Another Company Gone Bad

This time, I’m mad. This time, it’s personal. Not too long ago I posted a bad experience with a company on the internet. This experience actually got me some help and got my problem resolved. This time, it’s a much more dire circumstance. It involves a lot of money and a huge company who lied. This also involves my Mom – see why I’m mad?

You see, my Mom has used Chase for many many years for her home loan. She’s been with them through two houses now. Last week, my Mom’s paycheck at work got messed up. They forgot about her sick days which caused her paycheck to be a bit short. It was being fixed, but my Mom knew that her home payment wouldn’t be on time.

She called Chase, spoke to Nina who told my Mom that they can help her but she needed to talk to another department. There, Mom talked to Daniel. Daniel told my Mom that they can set the payment to be debited on the 16th of October and she could choose to make a partial payment then on the phone. Daniel then gave my Mom a confirmation number and said she was all set.

So Mom thought she was. She paid her other bills and went to the store knowing everything was safe. When she went on a regular errand, her debit card was declined. She went home, checked online and found out that Chase had taken her payment already. This caused all those other bills to be overdrafted and her an overdraft fee. Not only that, but they also took out the second debit she scheduled on the phone with Daniel. *Both* payments were going to be taken.

When my Mom called Chase, she had the names of the people she spoke to and her confirmation number. She received a very curt reply from them. There was nothing Chase could do to help her, she didn’t give them three business days which is what they required. So sorry. Then, they said “Do you want us to cancel the debit scheduled on the 16th?”

So now we see how a company treats someone who has been a customer for many years. They refuse to help her though she’s been trying for a long time now to get some sort of help for this. The company lied to her, took her money, caused her overdraft fees, took her money again and now they were planning on taking more. Chase needs to be held accountable for this. If you know anyone who can get my Mom some type of help, please write me or leave a comment.

Cackles and Yells

I am working on a project finally. The day job doing communications has finally hit a point where I can focus a little bit more time on voice overs again. I had a project pitched to me by a musician friend. It’s an ongoing deal that’s going to add some interesting things to my demo for sure and keep things fun.

I’ll be doing essentially “stock” voices for many different things. The first project will be some cackles, yells and screams for those halloween “talking” products you see all over the place around this time of year. After that, we’ll be working on some “stock” voices for an RPG type game. I’ll be saying the typical greetings an NPC or vendor in a game says.

Like I said, this project is right up my alley and it’s a fun project. Things won’t ever get very dull with requests coming in for different voices and effects. The time of year will greatly effect what I’m up to with this project as well. I don’t always know who gets ahold of the stock” voices, but if I find out where they end up, I’ll let you know.

Now, I’m going to move onto a different thing for a moment. One of my hobbies is playing MMORPGs. My latest love is Lord of the Rings Online – which is such a fun and full on immersion game! If you are any type of a Tolkien fan, you must play this game!

There are two wee Hobbits I’ve come to enjoy listening to lately. They have this podcast called “A Casual Stroll to Mordor” that’s all about LotRO. If you’re a LotRO player, or if you’re interested in becoming one give this a listen. It may convince you to play the game. Of course, the podcasting Hobbits get extra props for being a couple and for playing on Landroval – which is my home server as well!

September Project Update

There isn’t a ton of projects to update you on. I’ve worked on a few commercials that have hit the local cable. I’ve also done some commercials that hit local radio in other areas of the US. None of those are really why you come to this site though.

My project with Moonlight Pictures is still in the works. They’ve done a few side projects lately that have kept them from going ahead with The Grey People. Especially since DL has decided to completely re-animate the project using other resources. I think it’s a good thing. This means the final project will turn out with so much nicer visuals now.

Lately I have been focusing so much on my day job that I haven’t been able to do a lot voice over wise. The company I work for has grown immensely in the past few months. I have been working long hours, but I can’t complain too much. Hey, in this economy it’s a good thing.

I have been doing quite a bit of commercial projects that are important, but I know the majority of people come here to look at voice acting projects. Of course, Brad and I have the Not A Podcast project which has gone pretty well since we started it. It’s what we call couples therapy for the internet generation. You should check it out.

Coming up next month…who knows?!

Not A Podcast #3

*Gasp*! We’re at it again! This time we talk about what happens when you’re “just dating” and she ends up pregnant. We also delve into how to deal with the BIG changes that happen in day to day life.

Get the episode here

Not a Podcast #2

Brad and I return with couples therapy for the internet generation. Not a Podcast episode 2 is out on the tubes!

Get it here

On being “Mom”, “Career Woman” and “Gamer”

I’ve had a few people ask me how I manage to juggle the three things. No, it’s not easy to do at all. First, I am not a Mother…well, not in the biological sense. The kids belong to my husband and they are with their Mom three or four days a week. When they are here, I switch roles into “Mom mode”. Fortunately, they are both old enough to be pretty self sufficient. We’re not talking diapers or toddler phase here.

The career part is a bit harder to juggle. My work schedule is sporadic. Some days, I am pulling fourteen hours. Other days, I have maybe an hours’ worth of work to do before I am done. That’s the beauty of working for yourself I suppose. It does take a lot of commitment and a *ton* of self discipline. No slacking here!

This is Not a Podcast (1)

This is not a podcast. It’s couples therapy for the internet generation.

…That’s right. We’re back.

Brad & Candace – Just two people, two kids and a dog. We love video games, live for music and are addicted to tech. Listen in as we discuss the world around us, and hope to reach out to like-minded others.

Rated…PG-13

We have a website! http://www.notapodcast.com

You can also e-mail me or Brad with your questions and comments to Brad@notapodcast.com or Candace@notapodcast.com

FAQ Things

People always ask certain questions over and over again.I suppose having a presence of any sort on the internet or in the public does make people curious about who you are as a person. I have compiled the frequently asked (and not too personal) questions to give you a little more insight on me.

Q. Is that your real name?
A. Yes.

Q. How many last names do you have?
A. Two.

Q. How long have you been singing?
A. Since I was a child. My first solo performance singing was at 6 years old. I haven’t stopped since.

Q. How long have you been acting?
A. The first time I acted on stage, I was 5 years old. Alright, it was a school play. I played an elephant. It was a start! I’ve been hamming it up since then. My Mom says I was before then, but we didn’t ask her.

Q. Do you make a living off of voice work?
A. Not yet. I have a job as a professional geek for a company called StyleNet. I also love my job.

Q. Is it true you did adult work?
A. Another rumor I don’t know how it started. No. That is not true. I don’t even think I’ve said a curse word in any of my work.

Q. Is it true you’re a published author?
A. I’m not sure how that rumor started. It’s half true. I am a published writer, but I write Health and Beauty articles. I’ve been published in a few magazines and other publications.

Q. What are your hobbies?
A. I have a lot of things I like to do. My four major hobbies are music,tribal fusion belly dancing, playing video games and geeking. Yes, geeking is a hobby.

Q. What video games do you play?
A. I love the Nintendo Wii because of the classic games. I’m a big classic video game fan. I also like the Xbox 360 a lot. I used to play World of Warcraft. I now play Lord of the Rings Online – Landroval server. I have an Elf Rune Keeper named Auraaen and a Captain named Laerith.

Q. What is Tribal Fusion Belly Dancing?
A. A style of belly dancing. Explaining it would just cause debates that never end. Google is your friend. Beware the cat claws when Googling this question.

Q. Are you married?
A. No, but I am also very much taken.

Q. What is your religious beliefs?
A. I think this question gets asked stemming from my work with Soma Games. I am a Christian. I love The Lord very much. I *hate* the word religion. Religion sucks. It’s intolerance and man made traditions that God never intended on. It’s about having a relationship with Christ and enjoying your life.

Site Updates

I am sure you have noticed some changes here on the site. The Voice Over page now gives a lot more detailed information which will help potential clients when they are searching for a VA. My demos have been separated and two new demos have been added as well as an updated demo reel.

Some people are telling me they have issues with the sound quality of the demo reel. I apologize for that. It seems like the sound quality issues comes from the streaming service. If you would like a custom demo or a copy of my demo reel you can contact me for that.

My updates for the month of August are coming very soon. I have some new projects going on and some long awaited projects that are getting closer to completion!

Why Google Voice is Awesome

I finally got my Google Voice invitation. I was looking forward to trying it out for many reasons. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed when my boyfriend got his invite and said he saw no use for it. It was just another phone number.

This morning, I received my invite and reluctantly chose a number. Very quickly, I realized this was going to be beneficial to me. As a voice actor, I like to leave my contact information with as many people as possible. However, I’m also very private with giving away my phone number. Not anymore. I have a number that I can give out and it is going to protect my personal privacy.

Google voice also allows me to look over every number that has called me. I am able to block numbers that are annoying, add numbers to my contact list and even put it straight to voice mail mode. Plus, it has an application that I can use on my BlackBerry to change my settings through my phone.

Sure, it can seem like a lot of hassle to some people. If you are someone who doesn’t need to give out your number all the time, it’s probably not for you. For someone like me who likes to have contact information ready; this is a wonderful thing. I’m completely protected, I can screen all of my calls and I can be contacted by potential clients so much faster.