Just returned and had a wonderful time overall, but our biggest headache had to do with National Car rental.
First, we had made a reservation for an intermediate/Emerald Aisle. Not a single car was available on the EA. It took a long wait to finally be told to get something from the Premium Aisle. Okay, then the guy at the booth was very nice, and even handed my husband back the Entertainment discount coupon -- "Just keep it, you can use it again if you want." (problem #2). Then he hands my husband a handful of "stuff" and says to have a great day. When we get down the road we realize that there is no actual receipt in the papers -- just the hang tag with a notation about the mileage, a map, etc.
The last time I rented from National at MCO I was not given a receipt when I got the car so I tried to not worry about it, figuring I could straighten out any problems when we turned in the car at the Dolphin. Wrong. (We returned the car at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, and the valet told us that the office was already closed, but he could "handle it" for us, even though we could not get an itemized receipt. We later learn that the office did not actually close until 4:00 pm, which could have helped us deal with much of the later hassle. I think that the valet simply WANTED to "handle it" and get a bigger tip. Ugh.) Sure enough, I check the next day and we have been charged an extra $27 because they did not take off one day's charge for the coupon. It costs us $5 (!) to fax a copy of the coupon from the Bus Ctr at BW to National's office at MCO. I called the main customer service the next day and they indicate that there are notes in the file that the coupon fax was received, but no one has initiated the credit. Of course, I am told to keep trying to get that office to try to get the credit. I am tired of dealing with it, and that is not as important as our OTHER problem:
We walk back to the BWV after dropping off the car, and realize that we have left a hip pack in the car. (Okay, this is where I get very annoyed with DH. When we got to BWV to check in I left the hip pack on the seat; he was going to self park until we learned if we could take in our own luggage directly to the room or needed bell services. I called back to him to be sure not to leave that hip pack on the seat when he left the car. He didn't take it with him, or put it in the flooboard or tuck it under the edge of a seat. He admitted that he put it "as far back as possible" under the passenger seat. Yes, when we turned in the car I gave it the once over but did not search "as far back as possible" under the seats as we were barely in it.) The hip pack had a $20 bill in it, which I don't care about, but it was a pin hip pack containing all my favorite pins from four years of park visits and much more importantly my son's lanyard with the Chip and Dale pins he has collected. I really wanted to cry. Okay, by the next day, I did cry a little.
We call National's office at the Dolphin as soon as they open on Thursday. They tell us that the car was taken to the Car Care Center and we need to call that office. We call them and they tell us that the car has already been rented. They said that they would try to contact the renters and see if they found the pack. We have called three times since then, just getting voice mail from the lost and found. I have the distinct impression that these people could not care less. My husband keeps saying that the pins mean a lot more to us than they would to anyone else so they will be returned. I feel that if someone is dishonest and wants the $20 that they will not acknowledge finding it at all, or as apathetic as National was that it may very well be turned in and they will never bother to connect our claim with it.
Has anyone dealt with National regarding a lost item? Any suggestions who we might could call to nicely encourage someone to try to help us with this? I realize that it was our mistake to leave an item, but we realized it right away and there should be a fairly limited number of people who had access to the car and it shouldn't be impossible to track down less than a day later.
First, we had made a reservation for an intermediate/Emerald Aisle. Not a single car was available on the EA. It took a long wait to finally be told to get something from the Premium Aisle. Okay, then the guy at the booth was very nice, and even handed my husband back the Entertainment discount coupon -- "Just keep it, you can use it again if you want." (problem #2). Then he hands my husband a handful of "stuff" and says to have a great day. When we get down the road we realize that there is no actual receipt in the papers -- just the hang tag with a notation about the mileage, a map, etc.
The last time I rented from National at MCO I was not given a receipt when I got the car so I tried to not worry about it, figuring I could straighten out any problems when we turned in the car at the Dolphin. Wrong. (We returned the car at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, and the valet told us that the office was already closed, but he could "handle it" for us, even though we could not get an itemized receipt. We later learn that the office did not actually close until 4:00 pm, which could have helped us deal with much of the later hassle. I think that the valet simply WANTED to "handle it" and get a bigger tip. Ugh.) Sure enough, I check the next day and we have been charged an extra $27 because they did not take off one day's charge for the coupon. It costs us $5 (!) to fax a copy of the coupon from the Bus Ctr at BW to National's office at MCO. I called the main customer service the next day and they indicate that there are notes in the file that the coupon fax was received, but no one has initiated the credit. Of course, I am told to keep trying to get that office to try to get the credit. I am tired of dealing with it, and that is not as important as our OTHER problem:
We walk back to the BWV after dropping off the car, and realize that we have left a hip pack in the car. (Okay, this is where I get very annoyed with DH. When we got to BWV to check in I left the hip pack on the seat; he was going to self park until we learned if we could take in our own luggage directly to the room or needed bell services. I called back to him to be sure not to leave that hip pack on the seat when he left the car. He didn't take it with him, or put it in the flooboard or tuck it under the edge of a seat. He admitted that he put it "as far back as possible" under the passenger seat. Yes, when we turned in the car I gave it the once over but did not search "as far back as possible" under the seats as we were barely in it.) The hip pack had a $20 bill in it, which I don't care about, but it was a pin hip pack containing all my favorite pins from four years of park visits and much more importantly my son's lanyard with the Chip and Dale pins he has collected. I really wanted to cry. Okay, by the next day, I did cry a little.
We call National's office at the Dolphin as soon as they open on Thursday. They tell us that the car was taken to the Car Care Center and we need to call that office. We call them and they tell us that the car has already been rented. They said that they would try to contact the renters and see if they found the pack. We have called three times since then, just getting voice mail from the lost and found. I have the distinct impression that these people could not care less. My husband keeps saying that the pins mean a lot more to us than they would to anyone else so they will be returned. I feel that if someone is dishonest and wants the $20 that they will not acknowledge finding it at all, or as apathetic as National was that it may very well be turned in and they will never bother to connect our claim with it.
Has anyone dealt with National regarding a lost item? Any suggestions who we might could call to nicely encourage someone to try to help us with this? I realize that it was our mistake to leave an item, but we realized it right away and there should be a fairly limited number of people who had access to the car and it shouldn't be impossible to track down less than a day later.
It was rented on Saturday and is to be returned to Ft. Lauderdale. After multiple phone calls it seems that the guy who was going to track down the (now we know phantom) renters and call us back is off work until Tuesday. The person handling lost and found is apparently never there. The manager is out until tomorrow. One person could not seem to comprehend what I was talking about -- I described a hip pack, waist pack, fanny pack, small purse-like bag with a strap that goes around your waist that people use in the parks to keep their hands free........she finally just said that coincidentally, just before answering my call she had "just gone through lost and found and there were no sort of bags in there." Why don't you just say that you could care less and are not going to make the slight effort to help us find our item?
and then finally called me and sent the phone to me on my dime, which is fine.
