Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for January 22nd, 2009

If you are considering renting a car in the near future, you might want to read this post in it’s entirety.

When we arrived to pick up the car, much to our surprise, the car we reserved was not available. It was still out on its previous rental. No mention of this was made during the previous phone conversation. The only vehicles available were a Toyota Tundra, Chevy Outlander, and a Dodge Caravan.

The Enterprise agent offered us one of those vehicles but only if we paid the upgrade price – an extra $55 for the 6 days. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but seriously, should that have even been suggested? Plus the above-mentioned vehicles’ gas mileage is considerably less than what we reserved. Our budget wouldn’t allow for the extra costs.

After we stated we would have to go to a different rental agency that we’ve used before, the agent decided he could give us the Dodge and we could trade out at another Enterprise dealership along our travel route for our original cost. While it would be incredibly inconvenient to pack the Dodge for vacation, drive 100 miles, unpack the Dodge and repack another vehicle, we were willing to work with it since we had no other options. Plus as the driver, I really was not comfortable at all driving a vehicle that big, hence the reason why we reserved an intermediate size car. But what could we do?

The agent made the arrangements for us to make the swap at the next dealership along our route Thursday morning. However, that morning, our vacation plans were canceled due to various reasons. When we discussed the 3 vehicles on the lot, the agent plainly stated that the Dodge got about 22-24 mpg. That’s a joke. We live a fair distance from the location (approx 43 miles one way). Our mileage for leaving the lot, going straight home, and returning it the next morning was 87 miles. It took 6 gallons of gas. With the car we requested and reserved, it should have taken no more than 3 gallons. (In fact, my 10-year-old car averages 30 mpg, and would have been a better option than a vehicle that gets 16 mpg. Our gas cost would have been double for the trip!!! Hardly a wise choice in today’s economy.)

Given our horrible experience to that point – no car available, poor customer service, wasted time waiting for our vehicle, etc – I was aghast when we were charged $43.29 for a full day rental. We left the lot at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and returned at 10:22 a.m. Thursday. That’s hardly a full day, but I’m sure there’s some fine print that says there’s no half days blah blah blah. Also, our original price quoted to us was $227.53 for 6 days. $227.53 divided by 6 = $37.92, not $43.28.

At this point, we will not be renting from Enterprise again. And I’ve sent a letter to Enterprise stating the above facts.

So, how could our experience have been improved? It’s simple – better customer service.

1. When I called for directions, a simple statement of “your car is not on our lot at this moment, but we expect it at 4 p.m.” would have warned us that we could rearrange our schedule and save ourselves the hassle of standing around waiting.
2. When it was apparent that the car may potentially not be there, arrangements should’ve been made to bring a car from another lot to the Sutton location for us rather than send us away in a gas-guzzling beast.
3. If we had opted to not take the Dodge and our reserved car did not show up by 5 p.m., we would not get a car. WHAT?!? That’s pitiful customer service.
4. To suggest that we could take an upgraded vehicle for the upgraded price was not wise. We’ve rented from other rental agencies before, namely Hertz. If the vehicle we requested was not available, we got what was on the lot without even the slightest suggestion of our paying more. It’s not our fault the vehicle wasn’t there. Don’t put the customer in the position of having to make the choice.
5. While there’s no concrete proof that the gas mileage was worse than the car we reserved, some compensation should have been made for that.
6. We should have been charged the agreed on price in our reservation.
7. We were told that the car that was supposed to be ours didn’t even have power windows or power locks. They still make cars like that? When I rent a car, I expect it to be nice, not low end. My 10-year-old Ford Escort sounded more luxurious than Enterprise’s intermediate level car!

And in case you are wondering, in the future, we’ll be renting from Hertz, not Enterprise.

Have you had any trouble with a rental from Enterprise or another agency?

Update 2/8/09… Enterprise has yet to respond to my letter about our experience. When I submitted it, their message said that the regional manager would be in touch within a few days. I also got a survey call about our experience where I told the lady what happened. The lady promised someone would call me to get details. Two weeks later, no such phone calls have happened. Hmmmm…

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance introduces The Centurion’s Wife (Bethany House Publishers, January 1, 2009) by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Davis Bunn is an internationally acclaimed author who has sold more than six million books in fifteen languages. His audiences span reading genres from high drama and action thrillers to heartwarming relationship stories, in both contemporary and historical settings.

Honored with three Christy Awards for excellence in historical and suspense fiction, his bestsellers include My Soul To Keep, and Full Circle. A sought-after lecturer in the art of writing, Bunn was named Novelist in Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University.

He and his wife, Isabella, make their home in Florida for some of each year, and spend the rest near Oxford, England, where they each teach and write.

Her first novel, a prairie love story titled Love Comes Softly, was published by Bethany House in 1979. This book was followed by more than 75 others.

After Love Comes Softly was published, Oke found her readers asking for more. That book led to a series of eight others in her Love Comes Softly series. She has written multiple fiction series, including The Canadian West, Seasons of the Heart and Women of the West. Her most recent releases include a beautiful children’s picture book, I Wonder…Did Jesus Have a Pet Lamb and The Song of Acadia series, co-written with T. Davis Bunn.

Janette Oke’s warm writing style has won the hearts of millions of readers. She has received numerous awards, including the Gold Medallion Award, The Christy Award of Excellence, the 1992 President’s Award for her significant contribution to the category of Christian fiction from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and in 1999 the Life Impact Award from the Christian Booksellers Association International. Beloved worldwide, her books have been translated into fourteen languages.

She and her husband live nearby in Alberta, Canada.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Janette Oke has dreamed for years of retelling a story in a biblical time frame from a female protagonist’s perspective, and Davis Bunn is elated to be working with her again on this sweeping saga of the dramatic events surrounding the birth of Christianity…and the very personal story of Leah, a young Jewess of mixed heritage trapped in a vortex of competing political agendas and private trauma.

Caught up in the maelstrom following the death of an obscure rabbi in the Roman backwater of first-century Palestine, Leah finds herself also engulfed in her own turmoil–facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a Roman soldier, Alban, who seems to care for nothing but his own ambitions.

Head of the garrison near Galilee, he has been assigned by Palestine’s governor to ferret out the truth behind rumors of a political execution gone awry. Leah’s mistress, the governor’s wife, secretly commissions Leah also to discover what really has become of this man whose death–and missing body–is causing such furor.

This epic drama is threaded with the tale of an unlikely romance and framed with dangers and betrayals from unexpected sources. At its core, the story unfolds the testing of loyalties–between two young people whose inner searchings they cannot express, between their irreconcilable heritages, and ultimately between their humanity and the Divine they yearn to encounter.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Centurion’s Wife, go HERE

MY RESPONSE

I’ve not finished this book yet, but what I’ve read so far, I’ve really enjoyed. I love the details that the authors give about every day tasks. I never sat down to imagine all the responsibilities of a servant during biblical times, but Bunn and Oke obviously have. I’m eager to finish reading the last few chapters and am looking forward to more books in this series!

If you want a more detailed response to The Centurion’s Wife, I suggest reading Adam’s review and Wendy’s review.