Unpacking and Returning the Rental Car

I've stopped putting dates in the titles because the trip ended on October 5th. Anything written further relates to details following the trip or reflections.

Returning the rental car was an adventure in and of itself...

Unpacking the Car
I reserved the car until 9pm on October 6th. The first step today was emptying the car of all the junk I brought. I brought far too many clothes. I brought so many that had I not washed any clothes since I returned, I would still have plenty of clean clothes right now....just counting what I brought along. I always tend to bring too much with me. But, when I left for this trip I didn't know what I'd need and how long I'd be gone. So, I wanted to be prepared. On the next trip, I'll know enough not to take that much with me.

When I would swap cars during the trip, it took at least an hour to move everything to the next car. In this case, I had taken a number of things into the house the night before. It STILL took an hour to empty the car.

The Oil Change Saga
In my October 3rd report, I noted that the oil change was important. It was not just a minor detail. Apart from that oil change, I had three others. The contract required an oil change every 3,000 miles. They preferred that the customer simply swap out the vehicle at an Avis location so Avis could do the oil change.

The first was in North Dakota. The car could not be swapped in North or South Dakota because there are only Avis franchisees in those states. They cannot take a corporate-owned car. I had to get the oil changed and just turn in a receipt.

The next was in the Idaho Panhandle. After the deer incident, I had been given the only corporate car available at a franchise in Montana. They forgot to change the oil. I only found this out after I had driven about 200 miles west of the office. So, I had to get a quick oil change since I would be putting hundreds more miles on the car that evening, heading to central Washington.

The third was in Wichita, KS. They have a corporate owned Avis office, but I was told they could not guarantee a comparable car for me if I swapped it. They were unable to do an oil change at the office until a few days after I called.

The fourth, as noted, was done on October 3rd in West Virginia. I only had a few days left and didn't have the time to deal with swapping a car. I also would likely have to go out of the way to Charleston to do a swap.

Final Mileage for Overall Trip: 14,858
Arriving at the rental car location, I got the final mileage for all the time spent in a rental car: 14,858. That's amazing. The largest amount of miles I drove on any previous single trip was 5,500 when I flew to the Midwest last year and visited a little over a dozen states.

Returning the Car
When I returned the car, the clerk who handled returns was quite cold when he saw the damage to the car. (I probably didn't write about this in the blog. On the fourth car, someone backed into me, while I was in the car. The car was raised up for a few seconds.) He coldly informed me that I had to go into the office and provide an accident report. He stated that I would be charged for this if I didn't fill out a report, etc. I already had the report written.

But I went to the office for other reasons. With oil change receipts totalling $141, I wanted reimbursement as promised by the office.

SLOW Photocopying
I asked the clerk to provide me with a photocopy of the accident report and then a copy of the oil change receipts. That was a BIG MISTAKE. Something told me I should have made my own copies rather than relying on them. They apparently have an "ancient copy machine" and it took a half hour to make five copies!

Reimbursement for the Oil Changes and a Blank Stare
They were shocked at the oil change receipts. The clerk asked me why I didn't just swap the car. I tried to explain the issues of franchisees, the vastness of the West (there are no Avis offices for hundreds of miles sometimes, and sometimes they don't have sedans available to swap out), etc. I just got a blank stare.

Priceless Question
Then she said the most priceless thing "Did you ever think of calling roadside assistance?" You cannot call roadside assistance to change your oil! If you lock your keys in the car, yes, you would call them. If you need a tow, then you'd call them. But they are NOT going to do an oil change on the side of the road or in a parking lot somewhere! I told her that I was advised by this office to get the oil changed and bring in a receipt.

Wasting Lots of Time
Both clerks at the desk conferred for quite a long time, wasting my time and that of the individual who was waiting to drive me home. Finally, one of them decided to call in a manager. She first told the manager that I had several receipts for "repairs" on the vehicle. I interrupted her and said they were oil changes, not repairs. Then she told the manager that I had a car with a broken windshield. That was the previous vehicle and that one had been dropped off in Idaho in August! I interrupted her and explained that.

The Efficient Manager
The manager quickly came in. I started explaining to him the reasons for my oil changes. He reassured me that they would take them off the final bill. He added them up and then printed out a new copy with the $141 taken off. They should have called the manager in sooner.

Overall Review of the Event
This took over an hour of haggling. When the manager came, I was getting prepared for an argument. But, at least he had some sense. I still cannot believe that the first clerk thought an oil change could be dealt with by roadside assistance!

The blank stares I got when I explained the vast emptiness of the west and more importantly, the franchise issue (related to their own business), was king of annoying for a business that deals in travel. I'm sure I was one of the most complicated situations they've had, doing a mini-lease plus a few extra days. Of course, I also had four different cars, three of which sustained damage that was out of my control. Thankfully, I purchased the liability damage waiver.

But the clerks really ought to be familiar with company policy regarding oil changes and mini-leases. One of the clerks I dealt with (the one who said I had "repairs" done) was one of the ones who advised me to just bring in a receipt for oil change #2.

So, the big question is this....would I rent from Avis again, considering my experience? I was not happy with aspects of the experience (particularly the time it took to return the vehicle), but I probably would. Their price seems to be lower than some of the other agencies. They did provide adequate service. However, if Alamo came in with a lower price, I'd likely go with them. I've been equally satisfied when renting from that agency.