Flagship Resort Atlantic City~"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW"

Our stay started off with a quick and easy check-in.  As we got to our room on the 21^st floor, I was excited to go out on the balcony but tripped on the step. My advice on that one make sure you look down when you walk . You’re taking your life in your own hands especially with a wobbly railing.I would have to say that the view from our room was a nice one.

 I started unpacking our few groceries into the semi full size but very wobbly fridge. The feet on it needed to be adjusted. We then tried to turn the TV on but the remote didn’t work. It was a nice flat screen but a slightly fuzzy picture. There was a DVD player but figuring it out was a chore. The picture was clearer when watching a movie but having 3 remotes was a little unnecessary. We used the hotel trolley to get to Bally’s and was nice not to drive but it only  left on the hour and picked up at Bally’s quarter past the hour. So you had to plan your time. This hotel is on the water but off the beaten path.

The first night we ate in the restaurant a really good burger and a simple salad. As we were leaving we noticed a roach crawling on the bar, not a good sight to see and we thanked God we had already eaten.  We did bring it to the bartender’s attention.

We decided to turn in for the night. The bed was uncomfortable and the sheets and bedding very scratchy. Having a room outside the elevator is also not a room to have; it is noisy all night long. In the morning we decided to brave the restaurant again because we didn’t make the trolley. The waitress couldn’t have been more pleasant and the food a buffet was good. They also cooked eggs and Belgian waffles to order, refills on the drinks included in the price of the buffet were a treat.

We decided to go down to the pool and hot tub. I would advise against if you have a dirt phobia. It didn’t seem to be the cleanest water we were sitting in. It was also very loud with screaming children, so much for relaxing. We went back to the room to take showers and made a plan to catch the six o’clock trolley. I would have to say that toiletries were a plus for not being an upscale hotel.

We left the room about five fifty, we thought that would leave us with plenty of time. We stood in front of the elevator with two other people and it never came we heard it moving up and down floors but never stopped for us. They decided to take the stairs but there was no way I could trot down twenty flights of stairs in my heels. I went in and called the front desk, they informed me that the elevators were broke and we would have to call when we needed it. So we were stuck in the room till the seven o’clock trolley. I wish they would have told us ahead of time. We went down at six thirty and asked Dorthory the manager at the front desk if the trolley could take us over to Bally’s and come back for the seven o’clock people, since there would be plenty of time. She said no because we were the only ones waiting. I would have to say that is the least they could have done but their customer service fell short. So we paced until seven and ended up being the only one’s on the trolley anyway, which was upsetting because a little customer service can go a long way. When we returned for the night there was security, the maintance man and four other travelers around the elevator area. My husband asked if the elevators were fixed and the maintance man told him yes, then looked directly at me and said “ARE YOU HAPPY NOW”. Wow if that isn’t customer service I don’t know what is. I really think he should have said yes they are sir sorry for the inconvenience.

We exchanged this stay as part of our timeshare through Interval World. The cost was $139.00 for the two nights we stayed. I would have to say I would not ever recommend or stay at this hotel EVER again.  “ARE YOU HAPPY NOW”?

I did come home and get the email addresses for the President and Vice-President. I think they should know how run down there hotel is becoming especially when they are trying to sell timeshares. I was contacted by the hotel manager but he did not seem too concerned when I told him he had gotten other bad reviews from Trip advisor along with some good ones. He said that Blog’s and sights such as these are just for complainers. I thought they were for places for people that want to find a nice place to stay with good customer service. I think they want to be “HAPPY NOW” while they are spending they had earned money on vacation supporting the business of the place they are staying and supplying salaries for those employees that work there.

Do Ceo's really care ?

Just to buy a simple refrigerator:

 My story continues…

Discontinued how is that?

 So not having time to sit on hold and rack up call phone minutes I hung up. I went to the store and when I walked in I told the security guard at the front door to send over the store manager. John was his name and I’m sure he didn’t want to deal with me. As we know I am tired of dealing with associates who don’t care and I end up telling them how to do their job. All I wanted was a fridge quick, easy and painless. Is it that hard? TAKE THE DOORS AND DRAWERS OFF !!! So as it turns out they had one on the shelf. I’ll take it. So John calls the warehouse to set up delivery again.

He wasn’t offering anything for my time and driving back and forth to the store. So before I left I asked for a free 5 year warranty. He told me NO. So I asked for 4years. No again. So we settled on 2 years and they credited my account since I already paid for it. So I left him with my number and told him to call me when delivery was set up. With no job I’m home a lot.

 Later on that afternoon I got a call from Mike Reilly manager of the warehouse. He wanted me to know they were sending out a SPECIAL TEAM to get the fridge in the house. Wow I thought anyone could take doors and drawers off and get a 28 in. object through a 301/2 in. hole. I guess not it takes a SPECIAL kind of TEAM. Why don’t they just send that team all the time? They were scheduled for later on that afternoon. He also informed me he didn’t understand why the women on the phone said it was discontinued there were 40 in the warehouse.

I don’t know I don’t work there. No job remember.  For my trouble he offered to send me a $100 Gift card and I was thankful.

So I went home and emptied the old fridge and when the SPECIAL TEAM came they were in and out in 20 minutes.

I don’t understand why they couldn’t just do that the first time?

Of course my story doesn’t end here either.

My email to Ceo and Vice President of Best Buy

As a customer that has boycotted your store for 2 years and has recently went back, I see nothing has changed. The reason for the boycott you can read on my blog melissagarci.blogspot.com .

The reason I will use my store credits and not return is this reason. I purchased a refrigerator in the Bel Air Md store to be delivered before Christmas. It would have been delivered on a Saturday but I had to cancel. I was getting laid off the day before and in my frame of mind, thought it be best to put it off a week. Sure no problem, the next Friday it was. As we got the call the night before, our hours were between 3:30 and 5:30.  No problem.  As we had theater tickets for 7:00 that night, it was still enough time if they came at 5:30. So we waited with food sitting on the counters (they want the fridge clean and a clean path to it) but they didn't come by 5:30 and did not call. So I called Best Buy to see what was going on and they said they were running late. I wanted to know why they didn't call me?  So when they finally got here at 6:30 they said they couldn't bring it in the house because it wouldn't fit. So I said more than once, can't you take the doors and drawers off?  To no avail – since no one could speak English I had to send them away. I did not have the time to try to explain to them how to do their job. So my daughter and I went to the play by ourselves without my fiancé (who had cancer in 2005) since he didn't have time to get ready. It would have been nice to have a family night as we planned since you never know how many you'll have left. After the play, my mom and I went to Best Buy to measure. My doorway was 301/2 in. The fridge without the doors and drawers was 28 in. Now I didn't do well in math but I really thought you could move a 28 in. object through a 301/2 in. hole but I could be wrong. The associates at the store agreed and after a little trouble, scheduled delivery again. Delivery day came and my time was between 10:00 and 12:00. I called at 9:30 to get the ETA ,I had a lot of errands to run that day ( it was before Christmas) and I didn't want to sit all day and wait again with food on the counters. My ETA was for the following Monday and I said No, it was for today. She asked me to hold and when she came back, she said it was out of stock. I told her that they tried to deliver it already so it should be there waiting for me. She put me on hold again and came back to inform me it was discontinued. The story does not end here and has actually gone on for a couple of weeks. So I would LOVE to tell you the end and I'm sure you want to hear it. Thank you for your time Melissa Garci

How should have the associate handled me ?

As I explained to the store manager sometimes customers need help. We don't know how the store is set up. Sometimes we need to be taken by the hand and walked to the item. "Show me the product."

I would never expect in my wildest dreams to ask a customer service associate for help and them to tell me no I can't help you.
She could have said I will try to help you, sometimes an extra pair of eyes is helpful.
Keyword even if you don't think you can help try, you might surprise yourself and make a customer happy in the end.

Whatever happened to crosstraining. When you work in a small store like Best buy shouldn't you know almost all aspects of the store. Especially in the area that is right in front of customer service where you stand all day. And if you were helping someone else or were to busy to I would have to say NEVER say no I can't help you to a customer. What should have been said was I'm not sure I will get someone to help you or I will find out for you.

Can't anyone just help me ?

I'll get back to the kitchen later. I wanted to tell you about my "I need a new computer keyboard" story first.

So you think it's going to be easy and simple, go into the store, find what you want, buy it, leave. Sometimes yes but there are those days a big NO. So I venture over to best buy on my way home from work. As I'm tired from getting up at 4am. I'm thinking this should be a quick in and out trip. Sounds funny doesn't it.

So I go in and head down the aisle looking for a $20.wired keyboard and all I see is $50.-$100. wireless. I have had wireless before and don't like them, you constantly have to change the batteries. Since I couldn't find a wired one (apparently I'm half blind or they were hiding them) I decided to search for help instead.

When I went to the computer counter the two associates were helping other customers. So as I waited another associate walked up, did something at the counter and started to walk away. No smile, no can I help you, nothing , I was wondering if I was invisible. I decided to follow, basically, chase her down as I just wanted to get in and out. So I called out to her "excuse me can you tell me where the wired keyboards are". As I caught up to her she said No I don't work in this department I work in customer service. LOL..
So as I was extremely tired from getting up early and working all day I decided to leave it at that and went home to take care of it.

When I got home I called Best Buy to talk to the store manager and ask why someone that works in customer service couldn't help a customer. He was apologetic and told me that the wired keyboards were on the end cap at the bottom (basically hidden). I said I would rather go pick one up at Target and didn't return to Best Buy until now. That was two years ago.

A New Kitchen?

Even though after I left my husband I moved into a trailer, I still wanted it to be nice, not have that trailer feel. I wanted dry wall, real floors an updated bathroom and kitchen. You think shopping in the world would be easy; you see it, you like it, you buy it. Ummm No. We will start with the cabinets. At my local Home Depot store I found cabinets I liked. Not hard, they were on the shelf not special order. But the kicker I had to wait for my boyfriend to finish the laminate floors before we bought and stored a bunch of cabinets. So as I waited for him to finish I went back to the store to see my cabinets. They were no longer on the shelf. They were up front on clearance, being discontinued. So I asked for help, the associate said that he would scan them to see if other stores had them. He scanned one piece and said no. Not thinking after my fourteen years in retail that the piece he scanned would be the only piece the scanner would check for. He should have spent the time calling other stores. So I sat with the custom order lady (she was very nice). My price was more than I wanted to spend so back to the drawing board. And with the contract ending at my job and my getting laid off I was on more of a budget. So I stopped one day at the Home Depot by my job and low and behold they had almost all the pieces I needed at a clearance price if only the other store would have called around what I'm about to tell you would not have happened.