12 Days of Christmas Day 10- Hertz Hurts

Hello everyone! Micah has graciously given me (the Queen) the blog post for today. I think it has to do mostly with the fact that today's story involves mostly me.

This year we celebrated 'Christmas' with my family over New Years weekend. For the past two years we've flown when travelling to DE but this year, with two little ones, and two years of delays due to flight changes/weather, we decided to drive. As my dear little almost-10-year-old car who has been perfect for our family does so much for us around MA, we decided to give her a break and rent a car for our trip. Plus with AAA we get a discount, unlimited milage, an e

xtra free driver, and some other fun things. This year AAA was giving a double upgrade so I even researved a small SUV for our trip for the price of an economy car. My car, as awesome as it's been, has no working tape player, no DVD player at all, no keychain door locker, and no cruise control so it's really the small things that make me excited and I was EXCITED!

Micah got home around 3pm and the boys and I were packed so we put them in their PJ's (the idea being they'd sleep most of the six/seven hour drive), and went to the rental office. When we got there (at 3:45) we started the usually 20 minute process of checking out the car. It soon became obvious that the computer system was very slow. At around 4:15 the lady told us our economy car needed an oil change so they would give us a free upgrade. I thought "Whoa-how big is our car gonna be!" But soon had my hopes dashed when we were given a Chevy Impala- WHAT? I asked why not our small SUV and the lady looked at me like I had two heads. "You never had a reservation for an SUV." Well, now I was confused, but I said nothing since it was still 4:20 and we were no closer to driving away. At that point, I sent Micah and our two adorable knights in pj's home while I waited out getting the car.

At 4:30pm, she stumbled onto the page of the reservation in which I HAD asked for a small SUV. "Oh I just saw this now. Sorry," she said. I don't believe I said anything; maybe I just nodded politely. At 4:35, the computer crashed-- before printing out the contract. At this point the lady called her manager in Salem to have them print off the car rental contract so she could drive me to their office so I could sign it. They told her they'd fax it to her. I again said nothing but definitely didn't bother nodding politely.

She left to get the fax from the other room and after leaving me alone for five, I called Micah. He picked up the phone and I believe I said something like "I'm going to lose it." (I'm sure he loved getting a call that started like that, but he handled it well and I thus did not in fact lose it!) We discussed me simply leaving but in all honesty she already had my credit card information and I was afraid she'd still charge me. Fortunately for everyone, she returned at 4:45 with the rental agreement for me to sign. I did ask for her manager's email address but she didn't have it and although she offered to have me email her so she could pass it on to him, I declined. (Things that make you go hmmm... chance of the complaint actually getting through, anyone?)

After booking it home, picking up the boys, grabbing dinner, and heading out at 5:30, we had a wonderfully smooth drive and arrived in DE at 11:30pm. All in all, a great trip that had a rocky start.

Looking back on the situation, I realized a couple things. First, we won't bring the boys with us again to pick up the car as it's just too hard entertaining them in a car rental office. (We didn't take any pictures, but Elijah kept wanting to climb in the cars in the showroom and Judah kept trying to crawl out the plate-glass doors.) Second, I will insist on leaving with the car I reserved. And lastly, that Micah is awesome. During the times when I am pushed beyond what I can handle, for whatever reason, Micah is my go-to guy. He encourages me, pushes me, comforts me, 'calms me down' so-to-speak and I'm thankful that he was only a phone call away on this Day 10 of Christmas.