Corporations keep us customers from their Camelots!

Date Published: 10-Jan-2013

Every single one of you has stood alone and angry, a complaint stoking the fires of rage in your soul, as you struggle to approach the giant corporation or massive institution, henceforth collectively known as ‘Monoliths’.

We are sold the lie that Capitalism brings choice which is good for consumers. The truth we deal with every day is that while the brands and logos might differ, the way we are treated is uniform and universal: with contempt.

On September 15 last year I dropped off my rental car to the Hertz facility in Faro Airport, Portugal. The ten-day rental wasn’t cheap, and on arrival we’d been informed that if we wanted to drive on the motorway at all, we had to pay for the computery toll thingy in the car.

Being hit up for this invisible extra was only mildly irritating at the time, and as we sped along the motorway towards our rented housheen, I smiled each time the little gadget went beep.

“Probably paid for itself already!” I said to the Snapper, quite reasonably imagining that the 18-plus extra quid we’d just paid was covering the cost of the toll.

Then came the credit card bill, showing a charge for €18.45 on September 18, which must have been the toll fee. We’d only used the motorway to get to and from our destination, so for eight days of the ten we’d paid no toll at all. So what were these other charges?

On September 25 I’d been charged €2.70 by Hertz Portugal, and on October 5 another €2.70 by Hertz Portugal and €11.85 by Hertz Ireland.

A shot of fear ran through me. My credit card number was doing the rounds of the Hertz Corporation, and while the amounts were tiny, the situation was mental. I figured that the two €2.70s were probably my card being wrongly charged for somebody else using the same car, but the Hertz Ireland charge was so wrong it was terrifying.

Unable to find any customer service phone number, I sent an irate email to Hertz’s online help service. Did I need to cancel my credit card? What the hell was going on? The Monoliths we deal with take the time and trouble to tell us that calls are monitored, so it’s only fair that as a courtesy, I always mention that very possibly I’ll be writing about this in my newspaper column.

The auto-reply email guaranteed me a response in ten days. I’m still waiting, and the only reason I have a story to tell you is that I’m one persistent mad-arsed f***er when wronged.

To be honest, way beyond my desire for refunds and explanations, a sense of duty comes over me: I’m doing it for all you others, who have neither the time nor the energy to take on the Monoliths. The task is made easier by the fact that I’m working on a story, as well as trying to identify the thieving tykes that have been robbing my credit card.

For more, read this weel’s Galway City Tribune.