Bells online customer support

     So I had a question in regards to my contract end date with Bell Mobility. So I tried to call them, of course they were closed early on a Saturday night, so luckily I was near a computer and went to their online support instead.

     So after a 1 hour session with the rep, he was able to avoid all technical questions in regards to the IMEI and ICCID associated to the account, he was also not able to verify what in store rep made changes to the account and or what store location was the one that changed/renewed the contract that they have on file.

     He also did not show any indication that a warranty claim had been filed for the phone associated to the account. All he was able to do is provide the same date for the entire conversation.

     Now I can not say whether this is due to lack of system access or lack of training or not fully understanding what I was asking (And if so then he should of asked for clarification) or just unwillingness to provide full support. So for the time being I am going with the assumption that it is due to lack of system's unless I can prove otherwise.

     Now I did keep track of the entire conversation as it went along (it is posted below, names and dates and such have been edited for security reason's) for quality purposes.

     I also love the fact when asked for a call back by either customer care or a supervisor I was told that they can not do that........ Even AT&T Mobility does that....

     I definitely left feedback in the popup window you get when you go to close the chat window, that is also posted below.

     Lets just say at this point my faith in Bell Mobility is dwindling and I hope they can fix that. I have had this service/number since I moved to Nova Scotia and that has been over 15 years now.

Thank you for your patience an online representative will be with you shortly. Your wait time is approximately 1 minute(s).

You are chatting with John A.
Your name: Wilcre
Your number: ***-***-****
Your question: I have a question about my current Commitment period end date. 21:26

• Sir John A: Hi there William!
• Sir John A: No worries, I'm here for you I can definitely assist you with the contract.
• Sir John A: May I know what is it?
• Wilcre: Commitment period end date January 03, 20**
• Sir John A: Yes, would you like to double check it?
• Wilcre: I would like to know what renewed the contract, the last time it should of been renewed is when I got the Sony Xperia™ T
• Sir John A: I see, let me check it. I see that your account is protected by a pin. Can I have that, too? For me to be able to validate and secure your account.
• Wilcre: Sure not a problem it is ****
• Sir John A: Perfect! Thank you very much for the information, William.
• Wilcre: not a problem
• Sir John A: I'll review the log on your account. By the way how's our day today?
• Wilcre: thank you, and it was pretty good. thank you for asking.
• Sir John A: Great that is good to know. Let me see if I can make it perfect.
• Sir John A: I see here that you make a upgrade last January 4, 20** right?
• Wilcre: there was a upgrade but that should of been done sooner than that. does the account reflect when i claimed a warranty replacement for my sony, they had given me a Motorola as a temp phone to use.
• Sir John A: Yes, what I see here is that the contract starts on that date and on a three years contract.
• Wilcre: So with a warranty claim the contract is renewed again?.
• Sir John A: Let review it further.
• Sir John A: I see here that the upgrade started on January 4, 2013 and the contract didn't extend at all.
• Wilcre: can you confirm when it was I filed the warranty claim for the Sony Xperia™ T
• Wilcre: *Please
• Sir John A: Sure, let me check on it.
• Sir John A: I'm afraid but the warranty replacement was not recorded here on the account.
• Wilcre: can you confirm in the system when I was using a different IMEI than I am now, the first date that shows up would indicate the day I sent the phone in for repair and then when it changes again is the date when I got the Sony Xperia™ T back again.
• Sir John A: I see here that it is register last January 4, 2013 and the phone was not change. Did they repair the phone?
• Wilcre: Yes it was a internal battery issue with the phone. I know they didnt change the IMEI on the account; however the IMEI would of changed for the authentication in the system for when I got the temp phone and then again when I got the Sony back again.
• Sir John A: Yes, the thing is that I didn't see any record here that the commitment was change.
• Wilcre: ok just a second please.
• Sir John A: Sure, no worries.
• Wilcre: ok I am back, 21:58
• Sir John A: Great!
• Sir John A: What do you mean by the 21:58?
• Sir John A: Is that for the time?
• Wilcre: do you or your tech department have access to a system that records/lists the IMEI's and ICCID's that are associated and ro used on my account?. if so thenwe can confirm when the Sony Xperia™ T was originally purchased and placed on my account, from the papaer work I ahve been able to find I got the phone in the middle to start
• Wilcre: *start of 20** not 20**.
• Wilcre: sorry the 21:58 was copied over from a personal chat I have going with another person.
• Sir John A: Oh I see, no worries, let me verify the 20** logs again..
• Sir John A: I carefully check the logs for 2012 and I'm afraid but there's no records on it that it started on that date. I see here that it stared on the first month of 2013. That is what I see here base on the information on the account.
• Wilcre: Does your system show when I got the calling plan I have now?.
• Sir John A: Yes, I see here that the plan started on January 04, 20** that is the time when the upgrade is made.
• Wilcre: Does the system show you or can you find out on that date what store location renewed the contract?.
• Sir John A: I see here that when the contract started it was never renewed or extended.
• Sir John A: If the phone is repaired it would not extend the contract.
• Wilcre: Does the system show you or can you find out what store location started the contract?.
• Sir John A: Are you referring on the store where you activated the upgrade?
• Wilcre: I am trying to clarify what store started the contract currently on the account, I need to know if it was the store that did the warranty claim or the store I got the phone from, they are different stores in different cities.
• Sir John A: Let me see if I can find it.
• Wilcre: They are commissioned based their sales ID should be on the account.
• Sir John A: I'm afraid that is not recorded on this system .
• Wilcre: So the notes do not reflect what a in store agent does to the account by their ID or name or such!.
• Sir John A: I'm afraid yes, the system are not showing on what store does the upgrade happen.
• Wilcre: does ti show for the calling plan!.
• Sir John A: Your rate plan change to Fab 10 Promo 65 - 36M last January 4, 20**.
• Wilcre: ok by what store location, only 2 agents had access to my account, i need to know what one.
• Sir John A: I'm afraid that the store location is not shown here.
• Wilcre: does it state a store number possibly?.
• Sir John A: No store Id is reflected. It gives Application number which is ********.
• Wilcre: Unfortunately that doesn't help me without full access to your internal systems.
• Sir John A: I understand you. If you want you may call our client care department for they are using different system from us and they have more access than us here on chat. Would you like to get the number?
• Wilcre: unfortunately unless I speak to tech support customer care is closed as per the IVR which is why I have come to the online department.
• Sir John A: I see, I'm afraid that please contact the said department again tomorrow. For this is the only information I have in our system.
• Sir John A: I'll do everything that I can the thing is that is the only information here on the account. I hope you understand.
• Sir John A: For now would that be all to serve you?
• Wilcre: Are you able to have either have a supervisor or customer care call me tomorrow after 15
• Wilcre: Are you able to have either have a supervisor or customer care call me tomorrow after 15:00 AST.
• Sir John A: I'm afraid but we can't set up a call back.
• Wilcre: Sorry first line got cut short.
• Sir John A: For now would that be all to serve you?
• Wilcre: Are you able to leave detailed notes on the account for me so that all they have to do is read the notes instead of me having to re-explain everything to them when I call back in again.
• Sir John A: Absolutely! I'll explain the situation on the account and leave a notes here. To serve as their reference once you call.
• Wilcre: ok thank you then. that is all. have a good night sir. 22:36.
• Sir John A: You too have a good night! It's been a pleasure assisting you regarding the contract! Thank you for choosing Bell mobility. Have a great day, William! Smile always!
• Sir John A: Bye for now! Cheers!

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When asking the rep for detailed info in reguards to my contract, he was only able to provide the month, day and year. When asked what agent put the current rate plan in to place he could not provide that information, nor could he provide the store location that put the plan in to place. The agent also stated that he could not confirm when the ICCID on the account changed and then changed back again, He was also unable to find any mention on the account about a warranty claim that was filed on my Sony Xperia™ T.  Either the online customer care reps need more access to the systems to locate this information or the information should be listed in the system, that is going with the assumption that the representitive was not misleading me and just kept me online for a hour. Full transcript of the conversation is available if you dont already have a copy of it for quality assurance purposes.

Total character limitation: 900. I had to reduce the word "Information" to "Info" to make everything fit. Heck, a MMS can handle a higher character count then their "additional info" section can.

And just in case I have the gallows ready and waiting for Bell Mobility.

The dreaded dialing of a phone.

Hello and good day to all.

     This is a message to warn you of dialing your phone (Landlines/Cellular devices or if still around those old archaic things called payphones') in the next 11 days (August 23, 2014) within the boundaries of Nova Scotia (A.K.A: NS) and Prince Edward Island (A.K.A: PEI) you will get a verbal reminder stating "dial 902 before the call is completed"..

CTV News article

     As of  November 16, 2014 which is in (95 days) 10-digit dialing will be mandatory and if not dialed landline users & /Cellular device users (And yes even those old archaic things called payphones) will hear the message of "The area code is now required and you need to redial to complete the call".

     As of November 30, 2014 (109 days) "The new area code, 782 will be introduced and used in the same region as area code 902. Anyone who already has a number with area code 902 will keep the same number. For all local calls, You will always dial 10 digits (area code + local number)".

     So this is a suck it up and make the changes now, or expect some very unfriendly customer service reps either in the stores; or over the phone; or online for the carrier that you are through. They will have a very snarky attitudes towards you when you call them to complain that it is too much of a hassle for you to program your phone book and or update your phone book on the phone you use to include the area code and expect them to do it for you.

     This is a FYI, these agents are not allowed to bring their magic wands with them to work so they can not just wave their wand over your phone to make this hassle go away for you.

Ensure you program your telecommunications devices in advance to handle 10-digit dialing. See the checklist on www.dial10.ca for more information.

kids and Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons Camp Day

     So the Tim Hortons (Twitter name @TimHortons or for the french version they are @ChezTimHortons or in the USA @TimHortonsUs) camp day is on Wednesday June 4th 2014 this year. Every time you and people you know buy a coffee from Tim Hortons all the 100% proceeds of that coffee go to help children go to camp this year with Tim Hortons. Last year alone more than 17,000 disadvantaged children got to go to camp at 1 of 6 local camps in North America run and operated by THCF (on twitter as @thcf1974). You can also help buy texting the word “Camp” to 45678 and you will of donated $5 to this event and the $5 charge will show on your next invoice from your wireless carrier.

This year the target that Tim Hortons has set to send a kid to camp is 200,000  which is a hefty goal but the end result is a miracle not only to reach but also a miracle for the children that get to go to the camps as well. There are 2 recent videos I found online (Listed below). Last year alone Tim Hortons took in 11.8 Million in Donations for the camps and children.

THCF - "In Their Own Words": http://youtu.be/JuFWYIHmRVo
About camp day at Tim Horton Children's Foundation - Because of Camp: http://youtu.be/2A1edJ-aRPU

Tim Hortons just recently passed there 50th year in business starting with their first store in Brampton Ontario and when camp day first started 40 years ago they had coin collection boxes available at their cash registers for people to make donations but now you can also for some time also do what they call is Rent-A-Tent for $1 or Rent-A-Cabin for $2 in the stores as well. But now you can also have then server round your transaction up to the nearest dollar as well and that extra is donated to the Camp Day event as well.

Virtually all stores have a different way of celebrating camp day by decorating each store differently and or by the employee's dressing differently or by doing different events like selling hot dogs and hamburgers or other items or by doing draws for items like Tim Hortons cup's and such. By them doing this they are also taking these extra proceeds and putting them towards camp day as well. So if you have the chance to and you normally go to more Tim Hortons more than once a day try and go to a different one each visit on that day and see what the difference is between them, you may be thoroughly surprised by what you see there.

Also again this year Tim Hortons is holding another free open house at their Tatamagouche Nova Scotia camp site. It is on June 1st from 1pm to 5pm. They will be having games, face painting and boating and snacks as well
The Tim Horton Children's Camp in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia opened in 1988. The camp is located on the shores of the Northumberland Strait where campers can experience Maritime living and heritage.  The Tim Horton Children's Camp hosts residential campers throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools.

• Tim Horton Children's Camp
• RR #3 (Sunrise Trail - Route 6)
• Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
• Tel: 1-(902) 657-2359

Now you can also volunteer with the camps in many ways, but here are the 2 key selling points
Tim Horton Children's Foundation volunteers contribute thousands of hours helping economically disadvantaged children discover their best at camp. Whether you want to volunteer in the camp program, help get the site ready to welcome over 16,000 young people, or support the administration of the Foundation, the Tim Horton Children's Foundation has a wide variety of volunteer opportunities to match your passion, skills and schedule.
Apply to be a volunteer http://www.timhortons.com/ca/pdf/2014_Volunteer_Application_Form_EN.pdf with the Tim Horton Children's Foundation
Benefits of Volunteering: Volunteering is more than just sharing your time and passion, it's about the satisfaction of knowing you are helping people become stronger, giving back to your community and gaining valuable work experience that will enhance your career development.
You can also contact the Tim Horton Children's Foundation Home Office at 1-519-448-1248 to learn about volunteer opportunities in your area.


To wrap this up here is a listing of all the Tim Hortons camp sites with the recommendation to see what you can do to help in one way or another with the camp and or the children.

Tim Horton Onondaga Farms, St. George

Tim Horton Onondaga Farms opened in June 2002 on 400 acres of rolling hills and wetlands in St. George, Ontario (near Brantford) and is the Foundation's newest camp. Onondaga Farms hosts both residential campers and Youth Leadership Program participants throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Tim Horton Onondaga Farms
RR #2, 264 Glen Morris Road East
St. George, Ontario
Tel: 1-(519) 448-1264

Tim Horton Children's Ranch, Kananaskis

The Tim Horton Children's Ranch, which opened in 1991, is nestled on 150 acres in beautiful Kananaskis Country, Alberta. Participants at "the Ranch" have the unique experience of living in the Canadian Rockies, and enjoying activities such as horseback riding, rock climbing and white water rafting as well as other traditional camp activities. Tim Horton Children's Ranch hosts residential campers throughout the summer months. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Tim Horton Children's Ranch
1 Tim Horton Drive & Hwy. # 40
P.O. Box 117
Kananaskis, Alberta
Tel: 1-(403) 673-2494

Tim Horton Camp Kentahten, Campbellsville

Opened in 2001, this is the first Tim Horton Children's Foundation camp in the United States. The camp occupies 50 acres of waterfront property on Green River Lake, in the heart of Kentucky.  Tim Horton Camp Kentahten hosts residential campers throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Camp Kentahten
49 Kentahten Trail
Campbellsville, KY, 42718
1-(270) 465-9250

Tim Horton Children's Camp, Tatamagouche

The Tim Horton Children's Camp in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia opened in 1988. The camp is located on the shores of the Northumberland Strait where campers can experience Maritime living and heritage.  The Tim Horton Children's Camp hosts residential campers throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Tim Horton Children's Camp
RR #3 (Sunrise Trail - Route 6)
Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia
Tel: 1-(902) 657-2359

Camp Des Voyageurs Tim Horton, Quyon

The Foundation's fourth camp opened in Quyon, Quebec in 1994.  Set on Pontiac Bay of the Ottawa river guests at Camp des Voyageurs Tim Horton can enjoy learning about the rich Voyageur history in the area of the camp. Camp des Voyageurs Tim Horton hosts residential campers throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Camp des Voyageurs Tim Horton
60, chemin du Canal
Quyon, Quebec
Tel: 1-(819) 458-3164

Tim Horton Memorial Camp, Parry Sound

The Tim Horton Memorial Camp is the Foundation's first camp, established in 1975 and is located on Lorimer Lake, north of Parry Sound, Ontario. Situated on 104 acres of land the camp offers many outdoor activities and facilities for all guests to enjoy, including 800 feet of sandy beach.  The Tim Horton Memorial Camp hosts both residential campers and Youth Leadership Program participants throughout the summer months and March Break. Schools, youth groups and other community organizations that meet the Foundation's selection criteria can also benefit from year-round programming.

Memorial Camp
RR #1, Lorimer Lake
Parry Sound, Ontario
Tel: 1-(705) 389-2773

This is a link to all the camp sites right from the main home page that I scoured to get all this info http://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/difference/the_camps.html

Drive Thru's

     So what is with drive thru's these days?

     Drive Thru's were originally used for expiated service for customers! however this day and age people claim that they are there for the same reason and nothing has changed.

     This could not be further from the truth. the next time you go to a location that has a drive thru available take a look at the last vehicle in line before you go in to the store and check again when you leave for the same vehicle, 9 times out of 10 that same vehicle is still in line and awaiting to pull up to the window to get their product.

     In most situations there are a couple things that make the drive thru slower than being served in store in no particular order.

     (Normally most businesses have more people working the drive thru than any other station in the store to try and make it more efficient but in most cases it makes it very inefficient instead).

1. Customers not knowing what they want to get.
2. Customers not having their payment method ready when they have to pay.
3. Being allowed to place large orders.
4. Employee's taking their time.
1. Employee's spending time talking to the customers after the transaction is finalized.

     So why is it that the drive thru is now slower than being served inside majority of the time?.

     Prime example is now most subways I have been to lately either have a sign up or will tell their customers not to be using their wireless devices while placing their order, if the customer does not abide by that they will skip that customer and go to the next one till that person is done using the wireless device.

     By doing that they are not holding up their other customers and wasting time, it is also placing ownership of the customers back on to them for the time spent their and not on the employee's for being frustrated by the customers by not co-operating with the employee that is simply trying to do their job.

     Now we have Tim Horton's drive thru, they will sell anything that they have in the store through their drive thru and in any amount. There have been numerous times I have been in the store and seen the employee's making numerous sandwiches or a couple trays of coffee's and taking it to the drive through window to give to a customer.

     What is the point of going through the drive through to order something that size. That type of transaction should be done in the store instead.

     The thing most people do not realize is that most if not all companies have a time limit for each transaction being conducted at the drive through and that in turn goes towards their appraisals when they are done.

     In summary, people need to get up off of their arses and stop being so lazy and go inside and leave the drive thru alone for the people that are getting 1 or 2 quick serve items in the drive through.

Gift cards

So what is the point of a gift card?

The point is to try and grow your business. This is done in 2 ways.

1. Have a customer base that will spend money in your store and only your store.
2. Have a cash balance sitting in a holding account accumulating a interest revenue very month/year that the money is there and unused.

     This is ideally a great idea to do. For not all gift cards will be used entirely up (Thus a small percentage of money is unused) thus the interest on the unused balance is a automatic profit for the company after a period of time as well as the interest accrued on that balance.

     Also for a percentage of people that do use the card('s) to get the benefit of the discount program albeit knowingly or unknowingly would and or are more likely to refill the card knowing that there is a balance of some sort on the card, thus getting the person to come to the place of business at least 1 more time if not more than that, thus a better chance of increasing customer loyalty and repeat business from someone that may of been a 1 time transaction.

In other terms

These become a long term repeat customer that is a guaranteed income over and over again.

This is the best type of customer no matter the business or the dollar value that is spent there.

     Then you have the people that will continuously refill the card for convenience instead of always using a debit/credit card and also better tracks the expense that is done there (Budgeting people).

But now the question posed is this.

     What is the increased benefit of a gift card that also has the benefit of a companies discount program attached to it!!!!

     Better advertisement of the company by the cheapest for of advertisement "Word of mouth".

     Now it is true a implementation of such a program is not easy to do if this was not done from the start of the discount program, however it can be phased in over a period of 1 year or less (depending on the size and regionalism of the company).

     Now there are people out there that work for these companies that say this would require too much extra work to have done.

     That simply is not true, most discount cards if not all can be swiped even if any of the items being purchased are not part of the discount program and no extra benefit is applied to the purchase.

     All that is required is for the gift card to be programmed with the generic code of all 0's or the like, thus when the card('s) are scanned the system sees the code and applies it as it would normally do for the normal discount card, if a discount is applicable the system would apply it if no discount is applicable then it does nothing as it already would do other than showing that the card was scanned and the balance does not change.

Never take the blame

So why is it that society this day and age does not take responsibility for their own errors?

     If you are having issues and an employee of the establishment gives you help by verbally informing on what to do and how to do it and you confirm you heard it all and understand what you are told.

Why it's it then when you do not follow the instructions that you were given and confirmed That you understood.

     What makes it worse is that there are also instruction on a card right in front of you with good size font so that it can be read where you were standing.

     After your transaction is done you proceed to then complain that you did not get your store discount and continue to push the issue after that employee that helped you reconfirmed to you again politely after the information that was given to you and then proceeds to point out the information that was readily available to be read where you were and where the information was available to you as well.

     With that being said how is it anyone's fault other than your own that you did not do what you were suppose to do with the information verbally given and available in written text in front of where you did the transaction.

     People in my opinion really need to start taking responsibility for their own errors and or mistakes and Stop blaming other people for their mistakes. We are not children but people of and or above the age maturity.

 

*These pictures were only used due to being handy and available at the time and are not specific to the situation posted above.

Sobeys Wyse Rd

     So today I finally broke down and went to the new Sobeys location that is at 210 Wyse Rd in Dartmouth; which surprisingly enough is open until 9pm on a Sunday, per their website but the front door decal at the store location states until 5pm. I think they need to get together and straighten the operational times out so there is no possible confusion.

     They have a large parking lot with ample parking of vehicles with a couple cart corrals as well. From the outside of the building the place looks quite large, however once inside it is larger than it appears to be.

     As for the layout of the store it is very well layed out with ample space to move around even if someone is stopped in the middle of an aisle which is a definite plus.

     They also have a ample amount of windows near the top of the walls near the ceiling in which to let plenty of light in (Which I would hope means that the lights that were installed inside the building are either on sensors to control how bright they are or they are all on dimmers so as to reduce energy use).

     Now it does appear that most of the employee's if not all the employees of the Sobeys from the old location on Primrose St have been moved to the new location. However one of the employee's I had to try and interact with today at the Salad/Sandwich counter was either having a bad day or she is like this all the time, completely ignored me as well as another customer that were trying to get her attention. When we finally got her attention she resisted on interacting with us but she served the other customer that was there. Then came my turn, I had asked if she had any more salads or if 1 could be made (keep in mind this is almost 4 hours before closing time), she walked away then came back and said she only had what was on the shelf then promptly went back to what she was doing before we interrupted her. Definitely not the pinnacle of customer service to say the least from this employee.

     Now during my time in the store I walked around it a couple times to check everything out; and every time I walked past the cashiers they were always smiling and and greeting the customers. I even saw the security guard walking around the store and he even helped a customer locate a item that he was searching for in the store as well, This is definitely a plus because that normally does not happen very often if at all these days.

     So my over all experience in this new Sobeys location is quite excellent and will be going back there again and not because it is the closest grocery store to me.

You can find Sobeys on:

 

My Twitter Link

Now this is kinda old but I finally found it, might as well have all my toys together. Now also this is the shortened version, The full archived version from google.com will not load for me at this time.

Sunday Shopping Petition For All Of Nova Scotia

Category: Economy & Business
Target: Nova Scotia Government
Author: Kevin Cresswell
URL:  petitionspot.com
Started: August 9, 2006
Total Signatures: 4

     This is a petition for having Sunday shopping approved. The reasoning for the petition is for the fact that thepeople want it and some even need it due to work schedule and such. Want proof, as your friends and family members and co-workers their thoughts on it.

     Also it is not just the people, but the media talking about it, just listen to 95.7 on your FM dial, you will almost definite hear about Sunday shopping on there at least once in a full 24 hour span. Besides, what is shopping, it is as per the dictionary defined as V. To visit or buy from (a particular store). Now does that not mean corner stores, gas stations, coffee shops and such, if so why are they open and not everybody else.

     Oh sure people say it is a day of rest, but not everybody sees it as that, check out the Blue Law[S], if Sunday was the day of rest, why is the Blue Law[S] not enforced anymore!. So i say, if you have ever bought gas or even a penny candy for any reason since April 24, 1985, you are in violation of the Sunday shopping laws, and should be punished by the "Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms act" or worse yet the original Blue Law[S].

     So lets justify this and rectify this and make Sunday shopping legal now except for when it only benefits the governments.. Say yes to Sunday shopping and sign this petition. Thank You. Written By WKBC and Family...

SIGNATURES:

1. Lionel R Johns (8/9/06) - Either the world is right and Nova Scotian are wrong or Nova Scotia is right and the world is wrong. Its no wonder that Nova Scotia can bring in industry into this province when we close down the province on Sundays except for gambling, bars, beer stores and numerous other activities. Its time the people of this province got their heads out of the sand.

2. Shirley Johns (8/10/06)

3. Nicole Marie DesBarres (8/30/06)

4. apparently 11 daz thinks! sadly mistakin (4/26/09) - I support this petition.

Gyms And Their Benefits Or Temporary Lack there of

Gyms And Their Benefits Or Temporary Lack there of

     So I have been wondering about this for a long time now. Why is it that gyms like Good Life Fitness (@GoodLifeFitness) do not take advantage of extra sources of energy for the operation of their gyms?.

     These days you see houses being built with solar panels on the roofs or in the back yards and even some but not many other companies do that as well, all in the response to the rising costs of power rates and to help reduce their monthly expenses.

     You can run allot of equipment with solar power, Water Heaters, Lights, Power outlets for other items and ETC.... The technology is also out there for human power to be converted to energy that can be used by electronics as well..

     So with that being said there are Close to 300 clubs across Canada Good Life Fitness, Just think how many other gyms that are out there as well that are not doing the same thing.

     Now Kudos have to go out to Good Life Fitness for going on UnderCover Boss Canada which aired Thursday March 22nd 2012 at 9PM. However allot of other companies have done the same thing.

     Now the other items that I have on my mind is the fact that all of the machines they have (Rower's, Elliptical's, TradMill's, Recumbent Cycle's Etc...) All of these machines can modified (Yes at a substantial cost) so that the energy that is created on them can be returned and stored in the batteries for the backup of the business location and energy can be returned to the power company for a credit to be applied to the power bill for that location.

     Now what would that mean for the business? Well it would be a large start up investment, however with quite a few of their locations being 24/7 and the close to 300 clubs in Canada of which they have 750,000 members (And Growing), That is allot of energy that is being wasted and not being put to good use. This would mean that over time the over head expense of the clubs they have would be lowered weekly/Bi-Weekly/Monthly/Quarterly/Annually thus this would allow them to take the extra profits that they have been able to acquire and put it in to more donations and foundations such as the (The Kilee Patchell-Evans Autism Research Group at the University of Western Ontario and The GoodLife Kids Foundation) and not to mention they can also lower their monthly gym membership fee's as well, that in turn would get them over time more members at a faster rate than they already have which

in turn they would go from 1 in every 45 Canadians as members to a bigger ratio which is always a good thing. The more people that are part a of a gym that go to the gym on a regular basis have a better chance of having better health and well being (And no one can say that we don't as a society need to get in better shape). If McDonalds can be the official restaurant of the Olympics we might as well say is smoking is the official medicine of cancer.
   
     These are a listing of local gyms near me, to date I have gone to the Burnside 24 Hrs 4 Days/Wk (Main Gym for me and love it, always clean and friendly staff, When I went for my introduction with the personal trainer we were there 30 minutes or more past he end time for her shift but she had no problem with that at all) and the Scotia Square (Been their once, not impressed, was rushed out before closing, TV's were turned off at least 10 minutes before closing and that was after I was told they were closing soon, their Vending machine was out of order and bathroom was dirty; needless to say I showered when I got got home.) I am gonna try and get to the other gyms close by and see what they are like.

     Now to be fair this is my opion of the 2 gyms I have been to myself, I recommend everyone at some point try it out and make your own opinions, Good Life Fitness does provide a "3 Free Visit Pass" for everyone, the link to that is here for all to see and fill out. Link

Club Info Source: Link

Burnside 24 Hrs 4 Days/Wk
     202 Brownlow Ave. Unit CCY
     Dartmouth, NS
     Coed Club
      Tel:  (902) 481-2348
     Fax: (902) 468-2581
     burnside@goodlifefitness.com

Scotia Square
     5201 Duke Street
     Halifax, NS
     Coed Club
     Tel:  (902) 492-9289
     Fax:  (902) 492-0110
     scotiasquare@goodlifefitness.com

Penhorn Plaza 24 Hrs 4 Days/Wk
     555 Portland Street, Unit A015
     Dartmouth, NS
     Coed Club
     Tel:  (902) 464-5433
     Fax:  (902) 464-1619
     dartmouthpenhorn@goodlifefitness.com

Park Lane
     5657 Spring Garden Rd.
     Halifax, NS
     Coed Club
     Tel:  (902) 425-2348
     Fax:  (902) 425-2877
     parklane@goodlifefitness.com

Joseph Howe Drive Atlantic Superstore
     3601 Joseph Howe Drive
     Halifax, NS
     Women's Club
     Tel:  (902) 453-7724
     Fax:  (902) 455-5029
     halifaxjoseph@goodlifefitness.com

Park Victoria
     1333 South Park Street
     Halifax, NS
     Women's Club
      Tel:  (902) 422-6696
      Fax:  (902) 406-3930
     parkvic@goodlifefitness.com

Clayton Plaza 24 Hrs 4 Days/Wk
     70 Lacewood Dr.
     Halifax, NS
     Coed Club
     Tel:  (902) 457-2226
      Fax:  (902) 457-7377
     cpark@goodlifefitness.com

Portland Landrance
     650 Portland St.
     Dartmouth, NS
     Coed Club
     Tel: (902) 435-0818
     Fax: (902) 435-3798
     portlandstreet@goodlifefitness.com

How I feel After A Great Work Out At Good Life Fitness

Written By Kevin Cresswell
     Now Please Post a Reply with comments as to what you think about this.

Nova Scotia Child Maintenance & its effects

     The child support in Nova Scotia is 1 sided for the parent that has the children. the monthly money that is given to the parent that has the children is solely based on the income of the parent that does not have the children no matter how much the parent that has the children makes, for most they have a minimum wage job but there are a few of the lucky people that do not, that goes for either parent.

     I like many others have the minimum wage job while my ex has a job that pays well above minimum wage but yet what she makes hourly is not taken in to account for the money that has to be paid out by me to her, she gets my money plus money from the government and her job as well as more GST when it is issued plus baby bonus and or any other government program for single parents that is out there. most people that have the kids get more money monthly than they make at work while the one that does not have the children don't make much more than you would get while being on social assistance. The only way for the parent that does not have the children to get ahead is to have a job that is off the books (Which if you speak to a lawyer they will even agree to that) but even then that can come back and bite you in the end.

     also if at any time the parent that doesn't have the children gets a pay raise in any way other than a minimum wage increase it has to be claimed and thus the monthly payout is increased again so any pay increase is nullified and a hindrance for the one that got the raise for they are no better off. Also if child maintenance says you owe back pay then they will take their normal cut of your pay cheque plus they will take the arrears as well bit by bit, but in most cases like mine they were taking up to and including 90-95% percent of my pay every 2 weeks, so working 50+ hours a week on the books can net you after tax's $100-$150 if your lucky. but yet when you go and try to point out to the system what they are doing to you everyone says you called the wrong person and or department and you have to talk to so and so and the cycle restarts itself again. And with all of that being said the person paying the child support has no say in how the money is spent once it has been paid out which is wrong and should be changed.

     The intent of the money is to be there for the children to get them what they need food/clothes/schooling, but unfortunately most parents that get the money spend it on stuff they want or say they need instead of using it for the children. it is not uncommon for the single parent to have the newest toys TV's, Cell Phones, Computers, cars and such all because of the monthly income they have from the Ex's and the government and their own jobs as well (They live high on the hog while the other is living on the slop).

     What should be done is have the monthly maintenance fees be accounted for as to where they go and how it is spent, also the actual monthly payment should be calculated on both parents income, for example, my income from my job is lower than my ex's; so say if i make $11/H and she makes $13/H the $2 difference should come off of what Is paid to her (Putting me at a lower rate of pay and making it a little easier for us to live), this way the parent without the children can live in a 1 bedroom place and not a low income place and afford to have food on a regular basis instead of depending on friends and or family for help with money and or food to survive pay cheque to pay cheque. People have always cried unfair and or discrimination for one reason or another yet no one has ever done anything about the child maintenance that is paid on a monthly basis by the large portion of the population.

     This link here http://bit.ly/P6TzEV will give you a calculation of approximately how much you would have to pay monthly based on the number of children you have and what province you live in.

     And as it states on that link

• The number of children;
• The province or territory where the paying parent lives; and
• The paying parent's gross annual income.

     At no time does it mention the person that has the children because to the government it does not matter how much they make just what you make and how much they can take from you. Also the rates that are to be paid have a habit of changing, the last change was done on December 31, 2011.

     If you base the monthly payment say on $26000 gross income a year the new payment http://bit.ly/NIEs6p would be $380.00 + 1.3% where as the old payment http://bit.ly/N72lmU would of been $388.00 + 1.67%. As for the % after the dollar amount I assume is a monthly fee collected by the government probably for handling or what not.

     Now the $26000 gross income is based at $11/H, but after tax's all that is seen is $22039 (Approximate), that is almost $4000 that is not seen by the average person but yet is taken in to account when paying child support and should not be, that should make the monthly child support payment be $312 + 1.72% that's a difference of $68 a month, that can and does go along way for food and such.

     Now the Total Monthly Income (Gross) for $13/H is $2253.33 which in turn is Annually $27040.00 but has a tax pay out over the year of $4209 which in turn leaves them $22831 yearly ($1902.58 monthly) after tax's.

Canadian Income Tax Calculator 2012 was used http://bit.ly/MzQhtt

     With that stated  without any deductions of any sorts there is no real big difference in the pay at the end of the year, but when filing tax's there is a big difference in the returns that are given back between the 2 people. So why is it that child maintenance is taken before tax's are deducted yet when filing for your yearly tax return you can not claim it in any form.  "Q - Can parents claim or deduct child support payments for income tax purposes? A – This depends when the child support order was made. The Income Tax Act was amended in 1997. Before the amendments the rules were that the paying parent could claim child support payments as a tax deduction, and the receiving parent had to claim the support as income. If your child support order or agreement was made before May 1, 1997, the old tax rules continue to apply, unless you obtain a new order or agreement or vary the order after May 1,1997. Child support orders made or varied since May 1, 1997, cannot be claimed as a deduction by the paying parent and the receiving parent does not have to claim the support as income." Source http://bit.ly/L70Zds

Women & The Workplace

Women & The Workplace

By: Kevin Cresswell

I just read a article titled “Here's To women & their Work – No Matter Where It Is Done” by Brenda Mac Donald (“Two Cents' Worth”) which is a freelance writer from the Halifax Municipality area, the article is in the March 14, 2011 Dartmouth (HRM East) Community Herald.

She writes about women & the work place & their stature within it & or being a stay at home mother. She does make a good point in that women are not truly treated equal to the male counterparts as they should be; especially if they can do the work just as good if not better than the male counterpart for the same job/position. What sparked her in to doing this article is something that she read in a paper on March 07, 2011 which was done by a Jennifer Kim which was published in the Chronicle Herald from the Canadian Press Article called (Child-Care “Gap” Will Hurt Economy). Now Brenda MacDonald does not know Jennifer Kim & can only go by what was printed in the article which she states “I do not know how much of her interview was edited out”.

I for myself have never had a problem working for a female or having them work with me, I treat the males & females the same & expect the same from them no matter what.

Now Brenda does make a very good/excellent point that the mothers that do stay at home to care for their children full time do have a very hard job, they normally get paid very little in a monetary value & work exceedingly long hours every day of the week with little to no time off for themselves through the week/s & or months, but they do get paid the overall best benefits anyone could ever ask for, they get constant hugs & kisses & the chance to see their child & or children grow up & get them to see the first steps & words & them smiling all them time. For me there is nothing better, Unfortunately I was the one that unfortunately had to continuously work the over time & take the shifts that were given to me to make sure we could make the ends meet every month. So for me I cherished every minute I had with my children when I could, But I do know I would rather of been the stay at home father & let my other half work instead.

Brenda also goes in to saying that “she asked a passing acquaintance what she did & she was told that 'I don't work, I'm a stay at-home mom'”, later in the day when she was thinking about it the word “JUST” even though it is a small & trivial word, tends to minimize & diminish even the most wonderful things; & I agree with her being a stay at home mom or parent is not as easy as some think it is, in actuality it can be harder than a 8 hour work day at a actual job itself.

Now the article Brenda does make reference to “Parents” but it appears to be a main focus of mothers in general, she does reference a website of www.internationalwomansday.com & March 8^th in conjunction with “it is a global day celebrating the economic, political & social achievements of women past, present & future” which is a great thing in of itself; but why is it that when it comes to parenting most of the achievements are seen as being lacking from the mother & not the father of the children as well, there are not just dead beat fathers but also dead beat mothers as well, but in the news print & or media all that is usually noted is the fathers.

I agree that women & men need to be treated as one in the same whither its work in the house “ tending to our future our children” or out of the house. I say it's time that people take their blinders off from their eyes & stop walking around with their eyes wide shut & provide the respect & admiration for one & all for what it is they do no matter what it is & do not judge people from the surface that they see; man & women were created equal & have the same faults no matter how big or small they are.

Nova Scotia's Winter School Closures......

Nova Scotia's winter School Closures......

     Why is it that when there is any amount of snow that is dropped from above and remains on the ground you can almost guarantee a closure of local schools in the HRM and or even the entire province of Nova Scotia these days.

     To clear this up and make it known I am originally from Kingston Ontario; So I have seen snow and rain and high winds and even very thick fog when I was in school. I came to Nova Scotia back in late 1998 and have been here since and love it because of the atmosphere and people and culture.

  When I was growing up and attending school both public and high school it was very rare to have a snow day or school closure for almost any reason. The worst that would happen is that the buses would be pulled off or possibly delayed from getting to the school for the people that had to take them, but yet we were always required to go.

     But in Nova Scotia I have seen more than my fair share of school closures and the shut down of the entire city itself. The first year that I was here there was 1 morning that I got up to go for a walk in Downtown Dartmouth to explore the area. I walked outside and proceeded down Windmill road towards the downtown core and thought nothing of the light snow (Less than 1/2 a foot of snow) and wind that was present. By the time I got downtown I had realized that as of yet I had not seen any buses or cars or anything on the road and all the stores and shops were closed.

     I had come to find out through the new on TV that the city was shut down because of the bad weather, I could not believe that they had shut the city down because of the weather. From that time on anytime there was any bad weather as they called

it the schools and or buses would shut down till it was all cleared up; I honestly think that the definition of a snow day/city closure like in this article HERE.

     I completely agree with local radio host Rick Howe from News 95.7 that the Nova Scotia’s snow day policy should be reviewed and updated to properly reflect how it is handled when schools (Companies) are closed and or opened due to the weather, for we the people no longer in school are not the only one's suffering but the child of the future due to them not getting the proper education that they are going to need to have the proper jobs and such.

     If something is not done about this issue soon then the future could possibly look a lot grimmer than it is now due to improper education of our future society.

Tufts Cove to cost $93 Million

Nova Scotia Power was given the OK on Monday to spend an extra $8.7 million on its Tufts Cove waste heat recovery project. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff / File)

     Here is another article that I was able to come across, this time done by JUDY MYRDEN; It is about NSP (Nova Scotia Power) and the Tufts Cove project to cost $93 million which is up from the original cost that put out on Sept. 12, 2007 in the amount of $66.2 million, this is the second increase since it was put out 3 years ago, the first increase was approved on May 28, 2008 to increase the budget for the project to $84.3 million.

     This means that they were approved to increase the spending to get this project done the first time by 18.2 Million not even 1 year after it got started; Now we are in to year 3+ and the project is still not done but they were approved for another financial increase for the project of $8.7 Million more, this does not seam right to me, power rates seem to go up every other year, yet the company is consistently making a profit every year, Nova Scotia Power Inc. earnings rose to $22.4 million from $16.6 million, so they have had almost 8 Million more in profits this year, but yet they still want a rate hike for the consumers, when is enough enough for large companies, no company needs to make this much money after all is said and done; at what point is this going to be considered greed, when all the poor/old age and such can no longer afford to have power where they live.

     Who here wants to have a possible rate increase from Nova Scotia Power of 18% (industrial) and 12% (residential), I know I do not, sure I use power, but I know I am using right around the same amount now as I was back in 2000, my rates have gone from Basic Charge of $21.00 to $21.66 and a per KWH of $0.0835 to 0.11612. That is a basic charge increase of $0.66 (3.1%) and a increase of 0.03262 (71.9%) per KWH used and yet get hit with a high wind storm and we lose power for who knows how long; I say increases like that should have results that can be seen and tested.

local Christmas tree certification

     I just read a article on the News 95.7 website about "local Christmas tree certification" by Doug Cogswell. It states that all lots that sell Christmas Tree's that are grown here in Nova Scotia will have a banner indicating that they were grown locally and cut down within a maximum of 10 days of them being displayed for sale to the public, so other than having to go out and cut down your own tree and then bringing it home; The tree you get should last a lot longer than in previous years due to not knowing when the tree you picked out was cut down no matter what you were told.

     I say this is a good turn of advents to the local consumer and should make it a better time of year for the young children in all of us walking in to our houses and having the great smell of pine wafting through the house.

HHB Toll Increase

     There is a recent news report about the Toll hike for the bridges connecting Halifax and Dartmouth Nova Scotia ("Hearings into proposed bridge toll hike underway"), the current rate for crossing either of the bridges is $0.75 + $0.25/axle ($0.60 + $0.20 if using a MacPass) for a one way trip for a Passenger Vehicle, for a Over sized Vehicle (Anything with more than 2 tires per Axle) is $1.00 ($0.875 if using a MacPass), Buses are charged $2.50 ($1.20 if using a MacPass), "Source".

     As it is now the Bridge Commision already allocates 14.82% of their total income towards Maintenance Expenses, In 2005 the average number of vehicle crossings per day was 37,739, the information listed on page 18 of the HHB "Planning & Partnerships Annual Report 2009-10 "Maintenance expenses decreased by $1,249 in Q4 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Annual maintenance expenses decreased by $3,936 to $3,736 in 2009/2010 from $7,672 for the same period in 2008/2009. The significant decrease in bridge maintenance is attributable to the Victoria Road Interchange maintenance project expenses that occurred during the year ended March 31, 2009." and they had a Annual toll revenue for 2009/2010 of $24,251.

     So why is it that they have to raise their rates for people that need to cross the Harbour to make a living, this is not only for professional people, but also for other services such as Taxi's and couriers and other services, if the rates do increase for travel across the bridges, then that would lead to the other services would have to increase their rates as well.

     So 1 small change to this service will effect more than just their traffic across the bridges and the congestion but also the other services that use the bridge's as well. I say that there is no need to raise the rate('s) for the use of the bridges.

     I say that if they want to be able to have more money, have them turn the lights off that they installed back in 1999, at that time the estimated cost for those lights to be used was $50,000.00 a year; and with the possible rate increase from Nova Scotia Power industrial rates by as much as 18% (residential rates by 12%) ("Source").


What are your thoughts on this, for me I say no, the increase is not needed and should not be allowed to pass.