No Rental Car Keychain Monster

Our keychains are just one of the many small details that make Phasmid better. We have custom stamped, latigo leather keychains, with all you need and nothing more. Most rental car company’s keychains have all vehicle keys with a hard plastic key fob, making it extremely difficult to fit in a pocket and ridiculously inconvenient if something goes wrong.

On a typical franchise keychain, which is vinyl coated stainless steel braided wire, with a heavy duty non-removable crimp are the following: 1 x valet key, 2 x key with an electric transceiver (to unlock doors), 1 x 2.5″ x 1″ x .25″ hard plastic key chain.

We recently called Enterprise Bozeman, asking them ‘hypothetically’ what would happen if we lost the keys. Here is the answer:

• Step 1. “We do not have spare keys to the rental cars. When we sell the cars, the batteries in the keys all have to be replaced at the same time, this is why we keep the keys together.”
• Step 2. “Since you didn’t purchase the additional roadside assistance, call a tow truck and get towed to the nearest Enterprise franchise.” (local ones are closed on weekends by the way).
• Step 3. “You will need to pay for each key lost. Each key is $215.”
• Step 4. The keys are then ordered directly from Subaru because they are programmed from the factory, not from the local dealership. Minimum turn-around on a replacement key is 3-days. During this whole time, you will have to pay for your rental car, even though you can’t lose it.

Total cost if you lose this keychain (that no human can fit in their pocket)? Conservatively $845.

What happens if you lose you Subaru Outback key from Phasmid Rentals? Cost of replacement, and pay for our gas and time to come and bring an extra key. What do our keychains look like? Hand tooled and embossed custom vegetable tanned leather with a brass fitting of course!