Danielle Melnyk wanted to make this holiday season unforgettable for her daughter.
But this is not how she wanted things to go.
While looking for a way to create traditions and memories, Melnyk stumbled upon a wonderful, awful, idea.
“My daughter is self-proclaimed Grinch obsessed,” she said.
“We’ve probably watched it 15 times this year.”
Melnyk found an ad on a Facebook group for a man who calls himself the ‘Nose Hill Grinch.’ Because of her daughter’s love for the story and the character, she hired him to steal Christmas.
And, so far, that’s exactly what he did.
“I wanted a COVID- safe experience for my daughter,” said Melnyk.
“We wanted to try and attempt to make memories this Christmas while staying inside and safe.”
But little did she know then, this was going to be a much truer Grinch experience than she’d ever expected.
A real life Grinch
After rescheduling several times, the ‘Nose Hill Grinch’ stayed true to his character and never showed up.
Melnyk doesn’t quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right, or, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
He had already received payment for the visit, but according to Melnyk, he never responded to any messages afterwards.
On Wednesday, the man behind the character told LiveWire Calgary he could not fulfill his obligation because he had been in a fender bender. He said he would be contacting people and returning the money.
We were then unable to contact him after that.
After Melnyk posted about the incident on Facebook on Wednesday (Dec. 16), several people came forward, saying that they had been involved in a similar situation with this individual. He had cancelled on them prior to when he said he was in the collision.
Calgary police were contacted for this story. Melnyk said she did not file a complaint, but one of the others said they had. The Calgary police were not able to provide any information.
A happy ending
Those who hired the ‘Nose Hill Grinch’ seem to have got a much more authentic experience than expected.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Melnyk said that she has yet to receive a refund, and no one that reached out to her has either.
“The reality is, it is about the money,” she said.
“But he really did steal experiences from people.”
But all ended well for Melnyk and her Who girl.
After hearing about this incident, a group called Joey Clark and the Misfitz gave Melnyk and her daughter the experience they wanted.
“There are a lot of good people here in Calgary, and so many people have stepped up,” she said.
“In the end, there is positive support, messages and kindness, especially this year.”
