Gilbert Sanchez, District Clerk - El Paso, Texas

Gilbert Sanchez, District Clerk for the County of El Paso in the State of Texas, SUCKS HARD. One of his duties, and it may be his only duty for all I know, is to harass and coerce law abiding citizens with a Summons For Jury Duty.

I use the word "harass" because in less than one year I myself have received no less than 6 of these "Summons" from Mr. Sanchez. But not once was I seated as a Juror. In fact, the day before each "Reporting Date" I received a recorded telephone message letting me know that my Court had been canceled.

When I use the word "coerce" I mean that in Mr. Sanchez's Summons he lets you know right off the bat that if you fail to return the questionnaire or fail to appear for Jury Duty, you will be punished. And the threat of punishment is made all that more official by having the El Paso County Sheriff be the one who actually summons you.

In this case, the Sheriff is Leo Samaniego. Now, I don't want to bad mouth Leo Samaniego - he's dead. That's right. Mr. Sanchez is using a dead Sheriff to Summon Jurors. If you ask me, that's pretty sickening and it's disrespectful to the late Sheriff and his family. Mr. Samaniego served this community well for many years. El Paso is proud of his accomplishments. But the fact remains, he's dead. Mr. Sanchez, show some respect for the dead Sheriff and let him rest in peace.

My friends, let me be clear about this. Mr. Sanchez doesn't want you for Jury Duty. He routinely sends out thousands of these Summons. No, what he really wants is for you to blow off that questionnaire or fail to show up on your court date. That's so he can enforce the contempt action and go after all those fines and fees. And those fines and fees run into several hundred dollars for each person. I've been a defendant in that court before. "Jury Duty Court". They put some old drunk in a robe who doesn't give a crap about anything but handing out fines and who's buying the next round, and call him "Judge" - "Your Honor". What a joke. The day I went there must have been a thousand people who showed up for that court. I wouldn't be surprised if Jury Duty Court goes on all day - every day. It's easy money for Sanchez and the other thieves in the system.

So what it all boils down to is that Mr. Sanchez has come up with a creative way to raise more money for the elected thieves and useless bureaucrats in our local government. It's ill gotten gains. Money stolen from the hardworking, law abiding, overtaxed citizens of El Paso, Texas. Mr. Sanchez, you suck!

Cardpayment Solutions aka iPayment Inc., and Payjunction Suck

It never ceases to amaze me how thieving and greedy the American banks and credit card companies really are. The following is a true story about Cardpayment Solutions aka iPayment, Inc. out of Calabasas, California. If you are in business and accept credit cards, this story will make you want to throw up.

About a month ago I sold some piping components to a company in West Virginia. I took their credit card as I had done several times in the past. The amount this time was $5839.51. The sale was approved and I began getting their order ready to ship. Two days later on a Saturday afternoon, I was enjoying time with my family when I received a phone call from Cardpayment Solutions informing me that the payment for that sale was being held pending verification because I was over my limit. They told me the verification process would take longer than a week. So what I did was just credit the sale back to the buyer and make other payment arrangements. No problem, right? Well, that's what I thought until I got my statement today from Card Payment Solutions. What I read on that statement made me sick. Cardpayment Solutions charged me $128.47 for charging the card in the first place, then when I credited the card back, they charged me another 128.47 plus all their nickel and dime fees. Over $256.00 in charges and fees for money I never got. That's a fact.

When I called to inquire about it they just told me that's the deal. I'm sure it's in the "contract" somewhere. I'll admit that I never read the contract in it's entirety. As I recall it was about 8 or 9 pages and the print was about a font size 1. The fellow at Payjunction who originally sold me on the deal just highlighted the "important" stuff and told me to sign it and fax it in.

It didn't take long after I signed the contract before I realized I had been hustled by Payjunction and Cardpayment Solutions. The first thing they did was hit me up for an annual service fee. That was a change they made to the contract right after I signed it. You see, Cardpayment Solutions can change the contract any time they want, for any reason. But, if I refuse to pay them, they'll just report me to the credit agencies - which can only result in bad credit history for me.

So, I just lay down and take it. In May, my contract with Payjunction and Cardpayment Solutions finally expires and I will be out and free again. In the meantime I am not using them. If you are considering doing business with either one of these companies, I strongly recommend that you NOT.

Cardpayment Solutions, iPayment, Inc., and Payjunction are, without a doubt, the sleaziest corporate con artists I have ever come across and should be avoided like bottled water from China.

Since this incident I have gone back to using Paypal, and have just recently signed up with Google Checkout. I've never had a single problem with Paypal, and Google is a name that I trust - certainly more than Payjunction, Card Payment Solutions, and Wells Fargo (who is somehow affiliated with iPayment, Inc. and Cardpayment Solutions).

Final words, stay away from Cardpayment Solutions, iPayment, Inc., and Payjunction. They all suck, and they'll all rip you off.