I’m at home and have been immobile all day. I have a gout flare-up that I’m trying to get rid of and not physically walking is the best cure. I’ve got the Traverse to be rented that night to MV (renters initials). The car is supposed to be picked up at 4:30 p.m. One of the greatest things about the way I run my business is that I can do it while injured. I could not even put my foot down on the gas pedal because the pain would be too great. I don’t hear anything until later, again how do other people run their Turo business?
My phone rings at 6:32 p.m and I see the renter’s name. I always hate that I generally prefer text (this is an exception because I understand the situation). He states that he has walked around the section of the parking lot I told him to several times and can’t find the car. Now this is one reason I tell people to text me when they land, I’m completely unaware and unprepared for what is now a crisis situation. Losing the car, misplacing the car, not knowing the location of the car is about the worst thing for everybody. Now I own five cars; four of which are on the Turo system currently. I’m an expert now on automobile telematics. I also manage a car for SK (person initials). Now I have to think, which car do I have rented? Is it on OnStar or Directed Smartstart? I’m also thinking, great it is on the one car that currently doesn’t have GPS tracking available. It is the Traverse with OnStar and if I flash the lights it’s got a horn that honks as well. It announces its presence with authority!
As I’m waiting for the lights and horn to activate I go back into my Turo app and text messages to look who the last renter was and make sure they told me the right location. The normal procedure is to first check the GPS and make sure the car is in the lot. I told MV that the car was parked in C2. Well he stopped in CC2. It doesn’t happen that often, but I’ve had this happen before, that can happen in lots with double letters. I 100% never let this happen and that is the only thing I always make 100% sure is right. (I need to make sure renters realize this.) MV is now headed to where the car is located. I flash the lights again and he finds it quickly but the car is in D2 (dang it people this is why I ask for a picture of the sign).
My phone rings less than two minutes later. The car has a completely flat tire. This super sucks and is a horrible scenario. Adrenalin starts pumping and I hop out of bed completely forgetting about my gout. I tell MV that I will call him back in two minutes. Mostly I walk out tell Rebecca what is going on. I won’t write about all the different scenarios and options that we went through, merely come up with the decision. MV is going up to the Rocky Mountains needing an AWD vehicle . In order to be the most reliable owner on Turo that means having an extra car ready. We have one AWD third row SUV vehicle that we use for our personal use. This is how Mrs. Genius, baby Hope, and myself get around.
Mrs. Genius immediate goes to work cleaning out our car. It takes less than five minutes to get the car seat and trash taken out of car. We are very lucky that SK was here and actually with us as he was passing through town from Texas and checking on his car. Since I’m pretty immobile and can’t drive, he is going to take our AWD SUV out to the airport. This worst-case scenario means MV is going to be on his way to the mountains in less than an hour. He seems really cool in that he is going to change the spare on the Traverse so that SK has a ride home. This is not too bad. Well SK calls me and says that MV was unable to get the tire off and it’s pretty dark out, but it’s completely flat and looks like it has been driven on. MV accepts the car and drives SK back to the terminal, he’s going to have to take the train back down here to Littleton Station and we will have to go pick him up. It takes between 1.5 and 2.0 hours from DIA to home.
I immediately jump on my Turo app to file a damage claim. This is the potential biggest hole in my system where the car is damaged and the renter doesn’t tell me. Luckily I got to this in time and at least have a claim filed in time. I don’t have any pictures and haven’t seen the tire but I do know some facts.
- I have gout and can barely walk.
- Mrs. Genius has now lost her personal car and has a lunch date with a friend tomorrow.
- A car is stuck at the airport racking up charges.
- When I wake up I’m going to have these same problems, mostly I have a car with a flat tire that won’t come off.
- These tires are brand new and have less than a 1,000 miles on them. (That’s actually a good thing.)
- MV had a hard time finding the car (his fault), had a messed up flight, after all this he had to change a tire (wtf) and is getting an hour later start than his airline-induced late start.
- SK had to drive out to the airport 29 miles away, deal with a flat tire, and take the light rail back. It ended up being three hours wasted of his life. We also need to go back out there in the morning to deal with this.
- I now have to go back to the previous renter and see what the hell happened, it’s like CSI (never even seen the show). I’ve been told that it looks like the previous renter drove on it destroyed the tire and bent the rim. It is dark out though. Why would a person do that? Makes no sense?
Time to go to bed. I’ll deal with this in the morning.