Sunday, December 14, 2008

HOAX Alert!! - RE: PLEEEEEEASE READ!!!! it was on the news!

AOL and Microsoft Tracking E-Mail and Paying!!!

People,

This is a really old HOAX!!!

Let us think about this logically.

A, It is basically NOT possible to track email in this way. It could be done by attaching a script to the message, but how they would track it back to you without your HOME ADDRESS being supplied by you I do not know. Also most email systems strip scripts as they are VERY DANGEROUS. NEVER run a program sent to you by anyone, never click on a link in an email. Be wary of any attachments sent to you, especially if you were not expecting them.

B, If you do the maths. You will see that within 7 iterations they would need to pay over £1 million pounds to each person! By 21 iterations you would be paying more than the economy of some small countries!

The main function of this sort of thing is to clog up email systems. It is a kind of manual virus.

Take a look at Snopes.com and you will find reference to this. I know I said don't click on links. So errr… Don't click on it ;)

Sorry to bust ya bubble.


Friday, December 12, 2008

Paypal

Another message from Paypal, and my response..

Subject Re: FileaComplaintintheEuropeanUnion (Routing Code: C826-L003-T13026-S111-W000000) (KMM29881289I96L0KM) :ppk4

Comments below...

2008/12/12 <webform@paypal.co.uk>
Dear Cosma,

Thank you for taking the time to contact PayPal with your concerns. My name
is Shicille and I am happy to assist you further.

Could you start by actually READING and UNDERSTANDING My complaint!

I understand that you are having a hard time using you Mobile phone for
security. I apologise for any inconvenience this may have cause you. Allow
me to help and provide you with the best possible solution.

No I am not having a hard time using my phone for security!. Your system is failing to send me the authorization sms!

It is our intention to reply to our customers within 24 hours. However, due
to an increase in email volume, our response time has been delayed and we
are diligently working to reply to each email received. Thank you for your
understanding and patience.

Well you failed on that one!

Please follow the simple step below on how to register your mobile phone
for security.

Here's how to register your mobile phone for Security Key Short Messaging
Service:

1. Go to the PayPal website and log in to your account.
2. Click Profile at the top of the page.
3. Click PayPal Security Key in the Account Information column.
4. Select Register and register your mobile phone for security key.
5. Register your mobile number and click Register.

After you register, you need to activate your mobile phone for the security
key. We will send you a Short Messaging Service (SMS) with a code and ask
you to confirm the code.

Why don't you actually READ My Message!!!! I have done this several times and it Always FAILS TO SEND THE SMS!!!

Note: The PayPal Security Key Short Messaging Service is free for a limited
time. Please note that your mobile carrier's standard text messaging
charges will apply. Please check with your mobile carrier for details.

I don't care IF IT WORKS!!!!

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the inconvenience this has caused
you.

Don't apologise! Just fix it!

Should you have additional questions or need help with your PayPal account,
please feel free to email or call our Customer Service Representatives on
08707 307 191.


I spent an hour on the phone to no avail!!!

Thank you for choosing PayPal, we appreciate your business with us.

Sincerely,
Shicille
PayPal European Services
PayPal, an eBay Company

That is all a lie Shicille!! You really do not care about my business.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Paypal

End of the Story
 
For once I nearly gave up on this one.  It was getting tedious, and I did not care that much.  But then Paypal decided to bombard me with a bunch of auto generated emails answering questions I did not ask so I thought I would give it another go.
 
 Glenn the Vhinz mailed me so I decided to call them again.  1 Hour and 15 minutes this took.  The 1st 7 minutes were doing battle with their auto attendant, which decided to send me 2 more emails that I did not request nor want!  Finally I get through to "Meg"  she proceeds to go down a dead end and does not listen to what I am trying to say to her about my issue.  She spent a great deal of time getting me to re register the phone and the decided it is because my phone does not use WAP 2.0!!  I explained to her that my phone does have WAP 2.0 and that was irrelevant to the conversation, but she would not have it.  Finally I asked to speak to her supervisor.  Along comes "Venessa".
 
We went through much of the same process I did with Meg, but she finally asked for the model of my mobile (Nokia N95 8Gb).  Venessa went away and checked.  Surprise surprise my phone is compatible with their system!  So what is the problem???  "What carrier are you on?", "T-Mobile", "Ahh! that's the problem".  Apparently T-Mobile in the UK does not work with Paypal text security!!!
 
OK.  I can live with that, I am not happy about it, but I can live with it.  My question is "Why the bloody hell does it not say that on the website??"  Why does it take 1 and a quarter hours of my time to find out?  Would it kill them to put this up on the web site?
 
I did point this out to Venessa and also registered a formal complaint with Paypal about their shoddy customer support and poorly trained staff.  I am not holding my breath that they will bother responding to me.
 
Come on world!  Someone out there must be able to start a viable competitor to this bunch of clowns!

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Free Jokes R Us

Hello all,
 
My Joke Website has had to move so I thought I would get a domain for it to make this less painful next time I have to move it.
 
Let me introduce you to......  Drum Roll.....
 
 
Can I please ask that you click on the odd ad occasionally in order to help me cover the costs.
 
The site has not changed much, other than I have fixed some broken links, but I shall try and give it a revamp and add some extra material asap.  In the previous location I was very limited with the amount of available space, this has, hopefully now been resolved.  Please mail me directly via the mailing list (as site owner) and let me know if there are still any problems.  Thanks.
 
Many regards
 
Cosma

Monday, December 08, 2008

PayPal

Paypal want an Opinion!

The nerve of these companies.

1st You make a mistake,

2nd You fail to resolve it

3rd You ask for a pat on the back!

Feel free to click on the link and give an opinion!

____________________________________________
Dear Sir,

On 12/05/2008, I spoke to you regarding your PayPal account. As part of PayPal's commitment to excellence, I want to make sure I met your needs in my response. Would you please take a minute to answer a few questions to let me know how I did?

http://<removed as I have already filled it in>

To respond to our survey, please click on the web address above. If that does not work, please cut and paste the entire web address into the address field of our browser.

NOTE: Please respond within five days so that you can provide timely feedback to me. AFTER 5 DAYS, THIS INVITATION WILL EXPIRE.

If you wish to take the survey anonymously, click the link below:

http://surveys2.incontact.com/paypal/survey_paypal.taf?survey_id=1428&user_id=782E7AAE-1AA4-4BF0-8AFF-DB8E09346108&anon=yes

Thank you for your help!

PayPal Customer Support

____________________________________________

Unfortunately CRAP! Was not an option!


Paypal

A response from Glenn at Paypal.

I will not bore you with the ins and out’s. It is just a standard email, that he has taken from a template, asking for all the info I gave to his colleague. Will these companies never learn to write down what is said to them!!!

I reiterated my issues….

Still waiting…..

Friday, December 05, 2008

Paypal

Here we go again...

Silly me. In an attempt to increase my security when using Paypal I decided to use their SMS to mobile phone service. I went to the web site and registered my mobile phone. I was supposed to then receive an SMS message with a code, that I then enter in to their site. Alas this code did not appear. What did appear was my mobile phone registered 3 time!

So I gave them a call. This is where the fun begins....

After spending a ridiculous amount to time dealing with their Auto attendant (during which time it sent me 2 emails that I did not want) I finally get through to a person. I will cut the story short here by saying that he was not really of much use.

I asked to speak to his supervisor and was put through to Quincy. She tells me that the reason that I had not received the SMS messages was that they had a fault that was effecting SMS's with T-Mobile. I asked why this was not indicted on the website (some kind of service status page) but she could not understand what I was trying to say. We spent some time with her telling me that my phone was only registered once, and me telling her that it was visible 3 times, when I decided to send her a screen shot. (shown for your information).



It clearly shows my number there 3 times. (I have smudged it in the picture).

She seemed to be having some problems receiving it??? Hmmmm... And also could not deal with the idea that I recognize an American accent when I hear one. Somewhere in the vicinity of New York, if I am not mistaken. So she would not confirm that, as she is at least 5 hours behind me, she has most of the day to look at my issue. She also did not seem to have the ability to look at the Internet so I could not give her this address, Although I will send it to her anyway :)

Quincy did promise to email me to let me know when a, the fault was cleared and b, when they had resolved my display issue.

Let's see if the famed American customer service is up to scratch....

The Girls Serenade the NHS

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

My Friend the author!

The second in a series

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

The 80's are alive and well...

Message from my friend Iain

I am Jealous!

Hi Cos,

I went to a great concert last night with 3 80's bands playing. It started with Heaven 17, then ABC and finished off with the Human League. The concert was 3 1/2 hours long and they played all their hits. The tour is called the Steel City tour and started in Glasgow last night. Here's a few pictures.

Iain