(I am about to move across the country and have reserved a trailer to transport my stuff. I make an appointment to pick it up in two weeks, at a dispatch location run by a different company than the one that owns the trailers. I arrive right when they open to pick up the trailer.)

Desk Person: “I’m sorry; I can’t seem to find your reservation. I’ll have to contact [Trailer Rental Company] to see what is going on.”

(She disappears for a few minutes to make a phone call and comes back looking apologetic.)

Desk Person: “I’m really sorry; they can’t find your reservation, either. They are sending a company rep over to see if they can figure something out. They should be here in about ten minutes.

(Not having any other options, I agree to wait. After an hour, I go back to talk to the desk person.)

Me: “Hey, you guys have [different sized trailers] outside. Those will still work for me. Can I just rent one of those, or at least just get it hooked up, while I wait for this guy?”

(As I am speaking, the company rep shows up behind me.)

Representative: “Hey! I don’t know if you’re going to be renting anything today.”

Me: “I reserved a trailer and need to have everything out of my apartment by tomorrow morning.”

Representative: *smugly* “No, you did not make a reservation. We would have gotten it! Now let’s see if we can still rent you something else.”

(While he is talking I pull up my confirmation e-mail on my phone and hand it to him. The smirk slowly falls from his face while he reads it over and types furiously at his tablet, trying to find my reservation info.)

Representative: “Well… um… It seems you did have a reservation, but it got deleted somehow. We can upgrade you to a larger trailer and knock $100 off the price for your trouble.”

Me: “Fine, just hook it up as quickly as you can.”

(If I could have, I would have gone elsewhere, but my plans to leave the next day didn’t give me many options. I would have given back the discount and larger trailer if I could have traded it back for the hour of packing I lost.)

(My company asks customers for a picture copy of their driver’s license and credit card for their rental reservations. Occasionally we get people who get concerned about the security of their credit card.)

Customer: “I sent my credit card in via email.”

Me: “I just checked our email box and we haven’t received it.”

Customer: “But I was concerned about sending my info in the first place! If I get charges on my credit card I’m coming after you.”

Me: “Well, it’d be kinda hard for us to charge you when we don’t have your credit card info.”

Customer: “But my info is floating around in space somewhere.”

Me: “I have zero control over where your credit card info is right now. However, aren’t you glad that you can dispute charges with your credit card company and they don’t hold you liable?”

Customer: “Well, okay, here’s the info you need.”

(I am in college, and I have decided to try getting a part-time job. I see that the store for a national company that specializes in renting moving trucks and trailers is hiring, so I put in an application. At the interview, I am asked if I would be available to work weekends. I say yes, but I need 24 hour notice beforehand. I am assured that it won’t be a problem. I’m told that I am hired and would begin training soon. The following Saturday, I get a call from the manager that he needs me in in 15 minutes. I have not yet received any training.)

Me: “I can come in, but I’m half an hour outside of town. It’s literally not possible for me to make it there in 15 minutes.”

Manager: “Well, if you’re not here then, I’m going to have to mark you down as being late to work.”

(I made it there in, unsurprisingly, a half hour and was marked late. By this point I was already having second thoughts about the job. The manager gives me a pair of coveralls which he claims are clean but have obvious sweat-stains on them, which I point out. He insists that they are in fact clean, despite the visual evidence to the contrary. I end up wearing them. I’m instructed to help another worker do inspections of rental trucks that have been brought in, to make sure that everything is working.)

Me: “I don’t know what we’re supposed to be looking for.”

Other Worker: “It doesn’t matter. Nobody double checks, so we just mark that everything is good.”

Me: “I think I want to make sure that you’re the one signing the checklists.”

Other Worker: “No problem.”

(This is pretty much the only smart move on my part the whole day. After pretending to inspect the vehicles, I am given some other minor tasks that could actually be accomplished without training, then, once it gets dark outside, the manager has me come to assist with closing. After telling me to help a second coworker, he and the rest of the staff leave for the day. Since I haven’t even been given access to the cash registers, much less trained to use them, this means that I am stuck standing behind the counter looking stupid for the rest of the night.)

Customer: “Excuse me; can you unlock the propane line so I can fill my tank?”

Me: “I’m sorry, but this is my first day and I haven’t been given access to that yet.”

Customer: “That’s f****** stupid.”

Me: “Yes. Yes, it is.”

(By the time the day ended, I’d firmly made up my mind that I absolutely did not want this job and in the future would absolutely avoid renting a vehicle from them, so I turned in my badge and the “clean” coveralls (which I actually washed and what do you know, the sweat stains came out). Some months later, I found out that the manager and several of the workers had gotten into some serious trouble due to renting out a truck that had had turns signals that weren’t working.)

(I work at a car rental place downtown. I’m a service agent so I don’t usually deal with the customers when they first enter, but I overhear this conversation one day at work.)

Assistant Manager: “Hello, ma’am. Welcome to [Company]. How can I help you?”

Customer: “Hi, I’d like to rent a car for today.”

Assistant Manager: “Okay, no problem. Just let me get your name and phone number.”

Customer: “My name is [Customer], and my phone number is [number].”

(He looks up her info and sees that there is a car already rented in her name.)

Assistant Manager: “Ma’am, are you sure you want to rent a car?”

Customer: “Yes.”

Assistant Manager: “Because we have here on the computer that you have already rented a car.”

Customer: “Oh, that can’t be right… Oh, wait… I think I might have parked it on the other side of my hotel.”

Assistant Manager: “That’s no problem, ma’am. One of our service agents can give you a ride back.”

(My dad recently took a trip. He missed his early morning flight and gets another later that same day. After arriving at his destination, he goes to pick up his rental car.)

Dad: “I booked a car to pick up early this morning, but I missed my flight. I’m here now to pick it up.”

Car Rental Agent: “I’m sorry but we’ve given it away.”

Dad: “What do you mean, you’ve given it away? ”

Car Rental Agent: “You weren’t here to pick it up, so it was given to someone else.”

Dad: “Well, then, give me another one.”

Car Rental Agent: “We have no cars left. Our lot is empty.”

Dad: *starting to get angry* “Now, listen here. When I booked a car I made a contract with you. And it doesn’t matter if I’d pick up the car and was using it or it was still sitting in your lot because you’re still charging me for that time regardless of where it is. Now, you have to honour that contract.”

(Pulls out the printed email from the rental agency and hands it to the agent. Agent looks it over.)

Car Rental Agent: “This isn’t us.”

Dad: “What?” *looks at paperwork and realises he’s at the wrong car rental*

Dad: “Well, I don’t know who’s the bigger idiot here, you or me. I mean, I know I’m the idiot who went to the wrong counter, but why did you then tell me you’d given my car away without even checking if I was your customer?”

(Dad then went to the counter right next to the first, where they had his car waiting for him.)