I called DirecTV today because the NFL Sunday ticket had gone up again and this time I wasn’t going to take it. I called and complained. I got put on a long hold and then the line went dead. I called back pretty upset and acted like the usually grumpy jerk that I am only to find out that they basically hadn’t taken the package off of my account. Instead they gave me a series of discounts.

Here is what the package would have cost: $49.99 a month for 6 months plus $3.12 in taxes for a total of $318.66. Plus they have this Ticket to Go option at $9.99 a month for 5 months plus $0.62 a month in taxes for a total of $53.05 for a grand total of $371.71.

I don’t know about you but I can go to a bar and eat and drink and watch the Saints game for that price several times in one season. I retired from fantasy football this year to spend more time with kids and to do development of my website development company so the Saints are all I’m really interested in now.

What did my complaining get me? They gave me 4 discounts that are each 6 months long.

With taxes that is a savings of $255.00. That means the package technically cost me $116.71.

So call and complain. DirecTV must want to hear that you care about how money you are paying because if you don’t they sure won’t willing you hand over your discounts. If you are a customer service agent for DirecTV. I’m sorry. Your management is making the decisions that make jerks like me call you.

Last month Jacob’s baseball team, the Cypress Renegades, attended the AAYBA World Series in St. Louis, MO. First we stayed at a Residence Inn by Marriott. Marriott is currently my preferred hotel although after this last experince I’d recommend you not make the same mistake and consider other options. The staff wasn’t very friendly. The entire thing seemed to be inconvience to them because of our kids. The staff seemed only interested in helping low maintenance corporate type customers. Guess what? That’s normally me. That is part of what helped us to decide to stay at a Mariott in the first place. We basically had reservations for large portion of this hotel for the week (we had two teams – over 20 rooms) and the staff didn’t seem to appreciate us being there.

So I go on a another trip and stay at another Marriott hotel. I was the low maintenance corporate customer so of course everything was fine for me. The last day there was a large Asian group that arrived and I noticed that at yet another Marriott and this group had some similar issues. I was in the breakfast area and you could see the issues they were having with the staff. I think part of it was communication problems but it reminded me of my latest experince.

The icing on the cake is that I check my reward points today and realize that I received no points for that stay. So I contact Marriott customer service. The person on the phone stated that since it was a centralized bill that I would receive no points. I missed out on 8 days even though one of those nights I paid out of my pocket and the others we spent hours fundraising to earn. So I guess Marriott doesn’t care that I actually stayed in that room. I guess they don’t care that when I checked in did give front desk my rewards number. He could have told me then that I wouldn’t receive points. I guess they don’t care that I also used my Marriott Rewards Credit to secure my room. I guess they don’t care that I can even provide my receipt at checkout. I guess they don’t care the customer service person on the phone told me to “read the fine print” of the rewards program.

Well Marriott I care. I care enough to let the rest of the Internet know that they shoudn’t bring Marriott properties large groups of business. I care enough to that I did fill out the survey and gave the hotel the appropriate negative scores. If you are considering having a large group and you want a pleasant stay then you should consider other hotels even if you are a regular Marriott customer. They don’t really want your business.

If you have any information that may help police, you are urged to call them or you can call CRIMESTOPPERS at 251-208-7000.

If you have any information that may help police, you are urged to call them or you can call CRIMESTOPPERS at 251-208-7000.