While parked overnight in downtown parking lot, the car I had rented was unfortunately broken into. The rear driver's side window had been smashed, most of the dashboard was ripped off, and the CD/stereo had been stolen. Upon finding the car in this condition the next morning, I called the Avis location where I had rented the car (Midway Airport) and told them what had happened. They recommended that I contact the downtown office to get a replacement vehicle.
Upon contacting the Clark/Wacker Avis location in downtown Chicago, I was told that I needed to get a police report for the incident before I could get another car. Unfortunately, as I tried to explain to the manager at that location, I had an urgent appointment that morning and simply did not have the time to go to the police station and file a report that morning. I would have been happy to do so later in the day, but apparently that was not good enough.
Despite my earnest and very urgent pleas, they would not make any exception to provide me with a different car. Rather, they made the absurd suggestion that I continue to use the vehicle with the broken window (in December, in Chicago) and with the dashboard lying on the floor. This was, of course, an unacceptable solution and I was forced to walk to Enterprise Car Rental a few blocks away where I was happily provided with an undamaged vehicle. Unfortunately, this was not the end of my Avis grief.
That evening, upon returning from a long day of work at 8pm, I went to the local police station as instructed and filed a theft report. I then returned the Enterprise automobile that I had rented and went home for the evening. The next morning, with police report in hand, I drove the damaged car to the nearby Clark/Wacker Avis location to trade it for a different vehicle. Upon signing off, the desk clerk cheerfully stated that she wouldn't charge me for the extra hour that day (I had rented at 6:30am on Sunday and was returning at 7
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