Friday, April 13, 2012

A Busy Week-Charleston SC-and Verizon Frustration

We are still in Myrtle Beach and what a busy week it has been I have no idea where it disappeared to. I've finally convinced myself that any resort/campground that offers free wifi means that the wifi will show strong signal but you can't use it-this sure seems to be the pattern. I tell myself we shouldn't be so dependent upon technology, but lets face it, it is a technology world and its our lifeline to family back home, and friends on the road.
Monday was a totally frustrating and wasted day for us. We had activated our 2 year old verizon air stick while in Mississippi. It was due to be renewed around April 5th so last Monday we headed on over to the verizon store to accomplish this task. And what a task it was. Drove all the way to one outlet and they couldn't do it-they put me on the phone with customer service. Well we all know where that went..to heck in a hand basket, as I was connected to India call center. I immediately told her we were from Canada. After asking her numerous times to repeat all her questions (I couldn't understand her accent) when we got to the 'zip code' question I again informed her we are from Canada and do not have a zip..she immediately informed me she couldn't help me then. I was standing there with my receipt from the verizon store in Mississippi but she rudely informed me that I did not present at a verizon store in MS and activate my stick. Even the sales rep in front of me was shaking his head. We left and drove all the way to another verizon store on his advice as it was a corporate store. I was in and out in minutes..humm that didn't seem right to me. We got back to the MH logged on - nope wasn't working. Packed up the mac, receipt in hand and back we went. The rep apologized and stated he had done it incorrectly. He was truly a nice guy he did it the way the manager told him to. So how much does the mgr know..not much I guess. She came out and dealt with us was extremely rude, berated the rep infront of a store full of customers for doing it wrong. She 'voided' the 50.00 charge on our CC-then apparently did it right ?? To me there is a major difference between a 'void' and a 'refund' so we will see how long this takes to show back up on our visa. And charged us 80.00 for 5 gigs. Now in MS we paid 50 for 5 gigs and the first rep charged us 50 for 5 gigs (on Monday). But she wanted 80.00 all I wanted was a stick that would work. After trying to log on while there again it was a no go! And onto the phone with customer support. Where I was informed that we paid 50 for the 5 gigs and the other 30.00 was taxes...60%??? Gawd...anyway to shorten this frustrating story we are up and running by the time we left there at 6pm. Canada and the US have got to get together with internet / phone related services its crazy to say the least. Seems Canadians can't do anything without zip codes and the verizon stores just plug in any old one then it doesn't match your credit card statements ughhhh...k shutting up about that now...and they always seem to make it 'your' fault. No compassion at all-and no offer of anything discounted for their mistakes.
Tuesday was a beach day for us..and it was a pretty good one. Wednesday we hit the outlets for some shopping at Tanger..some great deals there. Yesterday we dropped the kids off at a spa we checked out during our travels on Monday and we headed for Charleston. Another glitch we discovered the other day that Lilly's had some vaccines that just expired..but her rabis was still valid. We found a vet not far from the resort popped her in had it all updated and the cost was $34.00 can you believe that? And they were doing rabis shots for $5.00 for everyone. For her required shots it would have cost at least 120.00 at home. Sure makes one wonder doesn't it. We can't seem to get in the vet's door at home for anything less than 100.00 and if we need shots its more.
Charleston was wonderful. Reminded me of New Orleans only cleaner. We took a horse and carriage tour and it was worth every cent. Cobble stone streets, churches everywhere, beautiful homes, a 3-4 block market, we had a great day and the kids had a super day at the spa they were some tired last evening from playing all day. 
Charleston



Beautiful churches everywhere

Notice the patches that is stucco-our guide told us the city paid over a million $ last year to do that patch job-apparently if you don't have stuco on your house or building you were considered 'poor'

nice hidden walled gardens in some private homes

beautiful architecture


this is a single family home and it was massive- they all are

another single family home


Jake receiving a pat from Rick

and another church but no steeple

gorgeous single family home

A shot from the upper level parking garage 


If your in the area and need a place for your kids- the spa is Benji's Bed and breakfast and they are fantastic. Big outdoor play areas, clean and everyone seemed very nice. Lots of staff etc.
Sorry the sun was shinning strong

Nice play area
 I would not hesitate to leave our kids there again.
I've been having blogger problems, seems I can read all the blogs but can only post on some of them, could also be my stick connection. Glad to see you are all safe and sound but very sad to see that some of you are having mechanical difficulties-and coach damages. I'm almost scared to hit the road for home and am praying we luck out and don't have any on the road problems.
Take care all thanks for stopping by - sorry for the major 'rant' and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

remember

"home is where you park it"

14 comments:

  1. You post hit the spot on both items:) We hate dealing with Verizon, both on the phone or at a store. We found that if we go to Best Buy, they can handle most of our issues and know what they are doing.

    we loved Charleston and the pictures brought back fond memories:)

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  2. I do think that maybe something has gone arye with the posting. But you guys are having fun in Charleston! Wonderful!

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  3. Too bad about the problems with Verizon - pretty frustrating day.

    Great photos of Charleston - looks like a nice place to visit.

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  4. We feel your frustration. Verizon is always screwing us up.
    Lovely photos of Charleston. It is one of my favorite places to visit. Love the header picture of the beach! ~wheresweaver

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  5. sorry to hear that Verizon was giving you the royal 'treatment'!..glad to see you finally got it to work, at a price though!..what ever did we do before the wonders of the internet!?

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  6. When we had Verizon, it was $50 for 5GB and $80 for 10GB.

    We used it for only several weeks, got feed up with their (lack of) customer service and dumped them, going back to Sprint. We haven't looked back, Verizon is terrible all around.

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  7. ooooh weheeeee I hear ya on messing with those phone companies and trying to get a straight answer!
    NOT fun!

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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  8. Too bad about your Verison problems. Don't worry about issues on the road. Just relax, enjoy the journey and travel safe.

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  9. NO problem hearing your "rant" with Verizon. We are having minor issues with our Sprint mobile Wifi. Looked on their web site but can't find a Sprint store within 200 miles of Oklahoma City. WHAT???

    Charleston looks beautiful.

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  10. I too am sick of Verizon. My aircard plan expired last November so I took the time to look around and try to find an alternative.

    I found Millenicom while doing a search on the Escapees discussion forum.

    I decided on the 3G/4G hotspot and it works great. I get 20GB for $69.99 per month and now can watch movies. I could not do this with my old Verizon account as I was limited to 5GB and anything over that the scalped you in extra fees.

    But the best part of their plans is that they use Verizon towers so you have the best of both worlds. Low price with lots of bandwidth.

    Their web site is at http://www.millenicom.com/

    I don't get anything from them in passing this information to you. Just the satisfaction that there is an alternative to your Verizon plan.

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  11. Love your location and header photo and the city of Charleston. Lovely area. Can this be where we meet when we meet?

    I never said Verizon was easy but I do so love it.

    Don't worry about the trip, potential problems...just live in the moment and enjoy.

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  12. OMG, was I ever in tune with your frustrations dealing with Verizon. I had a most similar set of experiences dealing with Virgin. And yes, the need to state a US Zip Code for everything - gas purchases too - when we have postal codes is equally annoying.

    Sure hope the coming days offer peaceful and pleasant experiences.

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  13. Enjoyed the photo's of Charleston. Have to agree Verizon can be pretty frustrating as far as customer service. Sure a nice bed and breakfast for the furkids. We wish you safe travels on your journey home.

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