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The Power of the Internet on Equipment Leasing by Christopher Menkin The “dot.commers” thought that if they put on a web site the ability to “bid” for a lease, meaning get the best terms and conditions, businesses would come running. They thought by even having the latest credit scoring technique along with the best funders with very fast answers, the world would beat a path to their mouse trap. Some in the equipment leasing business fell for it, others made What the “dot.commers” and the equipment leasing companies did not realize is the internet has given new powers to consumers and business customers to not only post their complaints, but organize and ban together in a manner as never before. Perhaps the internet has become more of a “warning” media than the Better Business Bureau with its www.bbb.org . Many of the older generation who manage the large corporations are not fully aware of its powers. Some companies have learned to “manipulate” the system, as NorVergence did. Leasing News was the first electronic news media to voice concerns in its Weekly Bulletin Board Complaint listing on October 15, 2003: http://www.leasingnews.org/Weekly%20Report/ NorVergence had already experienced complaints, made Yes, your appearance can be manipulated and perhaps you have gotten e-mails from companies that have promised to put you in the top ten “of the top 25 search engines.” Again, yes, they can do this, perhaps for a limited time, and thus you need their service at least quarterly as the search engines are way behind on maintenance on their engines. NorVergence evidently spent a lot of money by having the top twenty sites on Google, for instance, to their controlled web sites. In fact, one of them was NorVergencefraud.com ( I believe that was the address.) If you had a complaint, you naturally choose this handy site.) They also had the ability to block sites, for instance, to this Those in the leasing industry may remember the September, 2001 “BalboaBitesMe.com.” Leasing News wrote about the complaint from a customer who was airing his grievances on line, asking Balboa Capital for a comment. Then company President Shawn Giffin took immediate action to settle the matter and get the web site turned off. He realized the potential damage. Whether his company was right or wrong on the issue, he did immediate damage control. Sites that have an axe to grind are very inexpensive to build and propagate. The various free listserves, basically a chat room extension, sponsored by the browser themselves, such as Yahoo, allow groups to communicate among each other, sending e-mail postings to a message board and/or to those e-mail addresses who have subscribed. The browsers themselves also now have a new feature that allows paid advertising on the top of the page, meaning when you complete a search, advertisers who want to reach this audience, will place their listing, with a plea to visit their site: If you look up NorVergence in Google, you also get these advertisers: NorVergence Legal Co-op Norvergence Fraud Victims NorVergence Customers NorVergence migration In the actual browser results, you will also find: NJ Norvergence Class Action--Join Spitzer rescues many scam victims—a blog with messages And there are other sites, too, such as: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/norvergence.html And then compilers of sites on the subject, such as: There have been trade publications, such as telecomagents.org, where you must join to read all about the class action suit they are sponsoring, as well as LeasingNews.org, where information is available without a subscription and claims to be “fair, accurate and independent.” There are others who claim they are not, and have a specific purpose. In this topic of telecommunications leasing, fightthescame.com is perhaps the most active and effect as they not only has the anger and passion “to get even,” but the knowledge and skills: “About Us: “A+ Tech Services is a family owned and operated computer repair center that specializes in web development for small business. Located in Pinellas Park, (Tampa Bay) Florida, our mission is to generate revenue for our clients by increasing their I.T. productivity by maintaining and repairing PCs, Servers, and streamlining their Networking and Web sites for maximum Internet traffic. “A+ Tech Services, a division of Trig Enterprises, is a victim of the Norvergence scandal just like you. Being a web design, software development and hosting company, we decided to DO SOMETHING about this incredible fraud Norvergence “We are doing much more than just this web site and we will continue the fight until this issue has been resolved. We are lobbying various agencies, getting the word out to news programs and listing this site to over 10,000 search engines, FFA links and Directory links. This is a service we do for our web clients as well, as part of our business web hosting services. With your help, we will get this information out to the public. “About the host of Fightthescam.com: “A+ Tech Services, a retail computer repair and web design center owned by Trig Enterprises, Inc., was sold the NorVergence package of long distance, T1 Internet and Cell Phone usage back in August of 2003. We are being harassed by US Bancorp, a leasing company Norvergence sold our leasing agreement to less than 48 hours after we signed the deal, to the tune of $24,000.00. They have since reduced the settlement offer to $13,000, then down to $8,000.00. We have repeatedly told them we will not settle. “We have joined a class action lawsuit against this outrageous scam and are fighting it with every tool in our arsenal. But we refuse to pay them ONE RED CENT. If at all possible, you should do the same. The more Norvergence customers that fold under pressure, the harder it will be to for us to win this war. “This site is for information purposes ONLY. If you have anything to contribute to this effort, please feel free to contact Charles or Erica of A+ Tech Services.” The above is from their web site. Here is their on line menu: Background Info on Norvergence The site also contains: You will not find any mention about Leasingnews.org. We are promoting a “generous, amicable, settlement,” as evidenced by not only our stories but editorials. They are against that; however, you will find our placard on their site:
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