Zipcar late fees

Well, that worked out poorly.

Earlier today, I expressed desire to visit shadowravyn at the hospital, but it would require a Zipcar rental of several hours, which was beyond my budget. londo offered to split the cost because he likes shadowravyn too, so the plan was on. We talked about whether to rent the car for just the minimum number of hours (visiting hours at the hospital ended at 8, so returning the car here at 9:30) or to keep it for longer, noting that at approximately 7 hours of rental the cost is the same as renting it for a full day, so if we stayed long enough we might as well just stay overnight. We didn't make any firm decisions and so stayed with a rental time of 5:30-9:30.

Visited shadowravyn. Happiness and hanging out and good times with friends ensued. I am envious of her ability to have friends who love her enough to come to the hospital - when we arrived there were already six other people in the room. We arrived (8), four left (4), then five more arrived in the form of two friends with three children (9), then those left (4), then three more arrived (7). I am fairly certain that if I were in the hospital, I would not have that many visitors. [insert emo post here]

We were not kicked out at 8, and at about 9:25 I went, "Oh crap, I should extend this reservation!" I called and tried to extend to 11:30. "You cannot extend your reservation for this amount because another user has reserved this car." ...oh, crap. So I tried increments. I asked to reserve 'til 10. That worked. 'Til 10:30. "You cannot extend your reservation..." Shit. This means someone else has reserved the car I have at 10, in Cambridge... and it's 9:30 and I'm in Worcester.

I make horribly hasty goodbyes (I'm sorry, shadowravyn!) and zoom out of there; londo elects to stay behind and go for sushi. (SAD FACE) I call Zipcar and tell them I will be very late. Hopefully they reach the other person and are able to give them an alternate car somewhere nearby. While driving out I realize that I have no cash, londo hasn't given me his half of the rental fee, and the rental fee plus the $50 late fee are going to put my bank account either negative or real damn close; close enough that I can't hit an ATM. (I have been really good about money for a while, but there were some things this week that messed me up a bit.) This means I cannot take the Pike home from Worcester. The only other route I know to get back is 290E to 495N to 2E into Cambridge. I do this.

I arrive at the car's parking spot at 10:50ish. No sign of the other person, not that I expected them to be there. I stop by Star Market on the way home to use my new Redbox free movie code to rent Juno. Hey, if londo's not going to be here tonight, I'm gonna watch a movie he probably wouldn't want to join me in watching. I call londo to let him know I arrived back alive (I was speeding, you know, a lot) and he informs me he might, in fact, have a ride home tonight. So... he might just have to put up with it.

So while I really enjoyed most of the day, the late Zipcar plus fees really ruined it. But seriously, who rents a car at 10pm on a Saturday? Why don't you have it earlier? Grar.

Zipcar late fees

Well, that worked out poorly.

Earlier today, I expressed desire to visit shadowravyn at the hospital, but it would require a Zipcar rental of several hours, which was beyond my budget. londo offered to split the cost because he likes shadowravyn too, so the plan was on. We talked about whether to rent the car for just the minimum number of hours (visiting hours at the hospital ended at 8, so returning the car here at 9:30) or to keep it for longer, noting that at approximately 7 hours of rental the cost is the same as renting it for a full day, so if we stayed long enough we might as well just stay overnight. We didn't make any firm decisions and so stayed with a rental time of 5:30-9:30.

Visited shadowravyn. Happiness and hanging out and good times with friends ensued. I am envious of her ability to have friends who love her enough to come to the hospital - when we arrived there were already six other people in the room. We arrived (8), four left (4), then five more arrived in the form of two friends with three children (9), then those left (4), then three more arrived (7). I am fairly certain that if I were in the hospital, I would not have that many visitors. [insert emo post here]

We were not kicked out at 8, and at about 9:25 I went, "Oh crap, I should extend this reservation!" I called and tried to extend to 11:30. "You cannot extend your reservation for this amount because another user has reserved this car." ...oh, crap. So I tried increments. I asked to reserve 'til 10. That worked. 'Til 10:30. "You cannot extend your reservation..." Shit. This means someone else has reserved the car I have at 10, in Cambridge... and it's 9:30 and I'm in Worcester.

I make horribly hasty goodbyes (I'm sorry, shadowravyn!) and zoom out of there; londo elects to stay behind and go for sushi. (SAD FACE) I call Zipcar and tell them I will be very late. Hopefully they reach the other person and are able to give them an alternate car somewhere nearby. While driving out I realize that I have no cash, londo hasn't given me his half of the rental fee, and the rental fee plus the $50 late fee are going to put my bank account either negative or real damn close; close enough that I can't hit an ATM. (I have been really good about money for a while, but there were some things this week that messed me up a bit.) This means I cannot take the Pike home from Worcester. The only other route I know to get back is 290E to 495N to 2E into Cambridge. I do this.

I arrive at the car's parking spot at 10:50ish. No sign of the other person, not that I expected them to be there. I stop by Star Market on the way home to use my new Redbox free movie code to rent Juno. Hey, if londo's not going to be here tonight, I'm gonna watch a movie he probably wouldn't want to join me in watching. I call londo to let him know I arrived back alive (I was speeding, you know, a lot) and he informs me he might, in fact, have a ride home tonight. So... he might just have to put up with it.

So while I really enjoyed most of the day, the late Zipcar plus fees really ruined it. But seriously, who rents a car at 10pm on a Saturday? Why don't you have it earlier? Grar.