Battle Cry!

Lady Margo is a dear friend and genteel advocate for the citizens of DelBaid. Today I got a phone call from her. She is in a foreign country getting a prestigious award and taking a tour of this country she was visiting.

She has rented a vehicle equipped with a wheelchair lift from a company in their largest city. This local business is a franchisee of a specialty van rental company based in Glendale, Arizona, USA.

The van has several problems including a door that would not latch, therefore the motor will not start, the remote to operate the door does not work either, the interior is dirty, and the front passenger seat has not been removed as requested so Lady Margo would be able to sit comfortably in her wheelchair near her husband, Lord James. There are multiple warning messages on the dashboard that the vehicle needs serving. The final insult is the license plate being out of date, resulting in a ticket from the local police force.

From the time the van has been delivered to her hotel, Lady Margo told the local owner about these problems, but all she has gotten is excuses and undelivered promises. She has called the company president who has been rude to her and has told she is blowing the problem out of proportion as she has already heard from the local owner that Lady Margo is a troublemaker.

So Lady Margo called the palace asking my advice on how to proceed. Fortunately, I have connections in that country whom I called to discuss the situation. They are not leaders or rulers, but government workers.

Bravo to the Bureaucrats! They listened to this tale of woe and have provided information on how to proceed with complaints to three national governmental agencies while expressing genuine concern about the situation. One even has asked to be kept informed as to how everything turns out.

I am quite surprised at this company that specializes in wheelchair lift equipped vans has such poor customer service. They are serving a market that has little flexibility when it comes to accessibility. You would think that any company understood why a vehicle has to be in excellent working order, it would be them. What if Lady Margo were traveling alone and the sliding door wouldn’t latch and she doesn’t have the strength to force it to so? The motor will not start, the van can’t move, and she would be stranded wherever the company dropped off the vehicle for the customer. Shouldn’t they replace the vehicle without any complaint?

Oh yes, they told Lady Margo and Lord James that they could take out the bench seat themselves, leave it at the hotel, and the local company would come and retrieve it. They are paying a hefty price per day (around $100 USD) to rent the van and don’t normally travel with the tools needed to do seat removal.

Duke William and I have the unilateral power to declare war on behalf of DelBasid, but we feel less drastic steps should be taken. As outraged as the Duke and I are at how one of our citizens was so poorly treated, the nation where the incident happened is not at fault. A boycott of this company will be more appropriate. What a shame that a company that almost a monopoly on accessible van rental can have such a disregard for their clients. The local owner may be a “bad apple” in the barrel, but the company president will not win any awards for service recovery.

I know Lady Margo conducts herself at all times as a refined representative of the Duchy of DelBasid. However, they will find they picked the wrong person to tangle with. For all her proper and well-mannered demeanor, Lady Margo has the ability to tell the company to go hell in such a way, they can’t wait to get there. The Arizona company has no idea of the repercussions they will face from our citizens and others who will think twice about renting “wheelz” from this Arizona company.