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Tales from roadside assistance...Pt. 1

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  • Tales from roadside assistance...Pt. 1

    Some of these are from working roadside assistance or on-rent, some are from my days on reservations. Most are SCs, some are just funny stories. Who doesn’t love a call center?

    Me: “Thank you for calling XYZ car rental, how can I help you?”

    SC: “I don’t like this compact car I rented. I didn’t know it would be so small.”

    Me: “Okay, we have your reservation all set. Do you have a pen ready to jot down your conformation number?”

    SC: “Hold on….LATISHA!!! Where the f*ck is my crayon!?!? No, the red one!!”
    ************************************************** ***************

    Me=Me
    SC=SC
    CA=Counter agent at location

    Me: “Thank you for calling XYZ car rental, how can I help you?

    CS: “I left something in my car when I returned it.”

    Me: “Okay, what item was left in the car?”

    SC: “I left my son in the mini-van.” (staying calm this whole time)

    Me: “Excuse me?”

    SC: “Ummm….yeah”

    Me: “Just one second.” (called the loc) “This is roadside at XYZ corporate, I gotta customer on the other line who left his kid in the minivan he just returned.”

    CA: “His keys??”

    Me: “No his kid…kid…K-I-D?”

    CA: (Showing little concern) “Was it a boy or a girl?”

    Me: *How many kids are left there every day* “Boy.”

    CA: “Hold on. (starts to yell at some poor family at the counter) “HEY!! Is that your
    kid?.........OK, sorry. (Back to me) Yeah there’s a kid here but he’s with his parents.”

    Me: *omg* “Ok, so do you want to talk to this guy so we can find his son?”

    CA: “Oh…well….I guess so”

    Me: (Transferred the call)
    ************************************************** ***************


    Sometimes you have to be blunt.

    SC: “I just picked up this car and I’m pissed!”

    Me: “Okay sir, what seems to be wrong?”

    SC: “Well, this was the only car they had, and I have a long way to drive and it only has ¼ tank of fuel.”

    Me: “Okay, I’ll note your contract and you can return it with the same amount it had on checkout.”

    SC: “But I’ll still only have a ¼ tank of gas. You’re here to help me. What do you suggest I do?!?”

    Me: “They were completely out of car?”

    SC: “Yes!”
    Me: “You have a long trip ahead of you?”

    SC: “Yes, and only ¼ tank. What do YOU suggest I do so I can get to where I need to go?!?!”

    Me: (Very Blunt) “Put gas in it.”

    SC: “Oh….ummm…” *click*
    ************************************************** ***************

    This is a generic version of a type of call we get everyday. When I get a new one that’s worthy (specific details and such) I’ll put it up.

    Me: “Thank you for calling XYZ emergency roadside, my name’s roadside how can I help you?”

    SC: “I left the keys in the vehicle and the stupid car locked itself (Funny how a car can be stupid, and yet smart enough to lock itself. I’m guessing it’s a self-defense mechanism to try to keep the customer away.)

    Me: “Okay, we can set up service but the customer is responsible for the cost of the lockout, or if you have AAA you can call them.

    SC: “I don’t see why I should pay. It’s your (insert choice explicative here) car.”

    The first 4 lines are actually 2 stories (i was stupid and didn't separate them) I tried to edit but while it was saving it kept stalling out my computer.
    Last edited by MadMike; 01-27-2007, 07:02 PM.
    I guess they shouldn't have set their phasers to miss-Mike Nelson

  • #2
    I think I died a little inside when you said the person FORGOT their SON in the van... And also remained calm about it. That is one of the scariest things I have ever read!

    I think CPS should've been called for that one... Holy crap!

    Comment


    • #3
      Good Stories!

      Working in car rental myself, I can relate!

      We just got an 07 VW Jetta in off a one way rental the other day. The disturbing thing about this is...the doors DO lock themselves. 30 Seconds after you close all the doors, as long as the key is not in the ignition. I verfied this in the owners manual..and there is no way to turn this "feature" off. I plan to rent this one way to another location ASAP.
      If watermelons are made up of water, what are kumquats made up of?
      www.myspace.com/rentalracer

      Comment


      • #4
        Brother, these are just the tip of the proverbeal iceberg. I'm guessing you're actually at a location. Not one of ours (we don't carry VW). You know as well as I do that we could write over a page a day on the things we hear. I say hear b/c I'm at a national call center. You probably see more than I do. But if you're like me, you love hear that "Whatever" at the end of the argument because you know that its reached to point where you've won!
        I guess they shouldn't have set their phasers to miss-Mike Nelson

        Comment


        • #5
          I've got to say a person who leaves thir kid behind like that needs to pay better attention to things goign on.

          Also workign at the dealership I've noticed its more than just VW that lock themselves. The Suzuki XL7 for 05 did that too. As did a chevy impala. I think its supposed to be a part of the antitheft security systems on some of the cars.

          Comment


          • #6
            They left their KID in the car?! HOW do you forget your child?! I hope to God they found the kid OK. Not so sure if parents should have him back though.

            I love call center stories. I've got many. MANY.
            Oh, "Blah blah blah 'Your Needs'!"

            Comment


            • #7
              Quoth roadside View Post
              SC: “I don’t like this compact car I rented. I didn’t know it would be so small.”

              Oh. My. Damn.
              Unseen but seeing
              oh dear, now they're masquerading as sane-KiaKat
              There isn't enough interpretive dance in the workplace these days-Irv
              3rd shift needs love, too
              RIP, mo bhrionglóid

              Comment


              • #8
                Sad, but true: snopes.com has several stories of parents forgetting their children in cars, only to find them when it was too late. Sometimes, it was "dropping the child off at daycare" that slipped the parent's mind on a busy morning. Sometimes, the parent thought the OTHER parent had the child. The stories are tragic.

                The worst stories are of parents/grandparents/caregivers DELIBERATELY leaving a child or children in the car.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I, too, am in roadside assistance and it is funny how many folks leave out the little detail of their child being locked in the car.

                  They'll get through all the information we need for the call and when we wrap it up and give them the time the service should be there, that's when they add that their child is locked in the car.


                  Hello, McFly - that's something we need to know FIRST in order to get someone out there IMMEDIATELY!!!

                  My theory is that maybe some folks are a bit ashamed of locking junior in the car to begin with and believe that it will only take 15 mins to get a truck to them. Then, when they find out it could be an hour - that's when they freak out about the kid being in the car.
                  "I'm still walking, so I'm sure that I can dance!" from Saint of Circumstance - Grateful Dead

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                  • #10
                    I wonder if they throw in 'my kid is locked in the car' to get someone out there faster.
                    Oh, "Blah blah blah 'Your Needs'!"

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Not really. We usually get ETA's in driving time. We don't send someone from our company. We send a third party, usually Pop a Lock or someone like that. If it takes them 30 min to get there (which is DAMN fast by the way) it takes 30 min. Kid or No kid. In the story I posted they had already returned the car to out location, so it was out in the lot, in the return line and he was in the airport about to go catch his flight.
                      I guess they shouldn't have set their phasers to miss-Mike Nelson

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Quoth Anakah View Post
                        I think I died a little inside when you said the person FORGOT their SON in the van... And also remained calm about it. That is one of the scariest things I have ever read!

                        I think CPS should've been called for that one... Holy crap!
                        That actually happened to me when I was a newborn. My mom went to get her tires changed on the car with me (newborn), my brother (4), and my sister (8). She dropped the car off and started walking across the parking lot to the store and noticed that she was missing something... me. So she went back to the tire place to get me. The car was up on the lift and I was asleep in my carseat.

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