Enter-what?

Many moons ago, I had a man friend. He traveled 6 months out of the year for work. It just so happened that his birthday fell into those 6 months. So, I decide I want to go surprise him. I found a cheap ticket, I got his business partners involved on the surprise and I even had a corporate discount for a rental car company. I was set.

After confirming all my arrangements, I called the rental car company to make sure they were going to be there to, as they say in their ads "and we'll pick you up".

tia: "I see that your office closes at 9:00pm. My flight gets in at 8:50. I know that's cutting it close. Will I still be able to get my car?"

operator: "Oh yeah. We'll make a note in your file and we'll get you taken care of."

tia: "Great"

So I arrive. And I go to the rental shuttle service. No pick up. I call the office. No answer. I call the 800 number and get "That office is closed. I don't know what else you want me to do. It reopens at 6am."

So I decide to take a shuttle to another company and get the cheapest car I could find. When I initially was going to spend $50 on a rental for 2 days, I ended up spending 250 and some odd dollars.

I called the rental company the next day and they wouldn't do anything. Long story short- I ended up getting my money refunded to me in the end. After all was said and done, bad taste in the mouth of that company.

One week after moving to Lehigh Acres (I call it LA), I was in a car accident. A 4 car accident. Much damage was done to the ol' Focus o' mine. The accident happened on the same day S and I were to leave for vacation to Ocean City, MD. You see, rain in the south, is like ice in the north. There's no irrigation therefore, the rain ain't got nowhere to go. Hydroplaning is a big problem. I learned that the hard way. That, and Florida driver's are much to be desired.

So my insurance company covers rental cars up to $30 a day. Seeing that I needed one, I find out that my insurance company has a deal with the same company as my aforementioned tale. Great.

Here I am. Just in a car accident in a new place, not sure about myself and my move to begin with and then this happens now leaving me with the doubt of myself as a driver. I didn't even want to get into a car let alone drive one.

I drop my car off at the auto body shop and the man was kind enough to call the company because as they state in their ads "they'll pick you up". They did pick me up. So that made me feel better.

I arrive at the office and meet with SB. That's what we'll call him. He's the manager and he seemed very kind... at first. Our convo:

SB: "Would you like to take out the Collision Damage Waiver for $14.99 a day?"

tia: "I have renter's insurance on my policy so that should cover it. No thank you."

SB: "Well, most people in your situation would think so. However, should something happen... something as little as a grocery cart dinging it in the parking lot of a store , that will be another claim on your insurance within 30 days and your insurance will drop you."

Good scare tactic huh? It worked. I was scared.

I didn't think my car was going to be in repair for 16 days bringing my total for the collision damage blah blah blah to $240+.

Oh yeah, did I mention that S didn't know about it and when he found out he flipped his lid? Yeah... so he calls my claims adjuster and tells him what happened and my claims adjuster said that was a buncha crap.

So here we go, back to the rental office to talk to SB. And he says, there's nothing he can do about it. Everything was said and done. After some banter, he says, he'll refund half of the money "so everyone walks away happy." And then he says, "After all, we're all adults here and can make our own decisions." At that point S thought I was going to leap across the counter and use SB's necktie as a lethal weapon.

The end result after making phone calls and such, I got 100% of the collision blah blah fees back.

So last night, I am working and this guy comes to the bar and he looks ragged. Typical case of the Mondays. His buddies showed up and he starts to loosen up a little bit. As I'm clearing dishes from his place at the bar, I see he had torn the cocktail napkins into little pieces all over the bartop. He says, "Sorry. I made a mess." I said, "It's ok. Tomorrow, I'm going to go to your office tomorrow with all the pieces from my paper shredder and sprinkle them all over the place." He says, "Go right on ahead." Then I asked him where he worked......


.... you'll never believe it. Not only the company but the same office. He said SB might be coming into the bar actually. We discussed SB and the other associates involved in my situation. I shared my other story with him too. Then I told him that I was getting married out of town and have lots of friends and family that will be renting cars, but not from his company.

But then after he apologized, he asked if there was anything he could do for me. I mentioned the chance of redemption was in April when I have to go back to Jamestown for my bridal shower and my sister will be flying in too. A rental car sure would help.

He'll be getting back to me later today with a confirmation number.