Relying on a get-rich-quick foreign currency investment pitch anointed with a Christian spin, Georgian E.A. Gresham hit up 75 marks for $15 million. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission took the mini Madoff to federal court in a civil suit filed last week.
georgia
GPS Blamed After Crew Demolishes The Wrong House
By 6.12.09
One Georgia family is understandably distraught after the house their father built by hand was demolished without warning by a crew that says they were given GPS coordinates rather than an address. The home was currently empty — but contained irreplaceable heirlooms.
No, You Should Not Use A Forklift To Move A Car Parked In "Your" Spot
By 3.14.09
Georgia resident and SECO Parts and Equipment employee David Johnson told his co-worker that there would be consequences for parking in his spot. “He better come move it,” Johnson warned, “or I’ll move it for him!” This wasn’t enough to convince the co-worker to move from what had to be an ideal spot, so Johnson did what any rational solution-minded employee would do. He got a forklift…
Auto Title Loans, Illegal In Most States, Even Riskier In Georgia
By 1.26.09
Meet Scott. When builders in financial trouble stopped paying him the money he was owed as a brick and stone contractor, he became desperate. He needed a loan to buy him time while he tried to collect the money he was owed. Thinking he understood the risks, he used his wife’s 2004 Ford Expedition to get an auto title loan of $2,000 at an interest rate of 25% per month — or 300% APR.
America's 10 Fastest Dying Towns
By 12.11.08
Here’s a bleak list from Forbes — America’s 10 Fastest-Dying Towns. Many of the towns have something in common — manufacturing jobs moving overseas or to cheaper, more rural, areas.
Man Jailed After Letting His Girlfriend Eat Off Of His Plate
By 10.30.08 — Updated: 3.26.13
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that a man was jailed for two days after letting his girlfriend eat from his plate — and then refusing to pay for two $7 buffet meals.
Two More Weeks Of Gas Shortages In The South?
By 9.30.08
The New York Times has quoted an expert from Rice University who thinks that the gas shortages in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee could continue for two more weeks.
Desperate Atlantans Use Twitter To Find Gas
By 9.29.08
There’s a gas shortage in Atlanta, GA, so consumers are using Twitter to help each other find gas. They’re tagging their posts #atlgas whenever they spot some and letting others know the price and location, as well as tossing out requests for information. The tag was created by Tessa Horehled who writes the DriveAFasterCar blog.
Customer Battles Lowe's Online Over $3500 Fence, Wins
By 9.2.08
Last year, Lowe’s horribly botched Allen’s $3500 fence installation (see picture, left). When he complained, the installer and Lowes dodged responsibility, but still demanded $3500. Allen refused to pay and they sent his bill to collections. So Allen put up Lowes-sucks.com with pictures, correspondence and phone recordings of his customer service debacle. Instead of fixing Allen’s problem, Lowe’s sent him a cease-and-desist to get him to take down the website, claiming “trademark infringement.” That’s when our site picked it up, along with Ars Technica, Digg, and others, driving lots of traffic to Lowes-sucks.com That was a year ago. Now it seems Allen has won his fight.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Georgia Sends 202,000 Letters Containing Personal Information To The Wrong Addresses
By 7.30.08
Well, if you’re having a bad day at work, rest assured that someone in Georgia is having a worse one. The Journal-Constitution is reporting that 202,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia customers had their personal information exposed, including (in some cases) their social security numbers, thanks to an error in the computerized mailing system. The system was apparently used before it was tested.
Halt Foreclosure Proceedings By Challenging Your Bank's Claim To Your House
By 7.27.08
Banks don’t always own the homes they’re trying to repossess, a crucial oversight that residents facing foreclosure can exploit to stay in their homes—though not without effort. Mamie Ruth Palmer successfully sued the Bank of New York after the bank tried to foreclose her home without possessing the note securing the property. After six years in court, the bank agreed to slash her outstanding mortgage in half and waive $12,000 in foreclosure fees so she could keep her home.
AA Lies About Bad Weather To Deny Reader Compensation
By 6.23.08
Reader S knows his stuff when it comes to his rights as an airline passenger. He was flying on American Airlines (AA) and takeoff was delayed. AA said it was because of thunderstorms in Dallas. He called a friend in Dallas and they said “there isn’t a cloud in the sky.” AA later revealed the flight was actually delayed because they were waiting for a fax. It’s understandable why AA lied. Since this was something they had control over, it meant they owed several things to the delayed passengers. By lying and saying it was due to the weather, they could escape their obligation. The flight finally took off but reader S missed his connection and had to stay overnight in a hotel, a hotel room that American should have paid for. Inside, the letter S executive email carpet bombed after two customer service reps refused to listen to his story on the phone and an online form sent back a robotic received reply with no real results.
Circuit City Sells Employee Busted Floor Model TV, Refuses To Accept Return
By 5.4.08
Anthony paid Circuit City $1,271 for a new 40″ Samsung LN40A550, but what he received was a “scratched up, dinged to hell, beaten and abused FLOOR MODEL OPEN BOX” LN40A330. As a Circuit City employee, Anthony thought exchanging the TV or receiving a refund would be a cinch. Boy, was he wrong.
By 3.6.08
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Atlanta area restaurant scores a record-breaking 13 out of 100 in a health inspection. Anything below 70 is considered “unacceptable.” [WSBTVvia Fark]
Two Georgia Gas Stations Closed For Shorting Customers
By 2.19.08
Georgia state inspectors closed two large Cisco gas stations just across the state line from Florida last week in what the Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture described as “one of the worst cases of shorting gas customers he’s seen since he took office back in 1969.” (Why Ag? Why not?) An inspector found that a five gallon test pump turned up over a quart short at the Cisco Travel Plaza off Interstate 95’s Exit 6, and a similar test revealed a suspiciously similar shortage at another Cisco Travel Plaza off Exit 1.
Woman Asked To Leave After Shopping At Walmart For 72 Hours
By 12.24.07
Police escorted a woman home after she was shopping, eating, and sleeping in a Georgia Walmart for three days straight. She blended in with the general Christmas madness and sustained herself by eating at the on-site Blimpie. When asked by employees at the end why she stayed for so long, she said, “I’m shopping.”
Explosions: Whatever You Do, Don't Ask Montel Williams About Big Pharma
By 12.4.07
Montel Williams is a paid spokesperson for the pharmaceutical industry, but if you’re a high school intern for Savannah Morning News, you probably shouldn’t ask him any tough questions.
Wachovia Tells Man He Owes $211,010,028,257,303.00
By 12.1.07
Joe Martins of Georgia got a surprise letter from Wachovia telling him he owed $211,010,028,257,303.00 on his account with them. That’s two-hundred and eleven trillion, ten billion, twenty-eight million, two-hundred and fifty-seven thousand, three-hundred and three dollars, and zero cents. The letter also said Wachovia was reporting him as a risky bank customer. When contacted by a local news station, the bank apologized and blamed it on a “word processing error.”
