I was in Boston for a business trip and flew in two days early to meet my wife for a couple of summer days in the city. The first day was idyllic–my wife Samantha had planned it in advance, starting with a city bike tour, followed by a quick lunch at Legal Seafood, an afternoon sail on a tall ship, and ending with dinner at The Original Oyster House. There, my beautiful bride and a three-pound lobster had an encounter:
The next day, we decided to drive up the Massachusetts coast. I had reserved a car from an AVIS near our hotel, so we packed all our stuff and took an Uber to the location. Upon entering the office, I sensed something was awry. There were three groups of people waiting ahead of us, and the usual AVIS efficiency seemed absent from this location. The AVIS staffer was moving in slow motion, there was no “preferred” line, and my line was totally stagnant.
After 45 minutes of waiting (I’m not kidding), the next group in line was talking with the AVIS clerk. Finally, another employee came in the room and told the next customer he did not have a car for him, and he would need to wait until another was turned in. “When will that be?” the customer asked.
The AVIS employee had no idea. “It could be in 30 minutes,” he said, “or it could be hours.”
At this moment, I decided I needed to find another rental car. Now, I have some sympathy for AVIS in this situation–they cannot guarantee people will return their cars at the time they say they will. In fact, the cars this facility expected to get back could have been returned to a different AVIS location.
Still, I was perturbed after waiting for nearly an hour only to find out they had no cars. I called the AVIS 800 number, explained the situation, and asked if they could find me another rental location in the city. They told me I could pick up a car at another location, and I asked for the local number to verify they in fact had a car before I took the trip. I was given what was promised to be the local number, yet when I called, it went directly to the national reservations center.
Not willing to drag my wife and our luggage all over downtown Boston looking for an AVIS car, I took an Uber to the airport. We got a car and had a belated great drive up the coast.
Rental car companies and airlines have it particularly tough. They have to manage for a certain number of people who don’t show up for reservations. I have no sympathy for airlines that over book, they collect their fees in advance. If someone is paying for every seat, how can they justify overbooking a flight? Rental car companies are now beginning to offer a discount if you pay for your rental in advance. But that does not guaranty that you will get a car. What I do expect will be guaranteed is notification and prompt service. AVIS could have sent me an email or text to tell me that there were no cars at the pickup location and directed me to another location where cars were available. Inside of that local AVIS office, there could have been upfront notification that they had no cars available for rent.
In today’s age of both technology that allows for instant notification and the expectation that service includes using email and SMS notification to improve customer service, it is not acceptable for organizations like AVIS to provide such a poor customer experience. My loyalty bank for using them as my primary car rental company is running frighteningly low. Which key customers do you have that are getting fed up with your inability to consistently deliver on a quality customer experience?