The One About The Rental Car Insurance

Renting cars in strange cities is scary stuff.
I mean, you're in a city you likely don't know well. In a car you don't know at all. Trying to make your meetings, appointments, everything on time. It's nerve racking.
And I realize that everyone is out to make a dollar. Believe me I do.
But the dude at the airport Dollar car rental was hard selling me on insurance so bad I almost up and went to Enterprise! (No, I don't have a thing for Enterprise, really, other than the fact that I've never had a bad experience with them. Well, maybe once. But that was years ago! I've forgiven them. Really.)
So I'm in Houston. A city I hate. Not hate because I live in Dallas hate, although many people make that mistake. I hate that city because, ultimately, I can never just go to Houston and have a good time. Something always, always has to go wrong.
I'm signing all my documents for my rental car, and the scary man behind the counter asks me if I want renter's insurance. Now, I've had an accident in a rental car before. It totally sucked. But that's why I pay an arm and a leg for my own personal insurance each month. And, save for my $500 deductible, I managed to survive the last accident without filing for bankruptcy.
Normally I decline all coverage and take my chances. I've rented something like 120 cars in the past 4 years. I've driven in 20 or so different states. And I've only had one accident. My odds ain't so bad.
But the guy behind the counter starts pushing.
"You should really get insurance. You are staying by the Galleria, you say? That's a busy area. Better get insurance."
Knowing I'm not taking it unless it's less than $20 a day, I inquire how much.
"About $45 a day."
That adds $90 to my bill. $90 that my company will never see again. I'm out.
"No thanks."
"It's really a good idea."
"No, I'm okay. I've got my personal insurance if anything happens."
"You realize without this you are taking full responsibility of this vehicle?"
"Yes, I understand. I don't need it."
"If you drive off the road and kill someone, you are going to have to pay. People go broke all the time because they kill someone while driving and they didn't have sufficient insurance. And you're staying by the Galleria. People are over there all the time. One could jump in the road and you could hit and kill him and you'd be out a lot of money because you didn't take our insurance and our insurance is less than $50 a day and just think, if you kill someone, you won't have to be broke."
Are you joking me?! If I kill someone?! Dude... I'll probably be in jail for vehicular manslaughter if I kill someone... And I won't so much be worried about my insurance as that poor person's family...
But seriously! Who told him to say crap like that?
I understand that these rental car companies make ridiculous money off selling insurance to travelers who pay a premium price and never cash in, so his manager encourages him to upsell as much as possible, but find someone less offensive to say! Really now.
Should've gone to Enterprise!

The One about the GPS

I landed in Indy two weeks during a snowstorm of epic proportions. Fine- epic is probably not accurate. But it was snowing, hard. I am a Midwesterner by birth, but I've lived in the great state of Texas for, gulp, six years now! It's been about as long since I've had to handle snow. Snow like that, I mean.
So I landed in Indy (my first trip there ever!) and just stared out the airplane window. Much like a small child who has never before seen snow. Although I wasn't bewildered or excited. I was terrified! How will I ever make it to the mall to work?!
I made my way down to Thrifty Rent a Car slowly, dreading getting behind the wheel of the car the way most fear the dentist. I opted for to rent a GPS so that I wouldn't have to be both terrified and lost in Indy- just terrified.
Equipped with my GPS, big honking mid size vehicle and growing dread, I ventured to the mall. By the skin of my teeth I made it. With just the verbal directions given to me by the guy behind the Thrifty counter and the little paper map he'd highlighted my route on.
That's right. I never turned on the GPS unit. I was fearing for my life! That little computer never crossed my mind.
Until I wanted to leave the mall. Amidst the snow. In a city I wasn't familiar with. To visit a friend. Who lived far from the mall.
I plug the little sucker's cord into the cigarette lighter and try to spring the little bugger to life. It's dead. Like, dead as a door knob dead. And the cord won't stay in the back of the dumb thing. I'm not making this up. Because, seriously, I have better things to do than make this crap up. My $12 per day GPS unit was useless.
Did I mention I rent with Thrifty faithfully? Almost exclusively, really. I've earned about 15 free days over the past few years. I'm a good flippin' customer.
I made it around the city the rest of my trip via the GPS on my iPhone, which I hate using while driving because, well, I'm driving! But that stupid $12 a day GPS unit was worthless.
When I get to the airport to return my vehicle, I mention this fact to the guy who is checking me in. He apologizes and sends me in to the counter for my refund. I mean, it's only $12. But still, I'll take it.
Or I won't. Because I didn't call them immediately to report that the piece wasn't working. And they can't prove it wasn't working when I left the lot.
Are you joking me?!
I was worried about careening off the side of the road never to be heard from again and you are asserting that I did something to the cord of your flippin' GPS so that my trip to Indy was just that much more difficult for me?!
But because I left the airport with that GPS, it's my problem. My $12 problem.
Thanks for valuing my life a bit more than your GPS unit, jerks.
No more Thrifty in Indianapolis for this girl.
Enterprise has much better customer service anyway.