by Dan Oswald
Last week, my wife’s grandmother passed away at 98 years of age. She was a special lady who remained alert and curious until her last days. She was active on Facebook, keeping up with her great-grandchildren’s lives.
So my family and I made the trip back to the Midwest for the funeral. Landing at the airport five hours before the visitation and with a two-hour drive ahead of us, we went to the Hertz rental car counter to pick up the keys to our car.
It quickly became apparent that Hertz was having some type of issue because there were unhappy customers milling around the counter. Hertz didn’t have any cars, and the unhappy customers were waiting for cars to be returned before they could head on their way. In speaking with the Hertz representative, I learned that despite my reservation, they didn’t have a car for me, and the fact that I needed to accommodate five passengers was going to make my wait longer. And, of course, there was no way for Hertz to tell me when a car might become available. This wasn’t the first time I’ve had an unpleasant surprise with Hertz.
With our three-hour cushion now down to two and a half hours, we discussed our alternatives. Others in line ahead of us had already been there 90 minutes and counting. Waiting to see if Hertz would get a car that would meet our needs became too much of a gamble, so we took action.
My wife checked all the other car rental companies to see if they had anything available. Nothing doing there because any excess inventory they might have had had been taken up by other Hertz customers without cars. What was left was already booked for incoming customers.
I jumped on the phone with Hertz to see what I could do. As a regular customer and Hertz Gold Rewards member, I thought they might find a way around my dilemma. I called their 800 number, and after listening to a commercial about the availability of Hertz rental cars for sale, I moved through the menu until I got to a selection that I thought met my needs. I made the selection and got to listen to the same commercial again before I found a way to get a live person on the line. You can imagine how frustrating it is to listen to a commercial—not once but twice—when you’re racing against the clock to make it to Grandma’s service.
But I finally had a live person on the line. And like the man behind the counter, she seemed very willing to help. I asked if other Hertz locations in the area might have some cars available. She checked and confirmed that one nearby location did indeed have cars available—and one large enough to accommodate five people. Now we’re cooking on the front burner.
My next question was whether they would pick us up or deliver the car to us. The customer service representative confirmed that they would pick us up. We’re on a roll! Things were really looking up when she threw me the first curveball. The customer service representative had to check how much extra it would cost to rent the car from this location and return it to the airport. I couldn’t believe it. You don’t have a car, but you can get me one—and it’s going to cost me? I was starting to lose my patience and shared my displeasure.
But lo and behold, the representative checked “the system,” and there wasn’t an extra charge for returning the car to the airport. So she canceled my existing reservation at the airport and rebooked me with the Hertz location across town. She provided me with my new confirmation number and the phone number for that location. I quickly placed the call to arrange for the airport pickup. That’s when things turned again.
The representative at the second Hertz location told me they weren’t allowed to pick up passengers or deliver a car to the airport. When I began to argue my case, I was informed that it didn’t matter anyway because they didn’t have any cars!
Wait!
Our margin time was down to two hours, Hertz didn’t have cars at the second location, and my Hertz airport reservation had been canceled. I quickly approached the Hertz rental counter and got my original reservation reinstated, but we were running out of time. My wife made another run through the other rental agencies and discovered that Avis had cars available. We quickly snatched up our ride and headed on our way!
I remember the Avis ads from my youth, “We’re #2, so we try harder.” I understand they dropped that tag line a number of years ago, but for me, Avis definitely tried harder that day. And Hertz provided a lesson in what not to do:
- Don’t promise a customer something you can’t deliver.
- Don’t rely on “systems” that don’t accurately reflect the reality of your operations.
- Don’t underestimate the damage you can do to your brand by providing a terrible customer experience.
Avis saved the day! We made it to Grandma’s service with time to spare. That doesn’t change the fact that Hertz couldn’t get out of its own way. Look, I don’t think Hertz is going to miss me. I’m just one customer, and Hertz is a big company. And if this had been my first bad experience with Hertz, I might have let it go as one mistake. But I’ve had a number of experiences like this over the past couple of years. You know the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Well shame on me for not giving up on Hertz earlier!
Had a similar bad experience in Italy with our Hertz rental. Was calling to report an issue with the car and just could not get anyone to pick up my call even when contacting their emergency number. Now I get that their international locations may be affiliates but they do carry the firm’s brand name and therfore impact their reputation. I subsequently on return to the US, contacted Hertz with a description of the issues we faced in Italy and no one responded. So, like you, I will never use them again and they may not care now but if enough people say “enough is enough” with regard to receiving poor service from them, it will make a difference!
What a great (terrible) story. Loved the pacing and narrative force. Shame on Hertz. We’ve had nothing but bad experience with them too.
AHH customer service. I purchased a bran new VW turbo diesel and nicked a tire. Went in and was promptly told the 3yr/36K warranty doesn’t cover tires. The tire company does not cover new car tires. BUT each company would cover the tires if I had purchased the tires new to replace the old tires, just now if they were on a new car. I sent a complaint to both, the tire company sent me a copy of their policy, VWcares has sent me nothing other that a request to see on how the chat line did on the complaint.
I had a similar issue last year with Hertz at Minneapolis/St Paul airport going to my Uncle’s funeral, for fortunately it wasn’t until the next day. Maybe it is funerals
Jan (Yawn) Olstad
PS I enjoy the stories, I wish I had the blog to complain about my tires, thanks for letting me vent it to you
I can relate to your situation. I have the same feelings about Verizon, another business that has grown so big that they have forgotten what drives their business – customers! I recently walked into a Verizon store during business hours and was told the wait would be an unreasonable amount of time (over an hour and a half). When I asked if we could leave our name and go to dinner and come back, the representative said he couldn’t do that. As we turned to leave he chuckled and said, “Yeah, unfortunately we are the largest carrier in the U.S.” Unfortunately??!! Like you, I don’t think they’ll miss us when we’re gone!
In May myself and a colleague were in Chicago on business had our flight leaving from O’Hare cancelled. My colleague’s mother was gravely ill and about to be taken off life support- we needed to get home. We decided to drive from Chicago to Ohio and it took us an hour at Hertz to secure a car, and they charged her extra because we were only going one way. The staff were kind and empathetic, in person and on the phone, but the fact that they “had no cars” when you could see scores of them out the windows in their lot was pathetic. I’m glad you made it to the service on time.
I remember the Hertz slogan of many years ago – “Let Hertz put yooouuuu in the driver’s seat today!” Used to sing it all the time and even remember a very old clip featuring the guy coming down from the sky on ropes and falling all over the car many times before they successfully put him in the driver’s seat. This was from a time when your word was your bond. How do we “bond” ourselves today? As consumers, I believe many have become expectant of being treated poorly by companies and therefore companies have lowered the bar because they know they can. I’ve had similar experiences as yours with too many companies and I always wonder how they continue to stay in business. Clearly, nothing will change if we as consumers continue to accept their behaviors. I’m glad you decided to write about this. I’m sure you’ll get a sweet little apology from Hertz, but as usually happens, nothing else will change. They will keep overbooking and we will continue to be the victims of poor corporate management.
I had similar experiences with Hertz and several years ago switched my “loyalty” to National. They get it. Their customer service is outstanding.
Glad you made it to your destination – sorry to hear at what cost. Never been a fan of Hertz and now I know why. Enterprise and Budget Car Rentals offer GREAT customer service and have cars readily available for pickup. Perhaps you should consider one of these two brands and of course Avis as your new rental service.
I also had a similar experience with Hertz multiple times. I left them. They can keep their gold card. I like Enterprise for most of the locations I fly into. They have great customer service.
It sounds like my experience with Hertz has hit a nerve. I agree that customer service isn’t what it used to be. I miss the days when a handshake and your word were your bond. Thanks to everyone for sharing their own stories of disappointment and poor customer service. While I hate to hear that everyone suffers from the same problems with companies, there is some comfort in the fact that I’m not alone in my frustrations.
I’m curious as to which airport was involved and what day of the week it was.
I hope Hertz CEO takes the time to read the Oswald Letter. He/she needs it.
You may be “just one customer” but you have a forum that most don’t have. Companies should recognize that in the modern era, no single customer has the impact of just being one customer anymore. While most of us have just our family and friends and business acquaintances on social media, there are those who have social connection of thousands or hundreds of thousands, and they can never be sure who is who. This should be a lesson to ALL companies.
Haven’t used Hertz in years, and your post makes clear that I likely never will again.
First of all, I’m so sorry for your family’s loss, Dan–sounds like your wife’s grandmother was a special person.
I really enjoyed your post in a head-shaking, “they said WHAT???” kind of way. It’s awful when “official” protocols and policies replace both good customer service and basic common sense. As others have said, I’m glad you made it to the service on time – but nobody needs that kind of extra stress and hassle, especially on a day like that.
I stopped using Hertz years ago. I was in Seattle and going to Yakima during the Christmas holidays. Yakima had snow so I made sure my car had front-wheel drive…or the Hertz rep said it did. After arriving in Yakima, 6″ of snow made driving difficult and I could not even get out of my neighbor’s driveway with my REAR-WHEEL DRIVE car. I turned the car in to the Hertz outlet at the airport and they said all was good. I rented from Budget because they could assure me of a front-wheel drive. Hertz tried to charge me a fee for dropping off in Yakima and then an additional 3 days because they needed to return it in the Tri-Cities. Ouch! American Express convinced them to void the extra charges and I have never used them again. Budget, Alamo, National, Avis are all more reliable.
Unbelievable! As they build their new corporate headquarters in Estero, FL (with the “resignation” of their chairman and CEO Frissora) it’s no wonder things are a disaster. I hope their service can improve under new leadership and a renewed focus in a new building! Best of luck Hertz, you’ll need it!!
Exactly why I utilize Enterprise. But the car rental fiasco aside, you were able to pay tribute to a family member that was very important to all of you. From the business perspective: very rarely do you have the opportunity to regain a customer following poor customer service. I will be sharing this article with my “Team” .. do not promise what you cannot do, you are the face of the company, the customer service experience begins and ends with you, new customers make informed decisions based upon reviews/yelp/FB/Twitter/consumer reports….a company must ensure that all of their “reviews” are positive.
Jerry,
We flew into Omaha on a Wednesday.
Dan
ALL,
A colleague shared this clip from a Seinfeld episode with me after reading of my car rental issues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM
I guess my situation, as evidenced by all of your responses and the fact that it found its way into a Seinfeld episode, really isn’t all the uncommon. What a shame.
Dan