Marius Bălășoiu's Facebook post about the rent a car platform Perpetoo.com

06/Apr/2023

"I don't know how others are, but I'm addicted to a lot of things... Coffee, without which I can't distinguish daylight and even less the shapes around me, music (although I'm a bit annoyed to stay with the last chorus heard in the brain, especially if it's not my favorite genre) and car.

In college I was walking around Bucharest and thinking about what it's like to have a driver's license and a car (at that time I was also thinking about alternative sources of petrol and married or not numbers - i.e. numbers with a husband and/or without a husband), although I only had a pedestrian license and two legs at that time. Now I have a card and a car. I'm sure about the passport. The car is somewhat a matter of luck and good days or not. I have a Renault Megane (ok, I understand the sneers) and I'm fine with it. When it goes. Sometimes the unclean enters it and leaves me a pedestrian.

Which has happened quite a few times lately. When I don't have to go out of town, I get by per pedes or something like uber. But when I have to go to a course outside the city, things get complicated. So I turn to one of the car rental companies. If you've ever played slot machines with chips and levers, you'll quickly understand where they beat. You give him the money and withdraw it once. Luck appears.

I had my first experience with a company with a company with a large fleet of cars. I tried a Golf. Not cheap but my client who understood the situation was paying. I chose the car, we agreed on the day and time, the place was clearly at their gate. On the given day, I arrived at the place in question and was greeted by a young lady with a passion for working with customers in the sense that she didn't have any. I introduced myself and told her I came to drive a Golf. She gave me an arctic cold look and told me they didn't have cars available in the park. That I had to make an appointment. Well I did, I say. And what if there are still no cars in the park. I say I reserved the car. She says that's it. I say I want to talk with the boss and she tells me he's on vacation with his mistress. I can feel myself getting angry but I'm trying to be drinkable. I say I already paid the money. She sees me insistently and realizes that he will not get rid of me easily. She warns me that she is leaving to look for a car. And leaves. He comes back with a winning smile and tells me she's found a Ford. Good one too, I say. Although I would have been wiser if I had asked what model it would be. I woke up in front of a Ford KA, small and a little tired of life. Well, I have to go with her to the Prahova valley, I say. If you take her rovigneta, you can leave Bucharest with her, she says. Well....

All in all, I covered the Bucharest-Predeal distance in 5 hours (well, that's the route) in which I enjoyed a car much smaller than what I paid and definitely made for the city. And at the location I got hard jokes from all the participants. But no, I would have made fun of myself in such a situation...

The second adventure I had was in another country, one where pizza and spaghetti were invented. This is where we picked up the car from the airport. Or so I proposed. I booked it online, paid the rental fee after reading the contract until I was in tears (no, it wasn't a sad contract but the tenth reading makes you want to cry...), flew to the venue the fact and, after landing, I looked for the office of that company. It wasn't exactly easy to find, I should have expected it to be something rotten as it was to hide. There was a dinner party scene going on in the tiny office, with a local more vocal than the average Italian arguing over the mother of the fire with a citizen who looked like an employee of the company (or had stolen one's uniform, although it was a bit ugly). It is certain that they reached a consensus after reviewing their close relatives and a series of saints from the Catholic calendar. It was my turn. All well and good, but a calamity of a problem has obviously arisen: the warranty. I mean I had to advance a letter embossing credit card for it. And I only had a bitter debit card (quite full at the time) with unembossed letters. I say it's ok, that I have the guarantee amount and he can also block it on the debit card. He says he only goes with a credit card. I explain to him that I have a company card and maybe that works, but after a brief check he says no. So what do I do? He says I only qualify for domestic cars. And??? Meaning that? Maserati? Ferrari? Nooo, it says Fiat. Yes ... And what Fiat? It says cinquecento. Ole! Well, I can't really fit everything with luggage and I'd like to stay together because that's how we're used to traveling. He tells me that if I move the seat further forward, there is also room for the luggage. I ask like an ox: which chair? He smiles and tells me I'll catch up. Running out of time, I accepted and test drove with my face glued to the windshield. The only quality of the car was that I could stick both hands out the two front windows. Simultaneous!

I have had many other experiences, one after another. I drove a Citroen where I couldn't find the buttons to lower the windows (friends know why), an Opel that looked huge on the outside but was incredibly small on the inside, a Skoda that ran great but had no brake pads so it just went but with the off it still gave misses.

But the last adventure was from a completely different movie. Being Stan Pătitul, I asked my friends if they didn't have a car for two days so I could do my job. With the mention that I wash it before I return it and fill it up (tempting these days). In vain ... Obviously they asked me why I don't rent and I told them why. And one says: have you tried car rental platform Perpetoo? I say no. It gives me the address of the page (it's with a dot com, not a dot ro). I say no, why not? And I go in there. Interesting that from the beginning they tell me that I can pay with any card (yeeee) and that there are no other hidden costs to find out when I pick up the car. And they swear that what I take, I will drive. Hmmm ... I mean I've seen statements like that before. I find that they are actually normal people's cars that they don't use for various reasons or from smaller fleets. I quickly create an account on the website where I enter some data so that they know that I have passed the legal age and that I still have a license to drive the car. I launch three requests to three different owners. I get confirmation within minutes from two of them. And by SMS and email. The notification in the account was also red. I decide on the blue one. Because I also had a white one at home and it didn't work... I pay online with the card provided, the same one with which I had the adventures described above. My booking is confirmed, I get the owner's contact details. I no longer linger and call, fearing a predictable spike. He answers and greets me as if he knows me. I'm trying to find out if the car smells like stew or other not-ok smells. And he asks me what I want it to smell like. I feel like I'm being bubbled up, even though the citizen I'm talking to seems sincere and kind. I say it's vanilla (I also give a flavor top of mind). He says fine. I say that I have reserved a car and I am asked about where I would like to take possession of it in the center. No, I don't think that's possible. I also give a location in the center and it says ok.

At the appointed time I go to the location with a shadow of doubt like the total eclipse of 2000. I usually arrive early, this time I arrived about five minutes early. It was there!!! I look for the hidden camera and find that it is not there. A very nice gentleman greets me and starts telling me about the car. I look puzzled and can't believe it when he tells me that he didn't open the air freshener on the board, but that it's vanilla, like I asked. What?? I say thank you and, from the "I've lived around here until now" cycle, I hand him 10 RON. He looks at me dumbfounded and asks: do you want me to exchange them for you? I realize that I'm an idiot, but that's how my ancestors have taught me: that without a stick it doesn't work.

I drove the car I wanted, I didn't pay an extra RON, I smelled vanilla because that's what I declared, and I also listened to quality music (the man had a set of CDs with about 20 variations of musical genres that he pointed out to me in the glove box and also left me a note with a nice audition). It didn't have an ashtray but it did have some kind of candy box that reminded me of my grandfather. I felt wonderful and when I took his car back I also left him a CD with something I really like. He thanked me and told me that he only had five CDs in the beginning and that he got the rest from customers like me.

Well, that's why I think we still have a chance - there are normal people too. And the company is a kind of platform that brings together those who have cars to rent with those who want to rent. What price do they want to put. Yes, I like it that way! Obviously, I will rent a car only from them when I will need one. It's called simply: perpetoo.com.'' - taken from Marius Bălășoiu's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marius.balasoiu