The Trailer To A Horror Movie

(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.)