** 18:18 after having waited on Avis coming back with a solution for a couple of hours:

OK I know this sounds crazy, but I managed to get myself and my colleague/fellow IM Frankfurt competitor locked out of our rental car in Germany (a French Renault Scenic), with the car key in the car, and absolutely all of our belongings in the car as well. Money, phones, bikes, luggage. One of those nice keyless entry systems which are great when they work, but getting back into the car is virtually impossible without the key card. Somehow the car managed to lock itself.

We are at the moment trying to get back into the car via Avis (not very helpful).

Worst case the car will have to be towed to a workshop tomorrow morning and then opened there.

I’ve got my laptop, but that’s all I’ve got. My colleague has got nothing.

** 20:23 after having shouted at Avis for another hour...

Happy ending! (but not due to Avis...)

Avis wanted to tow the car to a workshop and have them sort out the problem tomorrow. “Very complicated electronic systems, bla, bla, bla…”….
We did not have time or patience for that, and the last thing we wanted was to find our car emptied for all valuables tomorrow morning. So I tracked down ADAC (www.adac.de) who did not think it sounded too complicated.

And presto, within 90 minutes they showed up. Not people in Darth Vader high tech uniforms, but a couple of nice chaps in orange overalls… All it took was a plastic wedge and a long string of metal. 10 seconds and the very advanced Renault had been opened!

And they did it for free. Couldn’t even pay them with a beer!

Anybody out there with a Renault Scenic? I now know how to break into it in 10 seconds...