HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kh43543@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Ford Prefect)
Subject: Re: ***WARNING: BE CAREFUL WHEN DEALING WITH ALLSTATE INSURANCE!***
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 21:55:08 GMT

Hi everyone, I posted the original article to this a couple days ago
and since then, Allstate has already sent my Aunt a check!!!

But get this....... It was made out for $5.75! That's right, it's not a 
typo.... 5 dollars and 75 cents for a $620 damage. I've talked to
my attorney about it and he said that if Allstate is trying to consider
$5.75 a settlement if my Aunt cashes the check, then that's highly illegal.. :-)

I guess I will see them in court!!! Along with Reggie Heard and his supervisor
Valorie! 

--Kwun
  kh43543@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu

P.S. Has anyone else had this happen to them? With Allstate sending them
     a check for much less than damage and considering it a settlement?



-- 
(*  Conserve network bandwidth, reduce your signature size. :-)    --Kwun Ho  *)
(*  Internet: kh43543@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu    Home phone: (217) 398-6280          *)
From: hdnea@usho92.hou281.chevron.com (David Neal)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Firestone sucks (was Re: Attempted cheating by Sears Auto)
Date: 6 Apr 92 15:16:01 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Chevron

Just wanted to followup on this thread and tell people to STAY away
from Firestone as well. They have offered to entirely replace my
front end because of a worn out ball joint, replace my exhaust
system because of a missing doughnut and clamp, etc, etc.

Once told me to drive back to my local Firestone because it was
less that 25 miles away to perform warranty work. I insisted _this_
dealership do it. Turns out a bearing had ground itself to dust
and had I driven the car 2 more miles it would have toasted most
of my rear end. Bastards.

They also have a bad case of the "it's going to be ready REAL SOON NOW's".

And as long as I'm bitching, the Brake Check chain around here 
also seems to be a bunch of crooks. Don't even get me started about
that. GRRRRR.



|>       Judging from some of the other Sears postings, he would tell
|>       you it is the wheel rim that is at fault...and that also you
|>       need new brakes, muffler, and steering wheel to avoid a
|>       recurrence.....

-- 
David Neal  -  hdnea@usho92.hou281.chevron.com
MACH: The UNIX(TM) of the 90's; it's small, fast, and you can't have it.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: satya@netmail.austin.ibm.com (Satyanarayana Rao)
Subject: credit history reporting
Keywords: secured card, credit report
Reply-To: satya@netmail.austin.ibm.com (Satyanarayana Rao)
Organization: IBM PSP Palo Alto, Ca.
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 14:05:59 GMT

Hi,
I have a secured credit card with Citibank for the last 6 months or so.
I am regularly paying off all the bills. They have not reported the credit
history to the credit bureau and they they do not do it for secure cards.
Is it correct(fair?). They actually have my money with them in the form of 
CD as a security but if my payment record is good don't they have to report
it. I am sure they would do it if it were bad record. Is there any thing I
can do to make them report?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Please email to satya@netmail.austin.ibm.com


Thanks,
______________________________________________________________________
Satya Rao                   |    phone : (512) 838-4569  T/L: 678-4569
IBM AWD Porting Center      |     VNET : SC23062 at AUSVM6
11400 Burnet Road, MS 2830  | internal : satya@indus.austin.ibm.com
Austin, TX  78758           | internet : satya@netmail.austin.ibm.com

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: mayo@pa.dec.com (Bob Mayo)
Subject: Re: MCI Telemarketing (was MCI = Morons)
Organization: DEC Western Research Lab
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 22:48:22 GMT

In article <3461@moscom.UUCP> de@moscom.UUCP (David Esan) writes:
> [...discussion about sequential dialling by telemarketers...]
>Obviously, ATT is using the last method, and called you.  There is no way
>to prevent sales slime from calling you, yet.  Have an unpublished number
>will not prevent sales calls, but it will reduce them.  

I'm not sure what you mean by "yet".  You can currently screen calls by
using an extension number.  If the caller doesn't type in the correct extension
number, he is transfered to an answering machine.  You give out the extension
number to those people that you are willing to accept "live" calls from.

One such device to implement this is the "call breakthrough" feature of
the (you guessed it) AT&T answering machines.

--Bob
From: kornfein@azores.crd.ge.com (Mark M. Kornfein)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Discrimination at Mitsubishi
Date: 14 Apr 92 20:04:35 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: GE Corp. Research & Development, Schenectady, NY

In article <kum0kfINNb7n@spim.mips.com> mpolen@gelato.mips.com (Michael Polen) writes:

[lots of stuff deleted]
>Whoa! 
>
>1.	The automobile warrenty is from the manufacturer and not the dealer.
>	The dealer has a contract with Mitsubishi which reimburses it for 
>	warrenty work.
>
>2.	As long automotive dealers create an environment where you are stupid
>	to pay list price, they force you to negotiate.  If you follow their
>	rules, you will find the cheapest dealer and then get service at the
>	closest.
>

>mike polen


First as I stated: 
>|> If I was the Nashua dealer I would be upset also, but they clearly should 
>|> have taken care of you.

This means I fully agree with item 1.

Is what I added and believe that it's courtesy (at least in this area)
to go back to the dealer you bought the car from at least when the car is
brand new.

If that were not so why do consumer guides and alike always
recommend checking out a dealers service department before buying a car from
them?  They would tell you to seek out service departments seperatly.

If as one poster said that warranty work was a big money maker for the dealer
then economic interests would dictate they would be happy to service the
car and there would have been no problem. 



===============================================================================
Mark Kornfein                            INET: kornfein@crd.ge.com 
GE Corporate R&D Center	                 UUCP: uunet!crd.ge.com!kornfein
Schenectady, NY                          
From: gordons@hplsla.hp.com (Gordon Schilling)
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1992 17:22:15 GMT
Subject: Re: Attempted cheating by Sears Auto
Organization: HP Lake Stevens, WA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers

I finally gave up on SEARS automotive shop when they recommended new plugs two  months after a tune up, recommended brake work and parts which another qualified
mechanic said were good and quoted prices which were SUBSTANTIALLY higher
than other qualified shops in the area. I should have documented some of
these experiences for the state attorney general, but I just didn't have the 
time.
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:10527 misc.legal:9344
From: dodson@convex.COM (Dave Dodson)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,misc.legal
Subject: Re: Credit Rating & $$$ Collectors?
Date: 15 Apr 92 18:34:58 GMT
Reply-To: dodson@convex.COM (Dave Dodson)
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
Originator: dodson@bach.convex.com
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In article <1992Apr15.060712.7032@scott.skidmore.edu> jreiser@scott.skidmore.edu (jason reiser) writes:
>Perhaps someone out there can help me.
>I received the following letter from an attorney's office representing
>a company that I do have an outstanding balance with.
>	[much deleted for brevity]
>		I have never received
>		any information from them regarding my balance with 
>		them.  I hope that this will not adversely affect my
>		credit rating, as this bill has now been paid in full.

I believe I would have strengthened the second sentence above to say
something like:

		If I suffer any damage, including derogatory reports to
		any credit reporting agency, as a result of your client's
		failure to bill me for payment or their referral of the
		matter to you, I will hold each of you responsible to the
		full extent of the law.

I also think it would have been a good idea to ask for an itemized bill
and statement of your account from the water company to verify that the
requested amount was figured correctly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Dodson		                             dodson@convex.COM
Convex Computer Corporation      Richardson, Texas      (214) 497-4234
From: mike@gilligan.Sun.COM (Mike Roncadori - Information Resources)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: was: Buy American parrots now: union fools
Date: 13 Apr 92 18:39:35 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: gilligan.east.sun.com

In article <CARL.92Apr13114053@atlantis.Cayman.COM> carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl) writes:
>
>take a pay cut to $21.50 and hour or they would shut the plant down in
>9 months.  The idiot union workers took a vote and 9 months later they
>were unemployed.  Talk about stupidity.  I felt absolutely no
>compassion toward them (except the ones that WERE willing to take the
>pay cut, that is, but I believe the vote was overwhelming).
>

Everybody talks about how short-sighted management is, but that is
the epitome of short-sightedness. When you don't want to look just
1 year into the future, you are playing russian roulette with your
life.

This recently happened in Albany, Ga. at the Miller Brewing facil-
ity. The workers were asked if they'd rather have a 25-cent an hour
pay cut, or lose their long-term hospitalization insurance. They
voted to lose the insurance. Stupid, especially when you consider
that the starting wage there is $15 an hour. Might not sound like
alot, but in Albany, Ga. that's pretty respectable.

I have no sympathy for any group of people that won't get up off
its collective toucas, educate and modernize itself, and earn the
respect it continually wails out for.

-- Mike
From: rand@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Rand Briggs)
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 22:54:20 GMT
Subject: Re: Dodge Caravan ('86 Model) Engine Rattle
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: misc.consumers

Check your owners manual under maintenance.  My 1988
Caravan talks about a servicing a Timing *Belt*.  I
checked and it costs $300 at the dealer or $150 at
a local mechanic to change out.  I have the 3.0 Litre
Mitsubishi V6 engine.  Sounds like a second opinion
may be in order.

Rand

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: bf644@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (D. C. Chuang)
Subject: Amway, Just the Facts please
Reply-To: bf644@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (D. C. Chuang)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 92 21:31:42 GMT


   I hate to bring this topic up again, but this multi-level marketing
thing is like a monster that can't be killed.  I've heard their sales
pitch many times and once it was even self inflicted (attended a seminar
or rally or whatever they call it) so I'm familiar with how they work.
   What I wanted to know is the "real" story of the people working at the
bottom, like "I try to sell these products door to door and make X
amount of money in a week" or something to that effect.  The "official"
line is always how wonderful it is and how rich you can become, but I'm
sure we all know this talk doesn't reflect reality (at least for the
majority).  So any stories, anecdotes, or comments would be appreciated,
however no sales pitches please.  Thanks.

DC

-- 
     . o    ---------------------  Internet: bf644@cleveland.freenet.edu
   .  -^,     So many toys ...
      \>         so little time ...
       \            and even less money!
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,alt.privacy
From: epstein@sunc7.cs.uiuc.edu (Milt Epstein)
Subject: Re: capturing caller id data
Reply-To: epstein@cs.uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 20:25:54 GMT

In <1992Apr04.091616.11784@clarinet.com> brad@clarinet.com (Brad Templeton) writes:

>In article <1992Apr3.203700.3116@tandem.com> Lyon_Jim@Tandem.Com (Jim Lyon) writes:
>>
>>Unfortunately, there is another reason why many businesses want CallerId:
>>to generate directed phone lists for telemarketing.  These lists have a
>
>But as you say, the same feature lets me stop telemarketing on my home
>phone.   Combine this with the new laws under review that require the
>telemarketers to keep lists of people who refuse to be called, and to
>not call them.  (Just as the DMA does for junk mail)

Oh, great.  When someone objects to Caller ID because it will make
their phone number more available, the phone companies can respond
that you can solve the telemarketing problem by getting Caller ID.
That's a great way for them to generate business for themselves -- to
protect yourself from Caller ID, get Caller ID.  Sounds like a
Catch-22, all-win situation for them.


>>3.  Anyone paying for a phone line can decide whether CallerId information
>>    is always blocked for calls originating from that line.
>
>Almost nobody would get this because a lot of people, myself included,
>would block anonymous calls except at certain times of the day.
>What you probably mean is to set the default, with per-call enabling of
>caller-ID when you call a number that blocks anonymous calls.

That would certainly be a more flexible way to do it -- the key point
being that the caller not be required to enter the per-call blocking
code each time.

-- 
Milt Epstein
Department of Computer Science
University of Illinois
epstein@cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.autos
From: mma@thumper.bellcore.com (Mary Ma)
Subject: Intermittent problem with '90 Integra brakes
Reply-To: mma@thumper.bellcore.com (Mary Ma)
Organization: Bellcore MRE
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 92 13:06:49 GMT


Problem:
	I have a '90 Integra which seems to have an intermittent braking
problem.  The car has about 43K miles on it and never had any brake work
done on it.  I am the first owner and have taken the car back to the 
dealer 5 TIMES (last time was yesterday) to have them check the brake.
Each time, they assure me that there's nothing wrong.  The brakes feels 
very spongy at times (almost like there's nothing there). It has gotten
to the point where I don't feel comfortable driving it ('can't quite afford
to trade it in yet..)

Question:
	Should I stop taking it back to the dealer and find a 'reputable'
brake specialist?  (Is there such a person who would know an Integra better
than the dealer)  I don't have another Acura dealer closeby.
Has anyone else (regardless of the make of car) have a
similiar problem with their brakes?  How does one track down an intermittent
problem like this?  I don't want to spend the $$$ to replace all the parts
when I am not sure that it is going to give me a peace of mind.

'should have kept my Nissan Sentra.....
-Mary Lau
 mma@aries.bellcore.com
From: cantrell@seqp4.sequoia.com (Paul Cantrell)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Jenn-Air appliances?
Date: 10 Apr 92 20:55:22 GMT
Organization: Sequoia Computer Systems

In article <1992Apr3.215836.29510@dsd.es.com>, sbender@navajo.dsd.es.com (Steve Bender) writes:
> When remodelling our kitchen, we looked at Jenn-Air but
> decided against it because the vent/fan offered was not
> variable speed and quite noisy.  Moreover, the fan was
> ALWAYS on when a burner was turned on... a real nuisance
> when you just want to boil water for tea.

We have a Jenn-Air range with gas burners, two of which can be taken out
and replaced with a gas grill, or other attachments.

On our Jenn-Air range, the fan only runs when the grill is being used.
Using the other two cooking positions does not cause the fan to turn on.
When you take the grill out and put in the gas burners, operation of these
burners also does not turn on the fan.

The fan can be turned on manually. I agree that the fan is quite noisy
when in operation. However, when grilling food you need a large fan to
remove all the smoke. It does a good job at this.

We're extremely pleased with this stove.

					PC
-- 
cantrell@sequoia.com
From: nms@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (n.m.scribner)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Audio Books ??
Date: 11 Apr 92 17:40:18 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T

I need advice in finding a good source of audio books on cassette
tape.  I have exhausted the resources of our local library, and
found that the national outfits like Recorded Books and Books-on-Tape
are quite expensive. ($15-$25/mo./book).  Actually, I am looking for
places I can rent popular classics like famous novels and histories,
rather than the thrillers and romances which seem to be most popular
at the library.  Any advice would be appreciated.  Please reply directly.

Neal Scribner
From: wally@netcom.com (Wally Schwarz)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Outrageous telephone rate for local calls..
Date: 17 Apr 92 17:30:18 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

From article <1992Apr17.053424.840@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>, by alasnik@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Adam Lasnik):
>>Be glad you don't live in NYC, where there is no such thing as
>>"unlimited local calling" ... all local calls cost $0.104 (with no time
>>limit).
> 
> As I lamented in an earlier post, be glad you don't live in Illinois, where
> the local phone charges are literally FIVE TIMES that! (5.2 cents)

How can $.052 per call be 5 times that of $.104?  I see that as being half as
much.

Luckily, here in California, for $8.35 a month you get unlimited local calling
for up to 12 miles away. After that, get the armored car out as the toll rates
are outrageous.  $.04/minute for 12 to 16 miles, than about $.10/minute for 16-
22 miles, and then up to $.30/minute for longer calls.

-- 
Wally Schwarz                               Wally World BBS
2228 S El Camino Real #40                   415/349-6969/Free Line - 2400bps
San Mateo, CA 94403                         415/349-8408/Contributor Line
                                            V.32 and V.32bis available
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: patstew@oz.plymouth.edu (Pat Steward)
Subject: GEICO?
Reply-To: patstew@oz.plymouth.edu (Pat Steward)
Organization: Plymouth State College - Plymouth, N.H.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 17:38:14 GMT

Could someone with experience with GEICO please e-mail me regarding
who qualifies, rate comparisons, claim experiences, etc.?  Thanks.
-- 
Pat Martin Steward                          patstew@oz.plymouth.edu
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is;
I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express senti-
ments that differentiate me from a doormat.       Rebecca West, 1913
From: podnos@acsu.buffalo.edu (Elyse H. Podnos)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Portable CD players...
Date: 10 Apr 92 00:16:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: acsu.1992Apr10.001607.3023
Organization: State University of New York at Buffalo/Comp Sci


Hi,

I am interested in buying a discman of some sort.  I was originally
thinking of the Sony MD 33.

Is this is a good model to buy?  Or are there better models (or
companies)?   My price range is ~ $160  (The going price for the MD 33
around here)

Thanks in advance,

Elyse Podnos

CSNET :  podnos@buffalo		 ARPA  :  podnos%buffalo@csnet-relay
INTERNET:  podnos@cs.buffalo.edu       BITNET:  podnos@sunybcs
From: greis@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Gayla Ann Greis)
Newsgroups: misc.education
Subject: Dumbing Down (REPOST)
Date: 12 Apr 92 03:39:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: uwm.1992Apr12.033930.13760
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Originator: greis@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

Sorry about that! I forgot to set line format before I sent out that last
post! Here it is again!

-----

Unlike what I promised, I did start to read "Dumbing Us Down." I found
it interesting that Carl's point was that all people were not created
equal, and for those of you who have the book, right in the beginning,
Mr. John Gatto has this to say:
 
----------
 
(Reprinted w/o permission from Dumbing Us Down, by John Taylor Gatto.
New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, PA. 1992.)
Pages XI-XII
 
. . . Over the past twenty-six years, I've used my classes as a laboratory
where I could learn a broader range of what human possibility is - the
whole catalogue of hopes abd fears - and also as a place where I could
study what releases and what inhibits human power. During that time,
I've come to believe that genius us an exceedingly common human
quality, probably natural to most of us. I didn't want to accept that
notion - far from it - my own training in two elite universitied taught
me that intelligence and talent distributed themselves economically
over a bell curve and that human destiny, because of those mathematical,
seemingly irrefutable, scientific facts, was as rigorously determined
as John Calvin contended. The trouble was that the unlikeliest kids
kept demonstrating to me at random moments so many of the hallmarks of
human excellence - insight, wisdom, justice, resourcefulness, courage,
originality - that I became confused. They didn't do this often enough
to make my teaching easy, but they did it often enough that I began to
wonder, reluctantly, whether it was school itself that was dumbing them
down. Was it possible I had been hired not to enlarge children's power,
but to diminish it? That seemed crazy on the face of it, but slowly I
began to realize that the bells and the confinement, the crazy sequences,
the age-segregation, the lack of privacy, the constant surveillance, and
all the rest of the national curriculum of schooling were designed
exactly as if someone had set out to _prevent_ children from learning
how to think and act, to coax them into addiction and dependant behavior.
 
---- end quote ----
 
I haven't actually begun the material in this book as of this post, but
I will. Just in this one out-take, its interesting to see how many of
the topics we have discussed are covered.
 
------

I hope its all ok this time?
Newsgroups: misc.education
From: bathurst@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Bruce Bathurst)
Subject: Re: Teacher evaluation (was: alternative to hitting students)
Originator: news@ernie.Princeton.EDU
Organization: Princeton University
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 10:09:29 GMT

The one year I taught at a small State University, the students knew
exactly what they wanted--demanded--from me:

THE answers, no homework, no reading, what to memorize,
multiple-choice and true-false tests, the freedom to cheat unhindered
on exams, the door of the lab left open the night before lab test with
materials and answers left out, an increase in grade when threatened
in my office, and so forth.

My official evaluation reflected that I disappointed the students on all
these counts; and I felt it impossible to continue a teaching career
because my evaluation contained the phrase "lack of respect".

Though I never expressed this to a student, it was true.  Often, as I
watched the students enter the classroom, I thought to myself "Bruce,
you don't respect these people, and you therefore aren't fit to be up
here."

Teaching is one of the most responsible of professions; I choose to be
a clerk rather than violate its fundamental philosophy and ruin young
people.

I assure you, though: they know exactly what they want from "College".
And the colleges know that if they satisfy them, the number of
matriculated students (body count) will rise.  This assures the
school's continued existence, and the administrators' continued
salaries.

This symbiotic relationship results in well-paid, valuable teachers
and students who have just completed four more years of high school.

Bruce
-- 
Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
bathurst@phoenix.princeton.edu bathurst@pucc.bitnet !princeton!phoenix!bathurst
Xref: sparky misc.education:1874 sci.edu:528 sci.econ:3693 talk.politics.theory:2003 soc.culture.taiwan:7330 soc.culture.hongkong:5615 soc.culture.indian:14091 soc.culture.pakistan:6315 soc.culture.bangladesh:2333