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Well, I have a lot of thoughts. A lot of opinions. They are generally pretty liberal, which I think turns my family off quite a bit! I am not, however, one to sit and argue my opinion on things until I'm blue in the face, or to express them without provocation. Except here on this page. This will be my place to just vent random thoughts and opinions! The newest items will be first, with the older ones following. I used to have some pretty strongly-worded opinions of my old employer, but have decided to remove those, because I sounded a little TOO much like a jerk.
Note that this page really hasn't developed very much. It's been on the bottom of the list. Also, I started a blog, but haven't really done much on that either. I hope to soon! Check it out at http://samiwas.blogspot.com.
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You pay more to get less...
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Added March 26, 2004
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So I've been trying to figure out what the deal with expensive hotels is when compared with cheaper hotels. It seems like the more you pay, the less you get for it. Take, for instance, the most horrible hotel I have ever had to stay in in my life, The Hyatt Chicago Downtown. This is a very expensive hotel. Now you would think that for the extraordinary amount of money you are paying, that you would get more for it. Not exactly. Take the following:
1 - The rooms are TINY. There was barely enough room for myself and my roommate to put our bags and ourselves in the same room.
2 - They do not supply any vending at all (drinks or ice) and will not allow you to bring in your own beverages or food. When I inquired how I could go about getting a soda, they told me I would have to use the mini-bar. Keep in mind that it cost $2.25 to buy the coke, AND $2.00 fee to restock it. So they actually expect you to pay $4.25 for a **CAN** of Coke. I told them to blow me. If you try to bring in a 12-pack of beer, they will charge you $30 or somethng ridiculous like that to do so. One of our crew members almost had the police called on him because he argued this policy with them. Turns out they require that you purchase their beer from room service at a whopping $25 per 6-pack.
3 - They do not allow any type of beverage or food appliance in the rooms, either. Our microwave was confiscated claiming it was a fire hazard (keep in mind a microwave does not actually produce heat). They also will not allow coffee makers (probably so you have to buy an $8 cup of coffee from their restaurant).
4 - They close their slightly expensive, but really cool, sports bar early so that you will go to their highly-overpriced lobby bar. At $6.00 for even cheap domestic beer, and with no atmosphere whatsoever, it's a pretty miserable bar. This was confirmed by the bartender at the sports bar...they close early so that you will go to the expensive bar. We didn't...we walked half a mile in the snow to a bar down the street.
5 - Well, nowadays most hotels charge for phone calls. I think 50 cents is reasonable. But $1.15 for 20 minutes and 10 cents per minute after that is NOT. $5.15 for an hour-long local phone call. You must be joking. They have calling cards blocked so you cannot use those. And they charge the same rates as above for 800 calls as well. I'm sure they are on their way to charging for room-to-room calls.
6 - The one that really caught me off-guard was the "receiving fee." Yes, if you receive mail or a package, you are charged for that. Anything under 5 pounds is $5 (so a LETTER is $5!!!). Anything 5-10 pounds is $10, and anything over that is $20 or something like that. It is LUDICROUS!! They also charge you to send a piece of mail, even if it is a postcard (in addition to postage, they wanted a few dollars to send the postcard). When I got in a heated aregument with hotel management, he told me that ALL hotels do this. When I told him he was full of it, and asked what the real reason was, he just said "Umm, uhh...well...uhh...I don't really know."
7 - The concierge of this hotel also barked at one of our crew (when he called to ask where the closest laundromat was), "Are you with that Disney group? You just need to come down here yourself and look it up in the phone book. You people are always calling and asking where things are." I thought that was what a concierge was for. Silly me.
8 - And $33 a night for parking...I'd rather have my car stolen.
9 - This was before the days of hotel high-speed internet, but I don't like these hotels that charge $10 or more a DAY for internet. That's $300 a month...hell, that's almost a YEAR'S worth of service at home!! I know they "gotta make money somehow," but really...I've been in plenty of hotels where it was free...and usually the free ones work, and the highly priced ones are a bitch to get working right...and they're usually slower as well.
So that's why I like extended stay and the cheaper hotels. Maybe you give up lavish courtyards and pricey bars with snooty businessman. Maybe you don't get gigantic ballrooms and top-of-the-line workout facilities. But you get free phone calls, free high-speed internet in a lot of places, vending machines where a bottle will be $1.00, free parking, better cable, you're allowed to order a pizza without the secret service hunting you down, and in the extended stay places...a kitchen. All of this for a week for the price of one night at one of these spendy hotels. Give me a Holiday Inn (as long as it has internet!), and I'll be a happy boy.
It seems to me that the only reason these spendy hotels charge so much is, "because we can."
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The moving nightmare...
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Added June 11, 2006
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NOTE: This was originally written in June 2004 just after my wife and I had moved to our new apartment in Atlanta. I came across it while editing my website and decided to throw it on. Beware...it is quite long!
----CHAPTER 1----
Emily and I have moved into our apartment in Atlanta, and so far, we love it!!
But it wasn't that easy getting here, let me assure you!!
We had our move scheduled for either Thursday or Friday. The moving company called on Monday, and confirmed that the movers would come on Thursday. Thus, Emily and I made all of our travel plans, set up places to stay on the travel nights, etc.
Thursday rolled around, and by 1pm, there was still no sign of the movers, nor had there been a phone call to tell us what time to expect them. I tried to call the moving company, but kept getting an answering machine. I called the moving brokers (we used a moving broker...bad idea), and they said they weren't sure and would try to call the moving company...this was on my THIRD call to them.
Finally, a few hours later, I got a call back from them, and they said the movers would be there at 5pm on Friday. I asked why they confirmed Thursday, and they said that our contract said either day, so they were within their contracted obligation. I again asked why they confirmed Thursday, and they replied that "Because that's when we WERE going to do it that day, but we just can't." When asked what the point of confirming was, they said that them confirming just meant that that was the plan, not that it would be a reality (I beg to differ!). As much as I fought, they told me I was wrong and being unreasonable. They literally tried to tell me that a confirmation did not mean an obligation.
Oh, I forgot...in the mean time, I did a little research on this moving company and found out they were involved in hundreds of scams, scare tactics, and various other things to get much more money out of people than they were contracted for, but only after you were waiting for them to load everything into your new place! If you want to see for yourself, do a Google search for "National Moving Network" and see what pops up!!!
Finally I told them to cancel my move and that I would do it myself. They begged and begged to let me have them do my move, but I told them I didn't trust them at all and I was scared what might happen on the other end. Unfortunately, I lost my $500 deposit in the process. So word to the wise, DO NOT use National Moving Network for your move!!!
So Emily and I rented a 15' truck Thursday afternoon and started the drive from New Hamshire to Atlanta on Friday morning. It was a LONG drive, especially in a rickety old truck with no CD player!
We arrived in Atlanta at about 3pm on Saturday, and started moving in. What SUCKED was that our apartment, although on the first floor, is up about a flight and a half of stairs (there's a big hill). So Emily and I carried every item up the stairs in the humid Atlanta heat. We were SOAKED and SORE by the time it was all done.
----CHAPTER 2----
So after unloading and moving in all of our stuff from Emily's house, and finally getting all that set up, we started to enjoy our new apartment. Until our digital cable went out about 2 hours after we hooked it up, and didn't come back on for several days.
On Friday, we went up to Memphis to spend a weekend at my house, and to pick up a truck to bring all MY gak back down to Atlanta. Ahh, the fun starts again! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Safety goggles are not required, but could keep your tears of absurdist laughter from shorting out your computer keyboard.
Saturday morning, I went through the normal process of renting the truck online. I simply wanted the smallest truck available, as I don't really have that much stuff any more. For the life of me, I could not get any of the truck rental sites to rent me a truck. It seemed impossible. So I started calling truck rental places. No one had trucks available. The entire city of Memphis was sold out of trucks until July 5, each place said.
Finally, my saving grace. I managed to find a truck, but for a day later than I wanted it...damn Sundays. I would have to pick it up Monday morning.
Monday morning, Emily and I drove off to the Budget Truck Rental just a few miles from my house. As she was hungry, she dropped me off and went to get something to eat. No sooner had I stepped out of the car, than these people came running out of the store, "Tell her to stop! They have no trucks!" Drats, she was gone already. Yes, the place had no trucks, even though there were four of them parked in the parking lot (3 out back, and one up front).
So I walked up to the counter, and this lady with a british accent tough enough to make a bulldozer against a chalkboard sound appealing said, "Are you Sam...I've been trying to call you! I left you voice mail." I looked at my phone. No calls, no voice mail. I find out very soon that she had indeed called AND left voicemail, but my stupid F*&$(@ phone had not registered either the calls, nor did it tell me I had voicemail.
She informed me that she had no trucks available. I pointed to the one visible in the parking lot and said, "What about that one, and what about the four out back?" She replied, "Oh, I don't have the keys for any of those. Customers dropped those off this weekend, but didn't leave the keys."
When I asked, "Why don't you call those people and tell them you need the keys?", her answer was, "Because they're corporate customers." I guess that means they are super important and above the rules.
So I asked what I was to do. She said, "Oh, I'm trying to get a truck in for you from Mississippi. It's going to be a 15' instead of a 10' truck. It should be here around 1:00pm." It was presently 9:45am, and I wanted to be on the road to ATL no later than 11:00am. I told her that *I* would go and get the keys from these customers who didn't drop them off and and she still said, "Oh, no...they are corporate customers, I can't do that!"
So, I had to go back home and wait. 1:00pm came and went. No phone call. Finally at about 1:20, I called, and she said, "Oh, it will probably be half an hour, they're just right outside the city!"
So half an hour later, I arrive at the Budget place again. "Oh, it's not here yet. It's being filled up." Greeeaaattt. Emily and I sit in the place for a good 15-20 minutes. Still no sign of a truck. Eventually, the lady says, "Do you want insurance on your truck?" What was I to say, "No, what I really want is a truck!"
I proceed to ask her how it is that she can have FOUR trucks there and not have the keys to ANY of them. How could anyone be that inconsiderate not to leave the keys? And how, pray tell, after FOUR HOURS, have you not been able to get in touch with any of these people to try to get the keys. As far as I could tell, she hadn't even tried, because I had been there for quite a while. Again, she said "They're corporate customers."
These corporate customers are really becoming a pain in my ass. I said, "It's fuckin' ridiculous!" to which she replied, "Get out of my store now!" Seeing that this truck was the only truck available in Memphis for the next 8 days, I apologized for using "foul language" (damn crew talk...fuckin' is just a normal adjective!), and proceeded to work through our rental.
The truck finally arrived from Mississippi. But the girl who delivered it came in and said "The car carrier is jammed on and we can't get it off." Of course. So they went back and forth, several people trying to get this car tow off. No luck. So Miss Chalkboard tells me that she has called in a mechanic to try to get the car tow off of the truck, and just to hang tight and wait. That's what I've been doing for the past four hours, I'm used to it.
Well, they can't get the car tow off. So now what. I figure I'm gonna be driving a truck with a damn car tow on it. Nope. "I tell you what, Sam," she says, "I'm gonna give you this other truck I have here and we'll take care of this one." My head almost EXPLODED. Other truck? **Other Truck**?? WHAT OTHER TRUCK?? At this point, I figured it was better for me to just stay quiet before I unleashed a steady stream of highly insulting, bitter words. Seeing that I had no option but to get this truck if I wanted to get my stuff to ATL in the next millenium, I had just better stay calm. I said not a word as we went through the rest of the rental procedure.
Finally, we got the truck, got it packed and started on our way to Atlanta. Did I mention how piece-of-shit this truck was? It was an old Ryder truck, with stickers blocking out the name, as Budget had bought the truck. It has 122,000 miles on it. The suspension is non-existant. The seatbelt does not work. The rear brake light and turn signal do not work. The interior cab light does not work. The headlights are pointed in directions which make them useless to see at night while driving. This truck is a death trap. Nothing in this truck could be considered safe.
Anyway, we are making GREAT time, as traffic was light. We're on schedule to get into Atlanta finally at about 9:30-10:00pm, much earlier than I had expected. That would get us there just before total darkness. Then, it happens. Yes, IT. At 6:45pm, about 15 miles short of Birmingham, one of the tires blows. I probably could have gotten somewhere on this half-shredded rear tire, at least to a gas station, but I had no idea how far it was and wasn't going to risk it.
So I called the Budget emergency roadside assistance number. After being on hold for 10 minutes, I finally got someone one the phone and explained my situation. He said he would call me back and let me know how long it would be until help would arrive. After another 20 minutes, I finally get a call back. 15 minutes to help? 30? No. TWO HOURS. I am stuck on the side of a fairly busy highway, it's getting dark, and it's going to be two hours before someone can come take care of my tire.
Thank God Emily was following me and had her car there. I was so angry by this point, I had tipped the scales and just gone to looney. She went off to get some cokes and a pack of smokes for me. I picked the wrong month to quit smoking, I tell ya! And it says a LOT when Emily will buy me smokes, seeing as she hates smoking with a passion.
Thankfully, the tire guy showed up after only an hour, and took about half an hour to change the tire. By the time we got on the road again, it was fully dark. It would be great if the damn headlights actually pointed towards the road.
For another two-and-a-half hours, we trudged along through heavy road construction and numerous 18-wheeler-Andretti's in my rolling death trap, finally arriving at the apartment at 12:45am.
So my day started at around 9:00am, with the simple idea of getting a truck and moving my stuff to Atlanta, a decent 6-hour drive. I was supposed to be moved in and unpacking by 5:00pm in Atlanta. Instead, my day turned into a 15-hour nightmare. I was amazed that everything I owned in one piece, seeing how rattley that truck was!
When I finally went to return the truck, I pulled in to the Budget place in Smyrna and walked into the office. The guy behind the desk looked at me as if I had driven onto the property in a smoking Pinto. I told him I was there to return my death-truck. He said, "I don't want that thing," then turned to the manager of another nearby Budget Truck place who happened to be in his office and asked, "Do you want it??" That lady let out a hardy laugh and said, "Oh, no-ho-ho!!" The guy was not at all pleased that he had to take this truck in, especially after I rattled off all of the "features." He said he could not discount my trip, but strongly suggested that I call the corporate number, and gave me a card with that number.
I certainly hope this absurd story, when told to Budget (stressing the safety violations in that truck), gets me a little sumpin sumpin.
Honestly, I think I'm going to write a movie. That's my new job. Yay. I have work again.
NOTE: Budget refunded like 15% of the rental cost, after a lot of arguing. That is all that they would do. Since that day, I have not used Budget Truck.
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