Use this program to:

While this program can be run on a standard size terminal, it is also designed to run on Hand-Held Terminal (HHT) devices and tablets. Unlike the Hand-Held Close program described at the end of the RA Close chapter of this manual, this program does NOT close rental agreements. The returning customer still must go to a rental counter to close the RA. Instead, this program:

Collects the closing odometer and fuel tank levels

Changes the status of the RA to "Pending Close".

Changes the status of the returning vehicle to the "Check-in Status" defined in the location record (such as "A" available or "D" for dirty) if no new damage is entered.

Optionally, sends an email to the opening location with information on the vehicle and RA that just checked in. See the section on "Emailing the Check-In Information" at the end of this chapter for details.

An example of the use of this program is for locations that have a physically separate "overflow" lot. In other words, the lot where the rental counter is located is not large enough to hold all vehicles, therefore some vehicles must return to the overflow lot. This program allows an "untrained" user to collect the check-in information -- odometer, fuel level and new damage -- so that a user at the main location can close the RA without physically seeing the vehicle. If the optional emailing is turned on, the opening location can immediately be made aware of the check-in. Lastly, provided no damage was noted, the vehicles is made available for rental on a new RA even if the previous RA has not yet been reviewed and closed.

RAs that are processed by this Pre-Close program STILL MUST be closed by either the On-Line or Batch RA Close programs.


To access the Pre-Close RA Close program, type PRECLOSE (RET) at any menu "OPTION:" field or the appropriate line number on the RA menu. The screen will then display:

OPTION: ______________
1 Lic#: *
2 Veh#: *
3 RA#: *
Name:
4 Odo: *
5 Fuel: */*
6 Dmg: *
F1 F3 F4


Follow these steps:

1. Bring up the RA. The RA can be found by entering data in either Fields 1, 2, or 3. Therefore, from the "OPTION:" field, press (RET) to position the cursor in appropriate field.

Examples:

A. As the car is pulling into the lot, enter the license plate in Field # 1.
B. If already at the vehicle, enter the vehicle number in Field 2.
C. If the customer has the RA in hand, enter the RA number in Field 3.

User tip: Multiple open RAs with the same vehicle: From time to time there may be more than one open RA in the system for the vehicle entered. Note that the Pre-Close program skips RAs that are flagged as "questionable".

2. After entering information in any of the first 3 fields and pressing (RET), the customer's name will appear along with a message at the bottom of the screen:

CORRECT CUSTOMER?

Enter:

Y = Yes, this is the correct customer. Data will be loaded into the remaining fields and cursor will return to the "OPTION" field.

N = No, this is the wrong customer. Begin again.

3. From the "OPTION" field, press (RET) and the cursor will go directly to the odometer field. Enter the current odometer reading and press (RET).

4. The fuel calculation question will be asked:

LEVEL=Y OR MILES=N_

Enter:
Y = fuel charge will be based on the level in the tank. Therefore, the cursor goes to the next field (FUEL) so that the tank level can be entered.
N = fuel charge will be based on the distance driven. It is not necessary to enter a fuel level.
Note that the question does not display when the prepaid fuel was sold or if the fuel is included in the rate.
If prepaid fuel was purchased, there is no message; however the rate paid for the prepaid fuel will show.
When fuel is included in the rate, after entering the fuel level, the following message will display:
PREPAID FUEL OPTION INCLUDED IN RATE
Generally, the fuel charge is not editable. However, your system can be configured to allow the fuel charge to be edited. To do so, ask Thermeon's Customer Support Dept. to set up GVT record HHTFUEL.

5. Finally in Field 6 enter up to 30 characters for a brief description of any new damages to the returning vehicle. Data entered here is written to the Damage field in the vehicle record and will be visible in the T (Vehicle Condition) subwindow of RA Close.

If this field is left blank, the returning vehicle will be made available for immediate re-rental.

If data is entered in this field, the RA will still be put in Pending Close status but the vehicle will remain in status "O" (On-Rent) until the contract is closed at the counter.

The cursor will return to the "OPTION" field. Press the F1 key to store this data.

6. During the course of the close, other messages may occur:

MILES EXCEED 2X MAX

ODOM SEEMS LOW

NO OPEN RA's FOR VEH

If a message such as one of the above appear, the RA cannot be pre-processed by this program.


USER NOTE: RAs left in the Pending Close status can be reported on the Vehicles Due In Report.


Emailing the Check-In Information

When the check-in information is saved in this program, an email can be sent to the opening location which contains the following information:

The email address the email is sent to comes from the "Report Email" field in Edit Locations on page 6, field 2.

Please contact Thermeon Customer Support to have this feature set up.

Note For Thermeon Customer Support: This feature requires a script named "closemail" to be installed in the SHELL directory under the base installation directory.