Businesses to Avoid

There are several companies that I refuse to do business with.  Here they are:

• DELTA AIRLINES
• Overbooked our flight, but at least flew us first class to Munich. 
• Found a news story about how their sandwiches had needles in them.
• That's it, but that's enough for me.  Being purposefully overbooked on a flight is really enough to set me over the edge.
• Dollar Car Rentals
• Selecting from the available rental cars at IAH - one of the cars looked like it had been in a wreck with strange dents and scratches along the left side of the car.
• The car we DID pick seemed fine, but ended up having reliability issues starting.
• Our exchange of rental car could have gone much more smoothly, but as it stood, we were happy to have a working, albeit stinky, car for our 10th anniversary vacation.
• Mountain Star Lodge in Austin/Lakeway, TX
• They had the most awful customer service to our friends, Brent and Tracy.  They rented a house on their property.  Upon arrival, they found mouse droppings ALL over the rental, particularly in the soap dish and bed linens.  When they complained to the manager, she gave them a tremendous amount of attitude and basically told them they were gecko droppings and therefore sanitary.  When Tracy tried to stand up for herself, the manager basically said she could either check in or check out.
• Our hotel sink had a huge hunk of tile missing from the front of it.
• The water pressure was pretty crappy in the shower.
• The breakfast is horrible.
• Our friends got locked out of their room because the bracket on the inside of the room closed on the knob on the door (you know, the extra security measure they usually have at hotel rooms).  When they asked for assistance at the front desk, they even had a TOOL used in that situation so it must happen often.  However, the front desk person didn't help them at all.  She basically gave them the tool and left.
• I asked her what ended up happening to our friends who couldn't get in and she basically went on a HUGE tirade about another set of clients who were complaining about the price of the hotel.  Uhhh....that's NOT what I asked about.  But thank you for speaking unprofessionally about a guest to another hotel guest.
• Considering they are as expensive as the four star Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental hotel smack in the middle of downtown Austin, this place is an absolutely awful value.

That's it for now.  More on Austin next.