To Whom It May Concern:

I have recently been working with an agent from Bank of America to secure a first-time home buyers mortgage for my new home. Unfortunately, due to the following sequence of events and the nature in which they were handled; I will no longer desire to pursue a relationship with your company. However, I thought you might be wish to know about the incident so that you may perhaps review your processes and policies to avoid similar cases in the future.

I ask you to consider the following questions:

1. From a business perspective wouldn’t it be smarter to write-down $33.86 in “bad debt” (even neglecting the ridiculous fact that 30% of the balance was fees from your bank tacked on ex post facto)? I’m sure after the collection agency takes their 50% it’s really not worth the $15 in the amount of labor it takes to deal with it. I guarantee the 45 minutes of your employees time was worth more to the company than that, when I was a project manager we estimated labor costs at $125/hr.


2. Knowing that a customer is trying to fairly resolve a trivial fee, why wouldn’t you give them the benefit of the doubt and absolve them of it? The cost of recruiting a new customer is around $200 per person in most industries.


3. If said customer, is in the process of closing a deal worth $100k in revenue with your company; wouldn’t you do everything in your power to resolve the situation equitably?

On March 11th, 2007, I received a phone call from NCO Financial Services (Which according to a quick google search is a ruthlessly harassing collection agency, who recently plaid over $1.5M in fines to the FTC for their illegal business practices), informing me that I owed $33.86 to Bank of America. This surprised me because I closed my accounts with Bank of America in September of 2008, over a $20 service charge that the account representative below would not waive (Due to a job change, my checking account no longer received direct deposit, thus triggering a maintenance fee; which I offered to remedy by setting up a new direct deposit but the $20 fee was worth more than my account).

I headed down to my local branch of Bank of America on Elmwood Ave in Buffalo, NY. When I was greeted at the front door, I asked to speak with the manager. I was told I would have to come back Monday the following week because the manager was out of town. I told the greeter that I was applying for a mortgage and would like to get this resolved today so that I could move forward with that transaction. She placed me in a queue to talk to an Account Representative. After a ten minute wait the account representative ushered me into her office to speak with me. I explained the situation, stating that I believed there must be an accounting error because I had closed these accounts (with her personally) over six months ago. I made sure to note that I was working with their mortgage department to secure a loan for around $100k dollars to purchase my first home(being sure to mention that my credit score is ~760 and I had the down payment ready to go). She proceeded to try and pull my account information up on her computer but it was unavailable due to corporate policies. I asked her if she could call a corporate office and she said that they had the same view of the data(a lie, since she did exactly that 30 minutes later). She recommended that I call NCO and take care of it with them; to which I replied that I wanted to deal with the bank directly instead of some sleazy collection agency since I believed it to be an accounting error. I then said “I’m not trying to be difficult, I’d just like to resolve this fairly” to which she replied “Yes, you are trying to be difficult”. Keep in mind that I am a professional that provides support to customers on a daily basis, I pride myself on my ability to calmly address the issue at hand. All I was asking was for the transaction log so we could get to the root cause of the situation; I had not received any bank statements since I had closed the account, nor information about the negative balance (I use e-statements and they stopped coming after the account closure).

She then called NCO and we proceeded to wait on hold for fifteen minutes while we tried to get a human to talk to us. During this waiting period she grumbled to me “I want new accounts, not complaints; all I get lately is complaints”. The representative from NCO (obviously) had no more knowledge on the actual transactions than the BoA employees platform allowed her. Finally, begrudgingly she called a Bank of America corporate number and got someone to pull up my archived account information. The following transactions are what caused the -$33.86 account balance.

I had two accounts, a savings account and a checking account; according to the notes the Account Representative took this is what happened to my account:

• 9/2/2008 - $255.63 withdrawal from Savings (Account Closing)


• 9/2/2008 – Complete withdrawal from Checking (Account Closing)


• 9/2/2008 - .01 deposited automatically to Checking as “Interest Earned” (Re-opened account)


• 9/2/2008 – $25 Automatic Transfer from BoA Checking to BoA Savings


• - Supposedly, this was included in the $255.63 I received when I closed account


• 9/3/2008 – The transfer above overdrafts the checking account for $24.99


• - minus the penny of “interest earned”


• 10/2008 – 3/2008 $2 Monthly Fees for account being opened and debt-collection fees make up the remainder of the money.

So after 45 minutes spent resolving this issue, it appears pretty cut and dry that it was a quirky bank error due to latency in the transaction data. I asked the representative how we can resolve this issue so I don’t get any more calls from collectors . I offered to pay the $24.99 that I had allegedly received when I cashed out my savings account (that supposedly hadn’t been funded by my checking account). She replied, that I could get a cashiers’ check for $33.96 and we can send it to the recoveries department. Rhetorically and in disbelief I say, “So you’d rather have $33.86 for an error that is your fault than the $98k in interest on a 30 year mortgage?”

Being a believer of the old adage “If you let someone borrow twenty dollar and never see them again, it was twenty dollars well spent”. I handed her $40 and let her go get the cashiers check cut so that I wouldn’t have to waste any more time or field any more phone calls.

Sincerely,
Clark D

So tonight I decided to put together my "Year in Review" e-mail that I plan to post/send to friends and family.

As I was compiling the pictures I realized the following facts(compiled... perhaps contrived... into top 10 list):

I've written this top 10 list!
I had 9 lives... and still have atleast one remaining (The Philippines and a cross country road trip ate up quite a few!)
I've visited 8 states!
I've drank in 7 countries.
I've about 6 friends left... 8, if you include my dog and kitten.
I've had about 5 vacations.
I've had 4 new pets.
I've moved 3 times, with an estimated total cost of about $13,000.
I've gained 2 permanent family members (Mumia and Assata).
I've had 1 (wonderful) girlfriend, a recent record is stability.

The friends I do have are outstanding.
Despite of the fact that I am ending the year with about the same financial figures on my bank statements (which originally disappointed me), I have accomplished a whole lot and condensed a ton of experience in to the meantime.
Lastly, I would like to say that this new job is wonderful in comparison to the one I left in September. I am definitely intrinsically motivated and as long as their is a roof over my head and food in my belly, I am content.

Look forward to the well written, image laden, post to come.

Hello my friends,
I personally hate receiving all the credit card offers in the mail all
of the time. It's an epidemic that definitely has a global impact.
Think of all the trees and fuel that must be required to manufacture
the paper, print the letters, and transport all of that mail (to your
house, then to the dump). Not to mention that dumpster diving for
those offers is one of the main sources of information for identity
theft.

Do the following:
1) If you have one minute: Go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com and
remove yourself from the mailing lists for atleast the next five years
(you can do it permanently if you print and send the form letter).

2) If you have three minutes, watch the video below :
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/873903/credit_card_secrets/
then go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com and remove yourself from the
mailing list.

3) If you have five minutes, do 1) and 2) and then send this on to a
couple of your friends. It will save them time and save the
environment. It goes a long way towards making you more "carbon
neutral".

Best Regards,
Clark

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/16076312/the_great_iraq_swindle/

Must Read.

So I haven't posted in forever, but I had to post today. I went Geocaching, but failed to locate the cache because we chose the wrong mountain to climb and ran out of light. I was a little bummed--until--we saw a RATTLE SNAKE IN THE TRAIL!

It was like 3 feet long and I walked up to it and asked it to move. Then I hung out until it got off the trail so it wouldn't get hit by a mountain biker.

Clark 1 - Rattle Snake 1 it was a Win-Win!

I have officially left NYS and I am Westbound. I will be updating my personal blog at http://www.clarkdever.com, photos and travelogues to be posted en route.

Enjoy,

C

I am alive an well in St. Maarten after two days at sea on the
“Disney:Magic”. The cruise life is the antithesis of my usual form of
adventure travel. Everything is child-proof and sanitized and the
food is as close to gourmet as you can get when you are serving 2,500
people every meal. I was happy to land in a port and get to take to
the streets for a while. I met some interesting folks and took some
pretty pictures. Unfortunately they will not be posted on the
Internet until my return.

Today, I went snorkeling on an island off of St. Martin, then I
purchased a bottle of rum and an equally sized bottle of water. I
promptly drank the water and deposited the rum in to the bottle so
that I could smuggle it back on to the ship. (Beers are $5 a piece on
the boat and they don’t let you bring your own liquor. LUCKILY, I
have been able to off-set the cost by teaching 40+ year old women the
finer points of breakdancing and “popping and locking” in exchange for
drinks on their tab). After my “concealment excercise” I smoked a Cuban cigar as I walked around the market and purchased some very cool oil paintings from a street vendor.

There is a severe lack of people in my age bracket on the ship and
the only female I have found is from the deep-south and is here with her
30 first cousins (literally). So I have been entertaining myself by
flattering older women and flirting with mommies, I do however have a
tentative photo shoot lined up with a very pretty 18 y.o. redhead(so
maybe you will soon get to enjoy my first ever beach/pool shoot).

Upon my triumphant return to the United States I will be packing my
car and driving cross country to Arizona. My roommate-to-be and I
have found an apartment near my work for $810 a month(1100 sq.ft.), so
I am excited to settle in and get back in to some sort of rhythm with
my life. I am also very stoked to be starting my career at Honeywell.
I look forward to having you all visit me in Arizona over the next
year, book your time early because couch space is filling up fast!

Best Regards,
C

I missed my bus to Manila... it was the first thing that has left on time in the Philippines. Luckily, I was able to call ahead to the next stop and have them hold the bus. Then I hailed a Trike and we were off through the city of angeles. We actually caught the bus on the ride there and I was able to board it and head to Manila without further incident. I felt very 007 for a moment while speeding through the city in hot pursuit.

Manila reminds me of an American city, much like Baguio did; I grabbed some pizza for dinner and I am catching some sleep in a shitty hotel room until 1am. My flight leaves for Hong Kong at 6:30 am, so I have to be to the airport by 3 am. So begins my 24 hour trip home to the United States. Good-bye Philippines, Hello Family and Friends.

See You Soon,

Clark

I am alive and back in the relative safety of Angeles. Escaped capture by the New Peoples Army thanks to a tip from a local girl.

Pictures available at http://www.clarkdever.com


Back in the states on the 18th.


Regards,
c

Dear Everyone,
I'm alive. I am heading to Northern Luzon around Bagio to see the Rice Terraces and Mummies. No internet access expected until Friday at the earliest. Update you then.

Love,
cd
Professional Adventurer

So.. another difference between here and the states. I am about 6 inches taller than everyone else, I feel like a giant walking he streets looking down at the top of everyone's heads. Also, the people here all look younger than they are; I have been touring with three female instructors from the charter school I am teaching at while I am here. They all look to be freshmen in high school, but are in fact freshmen in college or older. My estimation of age was off by about 4 years to young during my first few days here, I am getting better at it but it is still a challenge. It works both ways though, everyone assumes I am 25-27.

In the last 24 hours I have lived like such a baller, I feel like a rockstar.



Lets recap.



( Third World Hijinks... )

Signing off from the Third World,

C

Good morning America,
Clark's list of accomplishments for the day.

1) Stitched together a few panorama's from the trip.
2) Rented a scooter to get around Angeles ($7 a day)
3) Received a haircut ($1.60)
4) Was shave with a straight razor... it included a face massage.... a
little weird, but I went with it. ($1.60)
5) 1 hour back massage ($10.00)
6) Uploaded more panorama's to http://www.clarkdever.com

Hong Kong

Dragons on a wall in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Island Skyline

Philippines

Lahar Slums (Permenant refugee camp from a volcanic disaster)

Subic Bay (The Largest US Naval Base in Vietnam)

Hi all,

I am alive.

I will be posting pictures to http://www.clarkdever.com within the next few days. It will cover the first 5 days of my trip.

Love,
c

If you would like me to send you a postcard from the Philippines:
e-mail me your address!

I'm start my journey in two hours.

cd.

I thought I created a new word today!
However, I googled it and there were 8 hits. So I guess I'm just an early-adopter. I'm going to post this public so I can be the 9th hit and receive credit as an early-adopter.

Judeochristlamic - Encompassing or relating to "the major 3 religions"; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

"I hope he's not going to try and convert me; I'm an atheist at worst, agnostic at best... and that's only if you redefine the word 'god' to something closer to "energy" and not remotely resembling the judeochristlamic literary figure".

p.s. I can define new words because I graduated college this week. I am now the proud owner of a B.S. in Business Administration from the University at Buffalo.

Current Mood: amused

[Video]

Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who is barred from entering the United States, delivered his acceptance speech for the Letelier-Moffitt International Human Rights Award in a pre-recorded videotape. This is a transcript of his speech, which was viewed at the award ceremony hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies on October 18, 2006 in Washington, DC.

( Transcript )