Gabrielle's Life and Writings

Gabrielle Lawson, writer of Fanfiction. I will use this space to keep a journal about my writing, the progress I'm making, stories I'm working on, writer's blocks I'm having, our adoption process and progress and just life in general.

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Location: Missouri, United States

I'm multifaceted and highly educated. I have a BA in History and an MA in Museum Studies. But I couldn't make a living in a museum, so my hobby--computers--became my living. I'm now a charter member Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician. I aspire to be a professional writer and/or poet. I am a Christian and have been living by His grace for the last four years or so, despite the MegaStress and now the GigaStress. He keeps me going, and displays His glory still, in my life.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Rental Car Fiasco solved--but not to complete satisfaction


I finally heard from Budget at the airport for myself. He called and my husband answered yesterday. They agreed not to charge us for the scratches. They did take off $30 for our coupon. So we were only charged $109.22. That is acceptable. However, I'd like to know that the people involved, especially the manager on duty Sunday night, Matt McGee, are at the very least reprimanded for the way I was treated.

So that's settled, financially anyway. It's even less than I budgeted for. We can still pay off that credit card this month.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Update on the Rental Car Disaster


I called Customer Service today and they said that since it's a claims issue, I have to take it up with the location. In other words, the same people who are trying to screw us. They did give me the name of the general manager--not the guy I dealt with last night. But if she doesn't help (I left VM), or if she's in league with them, we have no other recourse. I suppose, I can try to fight the charge on my credit card.

I tried calling again this morning and didn't even get an answer. I was on hold for more than 20 minutes. I had to hang up. I tried several more times and finally got through...to her voicemail again. Now that I have her extention number, I can call her directly and leave another voicemail without waiting on hold.

After a fourth voicemail, she finally called me back but told me I had to speak with someone else and gave me his extension and transferred me. And, of course, I ended up in voicemail. I called again over an hour later and again, got voicemail.

He finally called and said he'll look into it on his end. At least he spoke to me respectfully but I don't trust anyone at that company yet. We'll see.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Don't Rent from Budget and other news

We just returned from a road trip to St. Louis. We returned our rental car early to the MCI location (Kansas City airport) of Budget and forgot our contract at home. They couldn't find a copy of the contract that showed that we had pointed out scratches on the hood of the car. I stayed while Rob went back to get the contract. When I handed them to them, they accused us of lying. They said they had no proof that Rob didn't write the S and circle on the hood on the contract. That's not the way their guys do it and they would sign it and take the yellow copy.

This is how it happened on Thursday night. We were late picking the car up. The counter agent was helpful but one thing did make me suspicious. He said the car was pre-checked and there was no damage. We checked the car anyway, in the parking lot around midnight. We found scratches on the hood. We saw the counter agent in the parking lot and told him. He said to tell the guy at the exit booth. I got in our car and Rob drove the rental ahead of me. I saw him hand the guy at the booth the papers. The guy wrote on them and handed them back. We drove away.

We didn't look at it after that, just stuck it in a bag and went on. Maybe we should have but that guy in the booth should know his job better than we would. When we returned the car, the lady at the counter went out to check it and said there were scratches on the hood. I said, I know, we pointed that out when we checked the car out. She went and look for a copy of the contract and couldn't find it. I sent Rob back home to get our copy. While waiting I said they either did a sloppy job on the pre-checks or they are intentially trying to snare naive customers. Because, if we could see those scratches at midnight, walking around the car, they should have been able to see them in the daylight. The lady tonight clearly saw them. So how were they missed in the pre-check? How was there "no damage?" So then when I have the papers, the manager comes out and says that maybe Rob wrote in the damage. I said we wouldn't know how they mark it. He said the circled S was common sense, but then he said it's not how they do it. He said the guy standing next to him was in the booth that night and he would do the paperwork right. Of couse, the guy next to him wasn't going to admit to doing a sloppy job, so he went along with it. I was--still am--livid! I wanted to speak to someone higher than the manager. He gave me his card, which I pointed out wasn't higher than him. He said if I called that number, I'd get it. But when I intended to call, he said it would just ring there. I said I'd find the number. I tried on the internet on my phone but I got a mobile site with limited information. So I called the reservations number on the coupon I had. They gave me the customer service number but Customer Service isn't opened until Monday at 7:30am. It was Sunday, about 10:30.

Finally, after I called back again and at least got a sympathetic reservations agent, they said I could leave but the counter agent said the car wouldn't be "returned" and we'd be charged for extra days. I said no. I also said I absolutely would NOT sign any accident report for an accident that didn't happen. The manager said he's close out my contract now but he couldn't give me a receipt with out an accident report. I said I wanted it in writing because I didn't trust him.

I told them I'd be calling Customer Service tomorrow and I'd never rent Budget again and I'd tell everyone I could not to rent Budget. They have some serious customer service issues and, in my opinion, are actively scamming customers and maybe getting away with it with customers who give in to their lies.

Other News


Seems kind of incongruous to the above topic, but since I wrote that tribute to Pooder in my last post, I think I should update anyone who read it. Poodie died shortly there after. He came home and didn't want to do much. But he did eat. He did drink. He did jump up on the bed to be with me. We had to force his pills down his throat though and we had to pull him up from under the bed the next day and do it again. Later that night, he wouldn't take them for anything. He isolated himself and could hardly walk. He would not take his medicine. On Sunday, we knew he was absolutely suffering and got him to the car to take him to the emergency vet. Not to save him, but to help him go peacefully. I held him in my lap as Rob drove. One the way, he was gasping for air and listless. I petted him and told him I loved him. He stretched two times and then I thought maybe he was gone, but with the movement of the car, I couldn't tell. We got to the vet and a nurse checked. He was gone. They put him in a box for us and we buried him next to the pond in our backyard. It was a hard day. It still hurts.

We missed a call from an adoption agency scheduled for Sunday because we were out there burying him. I emailed and they rescheduled. We talked to them on Monday night. It's an agency that works with Poland. We were seriously considering it when she left a message Wednesday to call her. I did and she told us about two kids we might be good for. We signed a confidentiality statement and got the referral. We wrote up some questions and sent in our application. We are now actively working to adopt from Russia. The two children are siblings, ages 8 (boy) and 9 (girl). We haven't got answers to our questions yet, but we pray and hope these kids will fit us and that we will be accepted for them.