Quote:
Originally Posted by Car Prep Girl  I'm curious WHERE this kind of behaviour is tolerated, and why there isn't more of a stink brought about my employees and customers alike.
At the ERAC I work for cars are brought in constantly for service, and when a car has ANYTHING wrong with it, it is serviced immediately from the tire pressure light to a missing plastic part inside the vehicle, that doesnt affect safety at all. If it doesn't look presentable, or if it isn't safe, it is repaired before it is rented out. Even if it means canceling a reservation. |
This would be really rare throughout the rental world. Profit margins are generally way, way too tight to be constantly canceling reservations and/or holding on to cars with evident but "usually" minor maintenance issues. It was pretty common at our branch to rent out cars with various preventive maintanence holds (oil change cars that weren't THAT far past the tagged mileage) and such. Every once in a while we rented out a car that did sound/feel to really have a problem of some sort, but if it was a short-term weekend rental or we somehow gauged the customer would not drive the car very far during their possession, we'd still rent it out.
As far as the clean, dry car thing goes; we struggled with that too, but in all honesty as much as I hate ERAC, Hertz, Avis...all of them...I put a little blame on the customer as well. Yes; rental cars are being held in normal rotation longer than in the past, hence more aged cars with some stains on seats and whatnot. Yes, the customer is correct to assume they should/will step into a clean car and not have to worry about sitting in something that could pose a health hazard to them. That said, I don't understand how so many customers that were in our branch for insurance replacement would expect a spotless vehicle awaiting them that their fucking kids could lick if they so desired. You (the customer) have spent all this time driving around in your own car with dirt and shit on the mats and sometimes on/around the cupholders, etc...and you complain when a) it looks like the drivers' side mat was simply shaken and not vac'd and b) YOU AREN'T EVEN PAYING FOR THE FUCKING RENTAL; YOUR (or their) INSURANCE COMPANY IS. The kicker here is that most customers actually understand this; they merely complain because they're frustrated and want a deal, and show no sympathy for anyone else's own situation.
If a family paying for a weekend getaway or vacation, then absolutely, they should expect a car that looks damn well brand new with nary a speck. But when Geico, not you, is paying us $20 a day, well....."Today Mr. X is your lucky day! This (not so) sparkling Chevrolet Aveo with low (30,000) mileage is your brand new toy! It may have no CD player, and only picks up about 3 radio stations...but one of them is the local NPR! So what if it takes 20 minutes to get from 0-60mph....it gives you time to take in the scenery as you (unsuccessfully) merge onto the freeway!"