| rev:text
| - Rented a car Nov. 20-26. A companionable guy picked me up at the airport, in the somewhat banged-up 108,000-mile Chevy Impala I would be renting. We exchanged pleasantries on the way. At the McDowell St. office, paperwork was minimal. I was asked to pledge that no one else would drive the car and that I wouldn't drive it out of the Phoenix area. For me, that was fine. Just before I got into the car to drive it away, the nice guy who had driven me there said, "And don't worry about the dings! We know about them." I like informality, and all of this was fine with me.
The car was perfectly OK during my Thanksgiving visit with my brother. It always started instantly, never stalled, and had excellent pick-up. Sure, it shuddered a little at stops and made a few noises, but after all, it had 108k miles on it! I was happy with it.
The day before I was to return the car, for some reason (forgotten to me now) I hunted up Phoenix Car Rental on the internet, and my heart sank when I saw a whole series of angry 1-star reviews, salted with 5-star reviews that might (for all I knew) have been plants. Well, the following evening, when I drove to the McDowell St. station to return the car at 7:00 p.m., I was horrified to find the gates closed, with a sign saying, in effect, "Closed. No drop-off here. Take your car to [something-or-other] South 48th Street." I didn't know where South 48th was and I am no good at using a smart phone to find a location, and so, panicking, I took the car back to my brother's house, got my sister-in-law to drive me to the airport, and asked her to return the rental car in the morning. I just managed to make my return flight to Spokane.
I'm miffed with Phoenix Car Rental for not warning me, when I clearly said at the counter that I planned to return the car on Saturday the 26th, that their lot closes at 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. But I am relieved that I wasn't charged some sort of penalty fee on account of someone else returning the car the following day (given the no-other-drivers provision). Bottom line: this car rental cost me less than I would have paid to any of the national chains that provide rentals right at the airport. For me, it was a good deal.
One last rumination. The guy or guys I spoke to 3 times when I booked the rental, when I signed the papers and took the car, and, finally, when I called to explain why someone else would be returning the car, was/were brusque and not very friendly. But it occurs to me that this could be because of experience with the clientele. This company makes something of a specialty of offering cars to people with poor credit. Among that pool, it's certain that many will be lousy customers, messing up the cars, balking on payment for damages, reneging on promises not to drive the cars far out of Phoenix, etc.---and then throwing fits when they're not able to get away with those irresponsible behaviors. I have no idea what percentage of Phoenix Car Rental customers are obnoxious, but if it's even as high as 20%, I can understand why the customer service people there would become defensive. I'm giving them the benefit of a doubt.
But I do advise Phoenix Car Rental to make plainer to all customers, right up-front, that it has early closing hours on Saturdays and Sundays.
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