*BBB EXTORTING MILLIONS & LYING TO CONSUMERS*

The BBB (“Better Business Bureau”)has been LYING to American public, stealing from businesses since 1912, and has EXTORTED thousands of dollars from companies across America!

I am a business owner that has been paying the BBB for my so-called A rating for some time now.  I am not a competitor looking to damage a rival, someone looking to rant and rave or a business that has a poor rating and is complaining.  I will however say that I’m pissed off that this SCAM of a company is getting away with EXTORTION and no one is talking about it..

Consider these FACTS:

1. The BBB openly admits when they receive a complaint about a company  they might “refer to another appropriate organization for handling”.  The BBB will take a complaint or other communication from a consumer regarding a business and pass that to someone else?  Since the BBB is the one reporting to the public, taking MY money as a business, why are they not doing this themselves, and who are these “organizations”?

2. The BBB charges hundreds, often thousands of dollars to companies across America to have their little BBB logo on their website or on their storefront.  Think about this for a second.  The BBB represents the following on their website, “BBB is the authority on trust in the marketplace.  BBB sets and upholds high standards for ethical marketplace behavior.”  Is telling the consuming public that a company is “Good or Bad” based off some unknown crazy mathematical standard, seem like a high standard?  If the BBB was FAIR, ETHICAL and TRUSTED why are they running a company that is in essence forcing American companies to pay them thousands of dollars or else they will not “report them in good standing”!  Does the word EXTORTION come to mind?

*This next comment is about my personal experience with the BBB.  Yes I’m pissed as you can tell, and yes the “system” is screwed up but I am keeping in line with FACTS regarding the BBB & how they work.  It sounds like I’m just a ticked off consumer, THATS BECAUSE I AM!

3. My company has done over 10x the business transactions than some of our competitors, yet the BBB now wants to “downgrade” my rating to a B+ from and A because someone complained to the BBB that we did not reply to their email fast enough, and according to their “mathematical calculation” that’s the way it is?  I have done almost 4,000 transactions, and have had less than 15 people ever contact the BBB about us.  A direct competitor of mine here in Utah currently has 236 complaints and does about 1/3rd of the business than we do, yet they have an A rating with the BBB?  Now the BBB will tell all of us that rating “is what it is” because they take into consideration what color underwear they wore the day they reported, how close we were to a lunar eclipse, if the Yankess won or lost that day, and if McDonald’s forgot to take the pickles off their BigMac…  Does that system sound correct, fair, unbiased or ethical?  THEY ARE NOT COMPARING APPLES TO APPLES AND TELLING THE TRUTH!  If they are, why would a company with more sales and less complaints have a lower rating than a company that had less sales and 19x the complaints??!!

The reality is this.  The BBB is supposedly telling the American Consumers who is good, and who is bad based off their “rating” system.  It’s a flat out joke when that same company (BBB) then comes to the business it’s reporting on and NEGOTIATES WITH THEM FOR A PRICE ON HOW THEY CAN BETTER THEIR STANDING, AND BETTER THEIR RATING!  Thats about as good, honest, fair and trustworthy of a business practice as me smashing up my car, fixing it then paying the guy over at CarFax $100 to just hit the delete button on my wreck so you can have a squeaky clean report on my car….

I suggest we change the name of the BBB to the following: CROOKS NO BETTER THAN WALL STREET…

 

Greatest President Ever

I could and probably should write some lengthy rant about how pissed I am at our government and the majority of the drunk at the wheel leaders we have, how terrible Obama is not only as a president but as a leader, and how furious I am that I spend tens of thousands of dollars every month paying taxes from my business yet MY government has NO plan to use a business like mine as a jump-start to economic success.  I WILL NEVER COMPLAIN WITHOUT PROVIDING SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT, keep reading my blog and you will find those brilliant suggestions over the coming days…

Instead, I’m going to let the GREATEST leader, GREATEST President, and GREATEST orator we have ever had on Pennsylvania Ave. tell it like it is.

VOTE RONALD REAGAN IN 2010!!!!

Never Never Never Give Up….

Mertlich. Whalen. McGee

Last night a good friend of mine not only showed me, but showed millions of people around the world that you never give up on your dream.  Court McGee won his first fight in UFC on the UFC121 card in CA, by defeating the trash talking, choked out Ryan Jensen.  Ryan decided from day one to say that Court had nothing on him, had no good training partners, and was not even on the same level as he was.  Long story short, Court proved that you can run your mouth all day long, but guts, hard work, and a fierce drive can overcome any shortfall, lack of experience and most certainly commentary from those that have big mouths, little brains, and even smaller hearts.

I share this simply because Court has overcome so much in his life, and I feel I have a lot in common with him, and our lives in unique ways have many parallels.  As I live every day, I meet and find so many people that I have a lot in common with, and have been through the refiners fire in some cases many many times.  Both he and I were lost with who we were, and at a point had no real drive in life.  Both of us “experimented” with things that we thought would bring happiness, but eventually almost destroyed us. Both of us found great women who have been great foundations of strength.  Finally, we both have marbles the size of New Jersey, will push to the limits to reach our goals, and we both have passion for moving forward while others idle.

Everyone likes a good hero and everyone wants happiness.  Today I’m happy not only because the lord has blessed me with drive and desire to push my goals and ambitions forward, he has blessed me with a great family, a great business and partners, and I have been blessed with drive. I’m also happy today because a good friend has been blessed and is reaping the rewards of hard work, drive and determination.  Well done Court.

NEVER NEVER NEVER GIVE UP…

Sweat and blood…

A man who chose to act and not be acted upon..

I am always fond of a good stirring thought. Something that gets you to sit back and really search within yourself, and ask the question, “Am I coasting, or am I doing”? You can google a million quotes from Emerson, Gandhi, Aristotle and the likes, and books have been filled with a billion catchy concepts.

The real question I always as myself, and one that you can contemplate here, is when you feel that stirring emotion and call to action, that hard push you can’t say no to, do you act?  If you do, the next question is this. Do you act, then go numb to the feeling, or does it resinate? I seem to always sprint, then walk, sprint then walk. I dont know if I’m getting older, if it’s a growing family and a broader sense of responsibility, or simply the fact that I am genuinely passionate about change and righting wrongs, but I cant help but notice all those pricks of the heart seem to be staying with me longer, and my desire is becoming more and more to keep sprinting and to act.  I wonder how we would be as a people, as a government, and as a community if we all had permanently in our hearts the same feelings we did on September 12, 2001. Interesting thing to think about.  

The following tend to do a little stirring of my soul..

SUSAN B. ANTHONY:
Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out, avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their advocates, and bear the consequences.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT:
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

It’s a Love / Hate thing.. This time, I love!

Here is a problem I have.  Most every day of the week, I think the media are the perfect scam artists.  They pitch this and that, and what’s really sad, is most people believe what they see on the TV.  

Perfect example is this.  I invest heavily in tax deed, and bank foreclosures.  Sometimes called REO.  The media has the whole world believing Detroit is GHETTO, and that it’s DANGEROUS there, and a bad place to invest in real estate.  So me being me,2 weeks ago I hopped on a plane and flew out there to check it out myself. (I’ll blog about the trip soon)  FYI, I grew up in the suburbs of Washington DC, and had my first two years of High School there.  My high school had over 4000 white, asian, latino and black kids. A good portion of my friends growing up were black kids.  The reason I share this, is because I’m a 6’1, 190 lb. white guy.  According to the media, I should not be in Detroit, and sure as hell not in the GHETTO of Detroit.  

Not only did I drive through the worst parts of Detroit, I hopped out of the car, and walked through a dozen “GHETTO” neighborhoods.  Want to know who I spoke to, and where I got most of my information such as rental rates, crime in the areas, school locations etc?? From the same people the media told me to avoid.  As an investor, the very best places to get your data is directly form the source.  God bless them, but I hate real estate agents.  I find more deals on my own, than all the agents I know combined.  It’s called the hustle.  If you want to know, ask.  If you want to see, look.  If you walk through life believing everything you see on TV, read in the papers, or hear from others, you’d probably wake up each morning scared as hell and want to drink yourself to oblivion and avoid life because media sources THRIVE on pushing an agenda, and 99.99999% of the time, it’s not my agenda nor an agenda that will take me anywhere other than the bottle.

By the way, the real estate opportunities in DETROIT are UN REAL, and some of the best deals I have ever SEEN!!!! But please folks, listen to CNN, STAY AWAY form the GHETTO!! (the more you run away, the more deals there are for me!!!!  :)  

Check out the links below to see what the media says when they want to be sort of nice!  

THE GHETTO!!!

THANKS FOR NOW MR. MEDIA!!

 

http://www.kutv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=88556

http://www.kutv.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=88559

 

The brilliant generation…

I just realized something.  I was at 5 guys burgers tonight head butting a delicious double burger with onions and mayo, and a glorious thing happened. 

You see, I married into an educated family.  Father-in-law, PHD.  Brother-in-law, Masters.  Brother-in-law, Masters.  Another brother-in-law, just got his masters at almost 40 years old.  Who does that??

I went to college, and took a heavy load of History 101, and Golf my first term.  If you cant ace golf you should kicked in the marbles. I’ve always been good at history, so of course it was another ace.  I registered for my second semester and took Science, English, History, and another round of golf (golf 102 this time. Much, much harder).  

 A week into the semester, I decided I had learned all I could from this institution and decided to retire from college.  So I did.  Dropped the classes, returned the books and have not been back since. So what’s so fantastic about that?  Sean, were you snorting the onions at 5 guys, or did you chug too much Mr. Pibb because as I see it you dropped out of college and only losers who will never amount to jack squat do that..  Listen.. I RETIRED from college, and as it stands right now I have a 4.0 GPA. So really putting all things aside, I am in the top percentile of students in the country with a perfect GPA during my illustrious college career.  

To that end, those who state “he cant be that smart, he didn’t go to school”, “Sean, if only you had gone to school, imagine the doors that could be opened”, I say to you as my favorite British amigo so eloquently states on a regular basis, bugger off.  I’m brilliant.  

Big shout out  to  Five Guys, fresh onions and the deliciously seasoned cajun fries..

My mom is cooler than your mom.

Just like the “proud parent” bumper sticker for the “I need to tell the jack off tailgating me that my kid is a dork in school” parent, I need to announce via this forum and not the bumper of my car “my mom is cooler than your mom”.  Some might debate this with me, but seeing how I have only been wrong once before, I’m taking this to the bank.  

This wonder of women always sends the perfect thought at the perfect time.  I received the following today via text:

“WHILE ONE PERSON HESITATES BECAUSE HE FEELS INFERIOR, THE OTHER IS BUSY MAKING MISTAKES AND BECOMING SUPERIOR”. 

I’m not sure if that is an insult towards my sole mistake, or if she is insinuating I’m superior, but either way it’s a fantastic statement, and one that really encompasses the true feeling I have towards life right now, and the reason for this blog.  Society, the media, our world and our education system, are not teaching or instructing how to stand as a beacon, but instead suggesting we follow someone else’s blazed trail, and do so by marching to the rhythmic beat of the complacency drum.  

I dont buy it.  Maybe it’s the ADD or ADHD, maybe it’s the voices , but I cant fathom how people in this day and age, when we have leaders dragging our great nation to the brink of implosion and all of us know it, why we dont have more people standing up calling a timeout, and demanding. Demanding what you ask?  Frankly I dont care what you demand, and I could rant for hours about what my demands are, such as a government that allows a person “stimulating” the economy such as myself by growing a business, creating new jobs etc, the chance to not be taxed as if I had a King sitting in my kitchen trying to collect unjustly from me.  But thats just the gospel according to a guy who barely graduated high school, what the hell do I know??…  

Listen.  You can not make mistakes if you are not taking risks, and if you’re not taking risks, you will never, ever be a beacon.

The Revolution Begins.

Some will love this, others will curse it as blasphemy.  Regardless, it’s the gospel according to me. The best way to describe my intention with this blog, is to tell you something my father in law once told me.  He said “Sean, you would be a great politician, but a bad diplomat”.  Translation; you are great with people and a very personable individual and for those of you that know me, or will get to know me you will see I love life, and love conversing with and getting to know people, but when someone needs to be told they are a prick, or someone is blowing a lot of hot air, I’m the first fella to let them know were not filling balloons.  My father in law is a smart guy.

That being said, I introduce this first post with a thought, and a little insight into my world and my head.  More like a crazy history lesson….  In 1931 about 2 years after black Tuesday a man in New York City (GREATEST CITY EVER! gospel according to me) decided to embark on one of the most ambitious commercial real estate projects in the history of America.  This “nut job” as he was labeled,  decided that he would spend millions and millions of dollars to build 14 buildings for commercial, residential, and retail real estate.  Did I mention this brilliant plan was conceived during the wost financial crisis the world had ever seen?  Well….. a few years later after employing over 75,000 people and creating a New York City landmark, Mr. John D. Rockefeller Jr., the sole funding source for this development, now known as Rockefeller Center /Plaza and laughed.

He laughed because people thought he was nuts.  He laughed because while others were running away, he was running in.  He laughed because he became one of the LARGEST real estate holders in New York City during the worst possible time to do anything other than cry, and his families name and fortune continues to live today.

The Rockefeller Revolution is laughing.  The RR is laughing because a window has been opened.  The same window that opened on black Tuesday.  The same window that allowed John D. to create a real estate empire.

I have never been one for conformity.  Not that I’m looking to intentionally be a ball buster, but the reality is this.  We are living in a time that is exactly the same as 1931.  The market sucks.  Businesses are folding, money is practically useless, our leaders cant figure out what the hell to do, and every person that reads the papers, or watches the news is paralyzed with fear.  The same fear that swept the nation almost 80 years ago. This is why we need a Revolution.

I’m not talking picket signs and lame rah rah chants, I’m talking a rising of individuals that want to change their life, and not confirm to what the fear and crap pushers (media) are selling.  Rockefeller was blessed with means, so his road was a bit less bumpy, but the last time I took the Hummer out in the mountains “charting” new territory, the most enjoyable part was when the wheels left the ground and it got a little “bumpy”.

This great window has been opened, and Billionaire’s are about to be born.   I believe the course that needs to be navigated to see this end is simple.  Some might laugh at this and say rubbish,,, Billionaire?  I cant fathom being a millionaire, let alone anything bigger.  I laugh and say history is our greatest asset, and undoubtedly our greatest teacher….