Think frequency

The struggle continues.  No definitive comments yet, since I haven't had any real reaction from the car rental firm.  I reported the overdue service and the worn tyres and wiper blades to them sur place, then by email to customer services, and got a reply that said, more or less, 'we note that you weren't happy, and will pass your grizzles on'.  I (predictably - you know me...) responded asking what their policy was in relation to maximum age and mileage of their rental vehicles, since 2 years 9 months bzw. 77,000km (48,000 miles) were both higher than I'd expect from a name like theirs.  Reply: please call reservations on 0870 xyyxyy.  I took the precaution of finding the geographic number* so as not to pay them even more under 0870 revenue sharing - just as well, since I had to wait 10 minutes to speak to a sentient being.  Said SB was in fact an intelligent young man with a clear Irish accent: it didn't start too well when he said 'Well, I don't know why they sent you to reservations: it isn't a reservations matter'.  I said that I shared his puzzlement, and asked where we went from there.  He is emailing Funchal to ask for an answer on vehicle age policy, and will respond in due course.  There was some muttering about compensation: I'm really more interested in getting some information to help me decide whether to do business with them again. 

I'm not sure whether it was the same lot who rented me a Focus with a clapped-out gearbox in Glasgow some years ago.  (Residents of Kelvinside may recall the stench of burning clutch when the only gear I could get at the traffic lights was fourth.)  They were unhelpful then, and I had to go to British Airways, through whom I'd organised the rental, to get a sensible response (a full refund in that instance).  I wonder how many car rental companies' blacklists carry my name?  I had a good old bleat at another last year, again over bald tyres, and later at a consolidator who failed to tell me at the time of booking about the ludicrous French daily 'environmental' tax on automatic cars (which these days are less polluting than the stir-'em-yourself variety).  As the services sector goes, car rental firms are close to displacing home and car insurers at the head of my Meldrew list.

Dull, chilly day today, but the batteries were well-charged by yesterday's sunshine.  The vertical windows in the sitooterie have had a clean, so it's small wonder that the hands are aching.  The doctor suggests paracetamol.  I opt for Fortnum's best Pedro Jimenez.  It also seems to work on the weather - the sun is coming out.

* http://www.saynoto0870.com/