Griff's UT Rental Car Saga

[wap]

<< I'm the trying to be nice.


"Can I use your phone, I am trying to call a cab... " this was back in the day when not THAT many people had cell phones etc... and I was leaving a bar...
Got surrounded by a screaming flock of them shortly after... and decided it wasn't worth a fight. Lesson learned...

[CaleDeRoo]

Amex customer service is why I switched from the Sapphire to the Plat. I had a weeks worth of terrible experiences talking to Chase reps who all gave me different answers to the same questions.

If you can use its benefits in sufficient volume to offset the $695 fee, its the best charge card in America. $200 in Uber Credit is a nice start, stay in a few airline lounges and the bag fee waiver plus plus plus and you're in business. Based on some of your submitted photos I would say that you and I could pre-func at an airport lounge and seriously offset the annual fee in cocktails.

Man I show up early to get my money's worth but the Centurion at LAX was closed last time so I had to slum it in Alaskan

[Valkyrie]

I stayed at 20 nights at for “free” using my sapphire card this year alone. Average rate was $450. I’d say I got my $250 $550-$300 travel credit out of it

I have like a million points on mine, have never used them for anything. One of these years I'll look at the reward options.

[D Griff]

Griffballz what’s happening ? You just enjoying life in the Miata? Any updates on the car saga ?

Also was this a work trip or just a random trip

Sorry, been traveling for work this week and really busy.

The Las Vegas location never called me back but I eventually got someone dece on the phone last night (I had called a couple of times). I emailed her receipts for the $560 cab ride and the Kanab hotel and they're cutting me a check for all of it, about 700 bones. I'm quite relieved about this, as far as I know I'm still on the hook for the $1K deductible. I need to follow up with my insurance carrier when I get home. I'm a little nervous that my rates will go up as I also had that speeding ticket recently (which was reduced from 72 to 54 in a 45 by the lawyer I hired).

I'd agree with your takeaway, I will look into the Costco, Sapphire, and Amex cards and see what benefits may make the most sense for us. Honestly, travel is probably our second largest personal expense after the mortgage, particularly if you lump eating out in that category. We don't really do much outside of travel for fun/pleasure spending, don't really buy goods, etc. (hence my trepidation about buying a high schooler's car $20K less than the new car average price).

[D Griff]

I stayed at 20 nights at for “free” using my sapphire card this year alone. Average rate was $450. I’d say I got my $250 $550-$300 travel credit out of it

I have like a million points on mine, have never used them for anything. One of these years I'll look at the reward options.

That's the nice thing with just having the Citi Double Cash, 2% back on every purchase, put everything on it, adds up over time.

[max225]

I’m quite that they are compensating you for the cab etc … that’s nice of em. So from here on out is your insurance adjuster traveling to bum fuck Egypt to figure out the damages to the rental ?

Or is the rental car company just going to hit your insurance for the kitchen sink… I.e everything they incur + entire value of the car. This may be a big charge here … what’s your liability limit for prop damage ?

[D Griff]

I’m quite that they are compensating you for the cab etc … that’s nice of em. So from here on out is your insurance adjuster traveling to bum fuck Egypt to figure out the damages to the rental ?

Or is the rental car company just going to hit your insurance for the kitchen sink… I.e everything they incur + entire value of the car. This may be a big charge here … what’s your liability limit for prop damage ?

it's nice of them, they did promise me that they would reimburse for transportation after promising they could provide it or a replacement car and accomplishing neither. I'm quite as well though considering they didn't do much else they promised.

Basically, National Customer Service: 4.5/7, National Roadside Assistance Powered by Urgently (seperate company they contract this to) Customer Service: 0.01/7

In theory National has/will get the car to Las Vegas where my insurance company could deploy someone to look at it, but that is all settled between the agencies, I'm on the hook for the deductible and nothing more. It's funny, I've been paying for car insurance since I was 18 and this is the first time they're ever paying for anything for me.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I’m quite that they are compensating you for the cab etc … that’s nice of em. So from here on out is your insurance adjuster traveling to bum fuck Egypt to figure out the damages to the rental ?

Or is the rental car company just going to hit your insurance for the kitchen sink… I.e everything they incur + entire value of the car. This may be a big charge here … what’s your liability limit for prop damage ?

it's nice of them, they did promise me that they would reimburse for transportation after promising they could provide it or a replacement car and accomplishing neither. I'm quite as well though considering they didn't do much else they promised.

Basically, National Customer Service: 4.5/7, National Roadside Assistance Powered by Urgently (seperate company they contract this to) Customer Service: 0.01/7

In theory National has/will get the car to Las Vegas where my insurance company could deploy someone to look at it, but that is all settled between the agencies, I'm on the hook for the deductible and nothing more. It's funny, I've been paying for car insurance since I was 18 and this is the first time they're ever paying for anything for me.

And the scam that is insurance will determine you're more risky now and increase rates.

I've never taken a dime from insurance for anything. Just an inquiry into if I should file a claim on an incident or not jacked my rates with Progressive (I didn't take a dime from them or go through with the claim), so I pretty much only carry insurance for legal obligations and ignore it.

[Johnny_P]

it's nice of them, they did promise me that they would reimburse for transportation after promising they could provide it or a replacement car and accomplishing neither. I'm quite as well though considering they didn't do much else they promised.

Basically, National Customer Service: 4.5/7, National Roadside Assistance Powered by Urgently (seperate company they contract this to) Customer Service: 0.01/7

In theory National has/will get the car to Las Vegas where my insurance company could deploy someone to look at it, but that is all settled between the agencies, I'm on the hook for the deductible and nothing more. It's funny, I've been paying for car insurance since I was 18 and this is the first time they're ever paying for anything for me.

And the scam that is insurance will determine you're more risky now and increase rates.

I've never taken a dime from insurance for anything. Just an inquiry into if I should file a claim on an incident or not jacked my rates with Progressive (I didn't take a dime from them or go through with the claim), so I pretty much only carry insurance for legal obligations and ignore it.

That is annoying. I’d dump them in a heartbeat.
I’ve made about 6 claims with progressive and never had a rise in cost from it. That I’m aware of at least. 50% reduction in cost when I got married tho lol.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

And the scam that is insurance will determine you're more risky now and increase rates.

I've never taken a dime from insurance for anything. Just an inquiry into if I should file a claim on an incident or not jacked my rates with Progressive (I didn't take a dime from them or go through with the claim), so I pretty much only carry insurance for legal obligations and ignore it.

That is annoying. I’d dump them in a heartbeat.
I’ve made about 6 claims with progressive and never had a rise in cost from it. That I’m aware of at least. 50% reduction in cost when I got married tho lol.

Well, I'm pretty sure I got bait and switched. I lived in Detroit at the time, and all car insurance was just high in the city. Progressive was like half of everyone else, so I went that route. I was 28, married, no accidents/tickets on record, owned a house, pretty low risk in general other than age. It seemed too good to be true and sure enough, as soon as I inquired about a claim, BAM +50% premium on the next renewal. I called them and asked about the rate hike, and all they could tell me was "my risk profile changed". Uh huh. Great.

Insurance varies big time by state, and even city. Progressive in PA might be much better than Progressive in MI. I've been with State Farm since, but as I said, I do absolutely everything I can to avoid even asking about a claim. Fortunately now I rarely drive and the vehicles live most of their lives parked in the garage, so risk is really low.

[D Griff]

And the scam that is insurance will determine you're more risky now and increase rates.

I've never taken a dime from insurance for anything. Just an inquiry into if I should file a claim on an incident or not jacked my rates with Progressive (I didn't take a dime from them or go through with the claim), so I pretty much only carry insurance for legal obligations and ignore it.

That is annoying. I’d dump them in a heartbeat.
I’ve made about 6 claims with progressive and never had a rise in cost from it. That I’m aware of at least. 50% reduction in cost when I got married tho lol.

Well I've never needed anything. They've never raised my rates and have provided good service as well. Ultimately, it will come down to how this is handled. Personally I don't htink I should be on the hook for a rate increase with a deer crash, even the UT state trooper was like 'hitting this head on like you did was 100% the right thing to do and these are unavoidable' and noted as much in his reports.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

That is annoying. I’d dump them in a heartbeat.
I’ve made about 6 claims with progressive and never had a rise in cost from it. That I’m aware of at least. 50% reduction in cost when I got married tho lol.

Well I've never needed anything. They've never raised my rates and have provided good service as well. Ultimately, it will come down to how this is handled. Personally I don't htink I should be on the hook for a rate increase with a deer crash, even the UT state trooper was like 'hitting this head on like you did was 100% the right thing to do and these are unavoidable' and noted as much in his reports.

Yep, hitting a deer head-on is 100% the way to go. Trying to avoid it can result in making things WAY worse. Should be considered a comprehensive claim and ZFG. I just don't trust insurance, it's all a scam IMO since their business revolves around taking money and providing as little value back as possible. Anything legally required does this.

[D Griff]

So I received the check for 689 bones from National/Enterprise. It was one of those things I wasn't going to believe until it was here, but it's real!

[max225]

So I received the check for 689 bones from National/Enterprise. It was one of those things I wasn't going to believe until it was here, but it's real!

any word on the full property damage etc ? Who’s paying insurance increases ?

[wap]

So I received the check for 689 bones from National/Enterprise. It was one of those things I wasn't going to believe until it was here, but it's real!

[golftdibrad1]

So I received the check for 689 bones from National/Enterprise. It was one of those things I wasn't going to believe until it was here, but it's real!

Chalk that up in the w column.

[D Griff]

So I received the check for 689 bones from National/Enterprise. It was one of those things I wasn't going to believe until it was here, but it's real!

any word on the full property damage etc ? Who’s paying insurance increases ?

Just spoke with my insurance provider (Amica). There will be no rate hikes given animal collision is considered a comprehensive claim, so outside of the $1K deductible, I'm off the hook for anything. As far as I understand, the process between National and Amica is still in progress but it's not really anything I have to deal with.

I called Citi (my credit card used on this rental), and they offer no rental coverage, so we're out the $1K for good

Driving/traveling/life will always involve some unexpected expenses.

[max225]

any word on the full property damage etc ? Who’s paying insurance increases ?

Just spoke with my insurance provider (Amica). There will be no rate hikes given animal collision is considered a comprehensive claim, so outside of the $1K deductible, I'm off the hook for anything. As far as I understand, the process between National and Amica is still in progress but it's not really anything I have to deal with.

I called Citi (my credit card used on this rental), and they offer no rental coverage, so we're out the $1K for good

Driving/traveling/life will always involve some unexpected expenses.

That’s some right here. Totaling a 45k car and walking out with just the deductible is epic.

[D Griff]

Just spoke with my insurance provider (Amica). There will be no rate hikes given animal collision is considered a comprehensive claim, so outside of the $1K deductible, I'm off the hook for anything. As far as I understand, the process between National and Amica is still in progress but it's not really anything I have to deal with.

I called Citi (my credit card used on this rental), and they offer no rental coverage, so we're out the $1K for good

Driving/traveling/life will always involve some unexpected expenses.

That’s some right here. Totaling a 45k car and walking out with just the deductible is epic.

My wife is kinda on the deductible for whatever reason... I'm pretty , this shit happens and you just have to roll with the punches and be thankful to be someone who can swing $1K out of the blue.

It's kind of amazing how many people I've told this story to who at the part where I had to fork over the $1K to National in St. George say something like "well what did you do? I can't imagine just having an extra $1K without planning for it"

Kind of as most of these said people are not poor at all in terms of income.

[max225]

That’s some right here. Totaling a 45k car and walking out with just the deductible is epic.

My wife is kinda on the deductible for whatever reason... I'm pretty , this shit happens and you just have to roll with the punches and be thankful to be someone who can swing $1K out of the blue.

It's kind of amazing how many people I've told this story to who at the part where I had to fork over the $1K to National in St. George say something like "well what did you do? I can't imagine just having an extra $1K without planning for it"

Kind of as most of these said people are not poor at all in terms of income.

?! How can you travel without having a 1k “laying around”. That’s basically an average weekend away from the house essentially… and everyone seems to
Still travel.

[D Griff]

My wife is kinda on the deductible for whatever reason... I'm pretty , this shit happens and you just have to roll with the punches and be thankful to be someone who can swing $1K out of the blue.

It's kind of amazing how many people I've told this story to who at the part where I had to fork over the $1K to National in St. George say something like "well what did you do? I can't imagine just having an extra $1K without planning for it"

Kind of as most of these said people are not poor at all in terms of income.

?! How can you travel without having a 1k “laying around”. That’s basically an average weekend away from the house essentially… and everyone seems to
Still travel.

My step mother in law was one who commented. She makes like $90K/year doing something in workers comp insurance (former nurse). Considering they live in the middle of nowhere where houses cost $100-200K, that's pretty dece money IMO.

They just took at trip to Vegas we helped her plan and she was totally fine with sending it and paying like $400/night for hotels and stuff. I guess she just has to 'save up' for such things?

I too was shocked by this proclamation. I get that not everyone is so fortunate, but if you aren't in that place, you have no business being in a rental car on vacation, sadly.

[Valkyrie]

My wife is kinda on the deductible for whatever reason... I'm pretty , this shit happens and you just have to roll with the punches and be thankful to be someone who can swing $1K out of the blue.

It's kind of amazing how many people I've told this story to who at the part where I had to fork over the $1K to National in St. George say something like "well what did you do? I can't imagine just having an extra $1K without planning for it"

Kind of as most of these said people are not poor at all in terms of income.

?! How can you travel without having a 1k “laying around”. That’s basically an average weekend away from the house essentially… and everyone seems to
Still travel.

Somehow broke people still travel all the time. My sister seems to be going somewhere more often than Dan and she is broke with 2 kids. Of course that's part of why she is broke...

[ChrisoftheNorth]

My wife is kinda on the deductible for whatever reason... I'm pretty , this shit happens and you just have to roll with the punches and be thankful to be someone who can swing $1K out of the blue.

It's kind of amazing how many people I've told this story to who at the part where I had to fork over the $1K to National in St. George say something like "well what did you do? I can't imagine just having an extra $1K without planning for it"

Kind of as most of these said people are not poor at all in terms of income.

?! How can you travel without having a 1k “laying around”. That’s basically an average weekend away from the house essentially… and everyone seems to
Still travel.

It's legit

Is this like they have the money but don't want to pay it or they legit don't have $1k? If it's the latter, wtf are you doing travelling on vacation in a plane and a rental car? Go drive somewhere. Shit happens while travelling, it should be assumed as part of the budget if budgeting is necessary. Wow.

And it's not just wise financially, but it makes for a better vacation. Penny pinching isn't really a vacation to me. Not that I'm blowing stacks on 40 year old single malt scotch and caviar at the Ritz, but I like just enjoying a vacation and if something stressful like this comes up to be able to keep the relaxation going.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

?! How can you travel without having a 1k “laying around”. That’s basically an average weekend away from the house essentially… and everyone seems to
Still travel.

Somehow broke people still travel all the time. My sister seems to be going somewhere more often than Dan and she is broke with 2 kids. Of course that's part of why she is broke...

We know some people who got their house repo'd, evicted from their apartment so they're effectively homeless, yet somehow travel all over the world on cruises and whatnot. "Retired" without a dime to their names, they must be blowing social security money on travel or something.

[Desertbreh]

Somehow broke people still travel all the time. My sister seems to be going somewhere more often than Dan and she is broke with 2 kids. Of course that's part of why she is broke...

We know some people who got their house repo'd, evicted from their apartment so they're effectively homeless, yet somehow travel all over the world on cruises and whatnot. "Retired" without a dime to their names, they must be blowing social security money on travel or something.

WHAT?