This morning I am writing on a brand new computer. I had a great one that froze on me way back in September. I spent hours and hours trying to get it back but it would work for an hour or so and then shut down without warning. I spent time on-line with tech people and talked to me computer geek brother about it. It seemed obvious that it had a mechanical flaw. So the company sent me a box and I sent the box and the computer back on October 3rd. About three weeks later I got an email thanking me for my business and closing the file. I objected. I had not received any notice that my computer was fixed or on its way back. How could the file be closed?
I got a phone call a week or so later. The computer was back with the company but there was some confusion around the shipping address. My postal code starts a T. Somehow it was recorded as 5. There had been an attempt to deliver it but they could not find the address. Using the tracking number, five emails and 3 phone calls later we determine that it was delivered to someone in Mississauga … 4,000 kilometres away. It was delivered on October 28th. Again I received a nice email thanking me and notifying me that the file would be closed.
So It is February now. Yesterday I finally was able to get my hands on the new replacement computer. It is a beauty. I will watch for the signs of malfunction closely. I have learned a lot about how to get the computer back… none of which worked on my hard defective hardware but might work on something in the programming going awry. I have also learned to be persistent, but I already knew that and for the most part it was a gentle, honest, open, specific talk kind of persistence.
It has been difficult for me to work with out a fully reliable computer so I welcome this state of the art machine. We will have to spend sometime getting to know each other and I will have to mothball the one I brought out of hiding once again. If I included the time I spent trying to upgrade that one from vista to 8.1 with no luck at all and the time I spent with the repair people and the customer service people I could probably have finished my book.
Life is full of disruptions. Sometimes they take the form of shiny objects to chase down dead-end roads. I had one such call yesterday. Someone from a news radio station out of New York. He asked me a million questions and kept me on the phone for over an hour. Near the beginning of the conversation, after he had said that he was targeting small businesses and looking for the best female coaches in Canada to feature on his radio show where I would be interviewed by Doug Llewellyn, I asked if there was a fee and mentioned that if there was I was not interested. I was pretty and Other clear. I have heard these kind of stories before. So after reassurances that the entrepreneurs would pay NO FEE – his exact words – I answered his questions about my story and why women would hire me as their coach. there were personal questions about what I charge and how many clients I would be able to take on because millions of people would be calling me after the broadcast.
Then the shoe dropped … A script writer would be calling me and his fee was $995.00. Then a tirade about the money that would flow to me as a result. I was disappointed and I said so. He had wasted my time and his. Even though I had specifically asked and was adamantly reassured that this was at no cost to me there indeed WAS a fee. I felt duped. I had people waiting for me so I excused myself after expressing my disappointment and my feelings of having been played.
The experience must have been valuable at some level, right? I did learn that I am not as interested in building a client list as I am in helping people I know and who have come to me for education or coaching help. I love working with people. I love to hear the uniqueness in every story and the find the hidden potential they may have overlooked. It is satisfying.
I could go on but I have already exceeded my typical three to four hundred words in a blog rule and now I am taking your time. So sorry. Yours is valuable. Now that I have these two time wasters off my chest and I have a new shiny computer to work on I will go back to the rhythm of shorter and hopefully more frequent blogs. Take good care. Remember to SHIFT when you are feeling down.
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