Delta wants me to pay $140 to do the right thing
May 27, 2010 What's Going On
I should be in bed right now, I’m exhausted. But I’m so flabbergasted by the phone conversation I had with Delta that I have to post about it.
A few weeks ago I booked a round trip flight from NYC to Kansas City and back. My plans recently changed, and I’m now traveling from Kansas City to Oregon before heading home to Brooklyn. The flights from Missouri to Oregon and Oregon to NYC were booked on another airline. All that was left was for me to cancel my original return fight on Delta. With me so far? I’m still using the first half of my Delta round trip flight, but not the second half.
I called Delta tonight to cancel the flight home. I want to say from the outset that the customer service rep (I’ll call him “S”) I spoke to was fantastic, I have zero complaints with how he handled the situation. He’s got rules to follow, and one of them is probably “Don’t tell the customer how to save money through a loophole.”
I told S that I needed to cancel the second half of my flight, and he said that the only way to do that was to cancel the entire round trip reservation and rebook the first leg of the trip as a one-way ticket. He then asked for my credit card # because I would owe $140.
Did I mention I’m exhausted? I gave him my credit card number, but then a few brain cells woke up and I asked him why I just couldn’t use the credit from what I’d already paid for the round trip ticket ($360.40 with all fees and taxes) to pay for the one way ticket. I figured that with change fees I’d be about even. He said that the $140 was in addition to the $360 I had already paid.
That’s right: I was originally going to fly round trip for $360, but it would now cost me $500 to fly one way. The one-way price for the same flight was now $320 + tax, plus the $150 change fee that Delta imposes on any changes whatsoever. And that’s not even counting the $50 change fee that I believe I would also owe to Travelocity (where I booked the original flights), but we never got that far, because I asked the obvious question: What happens if I simply don’t show up for the return flight? S put me on hold for a few minutes, and came back with the answer I was hoping for: nothing. The rest of the reservation would simply be canceled and I would lose the return flight. But I would owe nothing else.
So, yeah, I told him not to cancel and rebook.
I tend to be a rule follower, and if I’m not going to take a flight it seems wrong to me to have that seat reserved and not show up for it. But Delta is forcing me to plan on skipping my flight in order to save $140 (or possibly $190). Does this seem completely backwards to anyone else?
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: Delta
Flying Solo
May 24, 2010 What's Going On
I’m busy paying the bills today, but I’ve got a new post up on the NYC Moms Blog. [Sorry, the site I wrote that for no longer exists.]
My kids are about to fly alone for the first time. After more than twenty years together, I’m still surprised by things that my husband I disagree about, and I’m even more shocked when we agree on something that I thought we’d fight about. We’re both on the same page about the kids flying together (without us) from Kansas City to NYC, which is key, because if something were to go wrong I would hope that we would lean on each other, not point fingers.
Speaking of something going wrong, when I ran through all of the worst case scenarios in my head, they went something like this:
- One of the kids gets cold feet and I have to put a crying child on the plane
- The kids’ flight gets delayed for so long that I can’t catch my flight to Oregon
- The kids bicker from take-off to landing and the airline bans them for life
- One of the kids has an accident (of the soiling or sickness variety)
- The flight gets diverted to another city and my husband has to hop on a plane to go get them
The thing that never occurred to me was what if the plane crashed. And yet, four different people have brought that up when I’ve told them about the kids’ upcoming flight.
The fact is, if something truly bad happened on the flight I would just die on the spot from guilt. I would simply cease to exist. But actually taking something like that into account when making plans seems silly to me. The same parents who would think nothing of putting their kids in a car, where statistically it’s much more likely that something bad would happen, dwell on the possibility of a tragedy happening while flying. To me this is like buying a lottery ticket and then spending your 401k because, you know, you’re not going to need it once the lottery money starts flowing in.
Going with the odds does not mean that I will always be right. But I’d rather spend my energy and brain power worrying about things that are more likely to happen.
Oh, and that picture I put with the NYC Moms Blog post? It’s one of my favorites. The folks at jetBlue are consistently great about letting kids into the cockpit, letting them touch things, and explaining what all of the levers and buttons are for. I remember going into cockpits when I was a kid, and it was always so special. I’m so glad my kids love flying.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: flying, unaccompanied minors
Would you have your five year old firebug fake arrested?
May 21, 2010 Uncategorized
Your five-year-old starts trying to set things in his room on fire. You try various punishments, but they have no effect. Eventually he successfully sets a book on fire and you know you need to do something drastic. So, you ask your friend the Sheriff to pretend to arrest your son and try to scare him. He gets handcuffed (and they slip right off because dude, he’s five and tiny), he gets put in the back of the car, he cries. And of course, someone takes a picture of all this and it becomes a media storm.
While I’d love to ask this mother why there are still matches and lighters in the house when her son is exploring his exciting new hobby, I like what she did. I have a feeling I’m in the minority though.
Sometimes you have to take drastic measures to get through to kids. We’re not talking about hitting a sibling, the kid was playing with fire. Five-year-olds don’t understand the seriousness of what they’re doing most of the time, not from talking anyway. Bringing him to a burn unit probably would do it for an older kid, but not for a five-year-old. You’ve got to show what would happen to him, which I think this mom did brilliantly.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
If your new phone breaks under warranty, do you deserve a brand new replacement?
May 21, 2010 What's Going On
There’s an interesting (and very timely, for me) discussion going on today on one of my favorite sites, Consumerist. I was first in line (online) to get a Droid phone when they debuted earlier this year, and I’ve been mostly thrilled with it. I have a few complaints, and every once in a while it would freeze up and I’d have to remove the battery to get it going again. But since it’s basically more like a small computer than a phone, I wasn’t too surprised. My computers get a little bitchy if I keep them on 24/7 as well.
But then two days ago, with no warning, it simply stopped working. I went online and tried everything suggested to get it going again, with no luck. Then I called Verizon, and since I sounded like I knew what I was talking about they didn’t make me run through all of the possible fixes again. They couldn’t locate a Verizon store anywhere near me with a Droid in stock, so I pleaded with them to overnight one to me (at no charge) and they said yes. I’m not sure if this is because I’m a long-time customer who gives them a lot of money each month, or the tech was in a good mood, or what, but I was really happy that they didn’t give me a run-around. I’m very dependent on my cell phone so getting a replacement quickly was essential to my sanity.
My phone arrived last night and I was not surprised at all to see that it was a “Certified Like-New Replacement.” I went through this with my last Verizon phone, an LG Voyager. It worked perfectly for almost a year, then got really weird on me. They gave me two refurbished replacements in a row that didn’t work (I don’t remember what was wrong with the first replacement, but on the second one the bluetooth didn’t work). I was furious at that point and ready to walk, so they gave me a brand-new Voyager. Actually, it was a more expensive model than I had bought. So in the end it worked out OK, but I had to go through two months of trouble to get to that point – very frustrating.
Now, of course, I’m stuck with another refurbished replacement. And guess what? It’s not working. The screen goes dark during calls and won’t light up again. Not only does this make things difficult when using an automated service, but I can’t even hang up on a call. The only way to get to the touch screen during a call is to slide open the keyboard. (UPDATE: Things have deteriorated, and now opening the keyboard doesn’t always turn on the screen. A couple of times I had to take out the battery and restart the phone just to get the screen and make a call.) This is definitely not how it’s supposed to work. So, Verizon is over-nighting me…wait for it…another refurbished replacement phone!
The commenters on Consumerist seem to be split between people who think the original poster should stop whining about not getting a brand new replacement, and people who don’t understand why Verizon (and just about every other wireless company) can get away with this for an under-warranty phone. Several of them talk about getting multiple replacements from Verizon with none of them working. Meanwhile, someone tweeted this to me:
Doesn’t look hopeful, does it?
My own personal take is that if the refurbished phones work, then I’m fine with getting one. I’ve purchased lots of refurbished products from Sony that all looked and worked like new. But Verizon seems to have a problem with their refurbishing process, at least in my experience. What do you think? If you’re still under warranty, do you deserve a brand new replacement?
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: Droid, refurbish, replacement phone, Verizon
Cheryl Hines? I can hardly Curb My Enthusiasm!
May 21, 2010 Around NYC
Yes, that terrible joke in the title is my way of saying that Cheryl Hines will be stopping by the Hebrew National Better-than-a-Picnic picnic tomorrow. Yay! I love her on Curb Your Enthusiasm. When it first started I really hated the concept of improvised dialogue. But the Enthusiasm cast ran with hit, and got really good at it. (And then of course a whole cadre of improvised shows followed and nobody else got it right.)
You can see her below on Good Day NY talking about the upcoming season, which is filming in NYC (yay!) as well as the picnic and the charity Hebrew National is partnering with to make this “better than a picnic.”
Cheryl will be at the picnic until noon. We’ll be participating in a service project for a charity that’s near and dear to her heart, the Magic Summer Lunchbox Program (from Feeding America), making reusable lunch bags for kids who get free school lunch during the school year but are often left hungry in the summer. Did you know that you can feed one child for the whole summer for $36? You can donate to Feeding America here.
UPDATE: Just wanted to add that the local partner for the Magic Summer Lunchbox Program is the Food Bank for New York City.
I’ve also got some more specific directions for anyone driving to the picnic. I’m told that Randall’s Island is not very big and there will be signs throughout the island directing us to the picnic location, but the last thing I want to do is get lost on the way. There are directions to the island itself here, and then once you’re on the island:
Please follow signs heading south for the Wards’ Island/Ward’s Meadows Fields.
Pass Field 74 (left) and 63 (right) and park in the Parking Lot just past Field 63.
The Hebrew National BBQ will be at the north end of the Parking Lot on your right.
Remember, you can see what’s going on with the picnic here, and keep up-to-date on Hebrew National happenings on their Facebook page. And if all that isn’t enough great info for you, follow the fun on Twitter with the hashtag #HebrewNational. The picnic runs from 11:30-3:30pm, and is free to the public. There will be a live band, a mechanical bull, giant puzzles, lots of hot dogs, the service project, and of course lots of hot dogs! And beautiful Randall’s Island, which I’m very excited to see. Can’t wait!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has Compensation Levels of 5 & 6. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: charity, Cheryl Hines, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Getting hatched
May 19, 2010 What's Going On
Teri & me at the launch party
Last week Teri Hatcher launched her new website, Get Hatched. I had a great chat with Teri last month that covered a wide range of parenting topics, from sleep to sex to “me time” and lots in between. A very small portion of our talk helped launched the site, and I also attended the launch party with Teri and a whole bunch of people from Disney who’ve been working very hard on the site.
Despite the fact that I had spoken to Teri a lot and felt like I knew her, we had never actually met before the launch party. We did our chat via phone and video while she was at home in California and I was on spring break at my mom’s house in Buffalo. I’d just like to say right now that I deserve some kind of award for lighting myself as well as I did in my mother’s house, which is the darkest house on the face of the earth. I had literally every single plug-in lamp in front of me during the interview in an attempt to look like I wasn’t filming my part in a cave a la bin Laden (I could give him some good lighting tips, he should contact me).
So, I finally got to meet Teri at the launch party last week and spend some time with her in a quiet area away from the music and hoopla. She’s incredibly sweet and beautiful in person, and I hope I get to work with her again. And I do hope much more of our talk ends up on Get Hatched, it was a lot of fun.
This morning I was taking a good look at Get Hatched. I especially liked this video chat between Teri and Mariel Hemingway, which touches on something I’ve always had problems with: being in the moment. Just being there and concentrating on what I’m doing at any given time, not thinking about what’s coming next or worrying about what I’m not doing. In a weird way that’s why I always have the TV on in the background with old sitcoms playing that I’ve seen dozens of times. It gives me something to focus on that I don’t have to pay complete attention to. It settles my scattered brain and keeps it from flitting around.
And to tie all of this in nicely with my own life, I got to see some real-life just hatched chicks this week. My kids’ school participates in a great program with a local farm where each pre-k and kindergarten classroom gets to hatch a dozen chicks, keep them for a few days, and then return them to the farm. Five of the chicks hatched over the weekend, so at drop-off on Monday morning we were greeted with this:
By yesterday all twelve of the chicks had hatched and were looking like the completely adorable little fuzzy wuzzy guys that make you wonder how hard it would be to keep chickens in a Brooklyn backyard and have fresh eggs everyday. But then you start thinking about having to clean out a chicken coop when you can’t even manage to clean the toilets on a regular basis and you say goodbye to that idea pretty quick. Grocery store eggs are just fine and the chicks don’t stay that cute for very long.
I actually had more pictures to add from after the launch party, when I went out to dinner at Tao with about two dozen fantastic Disney people. But my beloved Droid may have – gasp – died! And the rest of the pictures are on it. They’ll have to go in another post, I suppose, if I can manage to salvage them. If you have time after praying for world peace, an end to hunger and strife, a miracle weight-loss pill, and a win for whatever sports team you worship, please pray for my phone.
Anyway, time for me to get a shower and get on with my day. I’ll try to be a little bit zen about it and simply “be” in my shower.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: Disney Family, Droid, Get Hatched, Mariel Hemingway, Teri Hatcher
Join me tonight for “The Good Wife”
May 18, 2010 Uncategorized
Twitter has done a weird thing to my TV viewing habits. I usually watch shows days, even weeks after they’ve aired. But there are certain shows I like to to watch with other people. Live shows – especially awards shows – are a lot of fun to experience while chatting on twitter. It’s like being in a room full of your friends. And I’ve been sitting down and watching The Good Wife each week as it airs, commercials and all, because my friend Beth hosts twitter parties each week where fans of the show get together and discuss what’s going on as it’s happening. And nobody has to say “Shh, I’m trying to watch!”
I’m co-hosting the Good Wife twitter party again tonight at 10pm (I’m @SelfishMom), with Beth (@RoleMommy) and Sara (@SelfMadeMom) and of course @TheGoodWife_CBS. If you’d like to follow along with what’s going on, I’ve set up a tweet grid for tonight’s twitter party. (For those of you who’ve never used a tweet grid before, it’s a great way to follow lots of things going on at once.) Or you can just follow the hashtag #TheGoodWife.
So if you’re a fan of the show, I hope to “see” you tonight!
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: CBS, The Good Wife, Twitter
Last night I cheated, & I woke up regretting it
May 18, 2010 What's Going On
I always feel betrayed when someone gives a post a salacious headline, and then you click over and find out that the title was totally misleading. Doesn’t stop me from doing it though. Now that I’ve got you here, stay with me. This post is about being lazy, and baking, and the universe taking its revenge. So much more interesting than reading about an affair, right? Right?
I’ve been on a bit of a baking kick for the past few months. Ever since we put in our kitchen (with some major help from Frigidaire) I’ve been rediscovering my love of baking. I had always found baking to be a really indulgent experience. The best baked goods tend to require hours in the kitchen, fine ingredients, and complete attention to the task at hand. Baking is also a great way to slow down, to savor, to linger over something. For me baking has never really been about the finished product (I’m more than happy to use mixes and shortcuts if it’s just a pretty finished product I’m after), but about the process, so it’s no big surprise that for over three years, while we were using a crappy disgusting little kitchen with gross counters and a terrible oven, I barely baked. I definitely didn’t want to linger and savor in that space.
So, once I had a space I loved being in I started baking with a vengeance. I was drawn mostly to breads. I now have ample counter space to knead dough on, and a great oven that bakes very evenly, and I’ve been making all of my breads from scratch, by hand. Kneading bread is one of those lost arts. Some people regret the loss of hand-written invitations and phone calls, but I don’t miss those things. Taking a few hours to bake bread, though…heaven.
I somehow managed to get married without getting a stand mixer, and I don’t have a bread machine. I have absolutely nothing against either of those things, and if I had them I would probably use them a lot. There are times when I want the bread without the work, and I simply don’t always have time to bake from scratch. But last night, while preparing to make cinnamon bread, I stumbled upon the dough hooks for my very old Oster hand mixer. I had forgotten I had them. They’d never been used. It was late, I was tired, so I decided to give them a try. I don’t know why, except that I was being severely lazy. They weren’t going to save me any time – it’s not like a stand mixer where I could just throw everything in and walk away. And they weren’t going to do a better job than I could, I’m really good at kneading dough. No, it was simply to save my arms the work.
So what happened? I think I broke my mixer. I went to put it away this morning and there’s now something rattling around inside that wasn’t rattling around 
before. I think I strained it with the thick dough. Who knows if dough hooks on a hand mixer are really meant for bread dough? The bread was great…the kids and I finished most of it off for breakfast, hot out of the oven. But now I might need a new mixer. And for what? I saved myself a little arm workout, that’s all. I think the universe is trying to tell me not to be lazy, and that it will take out my appliances one-by-one if I don’t comply.
Originally posted on Selfish Mom. All opinions expressed on this website come straight from Amy unless otherwise noted. This post has a Compensation Level of 2. Please visit Amy’s Full Disclosure page for more information. Amy also blogs at Filming In Brooklyn, Behind the Screen, and the NYC Moms Blog.
Tags: baking, Frigidaire Test Drive
