Not a Repo story, but...

This is one of my favorite stories from car rental - ever.

Setting:
Renter calls, "needing a new car since the one she has will not start." She needs it brought to her at work - evidently the rental car has died there at her place of employment.

I arrive at the renter's work location, and I find the renter. When we get to the car, things start not adding up really quick. First, the car door was unlocked, but the key would not even go into the ignition. I ask if she had unlocked the car with the remote. She stated that she had.

Hmmmm.

She then stated that some of her belongings had been taken from the car. She thought it had been broken into and that had killed the car.

Hmmmm.

I realized the seat was way back - at a position that would be comfortable for me (a tall man) and not so much so for her (over a foot shorter than me). I asked her if she had moved the seat. She stated she had not. Car thieves don't move the seats.

Hmmmm.

I use the remote and try to lock and unlock the car. No response.

Hmmmm.

I am starting to sense her urgency of wanting to take the car I brought. She said she liked the one she already had better, but since this one had "died" she did not trust it anymore.

Note:
A rule of thumb I developed in the car rental business back in 1999 was that the more the renter wanted to rush me, the more I needed to take my time and think, because something was not quite right.

I used that rule of thumb here and started all over from the beginning. I looked at the keys. Most rental agencies put a "unit number" or similar on the keytag because they purchase many cars that look identical. I realize the number on the key tag does not match the number on the car.

I ask the renter if she is not parked somewhere else. She adamantly replies that she parked RIGHT HERE and nowhere else. She gives me an evil look for implying she might have forgotten where she had parked. But I knew better at this point.

I looked around the parking lot and spotted another car that looked identical. It was five cars over and one row back. I hit the alarm button on the remote and the other car started beeping its horn.

I pressed the button again and the horn honking stopped.

"Ma'am, I think this is your rental over here." I suggested.

"No way, this is where I parked." She claimed.

"The keys will work on this other one, I'd bet. Plus, it's not parked very far from here. It would be an honest mistake." I suggest.

"I don't think the keys will work in it." She says.

I walk over to the car and turn it on.

She puts her things in the correct car and leaves without saying a word. She does not even respond when I ask her if all her things were in fact still there in the correct car.

This was a great story told at the next Manager's meeting.