Amazon "Customer Service" (AKA: That hour of my life I'll never get back.)

Holy Mary, mother of God...I've been online with Amazon for an hour to get bounced around to every effing department to fix this issue of not being able to sign into my Kindle account via the app on my iPhone.

Notes of interest: 1) As I type this, I'm on hold to talk to a human being on the phone. 2) I just wanted to pull up a book of mine to find some information and it's become a whole ordeal. 3) I'd have pulled this all up online with the cloud reader but it flashes back and for the from loading to the site name so THAT is not gonna work. 4) I have the most recent iOS system and app load so...yeah.

So here...have a laugh and check out my online chat with my interjections because...why not...

You are now connected to Vipin from Amazon.com

Me: I am unable to sign in to my account on my phone...I just signed into the account online...I know the sign in information is correct, but the app says I don't exist. 11:43:17 AM

Vipin: Hello, my name is Vipin. I'm here to help you today. 11:43:25 AM

Me: great! why will my iPhone Kindle app not let me sign in with the correct info? 11:43:43 AM

Me: I even went so far as to update it online to see if that would help. Nope. 11:43:57 AM

Vipin: If I am right you are facing the issue with your kindle app for iphone? 11:44:16 AM

Me: tells me I don't exist.....I've been trying for 30 min. 11:44:19 AM

Me: I am dealing with the fact that Kindle says my username and password do not exist. 11:44:43 AM

Me: and yet, I'm signed in with them online 11:44:51 AM

Me: so they do exist 11:44:54 AM

Me: but my phone Kindle app says no 11:45:03 AM

Me: and I just downloaded the app...so I know it's the most up to date 11:45:18 AM

Me: as is my iOS 11:45:22 AM

Vipin: Okay. 11:45:30 AM

Vipin: Are you referring to this app Tamsin's iPhone 11:45:39 AM

Vipin: Which is registered in your amaozn account? 11:45:56 AM

Me: I would guess so 11:46:00 AM

Vipin: Okay. 11:46:14 AM

Vipin: Then lets try some troubleshooting steps Tamsin. 11:46:32 AM

Me: sure....but not sure we can do much since I can't get past the sign in screen 11:47:12 AM

Vipin: Please deregister the kindle for app for iphone from here. 11:47:54 AM

Vipin: https://www.amazon.com/mn/dcw/myx.html#...(See full link) 11:47:54 AM

Me: ok...it's deregistered 11:48:19 AM

Vipin: Thanks. 11:48:39 AM

Vipin: Now please uninstall the app. 11:49:21 AM

Me: I deleted it 11:49:45 AM

Vipin: Thanks. 11:51:11 AM

Vipin: Now install the app again. 11:51:21 AM

Me: it's loading 11:52:00 AM

Vipin: Great. 11:52:27 AM

Me: ok...it's loaded 11:54:44 AM

Vipin: Thanks. 11:54:49 AM

Vipin: Now please try to register it again. 11:54:59 AM

Me: it says, "Device Registration Failed. No customer found for this email address or password." 11:55:57 AM

Me: just like it did last time 11:56:02 AM

Vipin: A member of our Kindle specialists team will need to help you with this. Can you please hold while I transfer you. One of our Kindle Specialists will assist you shortly. 11:56:23 AM

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

 

Thought at the time: "Oh...okay, I'm being moved up...this should help." 

(Why do we think these things when we know better?)

 

You are now connected to Prasanth from Amazon.com

Prasanth: Hello Tamsin, 11:56:55 AM

Prasanth: I'm Prasanth from Amazon Kindle support. I'll be happy to look in to your issue. 11:56:55 AM

Me: ok 11:57:03 AM

Prasanth: I'm sorry to hear about the problem you have in your Kindle app. 11:57:15 AM

Me: I'm typing the correct sign in information 11:57:31 AM

Me: I've checked multiple times 11:57:37 AM

Prasanth: Would you like to register your Kindle for iPhone app in your account? 11:58:03 AM

Me: *sigh* I just was told to unregister it so I did...then I deleted the app...then I reinstalled it...then I tried to sign in and register........ 11:58:40 AM

Prasanth: No worries, I'll help you with this. 11:58:56 AM

Prasanth: Have you installed the Kindle for iPhone app in your iPhone? 12:00:27 PM

Me: yes....twice now 12:00:44 PM

Prasanth: Okay. 12:00:54 PM

Prasanth: May I have the email address you've entered to register the app? 12:01:13 PM

Me: it won't let me register the app. The correct email for the account that has my e-books is: (deleted email because reasons) 12:02:02 PM

Me: I'm signed into the account on my computer right now 12:02:26 PM

Me: hence why I know the email and password are correct 12:02:42 PM

Prasanth: Okay. 12:03:05 PM

Prasanth: I've sent the password reset link to your account email address. Please reset your password now and let me know. 12:03:40 PM

Me: I just reset the password a few minutes ago. But sure...I can do it again. Hang on. 12:04:07 PM

Me: OK...so I took it back to what it was before I changed it 10 min ago 12:05:11 PM

Prasanth: Have you reset your password using the link which I've sent now? 12:05:47 PM

Me: I used the link you sent my email since that's the one you told me to use. 12:06:16 PM

Prasanth: Okay. 12:06:51 PM

Prasanth: Please go ahead and try register the app now using your account email address and new password. 12:07:39 PM

Me: yet again...denied 12:08:10 PM

Me: it says, "Device Registration Failed. No customer found for this email address or password." 12:08:22 PM

Me: we are going in circles here.... 12:08:35 PM

Prasanth: A member of our Retail(account) team will be the perfect person to help you with this. Please wait, let me connect your chat to our Retail Team. 12:09:55 PM

A Customer Service Associate will be with you in a moment.

Thought at the time: "What? Are you shitting me? You're transferring me again? You have got to be effing kidding me! Oh look, another name that proves Amazon e-chat outsources to another country...here goes the song and dance..."

You are now connected to Mukesh from Amazon.com

Mukesh: Hi! You've reached Amazon chat support, my name is Mukesh. I'll be more than happy to help you today. 12:10:22 PM

Me: Hi, Mukesh...you are number 3 on who has come to help me. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not ask me to do the same things the last two did. 12:10:32 PM

Mukesh: Alexis, Please allow me a moment, while i check your previous conversation. 12:11:24 PM

Me: that would be great 12:11:31 PM

Me: :) 12:11:34 PM

Mukesh: Thank you so much for waiting Tamsin 12:15:46 PM

Me: sure thing 12:16:22 PM

Mukesh: So the email address associated with your account is :  youremailaddress (deleted before posting because...duh) Right? 12:16:24 PM

Me: yes 12:16:28 PM

Mukesh: Thank you 12:16:52 PM

Mukesh: And you used the password reset link to change the password. Right? 12:17:07 PM

Me: yes 12:17:13 PM

Me: I've changed that bad boy now twice in hopes of fixing the issue. 12:17:36 PM

Me: I've downloaded and deleted and uploaded and deleted and reloaded and....jeebus...It's almost been an hour since I started this whole problem. 12:18:29 PM

Mukesh: Tamsin, Please provide me your phone number. I need to arrange a call back from our account specialist team. They will help you to login manually. 12:19:12 PM

Thought at the time: "REALLY?????!!!! Holy mother*cking son of a b*tch..."

Me: Seriously? I am logged in, online. It's a good account number and password. They work! Trust me, I'm lookin' at my information. Why do they need to call me? *sigh* I just....ugh. Fine. My cell is (deleted to protect the "innocent") . *headdesk* 12:20:58 PM

Mukesh: Thank you 12:21:44 PM

Me: yeah 12:21:48 PM

Mukesh: Your call is now connected 12:22:02 PM

Mukesh: I hope this call will resolve your issue. 12:22:11 PM

Mukesh: Thank you for contacting Amazon.com. Take care and have a wonderful day goodbye :) 12:22:20 PM

Mukesh from Amazon.com has left the conversation.

 

***UPDATE***

I ended up getting Taryn in Password Assistance on the phone. And here's the funny thing. Suddenly the app allowed me to hit the button (because I was now that person who stands at the elevator and hits the button even though they've hit it before because hey, maybe it'll work faster) and BOOM! It worked. She'd not even done anything yet.

We both have NO idea WTF was wrong. But hey...it's fixed. I mentioned this blog post and she took a look at the chat. Seems these three will be getting contacted for some retraining. *evil grin*

My work here is done.

Have a good Friday you all...I need a drink!

Wait...I'm at work...guess I'm settling for tea...

Anyone got any vodka in the house?????

*crickets*

Focus Boards (or books) for Writing - Over at Magical Words today!

FOCUS BOARDS FOR WRITING!!!

You're saying, "What the hell are those?!"

Well, this is the one at my home desk and writing area:



At www.MagicalWords.net today find out more about the process of one of these, why I use them, how you can make one, and the different types you can create to fit your writing lifestyle. :)

Here's the direct link:

http://www.magicalwords.net/tamsin-silver-2/focus-boardsbooks-for-writing/

September 11th. This day has been bad since 1857, not just 2001.

SEPTEMBER 11, 1856, The Mountain Meadows Massacre

“On September 11, 1857, a group of emigrants bound for California was butchered in what was to become known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre.” – Chapter 4, The Lincoln County War, by Frederick Nolan.

The emigrants were the Francher party from Arkansas. They’d traveled west through Kansas and Nebraska territories before entering Utah. When they hit Cedar City, UT, they ran into trouble with the local Mormons who would not sell/trade supplies with them. So they left and headed southwest through the mountain pass called Mountain Meadows. Here’s what the link online that I found had to say:

“There they were attacked by Mormon assailants, some of them killed. The remaining emigrants pulled their wagons into a tight circle for protection. Over the next five days, the emigrants were held at siege in their wagon circle. During this period they were attacked two more times.

On September 11, 1857, John D. Lee entered the wagon circle with a white flag, convincing the emigrants to surrender peacefully. Required to put down their guns, the women and children were escorted out first, then the men and boys. Each man and boy was escorted by an armed militiaman.

They walked about a mile when, upon a predetermined signal, the militiamen turned and fired on each man and boy. Indians who had been convinced to participate in the massacre came out from their hiding places to attack the women and children.”

You may be asking if any survived, well, the article goes on to say this:

“While most of the Fancher party was killed (about 120 people), there were 17 young children who survived. These 17 children were adopted by local families. Two years later in 1859, the U.S. government reunited the children with their extended families in Arkansas.”

HERE is the link if you’d like to read the whole thing.

I came across this information while studying the history before the Lincoln County War (LCW) and obviously the date struck me.

You might ask me how this affects or relates to The Curse of Billy the Kid? Well, the title of Chapter Four is, “The Rise of the House of Murphy.” Lawrence Murphy (of the Murphy-Dolan side of the war) was a member of the Fifth Infantry at this time and they, along with the Tenth Infantry, the Second Calvary, and two artillery battalions, were also attacked by the Mormons of Utah as they headed toward Salt Lake City on what was known as the Utah Expedition.

Anyway…here’s what Frederick Nolan had to say in Chapter Four:

“Colonel E.B. Alexander’s cavalry (which Murphy was a part of) left Fort Leavenworth on September 16^th, 1857, and arrived at Fort Laramie around the beginning of October. That is where Mormon Major Lot Smith led an attack on the expedition that resulted in the destruction of seventy-four army wagons containing several months of troop provisions. As you can imagine, this crippled the troops for the winter. Horses, mules, oxen, and men died of cold and disease as they struggled to reach winter quarters at Fort Bridger, Utah (now Wyoming), only to find that the angry Mormons had already destroyed it.

Captain Randolph B. Marcy and forty enlisted men trekked a thousand miles over land to Fort Massachusetts, NM, to obtain supplies. They journey took them fifty-one days: when they arrived, they were so emaciated and ailing that the troops at that station had difficulty recognizing them as fellow soldiers. The plight of the men at Fort Bridger was scarcely less parlous, but fortunately for all of them, a mediator, Thomas L. Kane, son of Philadelphia judge, made his way to Salt Lake City, conferred with Brigham Young, and found a solution satisfactory to both sides. Although the military men were spoiling for a confrontation, no fighting ever took place.”

You are likely asking WHY the Mormons attacked the military. Well, they though the military had come to force Mormon obedience to national laws. If you don’t know, the Mormons were chased from New York to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois and then finally to Utah. So they’d had enough…I would have too. But for a religious group who are about peace, this was a horrible act.

Yes, they do not condone the behavior and wish it never happened…and obviously 120 dead to not compare to the number of those who died on this date in 2001, but I find it interesting that on the same day there was senseless acts of violence in the name of religion.

With concern to the book…its details like this that shape how I write a character…such as Murphy. We may not see him much in our story because we follow William Bonney, but what he does will affect our reluctant hero a lot. So it’s important I know all I can.

And now you know too.

For more info on my WIP, be sure to visit and LIKE the Facebook Page for The Curse of Billy the Kid.

To Sell Again or Not, That is the Question - Over at Magical Words today!

My area in the big booth at Dragon Con

It's that time again; my bi-weekly post at www.MagicalWords.net!

Today I discuss how my DragonCon went and whether or not I should sell books again next year or just go and be an panels.

You may ask why this is important to you...

Well...do you ever plan to be a writer of Urban Fantasy or Science Fiction? Well then, unless you're a big name out of the gate, you'll be needing to go to conventions to "hock your wares" as I like to say. As you built a name for yourself and get on panels, you'll have to find a happy medium of dividing time between your booth and talking to people about writing and such.

Since I'm not a big name where I visit my booth once a day for fans, I need to find time to both talk on panels and be at the booth...this is hard to do...so I wrote this post so you could learn from my failures and successes.

Here's the direct link:

http://www.magicalwords.net/tamsin-silver-2/to-sell-again-or-not-that-is-the-question/