“Momma, what have you gone and done now?”
There’s got to be more to this. As one source on this story put it, Oprah is worth about $2.5 billion, so the interest she gets on that in a day would more than cover this.
Oprah’s mom files countersuit over bill
Oprah Winfrey’s mother has filed a countersuit against a Wisconsin clothing boutique claiming if it hadn’t extended her credit she wouldn’t owe it $150,000.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Winfrey’s 73-year-old mother, Vernita Lee, argued in court papers that she shouldn’t have to pay the bill for purchases and interest Valentina Inc., said she owed because the store allowed her an open-ended charge account even though it was aware she has trouble managing debt.
Her filing described the account as “unconscionable, and therefore, unenforceable because Valentina knowingly and unfairly took advantage of Lee’s lack of knowledge, ability, and/or capacity when Valentina created the account.”
I read about this a while ago. The store may have a problem because of a poorly written contractual agreement. However, the rest is just typical victim mentality crap.
Oprah will pay millions in lawyer fees to fight and win this. She likes to fight injustice as she sees it.
No one has accountability for their own actions anymore. This pisses me off beyond belief.
Perhaps they should arrest her for knowingly
purchasing crap on credit she never intended to pay back.. i.e. fraud.. and throw her in jail.
This is the exact same attitude of all those subprime mortgage holders. Waaah, I have house I can’t afford – let me keep it anyway!
If she received the merchandise then I do not see what the problem is??? If she wanted or needed a spending limit then she should have ask for one.
It does seem with these cases that even when people can afford it they want to blame someone else for their spending problems.
I just recently remember a college student who rang up a major cell phone bill because he was not aware of the added costs because he was in Canada and video conferencing his parents in the US.
Has common sense gone out the window?? Should anyone get out of paying for something because of being stupid and not reading the contracts and agreements??
HAhahahahahahahahaha etc etc.
Really, there is NOTHING more that I can add to this stupidity. One bit of information, however, I see where Oprah gets her good looks.
#4 – Michael – This is the exact same attitude of all those subprime mortgage holders.
Absolutely. Everything’s someone else’s fault. Sarah Palin:
Whose fault is it then? The Chinese? The Japanese? Europeans? The Sheiks?
The bitch spent the money and wants to blame the creditor?
Jail the fraudulant bitch.
I suppose you might be a victum of persuasion if you were talked into putting an item or two on credit but when you rack up around $35,000 of charges you stop being a victum. How many shopping trips did it take to rack up $35,000 in charges? There must of been a time when the thought of stop shopping accured.
Oprah’s mom should be responsible and sent in for psychiatric care for shopping addiction.
#8:
You get an $X a year mortgage for Y years. Your income is $Z a year. If XY > ZY, where is the trick?
#8
Mr ConFusion:
So, if I’m reading this post correctly, these ‘victims’ were tricked into wanting a new house, tricked into looking for a new house, tricked into enlisting a realtor, tricked into making an offer on a house all on their own, tricked into signing a contract with the seller, tricked into deciding to get a mortgage, tricked into signing a mortgage (that we would all read first) and tricked into thinking that they had the means to pay for it. If these people are that stupid to be “tricked” that many times, they must be Obama fans, just hoping that somehow the dems and their trial-lawyer pals will eventually get them off the hook for being stupid idiots. Give me a break.
Speaking of trial lawyers, you can thank them for the fact that a radiologist reads every X-ray in the hospital or clinic. Every doc wants to make sure that he can stop a lawsuit before it gets ignited, often by ordering unnecessary tests, consultations and referrals. You pay for it and this is one of the reasons medical care has gotten so expensive. Ask any E.R. doc, neurosurgeon or obstetrician and they will often tell you that this crap adds 30% to the cost of any medical intervention. They don’t want it; fear of litigation drives this. The trial lawyers own the democrats, who always vote lock-step with them to stop tort reform. The trial lawyers are a huge PAC and 97% of their money goes to the donkocrats. They have billions in ill-gained money.
#12 — After paying off $174,285 within 2 years after the court decision of 2002, Lee accepts more credit from the store in 2004 and racks up another $150,000 in charges. Yes, the store was going against a court order by giving Lee more credit but shouldn’t have Lee learned something from the first case? Unless, she figured that she could later sue the company for going against a court order.
The company should get fined for breach of a court order but Lee needs treatment for her shopping addiction.
Plus, no one pointed a gun to Lee’s head to make her use the credit offered.
Just because I am offered a credit doesn’t mean I have to accept it and use the credit.
#14, bac,
The other way to look at this is the store has no method of recovery. In short, this becomes a gift to Lee. True, Lee should not have taken the “credit”, but even more important, the store should not have offered it. No one pointed a gun at the store’s manager and made them give Lee credit either.
That gorilla suit she is wearing must have cost a bundle, it looks so life-like.
I think the old girl may have a point in this case because a previous settlement with them says the store isn’t supposed to extend her credit if I recall another story I read correctly.
You aren’t supposed to take advantage of senile citizens and in this case the store had been warned and agreed to the terms in return for payment of fee.
Reread the consent form and the HIPAA (not HIPPA) form you should have signed upon entering the hospital. I’ll bet this issue is covered.
#19, I have.
The Hospital is only being hired to shoot the X-Ray, not to diagnose or make an opinion.
If they insist that they can read and interpret the X-Rays or they won’t take them, would probably be an anti-trust violation as they are the only facility within the county.
Their consent form can not extend or change the order of the referring physician.
And you are correct, it is and always was, HIPAA. I knew that but must have made my own mental block.
#20 “If they insist that they can read and interpret the X-Rays or they won’t take them, would probably be an anti-trust violation as they are the only facility within the county.”
No, the Sherman anti-trust act and other later leg doesn’t cover that type of situation.
Hospitals are extremely well protected from anti-trust laws and given a lot of latitude by the courts, as they are serving the ‘public good’. Who do you think is responsible for reading the blood tests that you get? The pathologists; surely you don’t want to go back to the days when docs drew their own blood and looked at it under a microscope. The hospital ‘covers its ass’ by instating bylaws and privileges such that the most qualified personnel are performing duties within their expertise. Thus, they want the X rays read by a professional, not a family practice doc,for example, who may have only done a brief radiology stint in med school, if at all. You’re fighting a losing battle here.
Mom’s daughter is who? One of the richest people in the world and were wasting taxpayers dollars and time for something like this?! When HER daughter can easily help her mother out. Excuse me but, but was MOM forced to purchase all these items? And where are these items at now? I’m sorry, but, Oprah please take care of your mom! Please send her for treatment! Does not Charity begin at home?! Remember: We can choose our friends, but we can not choose our families. She is your mother no matter what.