GREENSBORO, N.C. — Reco Worthy was excited about his family’s trip to Myrtle Beach. Worthy rented a large passenger van to drive him and five of his relatives to South Carolina.
“We set out to travel that way (to Myrtle Beach), I picked them up, and were ready to go,” Worthy said.
About three hours into the drive one of the tires blew out. Worthy pulled off to the side of the freeway and called the rental car company.
“They said the van did not have a spare and they did not have a replacement vehicle,” Worthy said.
At this point, Worthy started to think about how he and his family were going to get to Myrtle Beach. The rental company did say someone would come to pick them up. Worth said they waited five hours on the side of the road, but no one showed up. Worthy then called the company and spoke with an employee.
“I told him I’m leaving the van, and I will hide the keys,” Worthy said.
A family member showed up a short time later to help. A day or two passed and Worthy was still a bit upset about what happened when the car rental company called him. The van that he left on the side of the freeway was stolen.
“At that point, I’m thinking are you trying to make me liable for the van, because I called several times to tell you where it was,” Worthy said.
The van was found a week or two later but had racked up more than $700 in storage fees at a tow yard.
“I spoke with the regional president and someone in the local office,” Worthy said.
At that point, it appeared they were going to charge Worthy for the storage fees. Worthy felt he was the one who should be reimbursed for the rental, so he called WFMY News 2.
We immediately reached out to the company and spoke to someone in the corporate office. We explained the situation and asked if someone could investigate the matter and call us back. A few days later, Worthy received a call from one of the managers.
“Basically, he said sorry for your experience, we will make sure to rectify everything that you went through,” Worth said.
The company agreed to refund Worthy the $1,000 he paid for the rental and didn’t make him pay for any storage fees.
“Awesome, thank God, I called you guys, awesome,” Worthy said.
The family was able to make it to Myrtle Beach and Worthy said they had a nice time. He was a little less positive when we asked if he’d rent a van another time and plan a road trip to Myrtle Beach.
