One of the things that I like about having a blog is being able to rage about bad service. This time it is my long time rental car agency, Hertz, that has me upset. I think they are a good company that is sinking fast when it comes to service. I have used them exclusively for a decade but now they are off my A-Team list. The last three times I have used them they have screwed up. First it was a car so dirty I had to stop and get it vacuumed out. Then in Hawaii we had reserved a seven passenger vehicle and they gave us a five passenger vehicle. This trip to Baltimore over the weekend was also ruined by a car that had been the scene of a cigar smoking contest with numerous holes burned in the seat and a stench that could be smelled outside the car. Of course, we are supposed to get non smoking cars.
Every time they mess up they offer a $25 dollar coupon for your next rental. Screw that. I want a clean car and good service. Besides, I always lose the coupon.
When I called them to complain today I was notified that it would be 23 minutes before someone could help me on the phone.
I wonder if Avis is still trying harder.
Southwest Airlines service to Baltimore and back was great. Hertz could learn something about service from them.
2 comments:
This won't work everywhere one travels, but I've had good luck by using the Internet to find the local rental car office numbers at my destination and making the reservations through them. They usually know their fleet better than the national call centers and often can offer better rates, too. FWIW.
The problem is there is no incentive for them to have great customer service. Rental car companies have you stranded with very little options. There is no competition because prices are pretty much standard and everyone knows that the rental company next door(if there is one) won't treat them any better. I use Enterprise most of the time, and despite the fact that the prices are outrageous, they rarely have the car I reserved or get me in and out the door quickly...although I have never had one that was dirty, or un-drivable.
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