UPDATES-7-15-15

I have already discussed at length some of the ways a victim consumer can empower himself or herself by affectively and effectively striking back at bad business practices.

Such as:

a) making legitimate complaints against a business by using its grievance procedure in order to cost the business money

b) not paying for products/services not rendered by a business

c) not putting up with rude behavior from a business by taking a rude fee

d) boycotting a business by no longer buying any of its products/services

[See the portion called “Consumer Rights” in the web page entitled “The Corporate Elite Bully” in the BullCrap Busters Website for further details].

Another thing that can be done when the bully coward business has all the power and the individual victim has none is to file a CREDIT DISPUTE.

FEATURING

GARY BLACKSTIEN

Dentist Gary Blackstien located Macabi Building, Diamond Exchange, 1 Jabotinsky Street, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Israel. Phone: +972-3-5752560 was yet another bad business entity we had to file a CREDIT DISPUTE against, not only to make me whole - restore my dignity and recover my money – but to make my tooth whole as well. [See Current Events 7/5/15 web page, which explains how Credit Disputes are an affective and effective way to defeat the bully coward businesses that have all the power when the individual victim has none].

While I was traveling abroad I experienced sudden pain in my upper left last molar. It was due to an unexpected breakage of the composite filling in it exposing the dentin of my tooth. This resulted in my having to make an emergency dental appointment with a dentist whom I did not know and whom I had to randomly select from a list of dentists. His name was GARY BLACKSTIEN. He turned out to be the worst dentist I have ever had in my entire life.

If the reader is interested in viewing Gary Blackstien’s bill then please go to hyperlink Gary Blackstien 10/29/14 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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Below are a series of e-mails between us, and so-called dentist GARY BLACKSTIEN. Rather than do what I usually do, which is to post them in excerpt form, and make analytical comments about what they mean, I have decided to let you the reader read them in their entirety and make your own conclusions.

The following is an e-mail dated 10/30/14 that I sent to Gary Blackstien:

“To Gary Blackstien,

When I woke up this morning, the pain in my tooth that you put a composite filling in seemed to be lessoning. However, 24 hours later, the pain is still present and is not diminishing. I am having difficulty eating. Every time I bite down on the tooth you put the composite filling into, it hurts, whether I eat on both sides of my mouth or the side of my mouth opposite the hurting tooth and regardless of whether or not I eat soft or hard foods. I have never ever in my entire life had any pain whatsoever after a dentist put a filling or fillings into any of my teeth.

Did you leave a sponge in my tooth? Obviously you did something wrong during the dental surgery for the following reasons:

1) The pain is INSIDE of my tooth. I tried to tell you that during our telephone conversation but you IGNORED me. You insisted the pain was due to gum soreness or the filling being too high. My last dentist made a filling that was too high in my neighboring tooth. But there was no pain at all. There was only an uneven overall bite whenever I ate something. As far as gum soreness goes, the painkiller you gave me has completely worn off. But there is no discoloration, swelling, or irritation in or around the gum of the tooth you put the composite filling in.

2) You did not wait enough time for the anesthetic you gave me to start working. So when you started drilling into my tooth in order to patch up my filling I felt pain while sitting in your dentist chair. I complained to you that I was in pain. You just IGNORED me.

3) During the dental surgery, water went into my throat, blocking it, so I started choking unable to breathe. My body underwent an automatic reflex to protect itself by throwing up my hands towards my mouth to remove the cause of my inability to breathe. I also started coughing. You just IGNORED me. All you did was tell me to stop moving!!! So I started taking deep inhalations of air through my nose so that I would not pass out from lack of air.

4) You not only caused me to have to undergo temporary discomfort while putting the composite filling into my tooth while I was in your dentist chair, you have also caused me permanent pain after you put the composite filling into my tooth after I left your dental office.

I am very shocked that this has happened at all and very upset as I do not know what is happening to my tooth, and all you have done is given me nonsensical explanations as to why my tooth is in pain. I am now really worried about my tooth. I have already lost one tooth. I do not want to lose another tooth. I am now going to see another dentist to hopefully resolve this issue. I am no longer willing to see you. I have lost my trust and faith in you.

You rendered me a disservice – not a service – so you owe me a refund or charge back of 618.00 Shekels, equivalent to US$168.85 (3.66 Shekels to the Dollar on 29/10/14 – the day of my appointment with you for the composite filling) to my husband’s debit Visa card.

If you refuse to refund the money you charged me for rendering me short-term temporary discomfort and long-term permanent pain, my husband will file a credit dispute with the debit Visa Card Company.

Sincerely,

Elana and Michael Laham”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence I sent to Gary Blackstien then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 01 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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The following is the e-mail dated 10/30/14 Gary Blackstien sent back to me:

“Elana,

There was no "sponge" placed in the tooth. The piece of thread I placed around the side of the tooth was removed before trimming the filling material.

We have two options:  1) Call to make an appointment to come in to see what we can do to help you.  2) If you prefer, I will refund your payment.

Regarding the second option, I must say that I find the threatening tone of your message, baselessly assuming without even asking, that I would refuse a refund, to be offensive. I have no objection to a refund if you are dissatisfied, and I resent the implication that I would behave otherwise without even having had the opportunity to show you otherwise. Did you ask for a refund and get a refusal? No. So why is there a dispute? The tone of your message might be appropriate if you had asked for a refund and been refused, but since you didn't, I resent the baseless assumption and unwarranted adversarial tone.

Not every disagreement has to be resolved by a fight.

You let me know what you prefer: (1) or (2).

Dr. Gary Blackstien”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence Gary Blackstien sent to me then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 02 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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A day later Gary Blackstien sends me another e-mail dated 10/31/14:

“P.S. If the tooth is not getting better, a strong possibility is that your problem was not the small hole in the tooth (the entire void I filled, even after drilling the shmutz out of the hole was only about 2mm x 2mm x 2mm, about twice the size of a grain of uncooked rice) but that you actually had cracked the tooth at the same time that you broke the filling. If this is the case, and it is checkable by having you bite down on a special stick, then it is small wonder that filling the void didn't solve the problem. If that is the case, there is a fragment of the tooth that hurts you every time you bite on it. The treatment options, and in light of the atmosphere you have graciously generated, I have no intention of performing, are dependent on the extent of the crack. First of all the fractured piece of the tooth needs to be detached from the gum and removed, and what comes after depends on the vertical extent of the fracture. If it is small, a small filling would help, but if the fracture is extensive and goes high up the root, the tooth is a write-off, and the only appropriate treatment you can probably guess. I assume that you wouldn't want me to do it, but that's OK, because I would refer you elsewhere for it anyway. The fracture, by the way, in case you have any doubt, is not a result of putting a little filling in the tooth, but rather is the original problem with which you presented. In any case, since filling the tooth didn't help, yes you are entitled to a refund, but this situation certainly does not warrant the adversarial tone you have assumed. I am absolutely overwhelmed.”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence Gary Blackstien sent to me then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 03 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

The following is an e-mail dated 11/1/14 we sent to Gary Blackstien:

“To Gary Blackstien,

Today, November 1, 2014, we checked our e-mail inbox and found your two e-mails and read them.

As I already told you in my last e-mail(s) I sent to you, in my entire life I have never ever had such an unconscionable experience with a dentist before. Do you require that I reiterate the points I already brought up in my e-mails to you?

5) I forgot to mention this...you grabbed my lip very hard causing it to hurt a lot. When I complained about this discomfort, once again you IGNORED me.

As far as my permanent pain goes in the tooth that you inserted the composite filling into, if as you say, you think I might have a crack in my tooth, then, being a dentist, why did you not mention it while I was in your dentist chair undergoing your tooth surgery so that you can make more money?

I also forgot to mention that when we looked at your Bite Wing X- rays they were the worst – blurriest and dirtiest and skewed – x-rays that we have ever received from any dental office.

Is this why you don’t put your name on them? In America, it is against the law not to. Is it also against the law for a dentist not to put his name on the patient’s x-rays in Israel, which is also a country that is governed by English Common Law?

Dentists rely upon tooth x-rays to tell whether or not their patients are developing cavities. Tooth decay is detected by whether or not there are shadows on the teeth in the x-rays. The bitewing x-rays you gave me are so dirty that one section of them has what looks like a large black tree superimposed upon my teeth!

[Reader’s Note: The photo image at the top of this web page is one sample of Gary Blackstien’s God awful x-rays. This one is so dirty it has what appears to be a large, black tree overlaid upon my teeth.]

As far as your comment goes that I am “threatening” you. How absurd! I am doing what any decent reasonable person will do in order to protect their best interests.

As far as your comment goes that I “baselessly assumed” and had an “unwarranted adversarial tone” that you were not going to give me a refund without asking you first if you will give me one. Again, how absurd! I based my judgment upon my personal life experience with you that, while I was in your dentist chair, you IGNORED me whenever I tried to tell you something VERY IMPORTANT – like I am in PAIN and I cannot BREATHE. So, my evaluation of you and tone of my e-mail to you was completely appropriate and totally normal.

Regarding your false accusation that I am being feisty, I do not comprehend, understand, or know why, if you are such a peace loving person, you didn’t just refund our money already but instead opted to send us your highly offensive and utterly nonsensical e- mails. It ought to be obvious and apparent to any two-year-old that we are NOT interested in ever seeing you again for any reason. So the fact that you ask us if we want to see you again in your e-mails is just a front to vent your uncalled for hostility towards us. Let’s get something straight for the record:

First of all, I am the one who got physically harmed and emotionally hurt here, not you!

Second of all, it is us who rejected you not you who rejected us.

Third of all, you say YOU are OVERWHELMED. Why? Because we told you the TRUTH!

We noticed the P.S. addition to your e-mail you did not send a copy of it to our debit Visa Card Company. How interesting!

You also wrote: “To contact us before this afternoon you have to call the office (065752560).

No! We will NOT contact you by phone so that you can fill our ears with verbal crap. There is no hiding here. Everything we say back and forth to one another has to be done in writing so that what gets said gets documented.

Yes of course without a doubt, we are choosing your option two, which is a refund in the amount of US$164.38 (this is the amount you withdrew from our online banking account on October 31, 2014).

We are looking forward to seeing our refund posted into our online banking statement within a reasonable time. And if as you say, you are a person who hates to fight, then we will receive the refund from you shortly.

Sincerely yours,

Elana and Michael Laham”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence we sent to Gary Blackstien then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 04 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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The following is another e-mail dated 11/1/14 we sent to Gary Blackstien:

“To Gary Blackstien,

P.S. Being that you brought up the maybe might that my tooth is cracked in the portion of your e-mail that you did not send a copy of to the debit Visa card company, how do we know that you didn’t crack my tooth with your sloppy job of filling my tooth with the composite filling?”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence we sent to Gary Blackstien then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 05A www.bullcrapbusters.com.

The following is an e-mail dated 11/2/14 that I sent to Gary Blackstien:

“Gary Blackstien Unread and Deleted was your e-mail of 2/11/14 (typo – it was supposed to say 11/2/14) @ 12:21 a.m. (midnight).

Please refrain from sending us any more correspondences as they will NOT be read, NOT be listened to, NOT be opened and either deleted, trashed, or refused and returned to sender.

Per your previous e-mails to us you signified to us that this matter is going to be resolved by indicating that you are refunding us our money. So there is nothing else to discuss between us. As soon as we see the refund posted on our online banking statement we will consider this matter resolved.

Elana and Michael Laham”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence we sent to Gary Blackstien then please go to hyperlink e-mail Gary Blackstien 05B www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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So-called Dentist Gary Blackstien did not ever refund us our money as he promised to.

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The following is an e-mail dated 11/6/14 that we sent to the Credit Dispute Department of our Bank:

“To the debit Visa Card Dispute Department of Washington Federal Bank:

We are sending this e-mail to the debit Visa Card dispute’s department to report our dispute with a dentist who took money for services that were NOT rendered, only DIS-services.

Services were NOT rendered and Dis-services were rendered for the following reasons:

This dentist told me that a piece of Composite filling had broken off in the back most molar in the upper left quadrant of my mouth, and that he was going to refill it. However, after this dentist worked on my tooth I remained in the same pain I was in before he worked on my tooth. In addition, he caused me unnecessary distress while I was in his dentist chair by drilling a hole in my tooth before the anesthesia had a chance to numb my mouth and by allowing me to choke on water, which was blocking my throat. When I complained to him about being in pain and about being unable to breathe he IGNORED me, told me to be quiet and be still.

When we sent him our request for a refund via e-mail, and explained to him why we were demanding our money back, he replied via e-mail that he was going to give us a refund but he never did. There was no charge back to our online bank statement in the amount of US$164.38 (618.00 NIS), which is what we originally paid him.

Included in his charge were bitewing x-rays that had been done so badly that they had huge pieces of dirt on them, were angled incorrectly, and were blurry.

Please see attached e-mails for more detailed information regarding the above dispute.

Also we have attached to this e-mail this dentist’s bad x-rays, dental questionnaire, and payment receipts. Also we have attached to this e-mail the Washington Federal Card Holder Statement of Disputed Transaction form.

Our online bank statement shows that on October 30, 2014, “GERY SLDON BLCKSTIN” charged our debit Visa card US$164.38 (618.00 NIS). This dentist’s name is Gary Blackstien, and his office is located at Macabi Building, Diamond Exchange, 1 Jabotinsky Street, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv, Israel. Phone: +972-3- 5752560. Fax: +972-3-5755093. E-mail: gblackstien@hotmail.com. 

If the reader is interested in viewing payment to Gary Blackstien’s then please go to hyperlink Bank Statement 08B at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

Please let us know if there is anything else you require in order to process our debit Visa card dispute claim.

Most Sincerely Yours,

Elana and Michael Laham

E-mail: mlandel2012@aol.com”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence we sent to our bank then please go to hyperlink e-mail Credit Dispute 06 at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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The following is an e-mail dated 11/10/14 that the Credit Dispute Department of our Bank sent to us:

“Dear Michael

On 11/06/14 we received your written debit/ATM transaction dispute for Dr. Gary Blackstien in the amount of $164.38. This letter serves as your notification that we have completed our investigation into your dispute and have determined that the original transactions were valid. The transaction was authorized by you and services were rendered.

Sincerely,

Deena Wren”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence our bank sent to us then please go to hyperlink e-mail Deena Wren Credit Dispute 12A at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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The following is an e-mail dated 11/13/14 that we sent to three members of the Board of Directors of our bank to elevate attention to our credit dispute:

“To Mr. Roy M. Whitehead:

We are sending you this e-mail to bring to your attention how Washington Federal’s Debit Card Dispute department grossly mishandled our simple debit Visa card dispute.

On 10/29/14 we went to see dentist Gary Blackstien regarding pain in my wife’s tooth. Gary Blackstien inserted a composite filling into my wife’s tooth. But afterwards, her tooth continued to ache as if no dental work had been performed on it.

On 10/30/14, a charge showed up on our on-line banking statement from a “GERY SLDON BLKSTIN” (dentist Gary Blackstien) in the amount of $164.38.

On 11/6/14 we sent an e-mail to the card disputes department of Washington Federal Bank letting them know that we were in a credit dispute with dentist Gary Blackstien due to the fact he rendered us no services.

[Please see e-mail dated 11/6/2014 and its 12 attachments].

On 11/10/14, we received an e-mail reply from a Deena Wren, of Washington Federal’s debit card dispute department regarding our credit dispute. She stated verbatim that, “The transaction was authorized by you and services were rendered”.

[Please see attachment Deena Wren’s e-mail dated 11/10/2014 to us].

Her conclusion is completely NONSENSICAL and totally ABSURD. Apparently Deena Wren NEVER EVER READ ANY OF THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS WE SENT HER REGARDING OUR CREDIT DISPUTE. If she had, she woulda, shoulda, coulda known that services were NOT rendered and a refund is owed to us for the NO-BRAINER following reasons:

1. The dentist, Gary Blackstien, stated in writing in his own e-mail to us that he is going to REFUND our money.

[See attached e-mail dated 10/30/2014 from Gary Blackstien].

The only reason we filed a credit dispute is because Gary Blackstien did NOT give us the refund he promised us he was going to.

[Please see the 12 attachments we sent with our e-mail to the card disputes department].

2. We had to PAY another dentist named Omri Nabriski to resolve the issue of my wife’s toothache. Omri Nabriski had to remove Gary Blackstien’s composite filling since it was not bonded properly to my wife’s tooth and put a new composite filling into my wife’s tooth in order to alleviate the pain in my wife’s tooth. Why woulda, shoulda, coulda we pay a second dentist to re-do a composite filling if the first dentist had done the composite filling correctly?

[Please see the attached e-mail, my wife, Elana Laham, sent to dentist Philip Kaplan, whom Omri Nabriski works for, dated 11/02/2014].

[Please see the attached bills dated 11/03/2014 and 11/11/2014 from dentist Omri Nabriski].

If the reader is interested in viewing the bills from Dentist Philip Kaplan then please go to the following hyperlinks at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

Dentist Philip Kaplan 10D

Dentist Philip Kaplan 10F

The charges for these two bills show up on our on-line banking statement as charges from “DR. PHILIP KAPLAN” for $52.94 on 11/05/2014 and for $28.95 on 11/13/2014.

If the reader is interested in viewing the payments to Dentist Philip Kaplan then please go to the following hyperlinks e-mail at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

Bank Statement 10E

Bank Statement 10G

In addition, apparently, Deena Wren acted on her OWN – without any coordination with the Visa card company, and made her decision very HASTILY – within three days.

Doesn’t Washington Federal Bank forward credit disputes to the Visa card company to investigate and evaluate them like other banks do? We were in a credit dispute once before. The process took three months. The bank acted as a liaison and forwarded all of our documentation to the Visa card company. Then the Visa card company decided which action to take on our behalf. After that the Visa card company forwarded its conclusion regarding our credit dispute to the bank.

Also, Deena Wren made the erroneous claim that, just because we authorized the merchant to use our debit Visa card number, services were rendered. Regarding making a credit dispute, the Washington Federal Bank Cardholder Statement of Disputed Transaction form contains the option to dispute a transaction since “Services were not rendered”.

Due to all of the above, we will consider this credit dispute resolved when we see a refund or charge back in the amount of $164.38 to our online checking account.

We sent another e-mail to Deena Wren concerning the above, but she never replied.

[Please see our e-mail to Deena Wren dated 11/11/2014].

We are looking forward to your reply to this matter at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Michael Laham and Elana Laham”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence we sent to our bank then please go to hyperlink e-mail Credit Dispute 12D at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

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The following is an e-mail dated 11/14/14 that Linda Brower, the Vice President at Washington Federal Bank sent to us:

“Mr. Laham,

Thank you for sending us your concerns regarding your Debit Card transaction dispute that you fully described in your email today. I am responding to your email on behalf of Roy Whitehead, Brent Beardall and of course myself.

I am the Chief Admin Officer for Washington Federal with oversight responsibilities that include our Debit Card services. After reviewing all of the documents that you provided, I have processed today a deposit to your Washington Federal account in the amount of $164.38 as requested. I am sorry we failed to meet your expectations regarding the resolution of your Debit Card transaction dispute.

Again, thank you for taking the time to bring this issue to my attention. We appreciate your confidence in banking with Washington Federal and we will strive to keep you as a customer with improved service levels that meet your expectations.

Thank you for banking with Washington Federal.

Sincerely,

Linda Brower”

If the reader is interested in viewing the correspondence our bank sent to us then please go to hyperlink e-mail Credit Dispute 12E at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

ON 11/13/14, WASHINGTON FEDERAL BANK POSTED A REFUND IN THE AMOUNT OF $164.38 INTO OUR ONLINE BANK ACCOUNT THAT SO-CALLED DENTIST GARY BLACKSTIEN WAS SUPPOSED TO GIVE TO US.

If the reader is interested in viewing our Credit Dispute Refund then please go to hyperlink Bank Statement 12F at www.bullcrapbusters.com.

http://www.bullcrapbusters.com.

[See the web page entitled “Credit Disputes Part III Updates 7/16/15” of the BullCrap Busters website for the continuation of this write up].

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The BullCrap Busters Website will transmit its signals over the Internet for as long as we have not been CENSORED off the web due to the ELITE CYBER BULLY as a result of LIBEL and/or SLANDER, and/or ANTI-MARKETING CAMPAIGNS, and/or DENTIST GARY BLACKSTIEN, and/or BANKRUPT by bought off justice, and/or ARRESTED and/or INCARCERATED by trumped up charges, and/or MURDERED by a staged accident by those who have the audacity to call themselves FRIENDS of humanity, yet who are ENEMIES to us who dare to exercise our HUMAN RIGHTS, namely FREEDOM of SPEECH, in order to assist HUMANITY in overcoming BULLYING.