Reserve -

the act of keeping back, withholding, or setting apart.

After leaving work one recent Friday afternoon I picked up a colleague and drove to Dallas.  We made fairly decent time, pulling into the Hyatt (Downtown Dallas) a little after 9:00 p.m.  It had been a long day and the next day promised to be longer, kicking off with an 8:00 a.m. breakfast, followed by an all-day conference, finished up with the four+ hour drive back to Houston.

Suffice it to say, we were tired and very much looking forward to good night's sleep.  I'd called the hotel the night before to confirm our reservation for two double beds, explaining that I was traveling with a colleague, arriving late and really needed two doubles, NOT a single king.

I was assured by the very friendly customer service representative that I didn't need to worry that my reservation was for a double and the room would be ready for us, regardless of how late we arrived. Just to be safe, I checked in online first thing in the morning.

(I'll bet you can see where this is going.)

However, when I checked in we were given a king.  At first we protested and were told that room type was a preference and they did not reserve specific room types.

(Yes, we were living a Seinfeld episode)

Apparently, all they could do for us was a roll-away.  When pressed the front desk associate explained that all she had available were Kings. So we decided to bite the bullet and take a second room.  Wait, no, they had no other rooms available, they were completely sold out.  At this point we were incredibly frustrated because she'd just said they had kings.  Fine, we'll take the roll-away.  (What else could we do.)

As we turned away from the desk, we ran into two fellow Houstonians attending the same conference.  While we regaled one of them with our tale of woe the other proceeded to check in and we heard her ask if she could switch her double for a king because her roommate had cancelled. Sure, the very helpful young man responded, no problem.  WAIT A MINUTE!  I thought there was  nothing available but Kings?  Sure enough, she was getting a double.  The gentleman helping her (actually helping her) quickly assess the rather volatile situation unfolding in front of him and had the rooms switched and new keys in our hands before we really knew what happened.

When confronted by this new set of facts the girl who swore there wasn't a double in the hotel just looked at us and then walked away.  Not that I blame her for that, what could she say. She'd just been caught flat out lying to us.

But, I will never set foot in that hotel again.  EVER. (Despite the fact that the management offered us a free upgrade for our next stay after we complained. A free night might have bought you another shot, but a free upgrade?  Hardly.)

High Hopes

Such promise.....

I know "long" is a subjective term, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the "Long Lasting Flavor" to last longer than the time it takes to get out of the Target parking lot.

To be fair, it was very tasty for almost a whole minute.

Customer Service??

I closed my checking account today. I had some some mixed feelings because I’ve a good experience with Chase (or so I thought). But, the reasons I opened the account no longer applied and over the last six months all that account balance has done is get smaller as it was chiseled away by fees.

Decision finally made, I head to my local branch. Shouldn’t take more than five minutes, unless there’s a line, right? HA! I walked in to the branch at 11:45 a.m., happy to note the lack of a line, bounced up to the teller and asked to close my account. But, you can’t do that at the teller window, you have to wait to speak with a personal banker, even if you have a basic account with a little bit of money in it. Fine.

I, less than graciously, made my way across the lobby to wait for about ten minutes before I was ushered in to a personal banker’s cube; where she promptly took a phone call. Yes, after sitting in the lobby for ten minutes for “my” turn, I was left cooling my heels while she talked to someone else on the phone. {Irritation level rising.} After she concluded her call, I explained I wanted to close my account and referenced the fees. She started typing into her computer and asked why I was paying fees. Huh? Apparently, if I had used my debit card at least five times a month the fees would have been waived.

News to me. Her response to my confusion was to list all the reasons why my not knowing was my fault. I should have come in to the branch more often, I should have asked, I should have interacted with a personal banker on a regular basis, etc. Really?!? It’s MY fault you didn’t share the account features available to me?! Irritation became aggravation.

I asked if she was offering to rebate some of the fees. Nope, okay then, I repeated that I wanted to close the account. She started typing again and then said “Oh, I see you have a mortgage with us.” Yes. “Well, then you’re entitled to a free premium checking account with your mortgage.” FULL STOP. WHAT? Again, my fault for not knowing this was available to me. I pointed out that perhaps the origination of the mortgage might have triggered some sort of action on their part, but no, it’s my fault because I didn’t talk directly to the loan officer or come in to the bank. {Silly me, closing in a title company office.} I’m now DONE with this woman and with Chase. I pointed out that we could argue the point all day and get no where so concluded our business, she walked me over to the original teller who gave me my $190.21.

I walked out at 12:05 p.m. angry and feeling ripped off. In twenty minutes Chase took a happy customer reluctantly closing an account and turned me in to an angry, frustrated ex-customer who felt ripped off. Nicely done, Chase.

And by the way, you owe me $204. $6 a month from the origination of my mortgage to the day I closed my account.

P.S. Just in case you wondered, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that a bank would take the initiative to contact their customers. Wachovia called me last month to make sure I was aware of a new feature available to me on the joint accounts my brother and I have to handle the mortgage and other household expense. SHOCKING!