We need to share with you an unbelievable experience we had while
looking for a rental car for our Road Trip.
Paul and I were scheduled to leave on our Veterans Trip on Friday,
October 19th. We knew a large part of
the expense was going to be gas for this road trip of 5,000 plus miles. Getting a fuel efficient car was extremely
important so I began calling car rental
agencies to see what was available. What
I didn't realize that we were leaving on the busiest fall weekend. MEA weekend in MN is an extended weekend when
all schools are on fall break due to the MN teacher convention.
I called a couple agencies to hear the same thing "we
can't guarantee anything". With
such high gas prices, I started to calculate the cost if we got stuck with a gas
guzzler and started to realize this trip might not be "doable" after
all. I decided to call the last rental
agency and ask if I could talk to a manager.
Perhaps if they knew how long this trip was and how important it really
was to get the right model, perhaps I could talk them into "holding"
one aside for us and guaranteeing its' availability.
So I dialed AVIS and asked to talk to a manager. Laura, the woman that answered asked if she
could help me and I explained our dilemma.
She said "hold on" and I assumed she was getting her
manager. I wish I could remember her
exact words, but when she returned to the phone she said something like "I
think we can do better than that".
She explained that every fall the AVIS crew at the airport takes on a
special project and raises funds for that project. "WE" were going to be the ones they
supported- she said that their crew at the Mpls Airport AVIS liked dogs and
they like Veterans. Unbelievable- she
said not to worry and gave me the names of the ones to see when the day arrived
to leave. Here is a picture of the crew when we picked up the car.
So, needless to say we were back on track with our plans and
cancelling was no longer a possibility. And
better than that, I began to think this trip was "meant to happen"
and that thought drove us forward with a stronger sense of purpose.
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| Manager Randy, Paul, Joleen, and Manager Mike |
When we got to the Airport AVIS location to pick up our car,
they had a very comfortable Toyota Camry ready for us. Here is a picture of
Paul, their manager, and two wonderful members of the Avis crew when we picked
up the car.
At the end of our
trip we met Laura and her crew at AVIS when we returned our car, not only did
they raise funds to cover our 2 1/2 week rental, they gave us over $150.00
towards our gas. Absolutely unbelievable!
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| Paul, Manager Ali, and Laura |
We took pictures and this one shows Paul, Laura and another member of her crew.
And also they had a supper bag with the best homemade sloppy joes, gourmet potato chips,
fresh buns and treats for our dog Maddie! We hope to stay in touch with these wonderful
folks. They are one caring group of
employees that do great things
quietly. So let's give them a huge shout
out.
