What aTrip

This post first was originally written on July 6, 2012. I ran across it recently and decided to share it again.

I just drove 1,900 miles in 16 hours. What a trip it was.

I left Tuesday at 5:20 AM for St. Petersburg, Florida. My daughter is attending a conference there and needed transportation. My son went along for the ride, and oh what a ride it was!

The hotel where the conference is being held is amazing. The one in Clearwater where my son and I were staying, eh not so much. I had booked online with a third party. Never again, I say!

In all fairness to the hotel, the room wasn’t bad. I’ve stayed in worse. What bothered me was the on-sight ambiance, at no extra charge.

One thing I disliked about the hotel was the outside entry into the room. I feel safer when you have to enter the building and walk past the service desk, or use your key to enter an optional hallway door.

Another thing that bothered me was the fireworks display going on in the parking lot, blocking the way to my parking spot in front of my room. Really? Did they not know that I had been driving for 16 hours?!!!

The straw that broke the camel’s back in this situation was the guys hanging by their car in the parking lot, watching, I assumed, while my teenage son and I unloaded our luggage and entered our room. That’s when I had an inspired idea.

I called customer service of the third party booking agency (did I already say never again?), and asked them to refund my money so I could move down the road to the Hampton Inn. Okay, so I didn’t tell them the Hamption Inn, but I did tell them I wanted to move. I told the agent I didn’t feel safe where I was. She of course asked me why I didn’t feel safe so I told her. NO DEAL-E-O! So I asked to speak with her supervisor.

We played the ask-question/answer-question/ask for the supervisor game again a couple of times, and she finally put me through to the supervisor. The supervisor and I played the same question/answer/put me on hold game a couple of times as well.

FINALLY I got what I wanted! She got back on the line and told me she would refund my money so I could relocate to another hotel! I was free to go! On the eve of the celebration of our freedom as a nation, I too was free to go. To be. To live my life as I choose. To stay in whatever hotel that I wanted. Ah freedom, sweet, sweet freedom.

By this time I had been on the phone with this third party online booking agency for 30 or 40 minutes. I was exhausted. So I thanked her for “changing their policy” and “making an exception” for me. I also told her I had been driving for 16 hours. I was tired, so very tired. And if they would have made that decision when I first called, I could already be snuggled in bed in the hotel I relocated to. And although I greatly appreciated their decision, I was just too tired to move now.

I also told her I was going to move every available piece of furniture in the room and put it against the door. I told her I was very unhappy with how this entire situation was handled, and that I would call back tomorrow… if I was still alive.

That dear lady didn’t miss a beat. She thanked me for calling and wished me a pleasant night.

I have yet to call them back. I feel certain they are wondering if I survived.

This was actually the only piece of furniture I could move.

My son placed his pocket knife on the nightstand between the beds…just in case. 🙂

And these…well, we never quite figured out what they were for. They were on the beds. They made a loud noise when we held the button down and a number appeared on the screen, but nothing else happened.