Oh, the memories. I worked at a car rental branch for three years. As far as retail goes, it's an especially hellish environment. Most customers coming in automatically assume you're trying to screw them over.
One of my favourites were the forgetful customers. This exact same scene played out on many occasions. It's end of the month, moving day, and we're booked solid for trucks. Customer without a reservation walks. There's usually already a line of people with reservations waiting.
"Do you have any moving trucks available?"
"I'm sorry sir, they're booked solid, every truck on the lot has a confirmed reservation. It's end of the month you know."
"There are no trucks anywhere?"
"Let me check [checks computer, every other store is booked solid too] nope, sorry. Every store is out. You really gotta book them at least a week in advance. They go fast. They'll be one available first thing tomorrow though."
Customer puts hands on hips and in an aggressive manner says...
"We'll, what am I supposed to do. I'm moving, my stuff's outside my apartment"
Well asshat, you could have booked the truck in advance like everyone else did. We usually made the U-Haul's problem at this point.
Another fun set were the colour coordinators. It was Good Friday and I somehow got stuck working at the busiest store in the territory. A truly nightmarish place. Once again we're booked solid. Only car we have left is a burnt orange KIA Soul. I go to pick up the lady who booked it. Spoiled looking Desi princess in her 20s. She says nothing about the car the whole ride back. When we go to give it to her, she kicks up a stink about the colour. There's already a line up out the door at this point (people renting SUVs). She angrily demands we get her a silver car. It's not a bloody dealership hon. When you book you're told only class is guaranteed, not colour, make, or model. It's a logistical nightmare to do that bordering on impossibility. We eventually coaxed her into the orange car when she found out every other rental outlet was booked solid.
Then there was the Watchtower. The headquarters for the Jahova's Witnesses in Canada. They'd rent from us occasionally. Accusations of them being a cult is most certainly justified in my mind after dealing with them for so long. They'd always want a ride and they'd always use that as an excuse to try and convert you.
One day we rent a car to this Mexican fellow from Watchtower. He had been coming in on and off. He returns the car overnight. When you do that, the car still remains your responsibility until we open the store the next morning. When we did, the car had a massive dent in it.
So, then comes the dreadful phone call. Anytime someone damages a vehicle, it's a colossal headache. There's a lot of paperwork, phone calls, and people screaming. So we let him know. First he accuses me of missing the damage on the outgoing inspection. Pretty hard to miss. Dent was softball sized right on the rear driver's door. Some of the pillar was damaged too. He gets called out on that so he changes his story to say it happened in our parking lot overnight. We let him know that since it happened before we opened, it's still his responsibility if it were a hit and run. Then he claims he returned it at 5:45pm, 15min before we closed, and the place was already dark and locked up. I wasn't working that day but I know the guy who was pretty well. He always left and 6 bang on. Not a minute sooner, not a minute later.
So we went to get the damage appraised, $1000 to fix it, at a bodyshop neutral to us so that was the street price. He was pissed, said he'd sue. So we did some digging. Guy working said he left 15min late that day because he had to drive one of our regulars home that returned at 6pm on the nose. Checked his time sheet and it showed he had indeed left at 6:15pm. It's all electronic done via a remote server so it's impossible to tamper with the clock. Caught in a lie, he forked over the $1000 and we never had to deal with Watchtower again. We were greatly relieved.
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