And that was my day that was... (the stuff I can laugh about now, anyway)

[lagilman]

Okay so tonight I was heading out to NJ and I haven't been to Costco in a while so hey, might as well rent a car and get a lot of errands run this weekend, right?

Start the day by misplacing first my glasses and then my wallet. Call Enterprise to tell them I'm running late (they close at noon). Ask for a pickup at the end of the bus line, rather than walking the last mile, to save time. They tell me to call when I'm actually on the bus. I do so.... but there is no-one at the bus stop. I call again...and am told that the driver claims I refused to get in the car.

W.T.F?

I walk the mile, annoyed as hell, and arrive to find the office in chaos, too many people waiting and not enough people working, and there's no way they're closing shop at noon since it's -- oh, it's already noon!

40 minutes later I'm finally given a car, which is the LAST car left on the lot (other than pickup trucks and oversized vans which Do Not Want) and it's not the class I asked for but what the hell. They're giving me a 10% apology discount, I need a car, let's go.

And then, pulling out into sunlight, I discover... the car. Has. No. Sun visors. They've both been ripped out.

The manager tries to call other offices, but they've all closed for the weekend already. Fine whatever, all right, I'll drive carefully, I mainly need it for tonight, anyway.

Dropping friends off after a Costco run, I pull to the curb, cut the engine... and the car freezes. Despite trying all the tricks I know, I can't get the key to turn in the lock. Oh, and the headlights? Are not entirely working. And its 5:30 and I have to be out in NJ by 7....

So I do the smart thing and reach over to get the car info booklet from the glove compartment.

And the glove compartment. Door. Falls. Off.

Cue Rose and I looking at each other and breaking into hysterical laughter because, at that point, what the hell else can you do?

There was a happy ending to that trauma: we got the car restarted, and it drove like an obedient little beast the rest of the night. And it parallel parks like a dream, in wee little spaces. SO I won't be shooting it after all.

I will, however, let Enterprise know that this car is in no way road-ready.


The Dell Disaster story...is still ongoing. I'm not sure I can be calm or coherent about that yet. Updates as they happen.

Comments

[wookiemonster.livejournal.com]

This kind of reminds me of a car we rented while a car was in the shop for body work... We somewhat quickly discovered that this rental car had already been in a wreck. Specifically, we hit a speed bump and the glove box popped open and dumped its contents all over the floor. And I almost lost a leg - in the glove box with the broken latch was a piece of glass with the PA inspection stickers from its original windshield.

Since our car was in the shop for an accident (not our fault), and we had a choice of rental car agencies, my mom called another agency to arrange for a car, then called the first agency and honest to gods said, "Come get your piece of shit out of my driveway!"

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

there was this one time I rented a car, and when I got to the toll booth, I couldnt figure out where the window buttons were, I had to open the door to pay the toll. the darn swtiches were in the center console!

[wookiemonster.livejournal.com]

Oh geez, this reminds me of another car story... My Dad had an '84 Mazda RX-7, which also had the window controls in the center console. We had an Australian Cattle Dog who liked to go for rides in the car. Though one time, he almost hung himself - he had his head out the window, but a hind foot slid over to the window control, and he raised the window on himself! Dad just casually pushed the hind foot off the control and put the window back down...

[severedscythe.livejournal.com]

This is where it turns out the car can talk, sounds like Drew Carey and has a Heart of Gold (tm), which is uses to talk people into forgetting about suing Enterprise when the carey car crashes into a tree on the way into a parking lot.

[rosefox]

I'm so glad there were no further problems with it. I hope Enterprise treats you VERY nicely after this!

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Oh dear.

A friend of mine once dropped his car off at the garage for its MOT (annual road test in the UK). He stepped back, the mechanic got in, reversed it smartly into a bollard and accelerated forward in panic, whereupon the passenger door flew open, hit another bollard, and was ripped off. B says it was like watching something out of an old slapstick movie.

[lagilman]

To be fair, Enterprise has always treated me quite well. That's what made yesterday such a WTF moment. Actually, a long string of WTF moments!

It was a trouper on the trip out to Ramsey, and did it all on about 1/4 tank of gas, so there ARE some things in its favor....

[lagilman]

This car doesn't have buttons. No automatic windows, no automatic locks, no automatic anything (but it does have sat radio, interestingly enough).

[lagilman]

The really crazy thing is that this car has (wait for it) 4,000 miles on it.

Yes, 4,000. No, I didn't misplace a zero....

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

Egad. (With Wile E. Coyote holding up a sign containing "!!" next to it.)

I'm sorry to hear about your comedy of errors with the car. The ongoing Dell... issues... ain't good either.

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

I think you can't rent a car these days without satellite radio. Every time I've tried, it's in there.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

I'm gald it worked out in the end.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

That was supposed to be "glad"

[madrobins]

I hope to hell Enterprise is giving you better than a 10% "apology rate" for sending you out in an unsafe car. Jeez.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Maybe the odometer has already rolled once? Because otherwise, I want to know what kind of car that was so I will NEVER GET INTO ONE.

PS - I have yarn of yours. Do you want a Watson scarf someday?

[lagilman]

a Kia G-something. It is actually a very nice little "putter around town" kind of car, and gets amazing mileage. But not something I'd want to own for longer hauls, no.

Oooo, Watson scarf....

[lagilman]

I shall be Having A Conversation with them when I return it this morning. Although I can't really claim it was dangerous, it certainly was not up to what I consider rentable standards.... (no visors, smelling of smoke [smoking in rental cars is against the contract, for obvious allergy reasons], a glove compartment door that falls off its hinges when opened.... yeah. All bad.)

[madrobins]

Failure to start when asked to do so constitutes "unsafe" in my book--because who knows what it will do next, just when you need it to, say, keep moving through an intersection?

[argillaceous-d.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of a rental car story...

And the police officer deadpanned "Ma'm, they all have speedometers."

Oh...wait....

[lagilman]

Oi, you!

(that was all Doris' fault, anyway. Totally. *nods*)