Another Miracle

I was shocked to find a charge of $132.10 on my Visa card this month. But then I recalled that the promise of a cheap iPhone had lured me into a website. The deal was that you could play a video game, and if you were the fastest player, you would win the iPhone. I cursed myself for being so stupid, immediately left the site, and forgot about the incident until my Visa bill showed up. The website had an e-mail address and, with little hope of success, I fired off an e-mail. Here are e-mail exchanges that resulted: 

Me: I had no intention of signing up for your scam. I did not participate in any way. I want my money, $132.10, returned to me as soon as possible. 

LuxQuiz Customer Service replied:  

Hello, 

I can see that you created an account on LuxQuiz.com by accepting one of our special offers that gave you the chance to get a iPod shuffle as a welcome bonus + 3 day trial period on LuxQuiz.com and a participation for winning an iPhone 6 out of 500 participants. 

According to our system you accepted our Terms & Conditions and entered your payment details and used the email address [redacted] which is your username in order to login. 

As the subscription was not cancelled within the 3 day trial period, it has been upgraded to a monthly subscription that gives you the chance to win great products by participating in our competitions.  Following your request, we have now cancelled your subscription and it will not be renewed when it expires. 

As you are a member of LuxQuiz.com, aside from receiving the welcome bonus, you also have the chance of winning and receiving up to 4 trendy products by participating in our competitions, such as the Mac mini, Canon camera iXUS, Beats headphones, and much more! The sooner you start playing, the more chances you’ll have of winning many different products. 

Enter www. Luxquiz.com.com now to choose one of the competitions and be the fastest to win! 

Warm Regards,  Luxquiz Support  

Me: Not good enough.

LuxQuiz Customer Service replied:  

Dear Owen, 

Please see the offer accepted attached. As you can see, on both landing and payment page it was specified the cost of the subscription and its automatic renewal. 

“When your trial period of 3 days expires, it will automatically continue into a recurring subscription where you can win prizes worth tons of money for just 129 CAD per month. You can cancel your trial period or subscription at any time” 

If you look at the text marked in red on both pages, you will see that during registration you had information regarding prices, competitions, trial period, how to receive the welcome bonus and how to cancel the subscription. 

In addition, during this process you had to tick the box “I accept Luxquiz’s Terms and Conditions” and you were able to click on “Terms and Conditions” to be redirected to https://www.luxquiz.com/gb/terms where you could find more detailed information about how Luxquiz.com works. 

I can see that your PIN code to verify your address has been sent and you will receive it soon. As soon as you receive it, just go to “My Account” section and enter the PIN code. Luxquiz.com will then ship your Welcome Bonus as fast as possible. 

Aside from receiving the welcome bonus, you also have the chance of winning and receiving up to 4 trendy products by participating in our competitions. 

In addition, everyone who subscribes is participating to win the new iPhone 6. We select a winner for the new iPhone 6 every 500 participants. If you are the winner, you will be contacted by e-mail. 

Warm Regards,   
Luxquiz Support 

Me: I want my money returned to me.

LuxQuiz Customer Service replied:  

Hello, 

According to our refund policy, we can request a refund of your last payment. 

However, if you choose that option, you will not be able to receive the iPod shuffle. 

Warm Regards,  
Luxquiz Support  

Me: I want my money returned to me.

LuxQuiz Customer Service replied:  

Hello, 

We inform you that we have sent your refund request to our payment department. You will receive a reply by e-mail within the next 48 hours. 

Warm Regards,  
Luxquiz.com Customer Service.

Luxquiz Customer Service: 
We have the pleasure to confirm that a refund of 129.00 CAD has been processed by today on the 2016-02-01. We inform you that this amount will be available on your account within 10 working days even if it normally takes a couple of days. 

Me: Thank you so much for returning my money. Regards, Owen Mellow

Another miracle! Persistence pays off!
 
  

My new video!

Today, I went for a walk with my grandson, granddaughter, and son-in-law. Here is a highlight reel of some of the best moments. Thanks to Charlie, the grandson IT man, for putting all this together. He is also my favourite grandson.

The Miracle

I tape most of the hockey games that I watch. I like to fast forward through the commercials and the between-period blather. Last Saturday, at the six-minute mark of the opening period, my PVR suddenly vaulted to the live game, which was in the middle of the second period. I rewound to the six-minute mark, and soon after the PVR again moved to the live game.

Since this has been happening a lot lately, I decided to call Bell. The representative did the usual. He asked for my phone number even though I had input the number while working my way through the maze of options with the computer. After explaining the nature of the PVR problem (twice!), we agreed that I needed a new PVR. He noted that I have been a loyal customer for many years and that I should get a free replacement. He advised me to call Bell Loyalty on Monday. Loyalty does not work on the weekend.

I called Bell on the Monday. Once again I navigated the maze and was greeted with a "How can I help you voice?"

Me: Please give me the Loyalty Department.
Bell: Well, first let me get your phone number.
Me: I want the Loyalty Department.
Bell: OK, I will transfer you.
Bell Loyalty: How can I help you?
Me: Long detailed explanation regarding PVR problem, conversation tech guy on Saturday, long time customer, etc.
Bell Loyalty: What is the model of your PVR?
Me: Go to PVR, squat down to the level of PVR, and say 9410.
Bell Loyalty: Oh, you own that one.
Me: I need a new one.
Bell Loyalty: Can you explain the problem to me?
Me (starting to lose it): I repeat the problem.
Bell Loyalty: I am transferring you to the Tech Department.
Me: What the ........
Bell Tech Department: How can I help you?
Me: Please be warned, I am peeved about this runaround. I explain the whole thing to her.
Bell Tech Department: Is your PVR a 9400?
Me: Yes.
Bell Tech Department: I am going to talk to the Loyalty Department about your PVR. Please bear with me.
Me: OK. Time passes.
Bell Tech Department: Mr. Mellow, you will be receiving a free PVR. I will send you an e-mail confirmation. [Also, here comes the miracle:] I will credit your account with $30.00 as compensation for all of the confusion that you experienced today.
Me: Well, thank you very, very much.
Bell Tech Department: You are welcome.

Who would have dreamed, that after all these years, Bell would finally clue in? And give credit for poor service! I am speechless.
I now believe in miracles.

Worthy: A Novel by Bobbie Smith

Worthy

A novel by Bobbie Smith

Self Published

Available at Amazon

I enjoyed this novel. Do yourself a favor and purchase a copy on Amazon. You will find that Worthy is as good as anything on the top ten fiction list.

I interviewed Bobbie by e-mail. The Q & A follows.

Bobbie Smith

Hi Owen, thanks for being so patient with me. I hope this gives you what you need. See answers below...

My novel: Worthy—available on Amazon 

Web: bobbiesmith.ca

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/writerbobbiesmith

Twitter: @cityofsmith 

Facebook:  /iClarifySimplifyEngage/

Blog:  Clarify, Simplify & Engage 

Hi Bobbie: First of all let me say that I enjoyed your novel. It was a page turner for me.

Here are my questions:

1. What question would you like me to ask you? What is your answer to this question? What do you want from your readers?

I’d love it if they bought and read my book and then posted a review (good or bad) on Amazon, as that’s what helps other potential readers make their decision. Also, it would be great if readers talked about it with their friends and family. :) This is the direct link to my book’s spot on the Amazon site: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/1519133286

2. What is the message of your novel?

It’s interesting that you ask what the message it. For me, that could be interpreted in a number of ways. For example, 'what message do I hope to send?' and 'what message do people get from my book?’ are possibly two different messages, and there are many in there, I suspect.

My main message is to expose the deep-seated belief that women having sex and getting pregnant makes them, and only them, a sinful person who should be filled with shame, and we have been conditioned to believe that. Certainly, WWII outport Newfoundland was a microcosm for exploring that theme but I do believe that many societies are still trapped in that mindset to varying degrees. I think we need to re-think and re-educate society about how we respond to women, their bodies and come up with kinder acceptance and greater understanding of what it means to bring children into the world.

3. How much time did you invest in this novel? How many rewrites were needed?

I started this novel on Labour Day Weekend in 2009, which means by the time I published it, 6 years had passed. That doesn’t mean I spent the whole 6 years writing it. I find I have to take lots of breaks and come back to the story to keep it fresh. In fact, there are times, as a writer, I’ve come back to that work and can’t even remember some of the passages, as I was ‘in the zone’ at the time. That is always a fascinating and pleasant surprise.

4.What experiences did you draw on to write this novel? How do you know about nuns, abusive families, police behaviour?

I drew on my knowledge of the place where my father grew up and experiences that I’ve heard from friends who grew up in outport Newfoundland, the culture of the province, having grown up in a Catholic school and being taught by nuns. Having grown up in a dysfunctional family has certainly helped and lots of crimes shows, esp Law & Order. I’m a crime-show junkie. So add all that together as fodder, add a dash of research, and then add my insane imagination and you have a recipe for fiction. :)

5. Please tell me about the three-day challenge that started this novel.

The 3-Day Novel Writing Contest is my ‘writing secret’, if you will. It’s my ‘silver bullet.’ Without it, I could not have gotten this far. It has been happening every Labour Day Weekend since 1977. I tried it for the first time in 2009—it was something I’d wanted to try for about 5 years but the timing hadn’t been right. So on that first #3DNC weekend, I wrote the first 25,000 words of Worthy. Out of the past 7 #3DNC weekends, I spent 4 of them on various parts of Worthy, which meant I couldn’t register for the contest (except the first one) because your writing cannot start until midnight Fri night of that weekend. 

I have about 70 file versions of it but the differences between those files could be a three-sentence addition, a complete typo-proofread or completely new chapters. I’d guess I easily did 30 drafts.

6. Please tell me about the process of marketing this novel.

At the start, it feels great. I’ve done some Amazon ads, Facebook ads, social media promotions and word-of-mouth selling in Newfoundland—we love to consume our own culture, as my friend Lisa puts it, so it’s somewhat accessible to promote NFLD work to other Newfoundlanders. Also I went to NFLD in December to talk it up with bookstores and giftstores in St. John’s, as tourists also love to buy local writing. However, after time goes by, if the momentum calms, it’s tougher to get going again. Writers like to focus on the writing but you do have to carve out time to promote the book, as well. I find that my writer colleagues, friends and family are the ones urging me to continue promoting, as they certainly see the benefits and want to see me succeed. 

7. What is your next project? 

My next project in writing is the product of #3DNC 2012 called Runaway. It’s about a teen boy who runs away from home and how he and his NFLD family and community respond on either ends of the disappearance. I only had about 16,000 words to start with, but it’s better than nothing! :)