🚀 go-pugleaf

I had a similiar experience but with AVIS in France.  We picked up our 
car in Limoges to be dropped off three days later in Toulouse.  Since 
our drop-off day was a Saturday, I asked when we picked up the car if 
they would please check on the hours the AVIS office would be open at 
our drop off point.  The woman told me matter-of-factly that it would be 
open until 5pm; I even asked if she could call to confirm this but she 
said that all the offices in France would be open until 5pm on Saturday.
Well, guess what!  When we arrived in Toulouse at 2pm the office was 
closed, had been since noon, and the office would not open again until
Tuesday as Monday was a holiday.  They did have a drop box so I wrote a 
note in French telling them the time we dropped off the car, that the 
car was full of gasoline and attached the keys to the note before 
putting them in the drop box.  I also took several pictures of the car 
to use for evidence in case they tried to claim that there was any 
damage (I try to cover all bases!)  We spent the next week traveling 
around France by train.  Our last day in Paris I decided to call to 
check on the status of car and to make sure that everything went as 
scheduled.  I had a phone card so I called the Toulouse AVIS office.
They told me the total amount that I was being charged; it was more than 
double of what I was supposed to pay.  They said that I was being 
charged for the rental until Tuesday morning, even though I left the 
car, note and keys on Saturday afternoon!  I was then told that to clear 
this up I needed to call the office where I rented the car, so I 
continued to use the phone card to call the office in Limoges.  As my 
French is limited in stressful situations such as this, I asked to be
put in contact with someone who could speak English.  The woman I got 
had the ultimate game with me.  When I told her that I was calling her 
on a phone card that was quickly running out of time, she asked me where 
I was and when I told her Paris, both in English and French 
pronounciations, she told me she had never heard of the place!  She 
played this game with me until the time was nearly up.  I asked for her 
name and she said Mary.  I asked Mary what and she said, "Just Mary".
I then called the AVIS office in Paris and after about an hour on the 
pay phone I FINALLY got it all straightened out with a very nice woman 
who could speak French and was sympathatic to what happened.  I learned 
my lesson then.  I ALWAYS confirm for myself what time the drop-off 
office is open and I never leave the car without handing the keys to a 
real person.  And if I ever meet Just Mary in Limoges . . . . .