Jaunted

We called National at LAX the following day, but no one answered the phone. So we called the National branch at Burbank, and were told to come swap it. So we did. Except we swapped it for the grossest rental car in the history of gross rental cars. It was a Nissan, half the size of the Chevy, had more miles on the clock than the banger we’ve been driving since 1999, and was so filthy that our hands stuck to the steering wheel. Stupidly (blame English reserve), we drove off in it.

The next morning, in the cold light of day, we realized there was no way this car was going to make it to Barstow, let alone New York, so we drove all the way back to LAX and switched it again, for another Chevy. This one was bigger and had faux-wood interiors and cruise control. We thought we had seriously upgraded.

Until that evening, when we realized one of the tail lights was shot, and there was no light in the interior or on the dashboard at all. So at night, we couldn’t see how fast we were driving or what gear we were in, which seemed pretty dangerous, if not illegal. Don't they check these things before they hand the cars out?

We called National’s helpline and asked for a new car to be sent out to us, and were told that we would have to return it to LAX ourselves. When we pointed out that the only reason we were returning it was because the car was faulty, we were told it didn’t matter. We said we were an hour away from LAX; the woman on the other end put on her best sarcastic voice and said “I’m sorry for your inconvenience”. We asked to speak to a supervisor; she refused. Then she hung up on us.

We tried calling LAX direct, and held for 40 minutes with no answer. So we wasted an entire afternoon hauling ourselves over there in the glorious LA traffic. We finally got to speak to a manager. Finally, what we expected from America! He looked shocked at our saga, told us we could not only switch cars but have an free upgrade, and knocked $75 off the $250 one-way fee.

We finally ended up with a cute gold Kia Spectra (the upgrades were either vans or had no cruise control) with just 6000 miles on the clock. 2000 miles later, it’s still going. But despite the nice manager at LAX, three dud cars and an abysmal customer service line is too much for us, and we will not hire from National again. The moral of the tale? Test your car properly before you sign for it, and pray you never have to call the customer helpline. Avis, you’re back in the frame.

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· Rental Car Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]