Young Renter / "Accidental Repo" - II

This is not actually a repo story. However, it does have ties to the repo I mentioned earlier by the same title - Young Renter / "Accidental Repo."

Particularly, this was a situation that happened regarding that same renter some months later, after the repo. Remember, we put him in collections for $1000 because he never paid his deductible.

Setting:
A manager at another location got promoted out and a new one promoted in. They needed a fill-in as the newly promoted manager-to-be was actually on vacation.

I was next in line and had worked that area before, so I was asked to volunteer my efforts. I did so with pride.

I received a call from the mother of the renter from the earlier post. She was upset and distraught. Her son had been pulled over and put in jail. Why, you ask? Simple. In Tennessee, if you do something with your car to owe money (collision damage, tickets, etc.) and you don't pay the money, the state suspends your driver's license.

Our former renter had never paid his deductible, despite our best collection efforts, and so this happened to him.

When our former renter had been pulled over for speeding, the police officer ran his license number and immediately discovered the youth was driving on a suspended license. That and the fact that he was going 85 in a 35 landed him in jail that particular day.

For the record: I feel he deserved what he got. Make no mistake, I have nothing against this individual, but he was a terror behind the wheel and needed a wake-up call.

At first the mother tried to make it out to me that it was some sort of mistake, that the former manager had some agenda against the kid. I then advised her that as luck would have it, I was that former manager.

Her story then changed to one of a request. She was asking that we take the $1000 off his record, so his license would get restored. I advised that I would do so as soon as I had cash or cashier's check in hand for the sum. She did not like this, either.

She requested to speak to somebody from corporate, so I advised her I would have the area manager call her within the hour, provided he was free to do so. I called the area manager and briefed him on the topic. He remembered, as this was the first wreck to happen in his area after he was promoted to the area manager position.

My Area manager advised me about two hours later that he had spoken with the mother and she was not happy with his suggestion, either. He suggested that her son start driving like a normal person and pay what he owes in life. I imagine that did not go over well. Knowing the area manager, I don't doubt he said it, exactly the way he told me.

Long story short, Enterprise was paid the $1000 they were owed. The young man got out of jail a couple of weeks later as it took time for everything to be processed by the state.

Oh, yeah, I knew the mom - we had worked together at a part time job at the same home-improvement warehouse in Jackson two years prior.