellphone charm.

As always, I gladly take custom orders, so if you don't see it on the etsy store front or PhoenixFireDesigns.com, drop me an email and I'll be happy to help create something special just for you.
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Early Morning Car Repair
Just got back home. Car's at the mechanic to hopefully, finally get the issues taken care of. My friend Rand was nice enough to follow me over there so I could get a ride back. It's going to be like an eight-hour job replacing the gaskets because you have to take the engine apart basically, so I'm heading back to bed for a bit. The alarm going off at 7:15am was FAR too early for my comfort and some more sleeping is definitely in order.

I'll update later when it's done, but *fingers crossed* it should be all fixed later on today.
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12:30pm and 108f/42c. Florida is hell. Its official.
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Holy shit its hot. 830am and 98f outside!! Smotheringly hot!!
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Happy 4th of July everyone! Out running errands. Be safe tonight!
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July 3rd
Happy Day Before July 4th! It's Friday and Love's off for the holiday tomorrow but I'm at work. That's an odd reversal. I'm not here for much longer though. Only 'til 7pm and probably a little earlier than that since once the appointment in now finishes at 6:30pm, we're done for the day.

My adventure yesterday at the dealership trying to get the remainder of the money from them was another nightmare - at one point, the guy was basically like, "Just give me the car back. I'm not paying anything else" even though he said on the phone I had his "word" that he'd "make it right" for me. I was like, I don't want to return the car, I just want it fixed. It got hairy again for awhile there.

In the end, I got the entire original quote of $764.50. That was only labor, not parts since the original quote wasn't supposed to be an estimate, just a list showing what needed repairing. But my mechanic said there was a lot of overlap on the labor since it WAS just a list, so I should be able to get everything except the seat motor and the passenger side mirror motor fixed for that much, so that's good anyway. I've got an appointment to get it done Monday. Hopefully then it will be perfect.

Alright, I'm out for now. Getting ready to check out the last client of the day and close down. Ta for now!
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Finally! We walked out with another check for total of original quote of _764. Not perfect but good.
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Really? Drive all the way here again and they're giving me run around again. Waiting all over again.
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With everything else going on, I forgot I lose my extra user pics on July 7th. (I've got paid account until August) Bah.
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Slimy Dealership - Part 2: The Revenge!
So, I'm going to keep this short(er) but there's been updates since yesterday.

To sum if you didn't read yesterday's:
Bought a car with a 30 day powertrain warranty.
Have a major issue with my intake manifold.
Intake manifold is clearly part of the engine.
Fought with slimy dealership for over 4 hours yesterday.
Got $450 of nearly $800 quote and nothing else.

Well, today both my step-father and myself have spoken to Chris - the used sale manager - and I must say I'm damned proud of myself. I'm awful on the phone. I have serious anxiety over it and I'll do just about anything to avoid confrontation on the phone.

Today, I gave it right to him. In a calm, collected and downright intelligent manner. Stating indisputable facts. And I backed him into a corner. Though he won't admit that he legally does owe me, he does now admit he will "do me a favor" so that I'm satisfied. I will be up there on Thursday and he will cut me an additional check for the remainder of the repair bill. I reminded him that the estimate did NOT include parts and that I would bring an updated one with me including parts so that it was an accurate quote. He tried to say that a mechanic can put anything he wants on there and I reminded him it was in HIS best interest to let me use my personal mechanic as opposed to going to a Pontiac dealership who was quoting well over a $1,000 just for ONE part of the repair. That pretty much shut him up.

I have called my mechanic and he's updating the quote for me to include every last penny. I'll get it tomorrow during our office meeting and then be armed with it for our showdown on Thursday.

Chris is so slimy though that he won't put anything in writing and instead said I "have his word" that he'll "make it right." *snorts* I don't believe him, but I DO believe that the threat of dispute on the payment of the car made him realize he wasn't going to come out of it a winner if we let it go to arbitration. Instead of being out $800 or so bucks, he'd be out the full sales price of the car. (Since not repairing the car under warranty promised would be a clear-cut breech of contract.)

SO..UGH. Another stressful day. But I'm really proud of sticking to my guns, disputing him on the bs he kept trying to peddle, argued with cold facts in a collected manner and that *knock wood* I may just come out of this with the full cost of the repairs done. I don't think he's used to people who don't back down and especially when that person is a petite woman! Maybe he'll think twice about underestimating someone in the future! (Doubt it though; I'm sure he just thinks I'm some bitchy, uppity exception to the "all women are weak minded" rule of his.)

No celebrating yet until the remaining money is in my hands, but it looks cautiously promising.
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What Warranty?
So, let me try to sum up today's events. I will be making a full detailing of the dealership's suckage on every review and ratings site I can in the near future to ensure other people are warned away from them. In the meantime, settle in. I know it's long but it's worth the read if for nothing other than to see the bullshit they pulled.

The Backstory:
I bought the 1999 Pontiac Grand Am from a Ford dealership on June 10th. It was a trade-in and they offer a 30 day warranty on all their used cars. They stressed how much better it was to buy a car from them as opposed to from a private seller where you had no warranty and if something went wrong you were out of luck.

Turns out I was pretty much out of luck anyway.

One of my co-worker's, Kathy, is married to a man who is a mechanic and owns a actual shop locally. I asked him to look the car over for me and detail anything that needs addressing so I could get any problems fixed while I was under warranty. After a few scheduling conflicts and changes, he inspected it on Friday for me. He found a few troubling problems, most importantly that the seals in my intake manifold were cracked and I had oil getting into my radiator and cooling system. This is a problem of course because it will lead to overheating and eventually head gasket failure. (A very large, very costly repair that renders the car completely inoperable when it fails. I had it happen on my Mustang. Twice actually, but who's counting.)

GM Cars & "Dex-Cool"
There is a known issue with GM cars where they use a proprietary antifreeze called "Dex Cool" which is orange in color and very acidic. The seals are made of plastic and are eroded by the corrosive properties of the antifreeze and eventually fail. A massive Class Action Lawsuit was even filed on behalf of millions of owners. (Sadly, I only found out about this over the weekend and the settlement closed in October 2008.) Getting this fixed is a major priority due to the fact if left untreated, it WILL cause massive engine failure.

Today: The Dealership
I called the service center Saturday and was immediately worried. The guy on the phone was very dismissive, demeaning and vague. Sounded like a snake oil salesmen. He even at one point asked me my age! Talk about lack of professionalism! I also called the salesman's cell and left a detailed message telling him I'd be in on Monday and to please alert the service department I DID have a warranty. I never got a call back.

By the time I got up there (it's about an hour drive from me, plus I had to stop by Mom's first so we could go together so I wouldn't have to sit there while they did the work) it was about 10:45am. We went into the service center and gave them the detailed repair list/estimate by my mechanic and asked him how long it'd take. He said he needed authorization and that we could just leave and they'd work on getting the authorization. But how do we know if we leave that anything will be done? Will they call us? Well, no apparently. So we went off to get the authorization ourselves.

The salesman, Luis pretty much immediately handed us off to a typical, middle-management, stereotype-dealership snake charmer named, Chris. We explained the issues of concern and he basically told us point-blank, that despite the fact that were sold the car as a 30-day warranty, the car was As-Is.

Things went downhill from there.

He was extremely dismissive. He treated us with great contempt. You can tell he's a "good ole' boy" and has zero respect for women. He tried to talk down to us and say that it's a ten year old car and obviously wasn't going to be "perfect." He kept using that word over and over. I told him I didn't expect it to be perfect, but I DID expect it to be safe, drivable and serviced as promised. He just kept saying that they wouldn't cover anything basically - period. NOTHING - short of possibly the engine blowing up. I reminded him that should the oil continue to leak into the radiator and the car start overheating, it WOULD basically explode when the head gaskets went. That they had an obligation to repair the car because it was NOT sold "as-is" but rather, sold with a warranty. He kept saying that it was a ten year old car and basically what did I expect, of course there are minor problems.

The estimate for the repair my mechanic gave me was for around $764. Mainly due to the fact that the seal replacement is a labor-intensive process requiring deconstruction of the intake manifold and a system flush. The estimate did NOT include parts as it was merely to show the issues that needed addressing, not a full job repair bill. He knew he was merely reporting as a 3rd party, independent, what needed to be fixed under the warranty so he didn't actually give me a quote for the work.

Well, the asshole sales manager, Chris, said he'd offer me $400 towards the work to be done on my own. But that he would not fix a single thing on the list himself as he was in no way obligated to do so.

At that point, I called my mechanic. And I explained to him the absurd situation I was in. I asked him for a rough estimate of how much the actual replacement would be to be done by him and he said, realistically around $500 for me. (He gives a friends/family labor discount to those of us at my work.) I asked him if he would mind speaking with Chris to explain to him the estimate did not include parts and to stress the seriousness of the repair needed. He was more than happy to and I handed my cell to Chris.

My mechanic told me after that he explained to him that they sold me the car with this leak in place and that it was ultimately saving them money since a head gasket replacement would be much more and they needed to take care of this for me. And failing that, they should at least toss in another $50 towards parts.

Chris said he couldn't authorize that amount and it would need to be approved by his boss who was in a meeting. At this point, we'd been there from 10:45am until about 12:15pm. We left to get poor Mom some lunch because she was starving.

Eventually, we DID get a check for $450. Which isn't the full amount of the work that needs doing. In addition to the seals, there are a few hose problems including a power steering leak and others. The driver's seat is also stuck in the highest "up" position for the electronic lift and it makes it almost too high up for me to fit in it and literally undrivable for Love. His head is pushed into the ceiling. They looked at it, said the gears are shot and didn't do anything to lower it. They were also supposed to treat the front headlight case which was "fogged" over but their attempt at improving it made no difference. It is something to be sure, but it's complete bullshit that we had to fight for over four hours just to get that little from them. We left there after 3pm.

Moving Forward
I stopped by my bank and cashed the check today. (I wasn't taking any chances.) I now have to schedule with my mechanic and have him do as much of the work as he can do - with priority on the seals of course - with the $450 I received. I do not have anything else to put towards it as I am also making payments on it now and that's a new bill each month I didn't have previously. (Thought things were tight then...) The only saving grace of this entire fiasco is that by taking it to my mechanic, I can be assured the work will actually be done. (We only half-joked that given their shady nature, I could easily believe that they'd simply flush the system, say it was fixed and let my engine explode on my own time.)

I still feel like I need to address this some how further. They clearly mis-represented their warranty and blatantly pulled a bait-and-switch on my ability to get repairs. The sad fact is that this is the third vehicle my mom has purchased from this dealership. Apparently even repeat business and tens of thousands of dollars isn't enough to promote honest dealings. It seems to me that I should have some further route to recoup more money for the remainder of the repair costs. But short of going to small claims court, I don't know how else I'd proceed. I just don't feel anywhere near satisfied by this outcome and it really burns my ass that two weeks after purchase they flat-out lie and say I have no warranty at all.

So by the time I got home after 4pm today, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I'm proud I stuck to my guns enough to get something from them - and to hold to my dignity even though the Chris guy was a masochistic asshole - but I just feel like it's still not fully acceptable outcome. It's frustrating and I am left unsatisfied by the situation.


Blah. tl;dr? Sorry. There's just so much that had to be said. And even so, even an entry this long doesn't recount every bit of a day as aggravating and long as this one. Still, if anyone has further thoughts, suggestions or courses of action I might consider, I'm all ears.

For now, I'm going to bed. Work tomorrow.
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Finally home. Will get into full story later - its a doozy. Right now I'm beat. Looong day.
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After hours of battle I'm walking away with a check for _450 and I'll get it fixed elsewhere. Jeez.
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