Complimentary roadside assistance?

I had a customer come up to me and complain that another location charged him and his wife a fee for replacement keys they lost. He believed roadside assistance was complimentary, or free. I explained that sometimes it is and sometimes it is not.

If the car breaks down and is no longer drivable, the roadside assistance is free.

If a tire blows out, there are spare tires in all the cars so the customer would be charged for the tire and/or towing if the customer is too lazy to drive over to the nearest location that is within the city limits where customer is located to exchange cars (miles outside the city they are more lenient on forcing a customer to drive on a spare tire). And yes customers are charged for replacement tires if customer does not replace the tires before returning the car. If customer purchases the insurance from the car rental, they are not charged for replacement tires and are reimbursed if they do buy new tires when they present a receipt.

If customer is in an accident, whether it is their fault or not, customer is charged for towing along with all the damage costs and time lost not being rented while being repaired. Purchasing the insurance from car rental also eliminates these charges provided the customer has not committed any forbidden acts that would void the insurance coverage.

If car is no longer operable because customer left the headlights on (or left door ajar leaving the dome light on), the customer is charged for a new battery for the car and will be fortunate if they are not charged for any towing while exchanging cars. Negligence can void insurance coverage so it is best to ask what the forbidden acts are when purchasing insurance from a car rental.

If customer locks keys in car or loses keys, licensee or franchise locations will likely have spare set of keys for customers within the city limits who may come pick up the keys or pay for the taxi cab driver for the delivery of the spare set. Outside the city limits or at corporate locations, the key code can be released to the customer who must pay for the locksmith to open the car and/or make a new key. If customer loses the original set of keys with an expensive remote attached, the customer will be charged for replacement of that remote. If you find the keys later and bring them back to the location, customer is not refunded any money because new keys have been made, new remote has been purchased, and/or locksmith needs payment for their services. If customer rents a fancy car with the keypad on the driver's door, the car rental likely has the code in their computer to give customers without any charge to them.

I think I covered all the bases on this matter. Please comment if my readers have any questions. Genie out. Bye!