Not a smooth ride

By Roger Bill

If there are no rental vehicles available now at the St. John’s International Airport, then finding a rental is going to be even more difficult when the Canada Summer Games begin on August 8th. People looking to rent a car may find themselves turning to Turo, a car renting service that resembles Airbnb except people are renting their own automobiles rather than their own apartments and houses. And like Airbnb rentals, sometimes things go wrong. For example:
First the old journalist registered with Turo, like Airbnb a San Francisco based business. Then he searched for available vehicles in St. John’s. Then he booked one for the following day. Then he got an e-mail message from a person named Mashrur, who was identified as the Host. The Host told him the Pick-Up time would be 10 a.m. the following day in the driveway of a house on Ridge Road in St. John’s. Later a person named Syed, who was identified as the Host, contacted him about the Pick Up time. The old journalist confirmed he would be there at 10 a.m.
Now if the old journalist always carried a cell phone and organized his daily affairs around it, then none of the following may have happened. The old journalist arrived at the Pick-Up location at 9:45 a.m. He knocked on the front door. The man who answered said he didn’t know anything about Turo or car rentals. He suggested the old journalist check with the tenants in the basement apartment. Nope, not them either.
Then 10:00 a.m. came and 10:15 a.m. came. No Host. So, the old journalist left. His plans for the day were shot. When he got home an e-mail message was waiting from a man named Syed. It was sent at 10:05 a.m. Syed said he was in his house and had tried to call the old journalist. Unfortunately, he had called the old journalist’s land line. 
The old journalist replied saying he had waited in the driveway at the Pick-Up location for a half-hour, had knocked on two doors trying to find the Host, and asked for a refund of the rental fee. Syed replied, “I called you sir… You didn’t received my call… The outside man don’t know nothing… We can’t refund (sic).”
Then the old journalist contacted his credit card company to dispute the payment. That prompted Turo’s customer service department to send a message advising the old journalist’s rental privileges would be suspended pending the outcome of the dispute. This was followed by Turo advising that Syed claimed the old journalist was a “No Show” and as a result he was only entitled to a partial refund.
“No Show,” really? So, the old journalist returned to the Ridge Road Pick-Up location and found the person in the main floor apartment he had met on the morning of the scheduled Pick-Up. His name is Mahir and presumably, Mahir was the “outside man” who Syed the Host said, “don’t know nothing.” Mahir agreed to confirm he’d met the old journalist on the morning of the scheduled pick up. Mahir followed through and that correspondence was forwarded to Turo’s customer service department. Silence followed until The Shoreline’s deadline for this current issue.
In the exchange with Turo’s customer service department the old journalist received some “Merchant Details” where Syed had entered the following under Business Description. “I am putting my car for rental to generate a side hustle.” The old journalist didn’t feel hustled, but kind of annoyed and amused at the same time. It was like two generations met but didn’t connect. One wasn’t raised with cell phones and didn’t bother to carry one. The other seemed to experience the world through it.
The bottom line on his Turo experience? Syed said the old journalist didn’t show up. Turo accepted Syed’s explanation. The old journalist paid Turo $171.32. Turo gave him back $75.56.