U.S.A. is a promised country of customer service. However,
that is not always true. Some time ago I experienced very bad service while I
was renting Alamo car at the Miami International airport. The car was paid
already while the online booking was made. Despite of that the guy was trying to
sell us a bigger car. He did not have time for customers, because most of the time he
was discussing with his colleague about nonsense. Therefore he forgot to tell
us most of the important facts about the car, for example the Miami road toll
system.
I hate coins and therefore I always give my coins to my
children. Because of the bad customer service, we paid all the road tolls manually
in cash while the other cars drove full speed through the reduced price road
toll gates with their wireless Sun pass system.
One night at 4:30 AM it was completely dark while I was
driving alone towards Orlando airport. The streets were almost empty and the local
radio was playing summer hit “I need your love” by Calvin Harris. I was feeling great. Soon I noticed the road toll at the freeway entrance with a sign
“Exact coins 75 cents or Sun pass” Another sign was saying: “Fine $100 if
breaking the law”. No kids, no coins in the car. I found one 25 cents coin and
throw that to the road toll equipment. The gate did not open. While monitoring
all the surveillance cameras and the spike strip in front of the car, I thought
about all kind of options. Maybe hiding register plates would prevent
recognition. I do not want to go to jail, I thought. Then I stepped on it and
the car sped quickly over the spike strip. There I was on my way to the
airport, but the good mood was gone. Next couple of weeks I was waiting a fine
of $100 to arrive, but it never came.
 |
| Road toll in Miami |
Lessons learned:
Sometimes you have to choose between the bad options.
What is done cannot be undone - Go on living.
No comments:
Post a Comment