Okay, I'm going to rant, so if you don't wanna hear that kind of thing, just move on to my Inspiration report.

In July, DH and I stayed at a hotel in Stamford, CT on our way to NH (we stayed free due to accumulated points for business trips). We mistaskenly left the battery charger for our digi cam there. When we realized it, we called, but no one except the head of housekeeping can get into Lost and Found. The day we called was Friday, July 21. Head of Housekeeping (HoH) was out, but they would have her call us before she left for the day. No call.

So, Saturday we called, but HoH is off on weekends. We were told they would have her call us on Monday. No call. I called on Tuesday and was told that she had stepped out, but to call back in 20 minutes. I called 20 minutes later, and magically, she was gone for the day! I was SO frustrated!!! So I spoke with a manager who apologized and said my calls had not been logged properly. Well, I don't care if they are logged properly or not, I just want to find out if my charger is there (by the way, this is a NICe chain -- one of the Hilton brands). She promised to check with the HoH in the AM and she herself would call me the next morning. Of course, she didn't call until 4pm,but at least she called.

She said they didn't have the charger. Not their fault, but I was irritated that it took so many calls for me to find this out, especially when I had to keep calling back instead of them calling me. So she put me on with the general manager. I told him what happened, and he was apologetic. He then offered to REPLACE the charger, jsut because I'd had such a frustrating time with communications. So he told me to email him with the make/model #. (I did not expect this at all as it is not their fault -- maybe DH and I left it elsewhere, or maybe housekeeping didn't see it and the next guest thought it was their lucky day, who knows-- but since he OFFERED, and since I had had such trouble getting the answer... sure, I'll let him replace it).

I looked it up at Radio Shack's website and forwarded the link to him ($31.49 value). He emailed me and said he was having it shipped and included the traking # --Wow, I thought!

Humph. When the package arrived and when I opened it, guess what I found?!? My ORIGINAL charger! So it WAS there! Amazing!!! BUT, it no longer works. Now, I'm jsut wondering if it was maybe tampered with because I'd caused so many problems-- I don't know for sure, but, who knows. Anyway, I call the manager, just to let him know I received it and of course I mentioned that I was surprised it was the original and not a new one like I was expecting (since ours wasn't there). And I mentioned that it no longer worked. I didn't request anything, but he told me that if I replaced it and sent him a copy of the receipt, he would reimburse me. (Again, I did not expect him to offer this, but he did, so OKAY, I will take him up on it, especially since I've had so much trouble, yada, yada, yada).

Okay. So I go and buy a new one and send a copy of the receipt to the GM. I emailed him a week later to confirm that he had received it. No reply. I called to see if he had received the receipt OR the email and he had gotten both. He was going to send me a check or gift card. I emailed him as soon as we got off the phone ( like written documentation) and requested it be a refund since I have already bought the charger from radio shack and don't have any other purchases I need from there. No reply. I wait a week and email him again -- basically reminding him that the reason I was contacting him is because he OFFERED to replace it/reimburse it because of a lack of communications where his staff did not get back in touch with me in a timely manner! I also included that once I receive the reimbursement, he won't have to hear from me again, except to acknowledge receipt of the check for his records. NOTHING.

So I call today, and of course, he is at a GM meeting out of town and won't be back until next week. The lady in charge goes on about how the charfer doesn't work isn't their fault -- True, I say, but that's no longer the point. The GM OFFERED to first, REPLACE it since it WASN"T THERE, and then when it didn't work, he was going to REIMBURSE me! So, the latest is that she is going to email him or call him at his conference (she won't give me his district managers name -- not to worry, I can find it) and she will get back to me today. We'll see!

UGH! I hate being lied to. And I feel like that's all I've gotten from this hotel! It's less about the $$, and more about the fact that the whole reason I was getting anything is because they couldn't be bothered to call me back. SHEESH!

Okay, breating in, breathing out. In...Out. Venting is done. Veins popping out of my neck are retracting. Steam coming from ears has successfully de-wrinkled nearby curtains, and fangs and claws have retreated.

Some show, huh?