1. Editor's Musings
2. Article: Article: Asians Never Say "No" -- Really? By Nucha Aquino
3. Internet Sites Reviewed
4. Recommended
5. Freebies and Other Good Deals
6. Joke of the Week

1. Editor's Musings

It's been a stressful summer. I'm not a person who enjoys conflict, and I'm not someone who leaps to negative conclusions about another business. But as they say, it's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

I've been involved in a consumer dispute involving WebWizards.net (a web hosting company situated in San Diego) and American Express credit card company.

In mid June, I authorized WebWizards.net to bill my Amex card monthly in payment for web hosting services. However, the service was rife with problems, and the company was unresponsive to my emails or phone messages. On July 1, I asked WebWizards to refund my money as per their site guarantee. I received a prompt email apologizing for the problems and promising to refund the money.

However, the money was not refunded, and the company continued to bill my American Express card.

When WebWizards ignored my reminder email and phone call, I contacted American Express and asked for an investigation. Two service reps both told me that they could and would do nothing since I had authorized recurring billing. It was up to me to cancel the account via notifying the merchant. And, if the merchant failed to cancel after my request, it was my responsibility to pursue legal action.

They also stated that canceling the credit card wouldn't stop the billings, and that by law, I would still have to pay. A phone call to Visa confirmed that this is, in fact, the law, strange as it seems.

Next, I sent a registered letter to WebWizards and an unregistered letter to the Manager of Customer Service for Amex Canada. There has been no response from either one to date.

Finally, I did a web search for consumer advocates. I located Troubleshooter.com, the web home of consumer advocate, Tom Martino. Tom interviewed me on his syndicated radio show on Thursday morning. While I waited, he got an executive from Amex Corporate Office on the telephone. Apparently displeased to hear that her company had received negative publicity on syndicated radio, the executive said that I had been given "incorrect information." She promised that they would deal with the situation.

Within a couple of hours, I received a phone call from the Director of Consumer Relations in Florida. The money will be refunded and the account cancelled immediately. The Director also said she will track down the "glitch" that occurred in the Canadian office to ensure against future problems.

The next day, I received an email from WebWizards saying they had refunded my money all along, but "It was not processed automatically as it should have been by the billing system."

Draw your own conclusions about whatever lesson can be learned here.

2. Article: Asians Never Say "No" -- Really? By Nucha Aquino

It is TRUE Asians, especially the Far-Easterners, never say 'No'.

Well... to most of us...

But don't ever think of taking advantages on this 'opportunity', because it does not work that way.

Because when Asians say 'Yes', it does not always mean 'Yes' either.

No, they are not really lying. They are just saving your face. According to the culture, being said 'NO' to is very embarrassing. If an Asian gives you a 'NO', it means they won't want any more contact with you. And it means he/she is offending and insulting.

Easy... Just ask the right question.

Be careful not to ask a wrong question -- for example, if you ask, "can you do that?" , an Asian employee or partner of yours will always say "Yes" even though he knows for sure what you've asked is not practical and the result will be more losses to the business.

This is because (1) He CAN really do what you've asked -- if he says he can't do it, it'll take his pride; and (2) Telling you your order is not quite right will embarrass you (according to the way he thinks). When he says yes, he is saving the faces of both you and himself.

For Asians who have been involving in International business for a long time, they could be different. But do you want to take a chance?

What you can do to prevent this misunderstanding is to rephrase your question a bit. Do not use a yes-no question. You can ask, "What if we...", or "Is it possible for us to...", instead.

In business, if you ask something which is not possible to your partner, they will say "Yes", but won't do it anyway. They will probably even do it and suffer the loss... Do I have to tell that you won't see this partner again?

One more example, there was a survey conducted by a Western academic researcher in China. The question was -- "Do you go to a .... church/temple?", with Buddhist, Catholic, Taoist, etc. as choices. The result showed error because when they added the number of Christians, Buddhists, Confucians, and Taoists together, the total number was three times larger than the sample size! This was because Chinese are spiritual, and ones who visit churches/temples will visit more than one of them, the researcher's assumption that a Buddhist will go only to Buddhist temple, etc. could not apply here. If the question had just asked, "What is your religion?", the result would be more accurate.

(Moreover... if we said we didn't go to such a good place, it'd make us look bad. So sometimes we lie. Problem with that? ;-)

3. Book Recommendations

Okay, I admit to having a personal interest in this one. Joshua asked me to provide feedback on the book while it was still in the writing stage. He actually incorporated some of my suggestions! I've received a complimentary copy, and my testimonial is right there along with that of many other familiar Internet names.

I not a newcomer when it comes to computer use, and I"d call myself a power user of Microsoft Office. Nevertheless, I found time saving tips in this book that I didn't know about.

What I said, and meant, about the book was, " I'll be saving myself plenty of busywork in the future by using Joshua's easy-to-comprehend time savers."

It's the book we've been waiting for. As the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks approaches, CBS releases their insider story on what they saw on that memorable date in history.

Coming on August 20, this book can be preordered. Click Here

Internet Sites -- reviewed by June Campbell

*** TrainingBetter.com
Online business communication training. Courses, books, career resources,

*** What Your Color Preference Says About You
Find out what your color choices say about your personality, and what they imply about your emotional state.

*** Stupidities
Tech support horror stories. Good for a laugh.

*** Troubleshooter
Syndicated, consumer radio show that goes to bat for you if you have a consumer issue that can't be resolved.

4. Freebies and Good Deals

a. 10,000 Free Ad sites are located at www.ecki.com/links
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6. Joke: Another Lawyer Tale

A tourist stopped in an antique shop and noticed a bronze rat with a tag saying, "Bronze Rat $30.00. Story $150."

"I'll just take the rat," the man said to the clerk. "I don't care about the story that goes with it."

"You'll be back," warned the clerk.

Walking down the street with the bronze rat in his pocket, the man noticed a couple of rats following him. The further he walked, the more rats seemed to follow. Nearing a river, he noticed that there were not thousands of rats following along.

"Enough," he said to himself, and threw the bronze rat in the river.

"Forget the story," said the man. "Do you have any bronze lawyers?"

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