August 3, 2025 • 37 mins
Mark Thompson's Ant Problem and iHeart Media's Parking Situation in Los Angeles. Mark Thompson's Towed Car Dilemma and the Discussion: What was the Tow Fee? Vacationers are losing thousands as a Chicago travel agent leaves them stranded. The New American Dream: A Woman Gets the 'Ick' from Her Rent-Free Boyfriend Who Refuses to Split Grocery Costs Fairly.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gorgeous Southern California week.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
I mean, in my god, it's August and it's not
excruciatingly hot. It is warm, but good beach weather, and
life is good if you just look at the weather.
One thing the weather does. I don't know if this
is happening at your domicile wherever you hang your hat.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Ants. We have tons of ants at our house. Mark
Thompson here.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
On a Sunday, and yeah, I was anxious to get
out of the house because I spent the entire morning
trying to find the ants their source spraying.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have to get more spray on the way home.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
A lot of the ants, as you know, in the heat,
they get into the house and they look for they
come up oftentimes through the plumbing or alongside the plumbing.
They're looking for water. They're looking for any slight morsel
I mean crumb of any food that's left out, even
if it's in the basin of the sink in the kitchen.
(01:03):
So you have to be very careful about how you clean,
because if you clean, you know, with any kind of
toxic agent right in your kitchen, and you're you're risking
those poisons getting into your food. So anyway, that was
my morning, and it took it's about a I would say,
about ninety minutes solid uh ant patrol. And I went
(01:23):
to the bathrooms and well, you can imagine, uh, someone
of my celebrity. I live in an expansive home, I
mean the gift shop and all of the water features.
I had to check them, all of the main foyer
where all the guests and tourists collect.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I want that to be free of ants.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
You live in a hotel, yes, think, I mean.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
It's a hotel ish, So I had to do that.
It was all too anxious to come in. Anyway, the
ant problem will only get worse wherever you are. And
what is the reason for that. The reason is it's
going to get hotter, and I guess there's a little
bit of even a small bump in the heat produces
(02:06):
this influx of ants. They want to get inside. And
so August is a September and August both are typically
you know, high end problem seasons. And so I'm on
end patrol, so happy to get away. The other thing
that I love about coming into KFI and iHeartRadio on
(02:27):
the weekend I mean beyond working with Robin and Ritchie
and Eileen, is that there is absolutely no competition for
what a parking space. The entire parking lot is wide open.
That is truly something you will never find during the week.
(02:48):
You have to go through all these levels to find
a parking space. In fact, I have to tell you
I've forgotten this story, but let me tell you this
real quick. When I first started here at iHeart, I
used to park on Yeh. I just would find a
space or wherever you could find. It was kind of
hard to find it what I'd pull in. And one
(03:10):
day I'm circling around, circling around, and remember I'm new
to the building, I'm new to the setup, and it
was kind of driving me nuts. I was spending like
ten minutes looking for a parking space, and it looked
to me like the lot was full. I think I
had to park on the street once. And finally I
had a frustration. I went to the building manager, or
(03:31):
maybe it was somebody. It's been a few years, but
maybe it was somebody adjacent to the building manager or
somebody like an operations person, and I said this, I'll
hey a monthly fee to have a parking spot, just
to avoid the ten minutes it's you know, it's cutting
into my prep time for the show, et cetera. Just
to know that I have a parking spot, I'll pay
(03:53):
a monthly fee. And they said, I don't understand. You
can't find a parking space in all of the park.
I said, no, I spent ten minutes just today looking
for a parking spot. They said, that's ridiculous. There are
tons of parking spots. You just have to go down
to level three and you'll find I said, level three.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
What do you mean level three? I didn't know there
was a level three?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And he said, what do you mean you mean you've
only looked on the first level. I said, I only
thought that there was a first level. Said no, there's
three levels. There are two levels below level one. That's hilarious,
it was, that's an absolutely true story.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
I'm thinking, I've never had a problem finding parking here.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's what he said. That's what he said. He said,
you can't be serious.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
You're the only person I've spoken to you as trouble
finding a spot.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I said, I can't believe that there are no spots.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
And then he mentioned the level three thing and then
I just you know, you have to understand when you
don't know the layout, you don't realize that there are
two other levels besides level one. And then of course
from that point forward he was right level two head spots,
level three head spots. So now that the secret of
(05:12):
the other two levels has been unlocked, I'm able to
always find parking spots. But the great thing about coming
in on the weekend is that you pull right in
and right on level one it's just an empty lot
and you park anywhere. Speaking of parking, I must tell
you one thing and I'll get into the news.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I want to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
There's a big teachers protest and it is related to immigration.
Also there's a bizarre lottery story I want to share
with you. But just speaking of parking, I got a
brand new car and last night it was Toad. No, yeah,
not even a thousand miles on this car and it
(05:54):
was Toad. I'd yeah, this is the thing about getting
the car Toad. If you park in a place where
they tell you they're going to tow your car, you're right, Richie,
you get livid, but you really can't get angry at
anyone but yourself, and that's kind of where I was
last night. It was first your first reaction, oh my god,
they've stolen my car, and then you realize no, I
(06:17):
mean I quickly realized no, that they told.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Your car And where were you? What city?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So I was in La And I have to say,
you know certain things about living in a city, any city.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You just have to understand.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
These are the sort of costs and these are the
sort of inconveniences that you deal with because you live
in a city.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
If you live in a smaller town, or you live
maybe in a in a suburb or whatever, then there
might be more parking available, there might be any number
of sort of ease of transport and ease of life.
But then there are other problems and irritants that kick
in there and you lose some conveniences, et cetera. So
when it comes to parking, parking is an issue in La.
So we go to a restaurant all the time, We've
(07:00):
gone frequently, maybe have gone to this restaurant of a
dozen times. And last night this couple wanted to go
to this restaurant. And so it's in the valley, it's
in Van Eys and next to the restaurant. Now, this
is part of the living in the city thing, you know.
I think I may have mentioned you before. Valet parking
(07:23):
is everywhere because you can't find a place to park.
So if you go to a restaurant, I mean, you
can spend some time looking on the streets and you
might be able to find a place to park. It's
not going to be close to where we're going, but
it might be worth it you walk a few blocks whatever.
But if you're in a hurry or just for convenience,
circ say, if you valet. So I think I may
have mentioned to you, or I certainly wanted to mention
(07:43):
to you. I think I posted on social media. I
was downtown at a place called is it Javier? Is
that what it's called?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
How Vi where they have the salsa dancing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yes? Yes, and it's a.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Really nice place. It's downtown. And do you know how
much the valet parking there is?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Eighty?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Did you say eighty?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
If you're not going to play the game fairly, then
don't play it, Ritchie.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I'm assuming it's eighty. It's not eighty dollars to park
a car. I mean, come on, you know what are
charging that amount?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Or special events. I've seen it.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Oh no, no, no for special events. But this is
the night this is the nightly thing. It was no,
but to be fair to you, the actual price is
not far off. It's fifty dollars. Yeah, to park your
car through valet there at Javier, it's take the bus
and then you tip. On top of that you have
sip five dollars or whatever. So valet can be expensive,
(08:38):
and it's just part of what you expect. It's sort
of the computation you do when you're going out to dinner.
You understand, Yeah, on top of whatever meal I have
to pay for, it's valet, et cetera. And it can
be in the city as high as fifty dollars, maybe eighty.
I've never seen that, but definitely fifty again just for
valet associated with the restaurant, and in this case it
(09:01):
was really only fifteen dollars, which is really not expensive.
It's kind of a you know, if you go to
I think a higher end restaurant like I'll take a
Craig's or something. I think maybe it's twenty or twenty
five dollars to park the valet. It's probably the same
thing at a lot of the West Hollywood restaurants, et cetera.
So fifteen dollars is not super bad. But we're so
(09:24):
used to parking somewhere else because we go there all
the time, because there a lot is kind of crowded,
and I don't want to get my car dinged, et cetera.
I just think it's easier to park in this other place.
So we've done that many times. As I say, I've
been to this restaurant about a dozen times. So what
was the difference and how did the car get towed?
(09:44):
I will tell you that when we get back, and
then I have a question for you and we will
get that question asked and answered.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Next you're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Just Southern California day apart from the heat, driving the
ants in thanks to Neil Pine who wrote into me.
My email address is the Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com. The Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com
if you have any thought. I wasn't looking for advice
on the ants, but I'm glad to get advice on
(10:21):
the ants. And he says, use borox. Borax stops ants
and roaches. But he says the downside is that you
have to sprinkle the white powder everywhere that the ants
are still though it's non toxic to people.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Because I am looking for something.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
You know, again, I've got cats, I've got Courtney, I
don't you know, I don't want to poison myself. So anyway,
the heat brings the ants indoors. If you haven't noticed
them yet, I hope you never have to notice them.
They are of pain. I was just in the middle
of talking about parking in La last night, and you know,
Richie and I were talking during the break and the
fact is, oftentimes there are really two kinds of people.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
People who go to a venue.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Early try to find parking so they don't have to
pay for valet or whatever the deal is. And then
they're those who show up at the last minute or
just show up on time, and they just valet is
just the cost of doing business. And I kind of
fall into that category, like Valet's just the cost of
doing business. And I told you about Hobbiers downtown. It's
fifty dollars for the valet to park your car there.
(11:22):
And I think at most upscale restaurants around to LA
and West Hollywood. Let's say you know, white tablecloth type restaurants,
you're likely looking at twenty five bucks to park the car.
Twenty something like that. Anyway, so last night was actually
a bargain. It's only fifteen dollars to park the car.
The only reason we don't use the valet there is because,
as they say, they kind of stack the cars a
(11:44):
little bit tricky, like something might happen to your car.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's a brand new car.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And we have been going there so long we always
park in the lot next store. Now the lot next
store again. We've been using it for years now, and
it does have a warning that you'll be towed, but
we always look to see if there are many people there,
if the businesses are closed. There are a lot of
businesses there that aren't restaurants, for example. And you know,
(12:11):
again you kind of see it yourself as an urban gorilla,
like I'm just susten this scene out. And it looked
as usual when we pulled into the lot next door,
like normal, plenty of spots and we park the car.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
We come out after dinner, the car is gone and
I panic.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think, oh my god, a new car less than
a thousand miles on it has been stolen. And then
I think, no, it hasn't been stolen, it's been towed.
There are warnings everywhere. There's signage all over the place.
Your car will be towed if you're not patronizing one
of these businesses.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
They're like three restaurants.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
One of them's closed, so there are two kind of
fast casual restaurants there. So it struck me as odd
with all those open spots that the car would be towed.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
But it was.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
That's the worst feeling.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
His panic, and it's also you're right, it's panic and
then anger, and then you have no one to be
angry at you except yourself.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Just add up all the money that you saved, all
the years that you did park there, just kind of
evens out, right.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Eileen's right, like, dude, hey, the fifteen dollars, you know,
and with an extra five for the guy twenty bucks
and just park in the valet, and you know, if
he stacks the cars in a weird way, it scratches
your car and then you can take it up with him.
But we thought we were just so smart for so long.
But here's why we were towed. I mean again, a
(13:38):
dozen times we've gone to this restaurant. A dozen times
we've parked in the lot next door. Never has the
carbon toad. Nothing was different except for one thing. We
like to eat a little bit later, Like we don't
like dinners before eight, and we typically you know, eight
or eight thirty is really good. And you know, I
(14:01):
worked nights for a long time, did the ten o'clock
news on Fox eleven, at the eleven o'clock news on
Channel thirteen. You know, I'm just used for years. I mean,
I'm just a later shift person. And these people were meeting,
they're early people. He wanted to eat at five, and
I'm like, at five, I mean that's way early, that's
(14:24):
practically breakfast. So we compromised on six. And that was
the difference. We parked the car at a much earlier time,
and so the normal rhythm of that parking lot where
we typically park and don't have to worry about getting towed,
it's all different. And so we got towed. Now here's
(14:46):
my question to you. How much I lean you can
play in this game, Richie, you can play, Robin. I'd
love for you to take a guess how much was
it to retrieve my car? And we won't count the
uber to get to the towing lot to retrieve my
car from the toe lot? What did the toe lot
(15:07):
want for me? What was the fee to get my car?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Four hundred?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
So well, wait a second, we will start now, Okay,
all right now, Eileen.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What is your guess?
Speaker 4 (15:23):
I'm going to go with.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Where that computer's hot? Can you take that level of that?
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
My dog?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yes? Please? Eileen? What is your guest?
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I'm going to go with four hundred.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Now, that is a very solid guess. I don't want
to influence other guesses, but very solid LA Towing service guess.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Richie, what's your guess?
Speaker 6 (15:44):
I'm going to do two hundred fifty plus twenty yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Wait, I want to change mine?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Okay, you want to twenty five for twenty five? All right?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
And Richie's going too fifty. Yeah, Robin, you've had the
benefit of hearing the other guesses. What was the fee
to retrieve my vehicle from the Van Eyes towing lot
last night in Los Angeles?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I would still say four hundred.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Four hundred. We have four hundred, two fifty and four
to twenty five. Richie, your guess is cute but does
not account for Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
What Eileen.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
And Robin much much closer. The actual retail price was
five hundred and seventy four dollars and twenty three cents.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
And that's outrage a insane. That's like a whole monthly
car payment. Thank you just for avoiding sixteen dollars Mark,
just for car payments for me.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, exactly, I need to.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Save that valet money.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Thank god you're Mark Thompson. I would have left my
car there asking a car. It was brutal, and then
you have to wait for the car. The guy's doing
something else. But here's how they got to that. I
think if you'd and this was the guest, because we're
both guessing. Courtney and I were both guessing how much
is it going to cost to get the car out?
And we're both guessing around three hundred. That seemed to
me to be an LA price, you know, three hundred
(17:21):
and probably a big city price to get your your
car out of the Van Eys towing lot. Okay, it's
a private business, this is their thing, and I'm thinking
about three hundred dollars and that is about what it is,
two hundred and ninety dollars.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
They call it port to port. But here's how they
get to five hundred and seventy four dollars, they charge
you a service charge just for towing. It's an administrative
fee or whatever. Well, actually it's a service charge because
there is an administrative fee on top of the service charge.
The service charge is sixteen bucks. Then the administrative fee
(17:54):
that's one hundred and forty five dollars because the toe
was at five o'clock, so anything after five o'clock is
one hundred and forty five dollars. The daily impound rate
is eighty five dollars. They add that onto the three hundred,
so it's three hundred plus sixteen seventy three plus one
hundred and forty five plus eighty five and they come
(18:16):
up with at the end of it, all three hundred
and thirty five dollars and seventy three cents. And again
they add the administrative fees and the other fees. It
all adds up to five hundred and sixty five seventy
three plus the city parking tax is ten percent. That
comes out all of it to five hundred and seventy
four dollars and twenty three cents. Like ticket Master, Yeah, exactly,
(18:39):
you're right, You're absolutely right. It's like toe it master.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
I'm surprised they didn't charge you for the gas for
towing it.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
And again, you can't be at any angry at anyone
except yourself. You know you saw the signs. It's just
that we'd parked there so many times and never been towed.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
You should have given them like a Hey, I'll give
you a business shout out. You can come to Iron
Hard and we can work something out. It's a win win.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Would you like to see this this telling lad to
really blow up with business? Let me tell you that
you're doing well now, man, wait till you get down
to ieheart.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You do not know who I am.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Unreal Again, I had to be and like I'm not
a screamer, like yelly. These guys are all just doing
their thing. I just smiled and paid the money. And
of course it's three percent more for playing with a
credit card. He said, oh, you can pay with cash
and it won't be the three percent. And I go, dude,
I don't have six hundred dollars cash on me, so
you know, I'll just pay with the credit card. And
(19:34):
I pulled out the American Express card. He said, oh,
we don't take American Express. So it was I paid
with the with the visa card anyway.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
To get points on it.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Huh yeah, I didn't even get the points. Yeah, so
kids stay in school is the no. I respect the
signage is what I would say at the end of
all of that.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Thank you for playing everyone.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Next, the story of a shady travel ag comes to life.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Mark Thompson here and the Sunday Crew.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
This is a story of a shady travel agent, particularly
relevant given the August month, which brings a lot of
travel I think into southern California. Out of Southern California,
people are going to Europe, people are going to the
East Coast, people are going to the West. Here is
the story my friends of a travel agent not on.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
The level eaiting.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Fifteen of us gathered together, like we're going to go
down to Aruba. Let's go down here and celebrate and
have a great time.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Catherine Jones Young couldn't wait to throw her sister an
unforgettable birthday celebration in Aruba. The Oak Forest woman says,
everyone in the group paid travel agent.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Oak Forest, by the way, is in the Chicago so
this is a Chicago travel agent to that we're talking
about Ruba.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
The Oak Forest woman says everyone in the group paid
travel agent Letitia Douglas upfront. Catherine says she booked travel
with this agent in the past and had a great
experience for this Aruba trip. She says her household paid
more than five five hundred dollars, but when they arrived
in Aruba, there was a big problem at the resort.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
They then tell us your reservations were canceled seven days
ago due to nonpayment.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Catherine says the group was in a panic. They couldn't
reach the travel agent, and the website for her company,
Flygirl World Travel, was taken down. Catherine says she posted
about Leticia Douglas.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Wow, it's called Flygirl, and you check the website and
it's gone, and she's taken off of the money.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That's all taken down.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Catherine says she posted about Leticia Douglas on social media
and tag the travel agent. That's when she says she
heard from hundreds of people who said the same travel
agent ghosted them too.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
That's when I realized she's taking our money, She's not
going to respond to us, and we have nowhere to stay.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
This can't be possible, This can't be real.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
Michelle Griffin and Buwie Maryland says she paid Leticia Douglas
nearly four thousand dollars for a trip to Egypt this
upcoming October, but never received her confirmation details. Then, earlier
this month, she says she received this email from Letitia Douglas.
If you have not heard yet, Flygirl World Travel has
closed its doors and all future trips booked have been canceled.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Girl, where's my money?
Speaker 8 (22:34):
You have no idea what it's like for you to
steal four thousand dollars from somebody and to just send
me a letter and tell me you're sorry. In the email,
Leticia Douglas cited financial mistakes and bad business choices, but
added quote, I did not set out to scam or
steal from you. She recommended that customers dispute charges with
their card as you were, but Michelle says her card
(22:56):
issue were denied her claim because it's been more than
ninety days.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
That's the thing she waited, so that the card is
no longer in a position to claw back the money.
This is an incredible it's an incredibly simple scam and
It reminds me that so much of transactions in our
(23:20):
lives are based on what trust right. When you hear
about these businesses that throwing it up a bunch of
records cook the books. In this case, it's a travel
agent takes the money up front, never makes the reservation,
made the reservation, then canceled it, kept all the money.
(23:41):
You have a certain presumption of trust, and you deal
with somebody who is through and through dirty this way,
and you have no high ground. And these are people
who spent thousands and thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
You just can't do people like that and get away
with it.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
The ABC seven I team has heard from consumers in Illinois, Maryland, Tennessee,
and Oklahoma who say they lost money dealing with Letitia Douglas.
The Oak Force Police Department tells the IT team they
are investigating this travel agent, and the Illinois Attorney General's
Office says they've received ten complaints against Flygirl World Travel
and Leticia Douglas, with most being filed in the last
(24:20):
few weeks. The Illinois Attorney General's Office says quote. The
complaints involve allegations the business failed to provide promise services,
including canceled reservations without providing refunds, and failing to provide
travel itineraries or making reservations for trips despite being paid
to do so.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
You know that information, though, has to be posted in
some kind of high profile way. This is why I
think these consumer protection agencies that are being done away
with in Washington, you know, under the new administration and
getting reaund a lot of these protections and consumer protection
is something that you really look to government, and you
look to state officials, and you look to the attorney
(24:59):
general too bolster to actually stand up and defend, not dismantle.
And these people are going to have a hard time
a getting their money back, but they would have had
an easier time of it had there been some sort
of public record of this travel agent screwing over so
(25:20):
many people before they ever had committed to me.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
We'll be working with consumers in an attempt to mediate complaints.
Catherine says her group in Aruba ended up having to
pay thousands more out of pocket for their rooms.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
I felt responsible for ruining my sister's trip by referring
this person who ended up defrauding us. She definitely needs
to be stopped.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
I have tried calling and emailing Letitia Douglas several times
and I still haven't heard back.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I what a surprise that is. I really thought you
would have picked right up here.
Speaker 8 (25:50):
In an email to customers, the travel agents said she
had deep shame and regret for violating her customers trust.
But the people I spoke with say they don't want
to hear any of that. They just want their money back.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I'm I'm with them. They save your shame and regret,
where's my money? That is an out and out scam.
I mean, had it been just them, that handful of
people planning that trip to Haruba, you go, all right,
well you know that Aruba thing. It's sad, but you know,
something happened. There was a personal crisis, whatever it might be.
By the way, I don't excuse it, but I'm just saying,
(26:23):
you know, at least that that would put it into
maybe a gray area. But this woman's defrauding people on
a regular basis. She's got literally over one hundred people
that you've stolen money from. And the state Attorney General
in Illinois can do nothing. I mean, they can do
some performative stuff, but it's not going to bring that
money back to those people wild and again I come
(26:43):
back to the fact that, you know, we have to
have faith in those that we do business with their
down payments, and you pay upfront on any number of transactions.
You just have to, I think check out as best
you are able the businesses that you're doing business with.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
You're listening to a six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Mark Thompson here on this Sunday and thanks. A couple
of people wrote me emails the Mark Thompson Show at
gmail dot com. Sorry, it's that's my My show on
YouTube's called the Mark Thompson Show.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
So that's the email The Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Anyway, the Frank said, I might be able to beat
the towing charge I was talking about in the car
towed last my brand new car. I kind of feel
like it's my fault.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Frank.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
You know it was expensive though, close to six hundred dollars.
And on the ant problem, because I think many of
you may be experiencing what we're experiencing at our house,
the ant inundation. Uh Neil Pine who does this this
Conscious Planet. The Conscious Planet is his website. He suggested Borax,
(27:50):
but I got a note here from E. E. Stanton
says careful borax can be very toxic, not to use
for animals, especially, so more research required. But I really
stay away from chemicals and with the ants because I
don't want to risk contamination, especially in the kitchen you know,
(28:13):
you know we're eating in there. Also around the animals.
We have cats, one of them's dying already. I don't
need to create additional issues, but appreciate that input. The
American dream, it's now being recalibrated, and many of those
things associated with the American dream are no longer maybe
(28:35):
part of that framework and picture. Generations of Americans have
seen a job, a spouse, and home ownership as waypoints
in pursuit of the American dream noted here. Fewer, though
young Americans are on track to those things that in
past decades.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Listen to these trends.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Unemployment, they suggest, is low, but so are new job postings.
Divorces down, but so is marriage. Home values are at
historic highs, of course, and much of the United States,
but home sales are the slowest in a generation. So
what they're saying is the labor market is frozen. Very low.
Rates of Americans with jobs are quitting or being fired
(29:18):
each month, but those on the unemployment roles are staying
there longer. So yeah, the unemployment rate isn't rising, but
it's staying consistently in a bad place, and employers are
experimenting with AI to make workforces more productive. Young college
grads are being really hard hit by this. Entry level
(29:39):
jobs really hard to find. Marriage and divorce rates in
the US have both been in long term decline. Fewer
people are getting married, fewer people getting divorced. But I
mean again, those statistics are directly correlative, right, Fewer people
getting married from people getting divorced. Just the numbers are
definitely going to be down, And they say twenty twenty
(30:01):
five is shaping up to be one of the worst
years for home sales in a generation, maybe the worst
in thirty years. Supply is way low. That keeps values
high for people to already have homes, but makes home
ownership much less attainable for especially young people who are
trying to get into the market. Folks who are locked
(30:23):
in super low mortgage rates a few years ago, they're
sitting pretty and now with relatively high rates. I mean,
I know, if you talk to older boys and girls
they'll tell you the rates can get even higher than this,
but again relative to what they were, and record high
prices in a lot of the country. Millions of Americans
are now deferring dreams of buying a home or they're
(30:45):
giving up those dreams entirely. And Americans are waiting longer
to get married, is noted here. Fewer are getting married
full stop, period. And it's not just the institution of marriage,
like cohabiting, is weighed down. So it's not just that
people are saying just the institution. I have questions about it.
(31:10):
I'm not religious, it seems religious, or I don't want
to get into this thing. It seems like a legal entanglement,
whatever the deal is. They're not even living together. Team
dating has dropped dramatically. Coupling is happening at a much
(31:31):
lower rate than it used to, and marriage is becoming
rarer and much more stable. So people who are getting
married are staying married, but much fewer. Many fewer are
getting married. Not everyone wants to get married or to
stay in their marriage. Some Americans who could buy a
house don't want to, is the bottom line. And the
(31:56):
job market could get better for those who don't have
jobs also worse for those who do. So they're linking
all of these trends together. And working age people who
are married much more likely to be employed, and people
who are employed and married are much more likely to
afford a home. So again, if you add all these
(32:17):
stats together, I mean there might be hope for some
of the subsets of all of this. Millions of younger Americans, though,
could be stuck on the other side of this entire thing.
And I feel like that's the takeaway if you're a
young person getting into this market of and I say
market generally, I mean either cultural trend market that is marriage,
or the home ownership market. It's a much different scene
(32:41):
than it was thirty years ago. And then there's this
that plays to that. A thirty year old woman is
at odds with her thirty four year old boyfriend who's
about to move into her apartment, which she owns, and
he won't be paying rent. He's agreed to cover building maintenance, utilities,
(33:02):
and the annual property taxes. She asked him to pay
for more of the groceries than he does, but he
has refused. Crazy, it's just wild. What is that male privilege?
Where does he have high ground?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Here. It's her apartment. She's paid for it.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
She says that her boyfriend is moving into her apartment,
so he's not gonna have to pay rent. He's agreed
to cover all that stuff I talked about, like Wi
Fi electricity, the property taxes annually, they're about five hundred
dollars a year. She said that she'd cover the cost
of all cat related expenses. And she has three cats
and her boyfriend has one. Well, they can't be all
(33:46):
bad they have. It's a four cat family. I have
mad respect for that. But once they got to the
conversation around groceries, that's when things started getting ugly. She says,
I told him I thought it made sense for it
to be a seventy to thirty split. He pays a
bit more, and he asked, who's the seventy Wow, man,
(34:12):
you need balls's for that? Are you kidding me? It's
her place, dude, she bought it. All you're doing is
showing up paying five hundred dollars a year for property taxes,
paying for the Wi Fi and utilities and building maintenance.
And you want to know on the grocery split, that's
seventy thirty. Who's the seventy, and who's the thirty? He said,
(34:37):
why not fifty to fifty? And she said, because you
eat three times more than I do. This is in
a Reddit post that she continued, he didn't love that answer,
started pulling the partnership should be fifty to fifty card
and I told him sixty forty was the lowest tide
go and they dropped it initially, and she says he
(35:04):
started making snarky comments like honestly, I only eat dinner
here anyway, And then she said, you're living here rent
free in a clean, comfy, fully furnished home that I
maintain myself. I'm here most of the time, so the
space is always stocked, cleaned, cozy, and I'm offering all
(35:25):
of that to you with love. And she says that
she likes a man who provides or at least contributes
more when he's stepping into his into her space. She
makes this again on a Reddit post, makes these comments.
He apparently makes a bit more money than she does,
(35:45):
but she notes it's not a huge gap, so she
doesn't expect like full provider status, And she says, now
I can't stop wondering if I'm signing up to live
with a roommate or a boyfriend. The vibe is shifted,
and I kind of hate it.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Some red flags there?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Oh my god, yes, Oh my god. Yes.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
And then of course on Reddit, people post, you know,
in response to her statements and her description in her story,
and people in the comments said, of course that she's
being more than fair and agreeing that he can contribute
(36:25):
more better. Question is one person commented, why is she
letting him move in without paying his share on everything,
including rent? If the argument is for fairness, Yeah, again,
and he says, fifty to fifty, Okay, great, I'll tell
you what we'll do, fifty to fifty on everything. Full
fairness should apply across the board. You can't push for
a fifty to fifty grocery split and ignore the massive
(36:46):
financial benefit of living rent free. True equity means accounting
for the whole picture, not just the convenient part, said
somebody in the response to the Reddit post. And you
know what, they're one hundred percent right fifty to fifty,
and Eileen is one hundred percent right, Like girlfriend, you
need to start taking some baby steps back. You need
(37:10):
to consider. You know, it's hard though when you're you know,
love is powerful man, Love's a powerful drug. You look
the other way on a lot but she maybe getting
the warning signs, whether she wants to see them or not.
When we come back. You win the lottery on your
(37:30):
lunch break, and then you find out that you've actually
won the lottery even bigger time than you thought. We'll
get to that in the next hour.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Gorgeous Southern California week.
Speaker 3 (00:05):
I mean, in my god, it's August and it's not
excruciatingly hot. It is warm, but good beach weather, and
life is good if you just look at the weather.
One thing the weather does. I don't know if this
is happening at your domicile wherever you hang your hat.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Ants. We have tons of ants at our house. Mark
Thompson here.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
On a Sunday, and yeah, I was anxious to get
out of the house because I spent the entire morning
trying to find the ants their source spraying.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I have to get more spray on the way home.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
A lot of the ants, as you know, in the heat,
they get into the house and they look for they
come up oftentimes through the plumbing or alongside the plumbing.
They're looking for water. They're looking for any slight morsel
I mean crumb of any food that's left out, even
if it's in the basin of the sink in the kitchen.
(01:03):
So you have to be very careful about how you clean,
because if you clean, you know, with any kind of
toxic agent right in your kitchen, and you're you're risking
those poisons getting into your food. So anyway, that was
my morning, and it took it's about a I would say,
about ninety minutes solid uh ant patrol. And I went
(01:23):
to the bathrooms and well, you can imagine, uh, someone
of my celebrity. I live in an expansive home, I
mean the gift shop and all of the water features.
I had to check them, all of the main foyer
where all the guests and tourists collect.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I want that to be free of ants.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
You live in a hotel, yes, think, I mean.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
It's a hotel ish, So I had to do that.
It was all too anxious to come in. Anyway, the
ant problem will only get worse wherever you are. And
what is the reason for that. The reason is it's
going to get hotter, and I guess there's a little
bit of even a small bump in the heat produces
(02:06):
this influx of ants. They want to get inside. And
so August is a September and August both are typically
you know, high end problem seasons. And so I'm on
end patrol, so happy to get away. The other thing
that I love about coming into KFI and iHeartRadio on
(02:27):
the weekend I mean beyond working with Robin and Ritchie
and Eileen, is that there is absolutely no competition for
what a parking space. The entire parking lot is wide open.
That is truly something you will never find during the week.
(02:48):
You have to go through all these levels to find
a parking space. In fact, I have to tell you
I've forgotten this story, but let me tell you this
real quick. When I first started here at iHeart, I
used to park on Yeh. I just would find a
space or wherever you could find. It was kind of
hard to find it what I'd pull in. And one
(03:10):
day I'm circling around, circling around, and remember I'm new
to the building, I'm new to the setup, and it
was kind of driving me nuts. I was spending like
ten minutes looking for a parking space, and it looked
to me like the lot was full. I think I
had to park on the street once. And finally I
had a frustration. I went to the building manager, or
(03:31):
maybe it was somebody. It's been a few years, but
maybe it was somebody adjacent to the building manager or
somebody like an operations person, and I said this, I'll
hey a monthly fee to have a parking spot, just
to avoid the ten minutes it's you know, it's cutting
into my prep time for the show, et cetera. Just
to know that I have a parking spot, I'll pay
(03:53):
a monthly fee. And they said, I don't understand. You
can't find a parking space in all of the park.
I said, no, I spent ten minutes just today looking
for a parking spot. They said, that's ridiculous. There are
tons of parking spots. You just have to go down
to level three and you'll find I said, level three.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
What do you mean level three? I didn't know there
was a level three?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
And he said, what do you mean you mean you've
only looked on the first level. I said, I only
thought that there was a first level. Said no, there's
three levels. There are two levels below level one. That's hilarious,
it was, that's an absolutely true story.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
I'm thinking, I've never had a problem finding parking here.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's what he said. That's what he said. He said,
you can't be serious.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
You're the only person I've spoken to you as trouble
finding a spot.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I said, I can't believe that there are no spots.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
And then he mentioned the level three thing and then
I just you know, you have to understand when you
don't know the layout, you don't realize that there are
two other levels besides level one. And then of course
from that point forward he was right level two head spots,
level three head spots. So now that the secret of
(05:12):
the other two levels has been unlocked, I'm able to
always find parking spots. But the great thing about coming
in on the weekend is that you pull right in
and right on level one it's just an empty lot
and you park anywhere. Speaking of parking, I must tell
you one thing and I'll get into the news.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
I want to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
There's a big teachers protest and it is related to immigration.
Also there's a bizarre lottery story I want to share
with you. But just speaking of parking, I got a
brand new car and last night it was Toad. No, yeah,
not even a thousand miles on this car and it
(05:54):
was Toad. I'd yeah, this is the thing about getting
the car Toad. If you park in a place where
they tell you they're going to tow your car, you're right, Richie,
you get livid, but you really can't get angry at
anyone but yourself, and that's kind of where I was
last night. It was first your first reaction, oh my god,
they've stolen my car, and then you realize no, I
(06:17):
mean I quickly realized no, that they told.
Speaker 4 (06:19):
Your car And where were you? What city?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So I was in La And I have to say,
you know certain things about living in a city, any city.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You just have to understand.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
These are the sort of costs and these are the
sort of inconveniences that you deal with because you live
in a city.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I get it.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
If you live in a smaller town, or you live
maybe in a in a suburb or whatever, then there
might be more parking available, there might be any number
of sort of ease of transport and ease of life.
But then there are other problems and irritants that kick
in there and you lose some conveniences, et cetera. So
when it comes to parking, parking is an issue in La.
So we go to a restaurant all the time, We've
(07:00):
gone frequently, maybe have gone to this restaurant of a
dozen times. And last night this couple wanted to go
to this restaurant. And so it's in the valley, it's
in Van Eys and next to the restaurant. Now, this
is part of the living in the city thing, you know.
I think I may have mentioned you before. Valet parking
(07:23):
is everywhere because you can't find a place to park.
So if you go to a restaurant, I mean, you
can spend some time looking on the streets and you
might be able to find a place to park. It's
not going to be close to where we're going, but
it might be worth it you walk a few blocks whatever.
But if you're in a hurry or just for convenience,
circ say, if you valet. So I think I may
have mentioned to you, or I certainly wanted to mention
(07:43):
to you. I think I posted on social media. I
was downtown at a place called is it Javier? Is
that what it's called?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
How Vi where they have the salsa dancing?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yes? Yes, and it's a.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Really nice place. It's downtown. And do you know how
much the valet parking there is?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Eighty?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Did you say eighty?
Speaker 3 (08:04):
If you're not going to play the game fairly, then
don't play it, Ritchie.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
I'm assuming it's eighty. It's not eighty dollars to park
a car. I mean, come on, you know what are
charging that amount?
Speaker 4 (08:15):
Or special events. I've seen it.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Oh no, no, no for special events. But this is
the night this is the nightly thing. It was no,
but to be fair to you, the actual price is
not far off. It's fifty dollars. Yeah, to park your
car through valet there at Javier, it's take the bus
and then you tip. On top of that you have
sip five dollars or whatever. So valet can be expensive,
(08:38):
and it's just part of what you expect. It's sort
of the computation you do when you're going out to dinner.
You understand, Yeah, on top of whatever meal I have
to pay for, it's valet, et cetera. And it can
be in the city as high as fifty dollars, maybe eighty.
I've never seen that, but definitely fifty again just for
valet associated with the restaurant, and in this case it
(09:01):
was really only fifteen dollars, which is really not expensive.
It's kind of a you know, if you go to
I think a higher end restaurant like I'll take a
Craig's or something. I think maybe it's twenty or twenty
five dollars to park the valet. It's probably the same
thing at a lot of the West Hollywood restaurants, et cetera.
So fifteen dollars is not super bad. But we're so
(09:24):
used to parking somewhere else because we go there all
the time, because there a lot is kind of crowded,
and I don't want to get my car dinged, et cetera.
I just think it's easier to park in this other place.
So we've done that many times. As I say, I've
been to this restaurant about a dozen times. So what
was the difference and how did the car get towed?
(09:44):
I will tell you that when we get back, and
then I have a question for you and we will
get that question asked and answered.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Next you're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
Just Southern California day apart from the heat, driving the
ants in thanks to Neil Pine who wrote into me.
My email address is the Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com. The Mark Thompson Show at gmail dot com
if you have any thought. I wasn't looking for advice
on the ants, but I'm glad to get advice on
(10:21):
the ants. And he says, use borox. Borax stops ants
and roaches. But he says the downside is that you
have to sprinkle the white powder everywhere that the ants
are still though it's non toxic to people.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Because I am looking for something.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
You know, again, I've got cats, I've got Courtney, I
don't you know, I don't want to poison myself. So anyway,
the heat brings the ants indoors. If you haven't noticed
them yet, I hope you never have to notice them.
They are of pain. I was just in the middle
of talking about parking in La last night, and you know,
Richie and I were talking during the break and the
fact is, oftentimes there are really two kinds of people.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
People who go to a venue.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Early try to find parking so they don't have to
pay for valet or whatever the deal is. And then
they're those who show up at the last minute or
just show up on time, and they just valet is
just the cost of doing business. And I kind of
fall into that category, like Valet's just the cost of
doing business. And I told you about Hobbiers downtown. It's
fifty dollars for the valet to park your car there.
(11:22):
And I think at most upscale restaurants around to LA
and West Hollywood. Let's say you know, white tablecloth type restaurants,
you're likely looking at twenty five bucks to park the car.
Twenty something like that. Anyway, so last night was actually
a bargain. It's only fifteen dollars to park the car.
The only reason we don't use the valet there is because,
as they say, they kind of stack the cars a
(11:44):
little bit tricky, like something might happen to your car.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's a brand new car.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
And we have been going there so long we always
park in the lot next store. Now the lot next
store again. We've been using it for years now, and
it does have a warning that you'll be towed, but
we always look to see if there are many people there,
if the businesses are closed. There are a lot of
businesses there that aren't restaurants, for example. And you know,
(12:11):
again you kind of see it yourself as an urban gorilla,
like I'm just susten this scene out. And it looked
as usual when we pulled into the lot next door,
like normal, plenty of spots and we park the car.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
We come out after dinner, the car is gone and
I panic.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
I think, oh my god, a new car less than
a thousand miles on it has been stolen. And then
I think, no, it hasn't been stolen, it's been towed.
There are warnings everywhere. There's signage all over the place.
Your car will be towed if you're not patronizing one
of these businesses.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
They're like three restaurants.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
One of them's closed, so there are two kind of
fast casual restaurants there. So it struck me as odd
with all those open spots that the car would be towed.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
But it was.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
That's the worst feeling.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
His panic, and it's also you're right, it's panic and
then anger, and then you have no one to be
angry at you except yourself.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Just add up all the money that you saved, all
the years that you did park there, just kind of
evens out, right.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Eileen's right, like, dude, hey, the fifteen dollars, you know,
and with an extra five for the guy twenty bucks
and just park in the valet, and you know, if
he stacks the cars in a weird way, it scratches
your car and then you can take it up with him.
But we thought we were just so smart for so long.
But here's why we were towed. I mean again, a
(13:38):
dozen times we've gone to this restaurant. A dozen times
we've parked in the lot next door. Never has the
carbon toad. Nothing was different except for one thing. We
like to eat a little bit later, Like we don't
like dinners before eight, and we typically you know, eight
or eight thirty is really good. And you know, I
(14:01):
worked nights for a long time, did the ten o'clock
news on Fox eleven, at the eleven o'clock news on
Channel thirteen. You know, I'm just used for years. I mean,
I'm just a later shift person. And these people were meeting,
they're early people. He wanted to eat at five, and
I'm like, at five, I mean that's way early, that's
(14:24):
practically breakfast. So we compromised on six. And that was
the difference. We parked the car at a much earlier time,
and so the normal rhythm of that parking lot where
we typically park and don't have to worry about getting towed,
it's all different. And so we got towed. Now here's
(14:46):
my question to you. How much I lean you can
play in this game, Richie, you can play, Robin. I'd
love for you to take a guess how much was
it to retrieve my car? And we won't count the
uber to get to the towing lot to retrieve my
car from the toe lot? What did the toe lot
(15:07):
want for me? What was the fee to get my car?
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Four hundred?
Speaker 3 (15:11):
So well, wait a second, we will start now, Okay,
all right now, Eileen.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
What is your guess?
Speaker 4 (15:23):
I'm going to go with.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Where that computer's hot? Can you take that level of that?
Speaker 5 (15:26):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (15:27):
My dog?
Speaker 4 (15:27):
Can you hear me?
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Yes? Please? Eileen? What is your guest?
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I'm going to go with four hundred.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
Now, that is a very solid guess. I don't want
to influence other guesses, but very solid LA Towing service guess.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Richie, what's your guess?
Speaker 6 (15:44):
I'm going to do two hundred fifty plus twenty yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Wait, I want to change mine?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Okay, you want to twenty five for twenty five? All right?
Speaker 3 (16:00):
And Richie's going too fifty. Yeah, Robin, you've had the
benefit of hearing the other guesses. What was the fee
to retrieve my vehicle from the Van Eyes towing lot
last night in Los Angeles?
Speaker 4 (16:17):
I would still say four hundred.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
Four hundred. We have four hundred, two fifty and four
to twenty five. Richie, your guess is cute but does
not account for Los Angeles.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
What Eileen.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
And Robin much much closer. The actual retail price was
five hundred and seventy four dollars and twenty three cents.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
And that's outrage a insane. That's like a whole monthly
car payment. Thank you just for avoiding sixteen dollars Mark,
just for car payments for me.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Yeah, exactly, I need to.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Save that valet money.
Speaker 5 (17:00):
Thank god you're Mark Thompson. I would have left my
car there asking a car. It was brutal, and then
you have to wait for the car. The guy's doing
something else. But here's how they got to that. I
think if you'd and this was the guest, because we're
both guessing. Courtney and I were both guessing how much
is it going to cost to get the car out?
And we're both guessing around three hundred. That seemed to
me to be an LA price, you know, three hundred
(17:21):
and probably a big city price to get your your
car out of the Van Eys towing lot. Okay, it's
a private business, this is their thing, and I'm thinking
about three hundred dollars and that is about what it is,
two hundred and ninety dollars.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
They call it port to port. But here's how they
get to five hundred and seventy four dollars, they charge
you a service charge just for towing. It's an administrative
fee or whatever. Well, actually it's a service charge because
there is an administrative fee on top of the service charge.
The service charge is sixteen bucks. Then the administrative fee
(17:54):
that's one hundred and forty five dollars because the toe
was at five o'clock, so anything after five o'clock is
one hundred and forty five dollars. The daily impound rate
is eighty five dollars. They add that onto the three hundred,
so it's three hundred plus sixteen seventy three plus one
hundred and forty five plus eighty five and they come
(18:16):
up with at the end of it, all three hundred
and thirty five dollars and seventy three cents. And again
they add the administrative fees and the other fees. It
all adds up to five hundred and sixty five seventy
three plus the city parking tax is ten percent. That
comes out all of it to five hundred and seventy
four dollars and twenty three cents. Like ticket Master, Yeah, exactly,
(18:39):
you're right, You're absolutely right. It's like toe it master.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
I'm surprised they didn't charge you for the gas for
towing it.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It was crazy.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
And again, you can't be at any angry at anyone
except yourself. You know you saw the signs. It's just
that we'd parked there so many times and never been towed.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
You should have given them like a Hey, I'll give
you a business shout out. You can come to Iron
Hard and we can work something out. It's a win win.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Hey.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Would you like to see this this telling lad to
really blow up with business? Let me tell you that
you're doing well now, man, wait till you get down
to ieheart.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
You do not know who I am.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
Unreal Again, I had to be and like I'm not
a screamer, like yelly. These guys are all just doing
their thing. I just smiled and paid the money. And
of course it's three percent more for playing with a
credit card. He said, oh, you can pay with cash
and it won't be the three percent. And I go, dude,
I don't have six hundred dollars cash on me, so
you know, I'll just pay with the credit card. And
(19:34):
I pulled out the American Express card. He said, oh,
we don't take American Express. So it was I paid
with the with the visa card anyway.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
To get points on it.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
Huh yeah, I didn't even get the points. Yeah, so
kids stay in school is the no. I respect the
signage is what I would say at the end of
all of that.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Thank you for playing everyone.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Next, the story of a shady travel ag comes to life.
Speaker 1 (20:02):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Mark Thompson here and the Sunday Crew.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
This is a story of a shady travel agent, particularly
relevant given the August month, which brings a lot of
travel I think into southern California. Out of Southern California,
people are going to Europe, people are going to the
East Coast, people are going to the West. Here is
the story my friends of a travel agent not on.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
The level eaiting.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
Fifteen of us gathered together, like we're going to go
down to Aruba. Let's go down here and celebrate and
have a great time.
Speaker 8 (20:39):
Catherine Jones Young couldn't wait to throw her sister an
unforgettable birthday celebration in Aruba. The Oak Forest woman says,
everyone in the group paid travel agent.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
Oak Forest, by the way, is in the Chicago so
this is a Chicago travel agent to that we're talking
about Ruba.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
The Oak Forest woman says everyone in the group paid
travel agent Letitia Douglas upfront. Catherine says she booked travel
with this agent in the past and had a great
experience for this Aruba trip. She says her household paid
more than five five hundred dollars, but when they arrived
in Aruba, there was a big problem at the resort.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
They then tell us your reservations were canceled seven days
ago due to nonpayment.
Speaker 8 (21:22):
Catherine says the group was in a panic. They couldn't
reach the travel agent, and the website for her company,
Flygirl World Travel, was taken down. Catherine says she posted
about Leticia Douglas.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
Wow, it's called Flygirl, and you check the website and
it's gone, and she's taken off of the money.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That's all taken down.
Speaker 8 (21:43):
Catherine says she posted about Leticia Douglas on social media
and tag the travel agent. That's when she says she
heard from hundreds of people who said the same travel
agent ghosted them too.
Speaker 7 (21:55):
That's when I realized she's taking our money, She's not
going to respond to us, and we have nowhere to stay.
Speaker 4 (22:05):
This can't be possible, This can't be real.
Speaker 8 (22:08):
Michelle Griffin and Buwie Maryland says she paid Leticia Douglas
nearly four thousand dollars for a trip to Egypt this
upcoming October, but never received her confirmation details. Then, earlier
this month, she says she received this email from Letitia Douglas.
If you have not heard yet, Flygirl World Travel has
closed its doors and all future trips booked have been canceled.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
Girl, where's my money?
Speaker 8 (22:34):
You have no idea what it's like for you to
steal four thousand dollars from somebody and to just send
me a letter and tell me you're sorry. In the email,
Leticia Douglas cited financial mistakes and bad business choices, but
added quote, I did not set out to scam or
steal from you. She recommended that customers dispute charges with
their card as you were, but Michelle says her card
(22:56):
issue were denied her claim because it's been more than
ninety days.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
That's the thing she waited, so that the card is
no longer in a position to claw back the money.
This is an incredible it's an incredibly simple scam and
It reminds me that so much of transactions in our
(23:20):
lives are based on what trust right. When you hear
about these businesses that throwing it up a bunch of
records cook the books. In this case, it's a travel
agent takes the money up front, never makes the reservation,
made the reservation, then canceled it, kept all the money.
(23:41):
You have a certain presumption of trust, and you deal
with somebody who is through and through dirty this way,
and you have no high ground. And these are people
who spent thousands and thousands of dollars.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
You just can't do people like that and get away
with it.
Speaker 8 (23:58):
The ABC seven I team has heard from consumers in Illinois, Maryland, Tennessee,
and Oklahoma who say they lost money dealing with Letitia Douglas.
The Oak Force Police Department tells the IT team they
are investigating this travel agent, and the Illinois Attorney General's
Office says they've received ten complaints against Flygirl World Travel
and Leticia Douglas, with most being filed in the last
(24:20):
few weeks. The Illinois Attorney General's Office says quote. The
complaints involve allegations the business failed to provide promise services,
including canceled reservations without providing refunds, and failing to provide
travel itineraries or making reservations for trips despite being paid
to do so.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
You know that information, though, has to be posted in
some kind of high profile way. This is why I
think these consumer protection agencies that are being done away
with in Washington, you know, under the new administration and
getting reaund a lot of these protections and consumer protection
is something that you really look to government, and you
look to state officials, and you look to the attorney
(24:59):
general too bolster to actually stand up and defend, not dismantle.
And these people are going to have a hard time
a getting their money back, but they would have had
an easier time of it had there been some sort
of public record of this travel agent screwing over so
(25:20):
many people before they ever had committed to me.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
We'll be working with consumers in an attempt to mediate complaints.
Catherine says her group in Aruba ended up having to
pay thousands more out of pocket for their rooms.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
I felt responsible for ruining my sister's trip by referring
this person who ended up defrauding us. She definitely needs
to be stopped.
Speaker 8 (25:43):
I have tried calling and emailing Letitia Douglas several times
and I still haven't heard back.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
I what a surprise that is. I really thought you
would have picked right up here.
Speaker 8 (25:50):
In an email to customers, the travel agents said she
had deep shame and regret for violating her customers trust.
But the people I spoke with say they don't want
to hear any of that. They just want their money back.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I'm I'm with them. They save your shame and regret,
where's my money? That is an out and out scam.
I mean, had it been just them, that handful of
people planning that trip to Haruba, you go, all right,
well you know that Aruba thing. It's sad, but you know,
something happened. There was a personal crisis, whatever it might be.
By the way, I don't excuse it, but I'm just saying,
(26:23):
you know, at least that that would put it into
maybe a gray area. But this woman's defrauding people on
a regular basis. She's got literally over one hundred people
that you've stolen money from. And the state Attorney General
in Illinois can do nothing. I mean, they can do
some performative stuff, but it's not going to bring that
money back to those people wild and again I come
(26:43):
back to the fact that, you know, we have to
have faith in those that we do business with their
down payments, and you pay upfront on any number of transactions.
You just have to, I think check out as best
you are able the businesses that you're doing business with.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
You're listening to a six forty on demand.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
Mark Thompson here on this Sunday and thanks. A couple
of people wrote me emails the Mark Thompson Show at
gmail dot com. Sorry, it's that's my My show on
YouTube's called the Mark Thompson Show.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
So that's the email The Mark Thompson Show at gmail
dot com.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Anyway, the Frank said, I might be able to beat
the towing charge I was talking about in the car
towed last my brand new car. I kind of feel
like it's my fault.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Frank.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
You know it was expensive though, close to six hundred dollars.
And on the ant problem, because I think many of
you may be experiencing what we're experiencing at our house,
the ant inundation. Uh Neil Pine who does this this
Conscious Planet. The Conscious Planet is his website. He suggested Borax,
(27:50):
but I got a note here from E. E. Stanton
says careful borax can be very toxic, not to use
for animals, especially, so more research required. But I really
stay away from chemicals and with the ants because I
don't want to risk contamination, especially in the kitchen you know,
(28:13):
you know we're eating in there. Also around the animals.
We have cats, one of them's dying already. I don't
need to create additional issues, but appreciate that input. The
American dream, it's now being recalibrated, and many of those
things associated with the American dream are no longer maybe
(28:35):
part of that framework and picture. Generations of Americans have
seen a job, a spouse, and home ownership as waypoints
in pursuit of the American dream noted here. Fewer, though
young Americans are on track to those things that in
past decades.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
Listen to these trends.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Unemployment, they suggest, is low, but so are new job postings.
Divorces down, but so is marriage. Home values are at
historic highs, of course, and much of the United States,
but home sales are the slowest in a generation. So
what they're saying is the labor market is frozen. Very low.
Rates of Americans with jobs are quitting or being fired
(29:18):
each month, but those on the unemployment roles are staying
there longer. So yeah, the unemployment rate isn't rising, but
it's staying consistently in a bad place, and employers are
experimenting with AI to make workforces more productive. Young college
grads are being really hard hit by this. Entry level
(29:39):
jobs really hard to find. Marriage and divorce rates in
the US have both been in long term decline. Fewer
people are getting married, fewer people getting divorced. But I
mean again, those statistics are directly correlative, right, Fewer people
getting married from people getting divorced. Just the numbers are
definitely going to be down, And they say twenty twenty
(30:01):
five is shaping up to be one of the worst
years for home sales in a generation, maybe the worst
in thirty years. Supply is way low. That keeps values
high for people to already have homes, but makes home
ownership much less attainable for especially young people who are
trying to get into the market. Folks who are locked
(30:23):
in super low mortgage rates a few years ago, they're
sitting pretty and now with relatively high rates. I mean,
I know, if you talk to older boys and girls
they'll tell you the rates can get even higher than this,
but again relative to what they were, and record high
prices in a lot of the country. Millions of Americans
are now deferring dreams of buying a home or they're
(30:45):
giving up those dreams entirely. And Americans are waiting longer
to get married, is noted here. Fewer are getting married
full stop, period. And it's not just the institution of marriage,
like cohabiting, is weighed down. So it's not just that
people are saying just the institution. I have questions about it.
(31:10):
I'm not religious, it seems religious, or I don't want
to get into this thing. It seems like a legal entanglement,
whatever the deal is. They're not even living together. Team
dating has dropped dramatically. Coupling is happening at a much
(31:31):
lower rate than it used to, and marriage is becoming
rarer and much more stable. So people who are getting
married are staying married, but much fewer. Many fewer are
getting married. Not everyone wants to get married or to
stay in their marriage. Some Americans who could buy a
house don't want to, is the bottom line. And the
(31:56):
job market could get better for those who don't have
jobs also worse for those who do. So they're linking
all of these trends together. And working age people who
are married much more likely to be employed, and people
who are employed and married are much more likely to
afford a home. So again, if you add all these
(32:17):
stats together, I mean there might be hope for some
of the subsets of all of this. Millions of younger Americans, though,
could be stuck on the other side of this entire thing.
And I feel like that's the takeaway if you're a
young person getting into this market of and I say
market generally, I mean either cultural trend market that is marriage,
or the home ownership market. It's a much different scene
(32:41):
than it was thirty years ago. And then there's this
that plays to that. A thirty year old woman is
at odds with her thirty four year old boyfriend who's
about to move into her apartment, which she owns, and
he won't be paying rent. He's agreed to cover building maintenance, utilities,
(33:02):
and the annual property taxes. She asked him to pay
for more of the groceries than he does, but he
has refused. Crazy, it's just wild. What is that male privilege?
Where does he have high ground?
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Here. It's her apartment. She's paid for it.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
She says that her boyfriend is moving into her apartment,
so he's not gonna have to pay rent. He's agreed
to cover all that stuff I talked about, like Wi
Fi electricity, the property taxes annually, they're about five hundred
dollars a year. She said that she'd cover the cost
of all cat related expenses. And she has three cats
and her boyfriend has one. Well, they can't be all
(33:46):
bad they have. It's a four cat family. I have
mad respect for that. But once they got to the
conversation around groceries, that's when things started getting ugly. She says,
I told him I thought it made sense for it
to be a seventy to thirty split. He pays a
bit more, and he asked, who's the seventy Wow, man,
(34:12):
you need balls's for that? Are you kidding me? It's
her place, dude, she bought it. All you're doing is
showing up paying five hundred dollars a year for property taxes,
paying for the Wi Fi and utilities and building maintenance.
And you want to know on the grocery split, that's
seventy thirty. Who's the seventy, and who's the thirty? He said,
(34:37):
why not fifty to fifty? And she said, because you
eat three times more than I do. This is in
a Reddit post that she continued, he didn't love that answer,
started pulling the partnership should be fifty to fifty card
and I told him sixty forty was the lowest tide
go and they dropped it initially, and she says he
(35:04):
started making snarky comments like honestly, I only eat dinner
here anyway, And then she said, you're living here rent
free in a clean, comfy, fully furnished home that I
maintain myself. I'm here most of the time, so the
space is always stocked, cleaned, cozy, and I'm offering all
(35:25):
of that to you with love. And she says that
she likes a man who provides or at least contributes
more when he's stepping into his into her space. She
makes this again on a Reddit post, makes these comments.
He apparently makes a bit more money than she does,
(35:45):
but she notes it's not a huge gap, so she
doesn't expect like full provider status, And she says, now
I can't stop wondering if I'm signing up to live
with a roommate or a boyfriend. The vibe is shifted,
and I kind of hate it.
Speaker 4 (36:00):
Some red flags there?
Speaker 2 (36:01):
Oh my god, yes, Oh my god. Yes.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
And then of course on Reddit, people post, you know,
in response to her statements and her description in her story,
and people in the comments said, of course that she's
being more than fair and agreeing that he can contribute
(36:25):
more better. Question is one person commented, why is she
letting him move in without paying his share on everything,
including rent? If the argument is for fairness, Yeah, again,
and he says, fifty to fifty, Okay, great, I'll tell
you what we'll do, fifty to fifty on everything. Full
fairness should apply across the board. You can't push for
a fifty to fifty grocery split and ignore the massive
(36:46):
financial benefit of living rent free. True equity means accounting
for the whole picture, not just the convenient part, said
somebody in the response to the Reddit post. And you
know what, they're one hundred percent right fifty to fifty,
and Eileen is one hundred percent right, Like girlfriend, you
need to start taking some baby steps back. You need
(37:10):
to consider. You know, it's hard though when you're you know,
love is powerful man, Love's a powerful drug. You look
the other way on a lot but she maybe getting
the warning signs, whether she wants to see them or not.
When we come back. You win the lottery on your
(37:30):
lunch break, and then you find out that you've actually
won the lottery even bigger time than you thought. We'll
get to that in the next hour.
Speaker 1 (37:41):
KFI AM six forty on demand
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