Today is day number 132 in my journey to tackle the elephant. Not much has changed for me in the time since I last wrote but I have been working on some things. I've been busy working on me and taking what I have and trying to make something of it. For the past several weeks I've been throwing myself into my photography. And to be honest it has been food for my soul. I have realized that it something I not only love but need. I built a site for myself and have been organizing and building on the thing that I love most to do. I also have my daughter back home with me now for the summer so I'm getting ready to go through another financial crunch and as always, I'm still working on minimizing my expenses and repairing my credit. Speaking of credit...
So this past Saturday I had to fly to Colorado to pick up my daughter and bring her home for the summer. It took me a while to prepare for this trip because it's not exactly something I can afford so I began planning things months ago. I bought my airline tickets months in advance, made reservations for the hotel and rental car. Got everything ready. I was set, or so I thought.
Saturday morning I arrived at the Denver airport at around 8:30 in the morning, got off the plane, caught the shuttle bus to Hertz and proceeded to the counter to pick up my car.
Now remember, I had reserved this car weeks ago. I had already received my confirmation and the night before leaving, and to make things a little easier on myself, I got online and did the pre check-in. When filling out the pre check-in you are asked for the card that you will be using to rent the car and all your personal information, which I entered in full and was given the okay you're ready to go. Not so...
I walk up to the counter and state that I am here to pick up my rental. The representative then proceeds to ask me for my license and credit card. I tell her that I don't have a credit card but a debit card, and that I have rented with them before. She assures me that it is fine but that she will have to run it through the credit check, which they have done before. I had no worries at this point because I know that my credit score has actually gone up 50pts. since the last time I rented. I stand there waiting and then she looks up at me and says with a now different tone, "I'm sorry, it declined it do you have a credit card?" I tell her no and that I didn't understand because I had rented from them before, I had money in my account and I had done the pre check-in. She says it has nothing to do with that with no concern tells me, "Sorry, we can not rent to you unless you have a credit card."
I go back and forth with her for a while and then ask for a manager. Go through the whole story again and he tells me the same thing. So I then ask if I can pay cash. He says, "You could have if you did it beforehand." So I say, "Let me do it now." To which he replies, "We are unable to do that now. You should have done it before you came in." Long story short they would not accept cash, they would not accept someone else's card, they would not help me period. I was livid to say the least. I was sent back to the airport and proceeded to go through this whole process over and over with at least 7 or 8 other rental agencies. They either declined me due to my credit score or wanted $250-400 dollars down, in addition to the cost of the rental.
At this point I was stranded, I was angry and I felt completely rejected and like a complete failure. The thing that upset me the most though was the fact that I was not being helped because of my financial "status". My mind started to turn and I began to realize just exactly how messed up our society is when it comes to money, credit and service.
So as I am sitting there I'm thinking, let me get this straight. I have bad credit. Okay, this is true. I do not own a credit card because of my credit AND the fact that after living without it for so long I do not believe in them anymore. In order to rent I need a credit card or a large deposit. Lastly, I have the money for the cost of what I am trying to obtain. My frustration was growing.
I do not have a great credit score nor do I have a stash of money, but I do know this. I live my life financially right. I live within my means, I don't buy what I can't afford, I plan, I sacrifice and I work for what I have yet the system I live in does not recognize that. There are a lot of people like me too. People who wrestle day to day and yet can never get quite ahead and the reason for this is because we are over charged, asked to make ridiculous deposits or made to pay additional fees because we do not have the FICO approval and we do everything we can to live within our means.
I know this may be coming across sounding a little hard on my side but I have been living this way for a while. I see it happening more and more though and not only to myself but to others as well. Due to my own poor choices and some misfortune, my life is ruled by the all powerful FICO score. It is a frustrating place to be because I know how much easier things could be. I just think its time for people who are living the way they should to be given a break.
Well, I have to say that after visiting every rental place and being on the phone for over four hours I was finally able to get a car. In my relentlessness I tried one last place that had already turned me away and convinced the manager to help me. For an additional $10/day I was put into a rental by Payless. They said they would wave the deposit if I would add their insurance. So, If at first you don't succeed...
It was a bad start to an awesome weekend but I wanted to share this story with you to show how important it is to keep your finances in a good place but more so to encourage those who are struggling to keep doing what you're doing and to know in the end that God always provides.
Thing to remember: There's always a way, but the choices we make today can either make things easier or harder for us in the future. Tackle the elephant!
