Just call me "George Costanza"

So!  I am going to tell you how I've spent the last 15 months of my life....

Back in April of last year, Eddy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a cruise to the Mediterranean.  While in Egypt, we purchased two papyruses from a shop in Cairo.  The papyruses were $150 a piece for a total of $300.  Our purchase was rolled up and sealed in a cardboard tube, which we packed in our luggage and didn't open until we got home.

After returning home, I opened the tube and found only one papyrus inside, and it was not one that we had purchased!  I began making phone calls.

First, I called Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) and they referred me to an agency which they said handled all these types of claims.  From there, I was put in contact with an agent named Sandra who began asking me endless questions; what date was the purchase made?  what was the name of the shop?  the address?  what was our tour bus number?  the name of our tour guide?  Every time I answered one question, she came up with another.  Questions such as the tour bus number and name of our tour guide were impossible to answer, even after months of trying to make contact with someone who should know.

I wrote emails, sent faxes, made phone calls.  Eventually, I stopped hearing from Sandra.  I'm sure at this point, they thought I would just give up and go away.  But the injustice of the situation infuriated me and  I couldn't let it go.  It was no longer about the money; it was about restitution! 

I lost sleep as I plotted my next course of action.  I let about  six months go by and then I started a flurry of letter writing activity again.  I wrote to NCL and explained why I would never again be sailing the seas on their gnarly ships.  I threatened to write letters to newspapers and leave bad reviews on public Internet sites.  I said I would be telling all my friends about my miserable experience with customer service.  I explained that it wasn't the money, it was the "principle" of the thing!  I made copies and sent identical letters by fax, U.S. mail, and email.  I sent letters to every name and address I could find at NCL.  Then, I sat back and waited...

A few days later, I received a phone call from someone at NCL who said it was his top priority to resolve this issue for me and he contacted Sandra and got her involved in my complaint once again.  This time, she made contact with someone in Egypt.  He said I would need to mail back the papyrus I had been mistakenly given and he would issue me a refund.  He asked for my bank account information and said he would be wiring a refund into my account.  I was a little bit leery about giving my bank information out to some guy in Egypt, but after contacting my bank and explaining the situation, they assured me it should be o.k.

I took my cardboard tube and headed to the post office.  I paid for a speedy delivery to an address in Cairo, Egypt and paid extra for insurance and proof of delivery.

Finally, after another month of waiting, I received an email from Sandra saying they were wiring $24 into my account.  $24!  Are you kidding me???!!!

I got back on the phone and called Sandra.  I explained how my receipt clearly showed a charge of $300.  She told me that the agent in Egypt said there was an LE after the charge indicting that the amount was in Egyptian pounds and when converted, came to $48 U.S.  (There was no "LE" on the shop receipt that we had been given, but he was claiming there was one on the original charge slip.)  Furthermore, since I had only returned one papyrus, they were only issuing a refund for one papyrus.

At this point, my voice started to wobble and shake as I explained, for the umpteenth time, why I was only returning one.  Because I had only been given ONE!  And furthermore, I had paid $150 U.S. a piece for them.  Sandra asked that I send her the credit card statement showing the actual charge.

ARG!!  Eddy no longer remembered which card he had used and he doesn't keep his statements.  So... we began making phone calls, trying to track down a charge that had been made in Egypt over 15 months ago.

Finally, tonight he talked with someone at Bank of America who was able to see the charge on his account, and guess what?  It was only for $48!!!

Are you kidding me???!!!!!!  The stupid tourist shop made a mistake on the charge slip and undercharged us by over $250!!  (A side note here.... Eddy isn't very good about going over his statement each month so it would be quite easy to over or under charge him and he'd never know.)

So, it seems I've spent the last 15 months of my life and about $52 fighting for a refund of $48.  Oh, the madness!  And now, I find myself in the very embarrassing position of either dropping the whole thing or calling Sandra back up and admitting that the refund should really only be $48.

Or wait!  Here's an idea.  I think I'll ask that the shop use the item numbers on my receipt to track down and send me my original purchase and forget the refund.  Then, I can hang them on the wall and tell their story every time some unlucky soul wanders into my living room!!

Out with a BANG!

My life has been pretty full the past couple of weeks.  Last Wednesday I made a new friend, Melodee (that's her at the rear pottery wheel.)  She is a fun lady with an amazing story.  She has been battling cancer since she was 24 and her journey includes a total bone marrow transplant and several near-death experiences.  She's a potter at heart and has a studio set up in her basement which she is allowing Trina and I to use while we pursue our new-found passion.  It's funny how knowing that I'm going to have my hands in clay on Wednesday can make my whole week brighter!

Friday, I got to try out some of the pieces I made at my introduction to pottery class.  The Amazing Matta is in town and I had her over for dinner.  It was fun serving appetizers in my very own hand-made dishes!

I wanted the meal to be as special as she is.... a hard thing to do for such an amazing lady! I ended up making Moroccan pan-roasted seafood.   The dinner turned out really great and the next day, I enjoyed sitting out on the patio and eating the left-overs for lunch.

Saturday night, Eddy and I celebrated the 4th of July at David and Denise's place out in Kendalville.  They are new friends we made through Randy and Trina.  They have a gorgeous, secluded place on 30 plus acres with a pond nestled in their ginormous backyard.

David is a pretty interesting guy.  Almost everything on the property he has made out of someone else's throw-aways.  He recycles other people's junk!  I was really impressed with the really cool wallpaper he has covering the walls of his "man-cave" and even MORE impressed when he told me that it was nothing but torn up grocery bags slapped on with wallpaper paste.  He has little ponds and water running all over the property.  In a small pond bed next to the back deck, I heard a bullfrog croaking.  Took me a while, but I finally spotted him!

Eddy and I had a great time just chillin' around the pond with new friends and great food.  When it finally got dark, Randy and David began setting off fireworks.

I recently began writing articles for an online magazine called Examiner.com.  My articles are food related with a local focus.  I'm writing an article about a local Burmese restaurant owned and operated by a Burmese immigrant.  The place is just a little whole-in-the wall, but the food is fantastic!  I have an appointment with her in about an hour and she is going to give me an interview and let me watch her cook.  I'm really excited!!  I think it will be a great way to end my 48th year.  Tomorrow is the first day of my 49th!! BANG!!