Rant for 2009 - Pro Flowers, CCA and XM Radio, fraud
Scams - Rants of American Business Fraud
WOW – In 1 day I have had too much fun dealing with American
business that is being evil! So it seems.....
Lets start with Pro Flowers! They are the biggest publicized
flower place I have ever seen. I hear ads or radio, all over the web and
thought they were a good deal for flowers. I sent a pretty girl some flowers
and started getting regular offers in my in box. I started to be a bit annoyed
by the number of emails and stopped reading them a long time ago.
Upon Credit Card review I found a $14.95 charge listed as a
saver program – thru Pro Flowers. I never authorized these charges. I never
signed up for anything, I sent flowers 1 time and they now had my credit card
number, and after a little deeper checking, had been charging me 14.95 for
months!
When I called the number to have the charges stopped, the automated
service required the last 4 of the credit card used to sign up for the service.
Since I never signed up, I could get no further.
I emailed my bank and today started action. I disputed 3
months, the most you can, so I was told by my bank, and then shut the card off,
making payments impossible for future charges.
I am without that card until I get the new card, have other
accounts on auto pay that I have authorized that need to be changed to the new
card once it arrives, and have 4 months I can’t dispute because they are too
old.
PRO FLOWERS SUCK!!!!
Lets go to an unresolved, yet frustration none the less. XM
service for XM radio was shut off because I did not pay the 3 month renewal.
That’s fine. Didn’t want to pay the fee and thought it was done. Then started
getting calls and now a letter from CCA – Collection Company of America.
It lists an amount of $43.85 past due and now turned over to collections. From
what I understand, I paid for the service when I started and it is billed every
3 months for the upcoming service period. I signed no term contract. I believe
the problem is not with XM but actually with CCA.
A little search online shows many fraud complaints against
CCA. I can’t tell how they knew I was not using XM any more, but it would seem
that CCA is a total scam and full of
crap! I called the numbers provided to speak to someone about the “claim” and
the phone just rang, no answer. I them called the toll free # and had a
computerized service answer, and looped me thru the last segment for 6 times
before I hung up – of course the machine kept thanking me for holding as part
of the loop.
CCA – another scam??
Is XM Radio in on a SCAM??
2 issues = 1 common thread!
I asked the bank if they had heard of Pro Flowers making
unauthorized charges and scamming people… The lady said, “You are not the only
one! We have many complaints!” GOOGLE Search said CCA is full of poopie a few
times in the top search results also. Yet it showed a site listing and it
looked very official. SO – are companies getting hacked or just slapping the
public for short term gains before going all GM on us???
I am not happy with the greed that runs thru our leaders,
government, major US businesses and losers that are trying to scam me every time
I turn around. Maybe the time doesn’t detour
the crime. It would seem this is an understatement.
Not going to go all morbid here, but really think the time
or consequences need to be a lot more scary. A slap on the hand measured
against the possibility of court action and some time in jail doesn’t seem to
be an effective discouragement for crime.
I get 300-400 scam junk mail a day. Love to work with law
enforcement on an effective way to discourage losers from being professional
losers.
The bottom line - We are living in tough times! Please take the extra few minutes to review Credit Card Statements and watch for shady business practices from Credit Cards, Services online and review statements for possible fraud. You might be surprised what you find on your bank statements. Act immediately! Don't wait. You can only dispute back 3 months so hanging onto your hard earned cash is going to continue to be a part time job.
Death, Grief, Grieving, Loss, Life and Investing in others.....
I have not posted in a while. My daughters Birthday, Mom's Birthday, school year is ending and work has been crazy - all has kept me away from the net this past couple of weeks. One event that has consumed the last few days has been the death of a dear friend, not even 50 yet. I have spent a lot of time talking to friends and working thru the grief that we all feel when a loved one leaves the planet. These discussions have shaped the following article and I share it now with you. It is really about Death, Grief, Grieving, Loss, Life and Investing in others. I hope you might take a second to read and reflect on the things that do really matter.
How do you measure a life?
The cross
I had a friend die this past week that has left me feeling the loss of
his presence from this planet. What is that feeling of loss?
I believe we feel loss due to the investment that person made on our
lives. The value and character that person lived and the feeling of
value we felt by knowing them is the impact they made on us. The love
that we shared, history we had and stories we can tell are examples of
that impact.
Let me tell you a brief story. When my wife Diana lost her dad, Al
Ditri, many people where affected. Al had been a loving man and had
lived life to the fullest with lots of people sharing that experience
with him. I felt loss and sadness, but Diana was devastated. I began to
realize that the loss felt had to be related to the quality of
investment made by that person.
Funny thing for me, was realizing that part of my grief had to do with
the fact that I would never feel that for my own dad. My dad had been
the poster child for relational damage, and I found myself also
mourning the loss of any hope for a loving dad like she had
experienced. It was an odd feeling to actually be jealous of her grief.
Years later, my dad died. I had not heard from him in over a decade and
sad to say, no one I knew was affected in any way by the news of his
passing. The amount of investment, and character from my dad negated
any feeling of loss. Any sadness I felt had to do with the reality that
the only dad you get in life, sucked for me.
It was then that I remembered what I had experienced with Diana. The
amount of investment is directly proportionate to the sense of loss.
The better or bigger the person, the longer the investment period, the
greater the loss.
As I have watched my world begin grieving the loss of Bill Bieschke, I
noticed one more thing. I have felt the cumulative effects of so many
in my life grieving at the same time. Many of the most important people
in my life knew and loved Bill. Everywhere I go, people are talking
about Bill and telling stories of how much Bill meant to them. So many
people are feeling that loss right now.
It made me think. If the value of a life is measured by the love and
investment made in others, and the scope of that life is felt as far as
you can see, then the measure of that life must have been huge.
I found myself telling people that the hurt they feel is a privilege.
To be able to hurt is a testament of the value that person was in our
lives! We actually celebrate a life by mourning that loss!
To answer the question I began with; I believe you can measure a life
by the loss felt when it is gone. I know many people feeling the loss
of our brother Bill, and that is a testament to the investment he made
in the many people around him.
Lastly, I think this is an important perspective to maintain, to live
life to the fullest, and make a difference in the world. Right now,
many of my friends are thinking about things that actually matter. They
aren’t talking about a boss that sucks or money problems. They are
talking about feelings, loss, life, death and looking within.
Mortality is still 100% in America! We all have a limited time on this
planet. We all hope to make a difference in our world. Life is not all
about me (or you). The investment we make in others is the success we
will be measured by.
I write this as much for the potential reader feeling loss as I do for
myself. I hope I can remember what I feel today thru the rest of my
life and live it loving and investing value in the people around me.
Success will never be measured by your business or personal
accomplishments. It will be measured by your ability to lift others up.
You will find success as you invest in the lives around you. The
measure of your life will be the people you touched. Show up. Be there.
Share live and tell the people you love, “I love you” often. Life is
short, so live it doing the things that matter and invest in the things
that last. People are forever. Make an investment that can go with you
from this life into the next.
And please, make peace with God. You will be standing before him one
day and it is an important moment to have prepared for. Bill is in
heaven today, hanging with some of the most amazing people that ever
graced our planet. Bill found forgiveness and relationship with God,
living these realities in very tangible ways. I am so thankful for his
life, his love, his example and his investments.
Love you Bill. Prayers to Gwen and the many many people that you invested in! They are a little sad right now.
Services scheduled at Saddleback Church, Friday, June 19 at 2:00 pm in Main Sanctuary. Come to celebrate the gift of Bill Bieschke's life!!
A sax players ramblings on life, death, love, value and investing in others.
Greg Vail
Death, Grief, Grieving, Loss, Life and Investing in others.....
I have another celebration to post! My You Tube Channel has just broke another barrier for my Saxophone Videos Channel! As of early today - we hit the 250,000 views mark on the 37 videos I have posted on Youtube!! We are averaging over 1000 video views a day again and with the new Sax Video Site, things should continue to grow toward the next landmark of 500,000 video views coming sooner than the first 250,000! It took 13 months to get to 250,000. I have high hopes of doing the next 250,000 views in half the time!
Thanks for making my You Tube Channel such a huge success and continue to share videos on BLOGS, Socials and Websites. The viral nature of You Tube has been amazing, with dozens of sites carrying video all over the planet. I love seeing the counter spin and always enjoy the comments.
Thanks again for sharing this moment with me. Blessings to all as we roll into June and wind up for a great Summer 2009!!!
Greg Vail - SAXBOY
A Greg Vail Picture from Skeet Shooting last month - BLESSINGS!!
Hey you-all. Greg Vail here, supposed to be recording but the sound of hammers and saws on my studio wall have halted that fun for the time being. I often confess, and you know it must be true. When a musician has lots of posts going on it can only mean 1 of 2 things. They either have a staff person/employee/service posting stuff, or they are not very busy and catching up. Well, I could add a 3rd thing since sometimes it is because I can't sleep and push myself really hard to keep the momentum going so posts can come in the middle of lots of crazies, but usually come from a slow down and time. So, I have been really bad at posting as of late (May 2-3 times?) and really busy, for this I am happy! But the saw cutting up the stairs on my studio wall just gave me a minute to check in and post.
May is traditionally one of the busiest months of my year. I'm not sure why but have to say it happens every year.
A quick recap with my book open will give you an idea. 23 club dates 18 Church services and Rehearsals for them 3 casuals 3 day Church Conference all day one week 2 sax lessons taught Big gigs with the big stress - David Pack from Ambrosia and the KSBR BASH. My first remote recording session - Audio and Video 3 (1 ) song sessions for different people
But add: A Mac Lap that keeps blowing up 2 Web SEO clients and a web design client this month 2 new bands with meetings and rehearsals A live radio broadcast day at Doheny Jazz on KSBR 88.5 FM All my Saxes in and repaired this month Friends - 1 sick, 1 just had a baby, airport pick up, lunches and coffee a few times HA! - took 1 day off to go shooting! New Reverb Nation site NEW Web Site for Video - Sax Video dot TV - saxvideo.tv A NEW Social - Hi5 - gvSAXBOY.hi5.com
I also went thru all the sites and all the links lists and added all the URLS needed to have a complete list. Even I am overwhelmed by it all....
JUNE - what's in store?? I have a 10 song session for a smooth jazz group I am working to finish this week. Also working on DVD and CD completion for the remote session from last month. Artwork and DVD layout in progress. Hoping to get radio started soon for my CD - Smooth Jazz Classics, and get the rest of the business set up right for a big success! Going out of town a few times this month too, so stay tuned and check out some of these links above. Love to hear from you!
Some Comments on the Music Business and young Musicians in 2009
I took a few minutes to comment on a thread about the music business in 2009 last week. The thread was going very youthful in the sense it was pretty much stating that music was for the young and the older folks were trying to include young at heart. Many were trying to say the business is so much better for the musician in 2009 than ever before with opportunities at an all time high for self promotion.
I would agree with that one part, but sadly disagree with the BETTER part. I am including my response to the thread since I think it might proof for some interesting possible comments. Tell me what you think from your time in the music business. Is it getting better for musicians or harder and maybe worse to generate any real income?
My POST___________________________________________________________________
We live in a world that continues to change. Not all change is good,
but any change can be adapted to. I am one of those old guys that has
tried to be a part of the change and ride the crest with the web as a
tool. I have dozens of sites and all the socials running very
successfully.
I can tell the young guys that I work harder today than ever before
with every option I can find. I can also tell the young guys that this
is there world, until they have a family and bills to deal with. Life
gets more complicated and expensive, and there will come a day that
many of you will be working a day job to pay the rent because you can
not make a living in this business. I am out 7 nights a week and see
1/3 of the income I did 15 years ago from gigs and product sales.
I would agree with an earlier poster that you can set yourself up
very easy and look like a musician very easy in 2009. You can not make
a living in 2009 unless you have a very low expectation and definition
of that term.
To ignore those with history and experience is to be headed for
failure. To base ones business on a model that is out dated is also
heading for failure.
But the voice of the old guy, working in an ever changing paradigm
would say that all the change has not been for the good of the artist.
We have reentered a world that does not support the art or the artist.
True artists will always be artists, creating that art regardless of
the consumer trends. But an old guy saying that this kind of sucks is
simply an observation from a musician that used to make a really good
living and now is surviving with little to show for more effort and
better products than ever before. When I tell young guys about the good
ole days they are surprised. Many don’t know that you could make a
living years ago - 6 figures - from music. I guess ignorance is bliss.
And there is that other thing - talent that has been cultivated for
more years than a 20 something has been alive. That will always have
value! It just pays a lot less now since music became free.
I am thankful I am a musician! I just hope people value ability one day soon, like the ole days.
May is always a very busy month and I am not sure why. Every year I am slammed thru MAY and look forward to the activity while trying to survive the schedule. I am wise enough, at this point in life, to know that this is more of a busy month and less of a direction change. I always hope the later, but must accept the reality that this happens every year and JUNE being less active should never be a big surprise!
This last week I played Wind and Sea Monday night, had a home session Tuesday and rehearsal Tuesday night, played Saddleback Church night of worship Wednesday and Thursday night, did a session for a friend Thursday morning and Hennessey's late Thursday night, worked on the studio and uploaded video, pictures and updates thru the free time, had 3 business lunches for the CD release and then started the weekend.
Friday I had a meeting, a wedding single and Gentiles club gig. Saturday was spent setting up for and recording a recital at USC, including video, Protools session audio and Pictures thru the event. Sunday I was at Calvary Chapel Vista in the AM and Saddleback Church in the evening - 4 services.
Today is a new week and Monday morning. I am feeling the old back ache, but am very grateful for a week of REAL WORK! When it happens, I always feel like it as in the old days. You youngsters have no reference, but us old timers know - MUSICIANS USED TO WORK, BE BUSY AND GET PAID WELL!!
There is a whole new generation of young players that don't know that! Skills have value! Good players are supposed to get paid for their services. A gig is not supposed to be a chance to play, making a few dollars off CD sales and T-shirts to pay for the gas. Things have changed a lot and not for the better. The levels of quality continue to drop as the music marketplace becomes something that only a young, hobby oriented musician can afford to do or would be willing to do.
How unusual it is to be blown away by a band you see in a club anymore. How predictable it is to be laughing at the total lack of musicality represented by the duo or trio you see in todays clubs.
I took my Mom out for Mother's Day with my sister and we did dinner and a movie together. As we waited for the movie, we were drawn to the sounds of an outdoor venue with live music. As we got closer we could hear painfully lame vocals and found a need to go see who and what could sound so bad. I don't know why we are drawn to things that suck as much as things that rock but I digress.
Two chick singers, one on keyboards and one on sax, and add a guy guitar player singing too. To be honest, I don't think any one else as there to listen to how bad they were but my sister and I. She noticed the lack of hands moving on the keyboards as I was laughing at the old Casio they had put before her to pretend she was playing. The sax chick did play and at a pretty solid high school level, but was not that annoying since she actually played within her abilities very well and was appropriate to the music styles, and really soft in the mix! The guitar player was a little harder to figure out, since he could play guitar pretty well, but was just turned off 80% of the time. When a bad guitar sound did become audible, we figured that out.
What we had here was an attempt at professional Karaoke. The problem was not that they could not play or sing very well, but that they were frauds. Even to the point of the keyboard chick being unable to move her hands if she spoke or sang, and then acting like she was playing when she had nothing else to do with pained facial expressions and all.
WE HAD FUN BECAUSE THEY SUCKED. This was not the case 10 years ago. Hacks could not get gigs in LA, recorded nothing since studio time was too expensive, and still had some fun playing at home and for friends. Now the gigs pay so bad that no one else can afford to do these gigs. Add to it a continual dumbing down of audiences, that are fine with how lame this sounded, and realize the entertainment options for this major city are near zero on any given night - I'm done.........
Well, almost done - RECORDED MUSIC - There was this concept 10 years and more ago, that one could take some great music and put the very best musicians together to record it and it would at least pay for itself, maybe even make enough money to start a new recording. Since the world decided music is public domain and should always be free, the quality and frequency of any high quality has started spinning to NEVER. How can one spend 20 to 30 grand, loose it, making very little back on the investment, and be able to continue the cycle??
It is really simple if you take all the arguing out for a second. How can a great song writer afford to work all year and make no money to pay for food? He can not. Same goes for anything else. The quality of songs goes down. The quality of musicians goes down. The quality of recording goes down. With the lack of expectations from the ears and users of music in 2009, it seems to be working for all but those with the experience to do any of this really well.
This would just be a rant if I didn't add an action step.
I am calling MAY 15th - National give someone a dollar day. If you have not paid for a single song this year, yet have downloaded and shared any songs this year - I encourage you to go to iTunes and pay 1 dollar to an artist or band that you like, even if you already have the song. National Give SOMEONE a Dollar Day - MAY 15th. Help Support the music you love by paying a whole dollar toward the possibility of another song coming from that artist one day! It's a concept.... Run with it.... Buy a song or pay for a song you have and love.
Comments are always welcome and usually really fun. Thanks for listening to a sax player for a minute. Blessings and congrats to all our Graduates and blessings to our Mom's!
Been playing around with new apps on Face Book and Reverb Nation with My Band and My Stuff. Been trying to add the My Band tab to my product pages and found a BADGE thing on Face Book that I thought I would try and see how it works here. Stand back - I don't know how big this thing is gonna get....
John Tesh is a very complex entertainer and individual. Tesh has been very successful in so many areas of the entertainment world, both in music, broadcast and now many online efforts including online radio, books, DVDs, CDs, and on and on. One might even call him a modern renaissance man. Tesh efforts cover both spiritual and secular genres, TV, Cable, Radio and internet worlds, and he seems like a good guy too!
I have meet John Tesh a few times out at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and he is always upbeat, on his game and a treat to talk to. He always has something he is working on and often times, these things are centered around helping others and making a difference. I like that.
Enough said - I like John a lot! Oh, he is really tall too (but what does that have to do with this post?)
Well, I did a recording session a few weeks ago for John Tesh. It was a horn section call and I played Tenor Sax with some great players! The song we did was familiar and real high energy. I knew it was some kind of theme song but didn't really know what when we tracked that day.
I got an email today with the track all mixed and it sounded great! I also had a name on the file and now know what the track was. HAHA! We recorded the new 2009 version of Roundball Rock. This track is used for the NBA on NBC and I think is the theme song for Chicago Bulls too. Confession time - I am a sax player - follow the Lakers because I live in LA and my friends are Lakers fans. If I (the sax player) have any of this sports info wrong at all, feel free to correct me. I'm not gonna be offended!
Tesh has a video contest online you might want to look at with cash prizes.
...If you want to here a little sample of Roundball Rock. I could not find the new 2009 version online but samples give you an idea. The old version is up on You Tube, Live at Red Rocks and there is a 'version' of the new 09 track for download on the contest page (link above) but it is a more mellow mix version than the new 09 mix that is for Television.
You Tube Sax Videos - Landmark and New Videos to share!
You Tube Sax Videos - gvSAXBOY Channel
I have cause for celebration. My You Tube Channeljust hit a landmark with 0VER 200,000 views of Greg Vail Saxophone videos on You Tube!!
I have watched the numbers continue to grow over the first year of my Sax Channel, and I want to thank all of my web friends that have gone over to view videos and thanks for all the great comments, new friends, and thanks for sharing clips with friends and BLOG / Forum posts!! It is so cool to see people watching clips and sharing them!!
To Celebrate, I added a bunch of new video clips yesterday and will add them below to view from the BLOG. Thanks again!
In odd news - I have a Flickr account that is doing pretty well I am told. I added pics and tried to tell people about it and I'm not really sure what else you are supposed to do with a Flickr account so I'm happy with it. Well, it seems a pic I took and posted there has been added to a new map based on photos and reviews of California attractions. I think that's kinda cool, but don't really know other than I got an email with a link to show you-all. I am one of a few pics of the Anaheim Convention Center - pic from the NAMM show 2009.
In other news - business has really picked up with the phones ringing off the hook! I am so happy and so blessed to see things looking up for Spring and going into Summer! Big upturn in Session calls. Many are coming from Online friends and more are in the works. Thanks to Face Book, You Tube and My Space for actually showing some income trail after a long time just hanging and meeting people! Live gigs are booking again and I have as much web work as I would ever want right now. I am not complaining - I have a CD to be RELEASED shortly!! This is all very good!!
Well, off to bed - just thought I would share an odd one and a little good news on the work front.
