Vehicle Secured

"There's nothing like waking up to (someone speaking) Norwegian in the morning," Dan chided. I sighed, "Sorry, but I had to call the Trondheim office before 7 AM here to take care of our rental vehicle."


Two weeks ago, I emailed the auto-rental agency in Verdal to confirm prices and availability on a van for six. The representative replied everything was as stated in the quote I received from her in March. However, she did need a credit card number to secure the booking. I refused to send the information in an email and tried the telephone number at the bottom of her message. That number failed. She ignored my next email question for her direct number. Instead, she asked again to email my credit card information.

Frustrated, I called my host dad and asked for the number he used months ago to speak with this Verdal representative. My host dad said he would try calling and get back to me. I waited a week. Then I began researching the Norwegian telephone system and discovered, the number on the Verdal representative's email was "toll free" – in Norway, of course. I googled the Verdal office and found a direct telephone number. I emailed the representative, explained the "toll free" number trouble and asked whether the telephone number I'd found on the website would connect me to her.

She replied: If you want to call direct, use this telephone number xxxxxxxxxxx. I researched the city number and discovered it to be a Trondheim number. Since it was late in their day, I decided to call the next day – today – in our early morning hours.

"Well, at least that's settled," I told Dan. "I talked to a man in the Trondheim office. He listened to my story and understood my concern about sending my credit card number in an email. He took my booking, answered my questions about a drop box for an early return so we could catch the early morning train to Lillehammer, gave me the reservation number and said he didn't need my credit card number.

"What?" I said. He replied: "Just bring your credit card along with the reservation number when you come to the city-center station."

Rental Vehicle Secured!