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Saturday, February 6, 2010

And The Plan Was.....??? Conclusion (Finally!)

So when we left off, hubby and I were on our way to the mall in Wailea to spend the $500 each that his Visa had approved since our luggage had not arrived in Maui when we did. Two different United Airlines reps had assured us it would be arriving that evening around 6:00 pm and it would be shuttled to us immediately. If you want to read the entire saga, you will find it and all the links Here.

I'm not really a shopper but having the chance to spend $500 on some new clothing was fun. I picked out a few light-weight tops, a nice big sun hat and a pair of nice jeans from Banana Republic (we don't have this store in our town so I was anxious to see what all the fuss was about, after all, Oprah uses them in nearly all her makeover shows!).  I ended up spending less than half of the allowance and was quite happy with that. My nature wouldn't allow me to take full advantage and our suitcases would be arriving in a couple of hours anyway.

So we finished up our shopping and headed over to my step-daughter's condo to meet the new granddaughter and see everyone we hadn't seen since last summer (we are spread all across the country and this was a sort of family reunion to all meet in Hawaii). Had a wonderful but too short visit. I wolfed down my dinner and had hubby drive me right back to our condo so I would be there when the luggage showed up shortly after 6:00 pm.

Well by 8:00 pm I started to get worried not to mention pissed off that I had rushed away from our family gathering to wait for luggage that did NOT arrive when I was told it would. I got on the phone with United Airlines once again and was told, "Whoops! The shuttle left the Maui airport at 5:30 pm, your bags didn't arrive until 6:00, sorry, they will be on the next shuttle that leaves the Maui airport at 10:00 pm". I wasn't overly impressed but this was a reasonable explanation, or so I thought.

I was having a difficult time staying awake, I mean 6 time zones meant that my body considered 10:00 pm as 4:00 am.  By the time 11:00 pm Hawaii time rolled around I was furious. I again called United Airlines and was told "Whoops! There is no 10:00 pm shuttle and all they could get was the answering machine when trying to contact the person in charge of bags at the Maui airport." Call me an exhausted bitch if you want but I was so angry, I hung up on the rep. I thought this was the better option considering the other would be letting loose and I knew this rep was not at fault, sort of.

What made me so furious was that if I had known my bags would not be arriving on Sunday night, I would have stayed with the family instead of rushing off and bought some extra underwear and maybe a nightshirt or something. So again, I went to bed in the same damn shirt I had been wearing all day.

The next morning, the gloves came off. I called United Airlines, demanded that the bags be delivered and then ran to the mall to use up the last of the $500 budget whether I needed the items or not! There is just something about spending someone else's money that makes one feel better when they are having a bad day. With the money spent on several more clothing items (do I need to tell you I bought around 10 pair or underwear, this time 3 for $24 at a different mall?), I rushed back to the condo just in time to sign for our bags which had finally arrived at 12:30 pm. As if waiting an extra 24 hours wasn't long enough to wait for our suitcases, the Maui airport had unnecessarily added an additional 18 1/2 hours to that wait.

Just a quick note, today when I opened the mailbox, tucked inside were two checks one for each of us in the amount of $200 from United Airlines for our trouble. I'll let you know if Visa pays up with the $500 they promised each of us!

THE END - for now!

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Totally inconvenient and frustrating...bright side, now it's over and you got some new clothes out of it! Hope you ended up having a great time after you got your luggage.

Amy said...

what a mess at least you did get some money back...

Have a great weekend.

Delia said...

I've been following your story and it just keeps getting worse! I think I would have gone Tasmanian at this point. Yikes, what a bummer.

Stepfanie said...

Visiting from SITS! I would definitely lose my mind if I were you, indeed what a mess! :-)

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The Four Week Vegan said...

I was getting worried that the bags would never arrive. So glad they got there eventually.

GunDiva said...

I'm glad they finally arrived (as did the checks) and will keep my fingers crossed that the Visa one will come through too.

Samantha said...

Glad that they finally got there...and yay for extra money!!

Unknown said...

Well at least they kept their end of the bargain with the money issue. Now let's hope Visa does and I am not sure I would have hung up on the rep I would have asked for a supervisor.. BUT then again you were in Hawaii lol..

Kat said...

Well that works out to more than minimum wage per hour of wait...that seems fair enough - now hopefully Visa pays up and you will have it made!

Grizzly Bear said...

OMG what a nightmare! You handled it perfectly and I am glad you spent the rest! :)

Have a great weekend!

Matty said...

At first I said I envied you for going to Hawaii. Now I'm not so sure.

Melissa said...

I hope Visa holds up their end, I'd really lose it if they didn't. You are strong, because I would have lost it on the rep, all the while knowing it wasn't truly her fault but when I get boiled I get boiled.

Corrie Howe said...

Wow, what a nightmare. I'd tell VISA you're going to either give them a glowing review on your influential blog or you're going to bad mouth them. That should make them tremble in their boots.

gayle said...

I know you are glad that part of the trip is behind you! Can't wait to read more!! Hope you took pictures!!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you finally got your luggage. And I hope Visa keeps up on their end.

Unknown said...

I was getting frustrated right along with you! But, glad that you did get to spend a little time with the family before having to wait 18 1/2 hours for your luggage. That is so worth their reimbursement!

Tracie said...

They should have given you free airline tickets to anywhere. What an ordeal!

I hope you are having a good weekend!

Danielle said...

That totally sucks, but hey, some new clothes and Maui. I would take that.

Danielle said...

That really sucks. Glad you eventually got it though.

xoxo
DAnielle

Unknown said...

yikes. i'm like you, tho...there's something nice about getting to spend someone else's money. and i'm hoping they pay you back, too!

Aunt Juicebox said...

Hopefully you were able to enjoy the rest of your time there! What a bunch of crap!

Maureen@IslandRoar said...

How frustrating!!
I was thinking you were way too nice not to spend every penny; glad you finally did. I learned my lesson too; spend the money to get what you need if this happens because the airline might not come thru on time!

NYCGAL said...

What a nightmare!! That happened to me once on my only (thus far and hopefully) trip from hell to Puerto Rico. The whole trip was one thing after another but the kicker of the end of the trip was standing nervously waiting for my luggage to find my suitcase open and all my clothes stolen!! Talk about one hot mess!

Leslie said...

We are planning a trip to Maui this summer...

You are scaring me!

Thanks for stopping by and entering my Piggy Paint giveaway. Good luck!

Heather said...

What a headache! I just can't get over those prices. YIKES!! Gladyou FINALLY got your luggage.

The Mommyologist said...

WOW you had quite the adventure, didn't you??

Go out and spend that $200 this weekend!

Anita said...

I had a feeling this story was not going to play out as they told you. How frustrating.
Glad you got it together to be able to get back to vacationing!
HOPE you don't have trouble with the VISA allowance!!!

Jacki said...

That's a crazy story, I think you handled it better than I would have!

Mama-Face said...

How mature of you to hang up...really. Anytime I've let my emotions take over and gone crazy on someone, I just end up feeling worse about the entire situation.

At least you got some very entertaining posts and a bit of extra cash (and a buttload of new underwear!) out of all the turmoil. Although I know you would have preferred your luggage. ;)

Working Mommy said...

Dear goodness!!! I agree, though, that spending money - that isn't your own - does make you feel all warm inside! For a mere 40 hours if being uncomfortable, you made $900...not such a bad deal, really.

~WM

brainella said...

I don't care what anyone says, you pay good money to have your bags arrive when you do on the plane. It is annoying, inconvenient and problematic. It's happened to me before; in my luggage was the dress I was supposed to wear in my brother's wedding. You deserve every penny. :)

Annie Z said...

What a saga! So glad that you eventually got your bags and some money. Nice deal to buy clothes with some elses money!

I look forward to hearing the good stories from your trip!!

Nikia, May and da kids said...

Fricken United should have paid up more than that. I wish the government would take control of the airlines then at least we'd know to expect bad service = P

I hope your vacation was fun outside of the luggage fiasco.

May