Monday, October 19, 2009

A fond memory

From my rental car days - this customer was just plain funny. I was a trainee at the Dyersburg, TN Enterprise. It was a Saturday, and I was there with the Assistant manager, Shawnda.

I was still fairly new, and as a customer walked in, she decided to let me handle the whole rental (one of my first times to do so). We only had two cars left, plus the car I drove (my blue Mercury Cougar) which was much older than all the rental cars.

The customer looked young, but I had made up my mind to not judge a book by its cover. He approached the counter and slapped down a $5 bill.

"I want that blue Mercury Cougar out there," he said.

"Sorry, that's my car. We have a pickup truck and a Ford Escort. Would you like one of those?"

"No, I want the Cougar. That's it. And here's for the rental until Monday - you can keep the change."

I realized he had only $5 at this point.

"That Cougar belongs to me and my wife, not to Enterprise. So legally, we cannot rent it. Besides, this is only $5. You'll need more money just for the weekend, plus the deposit."

The customer looked down and checked his wallet. It seemed to have two more dollars in it. "How much is the deposit?"

"Cash rental is $150, plus the amount of the rental. For the Ford Escort, it would be $190, for the truck, you'd need a credit card and the authorization would be $210."

The young man looked heartbroken and stood there for a minute with his friend, both silent. He walked out the door.

Shawnda asked: "So he wanted to rent a car for the weekend for $5?!"

"Yeah, sign me up for that deal." I said as I realized that he had been dead serious the whole time.

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