Hampton Inn Atlanta-Buckhead, GA - Watch your charges from them

Recently we went to Atlanta to see Cirque De Soleil. I had booked our hotel more than a month prior to the trip and pre-paid for the room. We decided to stay at the
Hampton Inn Atlanta-Buckhead
3398 Piedmont Rd., NE Atlanta,
GAUnited States, 30305
Tel: 404-233-5656
Fax: 404-237-4688

This was my first trip in a long time to Atlanta so I wasn't sure of the location of the hotel but it turned out not to be too bad and actually close to a mall and several other stores I wanted to visit. Also parking was free with this hotel which I have come to find out is pretty rare when you're talking Atlanta. Our check in went well. The room was nice with a refrigerator and microwave. The front desk person was pleasant. We had a nice breakfast the following morning which was included in the the price. Now to the issues I had while there. Before even leaving we had housekeeping knock on our door 3 times before check out time which I thought was inconsiderate. After the first time she should have waited until we checked out. Other than that things went well minus the major bit of snow that was coming down. We headed to the show, then home.
After returning Sunday, come Tuesday morning I see a post from the hotel in my account, charging me again for the room and causing overdraft fees now. This caused my account to be overdrawn and I incurred $35 overdraft fee. I called the hotel immediately and was told they would investigate and receive a call back later that day. I received no such call so I tried to call the hotel several times but could reach no one. I called the VIP hot line (as I am a diamond member) and they said they spoke to the manager at the local hotel and they are working on it. They told me I would be contacted. I was not contacted by the next day so I wrote an email on the website in regards to this issue,. In the meantime another purchase I had made before finding out about this charged posted, so I incurred another $35 overdraft fee. I finally received an email on 5 Mar from Kesha Holmes-Smith, a guest assistance specialist. I had not heard from anyone by the 7th of March so I emailed Ms Smith. I still had not heard by the 9th so I sent another email. I finally received a response on the 9th of March from Ms Smith saying the hotel had contacted me and issued a refund. This was not the case. I had also mention several times about the overdraft fees and asked how they would be handled. I never received a response. I emailed Ms Smith 2 more times in regards to the overdraft fees asking who I should send the letter from my bank that states they are responsible to. I still have not heard anything.

My warning to you is being very careful what card you use when booking with Hampton Inn Atlanta-Buckhead as you might end up with a nasty surprise.

I have since then contacted the better business bureau and Christopher ElliottBlogger/syndicated columnist/TV host ( http://www.elliott.org/ ) to try and help me with this issue.

This issue is still unresolved.

Yeah I ordered, finally

Have you guessed what it is yet? Well I decided to go ahead and buy something I thought I wasn't going to be able to . Technically I shouldn't but sometimes you have to just jump in, which is what I will be doing when my new hot tub I ordered this weekend gets to the house. It is not the one I originally planned on getting (I'm not that extravagant) but I think it will suffice. This one also only requires a standard plug instead of a 220v so that will save at least $400.


I can't wait until it arrives. I'll be in that almost daily. I'll let you know how the first soak goes. Stay tuned....

NCAA Basketball tournament

I've been slacking a little but at least now I can say a few things.  FIrst off, UNC was seeded #1 in their region YEAH and the rest of the bracket doesn't look to bad.  Also the good news is that Ty Lawson is playing and they really needed him in the second game.

In the first game UNC had to play the 16th seed of course that's how it works, which was Radford, they stomped them, 101 to 58.  Lawson did not play in this game.

Next they had to play LSU which also went well but they needed Lawson and he came through.  Even though he hurt his toe again during the game he came back .  UNC won with 84 to 70.  Not that you can tell by the final score but the game was pretty close.  

On friday they play Gonzaga.  I can't wait.  I love March madness (even if 4 of my brackets that I picked didn't get stored so I only have on bracket out there).

My paper bracket though did pretty well in the South Region (UNC'c) and the East Region, West Region wasn't horrible but the Midwest Region was blown to hell.  Good thing I didn't have money riding on it this year.

Just so I put it out there let me set out my picks final 8:

Pittsburgh vs Duke

UNC vs Syracuse

Louisville vs Kansas

Connecticut vs Memphis

Final 4:

Louisville vs Memphis

Pittsburgh vs UNC

Finals: 

UNC vs Louisville

And the big winner, UNC of course.

Oh what a sad day....

If you haven't yet guessed it UNC lost but they shouldn't have.  It was a very exciting game though and even though they lost you could feel the excitement in the air because it was a close game.

I was glad I wouldn't have to pay another $10 for parking the next day.  Without Lawson though it was iffy that they would win a game that was close, he really is a staple in their game.  That's ok though, they need to let him rest up for the BIG tournament so I'll forgive this lose if they do well there. :)  We went back tot he hotel we were at yesterday and got our faces painted and hair sprayed then we found out that UNC was staying there and while we were there we got to see the team off onto the bus to the game.  The band was in the lobby playing a nice send off. It figures that I didn't bring the good camera, I left it in the car cause I figured we wouldn't need it until the game, damn it.  I got so pictures but they weren't that great.

Now I will sit patiently to see how they are ranked in their bracket (really not patiently) and who they may be up against.

More to come ....

And the response to my USAirways question when a fare goes down after purchase ....

Dear Ms. 

Thank you for visiting usairways.com.

When a new lower fare becomes available after a ticket has been 
purchased, customers are entitled to a lower fare guarantee refund 
within the following guidelines. The difference in fares needs to be 
more than the change fee of $150.00.  The change fee will be deducted 
from the difference and the residual amount will be issued in the form 
of a US transportation voucher for future travel.  Additional rules and 
restrictions may apply. 

The lower fare is available for the exact itinerary previously 
purchased.
No portion of the reservation has been flown.
Lower fare guarantee refunds are not available for online ticket 
exchanges. Certain promotional fares may be excluded.

For domestic reservations please call 1-800-428-4322, for international 
reservations please call 1-800-622-1015 to seek a lower fare guarantee.
    
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reply
or call our Internet Support Desk at (800) 327-7810.  We know that you 
have many choices and we thank you for choosing US Airways. 

Sincerely,

Karilyn Smith
Internet Support Specialist
US Airways

I can't believe

That I didn't write about this before but it just popped into my head.

I finally bought our tickets to Germany.

Now to how that came about.

I check usairways.com almost 4 or 5 times or more a day (yes I am compulsive but damn it I want a good deal).  I am using them only because of the credit they issued me from a prior trip mentioned in a prior post.  For the 3 months or so, the prices haven't really varied, the majority was $1300 or so a piece. DAMN that would be about $2600 just to get there forget spending money. But then one day the prices were $1089 or so. So now I'm think hmmm do I wait longer or jump on the deal.  I figure wait longer, if I get desperate I can always got to priceline.com

Then more time passes and the price drops to $898, now we're talking because plus taxes we're about at $2100 for both.  But still, and I wait.  I'm getting a little nervous but decide to wait anyway.

I have read several articles on the net that always discuss when the best time to check for deals is.  What they say is check between Tuesday and Wednesday.  Also they suggest certain days of the week to fly which will have cheaper tickets.  They specifically mention don't check weekends because that's when everyone else does and you are less likely to find deals.

On e saturday morning i'm about to leave the house in an hour or so and decided just for the fun of it to check prices.  I also chose the flexible date option and after plugging in my usually dates (which were the ones I was getting the cheapest price for), low and behold, if I traveled the day before, my ticket is only $487.  What, i jump on this start to make the only purchase and realize that I have to call yo use my vouchers.  I'm rushing around the house trying to get everything together because you never know how long the deals will last.  I finally get through on the phone and get the tickets and in the end each ticket cost $510.35.  Not to shabby huh.

I am very pleased at this point.

Now for the bad part, I just went back to the website and saw that the tickets came down again.

Now my ticket is $447 and the ones on my original day have come down to $758.  Maybe I should have waited longer but overall it was still a good deal.  I can't complain too much.  I saved a grand what a couple more bucks (could have been put toward the hot tub fund but we wont go there).

Lesson learned don't go back a check prices after you have purchased your tickets.  You may end up getting upset and there is nothing you can do about it.

(PS I just finished writing USAirways asking them if I could get a refund for the $40 difference, I'll let you know what they say, it doesn't hurt to ask right.)

First day at the ACC tournament

The trip was uneventful, thank goodness but because I was being lazy with our departure we arrive a little late for the 1st game.  It's all good though, it's not like it was UNC playing because we would have been way early for that.

No snow which is always good.

So we get to the 1st game after paying $10 for parking which I thought was ok until I found out there were no in and out privileges. This is not exactly good when you have a 6 year old in tow and there are 4 games and you know eventually you will have to leave for a bit and come back.

Don't even get me started on the over priced food either.  Oh and I just wanted a nice hot tea and even that was going for $4.

In the first game I wanted Miami to win as UNC had trouble beating Virginia tech but of course Virginia Tech won 65-47.  Damn it #1

Second game Clemson vs Gerogia Tech, didn't really have someone I wanted to win in that one, but decided I didn't want Georgia Tech to win just because i"m not liking it down here. SO of course they won 86-81.

Third game (yes there were a lot of games) Maryland vs NC State.  I no likey MD at all.  There was no way I wanted them to win.  Of course they do 74-69 but it was a really good game and close up until about the last 15 minutes of the second half.

The fourth game was Boston College vs Virginia. Another team I didn't want to win, Boston College as they were one of the few teams that beat UNC this season. Obviously you must see the trend by now meaning they won 76-63.  This too was a pretty good game so no complaints.  We left just before the 1st half ended as it was getting late, it was already past 2200hrs and K was getting sleepy.  He did pretty well today except for a minor infraction at the first game.  After much talking things went much better the last two games.

Well it's getting late and I want to make sure we're up bright and early.  Tomorrow is the big day, UNC vs Virginia Tech at noon.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

GO HEELS!!!!!!

ACC tournament countdown

That's right, it's that time of year again. March Madness has begun and just like any other college basketball fan, i'm in full swing of it except this year, I get to go to the ACC Tournament.

As a recap, I love UNC and all other teams suck. They just won their conference by beating out the ....,I'll keep it nice, Duke. What a wonderful day for us UNC fans, they beat them both times this season.

Let's not for get many kuddos out to UNC's player, Ty Lawson for being named ACC player of the Year. (thank goodness he is a junior, one more year with him let's hope)

Hopefully our trip to ATL will not include snow again.

Stay tuned for more of my musings.

So below is the schedule for the Tournament:

Opening Round: Thursday, March 12

#8 Virginia Tech vs. #9 Miami Noon

#5 Clemson vs. #12 Georgia Tech 2 p.m.

#7 Maryland vs. #10 NC State 7 p.m.

#6 Boston College vs. #11 Virginia 9 p.m.

Quarterfinals: Friday, March 13

#1 North Carolina vs. Winner Game 1 Noon

#4 Florida State vs. Winner Game 2 2 p.m.

#2 Wake Forest vs. Winner Game 3 7 p.m.

#3 Duke vs. Winner Game 4 9 p.m.

Semifinals: Saturday, March 14

ACC Semifinal 1
1:30 p.m.

ACC Semifinal 2
3:30 p.m.

Championship: Sunday, March 15
ACC Championship Game
1 p.m.

The New Kitchen

Below is the old kitchen to the right is the new:

Below old kitchen right new:

Below old view from living room right new:

So the renovations to my kitchen are more or less done. I just need to have the counter redone but it's not too obvious so I decided to post pictures. I really like what the guy did, he did a great job and this has really opened up the kitchen and the rest of the house too. It's not as dark anymore which I really like, I love the light:)

I just found out though that the counter top will probably not be as cheap as I expected it to be which is not good at all. Not that it was cheap to begin with but now it's getting ridiculous to have one piece replaced.

Snow, Cirque De Soleil, Snow, Drive, Snow, snow snow

Do you see a pattern? Last I checked I live in the South, you know, like Georgia. Also upon closer review of my calender it seems that it says 1 Mar so pretty close to spring right. So why is it that it snowed ALL DAY and not just a wee bit, A LOT. We were trying to enjoy the Cirque De Soleil but the snow made it a wee bit harder. It was snowy and COLD. This show is in a big tent but the toilets and other things are unheated under a flimsy tent. Even the big tent wasn't that warm I think it was more the body heat of everyone there. The show was ok but not worth the mucho dollars spent. It was very loud so of course my son was not pleased. I think if the music had not been so loud it would have been more enjoyable. I think I will stick to watching it on TV. After the show we stopped for ice cream (yes it was still snowing and it was still cold) and then finally headed on the road.
This was not a fun trip. The snow did not subside and the roads got worse and of course because this is the south, they don't know how to drive in the snow. Eventually we came to a dead stop for almost an hour and a half to two hours. After abot 5h hours we finally made it home. The snow finally became rain about twenty minutes out. So we didn't get to enjoy the snow once we were safely snuggled into our home.
I think I'd rather be somewhere with all four seasons on a consitance basis instead of this, it's suppose to be warm most of the time but sometimes we have freak weather thing.