The Dollar Headache

The blog is back.

Picture me in a bear suit. (stay with me) I'm on a unicycle. Add juggling. Now cue the circus music. That was me last Thursday preparing for a trip to Atlanta while keeping both my bosses happy (the one at work AND the one at home).

You see, Vanita didn't want me away from home two consecutive nights even though I had 10am meetings both Tuesday and Wednesday. My compromise? Take the red eye flight Monday, thus giving ample time (in my mind) to spend at home with the family before leaving.

All seemed well and good until I went online to add a hotel room. My favorite place to stay, Doubletree Guest Suites, was booked full. My usual back up, Hampton Inn, only had rooms available one of two nights. My final request for any hotel was answered with three options. I selected a Holiday Inn not too far from the office.

Next it was on to the car rental. With each request absolutely nothing was available. No compact, not sporty, nor luxury. Alright, what is up? I call our corporate travel agent. Turns out the combination of Wilma running everyone out of Florida and NASCAR being in town had Atlanta booked full. Luckily the agent was able to get me a midsized car from Dollar Rent A Car.

I'm not one to second guess things. What's done is done. But something about arriving into a fully booked city after midnight had me concerned. So 3 hours prior to my flight I made a few calls. First, Holiday Inn. "Of course, we will have a room for you." How silly of me to ask. Now, Dollar. "Of course, we have a car for you at 12 noon." "Hold on." I knew it. "My reservation is for 12 midnight." To make a long conversation short. They didn't have any cars available at midnight but were going to try and have one available for me when I arrived.

I know what you are thinking. But let me tell you.... as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, my reservation was for midnight. I have 2 forms of proof.

Ok, I knew I had to remain calm if I was to stand any chance of getting a car from Dollar. Once in Atlanta, I take a short shuttle ride to the rental site and entered the lobby with high hopes. The hopes were quickly dashed away by Mrs. Indifference. I requested politely to speak with her manager. Mrs. Apathy suggested "I take the shuttle back to the airport and grab a cab to my hotel." I requested Dollar pay for my cab. They declined and I decided to hold my ground.

They went into quick internal conference and out comes this guy "Rick". "Let me see what I can do" he says. As he starts pecking away at the keyboard, around the corner comes Mrs. Indifference. "Rick! MY customers better have cars when they get here." I lost it. "What am I? Am I a customer?" she apparently didn't think so responding with "Sir! your reservation is at 12 noon." This was her last chance, "Is it possible your system is wrong." She answered with "Never."

To this ridiculous answer I offered a trophy as a prize and instructed her on a nice warm place where it should be stowed. It was over. I had Hertz on the phone before security could get to me. Hertz did a great job. They had a few cancels and were able to get me into a car for a few days.

DON'T RENT FROM DOLLAR.