rented a car from FOX/PAYLESS LAX (Los Angeles) from the 26-28 December 2010.
I made prior reservations so no problems with customer service (apart from long queues due to holiday season). In fact the customer service lady at the counter was very patient and gave me a free upgrade which we were pleased about. The only complaint about the car is that the brake pads were really worn out which was very dangerous.
However, it was a nightmare when we returned the car!
We left a blackberry handphone in the center car cup holder which was clearly in plain sight of the front seats. The phone was also flashing red as we had just received a message on the phone so it was impossible for someone not to notice it.
We dropped off the car to a new employee called JEREMY and then walked to the counters from the drop-off point (prob about 50 meters away) and realised we had left it. We IMMEDIATELY went back to get it. All this took less than 5 MINUTES and when we went back, the employee JEREMY had mysteriously disappeared!
The other staff who were around, tried to search the car for us and told us they had worked there for over 10 years. Clearly they were anxious for this not to ruin their reputation.
We tried calling the phone but it was already dead! When this new employee, 'JEREMY' resurfaced after 10 minutes, he had problems giving us eye contact and the FIRST thing he said when we asked if he saw our phone was to blame his other colleagues and say that his other colleagues had also accessed the car!
When a manager finally appeared after almost half an hour, he did not do anything about this except search the car for the phone which was obviously not there anymore. They should have pulled up the security cameras as whoever who took it, would have stashed it nearby.
We don't even care about the phone but there was a very important message from a relative who passed away that we now cannot get back.
This incident that happened just hours before we had to catch our flight out, really traumatized us and tarnished an otherwise fantastic trip. It left a bad taste in our mouths about L.A/U.S and also Payless and Fox Car Rental.
We also paid a $20 deposit for an extra driver which we were told would be refunded to us, however till now, we have checked our account and it has not been done so.
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