WHAT?!?

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So you guys have known about the card drive for Danny and you didn't tell me?  You need to share the fun things, people!  I haven't been getting out much lately.  lol!

It's okay. I forgive you...this time!  lol!

Sebastian is loving life on the west coast, but if his mom doesn't bring him back to Miami  for a visit soon I just may have to take a little trip out there.

  As you can see, he is as cute as ever!

I haven't been updating much because of my stupid finger, but it really is getting better.  I've had the sling off for most of today and it's just now starting to bother me.  I wonder if that has something to do with the fact that I'm trying to type like a normal person instead of just jabbing the keys with one finger.  lol!

I go to the specialist on Monday and I really want to be able to say,  "It's all better just take my co-pay and send me on my way."  Honestly, that's what I'm going to say whether they believe me or not.  lol!  I'm really over this whole thing!

I'm also over my whole car ordeal too!

I found out last week that the guy who drives the car that crashed into mine isn't taking or returning calls from his insurance company.  I told hem I wasn't surprised since he isn't cooperating with the police either and the police don't care since insurance will just pay for the repairs and no one was hurt.

His insurance decided last Monday that I had suffered enough and agreed to step up to the plate and do the right thing.  They had me turn in the rental car I was driving and they got another one from Hertz that they are paying the total bill for.  I'm waiting for them to reimburse me for the first rental.

Now, I have to tell you this and you need to listen very carefully.....

NEVER GET A RENTAL FROM HERTZ!!!!!

Especially, the Hertz at the Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach!!!

I show up at the hotel Tuesday morning after turning in the rented Altima all excited to see what I'll be driving next.  There were two people working the rental counter, but only one of them handled insurance rentals.  Since she was busy with someone else I waited and waited and waited and watched Father Time tick off the minutes on the clock.   If you've never been to the Fontainebleau watch this clock video on YouTube.  It's pretty cool!  Every time I go there I am totally fascinated by this clock!



Anyway, Father Time clicked off almost twenty minutes before it was my turn to be waited on.  I have no idea what kind of car the lady in front of me got, but I watched and listened as the hotel guests rented and returned their convertible Mustangs and told myself  it was so worth the wait!

Well, it so wasn't!!!

You see, it was made painfully obvious that there were two different drawers for the rental keys.  One drawer was for hotel guest and the other was for us unlucky smucks who have their parked cars crashed into.

Life is so unfair!

I told the girl my sad story and she almost gave me a rental upgrade.  The guy working with her told her not to because they had "reservations"  Seriously!

Anyway, they finally finish the paperwork and after waiting for over 30 minutes I'm sent outside to a smoking area to wait for some guy to bring down my surprise rental.  After spending 10 minutes waiting and walking around to get away from the smokers and their smoke the guy shows up WALKING!  He says they have to give me a different car because the one I was supposed to get was making funny noises in the engine.

I follow him back inside and after another 5 minute wait, I'm sent back out to the smoking area where I once again do my best to dodge to smokers while I wait for the guy to show up with my rental.....a Nissan Sentra.

Now, please understand that I'm not hating on the Nissan.  Once upon a time, I drove a Nissan! I'm simply telling you that this Nissan had seen better days!

I just told myself, "Hey, at least the charge is no longer going on your credit card!"  hoped in and took off.

The next day I'm driving on the Dolphin Expressway when our daily summer afternoon monsoon hit.  If you know anything about south Florida, you know why I called it a monsoon!  If you know anything about Miami, you know that the Dolphin Expressway is more like a parking lot most days!

I turn on the windshield wipers and guess what?  There's only one blade.....and it's on the passenger side of the car.

I wish I were making this stuff up!

I manage to survive the drive...somehow.  As soon as I get stopped I call Hertz and my call goes to right to voice.mail.  I leave a message and I was actually nice.  I asked them to call me back and let me know what to do.  I volunteered to bring the car in so that they could put wiper blades on it.  They chose not to return the call.

By Friday, two days after I left the voice mail, I decide to go online and send an email to the Hertz company about the car and this local rental office.  This time I wasn't so nice!

On Monday, I started getting phone calls and they haven't stopped yet!  At first they ignored me and now they're harrassing me.  Seriously!

I called the garage and was told that my car would be ready to pick up on Tuesday and maybe even late Monday.  I get all excited and decide to go ahead and turn in the not so lovely Nissan that I have now examined closely and know that it has a Pennsylvania tag with an inspection sticker that expired in APRIL!

By the time I get to the Fontainebleu I've already had three phone messages from someone at Hertz.  Of course, he wasn't there when I arrived.  I turn in the car and the girl (the same one who gave me the clunker in the first place) is shocked that I'm not happy.

I went off!

I complain about the wipers and non returned phone message.  I tell her about the expired inspection sticker and how I guess that's why they've got the car in Florida to begin with.  I also point out that the car shakes when you get it up to 55 - 60 miles per hour and how that's lots of fun on the highway.  I say that they should be ashamed of themselves for even giving customers cars like this and ask if that's really how they want their company represented.  I complain that they didn't deem me worthy enough of a return call until I contacted their home office and now they won't stop calling me but it's just too little too late because I no longer want the car and will never be doing business with Hertz again.  I end my little tirade by saying that I would have felt safer driving my undriveable crashed car than what they gave me.

Her response.....Would you like us to give you another car?

No I don't want another car!  I don't want anything from you people ever ever again.  You should be ashamed!

Well, we can give you another car...

Shame on you! The only thing I wanted was a return call and some windshield wipers but you guys decided I wasn't important enough for that. I've been told that my car may be ready for pick up tomorrow and if it's not then I just won't go anywhere because I want nothing to do with you guys.

Then I tell her that I left the car parked outside in the smoking area and left.

I'm in the car with my friend who was there to give me a ride home telling her all about it when my phone rings.  Guess who!

This guy from Hertz wants to give me a $100 credit to use on my next rental. I tell him not to bother because I won't be using it.  He seemed shocked and very sarcastically said...

For the rest of your life you're never going to use a rental car again?

I'm sure that I will, but I won't be getting it from you!

Wow!  What can we do to make you happy?

You can't make me happy.  It's too late for that! If you had called me on Wednesday maybe I could have laughed this whole thing off as one of those things that only happens to me, but you didn't call.

I wasn't working on Wednesday.

Someone was working!  And someone has worked everyday since then, but no one cared enough to call.  This is horrible customer service and you should be ashamed for putting people in unsafe cars.

At this point I was over the whole thing and hung up.  He called back, but I didn't answer the call.

This morning I wake up to another call from someone else at the very same Hertz office.  Again, he's shocked that I'm unhappy and wants to offer me free stuff.

Again, I point out that I want nothing from them.  I am finished with them and everyone I know knows that I'm finished with them so they should just leave me alone because there's nothing they can ever say that will make me want to rent a car from them again.

He managed to wait 5 hours before calling me again.  I was busy and didn't hear the phone ring so it went to voice mail.  He left a message explaining the latest round of rental freebies they had waiting for me.

A little over 30 minutes after that another voice mail was left from the Hertz south Florida general manager wanting to talk to me about "the problem" I had with one of his locations.  I'll probably call him tomorrow and ask if he can spell "restraining order" because now all I want is for them to stop calling me!

I can't get them to understand that you can't undo horrible customer service and that I'm not looking for anything free.....at least not from them!

In between all these calls from Hertz I also missed one from the repair place saying that they are putting the finishing touches on my car and they want to clean it up but that it would be ready o pick up in the afternoon..

I get OCG to drop me off there around 4PM all excited to have my car again. I insist that I don't want him to wait for me because I'm so excited to get my car back that I'm going to take the long way home and that I may even stop off to visit a couple of my other boyfriends.

The girl at the desk was shocked to see me.  She leaves me waiting while she goes to get the guy in charge of my repairs.  He comes in looking timid and says he's really sorry, but my car is still in assembly and then needs to be cleaned up and for me to please not hold this against him.

That's no what you said on the message you left me this morning.

I know and it's all my fault, please don't hold this against me.  The day just kind of got away from me and I didn't call you back when I should have.  Please don't hold this against me.

Can I wait while you finish up because my ride just left and without my car I don't have a way home.

There was another guy sitting in the lobby listening to our conversation and he cracked up laughing.

Story of my life!

The repair guy leaves me siting there while he goes to check with his technition and then comes back to tell me that the car won't be ready until tomorrow.  He gives me a voucher for another free rental points me toward Enterprise across the street and one against asks me not to hold this against him.

He was so worried that I was going to "hold this against him" that I almost asked him if he knew someone at Hertz and if he did know someone there what did they say about me that had him so scared of me?  But, I decided that I liked the fact that he was a little scared and just left to get the third rental car I've driven in the 24 days since mine got smashed.  I also said a quick and silent prayer for this rental to please have windshield wipers!

It does!

Now, if you're still reading this, you have a much longer attention span than I do and I apologize for any and all spelling mistakes.  My finger really hurts now and for some reason the stupid "t' key on my computer is sticking and not wanting to type.

So, how was your day?