After One Error Too Many Man Places "I Hate Bank Of America" Banner On His House
Avi Oslick is obviously a fan of the movie Network: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Avi Oslick told NBC 10 in Philadelphia. Rather than going to his window and yelling, Avi has placed a huge banner on the side of his house telling the world how he feels about Bank of America.
After Bank of America made one too many errors on his account, costing him "thousands of dollars" Avi had finally had enough.
"I said, 'Listen, you know, if you guys don't work with me on this issue, you know, I'm just going to tell everyone how much I hate the bank,'" Oslick said.
So he did. He says Bank of America called the police, who showed up at his door and asked him to take the sign down. He said no. According to Avi's website, the cop said, "Sounds good to me." You can visit his site at www.ihateboa.com.
Man Displays Anger With Company On Side Of House, Internet [NBC10] (Thanks, Everyone!)
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Comments:
They called the police? "Mommy, that guy says he hates me!" Fools.
Calling the cops on him is just stupid on the banks part.
"I'll tell mom!"
So BOA called the police to get him to take his sign down? Guess they have never heard of "Freedom of Speech." Or they don't believe it.
I hate BOA too. And I refuse to do business with them, period.
I hope BofA puts up a "We hate Avi Oslick" banner on their HQ. That'll learn him good.
Whoa... Both went to the same place on that
The sign needs to be bigger.
Maybe in neon lights and flashing?
The linked NBC10 article says:
"The bank said they may not agree with what his sign and Web site say, but they respect his right to say it."
In the Consumerist article it says otherwise:
"He says Bank of America called the police, who showed up at his door and asked him to take the sign down."
Now that's commitment to a cause. The press should make a big deal about the company wasting the police's time for a silly sign on private property. Maybe he'll get his money back when BoA buys the domain name of his website to take it down.
Awesome.
This right around the corner from my house. The guy used to have two sign. The current one is the small version. I went in the bank and asked them about it, they just shrugged it off and said "Well, I guess he's unhappy with us". Nucking Futs!
By the way, this is old news, like a year and a half!
Oh, and lucky him that he doesn't have an HOA that would foreclose his home for putting the sign up in the first place.
That's why free speech is awesome.
I would donate towards the neon lights for that sign.
He says Bank of America called the police, who showed up at his door and asked him to take the sign down. He said no.
L.
O.
L.
@AaronZ: The account with the police is on the guy's website.
"This site is dedicated to why Bank Of America sucks so much."
I couldn't have said it better myself.
brilliant!
Why dont you local people go to city hall and demand an investigation into why the police were called?
I believe if a person or business call in a 'fake' event (like kids who make prank calls to 911, false alarms, etc.) there is a fine.
On what basis was it deemed appropriate to dispatch the police?
I'm surprised the guy is not bald seeing how the banner on my house stage is after the pull my hair out stage.
Did anyone else read the NBC Affiliate news site? Apparently there are NINJAS near Philadelphia in Jersey.
[www.nbc10.com]
"Public schools in Barnegat were locked down briefly after someone reported seeing a ninja running through the woods behind an elementary school. It turns out the ninja was actually a camp counselor dressed in black karate garb and carrying a plastic sword."
I've gone to this man's website and read his story of the actual events. Absolutely horrifying, and the scariest part folks - it could easily happen to any of us.
The crux of the matter is that there is immunity in calling in a suspected crime, so the bank is not liable.
To the OP, this begs the question, why don't you call the police to report suspected crimes? You know the people at the bank. Are the tailights on their car functional? Do they ever speed? Perhaps they are not emptying the bank's garbage cans in compliance with OSHA regulations.
@SkokieGuy: "On what basis was it deemed appropriate to dispatch the police?"
Domestic douchebaggery...
no I'm just playin. I agree with you. Cops shouldn't have been called, but I'm only guessing what the call may have fell under.
do yourself a favor and don't watch the video at the bottom...it is a horrible horrible song at a "BOA rally".
...my ears still hurt
Someone stole his little sign! I hope that it's just spreading the word further...
The sign would be a civil issue between him and BoA. The bank could certainly call the police, who would then determine that it's a civil issue and just try to calm those involved down. Sounds like the police did just that and dealt with it as the procedure calls for.
It's a good sign in that it doesn't accuse BoA of anything, or dredge them through the mud. "I just hate them".
Meg, I love the tag at the top... "Mas as Hell"
made me laugh a bit and got me thinking about the "mad rapper".
*mad
Bank of Opportunists ;)
I'm highly depressed that my mortgage, which is through Countrywide (which is theirs because my previous loan company sold it to them), may be coming under the rule of BoA sometime soon.
Highly. Depressed.
@SkokieGuy: What would justify an investigation? If I was a business owner and I saw a similar sign show up on a building across the street like that I might do the exact same thing. The local bank branch probably had no idea if the sign was put up by the owner of that building or if somebody snuck up there and put it up without the owners permission. Asking the cops to investigate is also much more appropriate than the branch manager going over and potentially getting into an argument or even a physical confrontation with the building owner. This is exactly the sort of thing that you should use the police for.
This guy is awesome.
Police will occasionally do conflict resolution.
@AmbiUbi:
O rly? I have Countrywide too. I'll have to wait and see how it turns out, because I won't do business with BoA.
@IphtashuFitz: ?The local bank branch probably had no idea if the sign was put up by the owner of that building or if somebody snuck up there and put it up without the owners permission"
Why is it the bank's affair whether the sign was put up with permission or not? That would be the business of the building's owner (Hey police, someone put a giant sign on my house!
If my neighbor puts up a sign "Obama Sucks" should I call the police because I have no idea if the sign was put up by the owner of that building or if somebody snuck up there and put it up without the owners permission?
More importantly, read what was done to this man on his website. He was treated like a common criminal in a third world country with no rights. And he has no legal recourse. The terrorists have won because the common man is no longer free or protected. How sad that our government and lawmakers, not terrorists, are the one to give away our freedoms and protections.
Is there some reason that his website doesn't go more in-depth with BoA's incompetence?
How can you seriously have a site "I hate BOA" with that bad of design? Come on now. Make your message effective. :P
I do love how he stood up and just said "no" to the police. As they were dumb enough to have to actually listen to BOA and go ask him to take it down anyway.
The only law he could have broke is if it had something really nasty, like curse words or something explicit, which it doesn't, or if it was slander. But since he isn't lying about BoA, it can't be slander. I don't know why the cops showed up.
He says Bank of America called the police, who showed up at his door and asked him to take the sign down. He said no. According to Avi's website, the cop said, "Sounds good to me."
Oh for chrissake, BOA tried to sic the police on him on what's clearly the most diametrically correct and responsible use of a First Amendment right? I'm glad to see that their attempt to strongarm him is getting notice. As someone who is fed up with corporations using the local police to bully individuals over civil matters, the cop deserves a pat on the back for using good judgement and not getting involved.
Or used their logo without permission or made untruthful claims [Open an account at BOA and get a free pony!]. Actually, "BOA doesn't suck" would be an untruthful claim.
P.S. Love ya' Snoop!
@Dobernala: Good point. My bad. So then I guess I have no idea why the cops came. Unless they were just bored.
That guy lives right down the street from me, I kept meaning to snap a picture of it and add it to the flickr pool, but I'm a lazy bastard. What's funny is that the sign is pretty much right across the street from a Bank of America
I wonder if there's a market for those banners?
@SkokieGuy: It's the bank's affair if the sign has the bank's name on it, no matter what it says, and they might as well take responsibility for investigating the sign, even if that means involving the police, because who's to say anyone else will.
They could have saved time if they just tried to work with Avi once the sign went up, but I haven't read anything beyond the Consumerist post, so I can't assume BofA knew who put up the sign or why. The branch manager should have gone to the building and asked around about the sign, but I guess they were too much of a piddly coward to do anything but call for mommy, I mean, the police.
Sounds good to me.