The parents, struggling to come to terms with their loss, have received support from many quarters.
But rental car company NZRCS is determined to get its money back.
Company director Edwin Chan says it had to recoup about $800 for the car to be transported 418km from Fox Glacier to Christchurch, and hundreds of dollars for a new transponder key to electronically unlock the car.
"Nobody will do it for free," said Mr Chan.
"It's always unfortunate. We feel for them. If there are things that are going to cost the company, we have no choice but to recover the costs.
"They should ... travel with insurance. It's not up to us as a company to pay for the costs."
The car was meant to be returned on Sunday, but remains in Fox Glacier. The family had not been charged hire costs beyond Sunday.
"The car has to be recovered, and it's not a small cost that is involved."
Mr Chan also questioned why Akshay Miranda had the rental car keys in his pocket when he was not permitted to drive the vehicle.
"It should be in the parents' pockets."....
Apparently, the hotel the family was staying at also charged them for missing their booking.
...Earlier today South Beach Motel manager Linda Goodson refused to waive the cost of a unit booked by the Miranda family.
Ms Goodson said she had a business to run and would be charging the family a "little bit more" than $100 for the unit.
"I don't really see why everybody's getting up in arms about it," she told Radio 3AW.
"We've had a very, very quiet winter. Tourism is down. We left (the unit) unlocked all night for these people to come and we're not going to waive the cost."...
Perhaps you can understand why I am always complaining about customer service here.
UPDATE: The Prime Minister got involved, and thanks to donations from all over NZ, the rental car company backed down. NZ Herald Article.
1 comment:
I guess NZ never heard of public
relations. Let's see how long they last after that one
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