Fun with charge cards.

Ron called me this afternoon from the airport in Phoenix, in obvious distress. Budget had declined both of his American Express cards--had I somehow not paid them?

I assured him I had and gave him dates and check numbers; somewhat mollified, he hung up to call American Express.

Twenty minutes later he called me back. Turns out that somehow Amex and Budget have gotten all crosswise and Budget isn't taking American Express.

The Budget counter people were completely unaware of this; apparently Ron was the first person to walk up to them with a valid American Express card since it happened. Needless to say, no one at Budget or Amex that Ron talked to could shed any light on who'd done this or whether it's even intentional.