SpringHill Suites Long Island - A Marriot Hotels Property: FAIL

Brookhaven - Marriot Hotels. They cancelled my reservation after we had called to say that our employee would be late. Called twice to confirm this - spoke with Pablo who assured me that the reservation would be safe. It was not and they cancelled all nights after I have pre-paid. Asked to speak with a manager and Melissa transferred me to Marriot general reservations. Hotel lied that I was told to contact Priceline by Pablo - I was not. Even Priceline agreed and refunded, which they never do. Buyer beware. Bottom line - paid for three nights, only wanted to use one, but room cancelled on the first night, even though Pablo was informed that my employee would be late. I asked the Marriot employee (a 'manager') to whom I was transferred if he was physically in the hotel, to which he replied, "I cannot answer that". This happened four times before I hung up. Bottom line - these guys do not get it. The hotel may be aesthetically pleasing, but to cancel a pre-paid reservation even after we called is abhorent. Our young female employee would have been without a room, alone in NY had we not called to confirm the 'confirmed' reservation. We know - if it can go wrong it will. FAIL.


Bottom line - Pre-paid reservation cancelled after two calls were made assuring reservation was safe. Transferred to a 'manager' who was nothing but a call-center grunt. Priceline, in this case, refunded. 

Is Groupon worth the Investment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqbEQ0GNlD0

British Airways Brochure - FAIL

Chase Bank Credit Card: FAIL

Chase Bank Reply

Just be like Google...

In compiling wellfarted.com, I have to tell you about my yard-sticks for corporate behavior:

The best companies in America, in my opinion, are as follows:

1. Google. Never, in the history of the corporate world has one company done so much for so many. If every company on this planet behaved as google does, the world would not be in the mess it is in. Simply, google is the poster-child of honestly, integrity and all-around goodness. Google is more than a corporate entity, it is becoming a mind-set and its leaders HAVE changed the world. Admire them? Not only - we all need them.

2. Southwest Airlines: Superb customer service, fun and professional flight crews and an all-round good company. No other airline comes close to SWA. God knows, we needed Airtran to be purchased by this superb outfit. Southwest Airlines - THE BEST airline in America - and no, I do not work for them.

3. O Charley's Restaurants: Superior management and an all-round GREAT deal. You will not have a bad experience here - they give a damn - they get it.

4. The McCarthy Group Florists: The Flower Folks (tm). Locations across ten states and soon to launch the national web site www.thinkflowers.com. CEO Brian McCarthy started the business as a teenager and continues to be as much involved at 'grass-roots' level as he was in the 60's and 70's. 

Chase Bank and its British Airways Credit Card: Broken link causes consternation.

I love banks. They tend to keep money safe, which is much better than keeping it in a tea-pot. However, they've been pretty lame of late - you know, destroying the odd economy here and there, bankrupting poor Iceland and then what the hell did Ireland do to be farted on in such a terrible way?

Microcosmic this story may be, but a bank - in this case Chase - got me all bent out of shape and, to this end, they farted really badly.

In essence : British Airways partnered with Chase to offer a stunning deal: Apply for their credit card and be 'rewarded' with 50,000 BA miles after a spend of $2500 during the first three months. NOT ONLY - receive a further 50,000 miles upon the first anniversary of the account's inception. WOW - too good be true - essentially yes.

Upon applying for our cards, my wife and I discovered that when we clicked on the link that should have generated the 50,000-mile rewards card, one was taken to an application for a card which only garnered 25,000 miles. Not so good. So, armed with a boatload of good will, we called British Airways in Florida to explain our tale of woe. The representative, also British I add, empathetically explained that the deal was good, BUT not so good as the 100,000 mile card that he himself had applied for and received the year before. SPLENDID! So, indeed, Joe British Airways guy got the deal of a lifetime, but this was not going to help me. I explained the broken link, which he logged onto and agreed with me - "The link had not been working all week", and he was advising customers to go ahead and apply for the alternative card, which, once approved, would generate the correct amount of miles anyway - 50k. All we would  need to do would be to call Chase, and they would credit us with the additional 25,000 miles !

Fart 1: Incorrect information British Airways. We all know (as do I) that a computer generated link to a form offering deal A would not then be processed correctly as deal B. We all know that this would go wrong - as it did.
Even though BA guy was a terribly nice chap, his information was as useful as something rotten floating in a swimming pool.

What happened?

Well, we got our cards and MINE was fine - I got the 50k miles. As for my wife's - NO, she received the 25,000 miles version, as I expected her to (if it can go wrong, it will).

Naturally, Chase Bank were about as helpful as North Korea and they basically farted a couple of answers including:

"We've already had one of our managers tell you you filled in the wrong form".

Wow, the patronizing female will not be named here, for fear of reprisals against her double-digit IQ and, moreover, I don't want Chase Bonk [sic] to send her back to the swamp for fear that she will be eaten.

Two further 'go away' letters further endorses the apathy of Chase Bank.

Fart 2: Chase Bank REFUSED to believe the broken link story. BUT, why would my application be processed correctly and my wife's not? Did my application end up on the desk of someone who 'got it' when my wife's did not?

Essentially - lesson learned. Broken links on the web sites of major corporations such as Chase Bank and British Airways are dangerous ditties. They cause people to become all upset and confused, second guess themselves and generally wonder how anyone gets anything done - ever. There was no resolution to this one - a broken link lost us 25,000 miles, an annual fee and perhaps rewards on other credit cards that we would have gained had we not applied for the British Airways Chase Bank credit cards.

Shame on Chase Bank and shame on British Airways - when you post a link to an offer, make sure the link works and goes to the right form.

Farts? - they both emitted!

Update - Saw a new offer this morning - 100,000 miles ! So, we applied, hoping that Chase will do the honorable thing and upgrade my wife's account to the new one. Naturally, I can assume that the empty suits of Chase Bank will NOT upgrade her and, to this end will send us a generic letter. Oh well. 


Decided to register the mis-spelling of the name chasebsnk.com, which now points to this blog. Pissed? Oh sure. I shall let you know how if we get the card. 


In the meantime....have good Easter folks.