Orlando Car Hire Nightmare
A recent vacation break to Miami almost ended in disaster when the police stopped our car due to a broken tail light.
My girlfriend had persuaded me to take a last minute package holiday to Florida. We’d been lucky enough to get a really cheap last minute fly-drive deal that gave us 7 nights to explore Orlando and enjoy the Gulf coast.
We flew from Gatwick to Orlando airport and went straight to the car hire desk to collect the keys to our car. We’d pre-booked our first two nights in the Clarion Hotel and a hire car for the duration of our stay. Our loose plan was to stay put if we liked the hotel and its location, or move on if we were inclined.
Our first night was spent resting in the hotel ready for our first full day which we spent sight-seeing and shopping. We finished the day at a fantastic fish restaurant that served some really delicious seafood with great service and entertainment thrown in. It was on our return journey to our hotel that things began to go downhill.
It was when we got on the highway that a police car came up behind us and indicated for us to pull over. The police officer told me that one of my tail lights wasn’t working and asked me to step out to take a look. I explained that it was a rental car and that we had just arrived in the country only yesterday. The friendly and helpful police officer then asked me to open the boot so that he could take a look at the tail lamp.
He shone his torch into the boot and there were clearly some traces of what looked like a white powder covering the trunk lining. The police officer’s manner changed immediately and he returned to his vehicle where he spent some time communicating on his radio. Within only a few minutes a second police car arrived with two officers inside. They told us that we were to accompany them to the police station to answer a few questions.
At the station it became clear that the police suspected that our story wasn’t true and that we were in fact international drug dealers who had just emptied a trunk load of cocaine somewhere in Orlando. My girlfriend was incredibly upset by the whole experience. It took no less than nine hours for the police to finally corroborate our story and verify who we were.
Luckily there were still people working at the car hire office, even at that late hour, and they were able to provide police with details of the person who had hired the car prior to us. I’ve no idea if the police ever managed to catch up with the individual responsible for carrying drugs in the boot of the car.
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Travel tip: We saved a fortune on airport parking by booking online, in advance. Also, make certain that your travel insurance policy covers you for legal expenses abroad.
