Series 2: Oh Mataró Pt. 2

A Journey to Mataró

Travel Insight by Bree, a writer for Breeze Wonderful Travels' Blog

Patience is a virtue and you may need plenty of it in Mataró!
– Anonymous

The Backstory:

I must say, this entry is a very sensitive topic to me because it describes a series of events in Mataró that led to some challenging situations due to our language and cultural differences. However, I was fully prepared for the unsettling and unexpected simply because I purchased primary travel insurance with Allianz right after booking my the vacation. As a result, not only was my trip covered, but I meet some amazingly friendly helpful locals as well.

The Story

After heading Straight out of El Prat, our next stop was to check-in to our hotel. The Hotel Atenea, located in Port Mataró, Catalonia which is about 40 minutes north of Barcelona’s downtown area, see the drive to Mataró from Barcelona below. This northern region of the city seemed to be a lot less busy and there are plenty of beautiful beaches. My hope was that after settling in our hotel room then afterwards we would go out to the beach and enjoy tapas. Well, well… we did get settled in our hotel room and we did go out, but we DID NOT make it to the beach that day..

Arrival

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Atenea, in Port Mataró at about 3:00 pm CEST. The sun was breaking through the clouds and it felt like a perfect summer afternoon to go out to the beach.

First, we settled into our hotel room, secured our sensitive documents in the in-room safe, and freshened up. Expedia, online travel agency (OTA), did not make sure that my request to have two separate twin beds instead of one full bed was honored, so we had to call the front desk, ask for them to fix this and wait while we were weary from the long journey and trying to rest.

Full disclosure, with years of working with OTA’s, I learned that some important trip details and requests were not being clearly communicated to vacation suppliers prior to my arrival. However, working with a professional travel agency will help to ensure that special requests and important trip details are appropriately addressed to vacation suppliers well before their guests arrive.

After resting, we decided that we wanted to head out to Costa Brava instead. Costa Brava is a vibrant beach town with glitzy strips, all-night entertainment, and plenty of restaurants located about an hour north of Port Mataró.

We prepared ourselves for the drive and then headed out to the garage to pack the car with some stuff for the beach. Just a few moments later, I hopped in the driver’s seat to start the car…

Wait what? The new rental car was not "starting"…

Car Trouble

My rental car appeared to be in great condition and definitely one of the newer models. I couldn’t believe that it was not starting and after several attempts of turning on the ignition, it seemed as if the battery was dead.. (sigh!) OMG. My cousin and I concluded that we needed a charge for the car and proceeded to the front desk for some help. I was very annoyed by this huge inconvenience and I couldn’t believe it was happening on day one of my trip.

Now back at the front desk of the hotel, we made a few calls to get help. Each call to Avis Roadside Assistance was very lengthy in wait times and several transfers from representative to other representatives. It took patience and beyond to keep calm over this situation. Once we finally spoke to the assigned representative, Omar, I immediately noticed his handling of roadside assistance calls was very unpleasant. He rudely continued misgendering by addressing me as “Sir” instead of “Miss” after I clearly provided my name and gender reference. Instead of genuine concern, Omar’s attitude was very nonchalant and accusatory. He stated that they (“roadside assistance”) does not tow hired (rental) cars to auto shops and that I would need to find a way to get the vehicle to a car service station if it was necessary. He was not interested or understanding my situation in having just hired a rental car that I just drove from the airport to the hotel in Port Mataró perfectly fine.

There was little fact finding, discovery or advisement during that call Avis Roadside Assistance. Instead, Omar said, “the wait time to get someone to help jump the car will be 40 minutes or one hour or TWO HOURS maybe… I don’t know…” He continued to say that, “there may be a fee for you to pay once the service is rendered” Wait a minute… Excuse me, but I wanted to tell Omar all sorts of swears because there was no way that I would be paying any fees to fix a “defective” vehicle provided to me by the rental company. “Period” What was Omar thinking?

Anyway, within about 45 minutes a technician arrived and the front desk calls me to meet him at the lobby. Ecstatic to have this resolved, we head down to meet the technician and escort him to the location of the vehicle parked inside the underground garage at the hotel.

The technician takes a look around the car, checked under the hood and tried starting it. I still didn’t hear the engine rev up, yet he moved the car in reverse in which I figured was in neutral gear.. then “vroom” “”vroom”… I could hear that the motor was at full throttle.

The technician didn't even need to jump the battery.

I was so perplexed at what I witnessed. How did the technician start the car, I wondered. He then motioned the vehicle forward back into its original parked position. The technician exited the car and stated that the car is fine. He must have noticed my confusion because in his moment of revelation, he stressed, “It’s a Hybrid” and began to describe the behavior of hybrid cars. Ooohhh!

Omg.. why didn’t Avis explain this to me at the rental office? I did not fully understand to expect the engine to rev-up once the vehicle is set in motion.

After that, I graciously thanked the technician for his time and felt some relief that the vehicle was perfectly fine… Ahh finally a bit of relief and excitement that we could continue on with our day plans. I already had enough inconveniences for the day, right?

Sidenote! Mataró in no way seems to be a “bad place” in fact there are plenty of beautiful beaches and things to see and do there. I am just reporting my experience. My first day in Spain was a lesson about being tactful and vigilant when learning a new and unfamiliar place. Also, I learned to have patience with myself and maintain a can-do positive attitude regardless of the circumstances. This approach helped me to turn bad situations into better outcomes.

I also learned to expect the unexpected and most importantly, I have learned to become one with my travel insurance. Never head outside of the United States (OUS) without it.

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