| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Carol Perkins: A Free Trip This 'free' trip probably ended up costing as much as a seven day Caribbean Cruise. Now when those faxes roll out of the machine, they go straight into the trash can. 'You get what you pay for,' Carol Perkins The next earlier Carol Perkins column, School Bullies II By Carol Perkins Four days in Florida and three days in the Bahamas for only $99 per person. The ad rolled out of our fax machine long before advertising via fax was commonplace. Then I read the fine print: $129 port charges per person too. This was still a fairly inexpensive trip, considering a rental car was thrown n. This free trip was now up to around $450. As I dialed the number to talk to our own special agent, Guy was cautiously listening nearby. Agent said there were no additional obligations After thoroughly interrogating the agent as to what would be expected of us, I could not get him to admit to any obligation on our part. "Just show up and have a good time!" "Are we going to have to look at property like a timeshare?" "Oh, no. This isn't a timeshare. This is just a promotional opportunity." Finally, after much coaxing, Guy relented and in a few days, we received our travel packet.The papers appeared to be in order. Our first two nights were at an upscale Ft. Lauderdale hotel. What could go wrong? Then we were to board a ship to the Bahamas (Freeport) and stay in a lovely resort. From there we would spend two nights in Orlando with cut rate tickets to Disney World. Our rental car voucher was also in the packet. What could go wrong? We flew into Ft. Lauderdale, at our own expense so the price tag was rising, and Guy took our rental car voucher and stood in line. The luggage and I waited on a bench while he stood in line. By the time he reached the agent, he was red hot in more ways than one. The man wanted his life history, which Guy refused to give. "You don't need to know where I work," I heard him say. "Just keep your mouth shut and get the keys," I wanted to shout. He finally did. We found the space where the car was parked. Guy looked at me and I looked at him. I don't know what kind of car it was, but it was tiny. Later, when I saw the Aston Kutcher movie "Just Married," I recognized the car. The room was tiny We barely fit inside, and with our luggage, there was almost no room to move. "Free? You get what you pay for," Guy said with his knees popping the steering wheel and the luggage pushing his seat forward. The trunk would hold only one piece of luggage. We bounced down the interstate to our hotel. At least we thought it was our hotel, but it was not our hotel at all. A timeshare spiel was mandatory An overly zealous lady met us at the door of this lovely condo overlooking the beach. It seemed that before we could have our voucher, we had to listen to a timeshare spiel. "But I was told...." "Well, I wish you knew his name because he certainly misled you." Guy was steaming. We had no choice but to listen, along with other suckers in the room, and after about two hours with Guy spitting venom, we got out of there without buying a timeshare. Our hotel was a lovely place on the beach. Day Three When we reached the dock for our so-called cruise, we saw hundreds of people dragging luggage up a ramp that led to nothing more than a transport ship with a snack bar and no rooms. We either stood most of the four hours or found a bench in the belly of the ship. I had a vision of Ellis Island. However, once in Freeport (what I call the Wal-Mart of the Bahamas), our hotel was very nice and our stay was pleasant. The rooms were not grandiose, but comfortable. We toured the island with throngs of other tourists on hot, crowded buses. My best memory (or worst) was going to the restroom before loading a tour bus and coming out with a cloud of toilet paper following me, attached to my shorts. "Honey, you have toilet paper behind you," whispered the tour guide. Everyone turned in unison. The trip back was no better, and from the dock we loaded our little car and drove a few hours to Orlando. Once again, we were led to an address that I suspected also led to another timeshare opportunity. Guy was primed. Guy let the agent have it about false advertising We went to an office building in the middle of Orlando, where other "winners" were waiting too. I felt pity for the agent when we finally got inside his office because Guy let him have it about false advertising. "I'm not going anywhere and I'm not listening to any salesperson! I will report you and your scam." I was surprised that he gave us our hotel voucher. We finished our journey at a nice hotel in Orlando, went to Disney World, and flew back home. This "free" trip probably ended up costing as much as a seven day Caribbean Cruise. Now when thosefaxes roll out of the machine, they go straight into the trash can. "You get what you pay for." This story was posted on 2010-08-22 14:21:08
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Carol Perkins:
Carol Perkins: School Bullies, Part II Carol Perkins article on School Bullies draws interest Carol Perkins: School Bullies I Carol Perkins: Parasailing Carol Perkins: London Carol Perkins: Hoosier hospitality in outlet mall Carol Perkins: The Hitching Post Carol Perkins: Who is watching your children? Carol Perkins: Feeling Like Myself Carol Perkins: Churches View even more articles in topic Carol Perkins |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
