reader stories

The Fax Of Shame: How It Really Feels To Lose Your Home

The Fax Of Shame: How It Really Feels To Lose Your Home

C. and her husband are a young couple who moved into their first house just a few years ago. Unable to manage their mortgage payments, they asked their lender, PNC Mortgage, for help. The bank offered them a monthly payment $500 higher than the mortgage they couldn’t pay in the first place. Their house has sat empty and on the real estate market since January, waiting for a buyer to come along for a short sale. One did, and the nightmare is almost over. Or it would be, if PNC would just stop calling the couple and any relative whose phone number they can find, almost every day. [More]

Company Cancels Order Because It's Confused About Anti-Spam Techniques

Company Cancels Order Because It's Confused About Anti-Spam Techniques

A reader writes in to warn that if you purchase from Cascade Toboggan, be prepared to be treated with suspicion and hostility, and to have your order canceled if you attempt to straighten things out. Michal used a fairly common spam-tracking technique when he placed an order with them earlier this month—he put their company name as part of his email and shipping addresses, so that if his information was sold, he’d be able to source the perpetrator. We’ve done this ourselves in the past, and it works. However, the owner of Cascade, Dana, says this is trademark infringement, and even after getting Michal to agree to remove the name from his personal info, canceled the order and effectively banned Michal from future business.