Monday 13 July 2009

No Loyalty

This past weekend I rented a car. I have been renting cars every now and then since I was about 20. When you are under 25 they really don't want to rent to you and you often can't even find a place that will, or you have to pay a premium, or have your own insurance. (I never had my own insurance.) I always picked the cheapest place with the lowest Under-25 cost, which was Hertz. They were great, usually upgraded the vehicle, were super friendly, they have a dealership downtown which is convenient. However, now I'm 25. I always thought that I would be loyal to Hertz since they were always so good to me when I was younger. I'm not. I am a slave to the dollar and whore for the cheapest price. I rented this weekend from Discount. It was significantly cheaper then the other places. I was hesitant to book online so called, but when I called I just got a general central call centre anyway so it didn't make a difference. I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't even get to interact with the Ottawa dealership until the morning I went to get the car when I called them to come pick me up. That is also a great bonus that a lot of places are doing, free pick-up and drop-off service, which totally beats taking the bus back and forth. They also upgraded me for free to a brand new, off the lot yesterday Corolla, when I was supposed to have a tiny cheap economy car. As most people know, I love to drive and miss it so much. Also my old car, The Toy, was a purple Corolla. I think I will be sticking with Discount in the future, obviously I will check to be sure that they are still the most affordable, but I was really happy with the service. So much for loyalty.

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