Ace Parking Management Inc | Feedback | Parking Services

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Rio

On February 1, 2009 I posted on this blog that I had lost my job.

At the time I was working for Ace Parking Management Inc as a cashier. And the reason I lost my job was because I placed a validation coupon, which had been given to me by a company detective, in the wrong ticket. In other words, I failed a detective test, and that made me a suspect; they figured I was keeping their money. But did they really think so? Or did my supervisors recent the fact that I wasn’t letting them be rude, and my mistake was a good excuse to fire me?

I knew my only fault was to have misplaced that coupon, so I asked my supervisor to show me the ticket in question so that I could find where the problem was. I knew there was a mistake somewhere. He said he didn’t have the ticket; it was never shown to me. He said to go and see the union. My immediate manager said that “he could say a lot of good things about me” (I had work there over two years) so he would give me good references. How nice of him!

When I called human resources they also refused to listen.

I wanted to clear the matter, so I went to the Union. It took close to six months to get a hearing (I was never paid for that time). During this time Ace Parking showed a totally unprofessional and unethical behavior. After about three months, they send a copy of the ticket (front), which the union returned to them showing that the ticket had been properly validated, and explaining why there had been no money involved in the transaction; the ticket showed clearly a “zero” value, and the time in the ticket also proved the coupon in question was placed there by accident. The Teamsters thought it was enough evidence to drop the charges. But Ace Parking didn’t respond.

They never sent copy of the back of the ticket either, and it had conclusive evidence (proper validation) that there was no money value in that ticket, why were they stalling and withholding evidence? They must have seen the back of that ticket, right?

I wrote a letter to the CEO for help (I had met him personally years before) and I don’t think he ever received it. At human resources they told me later he did, but another letter that they were supposed to send on my behalf (after they were ordered by the mediator to reinstate me) was never received. I know because after I resigned recently I went to see the Irvine Co (the Ace Parking customer I had been working for in La Jolla Gateway at 9191 Centre Dr, La Jolla CA–they didn’t give a hoot either) and they never received the letter that I had written, explaining that the investigation had cleared me.

I am hoping this post gets noticed by Mr. Scott Jones, the owner of the company, or by Mr. John Baumgardner the CEO. I don’t think they know how lacking in integrity their management team is. Isn’t the company supposed to value their employees? It says so in their statement of purpose. Is that how Ace Parking values their employees?

Ace Parking Management Inc needs to start training their managers properly. Most of them don’t seem to know what leadership is; they also lack integrity. This is tantamount to Ace Parking Management Inc lacking integrity; management is the company. And my case is living proof that Ace Parking Management Inc does not value their employees.

Considering that I recently posted about the YMCA’s lack of integrity also ( What Happened to the YMCA? | Integrity, What is It? | Review ), and I have seen it often, should we conclude that this is a common practice in our country? Are we missing something? Many years ago I read a book titled “The Social Contract” by Robert Ardrey. He wrote it in memory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He arrives at the conclusion that in developed countries the hungry psyche has replaced the hungry belly. It seems like an accurate conclusion, don’t you think?

Is it any wonder that we have a corrupt government selling our country to the highest bidders?

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The Dark Side of Social Media | Computoredge | Michael Dillon

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Rio

Beware of Social Media

I found an informative article by Michael Dillon, on computoredge magazine, about how to protect yourself in social networks like Facebook and Tweeter. Here is an excerpt and a link:

“Israel Hyman was very excited about his upcoming vacation from his home in Arizona to Kansas City. So excited, in fact, that he broadcast details of his trip to his 2,000 Twitter followers, including when he and his wife were leaving their house, where they were on the road, and when they arrived in K.C.

Someone, one of Mr. Hyman’s followers on Twitter, took a great interest in Mr. Hyman’s trip; when he returned home he found someone had broken into his house and stolen thousands of dollars in video equipment used for his business. Hyman is convinced the thieves monitored his feed to see when he would be gone, and then robbed his house. Similar incidents of thieves using Twitter to plan and execute robberies have also been reported in Florida and California.”

To know more: online.mvc

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Internet Scams | Fraud | Wally Wang

Posted on April 23, 2010 by Rio

A few days ago I received an email, which supposedly came from Google, asking me for my account information and password in order to do some sort of upgrade so that I could continue my service. I smelled phishing and proceeded to delete. Here is an article from computoredge about a variety of Internet scams.

“Con artists have expanded their reach.”
by Wally Wang from www.computoredge.com

“If you’re an experienced Internet user, you’ve probably heard of the Nigerian 419 scam. This is where you get an unsolicited e-mail from a stranger overseas, claiming that they need your help in releasing millions of dollars. In exchange for your help, this benevolent stranger is willing to pay you part of the money, which you can claim by paying an initial fee, ostensibly to bribe an official or pay bank fees.

If you send this unknown person money, they’ll keep dangling the promise of millions of dollars awaiting you, but only if you continue sending additional cash to overcome an inevitable barrage of problems. Each time you send money, you’ll be more inclined to send more to avoid losing the “investment” you’ve already made in this incredible offer. The con artists will happily keep up this pretense as long as you keep sending money.

Fool Me Twice

If victims ever wake up to the fact that they’ve been conned, they’ll have to face the shame of being duped for several months along with whatever amount of money they sent out while getting nothing in return. And now the con artists often circle back a second time around.

Suddenly, you may find another unsolicited e-mail, stating that a special antifraud division has tracked down the con artists who have scammed you. If you want this government agency to recover your lost money, you’ll need to fill out some official-looking documents along with paying a processing fee.

Needless to say, many victims are so angry at the con artists and lusting for revenge that they’ll eagerly fill out this bogus document and send in the processing fee—only to have the vicious cycle repeat all over again.

Supposedly, this antifraud government agency needs to bribe more officials or pay additional fees to keep the con artists in jail so they can be brought to court. Once again, you’ll need to keep sending money to these con artists, who are very likely the same con artists who bilked you initially. (After all, how else would they know that you were conned in the first place?)

The original Nigerian 419 scam has ripped off people for thousands of dollars and continues duping people to this day. This added twist of ripping off the same people a second time, by masquerading as a government antifraud agency, is another development designed to catch victims off guard and steal their money before they realize what’s happening.

Spear Phishing on Facebook

As more people wise up to unsolicited e-mail scams, con artists are resorting to something called spear phishing. Where phishing involves sending out mass e-mails with the same scam letter, knowing that a small percentage of people will always take the bait, spear phishing involves targeting specific people. One of the most popular ways to spear phish is through social networking sites such as Facebook.

Like other social-networking sites, Facebook lets you reveal details about yourself, which any stranger can read. Plus, you can link to your friends and read personal details about these people, which a stranger can also read.

Now con artists will target a specific individual, using personal information found on that person’s Facebook page and any of their friends’ Facebook pages. If you suddenly receive an e-mail containing information that only you and your friends know about, suddenly that unsolicited e-mail sounds far more credible. Of course, the con artist is simply using your own information against you.

Even more insidious is that con artists will often contact you through Facebook and provide a link, which leads to an error message and an official-looking Facebook login page. When you retype your password and account into this bogus page, the con artist now has the information needed to hijack your Facebook account and masquerade as you.

Using your Facebook account, the con artist can now contact all of your friends with a frightening story of how you traveled overseas and lost your wallet and passport or some other sob story. Since your friends are receiving these messages directly from your Facebook account, they have no reason not to believe it isn’t you. More than likely, they’ll wire the necessary money to the overseas account that the con artist provides, and never see their money again.

Trust No One

The simplest way to protect yourself from online scams is to trust no one online, not even your own friends and relatives. If a con artist hijacks an e-mail or Facebook account, receiving a message from a trusted source is still no guarantee that you aren’t being scammed.

If you do receive a message from a friend, asking for money, contact that person through another method, such as by phone. Try asking your “friend” a question that only your real friend could possibly know.

Besides not trusting anyone on the Internet, a second golden rule is to never send money to an unfamiliar recipient. Even if you recognize the bank’s name, don’t follow the instructions given to you in an e-mail message, but contact the bank by phone or in person. Circumventing the con artist’s communication channel can identify a scam by asking a bank official to verify the information you received.

Con artists are never going to go away. With the Internet, con artists have just expanded their reach.

For further protection, keep yourself educated about the variety of online scams out there by visiting OnGuard Online.

To really protect yourself, never give money to anyone. That will protect you from con artists along with isolating you from most of your relatives, who can often be the biggest scam artists of them all.

——————————————————————————–
In the early days, before Wally became an Internationally renowned comedian, computer book writer, and generally cool guy, Wally Wang used to hang around The Byte Buyer dangling participles with Jack Dunning (http://www.computoredge.com/) and go to the gym to pump iron with Dan Gookin.

Wally is responsible for Microsoft Office 2007 for Dummies, Breaking Into Acting for Dummies, Beginning Programming All-in-One Reference for Dummies, and Mac All-in-One Reference for Dummies from http://www.dummies.com, as well as, Steal This Computer Book 4.0, Visual Basic Express 2005: Now Playing, and My New Mac from http://www.nostarch.com. He is also the co-author of Strategic Entrepreneurism from http://www.selectbooks.com.


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Domain Registry of America | Scam | Expiration Notice

Posted on April 1, 2010 by Rio

If you receive a notice in the mail that looks like a bill and urges you to renew your domain name, it is a scam.  A ruse from Domain Registry of America to get you to switch. Please do a search on Google to verify this. I quote from Wikpedia:

“In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with the company for practices such as transferring domain registrations to their service under the guise of domain renewal, a practice known as domain slamming, and having hidden fees. Despite this action, the company still sends mass direct mail to consumers resembling invoices with “domain name expiration notice” in bold print. Targets for the company’s mass mailings are known to be in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States with information obtained in violation of their ICANN registrar agreement.”

Don’t do business with them!

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Bloggers Beware | Spam of the Week, by ComputorEdge Staff

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Rio

The latest in annoying and dangerous e-mail currently making the rounds. This week has seen an attack on bloggers, with hackers looking for new victims. Bloggers beware; they are phishing for your account information.

Check the Spam of the Week: Bloggers Beware! by ComputorEdge Staff

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Citibank and ATT’s Universal Card | Shouldn’t we Boycott?

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Rio

I don’t know if when I joined ATT Universal Card they belonged to Citibank; I never saw the name ‘Citibank’ or their logo in any statement or communication. If I would have known I wouldn’t have taken the credit card in the first place; Citibank never appealed to me due to a disagreeable encounter I had with one of their pushy sales representatives. When I found out they were the same, I had been with ATT Universal Card for years and they were one of my favorite credit cards, so I figured I would keep it anyway.

Then, recently,  a few months after having paid my balance in full, Citibank sent me a letter telling me that my account would be closed because I wasn’t using the card and apparently “it didn’t fit my needs” or something to that effect. I didn’t object, although I was getting ready to use it; this was the sort of thing I could expect from Citibank and I didn’t really want to do business with them.

But there was never any agreement that I had to use my card at any given time. There was never any warning either,  just the letter closing my account “even if I used the card before closing date”. It was unethical behavior that verified that I had been right about Citibank; it is the kind of institution that we should boycott to get our country going in the right direction.  Why should a credit card company tell me when I or how often I should use my credit card?

By the way, weren’t they subprime lenders that required a 25 billion bailout?

To prop my case I quote from Wikipedia: “In August 2008, after a three year investigation by California’s Attorney General Citibank was ordered to repay the $14 million (close to $18 million including interest and penalties) that was removed from 53,000 customers accounts over an eleven year period from 1992-2003. The money was taken under a computerized “account sweeping program” where any positive balances from over-payments or double payments were removed without notice to the customers.”

An interesting site to visit for more information on Citibank and similar institutions:

My Treasure Is Taken by My Credit Card Company

“It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret.”— Jackie Joyner-Kersee

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Beware of Loral Langemeier | Unethical and Deceitful

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Rio

I just received an email from Loral Langemeier. She says she is a millionaire maker. I guess she forgot me.

A few months ago she sent me a postcard offering one of her books for free; all I had to pay was shipping. I called her staff to order the book which never arrived. I called then to inquire about the whereabouts of the book and they behaved as if I had enrolled on her course. I explained that I had only ordered the book.

Then I received the following email:

Dear RIO GUZMAN

***DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL***

“Our records indicate that we still have not received your automatic payment of $32.42, on your VISA credit card ending in last four #3807, which is now past due. No response has been received on our previous attempts to reslove this matter.

Be advised that this is your final notice regarding your account being past due in the amount of $32.42. Consequently, if payment of the above past due amount is not brought current, we will have no alternative but to turn your account over to our collection agency.

Enforced collection on this obligation could (as allowed for by contract and/ or operation of law), result in additional costs, fees and expenses and could also result in a negative credit report. We hope that this will not be necessary. If a problem has arisen that we should be aware of, please call us immediately to avoid any further actions at 1 800 608 0508. We want to assist you in resolving this situation as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

Loral Langemeier Billing Department”

Luckily, after the phone conversation, I became suspicious and called my bank, fearing that they would charge my credit card for a course that I didn’t want. They advised me to cancel that card and get a new one. It turned to be very good advice. A couple of weeks later I received a call from a collection agency telling me that if I didn’t pay for the course “I had ordered” they would have to take action.

I explained to them that I had not ordered such a course and they said that I had to call Loral and cancel the order (an order I never placed) I called her staff again explaining that I never placed an order. They pretended that I had done so and proceeded to “cancel”  my order.  I concluded that the book offer was just a ruse to get me to enroll in her course. They were deceitful and unethical, to say nothing of their coercive tactics — a collection agency! Amazing! Is she a millionaire really? Is this how she did it? Please be aware!

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.“–Mahatma Gandhi

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Ameriplan USA | Plano, Texas | Not Recommended

Posted on July 25, 2009 by Rio

Lately, I have come across several posts from people requesting information on Ameriplan USA (they sell discount dental plans) because they are thinking of joining. Below is my experience with them; it happened about four years ago.

Ameriplan “withheld” my earned commissions using the pretext of a “persistence reward” program, whatever that means.  There is no excuse for not paying you your personally earned commissions, that is what you work for.  I also lost a customer due to bad service.

I wrote two letters regarding the matter (one to each of the owners: Dennis and Daniel Bloom); they never answered. My advice is to stay away from them; it is a network marketing company to avoid.

What is (or was) your experience with Ameriplan USA?

“I’d rather be able to face myself in the bathroom mirror than be rich and famous.”– Ani DiFranco

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Domains Renewal Group | Scam | Unethical

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Rio

I just received a letter today (resembling a bill) from Domains Renewal Group. As soon as I read it I knew they were not a reputable company; they don’t host my domain.

Sure enough! I goggled their name and the first five pages (I didn’t have to continue) gave me entries reporting the company as unethical and deceptive. There is no need to write another detailed post regarding their behavior–most of what I read was well explained and documented. But if you get a letter from them (resembling a bill), asking you to renew your domain name for only 30.00 dollars a year, I recommend you to toss it in the garbage and do a google search … or vice versa.

“The only thing more powerful than all the armies in the world is an idea whose time has come.”–Victor Hugo

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Avoid Identity Theft

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Rio

Human ignorance shows the most when we take advantage of others; we don’t see that everything is interconnected and that upon hurting others we hurt ourselves. Thieves ignore the fact that their behavior affects society as a whole and therefore themselves; the unrest and distrust they create affects them as much as it affects everyone else … and they also fear theft.

Imagine a city without thieves! You could forget your wallet at the counter of a department store and upon returning you would find it untouched at the lost and found desk. You wouldn’t need locks at the gym or alarms in your car. You would also save money when shopping, for merchants wouldn’t have to raise their price to make up for shoplifting loses. Theft (crime) does not make sense, is the work of the ignorant.

It is interesting to note, however, that ignorant thieves create and develop sophisticated techniques and methods. I came across a video that shows the techniques used to steal the information on credit cards at any automated teller machine. Regretfully, this video is no longer available, but what they do is place a hidden camera that seems to be part of the ATM to steal your information. Be aware!


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