The exasperated older couple from Atlanta need police assistance when the arrived in the lobby of the Leander Jurgen Command at 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning.
They were visibly agitated, pacing nervously.
“We just had a problem returning our rental car and we need assistance,” the wife told the desk officer.
“We turned in a rental car up (up the street) and the woman was very rude and threatening,” the husband added seamlessly.
The stage was set for another USVI hospitality horror story.
“Of course I admit I was supposed to turn in the car the day before,” the husband added. “But I called first thing this morning.“
Now, the story was getting complicated.
“She did charge us for the extra day, but that was okay,” the husband added, “but she wouldn’t do the inspection and sign the release.”
“We didn’t want our credit card to get charged for any damage after we left,” the wife explained. “We wanted her to inspect the vehicle with us.”
A valid point.
“I told the woman I wanted her to go down and inspect the vehicle with us and have her sign off on the rental return,” the husband interjected.
“I said I was going to take her picture if she wouldn’t inspect our vehicle and sign off that there was no damage,” he added.
Now, any casual observer of island etiquette could see trouble brewing.
“Then she said if I took her picture she was going to call the police, so we came right here,” the husband added apprehensively.
“I was on the telephone and I just told them to go ahead and leave the key,” the rental agent subsequently explained to Tradewinds. “Actually, I told him if he took my picture I would call the police — and I told him where I would put the camera.”
Which may explain why the visitors immediately went to the police station.
The assisting officer left the station with the couple and somehow managed to diffuse the volatile situation — without any cell phone cameras being used inappropriately or otherwise damaged.
The visitors from Georgia, meanwhile, left with an unfathomable tale of perceived inhospitality.
