Rental Cars

So here is the thing about rental cars.  Over the last two weeks I have had two.

The first was a red Chevy Aveo, red.  Why would anyone want a red Aveo.  It's like having red underwear, who cares?  Not a bad car really though, but ugly (butt ugly?) and it did not have speed control.  Why would any rental car company have a car without a speed control?  I rented this car from National car rental as Hertz, my usual rental firm, was out of cars that day.  The positive was that it was cheap to rent and it was clean.  The negatives?  Well it could barely get out of it's own way. With the low power and the lack of a speed control I had a terrible time keeping the speed to anything approaching steady.  I found my self slowing down to 60 going up the Arkansas hills and speeding up over 80 going down.  Several times I looked down to see I was going over 80 mph down a hill.  I would have a speeding ticket in no time with this car. I had to press the pedal down so much to keep it up to speed going up hill that I ended up going way over speed downhill.  The air conditioner worked okay and kept me cool but my left hip started hurting much sooner than in most cars.  The seats had only enough support for a tiny woman.  An adequate car for a teenager around town but uncomfortable for a fat guy and slow (and noisy) on the highway.  Speaking of noisy it did have a plug for my iPod but no USB plug for charging so my iPod was dead when I reached my destination.  Honestly everything should go to a USB plug for charging.  the cigar lighter plug has way outlived its usefulness.

Okay so the second car I rented from Hertz.  Hertz does rent some cars without speed control (Ford Focus I believe) but the local Hertz guy always gives me a choice if he has one of a Toyota Corolla or a Chevy Cobalt and though I like the Cobalt okay and it usually has speed control I took the Corolla this time.  The gold Corolla four door had a speed control which maintained my speed for me on the highway and the air conditioner worked great.  The seat was much more comfortable and my left hip did not start hurting until the very end of my drive.  The mileage was about the same and the stability of the vehicle on the highway was much better.  While in the Aveo I was almost blown off the road every time an SUV went by the Corolla was rock solid all the way.  In fact a VW New Beetle came a bit close when passing me in the Aveo and I thought I was going to lose it for a second.  The Corolla is a much better car and the cost was almost identical as well as the mileage so don't take the Aveo if you can get the Corolla.

Now as for the rental car companies I prefer Hertz.  National insists on having a walk around of the car before and after the rental which is ridiculous and just takes extra time.  I want to get in the car and go and I want the drop to be just as quick and national just seems to take a bit more time.  At Hertz it is all about me getting on my way.  I have paid more for Hertz when on vacation just for this reason.

Customer from Hell

So let me tell you a bit about a customer of championwheel.com that lives in a reality beyond my comprehension.   First he asked if 20 inch wheels will fit and says if not he'll take the 18" wheels.  20" wheels show not to fit so I order his them the 18 inch wheels.  The next day after I put the order in he says he wants to go with the 20" wheels.  I tell him the order has already been put in.  He says that is okay he will just return them when he gets them and get the 20 inch wheels.  I point him to my return policy which specifically states that returns on custom wheels are only allowed if there is a defect or the wrong wheel is shipped and inform him that I will charge him a 30% restocking fee plus the shipping costs.  He says okay he'll take teh 18 inch wheels.  The wheels get shipped from the wheel manufacturer and I receive no notification or tracking information from them.  The next day I get a call from the customer saying that they left the wheels on his porch and now they are missing.  I tell him I will notify the manufacturer who shipped them and take care of it.  Next (almost immediately it appears) he calls UPS and gripes them up and down because they left the packages on the front porch in plain view and someone stole them.  A report is filed by the shipper that the items are missing and UPS begins investigating.  I tell the customer that I will replace his wheels when UPS completes their investigation.  He wants the wheels now but not the 18 inch ones he order now he wants 20 inch ones.  I tell him it will be a few days and send him the UPS policy stating so.  He insists that I send the wheels prior to UPS completing their investigation.  I now find out that the packages were shipped with out a signature required which is against my policy.  I call my supplier and he tells me they shipped directly from the factory warehouse and the factory warehouse confirms they sent the shipment without a signature required and that they "always" do this and they "never" have any problems.  They say they will send replacement wheels when UPS completes their investigation.  In the meantime the customer has sent an email stating that he wants 20 inch wheels instead of 18 and he wants me to pay the difference.  I do not respond.  I am waiting to hear from UPS.  The next thing that happens is the customer is calling the shipping company and harassing them for shipping the products with no signature requirement. The he gets back on UPS.  Then UPS tells him about my partner/wholesaler who takes care of my wheel orders and he calls them to harass them.  Then I talk to him and ask him the classic question "what can I do to make him happy" He states (and emails the same) that he doesn't care what I do that it is up to me and I can either overnight him a new set of wheels or give him his money back.  Overnighting the wheels would cost more that all of us together make on the sale so I give him his money back.  All of it, even though I really only should give him 70%.  Next day he rants and raves that I am a liar and that I should give him his money back and overnight him a new set of wheels.  I verify that no one has told him anything that could make me appear to be a liar and at this point let it go.  What a wacko.  I still don't know why he thinks I am a liar. I have no clue why he thinks I am at fault for UPS's mistake.  And I have heard nothing about him filing a police report for the stolen wheels.  As far as I know they are in his garage and he wants me to just send him a new set on faith and absorb a loss of over $1000 because he is a good customer.  Give me a break.  Somebody please tell me what I did wrong.

Roadsters

Ahhh..... The joy of the open road.  Top down as it should be.  There's nothing like it.  But some of you I have noticed don't follow the unwritten rules of the roadster.  So I was thinking that maybe that was because they were unwritten.  So I was thinking maybe I should write them.  So here goes.
The Top Ten Rules of the Roadster
1.  The natural position of the top is down.
2.  If the sun is out and it is under 100 degrees Fahrenheit put the top down and sunscreen on.
3.  Keep rubber bands or hair bands in the cockpit somewhere for those with long hair and sunscreen.
4.  If it is cloudy put the top down.
5.  If it is raining but not too hard put the top down.
6.  If the person riding with you complains about the wind, or the noise, or your driving, or the heat, or the cold, calmly offer to let her out (usually it is a her.  Just a casual observation.  I could be mistaken.)
7.  If you are too hot turn on the air conditioner.
8.  If you are too cold turn on the heater.
9.  Real roadsters do not have heat or A/C.
10.  When you are in your roadster, top down, smile on your face, wind rushing through what is left of your hair, everyone wishes they were you.

You can get some great wheels for your roadster and lots of other great car stuff at www.championwheel.com