The Home Depot situation

So way back in March, I did some renovations ( I didn't do them but had them done) to my kitchen and part of the renovation was a new counter top. So I decide to go to Lowe's first of course they are my place of choice and paid $35 to have someone come out and give an estimate. Well the installer called and after talking to Lowe's installer who said he would get as much money out of me as he could, I wasn't to pleased, and then I saw the price so I wasn't happy at all. Then I ask what it would cost just for the piece I needed and even that was pretty expensive. But Lowe's being Lowe's tried to help out and said they would talk to another installer and see if the price was different. They were taking to long to get back to me (which by the way they never).



Side note though, this is not my regular Lowe's so from now on I'll stick to the one that has giving me outstanding service every time, the one on Washington rd.



Back to the story, I decide to try out Home Depot which i haven't used since about 2004. Back then I had received horrible service and decided not to go back there again. I was hoping after 5 years this may have changed but NO, somethings never change.



I go in there and at first all is going well but that would not last. I received a great price for the counter top but didn't order it immediately. I came back the next day and order AND paid for it then left. I was told approximately two weeks. Not bad.

A week goes by and I get a phone call, sorry we charged you the wrong price you have to come in and pay an additional $168. Say WHAT. I think not. I tell them I will come in for my refund but by the time I do in I am not in the mood to start all over again so I think maybe I should try to negotiate the price because if you really think about it, they can't make me pay more. I already paid for the product in full and nowhere on the paperwork does it say the price can change (unless you are having an installation done). If you look at it this way, it would have been like me buying a BBQ at say $150 and telling them I will pick it up when it comes in. Then they call me back and say oops we charged you the wrong price, you need to pay another $168. They can't do that as it was paid in pull the first time.

To be nice I decide to see what can be done because when it comes to special order things, normal rules might now apply. After a lot of discussion, we agree I will pay an additional $50 and I do. So now I am told two weeks. Ok I guess. now we are looking at a delivery around 11 April. I don't hear anything from anyone well past the 11th so I go in on the 21 April and am told I should have it by Monday 27 April. Like I have a choice. Then comes Tuesday 28 April and I go in again and ask where is my counter top and after about an hour, the merchandising manager tells me, the company is having a hard time finding it and I should get it by 7 May. ARE YOU SERIOUS. I have been trying to get this thing since 19 March. Now I am a little upset and ask if there is any way we can negotiate a refund of the mandatory deliver fee of $60. Mr Songer (the merchandising manager) says to call him once I have received the counter top and he will see what he can do. I then said, the transaction will be done by then, how will that help me. He says to call Wednesday after 1500hrs to discuss.
This is where it stands, I still have no counter top and am hoping they will at least refund the delivery.

Been a while

And this wont be long either. I am very busy at work lately working on Thunder Over Augusta a big Armed Forces Day event as well as working on the usual quarterly awards ceremony plus all other requests that have been flooding in.
I do have to say that finally my hot tub is in it's right position and location and hopefully today an electrician will come by and let me know how much it will cost to get it hooked up. If I'm really lucky this will be up and running soon. I really hope so.
I also got my garden together. Had fertilizer delivered on Friday and then bought some top fertilizer and other garden necessities (ok not really necessities but not the point) from Lowe's of course. And on a side note, I hope to write about why it took me 5 years to return to Home depot and why it will take even longer before I consider doing it again.
I planted seeds in my new garden early Sunday morning because I couldn't sleep. It is highly unlikely very much will grow as I have no green thumb to speak off. I also over-planted and did not follow the spacing requirements on the seed packets.
One more thing before I sign off, I have my first acupuncture appointment today for my back, I really hope this works because something needs to. Of course there will be more to follow on this.

Another trip to ATL

This one was for a mini-ktown reunion (that would be Kaiserlsautern American High School '92) and it was actually pretty fun.



I was able to see my good friend Wendy who I almost never see. The last time was when we went to Chapel Hill to meet the basketball team back in 2007.



Well we didn't go Friday night like a lot of others as we headed out to see a Playhouse Disney show, so we rolled out Saturday monring and not as early as I would have liked. We get there around 1130hrs and head to the Aquarium to meet Wendy and her peoples. That place was way to crowded. Wendy had gotten there much early and was just about done but we did eat together and managed to walk around a bit together. Either we had fun and knew we would see each other later that evening anyway. I almost bought a membership to it but decided against it because a)it's in ATL b)if it's always this crowded I wont want to be there.

The hot tub is HERE

Yes in deed, it arrived safe and sound (I think I haven't unwrapped it yet).
The current problem is finding people strong enough to unwrapped and place it. I did not think about this before hand. It's ok though it's here and in the back yard and that's all that really matters. I finally asked the people who had done some lawn work for me and they came by and it took them about 5 minutes. Then of course came the electrician boy was that a nice chunk out of my pocket but all worth it. Now, it is finally up and running and I am loving it. Recently we have had some nice cool nights which have been perfect for a soak. Below is a quick picture of it in its current state.

I had to do it --Twitter

After all of the stories I have read on Twitter, I decided to go ahead and get an account. We shall see where this may lead or if I will even use it.
I have used it on and off and still haven't decided if I like it but now since we can no longer access facebook.com at work I may end up using it more. I haven't decided if I will use it as a work thing or personal thing yet so I have been flipping back and forth.

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