Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where the rental place has no cars even though Jerry reserved one? The punch line was basically this "you do a good job taking a reservation, but you don't hold the reservation". My situation exactly.
We had a reservation for almost two weeks for a vehicle. Having had spotty service with them in the past I drove by the night before to see if they had cars on the lot. They didn't. So I called the morning of the reservation at 8. I spoke with Paul (who I later found out was the manager) and told him I was confirming the reservation for 9. The first thing he said was "well it's 8 now". He was immediately sarcastic and sounded annoyed that I was calling that early. He confirmed they had no cars but he was doing his best to find one and asked if I could delay picking up until 10. I said no, we needed the vehicle for business reasons and needed it at 9. He said he would make a call, then call me back in 15 minutes. He failed to keep that commitment as well. At 8:45 I called and got through to him again and asked why he didn't call me back. He said he was busy. But he had some great news for me. He had found a car! The not so great news was that they were busy putting a door handle on the car and it would be ready by 10. Needless to say I canceled the reservation and went right down the street to Avis to get a rental.
But wait, there's more... I contacted their national customer service department to complain and asked for the names of the local branch manager, his boss, and then his boss. The only name they would give me was Paul as the branch manager, no other names would be given for "security" reasons. What? I asked how is that dangerous to know who the managers were, but they would not give the information out. Oh well, I did my own digging and found out who the national management team is (thanks Consumerist) and they will be getting my complaint. Now it will go from the top down. I've used this branch for both business (my wife and I are in the insurance industry) and for personal reasons. Needless to say, that won't happen again. I"m not surprised that there could be a problem with a rental, but the response from the manager is what is shocking.
Oh and for the record, they do LOVE to find cracks in windshields and scratches or dings on the door. This revenue rainmaker and the up-selling of needless insurance is what keeps the profits up at this company. ALWAYS give the car a very close inspected and note ANY issues, then make them sign to acknowledge it.
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