I’m looking for advice and a reality check to make sure I’m not way off base.
Background: I recently rented a cargo van to make a delivery of a larger bookcase that wouldn’t fit in my truck. I picked up the van at 7:30 in the morning. When I picked it up, I asked if I could drop it off after hours the same day. The girl said that it would be no problem. That was last thing she said about it.
That night, I went back to drop of the van around 9:30. Obviously the office was empty and I was going to have to do something with the keys.
I checked the building and couldn’t find any type of key drop slot – nothing anywhere. I found an old mail slot on a garage door but it wasn’t labeled in any way. I didn’t know what to do with the keys and I wasn’t going to be able to get there the next day to drop them off.
My solution, they have to have another set of keys, so I locked them in the van.
Problem: Well now they want to charge me for two extra days because they couldn’t get in the van. I gave them my credit card, so they were able to put the charge through for $210 instead of the one day charge of $70.
I was given no directions on what to do and there wasn’t any obvious key drop on the building. Am I out the extra $140?
Replies
Seems like a locksmith (or a hoodlum off the street) could have got them into the truck in less than 2 days. Maybe make them an offer to pay a fee comparable to what a locksmith would have charged to open the truck.
The thing that struck me as funny was that when they first called me the next day, they told me the keys were locked in the van. They were in a pretty deep cup holder, how did they know that the keys were in the van? (things that make you go hmm)
Did they ever tell you what you SHOULD have done with the keys?
Did they ever tell you what you SHOULD have done with the keys?
Nope, nothing said. I think that's my biggest point of contention. How can they say I broke the rules when the they never told them to me.
Many rentals are one way so it would make sense that they wouldn't have a duplicate set of keys. Your error there.
On the other side of the coin, two days seems a tad much for them to get the door open. Years ago I locked my keys in the car and had a locksmith there in an hour. As I recall, expensive but quick.
The cost of a locksmith and half a day rental charge would seem fair to everyone and you're wiser for the experience.
Runnerguy
You an get the CC company to contest the charge while you get this all sorted out.
I'd think locksmith could be done in les than a day with it.