I thought everyone might like to hear about how Smogtek did in court yesterday. He went to court to face down CMRE for their pulling of 2 inquiries without permissible purposes. He chose to go to mediation and in mediation he decided to PAY THEM $60.00 for a bill they couldn't validate and he did not owe and was NOT what he was suing them over he sued them over pulling of a credit report so how he suddenly decided to pay them I will never know. I'm sure when all was finished that collector laughed until she almost wet her pants. ( Addendum info about the bill -- He signed assignment and paid his cost share at the visit if the hospital didn't bill their shoddy billing bookkeeping practices wasn't his problem). This will be a long told story of the idiot debtor who sued himself for the collection agency. So not only are we out MANY dollars in CRR postage but the day off to go to court AND the payment of a bill we did not owe and was not even a subject of the litigation! The moral of this story is don't sue yourself for the collection agency. I am extremely embarassed to admit I'm Smogtek's wife. I guess this sort of explains why we drive junk yard cars eh?
Man I hate to say it but if his own wife can laugh.....LOL. you will do better next time smog, I think it is great you had the guts to begin with.
If my wife did something foolish, I sure wouldn't rub her nose in it; especially in public. Poor form, in one man's opinion. The dynamics of mediation canmake you think it's hopeless. The other person has done this before. You have not. The mediator may take the other side, and you think it's hopeless. I very nearly succumbed to that hopelessness myself. Luckily, I decided, "Oh what the heqq, I've got nothing to lose by going before the judge." Don't be so hard on a guy for not being an expert at something he's never done before.
I hate to hear this. BUT, I can understand how it could happen. We get all gung ho to go after the CAs and the CRAs and stand up for our rights...and we certainly are within those rights when we do so. But regardless of what our rights are, some of us are simply not of the temperment to be able to deal with a court challenge. Those who can do so are doing a great service by going out and fighting those battles. Those fights will ultimately be for the good of all of us and I have the greatest respect and admiration for those who undertake them. But everyone isn't cut out to do battle in court. I hope we will all be sensitive to this as we give advice which sometimes seems to boil down to the question "what should I do?" and the answer "Sue em, you've got em dead to rights." Sometimes it comes down to a lot more than just who's right and who's wrong. Smogtek has offered some wonderful assistance on this board to many who've had questions about making auto purchases. And when you're talking about what is often the 2nd largest purchase in someone's life, THAT is a big deal. He's been a great contributor, and I hope the result of this insignificant court matter won't cause him to back away from participating in a community he has contributed greatly to. Smogtek, I'm proud of you for getting in the battle. If you choose to do it again, you will have learned something from this one. (Not a particularly expensive lesson really.) If you don't choose to do it again, you're in good company. I bet you'd be amazed at how many creditnetters wouldn't even consider trying. Keep fighting the good fight. DemPooches
Well Quixote I'm sure you and your wife have a MUCH better relationship and frankly if this was simply an isolated incident I wouldn't. But you want to know what I spent the last month saying to smog, "You really should be preparing for court". He started preparing the weekend prior, too little, too late. This follows a pattern of our life, shall we discuss the house he walked away from $100,000 + equity in with 15 year payments that was 7 years from paid off, because he wanted to save the payments from and buy himself a new truck? I guess he didn't think what occurs when you don't make the payment on a house. Ok how about the brand new Suburban we paid 24,500 down on and only had 250/mo payments he suddenly decided to not make those payments! Only god knows why when we HAD the money! Ok not good enough how about.... this list goes on and on Qui, if it were a rare instance you wouldn't hear it. Further Qui your post was one he pointed out over and over to me about how mediation is going bad you can still win etc.... This post needed posted because people never hear about the dark side because people that pull stupid pet tricks like this are too embarrased to post them. We are fairly anonymous, there is no identifying information that you can readily link us from (yes you could if you knew some tricks but it ain't easy and it doesn't really matter). So I'm not exactly rubbing his nose in it. This needs told so others know how bad it can go if you panic!
If the Suburban hasn't been repo'd I'll talk to you abot taking over payments! Maybe the smog got to his brain. I do hope that everything works out for ya'll. Charlie
Hey Smog...you'll get them next time! These things happen and I'm sure you've learned from the experience. This is nothing to be embarrassed over and at least you had the guts to file suit which is more than 99% of the people here will have. Obviously the rest of us weren't in the mediation with you and do not know what went on to cause these results. If you are open to suggestions, next time I would suggest that you let your wife do the suing and then if things go badly, you can show her by example how to respond with a little more class than she apparently has. Sheesh... L
Hey smog, you had the guts to do what needed to be done. It didn't work out? Oh well, that's how it goes sometimes. But as for Mrs. Smog, if I had a wife giving all her great support like this, she'd be gone from my life. Who needs that kind of crap. She says "I'm not rubbing his nose in it". Well, guess what, that is exactly what you are doing. You Mrs. Smogtek, should be ashamed of yourself.
smogtek, I envy you for having the courage to take it that far. You did make them go to court, which cost them some $$, that in itself is a victory. I do not think this post was made by smogtek's wife. A girlfriend, maybe.. this is certainly not a method of honoring your spouse.
You may be right about this not being his wife. edit-------> I just checked smogteks' last post: smogtek | 307 posts since Jun 2002 4.63.33.136 | 10.14.2002 @ 17:33 Notice the numbers - 4.63.33.136? Now look at the Mrs. post. Same #'s. Man, that is really a cruel thing for her to do.
This thread is sending all of my hokey antennas into orbit. Shame on you, Jo, whoever you are, you are on my list. I pray you are a Smogtek-insider but not really his wife. Good on you, Smog, for filing, for pursuing, for walking through those court doors, and for standing up for yourself and your rights -- that's no loss, it has nothing to do with whether you decided to settle or not. Sassy
I have to agree with the others. Smog got something out of this. He stood up for himself and not many can say that. Filing suit is much, much harder and more stressful than it sounds. These people we are going up against do this all day long for a living! We are novices! Our ability to stomach the pressure is not as honed as theirs. I can now fully appreciate that point having been in Smog's shoes for the first time. I must say, I underestimated the stress and worry a lawsuit would bring me. As far as Mrs. Smog, this post is awful! When I was stressing out and shaking in my shoes in court, Mr. Mc was sitting on the front row. You know what? If I had fallen flat on my face, he would have hugged me and told me he was proud of me for standing up for myself. If I had won, he would have said "I told you you could do it!" That is what makes marriage a winner for me--knowing that there is always one person who thinks you are a winner no matter what. I feel the same way about him. Just my 2 cents...
Until I read the post that says the numbers are the same, I was starting to think this was that Bobby guy masquerading as Smogtek's wife. The tone is about the same. This is much worse. jo, This is a credit repair board, not a place for you to carry out a vicious, underhanded, public attack on your husband (if he is indeed your husband; I certainly hope not for his sake). I think that Smog showed great courage in going as far as he did. God knows I haven't gotten around to filing my small claims suit yet. I am just wondering -- while you were nagging him to prepare for his case, did you perhaps do something constructive like offer to help? If you can't help him, why don't you just shut the hell up? If you hate him that much, why don't you get the hell out? Smogtek, Man, I think you did good!
if i were smogtek, Id be reluctant to fix my credit at this point in time..wait until after the divorce is finalized, then start the repair process. because it seems like she has one foot out the door already (if she is smog's wife).
At least you tried Smogtek! To Mrs. Smogtek (if that is really who you are) perhaps if you tried to be more of a helpmate his successes would be more to your liking.....it is apparent to me that Smogtek has the courage to at least try, even if he has to do it alone! Keep your chin up SmogteK, you did good! Tuit
My sympathy goes out to smogtek. I rarely write on this forum, but read it daily and can not remember a more depressing post. It is bad enough to be having financial problems, but to be in a financial crises and have support such as this from his "other half" must surely be taking a toll on him. Hang in there smogtek, hopefully you will experience better days in the near future.
