(Why is ECC not letting me separate into paragraphs??)

Background 

After completing a semester's study program in Beijing (180 day F visa), I went to HK back in early July to apply for a (mainland) Chinese tourist visa. The idea was to have a temporary visa while I worked to secure employment in SH. To my surprise, I was given only a 15-day L visa instead of the 30-day L that I applied for. (I had wanted to apply for a 90-day visa but was told at the counter that HK never gives 90-day L visas.) The person at the counter politely told me she didn't know why I was only granted 15 days.

Research led me to the idea of L visa extension. According to multiple experienced travelers and visa extension service websites, L visa extension can be done twice per visa and each extension lasts 30 days. 60 days should be enough time to find employment, I thought.I applied for extension on 26 July 2012 at the 上海市出入境管理局 in 浦東. I filled in 30 days on the application form. The visa officer was very friendly and assured me I would get my 30 days. Multiple friends in the hostel at which I am staying told me they have extended multiple times without issue. There is even a Japanese guy here who has done it 13 times.I've been rather busy recently and so it was only yesterday, 17 August 2012, that I got a chance to pick up. I was the first one in line when the Bureau opened at 9:00.  I paid my  ￥940 and picked up my passport without hassle. I thought everything was fine and was ready to leave when my 姐姐 took a look at my new visa. The date in the item labeled "有效期至 (Valid until)" was 11 August 2012. They had only given me 15 days.I went back to the counter and asked the person who gave me my visa what happened. She spent a few minutes digging in a huge cabinet and came up with a little slip of paper. With reference to that paper, she notified me that the Bureau had originally given me 30 days but later changed to 15 days. I asked why. She said she didn't know and I would have to go to the third floor to find out why.On the third floor I encountered two characters. One was the guy at the 外國人簽證諮詢台 (Foreign visa consultation desk?). I asked him why they would give me only 15 days if I applied for 30 days. He told me that the Bureau doesn't have to explain its decisions to me or anyone else. I told him that I had overstayed by six days because of this and he promptly pointed me to the office that deals with overstays.That office was staffed by only one man. He told me they would charge ￥500 per day of overstay and issue a free 強制簽證 (bridge visa?) to allow me to leave the country. He said that if I try to leave the country without it I will be arrested.I decided to go back downstairs and find the girl who told me my visa had been changed from30 to 15 days. I found her immediately and she told me she was sorry to say that she had destroyed the record (銷毀了).I don't have a lot of money and I am not enthusiastic about paying ￥4500 (6 days x ￥500  +  three  weekend days x ￥500 = ￥4500) . I have read accounts online of a 10-day grace period for overstays.Questions1. Has anyone here ever been granted only 15 days on an L Visa extension?2. Does anyone have experience with this 10-day grace period?3. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to sort this out?Help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.