Rental car saga..part 2...

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Sunday morning 3/06/11

(Skip)Please note: When I refer to Europcar rental it is with the understanding the agent that I am dealing with in Tocumen Airport is Auto mobile car rental ie: www.automobilecarrental.com Further note: when attempting to access this web site this afternoon a notice was posted on top of the web page as to the following: NOTICE: This domain name expired on 02/09/2011 and is pending renewal or deletion . Go figure? Who am I really dealing with??

Today is the day that I always knew was just around the corner; this is the day I must face the dragon, Europcar Rental. In days of old, one would dress in battle armor and pick up your old trusty sword or spear and proceed into the unknown. So what's so different today? No sword and spear just a cold exterior, an unflappable stare of steel that will hopefully hold off the dragon!!

Filled the car with gas then took a picture of the odometer and full gas tank, exterior and interior pictures of the car and then proceeded to the car return area located at the airport. The person at the rental counter first had a difficult time finding our rental contract even though he had possession of our car keys, Id number etc. Not to be stopped he finally found our contract both on the computer and the hard copy paperwork. We proceeded to the car and I showed him the mirror where the glass was popped out of the mirror molding.

I mistakenly assumed (you know what that means) the airport would have WIFI so that I could use Skype to call American Express Insurance and report the damage to the vehicle and at the same time their (Europcar representative) could also talk to my insurance agent. Wrong!! No wifi at the airport, so I went back to the hotel and used skype to call American Express and file a claim.

Now back to the airport after about 1 hour lapse in time. (Barb has been setting at the airport waiting all this time) After I tell the guy at the rental counter about my filing the claim his demeanor has changed completely. Now he is not the happy helpful guy with a smiley face but a guy with a higher pitched gruff voice demanding $150.00 for damages. Also there is another guy with him who will be playing the good guy in a few minutes down the road. (fully expected by me)

Anyways, after perhaps more than 1 hour arguing about everything; (very vocal at times) me telling them both they are just running a scam and there is no way in hell that I am signing for a charge of $150 to my credit card; and them telling me their boss says I must pay, they are only doing their job; documents being passed to me showing where I MUST pay for any and all damages etc, the good guy gets on the phone with the boss and leaves the area. Before he left the area, Barb took our camera and showed the good guy pictures of the car, mirror and perhaps a few other pictures. I suspect the pictures taken before we arrived at the turn in point; my telling them in no certain terms that I would not pay;
the filing of the claim with actual claim number and telephone number for them to call finally brought this whole play acting scene to a close. Once the good guy (I suspect he was the first guys supervisor) hung up the phone with the supposing boss/owner both were all smiles with honey dripping off from their tongues. Now it was no problem!! They will work with the insurance company and no money is required. We all leave with smiles?

Rental saga over? Not by a long shot. I expect a charge to my American Express Card for at least the $150 bogus amount plus more bogus charges to come. Some money is owed by the insurance company but something in the area of $25 - $50 is reasonable. I expect many, many more problems from this company. Please don't forget they have already double charged me for the rental period; lied about the gas in the gas tank and changed the time for turn-in of the vehicle. I fully expect for a charge to appear on my charge card for the filling of the gas tank which was full at turn in. We'll see. We did take pictures (date stamped) of the full tank along with the odometer.

Just remember don't walk away from Europcar just run as fast as possible!! Please, please do pass this nightmare on to your friends and re-post wherever this message will hit the most travelers.

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