Posted by Karla/OR on 1/14/12 8:17pm
Msg #409068

FYI: Final Link (1.5 stars)

I am pleased to report that after a month of calls and a letter to their accounts payable person,

Tarek Kabbara (714-705-4245), I finally received a check today covering the October 2012

signing I did for them!!! This guy gave me excuse after excuse, but I confronted him on his

excuses each time I called (I kept good notes of our conversations).

I am posting this in case it inspires you to "dog" him like I have done the past month and

hopefully be successful in getting paid as well. It may be Pollyanna-ish to think they have finally

learned their lesson. (BTW, for any one who wonders, I asked this SS to

remove me from their call list shortly after the signing. Believe me, no one needs to reprimand

me for taking that job. I have beat myself up enough.)

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/14/12 8:57pm
Msg #409070

Re: FYI: Final Link (1.5 stars)....

all I'm going to say is

1.5 stars since January, 2011 - ratings from 2010 showed problems beginning...yet you took a signing in October, 2011...

Have you learned to trust us? Does this teach you to believe what is posted in SC and heed warnings? Have you learned that no, it's NOT going to be different for you...

If so, our job is done...

Glad you finally got paid.

Reply by HisHughness on 1/14/12 9:06pm
Msg #409071

Re: FYI: Final Link (1.5 stars)....

***Have you learned to trust us? Does this teach you to believe what is posted in SC and heed warnings? Have you learned that no, it's NOT going to be different for you...If so, our job is done...***

Beg to differ, Linda.

She's still standing. Blood from the scalp wounds has not yet blinded her. She still isn't able to pick up most of her teeth off the the ground to inspect them. I didn't hear a single bone break. And on top of all that, she's still got some spunk in her: She's not begging for mercy, she's telling US she's learned her lesson and WE should back off.

As NotRot stonings go, this one is really anemic. I think it's time to break out the torches and the pitchforks.

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/14/12 9:12pm
Msg #409072

I have absolutely no intention of stoning her...

but 2-3 years of 1 and 2 star ratings and people are still working for this company...

Guess out job isn't done..

Reply by MW/VA on 1/14/12 9:21pm
Msg #409073

We do our best to try to share g/b/u through

SC. We really can't help those who think "it won't happen to me".

Reply by HisHughness on 1/14/12 9:32pm
Msg #409076

Karla, you don't understand how our NotRot chastising works.

You made two major errors.

The first, of course, was taking the job in the first place.

The second was admitting you took the job.

That's just not the way it functions. What you do, when you take a closing from one of the bottom feeders and don't get paid as you should, is keep quiet about. And you keep hassling the deadbeat till you finally get your money.

Once YOU have been paid, you wait till some unsuspecting neophyte shows up in Discuss Work, bemoaning that he or she is owed for a closing, and the scumsucking scoundrel who hired him/her now won't even answer the phone. Then you get to hurl your own mound of rocks at the newcomer; nobody is ever the wiser, and you get to feel morally superior like all of us other NotRot denizens who long ago learned how the game is played.

It's a lot more fun than picking pimples.

Reply by Buddy Young on 1/14/12 10:50pm
Msg #409077

Re: Karla, you don't understand how our NotRot chastising works.

Hugh got it exactly right!!!!

Excellent advice for all newbees to this forum.

Reply by Karla/OR on 1/15/12 1:11am
Msg #409078

To Linda H/FL and MW/VA: what you don't know about me is that my purpose in taking the job was for the experience; if I got paid for it, a bonus. And guess what, I DID!!! So it's not ALL about the money!

To Hugh: you have that special talent to see through what is really going on, and respond effectively. You did not take my moment and crush it, but instead went for the positive. Thank you.

My point in posting initially was to alert those that are still owed money from this company that they may want to contact them NOW. It was an attempt to be helpful. Sorry that was not clear to some of you.

Reply by HisHughness on 1/15/12 4:41am
Msg #409079

Okay, then, this is the official moment crusher

***my purpose in taking the job was for the experience; if I got paid for it, a bonus...So it's not ALL about the money!...To Hugh...You did not take my moment and crush it, but instead went for the positive.***

All jesting aside and in complete seriousness, I was appalled when I read the above quote. Karla, earning a living IS all about the money. You did several things, not one of them positive, when you took that job "for the experience." First, you established for yourself how much you valued your sevices, and you didn't value them very highly. Second, you helped keep a bottom-feeding parasite in business who will continue to leech off our industry as a whole. Third, you denied some other signing agent, or perhaps even yourself, a job that, had everybody refused to work for the parasitic SS, would ultimately have had to be filled by a responsibe hiring party at a fair fee.

The attitude you evinced is one of the major things wrong with our profession, and I'm sorry you contributed to its perpetuation. I hope that you have learned something from this episode, and that what you have learned is that you need to pull in harness with other responsible signing agents to better the profession, not undermine our role by taking jobs from leeches "for the experience."

Go in peace and in heightened illumination.

Reply by Lee/AR on 1/15/12 6:29am
Msg #409080

Hugh is right.

Case in point...and, granted, I am in a very rural location with few NSAs...BUT:
Starting last Monday, I've been contacted for a particular signing this coming Monday afternoon by 3 different cheap companies. Offers thus far have ranged from $40 to $155...and they still have no takers for this job. Point being, yes, it IS all about the money and if we all held our ground, this business would have no choice but to improve.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/16/12 12:55pm
Msg #409158

5 star post!

Most of us prefer to not learn from the "school of hard knocks."

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 1/15/12 8:23am
Msg #409083

Karla, if it wasn't all about the money this thread never would have been started - because your whole post was about how you dogged them til you got paid. So don't even go there.

And you didn't answer my question - have you learned to trust those who went before you...I hope so.

Reply by Jack/AL on 1/15/12 12:41pm
Msg #409088

Gotta quit reading this. My head is starting to hurt. n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 1/15/12 6:10pm
Msg #409103

I think the advice Linda & I gave is general & applies to

all. What you're not understanding is that these companies are like preditors, and can smell a newbie. By taking jobs from them you are enabling them to continue doing the same to others. We try to keep each other informed & help avoid the no-payers, slow-payers & low-ballers.
If you want to gain experience, then you might consider gaining the right kind of experience. We've all fallen prey to some of the unscrupulous cos. from time to time. It's the nature of the biz. What we're trying to help you with is that while you collected from this co. after 4 months of collection efforts, it means you invested a lot of time in having to chase your money.
Your original post said we didn't need to criticize you for the decision, because you had already learned a lesson from it.
Sometimes it's hard not to get defensive to some of the responses. IMO it's a good idea of learn to filter here, just like on the internet. Take away what is valuable advice & disregard the rest.
I know that I have gained a wealth of valuable info by participating in this forum. I do wish the same to you. :-)

Reply by Karla/OR on 1/15/12 8:13pm
Msg #409113

Re: I think the advice Linda & I gave is general & applies to

"What you're not understanding is that these companies are like preditors, and can smell a newbie."

I DO think I got it because I told them not to call me any more. I told them directly not to call me any more because they pay late or not at all. I have admitted I made the mistake of calling them in the first place. So in my mind, I guess I did get it.

"What we're trying to help you with is that while you collected from this co. after 4 months of collection efforts, it means you invested a lot of time in having to chase your money."

I put in 4 calls over a 4 week period to this company in collecting the money. Each call took about10 minutes at best. 40 minutes of my time to collect $125.

"Sometimes it's hard not to get defensive to some of the responses. IMO it's a good idea of learn to filter here, just like on the internet. Take away what is valuable advice & disregard the rest."

You are right about that and I really do appreciate your response. You are not trying to bash me, just helping. Helping I can appreciate when it's done in the right way. Otherwise I an easily tune it out and not learn a darn thing. I believe most humans are that way.

I really do appreciate you.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/16/12 12:52pm
Msg #409156

ROFLMAO!! Thanks for the laughs!!!! n/m

Reply by Karla/OR on 1/15/12 3:20pm
Msg #409092

Hugh, I know you realize we are all not in the same place in this world. Some do this as a hobby, some as part-time work, some full-time career. I am somewhere in the middle. I work part-time at three different jobs, collect a pension, and have a husband income as well. So for ME, doing this job is NOT all about the money. So I am not in the same box as you or others doing this work.

When I said it is not ALL abut the money, I meant if for ME. I should have clarified that. Right now in my life, the experience is more important to me. That's also why I said if I get paid then that's a bonus. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and was striving for a perfect record for my efforts in 2011 receivable wise-that's why I dogged them for payment. I could have sat back and said to heck with it, they pay me when they pay me. Instead I dogged them so they got the picture that I was not one to just sit back and whine about not getting paid. Apparently I did something right since there are so many that have not yet been paid.

I do apologize to other NSA's for helping the crap companies stay in business. That, in hindsight, is what I did wrong. Greedy for experience.

And yes, Linda, I do feed on all the info on this forum. I am on her several times a day. I am also free to make my own decisions, of which I did. Life is about getting knocked down and picking yourself back up. I don't always do what someone else tells me. I DO take it in, weight it, and make my own decision, right or wrong. I admit my mistakes and try not to make them a second time as I have indicated by telling FL to take me off their call list.

Reply by HisHughness on 1/15/12 4:04pm
Msg #409094

Wait just an ever-luvin' cotton-pickin' minute

***I am also free to make my own decisions, of which I did...I don't always do what someone else tells me.***

Didn't you say you were married? I hope you're not including your <husband> in those "someone elses" whom you sometimes ignore. Surely you have sense enough, and respect enough for the proper order of things, to obey your husband when he instructs you in how to do things and how to comport yourself?

I'm just sort of stricken by the idea that your <husband> would tell you to get dinner, and be quick about it, and you might ignore him. With all that, and agitating for females to vote, too, this civilization will never make it to the 20th Century.

Reply by Karla/OR on 1/15/12 4:56pm
Msg #409095

Wait just an ever-lovin' cotton-pickin' minute

LOL! You can relax Hugh - I never ignore him, and I don't always agree with him (and vice versa) - I have a mind of my own (as does he). Sometimes it gets me in trouble and sometimes it works out - just like here! If he told me to get dinner quickly, I would take my darn sweet time. I would expect the same from him. I believe that you get back how you treat others-as in the Golden Rule and Karma.

I don't mind saying that you are the kind of person that makes me want to stop, look, and listen when you have something to say. It comes out respectful in this forum-others do not have that grace and they offend - purposefully or not. Somewhere in your lifetime someone has taught you grace and I so appreciate you for it. Thanks.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/16/12 1:36am
Msg #409121

Brava! Well done. n/m

Reply by Eve/VA on 1/18/12 7:26am
Msg #409304

Re: Wait just an ever-luvin' cotton-pickin' minute

You just love stirring the pot

Reply by desktopfull on 1/16/12 12:49pm
Msg #409154

So they paid in advance for Oct. closing this year? n/m

Reply by Jamie Mooney on 4/20/12 3:04pm
Msg #418416

I just took an order from them but only if they agreed to pay me with Paypal. Was this a smart idea?