[Beav]

Jumpin' Jaheesus! hahahahahahahahaha.... if I couldn't open a jammed door (as a professional, mind you) without assuring no damage would be done to it I'd be flippin' burgers for a living.

Jammed doors, missing keys, etc. were almost hourly scenarios years ago when I worked at Hertz. A lot of people thought they could avoid returning the car to the lot if they locked the keys in the trunk, broke them off in a lock, etc., almost always in a no-parking zone at the airport terminal. We'd retrieve the car and charge them for the fine plus a 'handling' fee.

The story they gave your buddy was just a 'blow him out of the shop with a big story' so nobody had to do something a little 'difficult'. Then again, if they didn't want to do it I wouldn't want them to - who knows what they'd screw up to inflate the bill. I would guess about 2 hours labor plus parts should have covered the repair. Taking the seats out makes it easier and inflates the bill but I've never had to resort to that.