Spiritairlines.com are Liars (maybe)

In February we booked two flights down to FlA on spiritair.com. The online promo said buy 2 flights get 2 free to be awarded July 1. When I booked the flights I even called spirit to make sure I did everything correctly b/c there were all sorts of exclusions. The rep said I was all good.

Today is July 30 - just called Spirit 1-800 # direct to India, and he said he couldn't help me and I must submit an email to spirit on their "secure website." I just did this, but I'm not expecting any results based on my last inquiry from getafreenight.com.

Let's just hope Spirit has enough respect for themselves to follow through on their promises.

Is this small sample enough to generally say Corporate America in general are liars? Or am I inept at following simple instructions on how to redeem free stuff?

One thing is for sure, the customer service when trying to find your hidden reward is pathetic.

Mackinac Ferries Most Expensive 15 min Boat Ride Ever

Took the Fam to Mackinac Island last weekend for a quick little get-away. Took Sheplers Ferry from Mackinac City to the Island. The other choices are Arnold and Starline. I went with Sheplers b/c they had a $3 off coupon from my hotel, the Lilac Tree Hotel and Spa.

The retail price for dummies who don't print their tickets online is $24 per adult. That is $48 for a 15 minute boat ride. Does anyone else have a problem with this? They have expensive boats but most of the help are high-school goons. I bet there is a huge profit margin for these operations. Unless.....

That is, unless this is a classic Ologopoly. There is probably some stupid association in conjunction with the island which takes care of any barriers to entry. My evidence here is that all three ferry lines have been operating for like 60years and nobody else has even tried to break into the game. I'm guessing somehow someone on the island is getting a nice kickback.

Did I mention to stay at the Grand Hotel the rates is over $600 per night?

The thing that really made me mad about the Sheplers Ferry wasn't the $24 fee. It was the $8 fee to bring my boy's little red wagon on the boat. You see, if there is no wagon you can bring as many bags as you like. But I had all my bags stacked on the wagon, taking up the same amount of space as if I hadn't brought the wagon. The $8 for that, on top of the outrageous boarding pass is what got my goat.

Am I crazy? Am I a cheapskate?

Colgate V Crest

I have never had a favorite toothpaste; I guess I would just buy whichever type/flavor happens to be on sale the day I'm at the store. My wife, however, WILL NOT use Colgate. She will only use Crest.

I found this out yesterday when I came home from the store with a fresh tube of Colgate for her. "Crest" was on the shopping list, but I couldn't find it. It just so happens that I have a tube of Crest in my medicine cabinet right now, so now I am getting demoted down to Colgate so she can have the Crest tube.

Does anyone else prefer Colgate over Crest? Crest over Colgate? to the point where you refuse to use it? Personally, I think she's nuts.

Are there spouses who share the tube? Or are we weird for having our own separate tubes?

Tigers' Joel Zumaya is Overrated

In 2006 Zumaya was great, then 07 and 08 were injury-plagued and 09 is a disaster. Here are his latest stats. As you can see, he has blow leads in 4 of the last 9 outings and I'm tired of it. It's time to put him on the trade block while people still remember the 06 season, that way there will still be value.

Zukey Lake Tavern Pinckney Mi

For years we've been taking the boat down the chain of lakes to Zukey Lake, and docking at the Zukey Lake Tavern. The boat ride is usually about 45 minutes. We order our food from the boat and then carry-out, and eat on the boat heading back home.

But this week we decided to tie up at the dock and go in for dinner. Naturally, I was looking over the beer menu when it hit me - ZUKEY LAKE TAVERN HAS THE MOST EXPENSIVE BEER PRICES I'VE EVER SEEN. They've always seemed high to me, but now the prices are UNCALLEDFOR.

For example, a 22 oz draft of Bells Oberon is now up to $6.75. 'nuf said.

For comparison purposes, recently we also went to Buffalo Wild Wings and the same size same beer was $5.00.

getafreenight.com sucks Is Get a Free Night.com legite? Is Get a Free Night.com a Scam?

Holidy Inn sucks.
Getafreenight.com sucks.
ichotelsgroup.com sucks.
Priority Club sucks.

Getafreenight.com is a marketing scam

We stayed in Grand Haven at Holiday Inn over Memorial Day weekend and just happened to stay there during their promotion "Stay Two Nights, Get a Free Night!" and you sign up for their rewards program at getafreenight.com.

I figured it would be worth it to go through the hasstle of signing up as a member (not a credit card, no credit check) to get a free night valued at about $125.

When we stayed at the Holiday Inn, they said be sure to use a special code online or whatever to verify your stay to get the credit.

So a couple weeks after our stay I received our welcome kit as a new member. It said go to the website to login and redeem your free night.

So when I logged in, it said I don't have a free night. I browsed the site trying to figure out what the hell was going on, but found nothing, so I called the 800 number. I waited on hold for an hour, then hung up. Called the next day, waited 45 minutes and hung up. Called the next day, navigated to "make a reservation" and they actually picked up. I told the lady my problem and she said she would transfer me to her manager, and then I waited on hold 30 minutes and hung up.

On June 24 I emailed them and got an autoreply saying that they would respond within 10 business days. Today is July 17 and I have heard nothing, and I am officially giving up on the free night.

I am calling for the manager of the rewards program's head. They obviously have no pride in their work and should be terminated immediately.

Comments: should I continue to pursue this?

Strange Rules at Buhr Pool Park in Ann Arbor

Tonight we visited the Buhr Pool "tot splash" for some water fun. The boy has lots of fun playing in the 2' wading pool and they provide toys for the kids as well.

However, when trying to figure out when the pool was open I looked at the website which suggests the wading pool is only open from 10:30 to 1pm which is totally wrong. I figured this out by calling the park to find out it is open daily from noon to 8pm. Who is in charge of this website?

When we were there today, an annoucement came over the loud speaker at 6:50pm saying "it is now time for 'adult swim' so all children need to exit the pool for 10 minutes until 7pm." I looked at the lifeguard like "seriously? you want my 1 year old out of the 2' pool so adults can go swimming in it?" He said "yes."

???

I am the kind of guy who questions these things. Why would they need "adult swim time" in the tot splash pool?

???

I guess that is the government for you.

Awesome Amazon.com Items!

A friend forwarded over email this awesome amazon item. It really is a must-have. Better than 80stees.com.

Click here for the best wolf-shirt ever.

The best part about the amazon page are the customer reviews at the bottom of the page. What really makes this shirt and review special for me is that back in the day a customer was wearing the same shirt(but it was a sweatshirt), and pretty much the customer reviews were describing him!