by Matt | Nov 26, 2008 | Aggravation
Well, with a little help from JTN, no help whatsoever from my web host and a little digging, I figured out what was going on. Some Russian script kiddies were injecting PHP files laden with proxies and redirects into my site in nearly every single directory, including WordPress. Since the melicious files were named things like “admin.php”, “config.php”, etc, it screwed up my WordPress install when it overwrote the normal files with the same names.
My host basically told me it was my own fault for running an insecure PHP application (wordpress) and that I’d just have to clean up the mess myself.
I’m typically very careful with my permissions and settings, so I’m still trying to work out how they got in, again with no help from my host. Luckily I had a nearly complete WordPress backup (which you’re seeing now) so I’m OK in terms of data loss. I’m still pretty pissed about it, but there’s not much I can do except try and prevent it in the future.
Also, SavvyNation is gone. That’s the more pressing of the two problems. My DNS settings were changed and it’s now pointing to a parked Yahoo page. I’ve sent multiple emails to my host and haven’t gotten a response yet. The owner/admin information is still mine, but the DNS servers are changed. I don’t know what the point of that would be. I would figure if someone is trying to steal or hijack the page, they’d just take the whole thing. Why change the DNS to Yahoo and leave everything else the same? It’s really starting to piss me off that I can’t get a hold of anyone at my host either. I realize it’s the day before Thanksgiving, but seriously, if someone steals my domain because someone took today off, there will be death.
So, to you dickless vodka soaked fucks in Russia, I hope you freeze to death you fucking sacks of sub-human garbage. Rot in your fucking fur hats. Douche-Nozzles.
by Matt | Nov 25, 2008 | Aggravation
Seems that some douchlord decided to trash this website, the wordpress install as well as the same for SavvyNation. Various files were CHMOD’ed to 777, the owners changed to “99” (whatever that means) and then the htaccess files were changed so I couldn’t get back in. Luckily I have a backup for this domain. SavvyNation isn’t as lucky and for some reason, it’s redirecting to a domain parking service. I checked with my host as well as registrar and nothing was changed there, so I’m at a loss as to why its redirecting. I’m not pleased. I’ll get it straitened out but it’s not something I wanted to deal with today. I’ll let everyone know when everything is back to normal.
by Matt | Oct 29, 2008 | Aggravation
Say that 10 times fast.
This morning, looking through my mail, I found a letter from the apartments we just moved out of. We were expecting a return of our deposit, so I hurridly opened it. Instead of a check, I found a bill. A bill that makes no sense.
Confused I called the apartment management office and asked what on earth they were thinking. They rudely said that if I had a problem I could call corporate and take it up with them. Then they hung up. Saying I’m glad we’re no longer there is a bit of an understatement.
So, I call corporate in Ohio and get some random persons voicemail. I leave a message and I’m still waiting to here back from them.
Now, before I drop some numbers on you, my faithful readers, there’s a few things you have to realize. First, is that everything at that apartment is prepaid at the beginning of the month. So, there should be no “post-month” charges. Also realize that we left on good terms with these people so, at the moment, there’s no reason to believe they’re actively trying to screw us.
So, let’s see… where to start? There are three sections to our bill. “Ledger Balance”, “Deposits” and “Additional Charges”.
Let’s start with “Ledger Balance”, which, in this case, is a fancy way of saying “utilities”.
Trash 08/12/08-9/30/08 : $8.07
Trash “thru 8/11/08” : $5.00
Water 08/12/08-9/30/08 : $32.26
Water “thru 8/11/08” : $20.00
So, now given that I paid rent in August and September, I fail to see why I’m being charged for ANY of that. But, lets for the moment assume that we were not paying forwards, but backwards. That our September rent check was paying for August water. Let’s stay with that for a minute. That would mean that I already paid the charges for “thru 8/11/08” completely. So, I don’t know why those are listed. Then, what’s with this month-and-a-half crap? 8/12-9/30? Huh? Let’s change that to 9/1-9/30 and MAYBE we’re on the right track. So, strike two of the four and adjust the other two and we’re down from $65.33 to $25.83, or $25, which is what we paid each month for water and trash. That almost makes sense.
Then, our deposit it listed at $150. I’m pretty sure it was more like $300, or half the first months rent, but I’ll let that slide for a moment.
Now we get to “Additional Charges”. My favorite part. This is the part where they tack on crap that they feel like because you’re not living there any more to dispute it.
Carpet Repair: $60
Extra Cleaning: $45
Extra Painting (10×10 room): $50
Let’s start with Carpet. I’m actually willing to concede that. We lived there for three years, in a first floor apartment, that was 100% carpet. Obviously, walking in from the outside would make the carpet dirty. I get that.
Extra Cleaning however, is flat out BS. We had our things moved out a week before our lease was up and spent an entire week going over there in the evenings to clean it. There was not one single thing in that apartment that was dirty. Nothing.
Then we get Extra Painting. Now, the “10×10 room” part is kind of a clue here. There are only two rooms larger than 10×10 in that apartment. The master bedroom and the living room. The master bedroom was spotless. No need to paint. The living room had an “accent wall” which was a different color. When we moved in back in 2005, it was actually listed as a “feature” on the paperwork. We picked the color and the apartment maintenance crew, before we moved in, painted the wall for us. It’s listed on our original lease. I’m sorry, but I’m not paying them to repaint the wall. That wasn’t part of the deal. You offer someone a free wall to put paint on, you don’t make them pay for it later on. That’s just bullshit.
So, out of those, I’ll concede the $60 for carpet. $60+25=$85 in “fees”. $150-85=$65. They owe ME $65. They claim I owe THEM $70.33.
That simply isn’t going to happen. I’m not paying them a friggin penny.
What worse is that they flat out refused to do a walk-through when we left. It was post-hurricane and they said they were too busy and would get to it later.
To me, that says that they’re accepting the apartment “as is” and they forfeit any rights to make damage claims later on.
I still haven’t gotten a call back. I can’t wait till I do. This should be fun.
by Matt | Oct 2, 2008 | Aggravation
They both suck. Bailouts suck. I’m pissed off at the whole mess.
Obama’s top contributors:
Goldman Sachs $691,930
University of California $611,207
Citigroup Inc $448,599
JPMorgan Chase & Co $442,919
McCain’s Top Contributors:
Merrill Lynch $298,413
Citigroup Inc $269,251
Morgan Stanley $233,272
Goldman Sachs $208,395
JPMorgan Chase & Co $179,975
by Matt | Sep 5, 2008 | Aggravation, Personal
Since he stormed off in a huff after our last encounter, we haven’t heard anything from the guy who ruined our fridge. So, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I had given him until the end of this week to “make things right” as he said he would. Since it’s Friday and I hadn’t heard from him, I decided to give him a ring.
I was pleasent, I didn’t yell. Actually our phone conversation was very brief.
“Hello, Keith?” I said. “uhhh huh” was the reply.
“Hey Keith, it’s Matt, I was calling to talk to you about the fridge…”
“uhhh huh, yeah, well, I’m pursuing different avenues for that…” he says.
“huh? different avenues? did you get the message about what the Kenmore guy said?”
“yeah, and that’s like only getting an opinion from one doctor. I’m pursuing different avenues, I’ll get back to you next week”, and he hangs up the phone.
It’s abudently clear that he had no intention of paying for what he did. What’s even more aggrivating is that he still doesn’t seem to understand what he did.
I’m not really angry about it any more. I just want it fixed. I want a new fridge, one that’s capable of holding food without fear of contamination or poisoning us.
I don’t really think that’s too much to ask.
The Kenmore repair technitian came out on Tuesday. He thinks the fridge is totaled. He was concerned about the fumes getting up inside the frame of the fridge itself and not just the doors. He gave us a damage estimate of $1700. That’s nearly $500 more than the cost of fridge new.
We’ve called and left a couple of messages this week saying basically “you caused $1700 worth of damage, but give us enough for a new fridge and we’ll call it even, and you can even have the old fridge if you want”. We never got a call back. I’m actually surprised I got him on the phone. He must not have recognized the number.
That’s ok, *67 did what it was supposed to do, lol.
To round out the complete catastrophy of this fridge, while doing my research I found out that here in Texas you actually can’t sue unlicensed workers. Apparently the local contractors union or some bullshit got that added to the law books a while back. If you use an unlicensed worker, you’re on your own. A nice little penalty for not using union workers.
Isn’t that awesome! So, now I’ve got nothing left as far as options. I’ve got to get something out of him. And that’ll be like getting blood from a stone.
So, I’ve got a Sears bill for $1200 that I haven’t even started paying on yet, no fridge, and a douchebag who owes me a new fridge, money or both.
I think I’m getting an ulser. I can’t deal with this shit any more.
My grandfather always said that all a man really has in life is his handshake and his word. It would be nice if we still lived in an age when that meant something. It bothers me that it doesn’t.
by Matt | Aug 27, 2008 | Aggravation, Personal
So the douchebag calls me. “Hey buddy” he says, “We’re all finished up here, I cleaned up the floor and I think that fridge will be ok, I wiped most of it up, I think it just needs a good cleaning. Maybe I’ll go get you guys some stainless steel polish.”
I didn’t think I could be floored twice in 24 hours. I was. His level of retardation is so high, there’s really little doubt that he’s done this before because obviously the fumes have eaten HIS BRAIN.
I asked him “so you guys are completely done, you’re leaving right?”. I want him as far away from me as possible when I go over there, or else I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions.
“Yeah Buddy, where would you like me to leave the key?”
“On the counter, next to the lock box (which holds the key for the contractors). You can lock the handle of the back door from the inside and go out that way.”
“Ok, will do” and he hangs up.
An hour later I go over to check on it. The house is completely wide open. Front door, open to the world. Not just unlocked, but OPEN. Back door, same thing. Windows, open too. Key? Nowhere to be found.
So, they’re either not done and he’s coming back, which might be the case because there are still tools EVERYWHERE. Or, he’s the biggest fucking idiot alive. I’m figuring it’s a 50/50 split between the two.
This time I brought both the professional video camera from work as well as my little Powershot so I could document it even more. You can see the latest photos here. They include such gems as “the rust he tried to wipe off and obviously couldn’t” and more damage to my freezer as well, which I’m becoming increasingly concerned with.
We’ve contacted the Kenmore rep and they’re sending someone out on Tuesday to inspect the damage and tell us if the door can be replaced or if the entire unit needs to go. I’ll get them to look at the freezer as well.
I’ll also see if I can’t encode that video and put it up as well. It’s, umm, “educational” as to the level of stupidity I’m dealing with.
Thanks for the links and the concerns. He says he wants to “make things right”, so I’m going to give him that chance, but I’m also not stupid. I’ve got the PDFs to file in small claims court already printed out.
He has until the weekend.
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