Monday, April 7, 2008

Could Have Been Worse

It was a bad weekend or so it seemed at the time. On Saturday morning we were driving over to a new place for breakfast and enroute I lost power steering, the temp went up and the charge light came on all on a van less than a year old. First reaction was that the belt had failed and broken. But I had not heard it go. So suddenly breakfast is delayed and we're on our way to the dealership to fix the belt. Well the girls and I get up well before the service tech at the dealership and it is an hour or so wait until we can even get the car in, then they don't do service work on the weekend. And what is wrong with the van the alternator fell off. It sheared the bolts off and depending on what they find in two days it may or may not be covered by the bumper to bumper warranty.

I phoned Enterprise rent a car and they came and picked us up at the dealership and we rented a van for an unspecified duration. Enterprise were the first shining light in what was shaping up to be a dreary weekend. Very professional and friendly, I have to recommend them for all your car rental needs. They go over and above.

Now it is three hours since we set off and we have the rental and are on our way back for breakfast. On our way there we see the traffic lights are all out. The south end of the city is having a major power failure. The restaurant is closed. So we had to find an alternative and we finally get our breakfast at noon. Not an auspicious start. We wanted to run some errands so we thought that we would take the cell phone because the way things were headed we might need it and the battery on it was dead again. The battery had been charged just two days before but was not holding a charge. A replacement for it was $70 so we went back to Telus and we wound up getting new phones, one for me and one for Ellen.

Sunday was uneventful, considering that Saturday certainly had been this was a good thing. Now with only the van to worry about I started to relax.

Now it is Monday. I phoned Courtesy Chrysler (still one of the best Dealerships in town for nearly 20 years now) to find out the bad news on the car. Turns out that it was a warranty item and it would be ready later today. I went home to see about the upgrade to my security system. They were able to do it by just replacing my keypad at the back door. No charge as long as I signed up for another 3 years at a lower monthly rate than I am paying now. Winner,

Then Courtesy called my car was ready and at no charge. So I took the rental back and they gave me a ride to the dealership and I got my car back, The rental was only $180 for three days including full insurance. Which was the full cost of the weekend.

Sure I have a new cell phone plan and an extra charge there but we were planning that for a while because we knew the old phone that worked fine could not get a replacement battery. The car well things happen and what can you do? The service manager said that the alternator that was replaced was noisy but he had no idea why it sheared the bolts off. But they fixed everything and it was all covered and they were quick. All in all I got good service from everyone I dealt with.

What could have been seen was a bad weekend turned out to be not too bad at all. Good service from Enterprise, Courtesy Chrysler and Telus all helped make the pain go away. Thank you everyone.

Oh and the breakfast place, Cora's was open and busy on Sunday but we got there before the rush and it was terrific. Lots of real good food and good service, Just remember to get there early or you will be waiting. We'll be back.

Counting my blessings...

Randy